Case Files Chapter 52: Campus Suspicions (14)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

“You suspect Qin Xiao? Didn’t Lu YunYang conclude that his personality doesn’t match the murderer’s profile?” said Wen JingHan.

“You sure trust him a lot. He’s just a mortal, so he also messes up at times,” retorted Guan Jin.

“It sounds like there’s quite a lot of resentment.” Wen JingHan smiled. “Then do you guys have any good suggestions?”

“We think that since you want to make full use of Professor Lu, we should understand these people’s characteristics so we can gain a deeper understanding of their growth environment,” said Ding Ding.

“It seems that finding YunYang was indeed the right choice, everyone’s becoming more professional already. However, you’re still a little late, I’ve already asked Gu Xiang to go look into that. Since he’s working on another case right now, the progress is a little slow,” said Wen JingHan.

“I can go back and help him?” offered Lin Bai.

“No need. So far, I think that we’ve gained a lot from this undercover team, keep up the good work.”

*****

“I thought you would never come back.” Lu YunYang was shocked when he saw Guan Jin open the door and walk in.

“Hmph, your reverse psychology sucks. It’s not like I owe you anything, so why can’t I come back.” Guan Jin ignored him and went straight into the bedroom to change.

Lu YunYang continued to set the dishes on the table.

“You really are a sham of a psychic, you even knew that I was going to come back to eat today?” Guan Jin raised an eyebrow when he walked out and saw that there was clearly more than one portion of food on the table.

“I don’t have that ability. These past few days, I’ve made this much everyday so you could eat them whenever you came back,” Lu YunYang said lightly and gently.

…Guan Jin was defeated once again.

“Right, Ding Ding informed me that Tang ZiYou is going to go to the bookstore on Zhongshan Street to buy some books this Saturday afternoon. You should go early and wait there, pretend that it’s a chance encounter, and coax her to say something,” said Guan Jin while he ate.

Lu YunYang smiled. “What a boring ploy.”

“It would also work if you have a creative idea.”

“Such as finding someone to pretend to be a mugger, and then I swoop in and save the damsel in distress.”

“You’re supposed to obtain evidence, not go on a blind date. And, that’s even more exaggerated and implausible!”

*****

Tang ZiYou wandered between the bookshelves, and she was holding a thick book in her hands. She hesitated for a long time, seemingly wanting to put it down.

“Excuse me, I want to get a book up there.”

Tang ZiYou hastily stepped back and looked up. “Sorry—— Teacher Lu!”

Lu YunYang looked at her and smiled. “Are you a student from Nanhua?”

Tang ZiYou nodded vigorously. “I really didn’t expect to see you here, do you come here often to buy books?”

“Occasionally. The book you’re holding is Psychology and Life, a classic text about psychology. Are you interested in the subject?”

“Mn…” Tang ZiYou hesitated for a moment. “Yes, after I heard your lecture, I felt inspired.”

“Getting a student interested in a subject after listening to a lecture is a great achievement.”

Tang ZiYou was swayed a little by Lu YunYang’s smile, and she looked down shyly, smiling. “I was lucky to be able to listen to your lecture.”

“Last time, a lot of students still had questions for me, but unfortunately, I didn’t have time. I hope I didn’t disappoint everyone.”

“Yeah, I had a question, but there were too many people.”

“Oh? Since you’ve run into me, you shouldn’t let go of this opportunity.”

Tang ZiYou averted her gaze. “It’s not that big of a deal, and I’ve already resolved it.”

“That’s good. I’m going to go sit there for awhile. If you need my suggestions for choosing books, I’ll be glad to help.” Lu YunYang walked to the rest area and sat down at a table.

“Are you an idiot, she would’ve talked if you just asked her a few more things!” Guan Jin’s furious voice sounded from his earpiece.

“Little Jin, you still don’t believe me? I can handle a little girl.”

“Arrogant!”

Sure enough, Lu YunYang hadn’t been sitting there for very long when Tang ZiYou walked up to him. “Teacher, I have a question to ask you.”

“I’d be happy to help.”

“Why would someone’s attitude or behavior towards you suddenly change drastically?”

“Is it a good change or a bad change?”

“Neither, they’re just acting different… I don’t know how to describe it.”

“There are two possibilities. One, they have some personal problems, so they have mood swings, and will suddenly change. Or, they think that you did some shocking thing, so they suddenly have a different view of you.”

Tang ZiYou nodded thoughtfully. “It shouldn’t be my problem… so it’s theirs?”

“If you can give some more details, it would be very helpful to my analysis.”

“No need.” The pitch of Tang ZiYou’s voice rose a little. “It’s just some trivial things between classmates. You’ve already answered the doubts I had, thank you. I won’t disturb you any longer, I’ll get going now. Bye.”

Lu YunYang watched Tang ZiYou’s back recede and narrowed his eyes.

“That’s it?” Guan Jin was still angry. “Who said you could handle a little girl.”

“Tang ZiYou is very stubborn and cautious, so it’s impossible to get her to say something she doesn’t want to say, and it might make her even more withdrawn. However, I know that her so-called problem definitely isn’t a trivial matter, and now she’s even more confused and even a little worried.”

“Who’s she talking about? One of the members of that club, or someone in her own friend group?”

“I don’t know.”

“Useless.”

“Hey, don’t criticize me based on police standards.”

*****

Tang ZiYou pushed open the door to her dormitory with a heavy heart. Jiang Nan and Ding Ding weren’t there, and she only saw Lu MinMin tearing open an envelope.

Tang ZiYou greeted her and sat down at her desk to begin reading her newly bought book.

“Ah!” A scream startled Tang ZiYou.

“MinMin, don’t be so easily frightened.”

“ZiYou…” Lu MinMin’s voice was a little panicked, and she pointed at the letter she had thrown on the floor. “Look at that letter, it’s blackmail…”

Tang ZiYou was shocked, and when she leaned down, picked it up, and looked at it carefully, her expression immediately changed.

“We’re back!” The door was kicked open, and Ding Ding and Jiang Nan rushed in, holding a lot of food. “I’m so tired.”

Tang ZiYou quickly hid the letter behind her back. “You bought this much food?”

“Yup, it’s a Saturday, so let’s have some fun together~” Jiang Nan piled the food onto a table.

Ding Ding keenly sensed that the original atmosphere in the room had been very strange, and she saw Lu MinMin’s ashen face and that Tang ZiYou was only pretending to be calm.

“ZiYou, we have your favorite fried chicken! Tada!” Ding Ding brought out a paper bag and raised it in front of her.

“Is that so, great, haha…” Tang ZiYou turned around. “I’m going to go wash my hands first.”

“Come on, let’s feast!” The girls huddled together and began eating harmoniously.

Ding Ding peeked at the table. Just then, Tang ZiYou had stuffed something under the desk lamp.

*****

Li Qiang returned to his dormitory, and a student council member from his class came in. “Li Qiang, here’s the mail for your dorm. Right, there’s a letter for you.”

Li Qiang frowned and took the mail, looking at the names on the envelopes. There was an ordinary letter addressed to him, and the sender had signed their name as “an old friend”.

Who was this old-fashioned, still writing letters like this. Li Qiang scoffed and ripped open the envelope, taking out a piece of folded white paper. On it was some printed text. It wasn’t very long, and as Li Qiang read it, his face gradually paled.

He stood up and paced around the dormitory for a bit before quickly snatching the letter from the desk, tore it into pieces, and flushed it down the toilet. Then, he sat on his chair by himself, biting his fingernails, and felt very conflicted.

*****

In the dead of night, the dormitory was pitch-black.

After Ding Ding confirmed that everyone in the room was breathing evenly and were asleep, she quietly got out of her bed and fumbled around on Tang ZiYou’s desk. Sure enough, that object was still there.

Ding Ding fished out a piece of paper, quietly opened the door, and used the light in the hallway to read it.

On it was written:

[Old friends, although your shared secret has been exposed, I don’t think you want your teachers and fellow classmates to know about it, right? Think about it, someday, if they hear about how you all discussed how to conceal a life-threatening recording, then what would it be like? Would they call you all murderers, morally corrupt, or crazed lunatics?

No, no, don’t worry, I only want to have a chat with you. Tomorrow night at eleven p.m., come to the west side of the second floor of the laboratory building, and perhaps you can get what you want.]

Ding Ding gasped and quickly used her phone to take a picture of the letter before sneaking back to her dormitory, placing it back, and getting back into bed.

Who was that letter for? Tang ZiYou? Lu MinMin? Or both of them?

*****

On Monday morning, Ding Ding asked Lu MinMin in surprise, “MinMin, how come you didn’t lie in bed after you woke up today?”

“Oh, I couldn’t fall asleep,” Lu MinMin said tiredly.

“The drama club has a show tonight, do you want to go watch?” asked Ding Ding.

“Okay, let’s go,” Lu MinMin suddenly said energetically.

Ding Ding sighed in relief; it seemed that she wasn’t that stupid.

*****

“Well done! This is a major discovery.” Wen JingHan looked at the photo she had sent him. “Sure enough, the killer is rather arrogant and will even continue to kill people under this situation.”

“From this letter, we can tell that this person is very careful. It’s printed, not handwritten, and the tone is arrogant and has an air of superiority. They have these people in the palm of their hand, and they’re delusional and shows flair. They used two no’s in a row tauntingly, which highlights their disdain. The wording shows that they have received high-level education, and they know how to use their opponent’s weaknesses against them,” analyzed Lu YunYang.

“They seem to be an outsider, but how do they know these people’s secrets so clearly?” asked Guan Jin.

“Whether they’re an outsider or not, I think that the possibility of them having a recording is low. At the time, it was in the dead of night and it happened very suddenly, so how could there have been an outsider present? If it was one of them, who would be ready to record immediately, and once the recording is exposed, they’ll also face the consequences, so why would they do this?” Ding Ding said, “That’s why I think this is just a bluff to bait them.”

“Ding Ding’s analysis makes sense. Perhaps this is what Wang TianPeng was looking for at the time or the reason as to why Cheng JiaoJiao went to the laboratory building that late at night,” agreed Wen JingHan.

“Thus, I’m glad Lu MinMin and Tang ZiYou aren’t planning to show up there tonight. I think that Tang ZiYou is very smart and Lu MinMin is very timid, so they were able to thwart the murderer,” said Ding Ding.

“I admit you’re making progress, but wouldn’t it be best if they did go?” suggested Wen JingHan.

“Huh?”

“Beat them at their own game,” said Guan Jin.

“Right, this way, we could lure out the person behind everything! But, if we did this, would Tang ZiYou and Lu MinMin be in danger? What if we tell them directly and ask them to cooperate with us?”

“You’re still a little inexperienced. How do you know the person who sent this letter wasn’t written by Tang ZiYou or Lu MinMin and sent to the other?” asked Lu YunYang.

“Then… How come nothing I do seems right?!” Ding Ding felt very frustrated.

“You did very well, let’s just go along with this.” Wen JingHan said, “Tang ZiYou and Lu MinMin weren’t very active participants, so if the killer was going to make a move, it seems that they should have other people ahead on their list. At the time, who was responsible for luring Gao Yun out?”

 

Everyone said in unison, “Li Qiang!”