Volume One: First Scroll
Regret
Years later, this photograph still struck the softest corner of her heart.
“Team Leader Song, that’s the deceased’s family member.” Song Yuhang rushed back. The moment she stepped into the office, Fang Xin leaned in close, covering her nose with a file folder, and whispered in her ear.
A stout, middle-aged woman1 sat on a chair, shoes off, picking at her feet and rubbing off dead skin2. From time to time, she tore off bits of dead skin from the soles of her feet. One hand rested on the table, grabbing handfuls of melon seeds3 from a dish and cracking them. Beside her hand was a cup of tea. She watched the TV on the wall, bobbing her head4.
Song Yuhang walked over and sat down opposite her. The woman was about to flare up because she was blocking the TV, but seeing the two bars5 on her shoulder, she knew this was a high-ranking officer, and her expression immediately turned into a broad, fawning smile.
“Oh, a female leader, what are your orders?”
“My surname is Song. Just call me Officer Song.” As soon as Song Yuhang got close, an overwhelming stench of feet6 assaulted her. No wonder the others were unwilling to approach.
Song Yuhang remained expressionless7, taking photos out of the file bag. “Take a look, is this your daughter?”
Naturally, they couldn’t show her the tragic state of the body at the crime scene. What the criminal police had photographed were fragments of the clothes and the shoes the girl was wearing.
“Ptooey, ptooey.” The woman spat the melon seed shells onto the floor, then took the photos from Song Yuhang’s hand with the same hand she’d used to pick her feet.
“Yes, yes. But she’s not my daughter, I’m her auntie8.”
Her finger jabbed at the photo, her face devoid of any sorrow. “I even gave her these clothes after I was done wearing them. The shoes too, I picked them out of the garbage heap…”
Under the gaze of the two detectives opposite her, the woman slapped her own mouth. “Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey, why am I telling you all this.”
“Are there any other relatives at home?” asked the criminal investigation officer sitting beside her.
The woman shook her head, grabbing more melon seeds to crack. “Nope, nope. My older sister left home to work when she was just a teenager, met some heartless man9, got her pregnant, then abandoned her and ran off. She didn’t last long, died right after giving birth.”
“Has the child’s father ever contacted you over all these years?”
“No, probably kicked the bucket somewhere long ago. I took her in because I pitied my sister, pitied her. She started living with me when she was still breastfeeding.”
Only then did a trace of worry appear on the woman’s face. “I was counting on her to quit school after junior high and go out to work, earn money to help with the family expenses. How could she suddenly just…”
The woman sighed heavily, putting the melon seeds back on the plate. “Officer, I heard she was run over by a car. Will there be compensation? How much?”
“…”
Song Yuhang remained expressionless, not even frowning. “We’re not clear on that. It depends on the court’s ruling.”
Just then, Fang Xin knocked and entered, leaning close to her ear to say, “The DNA comparison results are back.”
Song Yuhang nodded in understanding, then turned back. “Did your niece have any thoughts of taking her own life recently?”
The woman smacked her lips around a melon seed. “Don’t think so. She wasn’t very talkative, never told us anything. But I went to her school for parent-teacher meetings a few times, the teacher said her grades were quite good. No reason to commit suicide.”
Song Yuhang’s gaze slid to the woman’s neck, to a necklace hidden under her collar. “Could you take us to your home for a look?”
The woman’s face showed some impatience, but although Song Yuhang’s words were tactful, her tone left no room for argument.
“Fine, fine. What a hassle. She’s dead, just bury her and pay us the compensation we’re owed, right? Why go through all this rigmarole?”
Song Yuhang couldn’t be bothered to explain. Several criminal investigation officers walked out with her, whispering amongst themselves behind her.
“With someone like that, I’d kill myself too.”
Suicide?
Song Yuhang’s thoughts drifted back to the rooftop that day. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the person in black and that suicide note were no coincidence.
The woman’s home was in a village deep inside the West City District, the suburbs of the suburbs. The concrete road only reached the village entrance. It had rained two days prior, leaving the road muddy and impassable. The car wheels got stuck, stalling the engine10, so the group had no choice but to wade through the muddy water.
The residents here were generally very poor. Houses were low-built, electrical wires strung haphazardly high and low. The air hung thick with the smell of chicken droppings and cow dung. Occasionally, a couple of stray dogs, skinny to the point of emaciation11, ran past. From afar, a few rooster crows could be heard. After walking several dozen meters in the dim light, they found a flickering streetlight, barely clinging to life12, ready to breathe its last13 at any moment.
Under the dim yellow light stood a table, so dark with grime its original color was indiscernible. Several old men were gathered around playing cards; some smoked traditional pipes14, others hand-rolled cigarettes. A few half-grown boys squatted nearby, playing with mud. One picked up a cigarette butt from the ground, took a drag, and immediately burst into coughs.
The old men roared with laughter.
Song Yuhang glanced over. Seeing people approach, a few loafers quickly pocketed the loose change on the table and grinned at the woman leading the group, revealing mouths full of tobacco-stained teeth15.
“Yo, Xiuzhen, what trouble did you get into? How come the police are following you?”
Wang Xiuzhen16 snorted through her nose. “Tch, can’t expect ivory from a dog’s mouth17. What trouble could I be in? It’s just my unlucky niece who died. Sigh, but maybe it’s better she’s dead, dead and free. Better than living poor.”
Duan Cheng couldn’t stand it and was about to step forward but was held back firmly by Fang Xin. “She… how can she talk like that? Is she even human?”
Fang Xin shot him a look. “We’re here to investigate a case. Mind your own business about other things.”
After passing the muddy path at the village entrance and turning left around a field ridge18, Wang Xiuzhen’s house was not far ahead.
The lights were on inside. A dirty local dog19 was tied up by the door and immediately started barking furiously at their approach.
Song Yuhang glanced at the light. “Someone’s home?”
Wang Xiuzhen ran over to secure the dog and pushed open the iron gate. “Yes, yes, my son is studying at home.”
Song Yuhang followed her over the threshold. “Where’s your husband?”
“He works as a carpenter in the provincial capital, doesn’t come back often. Usually, it’s just me, my niece, and my son at home.”
The woman turned back as she spoke, then loudly called her son’s name, telling him to turn on the light in the main room20.
Her son, wearing an undershirt, emerged from the dry toilet21. “Mom, what’s up?”
“You little turtle bastard22, you went out to the toilet and didn’t turn off the light in the room again! I oughta twist your ear off!” She moved to grab his ear, and the boy dodged, yelling “Ow, ow!”
“We have guests, can you not make a scene23?”
Only then did the woman awkwardly release him, smiling sheepishly at Song Yuhang. “Officers, please come in, have a seat.”
“No need. Where is He Miao’s24 room?”
He Miao was the deceased in this case, who had jumped from a building and been tragically run over by a vehicle.
A flicker of unease crossed the woman’s face, but under Song Yuhang’s gaze, she braced herself and led them inside.
The main room wasn’t large. There were two large bedrooms on the left and right, where the couple lived. The room on the right belonged to her son. At the very back of the main room, the woman pushed open a wooden door, showering dust down.
Fang Xin covered her mouth and coughed, waving away the oncoming dust. Only then could she clearly see it was a storage room less than 8 square meters, piled high with old junk25 and storing some vegetables of unknown age, emitting a musty odor.
In the middle of the room was a loft bed26. Underneath, some grayish bedding was laid out; the top bunk was also piled high with things.
In front of the bed was a small low table. An open exercise book27 lay unfinished. Some books and papers were scattered on the floor.
Song Yuhang took gloves from her pocket and put them on. “Get to work.”
The forensic technicians28 got busy. Fang Xin picked up a few strands of hair from the pillow and placed them in an evidence bag. As she lifted the pillow, a dark insect scurried out rapidly and disappeared into the darkness of a bed crack.
If Song Yuhang hadn’t been there keeping things under control29, Fang Xin would have let out a howl. The sight of the enormous cockroach made her face turn pale.
Duan Cheng was also quite disgusted. “How… how can anyone live in a place like this?”
The woman stood at the doorway watching them work, chewing loudly on the handful of melon seeds she hadn’t forgotten to grab from the city bureau before leaving.
“Hmph, what’s wrong with living here? I lived in a cowshed30 when I was little. Besides, Miao Miao’s older cousin is about to take the Gaokao31. We couldn’t have them living together anymore, it would be too distracting.”
The phrase “living together anymore” caught Song Yuhang’s attention. She paused her actions. “Please ask your son to come here for a moment. We have some questions for him.”
“Okay, okay. But hurry up, my son needs to study.”
Duan Cheng nudged Zheng Chengrui. “Hey, the way she treats her niece versus her own son is like night and day. The niece had good grades but wasn’t allowed to continue school after junior high. Her son looks like a fat slob32, definitely not the studious type.”
Zheng Chengrui pushed up his glasses, having only heard the words “fat slob.” His gaze shifted over, and Duan Cheng quickly took a step back.
“Bro, bro, calm down, I wasn’t talking about you.”
“Where were you on the evening of May 31st?” Song Yuhang conducted the questioning while the officer next to her took notes33.
“At… at home studying.” He glanced at his mother.
“Can anyone prove that?”
Hearing this, the woman immediately became unhappy. “Hey, Officer, what do you mean by that? Didn’t Miao Miao jump off the building herself? What does it have to do with my son? Really.”
Song Yuhang glanced at her, her gaze sharp as a torch34. “Just routine procedure.”
“My… my mom was here.” The boy seemed somewhat shy, though he was much cleaner than his mother.
“She came back from playing cards around 7 PM and didn’t go out again. I was studying at home too. She even made me a late-night snack.”
Just as others wanted to ask more questions, Song Yuhang stopped them. “Fang Xin, collect his DNA sample.”
Fang Xin responded immediately, taking a saliva collection swab35 from the investigation kit and indicating for the boy to put it in his mouth. The boy complied without much hesitation, then handed it back.
Fang Xin carefully took it, labeled it properly, and placed it in an evidence bag.
Song Yuhang lowered her head again and walked back into the room. Using a flashlight, she picked up an exercise book from the floor and flipped through it cursorily36. It was filled with densely packed math problems interspersed with a few simple cartoon drawings – a whale, looking like a doodle a young girl might draw in class.
She handed the exercise book to Fang Xin. “Take this back for handwriting analysis.”
After inspecting the room, the group walked back out along the country path, stepping carefully.
Fang Xin was still puzzled, because the DNA comparison results for the fragmented embryonic tissue37 had come back, and no match was found in the gene bank.
This meant that anyone close to the girl could potentially be the perpetrator who violated her, causing her suicide.
Thinking this, she voiced her question. Song Yuhang smiled slightly. “No time of crime38. Did you notice those two sets of tire tracks?”
Following the direction she pointed, two clear sets of tire tracks were visible on the narrow country road, wide enough for only one passenger bus to pass.
She was also a trace evidence expert. “Those are…”
“Correct, bus tracks. Our police car couldn’t get through this terrible road because the chassis is too low, but a bus can. When we passed the village entrance just now, I noticed a dilapidated bus stop sign there. It said the last bus into the city is at 6 PM. The Wang family has no vehicle. It takes over two hours to drive here from the city bureau; they couldn’t possibly have walked that far on foot. While they might have borrowed a vehicle, that possibility is low as it would inevitably arouse suspicion. If we put in the effort to ask around, we could definitely find out.”
Fang Xin suddenly understood. Indeed, experience counts39.
Song Yuhang checked her watch. It was now 10:15 PM. She turned around. “Alright, let’s split into pairs and conduct interviews with the surrounding residents. See if we can find any new clues.”
“Hello, Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau. Have you seen this person?”
“Did she exhibit any unusual behavior recently?”
“Did she ever mention anything to you about not wanting to live anymore?”
“What was her personality usually like? Did she ever have suicidal thoughts?”
…
A dozen or so detectives split into several groups, knocking on doors and questioning dozens of farming households, large and small. They continued until the dew was heavy40 and the moon hung high among the treetops before returning to the village entrance.
Song Yuhang was the last one back. Dew had soaked her pant legs. She had taken off her uniform jacket and held it in her hand, revealing the firm muscles of her forearm.
They wouldn’t return to the city bureau tonight. Snores already filled the police car41.
She opened the sunroof, leaned back in her seat, and gazed up at the myriad stars42. Before the vastness of the universe, an individual’s solitude always felt infinitely magnified.
As she watched, she began to feel an illusion of merging with heaven and earth. Under the gentle caress of the evening breeze, the nerves that had been taut for days finally relaxed slightly, allowing her to slowly close her eyes amidst the tenderness of the cosmos and stars.
Until dawn broke.
Lin Yan got out of bed lightly. She restored the blanket to its original state, quickly43 shed the patient gown and changed into her regular clothes. She smoothed her fluffy curly hair and tied it into a ponytail at the back of her head, grabbed her bag, slipped on her flat shoes, and tiptoed along the wall towards the exit.
There weren’t many people at the triage desk in the early morning; the nurses were dozing off. Wearing sunglasses and a mask, Lin Yan passed smoothly through the corridor.
Bye-bye now44! She had no desire to stay in the hospital and endure her aunt’s daily delivery of “prison food”.
The chicken soup tasted good, but too much of it made her want to vomit. A few more times and she’d get sick even if she wasn’t already. Besides, the case wasn’t closed yet, and she couldn’t rest easy.
Just as she turned a corner, about to escape to freedom45, she ran headlong into a tall man walking hurriedly towards her. She had been looking back and crashed right into him.
Lin Yan stumbled back a few steps. The imaging film bag in the man’s hand scattered across the floor. Knowing that martial artists usually have a very stable stance, she was momentarily surprised by the force of the collision.
“Hey! Don’t you have eyes?!”
Eldest Miss Lin’s usual style was to preemptively blame others46.
The man crouched down to pick up the scattered imaging reports. He wore a mask, obscuring his face, but a few strands of white hair were visible at his crown, suggesting he wasn’t young.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Are you mute?” Lin Yan chattered on.
The man looked up at her, his eyes bloodshot47 from lack of rest.
A patient?
Just as the thought flashed through Lin Yan’s mind, the man had already gathered the scattered papers, tucked them under his arm, and headed towards Internal Medicine.
Tsk, what a pity. He was clearly a master48.
Lin Yan clicked her tongue lightly. Behind her came the roar of a young nurse: “Bed thirteen, what are you doing?! You’re not well yet, why are you out here?!”
Trouble, the pursuers49 had arrived.
The Eldest Miss zipped into the elevator and pressed the close button, casting a final flying kiss towards the gap at the little nurse’s face.
The butler’s car was already waiting downstairs. Lin Yan pulled open the door and got in. “Back to the villa.”
The clothes she’d worn for a day felt grimy. Her hair smelled of disinfectant. Lin Yan couldn’t stand it and decided to go back for a shower and change first.
On the way, she thought for a moment and texted Lin Ge about her discharge, so her aunt wouldn’t make a wasted trip.
After showering, she came out drying her hair and walked into the study. She took a yellowed photograph from a drawer.
It was Chunan.
Li Shiping had given her the photo. Fourteen years ago, Li Shiping had just started teaching first year high school, still an unknown50 minor chemistry teacher.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was, she was the last person Chunan saw before she died.
A week after the Gaokao, it was the day to return to school to pick up graduation photos. She hadn’t gone that day and had asked Chunan to pick hers up for her.
This is what Li Shiping had said—
“At that time, there weren’t enough third-year teachers, so I went to the general affairs office to help out. She arrived very late, picked up the photos, and left. I remember it clearly because it was already past closing time. If she hadn’t come soon, I would have gone home too.”
“She seemed to be in a hurry, walking quickly. The photo fell out of the file folder, and she didn’t even notice. By the time I chased after her, all I found was this.”
Lin Yan lowered her gaze, studying the photograph. The person in the photo had bright eyes and pearly teeth, her smile radiant. Years later, this photograph still struck the softest corner of her heart.
The pang of bitterness in that instant made her gradually clench her jaw.
Lin Yan closed her eyes, taking a long moment to relax her tense muscles.
She picked up the photo, clipped it into an album, locked it in the drawer, then sat down and tore off two sticky notes.
Actually, speaking of regrets, she did have them. Not just because she and Li Shiping shared a similar plight51, but more because she never had the chance to say “thank you” to her.
The early morning breeze lifted the window gauze, sunlight spilling through the French windows onto the folded paper cranes52.
Lin Yan stood up, took her uniform jacket from the hanger, and put it on, fastening the buttons one by one. Finally, she picked up her wide-brimmed hat, adjusted her attire in the mirror, and strode away.
LP: Re-translated on March 30, 2025
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