Chapter 64: Alive

2022-05-20

Xiao Liu was still digging into the five middle schoolers from Yucai High. Gu Chen and I were on our way to see him. After all, this was the only time the Killer might have slipped up. Did one of these five lie? Had someone else interacted with them, or were they really just uninvolved?

When we found Xiao Liu, he was staring blankly at the five students’ files, all spread out in front of him.

Seeing us walk in, Xiao Liu managed a weak smile. “You two, come help me out. I’m really at a loss here. I can’t spot any problems with these kids. Maybe we’re wasting our time—should we look for other leads instead?”

I shook my head, eyes on the open files. “Single-parent homes. Their guardians barely have a minute for them. After school, they could go anywhere, do anything. If these kids really are involved, they’ve got all the time in the world for things we’d never find out about.”

“Let’s tail them. I want to see what they actually do after class.” I looked at Xiao Liu. “There’s four of us, just right.”

Xiao Liu blurted, “What? You want us to stake out a bunch of kids? Isn’t that kind of overkill? Following around a group of teenagers? Man, people would laugh if they heard…”

I shook my head again and said, “Stop underestimating kids just because they’re young, especially these days. The internet’s changed everything—they’re way sharper than we were at their age. Their inner worlds are just as wild as anyone else’s.”

“Alright. Let’s do it.” Gu Chen nodded. “How should we split up?”

It didn’t take us long to come up with a plan.

Since Li Taida was still awaiting his verdict, we didn’t need to worry about him. That left four students and four of us—perfect. I’d follow Zhang Xue, Gu Chen would tail Zhao Erming, the one who looked the toughest, Xiao Liu would watch Lin Rou, and Guan Zengbin would keep an eye on Zhou Guo, who seemed the least likely to be the Killer.

We reached out to the substitute teachers for each class, as well as the principal, to give them a heads up and avoid any trouble. All four were in their final year of middle school, with less than two weeks to go before major exams. Most teachers had already checked out by now. Today, for instance, Zhang Xue wasn’t even in the classroom.

“No idea where Zhang Xue ran off to. You keep an eye on Zhou Guo.” Through the window, I spotted Zhou Guo, hard at work. He wore thick glasses and his desk was piled high with notebooks. He looked like a shoo-in for a prestigious high school.

Still, after our visit yesterday, I wondered if we had rattled him too much.

Guan Zengbin shot me a look. “Zhou Guo’s clearly a good kid. If it weren’t for his crush on Zhang Xue, he wouldn’t have dared steal potassium cyanide—you realize this might be the biggest, craziest thing he does in his whole youth. Honestly, you’d better go find Zhang Xue.”

I shrugged, then checked with Zhang Xue’s homeroom teacher. Turns out, Zhang Xue spent her afternoons on the field. The teacher had basically given up on her, saying she could do as she pleased at this point.

“A girl like her,” the fifty-something homeroom teacher said with a face full of disdain, “I probably shouldn’t speak like this, but you need to understand—when she gets to high school, God knows what mischief she’ll get into.”

“You know about Zhou Guo, right? Look how she’s bewitched him! It’s like she’s got him under a spell. Zhou Guo’s normally top of the class, but he’s been so distracted lately…” The teacher kept complaining.

I quickly waved her off before she could rant any longer.

Around five that afternoon, lazy, golden sunlight warmed everyone. Sitting on the steps outside a side door of a school building, I had a clear view of the field. In the middle of the grass, a girl in uniform napped with a book covering her face—the title was too blurry to make out.

Still, I could guess it was some novel, nothing to do with class.

Down by the basketball court, a few boys were shooting hoops. Either they were athletes or, more likely, slackers skipping class to hang out.

Watching this scene, I remembered my own awkward, dramatic years. Back then, I wanted nothing more than to lie on the rooftop or stretch out on the field, book in hand, as if the world had faded away and I was the only one left.

Turns out I’m not that person anymore, but I still feel a streak of immaturity running through me.

So there I sat, phone in hand, eyes on the sleeping girl far off in the grass, wondering how much longer she’d doze. As the sun dipped lower, she finally woke. She pulled the book off her face and stretched, catlike.

She gazed off into the distance, lost in thought.

Then she packed the book into her backpack and headed out. I kept my distance, wanting to see where she’d go. The security guards at the school gate recognized her, waving her through without a word. There were still a good two hours before school let out for the younger students, so clearly this girl had plenty of time to herself.

I trailed after her, keeping my distance, following this curious little sprite as she wandered the world.

Every now and then, Zhang Xue would pause to look at flowers blooming in planters, squat to play with stray cats and dogs, or teeter along the curb, one step at a time. She sometimes paced out her walk along the sidewalk stones, getting frustrated whenever she accidentally stepped on a line.

She’d stop at anything that caught her eye, sometimes just staring into the sky and daydreaming.

Watching her from behind, her antics seemed childish, yet somehow I saw a maturity and solitude in her that set her apart from other kids her age. She headed toward the subway station—even though Yucai High wasn’t exactly close, she looked like she’d made the walk plenty of times.

Line 1 of the subway—that’s where Li Zhinan had jumped onto the tracks. Would we pass by the same place? Was it just coincidence, or was there a deeper connection?

We boarded a car, and I kept my distance, watching her quietly.

She took out her book and read as we rode. Peering over, I saw it was ‘To Live’ by Yu Hua.

I couldn’t help but wonder if a novel called ‘To Live’, brimming with death, was really suited to a kid her age. Whether or not she understood its meaning, from her expression, she was utterly lost in its pages. At one point, tears gathered in her eyes.

After an hour’s ride, we got off the train.

By then it was eight, night had fallen, and the streets were coming alive. Street vendors set up shop for the evening. There’s something special about eating skewers and drinking beer on a summer night. Lots of people had that idea, so the air was filled with laughter and clinking glasses as we pressed on.

Out of nowhere, Zhang Xue did something I couldn’t begin to understand. As she passed a table of shirtless men, she abruptly cut across and flipped their entire table. Skewers scattered, beer drenched them all.

Not only was I shocked—the vendor was dumbfounded, and even the men themselves stood frozen.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Zhang Xue stared them down.

After a few seconds, one guy snapped out of it. “What the hell, kid? You got a death wish?”

He raised a hand, clearly wanting to hit her, but stopped himself when he realized she was just a teenage girl. He hesitated, hand poised awkwardly, then said, “Give me your parents’ number. Your dad’s gonna have to deal with you tonight.”

Zhang Xue shook her head. “It wasn’t my idea. My brother told me to do it.”

With that, she pointed straight at me.

So she’d spotted me ages ago—this was all a setup to mess with me. Since when were little girls this sharp?

“Get him!” the lead guy yelled.

Not wanting to hit a girl, they chose the easier target—me. Judging by their looks, I was about to have a rough time. No way I was sticking around. I bolted, their shouts and Zhang Xue’s maniacal laughter echoing behind me.

The thugs were all muscle, but speed wasn’t their thing. I had to work like hell to shake them off, left gasping for breath by the end. Even though I’d run the opposite direction at first, I’d memorized these side streets coming in, so I quickly found my way back to the same skewer stall.

In the distance, under the streetlight, I caught a glimpse of a familiar figure heading away. I didn’t waste any time—rushed to catch up. As soon as Zhang Xue heard footsteps, she turned, but I scooped her up before she could react.

“Hey, kidnapping!” Zhang Xue shouted.

I shot her a glare. “I’m your brother, remember? Everybody heard you say it back at the stand. Can’t a brother deal with a naughty little sister?”

“He’s not my brother!” Zhang Xue protested.

I didn’t care what she yelled—this wasn’t the place to hang around. If those men showed up, things would get ugly fast. In the end, Zhang Xue had to face the consequences of her stunt.