Extra
Dream Maker
“Uncle, my dad is not a murderer. Please, please investigate again…”
At the entrance of the police station, a frail girl clung desperately to the officer’s arm, pleading earnestly. The officer, wearing a brand-new white coat, now had a few dirty fingerprints on it from her sweaty hands.
The officer frowned and pushed her away.
“Go home, go home. It’s been years. Why do you keep coming here? Aren’t you tired of this?”
“Please, just do another examination. My dad wouldn’t kill anyone…”
“The body has already turned to ashes. What kind of examination do you want? I say, little girl, you’re really something! Instead of studying, you come running to the police station every day. Watch out, I’ll tell your teachers and parents!”
Chen Chu Nan wanted to say more, but with the officer’s scolding, she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Red-eyed, she took a step back.
The man turned around and walked inside with his colleague, laughing and talking: “I really don’t get it. This case is years old. The court’s verdict has already been issued. Why still think about it? In my opinion, people should look forward.”
“Yeah, looking forward or looking ‘for money’?”
The summer sunlight filtered through the sycamore leaves, casting light spots that slowly moved in front of her.
Chu Nan was scorching hot under the sun. She gripped the strap of her school bag tightly, pursed her lips, and was about to leave when a group of boys on bicycles rode by, ringing their bells wildly.
“Hey, the murderer’s daughter, coming to the police station again to seek justice?”
“The victim’s family doesn’t visit as often as you do!”
The boys’ laughter echoed far on the empty street.
Chen Chu Nan usually ignored such taunts, keeping her head down and focusing on the cracks in the pavement. But one person was different.
Lin Yan, riding a rare motorcycle of that era, came charging out from the street corner straight towards the group. She didn’t slow down even as she was about to collide with them.
“Whoa, damn it! Can you even ride?!”
With a loud crash, the lead boy fell to the ground with his bike in an attempt to dodge her.
Lin Yan, with one foot on the ground, hung her helmet on the handlebar and walked over menacingly.
This was the notorious school bully of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School. The boy gulped and shrank back.
“W-what do you want!”
His buddies gathered around: “So what if you’re rich? What, you want to hit us?”
Lin Yan grabbed the speaker’s collar and yanked him close: “Get lost, or I’ll hit you too!”
As she spoke, her eyes were dark and unfathomable, exuding a chilling ruthlessness unbefitting her age.
The boy was stunned and shoved aside.
Lin Yan strode over, grabbed the fallen boy by the hair, and dragged him onto the sidewalk.
“You started it, didn’t you? Apologize!”
“Let me go! You’re crazy! Lin Yan, you’re insane! It hurts… it hurts so much…”
The boy cried out in pain, and with a kick to the back of his knee, he collapsed to the ground, face down on the bricks, teeth breaking, and nose bleeding.
Lin Yan yanked his hair, forcing him lower, speaking through gritted teeth, her words venomous.
“Apologize. I’ll say it one more time, apologize.”
The boy, in agony, closed his eyes: “Fine, I’m sorry! Chen Chu Nan, I’m sorry!!!”
“Sorry for what?”
“Sorry for bad-mouthing you!”
“And what will you do when you see her in the future?”
The boy’s face was covered in tears and snot as he sobbed: “I’ll avoid her, avoid her! Isn’t that enough?!”
Lin Yan lifted him slightly by the hair: “Of course not. If I hear any rumors at school, I’ll assume it’s you.”
“If anyone so much as touches her, I’ll assume it’s you.”
Lin Yan slapped his face: “Next time, it won’t just be a lost tooth.”
The boy wailed: “I’ll treat her like my own mother, isn’t that enough?!”
Lin Yan looked at him with a half-smile.
“No, no, like a great aunt! Isn’t that enough?!!!”
The person who had been scared pale by this scene suddenly burst into laughter.
Lin Yan released him, clapped her hands, and stood up: “Scram!”
The boy picked up his fallen bike and, along with his useless buddies, scurried away.
Chen Chu Nan took a handkerchief from her school uniform pocket and handed it to her, something she wouldn’t even use to wipe her own sweat.
“Here, wipe the blood off your hands.”
Lin Yan, snapping back to reality, noticed a few blood spots on the back of her hand and wiped them off casually on her clothes.
“It’s fine, no need. Let’s go, I’ll take you to school. Want to ride my new bike?”
The girl dangled a shiny set of keys, and Chen Chu Nan’s eyes widened instantly.
As she climbed onto the back seat of the motorcycle, the summer wind, carrying its heat, swept past their hair.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Chen Chu Nan, wearing a helmet, gripped Lin Yan’s waist tightly, her heart in her throat as she watched Lin Yan weave left and right through the traffic.
However, seeing the roadside trees quickly recede, the motorcycle wheels gliding over patches of sunlight, and even the boys who had just mocked her falling far behind, she felt an indescribable joy.
“Your dad is really good to you, giving you gifts again.”
Lin Yan, raising her voice slightly over the roar of the motorcycle, replied nonchalantly: “With the college entrance exams coming up, he gave me a gift to get me to settle down and listen to him. He’s afraid I won’t even enter the exam hall.”
Chen Chu Nan laughed: “So what about you? What school do you want to get into? If you pass, you can get away from him.”
Lin Yan frowned deeply: “I don’t know. I have no desire to go to any particular school. He wants me to major in economics and management, but I get a headache just looking at numbers!”
The girl on the back seat finally laughed out loud.
“But your math isn’t bad. I think, since you’re so brave and you practice martial arts, you should consider applying to a military academy or becoming a police officer.”
Lin Yan shouted over the noise of the motorcycle: “Brave? I couldn’t care less about sticking my nose in other people’s business. I just can’t stand those guys’ disgusting faces. I’ve wanted to deal with them for a long time!”
After dropping her off at school, a sleepy class eventually ended, and the teacher stood on the podium and called out names.
“Chen Chu Nan, Lin Yan, come with me.”
Chen Chu Nan, sitting in the front row, glanced back. Lin Yan was lounging against the blackboard wall, chewing gum and blowing a bubble, her eyes fixed on the window, where the sounds of basketball echoed from the playground.
The teacher on the podium was furious: “Lin Yan, I’m calling you. Are you deaf?!”
Chen Chu Nan quickly stood up: “Teacher, I’ll help you carry the homework to the office.”
They walked out of the classroom one after the other. Lin Yan slowly stuffed her books into the desk drawer and got up to leave.
In the office, the reprimand came down hard.
“You don’t pay attention in class, you’re not serious, and after school, you go around fighting. Today, the seventh-grade teacher came to complain, saying you beat up two boys from their class on the way to school!”
Lin Yan, chewing gum, rolled her eyes.
It was just one boy, not two!
The teacher slammed the desk: “The college entrance exams are approaching, and you still won’t settle down. Why did you hit them this time?!”
Chen Chu Nan, standing next to her, stole a glance at Lin Yan.
Lin Yan remained as nonchalant as ever.
Chen Chu Nan swallowed and took a step forward: “Teacher…”
Lin Yan reached out from behind and tugged on her shirt: “No reason. I just don’t like him.”
Standing close, the teacher’s eyes widened in anger, almost spitting in her face.
“If it weren’t for your father…”
The teacher swallowed the rest of the sentence about the donation of a school building due to professional pride.
“No matter what, you’d have been expelled long ago! In my opinion, with your temperament, you should be sent to juvenile detention for some real education!”
Frustrated and seeing no one around, the female teacher’s voice rose and fell, passionately berating Lin Yan.
Standing in the eye of the storm, Lin Yan sneered, letting her rant, never lowering her head, staring defiantly without any remorse.
The teacher, blood rushing to her head, grabbed the nearest test paper, crumpled it, and threw it at her.
“Look at your science scores. At the beginning of the semester, you couldn’t even pass. This time you scored 210 on the mock exam?! In my decades of teaching, I’ve never seen a student like you. Can’t do well, so you cheat! Don’t you have any shame?!”
Lin Yan’s face turned cold: “I didn’t cheat.”
After all the scolding, Lin Yan finally responded, and the teacher thought she had hit a sore spot, feeling triumphant.
“Ha, still denying it. Several classmates reported that you cheated, and the proctor said you were whispering during the exam.”
Lin Yan clenched her fists: “Someone was borrowing an eraser. I didn’t cheat. I just didn’t.”
“Who would believe that? Who would believe that? You, scoring over 200 in science? Where were you last night, dreaming?”
The teacher’s mouth opened and closed, her tone full of disdain, her face expressing both contempt and disgust.
The test paper, covered in writing, lay at Lin Yan’s feet.
Chen Chu Nan knew she hadn’t cheated, because they had spent many nights studying together. Lin Yan wasn’t stupid; she just didn’t want to study.
With a little effort, her scores improved rapidly.
Just as she was about to explain, the teacher pulled out a blank test paper from the desk and handed it to Lin Yan.
“You said you didn’t cheat? Fine, redo this test. Do it on the balcony outside the office. If you score better than this one, I’ll believe you.”
What Lin Yan couldn’t tolerate the most was being insulted. Gritting her teeth, she tore the test paper into pieces and threw it up.
“F*ck you…”
The teacher slammed the desk, her face red with anger: “Lin Yan, don’t go too far. Call your father!”
Lin Yan, not backing down, taller than the teacher, would have lunged if Chen Chu Nan hadn’t held her back.
“Do it! Who’s afraid of whom?! Have him kill me! Who do you think you are, an educator? I spit on you!”
“Lin Yan, Lin Yan, stop talking and get out…” Watching the teacher pick up the teacup on the desk, Chen Chu Nan pushed her out of the office with all her might.
The teacup smashed against the nearby wall with a bang, splashing tea and scattering broken porcelain everywhere.
Lin Yan lifted the curtain and stepped out, spitting on the ground: “Pah!”
The class bell rang, and the students curiously watched her, wondering why she hadn’t returned to the classroom. Lin Yan leaned against the wall, arms behind her head, waiting leisurely for Chu Nan to come out.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
The homeroom teacher might trouble her, but definitely wouldn’t trouble Chen Chu Nan. After all, she was the top student and class president, well-behaved and obedient.
As expected, the sounds inside gradually calmed down.
Chen Chu Nan refilled the teacher’s teacup and placed it beside her: “Teacher, I understand what you’re saying…”
Lin Yan turned over, leaned against the window, and listened intently.
The teacher blew the tea foam slowly, then spoke earnestly: “I’m not blaming you, but with your grades, you could get into Peking University or Tsinghua University. Why apply to a medical university, and forensic science at that? Do you know what this field entails?”
Chen Chu Nan bowed her head, shyly: “I know.”
The teacher, disappointed and exasperated: “You know? If you know, why apply? Not only is it hard to find a job, but how many normal families would accept a girl doing this? Don’t waste your life.”
Chen Chu Nan, seemingly soft as dough, actually had a resilience similar to Lin Yan’s, tough and unyielding.
She kept her head down, fidgeting with her hands.
“Teacher, thank you for your concern. My mom knows about this and agreed before I applied. It wasn’t just my idea. You can call her if you don’t believe me.”
Seeing she couldn’t be persuaded, the teacher sighed deeply and waved her back to class.
Chen Chu Nan bowed: “Thank you, teacher. I’ll replace the teacup another day.”
A smile finally appeared on the teacher’s lips: “Alright, child. How could a teacher take your things? And you, stop hanging out with Lin Yan so much. Go back to class.”
Hearing the conversation inside nearing its end, Lin Yan turned her face back, leaning against the wall, mumbling: “Forensics, huh…”
When it came time to fill out their applications, Lin Yan stared blankly at the empty form.
Chen Chu Nan nudged her arm: “Hey, what are you thinking about? Hurry up and fill it out. It’s due soon.”
“I…” Lin Yan twirled her pen, hesitating, then turned and asked, “Why do you want to be a forensic scientist?”
Chen Chu Nan shrugged nonchalantly, with a playful smile, but Lin Yan sensed a hint of bitterness in that smile.
“You know, my dad is a murderer. Onlookers said my dad grabbed the butcher knife from that woman and stabbed her. The forensic expert also said that the wounds caused by active attack and passive defense are different.”
“I don’t know who’s right, but I believe my dad wouldn’t kill. No one can help me, Lin Yan, so I’ll find out myself.”
Lin Yan bit her lip. Before she could say anything, a classmate called Chu Nan to the office to help the teacher grade papers.
Chen Chu Nan hurriedly left, leaving her college application form on the desk.
Lin Yan watched her leave, then finally took her application and copied it onto her own blank form and submitted it.
In the years that followed, they truly became lifelong friends, as they had promised. They not only got into the same major, interned together, and graduated together, but they also bought houses next to each other. They kept their teenage promise, celebrating each other’s birthdays every year, and traveling together during their free time. This activity expanded to include Lin Yan’s partner, Song Yuhang, and sometimes colleagues from the police station, making for a lively group.
Of course, there were regrets too.
For instance.
Lin Yan made an incision in the deceased’s brain tissue to observe the exudate.
Chen Chu Nan, wearing protective gear, placed the extracted heart on the scale to weigh it.
After bending over for a while, Lin Yan felt uncomfortable and straightened up to relax.
“I say, I have children now. Isn’t it time for you to get married?”
Chen Chu Nan smiled: “My mom’s not in a hurry, so why are you?”
Lin Yan put down the tool, took a new one from the tray: “I’m anxious for her, okay? Besides, we agreed that no matter if it’s a boy or a girl, I’d be the godmother.”
Chen Chu Nan moved to the other side to dissect the body: “With two in your belly, isn’t that enough for you?”
Talking about the children, Lin Yan’s eyes lit up with a smile: “I don’t care. You promised me.”
No matter how many years passed, she still had that princess-like attitude.
Chen Chu Nan’s eyes showed a helpless smile, but she knew she could never fulfill that promise.
“Alright, princess, let’s get to work. Your Director Song has been waiting at the door for ages.”
Finally, they took off their heavy protective gear and changed their clothes. As they walked out, Song Yuhang was indeed waiting at the door.
“It’s New Year’s Eve today. I’ve booked a table at Huaihai Hotel. Let’s have a family reunion dinner together.”
Song Yuhang invited Chen Chu Nan, and Lin Yan also looked at her.
For some reason, Lin Yan felt that today, Chu Nan seemed particularly distant, her smile faint, her voice soft, everything about her felt like she would dissipate with the wind.
This feeling had grown stronger over the years they spent together, especially today.
Lin Yan’s eyes showed concern: “Chu Nan…”
Chen Chu Nan turned, carrying her usual shoulder bag: “No, my mom’s waiting for me at home for dinner.”
Song Yuhang and Lin Yan exchanged a glance, not insisting further.
“Alright, since it’s after work, let’s go out together.”
As they reached the door, the sky had darkened, and snow began to fall, drifting under the streetlights.
In the distance, the headlights of cars and the figures of pedestrians were hazy and indistinct.
Chen Chu Nan’s mother, who had been waiting for an unknown length of time, stood on tiptoe to carefully wrap a scarf around her daughter.
Chen Chu Nan lowered her head, basking in her mother’s tenderness, a smile playing on her lips: “Mom, why are you here?”
“Your dad’s here too. He went to the market early and bought groceries, made a table full of delicious food, waiting for you at home.”
After many years, Chen Chu Nan’s father was finally released from prison, but he had developed health issues while incarcerated. He didn’t go out often, especially in such cold weather.
The man, dressed in a jacket and holding a large black umbrella, trudged through the snow, taking heavy steps, and embraced his wife and daughter.
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“Let’s go home for a reunion dinner.”
Chen Chu Nan glanced back. Snowflakes drifted down their path, full of uncertainties. Her gaze was soft and sorrowful, tinged with a faint regret, as if she might never return.
Lin Yan felt a pang in her heart and took two steps forward.
“Chu Nan, where are you going?”
A smile appeared on Chen Chu Nan’s lips, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons, her pupils dark and bright.
The north wind howled, and in the distance, the clock struck the hour. Snowflakes swirled around her, and Chen Chu Nan began to turn transparent from head to toe.
She knew her time was limited. She simply looked at Lin Yan.
“Lin Yan, thank you. I’m going home.”
“Will we see each other again?”
Lin Yan heard her own voice start to choke.
“Yes, as long as you remember, I’ll always be here.”
Chen Chu Nan, smiling, finished speaking and then turned her gaze to Song Yuhang.
“Please take care of her in the days to come.”
Song Yuhang silently tightened her hold on her wife’s shoulders, turning her tearful face toward her chest.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her until the day you meet again.”
Chen Chu Nan smiled, waved, and left, gradually walking away with her parents until they disappeared into the night.
“But you have to come later. Heaven is crowded. If you come too early, I’m afraid there won’t be any room.”
LP: This novel is now complete! I really enjoyed this one~
I’ve already decided for the next novel: I am Fish Meat (Link: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=2871823) / Coming in a few days~
