Lead
Tai’an Mental Hospital.
“Is she asleep?” Lin Yan looked inside through the gap above the iron door. She saw Aunt Chen lying on the bed, with an IV stand next to it. The bottle on top was already half empty.
The director followed beside her, speaking respectfully, “She took her medicine and went to sleep, Miss.”
“She willingly took the medicine?”
The doctor sighed, “We crushed the medicine and mixed it with her food to feed her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t take it.”
A worried expression clouded Lin Yan’s brow. “Does she still have a chance to recover?”
The director, in his forties, used to be the head of the psychiatric department in a large public hospital in China before joining here. He shook his head and said, “The chances are slim. Considering her age, we can only hope to delay the progression of her condition and reduce relapses.”
Lin Yan herself was considered half a doctor. Seven years ago, when she was found in China through someone’s connection, she was even worse than she is now, hiding under a bridge. It was impossible to tell her gender, let alone recognize her as a human.
Over the past seven years, she had exhausted every medical method, conventional and unconventional, physical and psychological, various cutting-edge medications, and advanced technologies. But Aunt Chen could only recover to a state of intermittent clarity and confusion. She was far from meeting the criteria for discharge and recovery from mental illness. As her age gradually increased, various complications followed, such as hypertension, heart disease, anemia, gastric ulcers, and so on.
In her youth, she had suffered a lot in search of Chu Nan, and in her old age, her body gradually deteriorated. Aging was something that humans couldn’t prevent no matter what.
Lin Yan’s heart trembled as she looked at her graying hair, saying, “Open the door. I want to go in and see her.”
The director hesitated, “Miss, it’s too dangerous—”
After all, she was a mentally ill patient.
“Open the door,” she said in an uncompromising tone.
The director’s scalp tingled, and he had no choice but to take the key and open the door for her.
Lin Yan walked in but suddenly remembered something. She took out a test tube from her shoulder bag and handed it to him.
“Find someone to do the test. Do it in our own laboratory. I want to see the test results within three days at the latest.”
The director received the test tube with both hands. “Yes, Miss.”
After the director left, he left the key with her.
There wasn’t even a chair in the psychiatric ward where the patient was kept. Lin Yan squatted down by the bed, surveying her face lined with wrinkles. She gently combed the white hair stuck to her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.
Perhaps due to the medication, Aunt Chen was sleeping soundly. As she continued to look at her, memories of her first visit to the Chen family over a decade ago inevitably came to mind.
Two people shared a worn-out umbrella and ran through the muddy path.
Mischievous neighborhood kids pointed and whispered behind them.
“Hey, isn’t that the child from the murderer’s family? How dare she come back.”
“Like mother, like daughter. The offspring of a mouse knows how to dig holes. Don’t be fooled by her good grades. She might be up to something. You’re not allowed to play with her, understand?”
“That’s right, let’s go, don’t look back. Go home and have dinner. If they hear you, they might come after you with a knife. You won’t even have a place to cry.”
Lin Yan wanted to run into the rain.
Chen Chu Nan firmly grabbed her sleeve. “Lin Yan, what are you doing?!”
“Are you just going to let them say those things about you?” Young Lin Yan had a righteous and fearless temperament, like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. Although she wasn’t close to Chen Chu Nan before, she was now wearing her clothes around her waist and naturally couldn’t stand idly by.
She was always clear about right and wrong. Whoever treated her well, she would treat them well in return.
Chen Chu Nan shook her head, closed the umbrella, and pushed open the old wooden door of her own home.
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“I’m used to it.”
There was no sign of sadness or distress on her face, as if she was simply remarking on the nice weather today. When she turned to call her mother, her tone became even more cheerful and lively.
She truly didn’t take those words to heart.
“Mom, I’m back.”
Mother Chen was cooking, with a coal stove placed next to the window, just sitting on the floor. She bent over, struggling as she held the ladle. Upon hearing her daughter’s voice, she turned around but was momentarily stunned.
“You’re back. And who is this—”
Since her father was imprisoned, no one had ever set foot in their small home.
Chen Chu Nan excitedly pulled Lin Yan’s arm and pushed her into the middle of the room. “Mom, this is Lin Yan, my classmate.”
Mother Chen nervously wiped her hands on her apron and greeted her, “Please sit, please sit, Lin Yan. I happen to be cooking. Stay and have some food.”
Lin Yan stood still, not moving or saying anything. On one hand, she was not accustomed to such enthusiasm, and on the other hand…
Mother Chen noticed her uneasy posture, her face pale, and Chen Chu Nan’s school jacket tied around her waist. She understood what was going on.
“Not feeling well? Girls feel like this the first time they have their period. Auntie will make you a drink with fermented rice and eggs, and the pain will go away.”
It was the first time twelve-year-old Lin Yan had heard the somewhat unfamiliar term “period.” A sense of unease swept over her face, as if it was something unforgivable, a great sin. She curled her toes uncomfortably.
She almost wanted to run away immediately.
But Chen Chu Nan, as if experienced, took her behind the curtain surrounding the bed.
“Mom, I’ll take her to change her clothes first.”
Mother Chen continued cooking and replied, “Bring out the new pants I bought for you last time. Let your friend wear them. I think you’re about the same height, so they should fit.”
Chen Chu Nan’s school uniform had been washed and worn countless times. Not only were the sleeves and pant legs too short, but they also had patches. On the other hand, Lin Yan was a pretty little girl. Although her new clothes were always dirtied from her fights, the sandals she wore were the latest model seen on television. Chen Chu Nan’s mother probably couldn’t afford them with her year’s salary.
Chen Chu Nan dug out the pants from the bottom of the wardrobe, which was actually several plastic boxes stacked together.
The packaging of the pants had not been opened. Lin Yan caressed them lovingly and gently tore open the plastic bag, releasing a strong scent of cheap denim.
Chen Chu Nan felt a slight reluctance but still carefully handed the pants to her. “Here, wear these.”
When she emerged from behind the curtain with a flushed face, several chairs arranged as a makeshift table were already set with food. This home was bare and empty, with no decent place to sit except for the bed. The walls were patched with newspapers where the paint had peeled off, while the other side was covered with Chen Chu Nan’s certificates and awards.
Chen Chu Nan sat cross-legged on the damp and cold floor, and Lin Yan slowly approached.
“I’ll give you another new one tomorrow.”
“No need, it’s fine as long as it’s clean.” Mother Chen placed the fermented rice and egg dish on the table and pulled out a cushion for her to sit on.
“Please sit, please sit. Our home is run-down, please don’t mind.”
The food on the table was also extremely simple: white congee with scattered vegetable leaves, a watery soup with only a few grains of rice, dark and salty pickled vegetables, and mantou buns that had been sitting for who knows how long, with mold spots on the white surface. The only thing that still looked somewhat appetizing was the steamed sweet potato.
Chen Chu Nan looked at her bowl of fermented rice and eggs, swallowing her saliva. “I can only eat this when I have my period each month.”
Lin Yan understood that this was an exceptionally precious food for the Chen family, especially for Chen Chu Nan.
Without sitting down, the young Lin Yan stuffed the discarded clothes into her backpack and turned to leave. “I’m going home.”
“Eh—” Chu Nan put down her chopsticks and chased after her, stuffing a thin white item into her hand.
“Isn’t your home far away? Remember to change it on the way. Don’t eat anything cold in the next few days. That’s what my mom said. She knows everything.”
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Lin Yan held the sanitary pad as if she were holding a hot potato. She wanted to throw it away but clenched it tightly in her hand. She pushed Chu Nan away and ran into the rain without looking back.
That sanitary pad was the lowest-quality thing Lin Yan had ever used in her life. It was neither soft nor absorbent, not even made of pure cotton. It felt a bit stuffy and uncomfortable. But she always remembered that pair of pants and the warmth of Chu Nan handing her the sanitary pad.
That memory lasted nineteen years.
Mother Chen had also transformed from a kind aunt who knew everything into her current state, a hazy and ghostly figure.
Fate can really play tricks on people.
Lin Yan forced a smile, lifted her head to hold back her tears, and saw that the IV bag above her was empty. She picked up another bottle from the tray at the head of the bed, carefully observed it under the faint moonlight, and hung it for her again.
Turning back, she pressed down the flipped-up tape on her hand one by one, tucked her arm into the blanket, adjusted the bedsheet, and then quietly left.
When she returned to the entrance of the villa, someone was already waiting for her.
The last time Song Yuhang waited for her like this, it was a night of pouring rain.
Now, it was a scene of snowflakes covering the mountains and plains.
She didn’t go in despite having a fingerprint, instead squatting next to the bustling sunflower nursery, smoking a cigarette. The streetlight cast a dim yellow halo on her, and a pile of cigarette butts lay at her feet.
Snowflakes piled up on her black hair, and she didn’t know how long she had been waiting. From a distance, she almost looked like a snowman.
Song Yuhang had spotted the car lights early and threw away her cigarette as she walked up to meet her. She opened the car door for her and even took an umbrella from the driver’s hand to hold it for her.
As soon as she spoke, the snow on her eyebrows and corners of her eyes melted, making her look as if she had been crying. Her nose was red from the cold.
“You’re back.”
She didn’t ask where she had been.
The driver took out the things they had bought together from the trunk, unable to put them down. Some were also placed on the back seat.
Lin Yan leaned down to pick it up, but Song Yuhang helped her up and handed her the umbrella.
“You hold it, I’ll come, I’ll come.”
She and the driver carried the things into the lobby, but when they turned back to lock the car and catch up, they found that the glass door of the lobby was locked from the inside.
She could enter through the exterior fingerprint lock, but this door inside was locked from the inside, and it was bulletproof glass. She really couldn’t get in.
Song Yuhang pounded on the door, and the hot breath turned into white mist on the glass. “Lin Yan, let me in. Listen to me explain, okay…”
Lin Yan came out of the cloakroom after changing her clothes, wearing a loose robe and barefoot on the floor. She held a fashion magazine in her hand, poured a glass of red wine from the wine cabinet, and walked to the window, closing the curtains one by one.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Song Yuhang sighed, leaned against the glass door, and took out a cigarette from her pocket to light it up.
When Lin Yan finished her drink and was about to take a shower, she glanced through the gap in the curtains. That person was squatting in the courtyard, playing with the snow on the ground and using a twig to write her name.
Lin Yan twitched her mouth, thinking how non-mainstream he was, rolled her eyes, and went into the bathroom.
After she finished soaking in the bath and applied a face mask, she poured another glass of red wine and headed upstairs. Song Yuhang was exercising in the yard, engaging in high leg runs and one-handed push-ups.
Well, she certainly had a lot of energy. It seemed like she wouldn’t freeze to death tonight.
Lin Yan carried the stemmed glass as she went upstairs and went straight to the attic, locking herself in the darkroom.
This was her secret base in the Qingshan Villa. The door was always locked, without any fancy technology. A super-grade C lock was the best anti-theft measure.
The darkroom was filled with photographs of various sizes, most of them related to Chen Chu Nan. Lin Yan turned on the desk lamp, holding the red wine as she approached the wall of clues.
There were still traces of her previous markings with a paint pen.
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In the center, a yellowed photograph of Chu Nan was pinned with a thumbtack.
The rest were scattered clues that didn’t form a coherent mind map. However, over the years, she had made some progress.
She looked at the black and white photo of Li Bin and walked up to tear it off.
This lead had come to an end.
So, who could have possibly come into contact with Chu Nan’s body at that time?
The person who reported the case?
Eyewitnesses?
The detective in charge of the investigation?
The assistant forensic examiner?
The intern forensic examiner?
The forensic technician?
……