Case Files Chapter 39: Campus Suspicions (1)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

The days of being overcome with boredom began again.

People were guilty of this: when they were busy, they would swear that they’d rather sit and stare off into space than work, but once they had free time again, they would feel that doing nothing made them feel uneasy all over. If they really had to sit and stare off into space everyday, then they would feel restless. At this time, even Wen JingHan was lazy and the weather was hot, so he didn’t have any motivation to go bother people. 

When the Special Cases Unit was busy, they would have more pressure on them than anyone else, but when they were idle, they would disrupt the entire General Bureau building, disliked so much that the other departments would forbid them from entering their offices to drink tea, chat, and eat sunflower seeds. You might not have anything to do, but we do!

At the end of August, universities began opening, one after another. Lu YunYang returned to school, and according to him, he was going to start a psychology elective this year. The course’s enrollment was full immediately, so they had to change the small class to a big class, and Lu YunYang dutifully went back to prepare for the lesson.

When Guan Jin saw the clock’s hour hand reach six o’clock, he rushed out of the General Bureau building. He really couldn’t stand it for a second longer, he’d rather go to jail! Just as he was about to find a place to soothe his suffering and have a good meal, his phone rang, “Hello.”

“Are you free tomorrow?” said a familiar voice.

“What for?” His tone was cold and bored.

“There’s a very authentic Viatnamese restaurant near my school, do you want to try it? Last time, I disturbed you at your place, so I should repay the favor.”

You’re really going to bring up last time? Guan Jin’s murderous intent emerged again, and he began to regret not getting rid of Lu YunYang at the time, since he had now become the largest blemish in his life! But he couldn’t say these things, and suppressing them made his insides hurt.

“Vietnamese cuisine? The flavors are so bland, what’s the point of eating it?!” He purposely found a way to be unhappy.

“Then what do you want to eat? Do you have any suggestions?”

Guan Jin thought for a moment. “There’s a French restaurant on Huaihai South Road, and it’s rumored that the head chef is a descendant of the head chef for France’s royal family.”

“I heard that that restaurant seems to be a misnomer.” Lu YunYang hesitated.

“It doesn’t matter. In terms of meals, I don’t care about how good they are, only about how expensive they are.”

“…That phrase sounds really familiar. Okay, we can go eat whatever you want to eat.” His tone contained overindulgence that even Lu YunYang himself didn’t notice. Unfortunately, Guan Jin, who was still immersed in his own world of how to kill him, didn’t understand his kindness at all.

*****

Nanhua University was a well-known school that was over a century old. The lush greenery on its paths and the towering trees that covered the sky showed its long history. Although the weather was still very torrid, standing under the trees’ canopy was very refreshing.

Guan Jin was still impassive, but in reality, he couldn’t help but look around. Universities were a place that he had never experienced neither in this life nor his previous life. As he watched the students that were full of life bustling around, something surged lightly in his heart. It wasn’t envy or yearning; it was the lament that from birth, people were destined to take different paths. 

Who could say whose life was happier, and who could know someone else’s helplessness and indescribable pain? He couldn’t remember that these were the lyrics to a song that the nuns from some church had taught to the children during his childhood, but at this moment, they emerged clearly in his mind.

Guan Jin shook his head forcefully; lately, he would become all sappy and artistic way too easily. Lin Bai had said that a normal person pretending to be artistic was equivalent to a senseless fool, so Guan Jin decided that he should probably continue to be a normal person. However, that so-and-so had made him come to the school to wait for him, telling him that it would be better if he could come out and get some exercise. 

How outrageous, was this the attitude to invite someone to dinner? They should be driving their luxury sports car and wait respectfully to pick the person up.

And, what was the point of making a school so big, there weren’t even any maps or signs. After walking around for a while to no avail, Guan Jin, who was getting irritable, finally couldn’t stand it and decided to ask someone for directions. This was one of the few times that he had asked for directions in his entire life, and it was for that damned sham of a psychic. Very well, he was going to remember this.

“Classmate, are you looking for something? Do you need help?”

Guan Jin turned around and saw a tall boy walking towards him. He was very handsome, and he looked like the campus idol that was full of youthful vitality.

“No.” Tch, why did they all have to be so tall for, it wasn’t like they were going to hold up the sky.

“You’re not from our school, right?”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t look like a university freshman, and you don’t seem to be familiar with the school. Also, it’s tradition for everyone to wear the school badge on the first week of a new semester.” He smiled and pointed at his own, dark blue badge.

Guan Jin glanced at him. “How do I get to the Xuezhi Building’s lecture hall?”

“Are you here to listen to Professor Lu’s lecture? Unfortunately, it’s almost over. Walk forward, take the first left, pass by a domed building, turn right, keep going, and you’ll see it.” The boy pointed ahead.

“Thanks.” Guan Jin stuck his hands into his pockets and continued to walk towards it.

“It just so happens that I was going to head towards the library near there, so I can take you there.” The boy was very enthusiastic.

“No need, I can tell left from right.” Guan Jin ignored the kid.

“It’s on my way anyway.” The boy wasn’t affected by Guan Jin’s cold rejection. “Right, my name is Qin Xiao ¹, how about you?”

I wouldn’t care even if your name was Qin Cry.

“Which school are you from? Do you major in psychology? Are you—— Hey, it’s a left turn.”

“I’ve decided to take a right first so we won’t go the same way.” Guan Jin left the boy, who was smiling stiffly, behind him, and directly turned right.

As he gazed at Guan Jin’s receding back, the boy wiped away his innocent smile and shrugged regretfully. What an interesting person, it’s unfortunate he’s not from this school.

Since he knew its location, Guan Jin randomly strolled a few circles and found the Xuezhi Building. He entered the lobby and immediately spotted the large poster: Application of Psychology in Organizational Behavior——Renowned Young Professor: Lu YunYang. 

Guan Jin suppressed the urge to rip it down and stomp on it, and followed the directions on it to the lecture hall. The two carved wooden doors were shut tightly, and Guan Jin pushed them, but they didn’t budge an inch. Were they locked? Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the doors shook and opened a crack. Guan Jin realized that the doors hadn’t been locked, it was just that the people standing in front of it had blocked it.

Was this really necessary? So many people came here on Saturday to listen to such a foolish lecture, and Guan Jin disdainfully squeezed in through the doors. I’d like to see just how you deceive these kids.

Lu YunYang, who was standing at the lectern, was wearing his rimless glasses, wearing semi-casual clothes, and smiling gently and kindly. “Psychology is based on a large amount of observations, experiments, and analyses, a scientific conclusion from rigorous, empirical research. It can be used in many fields, but when it’s used, it will be affected by the user’s subjective judgement since people have complex thoughts and behaviors that are difficult to predict accurately… In 1876…”

Guan Jin listened to him ramble on and looked at the students around him who seemed to be hypnotized as they stared at the person at the lectern. If these people saw his true, evil nature, then they probably wouldn’t worship him like this. Psychologists were all wolves in sheep’s clothing!

“Again, I’d like to thank everyone for coming. Thanks!”

What? It was over already?! Before Guan Jin could react, he was drowned in a roar of thunderous applause. He looked up and saw that Lu YunYang seemed to have already walked to the front door, but before Guan Jin could move, he was squeezed out the back door by the crowd, pushed all the way to the entrance of the corridor…

He strenuously squeezed out of the crowd, going against the current. His shoes were stepped on several times, and Guan Jin’s expectations for dinner went straight down to the negatives.

Lu YunYang raised his hand. “My apologies. Students, I’m opening an elective course this semester, so if you have any questions, you can ask me then. I have an appointment with someone, so I can’t stay and answer individual questions.” He smiled and escaped a group of girls. 

Although the girls were disappointed, they could only wave. One of them, a girl with long hair and wearing a purple dress, bit her lip, and she was a little pale.

Just then, he seemed to have seen Guan Jin, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone, and Lu YunYang wondered if it had just been a trick of the light.

Ah, how could my eyes have deceived me? Lu YunYang spotted a certain person who was standing under a tree in front of the building and seemed to be taking deep breaths. He grinned. “Did you come to listen to my lecture?”

Guan Jin, who was muttering “if I kill him then no one will be scammed anymore” under his breath, forced out a relatively murderous ‘smile.’ “No, I was waiting here the whole time. Why would I want to listen to your lecture?”

Lu YunYang nodded in understanding and said casually, “The collar of your t-shirt is crooked, and your white sneakers seem to have several fresh footprints on them.”

Guan Jin was speechless.

“But,” Lu YunYang looked Guan Jin up and down appreciatively, “this outfit is very fresh and comfortable. You’re like a gust of cool, summer breeze.”

A gust of hot wind slowly blew past them.

“Then you can stay here and cool off.” Guan Jin turned around to leave.

“Ah, how can I be cooled down if I leave you? Today, we’re going to eat French cuisine, don’t you need to change into something slightly more formal?”

“I’m going to eat dinner, not walk a catwalk.”

“It’s still quite early right now, why don’t we have an afternoon tea?”

“It’s already five, why would I want to have fucking ² afternoon tea.”

“Recently, my little sister really misses you. If you’re free, do you want to come over to my place?”

Guan Jin stopped and slowly turned around. “I just knew that pies didn’t fall from the sky [/efn_note]A Chinese proverb that’s similar to ‘there’s no such thing as free lunch’.[/efn_note]. You spend money all the time to treat me to big meals, but in reality, you don’t like doing so, so you’re purposely trying to anger me so that I’ll give up on eating with you.”

Lu YunYang widened his eyes in surprise and suddenly burst into laughter. “Hahaha, Little Jin, your way of thinking is so cute, it must be very tiring to try to figure out people in such a roundabout manner.”

Guan Jin was impassive, and he didn’t seem to feel that it was very funny.

“Ahem,” Lu YunYang quickly put on a serious expression, “I truly wanted to invite you, and I’m very honored that you’re willing to come. Pies do fall from the sky, and they’re very large pies, so just relax and catch them——” Before Lu YunYang could finish, he suddenly stopped.

Guan Jin’s scalp tingled, and he subconsciously wanted to look up. There was a dull thud. A black shadow had fallen from the sky and landed heavily on a patch of grass behind Lu YunYang.

It wasn’t a pie, it was a person.

 

“Ahhh!!!” After a few seconds of silence, the people around them began to scream in fear.