Chapter 7 6. Lurking evil spirits

The cursed doll was found under Niu Fang's pillow. At that time, several people had just woken up. Niu Fang went to the bathroom first. Ji Ruxuan, who was already dressed, sat on Lin Ying's bed and waited for Niu Fang to come out, so she could go in and wash her face and brush her teeth. In order not to let herself have time to think wildly, Ji Ruxuan reached out and touched under the pillow on the upper bunk where Niu Fang slept - she knew that Niu Fang had always had the habit of putting novel books under the pillow, so she wanted to see what Niu Fang was reading recently Book, if Niu Fang doesn't come out again, just flip through a couple of pages to pass the time.In the end, she did touch a book, but there was a soft thing next to it. Ji Ruxuan didn't think much about it, and took it down when she took the book.

When she saw clearly what she was holding in her hand, Ji Ruxuan was stunned. "Curse the doll!" Lin Ying on the side took the lead in screaming in a low voice, awakening Ji Ruxuan's consciousness, and quickly turned the doll over, only to see this line of small red characters: Niu Fang: Ding Mao was born when the moon was ugly and ugly People, Room 714, Building 3, Women's Dormitory, South Campus, University of Science and Technology. Immediately, it was as if a basin of cold water had been poured on their bodies, the two of them trembled in unison, and looked at each other.

"How come—" Lin Ying was halfway through speaking, when she heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, she hurriedly urged Ji Ruxuan: "Put it away, don't let her see it." Ji Ruxuan hurriedly stuffed the doll into her pocket, pretending to look at the cover of the novel. The title of the book is written by Shi Kang.Ji Ruxuan vaguely remembered that she seemed to have read this book before, but she didn't have any specific impressions. "What class is this morning?" Niu Fang asked as she walked over, but she didn't notice anything unusual about the two of them.

"Graphics and image processing, it seems." Ji Ruxuan said absently, "Fangfang, do you have anything under your pillow?" "Huh?" Niu Fang frowned. She probably hasn't seen that doll yet, thinking this way, Ji Ruxuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, I can't find my hairpin. I was lying on your bed reading a book yesterday. It might have fallen on it, so I'm asking." "Find it yourself." Niu Fang said listlessly.Since Xiaoxiao's accident, she seemed to be a different person. She was not interested in anything. She often sat on the bed in a daze, and couldn't hear her a few times.Even after everyone went to bed at night, Ji Ruxuan heard her crying secretly under the quilt.

In this regard, Ji Ruxuan thought that Niu Fang was not strong enough, or that she was not mature enough to deal with and control her emotions. She would not be more sad than herself and Lin Ying. "I won't go to class in the morning, you guys go, you're going to be late." Niu Fang climbed onto the bed and said, reaching out to Ji Ruxuan for the book.After giving it to her, he lay under the quilt and looked. "I don't want to go either." Lin Ying said, "No roll call anyway." "I don't care about you, I'm leaving." Qiu Suling walked out of the dormitory, Ji Ruxuan secretly winked at Lin Ying, "Let's go together, you forgot that Song Jia asked you for homework."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. Then you wash your face quickly, or you will be late." Ten minutes later, when the two of them reached the bottom of the building, Ji Ruxuan took out the doll and looked at it again and again. It was the same as the doll she found on Liu Xiaoxiao's bed before. The only difference was the words written on the back, but the handwriting seemed They are very similar, they are both small and elegant, are they really written by the same person? Ji Ruxuan was secretly speculating, but Lin Ying had already said, "This won't be... what kind of warning is it? Thinking of Xiaoxiao... I, I'm so scared," Lin Ying grabbed Ji Ruxuan's hand hand, "Xuanxuan, Niu Fang won't be like Xiaoxiao—"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Ji Ruxuan interrupted her harshly, but she still had no idea—Xiaoxiao had received this doll not long after she received it, and now, the same doll appeared under Niu Fang's pillow, of course It's not going to be a good thing.The more Ji Ruxuan thought about it, the more frightened she became, "We'd better call the police." After some hesitation, she said. Lin Ying was stunned and said, "Will the police care about such a thing?" "I mean, tell the police who are investigating the truth of the fire, isn't the last doll in their hands? They should take this situation seriously."

Lin Ying nodded. "I'll listen to you." Ji Ruxuan thought about it, and called Jiang Binger first, explained the situation, and asked for her opinion. "Okay, you guys bring that, I'll wait for you in the team." Jiang Binger said without thinking. After hanging up the phone, the two of them drove to the Municipal Public Security Bureau by car—the headquarters of the Criminal Police Detachment was located in the Municipal Bureau. They first found Jiang Binger, and under her guidance, they met Gao Fei, the team leader in charge of Liu Xiaoxiao's case. I have heard of his name: Xu You City Criminal Police Detachment Captain, a well-known local detective, and several homicide cases that occurred in the Institute of Technology in the past two years were solved by him.

After getting the doll from Ji Ruxuan, Gao Fei took a rough look at it first, then opened the drawer, took out the doll he got from Liu Xiaoxiao after the fire last time, compared them together, and found that the two dolls were exactly the same, so he turned to the back, carefully Look at the two lines of small red characters on the back of each of them. "The handwriting is very similar, and it can basically be concluded that it was done by one person. This clue is very important, Jiang Binger, you go and call the members of the task force and wait for me at the small meeting."

"Okay." Jiang Binger responded and went out. Gao Fei smiled again and looked at Ji Ruxuan and Lin Ying who were sitting on the sofa. "Thank you for providing this information. It may be very helpful to solve the case. On behalf of our police force, I thank you again." This is undoubtedly a eviction order.Lin Ying still wanted to know something, but before she had enough courage to ask, she was dragged away by Ji Ruxuan.Of course, I will not forget to say goodbye to others before leaving. "Are we going back like this?" Lin Ying said unwillingly after going out.

"Your questions are related to the privacy of the case, so people won't answer them." Ji Ruxuan said, "I'll call Miss Xiaobing later and ask her." "Is that the girl just now, Jiang Xiaolou's cousin?" Ji Ruxuan nodded. "Then... what about Niu Fang? Don't tell her?" "Of course, don't tell anyone for now." "Yeah. It's just that I'm worried about Niu Fang..." Lin Ying looked at Ji Ruxuan worriedly and whispered. "Don't worry, as long as we try our best to take good care of her, nothing will happen." Ji Ruxuan comforted her, thinking in her heart, no matter what, the tragedy of Liu Xiaoxiao must not be repeated on Niu Fang, definitely not. After that, the two of them stopped talking, just bowed their heads and hurried on their way.When approaching the station, Lin Ying suddenly asked an irrelevant question: "Xuanxuan, when are you and Jiang Xiaolou going to get married?" "Ah? This...maybe after graduation." Lin Ying smiled slightly. "I'll be your bridesmaid then." "Hehe, no problem." Ji Ruxuan understood that Lin Ying deliberately wanted to find a relaxing topic so that the atmosphere would not be so dead; at the same time, Ji Ruxuan guessed that she probably wanted to relax, even if it was a temporary relaxation. After all, since Liu Xiaoxiao passed away, they have had too little happiness.And after going back, he will face a more tense issue: Niu Fang's safety. Ji Ruxuan suddenly felt that she was a little powerless.Over there, Lin Ying returned to the sad reality, and she sighed in a low voice: "Unfortunately, Xiaoxiao can't attend your wedding..." On the way back to school by car, Ji Ruxuan kept thinking about the cursed doll. Could its appearance really bring misfortune to the cursed?Liu Xiaoxiao seems to be a typical example, but Ji Ruxuan already knew that the cause of the fire was actually that Xiaoxiao's clothes were painted with red phosphorus and then set alight... In other words, the curse doll is actually just a "scare" puppet, There is no mysterious power that can harm people at all. Behind this series of strange events, there must be a planner and implementer. This person uses the legend of cursed dolls to confuse everyone's attention and cover up his (her) crimes.But is this really the case?What exactly is this person's purpose?Ji Ruxuan originally guessed that he (she) must have had a grudge against Liu Xiaoxiao, so she painstakingly created the fire. As a result... He (she) had obviously achieved his goal, but now why did he (she) extend his claws to Niu Fang again? You don't have any grudges against Niu Fang, do you? Ji Ruxuan couldn't think of an answer no matter what.She just felt deeply that this matter was not over yet.If Niu Fang becomes the second victim, will there be a third or fourth? No, this can't be allowed to happen!Ji Ruxuan gritted her teeth secretly, she must not let Liu Xiaoxiao's tragedy happen again! The car staggered out of the urban area and onto a dirt road in the field.Ji Ruxuan leaned over the window and looked out, only to see golden rapeseed flowers and green wheat seedlings planted everywhere on both sides of the road, extending far into the distance beyond the sight. Ji Ruxuan suddenly remembered that the last time she took this bus back to school was on Liu Xiaoxiao's birthday, and it was also here. Liu Xiaoxiao was still clamoring to get off the bus to play in the fields. It had been a long time, but the people at that time were gone. The world is endless, but life is short. After more than an hour, the car finally arrived at the stop. The two got off the car and walked towards the school gate. Because it was almost noon, the 300-meter-long straight road directly opposite the school gate was very lively at the moment. Students walked on the road in small groups, most of them in a hurry, as if they were in a hurry. There are many farmers selling fresh fruits with baskets on the side of the road, yelling in a local dialect that almost no one can understand. Their customers are basically female students, and they are not very beautiful, and the figure is not very good. .Beautiful women would not buy such cheap fruits on the side of the road, besides, someone would always buy them for them. "Xuanxuan, are you hungry? Let's buy something to eat." When approaching the school gate, Lin Ying suddenly suggested. "Okay, there are so many people in the cafeteria, I don't bother to line up." "Well, do you eat that—" Lin Ying pointed to a tent selling snacks on the left side of the road. Ji Ruxuan took a closer look and saw a line of Chinese characters printed on the top of the tent: Yimeng Mountain Specialty Snacks. Although she has been in the South Campus for some time, Ji Ruxuan has never tasted these roadside snacks, so she doesn't know what the so-called "Yimeng Mountain specialty snacks" are.So he said "whatever", and walked over with Lin Ying. "Do you eat multigrain pancakes?" The busy woman in front of the iron stove raised her head and asked the two of them in a dialect similar to Henan dialect. "Well, two copies." Lin Ying said. Behind the middle-aged woman, a fat middle-aged man who is probably her husband, with a white apron around his waist, is sitting on a small bench with a big horse, holding a magazine in his hands in a leisurely manner. Look. "Get to work, don't read!" the woman yelled at her, and the man closed the magazine angrily, put it on the small bench, and stood up.Ji Ruxuan happened to be standing in front of the bench, and glanced down at the cover of the magazine. The background image was of a nearly naked girl, her vital parts were blocked by horizontally arranged text, and the line of text covering her chest read: Why is a female college student Became the plaything of the lecherous bureau chief, the following is: a one-night affair with the little nanny.The title of the magazine is "Wrong Love", and it is also marked in small print: male version. It's bad taste.Ji Ruxuan shook her head, and suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind: "Boss, I want a pancake." Ji Ruxuan turned her head quickly, but what she saw was a woman she didn't know.This person appeared to be in his thirties, wearing glasses and a beige women's suit. He was probably a teacher.Sure enough, Lin Ying called her "Mr. Zhu" very kindly—"Mr. Zhu, are you here to buy something to eat too?" "Ah, I have something to do in the city. It's convenient to buy something to eat on the way." Teacher Zhu said with a smile. However, when she accidentally saw Ji Ruxuan standing next to Lin Ying, her smile froze suddenly, and she was taken aback. After a few seconds, he stammered, "You... why are you here?" "Me?" Ji Ruxuan looked at her in surprise, and suddenly felt that her face was somewhat familiar. "Oh sorry, I got the wrong person." Teacher Zhu hurriedly avoided her gaze, and there seemed to be a trace of fear in his panicked expression.She is afraid of herself? At this time, the multigrain pancakes were finally out of the pan, and Teacher Zhu didn't care about queuing up. After asking the boss for his own share, he hurriedly paid and left without even saying hello to Lin Ying. "What's wrong with her?" Lin Ying looked at Teacher Zhu who had left, and then at Ji Ruxuan. Ji Ruxuan shook her head and asked, "Do you know her?" "Well, I'm from my hometown. I teach electronics. I've been in this school for many years." After hearing this, Ji Ruxuan nodded thoughtfully, and turned her head to look at the teacher's back, just as she turned her head to look at herself. The moment their eyes met, she immediately turned her head and walked away at a faster pace. She never looked back along the way. . From the appearance, the miscellaneous grain pancake looks a bit like the chive buns that the northerners often eat, but there are a few more ingredients, including leeks, vermicelli, diced carrots and a small amount of dried shrimps. The taste is not bad, but a bit spicy. Ji Ruxuan never cared about the image of a lady, she started eating and munching on the road - she was really hungry.When I returned to the dormitory, I just finished eating a piece of cake. As soon as Ji Ruxuan stepped into the dormitory, Jiang Binger called.She glanced at Niu Fang who was reading a novel, walked out of the dormitory quickly, and went to the corridor to answer the phone. Jiang Bing'er told her straight to the point that the police are currently verifying the handwriting on the back of the doll, and the first batch of comparisons are the handwritings of everyone in their dormitory. "Don't forget that when you first arrived at the police station, you filled out an information registration form, using the words on it," Jiang Binger said. "As a result, you, Lin Ying, Qiu Suling, and that person named Zhang Jiaming were all excluded from the first batch of suspicions." "Where's Niu Fang?" Ji Ruxuan asked hurriedly after being taken aback. Jiang Bing'er sighed, "This is a secret among secrets. I didn't want to tell you, but I still slipped my mouth. You must keep it secret. If it is revealed, I will be punished. It will be troublesome if it affects the process of solving the case." Yes. You should understand the stakes, right?" Ji Ruxuan had guessed something, took a deep breath, and said, "Don't worry, Miss Xiaobing, I will keep it a secret!" "Well, listen carefully: Niu Fang may be the one who wrote on the back of the cursing doll..." Although she was mentally prepared, when Ji Ruxuan actually learned the truth, she still felt a strong shock, and the fingers holding the phone began to tremble.How could it be Niu Fang?How is this possible? "Don't think about it. I just said that it might be Niu Fang, because the writing on the back of the doll is very similar to the handwriting she wrote on the registration form, but this is only the result of naked eye identification. We are now contacting graphology experts for formal identification. , everything can only be judged after the appraisal results come out, so you haven't taken it too seriously for the time being." Ji Ruxuan finally restrained her emotions temporarily, and said softly: "I understand this, but if it's really Niu Fang, why did she write her name on the doll? What does this mean? I really can't figure it out." "We can't figure it out either, so let's wait for the handwriting identification results to come out. I guess it will only take a few days. Anyway, you know about it. I'll call you and tell you the results." "Well, thank you Miss Xiaobing." "No need." Jiang Binger said with a smile "hehe", "I told you so much inside information, just want you to pay more attention, after all, no one knows what kind of conspiracy this is, and you live in that room In the dormitory, you have to be careful when dealing with them every day. In addition, if there is any situation, call me immediately, remember?" Ji Ruxuan thanked her again, hung up the phone, lay down on the railing of the corridor, and stared at the distant sky in a daze. How could it be Niu Fang?No, the police must have made a mistake, it couldn't have been her, otherwise there would be no explanation for the fact that the doll had her name on it.Ji Ruxuan kept comforting herself like this, and suddenly, a terrible conjecture flashed in her mind: what if Niu Fang let herself discover that doll on purpose? ——She wrote her name on the doll, and then let herself discover it on purpose, so she became the person to be dealt with by the "conspirator" as a matter of course, not the object of suspicion.In fact, she was the real culprit behind the conspiracy to create the fire and harm Liu Xiaoxiao... Ji Ruxuan shook her head repeatedly, trying to get rid of this thought.Whether it's from sisterhood or criminal motives, she doesn't want to believe that Niu Fang is such a terrible person.Then, it's better not to think about it, just like Jiang Bing'er said, let's wait for the results of the handwriting identification to come out. Withdrawing from her contemplation, Ji Ruxuan heard a singing voice coming from the dormitory behind her: "...too many troubles, the future is too far away, why don't you play with me in the world..." The singing is really good, the biggest trouble in life is always having too many troubles. After staying in the corridor for a while, just as he was about to enter the dormitory, Lin Ying came out to greet him. "Was that call from your police sister just now?" Just as Ji Ruxuan nodded, she was dragged to the corner of the stairs and asked impatiently, "What did she tell you?" "Oh, it's nothing important." Ji Ruxuan lied, she had just promised Jiang Binger to keep it a secret, and besides, even if she told Lin Ying the truth, it would only increase her troubles, and nothing else would help. "She said that the police attached great importance to the clues we provided and were investigating. She asked us to pay attention to safety." "Is that all? No more?" "That's roughly what it means." Lin Ying bit her lip and said softly, "What about Niu Fang? Will the police send someone to protect her?" "How is this possible? It's just a doll plus our deduction." Ji Ruxuan said, "Besides, the police can't protect her 24 hours a day, can they? When will the protection last?" "Then what should I do? I'm so worried..." Lin Ying frowned. Ji Ruxuan murmured, "Let's do it by ourselves. I think that no matter where we are during the day, there are a lot of people, so nothing will happen. The main thing is that at night, we are a little startled when we sleep, so we should hurry up and watch if there is any movement. What we can do That's the only way, I can't stay up all night and just look at her, otherwise she will be suspicious. Besides, it may not be true that something will happen. " Lin Ying nodded: "It's better to be careful, just like Xiaoxiao's incident, I would have known that we would not sleep that night..." Ji Ruxuan sighed softly: "The matter is over, don't mention it again, lest everyone be sad." Lin Ying wiped her reddened eyes with the back of her hand, and said, "I'll tell Lao Qiu about the situation later. It's better to have more people in this kind of thing, and she's the most frightened when she sleeps. As for that Zhang Jiaming...do you want it?" Tell her?" "Her..." Ji Ruxuan thought for a while, "It's better not to mention it." "Well, I thought so too." Lin Ying took a step forward and said in a softer voice, "To be honest, I don't trust her very much." It turned out that Qiu Suling was not prejudiced against her, even Lin Ying was the same.Ji Ruxuan thought, it might be because she just moved here and they are not familiar with each other, and it can be said bluntly that she moved here at the wrong time. "Hey, what are you two doing here?" The sudden voice startled the two of them, and when they turned around, it was a girl named Zhang Qianqian from the same class who was standing panting at the top of the stairs, she seemed to have just gone upstairs. ——The dormitory where she lives is also on this floor. "Xuanxuan, why didn't I get through when I called you just now?" "Just now? Oh, I'm answering the phone. What's the matter?" "Last time I borrowed your book. After reading it, I want to return it to you. I can't find anyone." Zhang Qianqian opened the messenger bag on her back and took out a novel book with a black cover. The title of the book is "Scorpion Forest". , Ji Ruxuan bought it casually when she was visiting a bookstore two weeks ago, just because the cover looked beautiful; as for the content, she was borrowed by Zhang Qianqian who came to the dormitory before she had time to read it. Thinking about it, it has been more than a week It's a long time ago.If she hadn't come to return the book, Ji Ruxuan would never have remembered this matter. "Why are you in such a hurry, let me let you go." Ji Ruxuan said politely. "There are borrows and repayments. It's not difficult to borrow again. Besides, I have something to do with my family. I'm taking a good leave. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I won't be back until two weeks later." The three chatted casually, Zhang Qianqian said goodbye and left, Ji Ruxuan and Lin Ying returned to the dormitory together.As soon as I entered the door, I saw Qiu Suling leaning on the upper bunk bed "resting her mind with her eyes closed". Since Xiaoxiao's accident, she has often been like this, staying still for a long time, and talking significantly less than before.Niu Fang was still reading, reading that book, but her posture changed from sitting to lying down, and she didn't even lift her head when she saw the two of them coming in.The whole dormitory thus appeared lifeless. Zhang Jiaming was not in the dormitory, and Ji Ruxuan felt that she seemed to be unable to see anyone recently, and she didn't know what she was busy with. Climbing up to her upper bunk and leaning against the folded quilt, Ji Ruxuan flipped through the book she just brought back with nothing to do, just after reading the author's introduction, suddenly, a piece of paper slipped out from the middle of the book, Half of it just fell into Ji Ruxuan's hands. It was a piece of blue letter paper. At first Ji Ruxuan thought it was a bookmark or something, she took it out curiously, and there was a sentence written on it with a blue ballpoint pen: Ruxuan, be careful of the people around you. Ji Ruxuan was stunned. What does this sentence mean?Did Zhang Qianqian write it to herself?Ji Ruxuan quickly picked up the phone and dialed Zhang Qianqian's number. After the call was connected, she asked straight to the point: "Qiqian, is there a piece of paper in the book you just returned to me?" "Paper?" Zhang Qianqian sounded very surprised. "I don't remember, what paper?" It seems that this matter has nothing to do with her.After thinking about it, Ji Ruxuan asked again: "Then, have you lent the book to others?" "No, it has been placed under my pillow after reading it, what's wrong, is it damaged somewhere?" "No, no." Ji Ruxuan lied casually, perfunctory. After hanging up the phone, her eyes returned to the inexplicable letter paper, and she read it over and over again. There was only that line of words, and the rest were blank. The characters are written with a ballpoint pen, each character is about the size of a fly, and the font is regular, as if a primary school student wrote it stroke by stroke, so it is impossible to judge the gender of the writer, at least Ji Ruxuan herself does not have this ability.Then, let’s work on the literal meaning—be careful of the people around you, Ji Ruxuan began to wonder, who does this “people around you” refer to?Is it Lin Ying, Qiu Suling, Niu Fang, Zhang Jiaming, or Jiang Xiaolou or his cousin?These are the people around me.However, Ji Ruxuan felt that there was no one worthy of "care" among them, so who was it? This is a question of imagination and guesswork that will not lead to any results.Ji Ruxuan could only give up thinking in the end.However, she faintly felt that bad things seemed to have spread to herself.Is that true? It's 2:10 in the afternoon, and there are still 20 minutes before class time.People walked by outside the dormitory door from time to time, and they were all girls going to class.Now is the rush hour for classes. Because she didn't want to be asked about Liu Xiaoxiao anymore, Ji Ruxuan didn't rush to class and wanted to wait a little longer, as long as she wasn't late anyway. At this time, Niu Fang suddenly closed the book, got out of bed and asked loudly while putting on her shoes, "Are you going to class?" Ji Ruxuan looked at her in surprise. "I'll go, wait a little longer, and leave in ten minutes." "Okay." Niu Fang put on her shoes, sat on the outside of the bed and was dazed. "I won't go in the afternoon, I have something to do." Lin Ying said suddenly. "What's the matter?" Ji Ruxuan asked. "Uh...a fellow villager came to visit me from downtown. I want to accompany her around. Anyway, it's a self-study class in the afternoon, and I won't call names." Qiu Suling jumped off the bed, and said in a cold voice, "How do you know that you will not be called? I think you are ready to fail." Lin Ying stuck out her tongue and fell silent. A few minutes later, Ji Ruxuan reckoned that there were not that many people going to school, so she called Niu Fang and Qiu Suling to set off, and Lin Ying also went out with them, and they walked all the way to the teaching building, where Lin Ying waved goodbye and walked towards the school gate .Qiu Suling looked at her back and snorted coldly. "This girl is getting more and more ghostly." "What do you mean?" Ji Ruxuan asked puzzled. "Do you think she really went to see a fellow villager? Tell you, she went on a date with a boy." Date a guy?Ji Ruxuan frowned, "Who is it? How do you know?" "Don't worry about it, just wait and see, that man is not a good guy." Qiu Suling walked into the teaching building after speaking.Ji Ruxuan looked sideways at Niu Fang. "What the hell is she talking about?" "I don't know." Niu Fang said coldly, and followed her upstairs. Self-study classes have always been the students' favorite class, because apart from self-study, you can do anything in the self-study class, such as listening to songs, playing cards, reading novels, fortune-telling, dating, etc. I lay on the table thinking about my thoughts all afternoon, but I didn't even open the textbooks I brought with me. When school was about to leave, Jiang Xiaolou called and asked her to go to the city to play. "Come out and relax. You just happened to be visiting our company. You haven't been here for so many days. You are too incompetent as a proprietress, aren't you?" Ji Ruxuan was not in the mood to be poor with her, and said coldly: "It's too far away, I don't want to go." "What's the distance? We'll have dinner in the city at night, and then take a taxi back to school. I'm going back tonight too." Ji Ruxuan couldn't resist him, so she agreed. After school, Ji Ruxuan confessed to Niu Fang and Qiu Suling that she might have to come back later at night—they have always been like a family, and usually anyone who has something to come back late will explain in advance, so as not to worry. Then, Ji Ruxuan walked out of the school amidst their indifferent but caring voices. Jiang Xiaolou's company is located in a relatively prosperous commercial street in the city center. Its full name is "Zheng He Computer Application Co., Ltd.". Filled with all kinds of computer equipment.The other two are offices. There are four employees in total. Three men and one woman are all young people. The woman is very beautiful. She is sitting at a brand new mahogany desk and working on the computer on the desk. —Maybe he was stealing food.When Ji Ruxuan entered, she raised her head and smiled at her friendly. Ji Ruxuan didn't expect Jiang Xiaolou's company to have such a scale at all. Before, she thought it was just a small computer repair shop that is common on the street. Xiao Lou questioned: "It took a lot of money to start the company, right? Where did you get so much money?" "It's close to 200,000. It's not a lot." Jiang Xiaolou smiled, "It's all the money I earned from designing for the past two years." "So you are so rich." Jiang Binger said in surprise, and then expressed her worries for the past few days, "You are busy here all day, so the school doesn't care about you?" "You're already in your senior year. It's too late for the school to push you out. Besides, you know our department. There were no classes in the last semester. Those who have money start businesses, and those who don't have money also go to work. Who is still in school? .” Ji Ruxuan nodded, "By the way, why is the company name 'Zheng He'?" "Zheng He's voyages to the West means 'smooth sailing'." Ji Ruxuan was speechless for a moment. "Isn't it a bit abstract? I originally wanted to call him Columbus or Magellan, but it feels similar. Lao Zheng is Chinese after all, so please be more friendly." Next, Jiang Xiaolou introduced the company's business scope to Ji Ruxuan, such as advertising design, program development, hardware maintenance, etc. Ji Ruxuan heard it like a cloud, she didn't know much about computers, so she was impatient He interrupted Jiang Xiaolou's eloquent narration, "Okay, okay, don't explain anymore, lest I become more confused as I listen." Jiang Xiaolou laughed: "It's true, as long as you know that you are the proprietress here, leave the money-making to your husband." "Come on!" Ji Ruxuan glared at him, "I'm not in the mood to joke." "I know you're still feeling uncomfortable, am I here to help you have fun?" Jiang Xiaolou smiled, and looked up at the gray sky outside the window, "It's getting dark, let's go eat." Ji Ruxuan nodded, walked to the door first, and turned to look at Jiang Xiaolou, who was blinking at the beautiful woman with an ambiguous expression.Ji Ruxuan's heart tightened. At this time, Jiang Xiaolou had turned to look at her. After realizing that his action just now had exposed him, he put his right index finger under his nose, and took two deep breaths—this was also one of his signature actions.Then he walked quickly and explained nonchalantly: "I often tease her, it's nothing else." "Hmph." Ji Ruxuan turned her head away. "It's really nothing, don't you even believe me?" Ji Ruxuan gave him an angry look: "Okay, you, if you talk about it, something will happen." Under Jiang Xiaolou's guidance, the two came to a western restaurant not far from the company. The store is well decorated, with a European classical style. Several small tables for two people are arranged in a circle around the hall. On each table is a glass vessel like an incense burner, which is filled with water. A short and thick candle floats, setting off the atmosphere very elegantly.On the inside of the hall is a stepped stage, on which a young man in a tuxedo is playing the violin. When the two entered, the man just played Mozart's "Serenade", which is a very nice piece, although it is very difficult for everyone. To most people, these pieces all sound the same, the only difference is who wrote them. Perhaps it was not the right time for dinner, and there were not many customers. They were all couples, sitting opposite each other at the table, chatting quietly while drinking coffee. Under the guidance of the waiter, the two came to an empty table in the corner.Ji Ruxuan didn't look at the menu, and directly ordered two cups of coffee and two pork chop rice dishes - Ji Ruxuan must order every time she goes to a western restaurant, and she can't eat other western dishes well.Besides, the taste of pork chop rice is really good. "This is the place where petty bourgeoisie come to fall in love." Jiang Xiaolou glanced around at the customers and whispered. "Whoever comes to this kind of place is not in a relationship, a meal of hundreds of dollars is too extravagant." Soon, the waiter came over with two cups of coffee. "Sir and miss, the pork chop rice will be ready in a while, please have coffee first." "thanks." "By the way," the waiter took a look at Ji Ruxuan, took out a small pink square box from his jacket pocket, and handed it to Jiang Xiaolou. "This is left behind by the lady who had dinner with you last night, please pass it on to her, please?" "Oh, good." Jiang Xiaolou nodded awkwardly, and quickly stuffed the small box into his pocket. "What?" Ji Ruxuan asked calmly. "It seems to be a makeup box. I don't know what belongs to Yu Die (the only beauty in the company). Last night, the company worked overtime and was very busy, so I brought them over for dinner. This place is closer to the company. "Jiang Xiaolou explained with a smile on his face. Ji Ruxuan snorted, "Didn't you just say that only people in love come here? God knows how many of you came here for dinner last night!" Jiang Xiaolou twisted his mouth, "It's fine if you don't believe it. If I really have something to do with Yu Die, would I dare to let you meet?" Ji Ruxuan thinks about it too, that Yu Die is so beautiful, she wouldn't still hook up with Jiang Xiaolou knowing that she has a girlfriend, right?He wants money but no money, no one who wants people.What are people planning? "Hey, Xuanxuan, look who that is!" Jiang Xiaolou yelled in a low voice, pouted towards the other side of the hall.There were fewer people there, and there were only three tables of guests, so Ji Ruxuan easily found the target - one of them was a man and a woman, the man was Yang Chuan, and the woman was Lin Ying.I saw the two of them talking and laughing, sipping coffee, like a couple. "No way, they..." Ji Ruxuan's eyes widened. Jiang Xiaolou laughed "hehe" and said, "These two are really good. Are you afraid that people will see you after running so far for a date?" "Qiu Suling is really right." Ji Ruxuan said to herself, "But, why are the two of them together? I remember that Lin Ying didn't know him." "Maybe I just met, there is no need to report to you in time, right?" "Oh right! They are all members of the nunchaku club, they must have met there, and Yang Chuan is the coach there." Ji Ruxuan stood up as she spoke, and was held by Jiang Xiaolou. "What are you doing?" "Say hello to them, what's the matter?" "You have nothing to do. I didn't see people chatting vigorously, and I didn't act like a light bulb." "That's right." Ji Ruxuan sat down again, and after a while, Lin Ying seemed to have finished eating, the two stood up and went to the counter to pay, and then walked out of the restaurant.Because Ji Ruxuan and Ji Ruxuan were sitting at the corner of the hall, they didn't notice them.Ji Ruxuan followed her boyfriend's advice and did not say hello to Lin Ying. Jiang Xiaolou looked at the figures of the two going away, and said maliciously, "They must still have a show, otherwise they wouldn't have finished their meal so early." "Don't be so nasty, can you?" "I didn't say anything!" "Hey, I really didn't expect them to be together." Ji Ruxuan shook her head, she still couldn't accept this fact instinctively.Lin Ying is such an introverted person, and she has hardly seen her talk to boys in the past one year, why did she suddenly start dating?不过仔细想想，像杨川那样百里挑一的帅男，一般女生见了都会喜欢，所以林颖愿意跟他约会，也算是情理之中的事情。只是，纪如萱想到几天前杨川曾屡次向自己表示过好感——她当然能感觉出来，怎么他突然之间就转换目标了呢？这个男人也太善变了吧。纪如萱心想，心中升起了一丝怅然若失的感觉，她当然不喜欢杨川，但毕竟杨川喜欢她——不管男人女人，潜意识里人人都希望自己能被很多人追求，而且杨川还那么优秀，现在，他居然放弃追求自己了，尽管取代自己的这个人是自己同窗好友，纪如萱也不免会感到失落。 “对了萱萱，下午冰冰给我打电话，说你们在寝室又发现一个诅咒娃娃？” 纪如萱的心情一下沉了下来。整整一下午，她都尽量不去想这件事，否则干什么都没心情。但是既然蒋小楼提了，她还是简要地将事情经过讲了一遍，并附上蒋冰儿在电话里告诉她的“内幕消息”，她想听听蒋小楼对此事的看法。——尽管平时经常损他，但纪如萱内心里一直坚信他是个绝对聪明的人，尤其是他的理性分析和逻辑思维能力，简直有点“名侦探柯南”的感觉。纪如萱猜想，这一定是受益于他良好的家教和成长氛围——蒋小楼的老爸退休前不仅是一名警察，而且是本省赫赫有名的刑侦学专家。这一点纪如萱早有耳闻。 沉思片刻，蒋小楼一开口就语出惊人：“娃娃后面的字不可能是牛芳写的。” "what?" “假设你干了坏事，一点证据都没留下，警察很多天没查到你，这时候你会主动制造一个证据暴露自己吗？更何况，我实在想不到牛芳为什么要在娃娃背后写上自己名字，还要让你们看见。” “我也不相信是她，但就事论事，没准她是想把自己伪装成受害者呢？别人看到那个娃娃后，只会认为她也是凶手的目标，这样就不会怀疑到她了呀？” 蒋小楼冷笑了一声：“分析的在理，但是她就不怕你们拿到娃娃后交给警察，或者自己去做笔迹鉴定？把自己的笔迹留在娃娃上，这样做太冒险了吧？” “没准她不知道笔迹鉴定是怎么一回事呢……”纪如萱怯怯说道。 “呵呵，牛芳又不是从旧社会穿越过来的，连你这样的猪头都知道，她会不知道？这么笨的人也配搞阴谋害人吗？” “嗯，你说的对。”纪如萱突然微笑起来，不再跟他辩论了。“我相信牛芳是好人，刚才是故意说的，为了引出你的分析，好加强我的信心。我现在舒服多了。” 蒋小楼却轻轻叹了口气：“可是，案子却难办多了啊。这真是一个复杂的阴谋。” “对了，牛芳不会出事吧？你知道的，晓晓也是收到诅咒娃娃的第二天出的意外，所以……” “假如有人一心要害她，没人能阻止的了，哪怕你二十四小时看着她，也总有疏忽的时候。” 纪如萱的心情又变得沉重起来。 “顺其自然吧。”蒋小楼伸手握住她的手，柔声道，“只要你没事就行了。” “你怎知我一定没事？” “你是我老婆，谁敢动你，呵呵。” "roll!" 吃完饭，蒋小楼提议去唱K，放松一下，被纪如萱断然拒绝了。尽管她也不想自己心里装着太多事情，这种感觉太累了，但是此时的她，压根就提不起兴趣去干一切娱乐的事情。有人在失恋的时候连饭都吃不下，是同样的道理。 没办法，蒋小楼只好带她去附近的公园转转，不然这么早回学校也没事，纪如萱好容易来一趟市区，这么着急回去太没劲了。 晚饭后的公园人很多，多是老头老太太，吃晚饭出来散步的。两人沿着花圃中间的小路，一直走到小树林里，这里人比较少。树林中间有一片空地，用大理石建成了一个平台，上面一座看不出什么东西的黑色雕塑。 这一带还未被人占领，两人手拉手走过去，坐在了雕塑下面的石基上，由于周围树木的高大的冠顶遮住了月光，这里十步之外就看不到人了。蒋小楼大胆地伸手搂过纪如萱的细腰，使她上半身靠在自己怀里，然后低下头，四片嘴唇旋即沾在了一起。 吻了一阵，蒋小楼放在纪如萱腰上的那只手开始不安分起来，挑开上衣的下沿，从内衣里伸了进去。 “讨厌啊你！”纪如萱扭动了一下，没甩开他的手，只好任其自由发展。这只手很快往上移动，摸到胸罩的带扣，老练地解开来。 “别啊！让人看见！” “大晚上的，谁能看见。” “那一会儿还要穿上，麻烦死。” “那就不穿了，反正是晚上。”蒋小楼低声在她耳边说道，“我最近在网上看到，有专家说女人晚上带胸罩睡觉，比较容易得乳腺癌。” "nonsense!" “万一是真的呢，所以，我做做好事，现在就给你解下。” 蒋小楼得逞了，解下胸罩后，他将纪如萱上半身放倒，使其躺在自己大腿上，一双手拉开上衣，往胸前最坚挺的部位覆盖上去…… 蒋小楼真是个下流人。不过他还没有来得及享受那充实的手感，背后突然响起一阵轻微的脚步声——有人进树林了！ 纪如萱如触电一般弹坐起来，往下将衣服拉好，胸罩是没时间带上了，只好装进背包里，就这样两个人按原路快步走出了树林。 幸好是天黑，纪如萱心想，否则蒋小楼看到自己脸红的样子，一准又要取笑了。 两人离开之后，一个漆黑的人影从树林里闪出，径直走上了空地中间的平台，站定在两人刚才没干好事的地方。然后，面朝他们消失的方向，重重地叹了口气。一串滚热的眼泪，滴落在脚下的大理石地板上。 片刻，他兀自望着前方，用冰冷的声音说道：“你出来吧，我知道你在这。” "hehe……" 一阵轻笑后，一个窈窕的身影从后边走了出来，在他背后大约三米外停住了。 “看到心上人躺在别人怀里的感觉如何？”女人挑衅地问。 男人没说话。 “她是打定主意要嫁给那个小白脸了，你还犹豫不决的话，真就一点机会都没有了。” “我早就跟你说过，我的事不用你操心！”男人冷冷说道。 “可是那个男的不是好东西！” “这也不关你的事。” “可是我喜欢你啊！”女人停了半晌，突然歇斯底里地大叫了一声。 “我们都是执着的人。”男人的嘴角浮起一丝苦笑。 纪如萱回到宿舍时，灯已经灭了，门没有锁——一定是牛芳或邱素灵给她留了门。屋里静悄悄的，她们难道这么早睡觉了？ 纪如萱小心地推开门，往屋里扫了一眼，果然，除了刘晓晓和自己的空铺，其他床上都躺着人，一动不动，显然已熟睡多时。 卫生间门紧紧关着。纪如萱想进去洗把脸再睡觉，但却不敢进去——自打牛芳在卫生间看到不该看的东西那天起，所有人都对卫生间产生了恐惧心理，晚上一般没人敢进卫生间，谁要真是“情况紧急”的话，也必定叫醒个人陪自己一起进去。 犹豫片刻，纪如萱还是退缩了，径直走到自己那张床前，在爬上去之前，看了一眼仰面躺在下铺的张佳茗。她的眼睛居然是睁着的！ “啊！”纪如萱轻叫了一声，张佳茗连忙做了个噤声的手势，小声说：“我没跟你打招呼就是怕吵醒她们，牛芳刚又哭了一阵，这才睡着。可别再吵醒她了。” 纪如萱拍了拍心口，“你怎么还没睡啊？” “我没有早睡的习惯，想玩电脑又怕闹出动静吵醒她们，所以只好干躺着了。” “这几天真是难为你了。”纪如萱感激地冲她抿嘴一笑。 “没什么，大家住在一起，就应该互相关照。”张佳茗说着从床上坐起来，抬头看向站在床前的纪如萱，“你困不困？” “一点不困。干嘛？” “去天台透透空气怎么样？反正也睡不着。” "OK." 两分钟后，两人爬上楼顶，各自坐在从寝室带来的椅子上。一阵阵初秋的凉风从脸上拂过，凉丝丝的，但并不觉得冷，很是舒服。 “冬天快到了啊，我们也快放假了，日子过得可真快。”张佳茗仰头望着天空，感慨地说道。 纪如萱叹了口气：“可惜，有一个人离开了，寒假再也不能一起去做义工了。想想去年寒假一起在孤儿院做义工那段日子，好像就在昨天。你说的对，日子过得太快了。” 张佳茗笑着看她一眼，“你看过《生命的留言》那本书吗？是一个癌症患者临死前写的，书出版后这人就死了。说实话，书写的不怎么样，但里边有句话对我感触很大：人生就像一场聚餐，总有人中途退席，而其余的人必须好好吃完这顿饭。死亡本来就是不可避免的事，我们都该看开一点。” “会的。”纪如萱点点头，“我想我有一天会忘掉伤痛，只是记忆是抹不掉的，有些事情一旦经历过，永远都会记得。” “那也不一定，比如一个人死了，喝完孟婆汤，过去的事就会什么都忘掉，然后来世重新开始。” 说这句话的时候，张佳茗一直盯着纪如萱的眼睛，目光中带着一种很奇怪的神色。 “你相信轮回？” “我信，而且，我身边就有这样的例子。” “不会吧？”纪如萱瞪大眼睛。 “不骗你，好了，大晚上的不说这个。”张佳茗笑着摆了摆手。借着明亮的月光，纪如萱赫然看见她手腕上有一条长长的疤痕，如同手镯一样盘绕在她手臂上，看起来有点触目惊心。 张佳茗注意到她的目光，也低头看了一下那道伤疤，有点不好意思地说道：“这是小时候被我后妈用剪子划的，当时我两岁，还不记事呢。” “啊？那你怎么知道？” 张佳茗的目光顿时黯淡下去，开始讲述自己的身世：“我爸妈在我一岁时候离婚了，我开始是跟我爸住，后来他给我找了一个后妈，那个恶毒的女人，非常嫌弃我，经常以我做错事为理由跟我爸吵架，有一次我爸打了她，她就泄愤似的用剪子在我手上划了一下，就成了今天这样，后来，我爸出于保护我，就把我送回到我妈妈身边。这些事情都是我妈妈告诉我的。” 原来她有这么可怜的身世。纪如萱小声叹了口气，本想安慰她几句，又怕效果适得其反，只好换个话题问道：“你妈妈现在还好吗？” “两年前去世了。” “噢，对不起。”纪如萱暗暗责怪自己真是哪壶不开提哪壶。正想说点什么来补偿，张佳茗抢先问道：“说说你吧，我听说你男朋友也在这所学校上学，而且长的很帅是吧？” “他呀，呵，还好吧，起码能对得起观众。”纪如萱不好意思地笑笑。 “准备跟他结婚吗？” “嗯，我们双方父母都见过面了，不瞒你说，已经订婚了。打算毕业后就领证和举行婚礼。” “那恭喜你啊。”张佳茗笑了两声，突然弯腰趴在她耳朵上，小声问道：“你把自己交给他没有？” “啊？”纪如萱没想到她会问这种问题，脸顿时红了，结结巴巴地说：“这个……还没有……” “现在又不是旧社会了，这个可以有啊。” “啊，这个真没有。” 说完，两人不约而同地笑起来，不过愉悦的气氛没有持续多久，一阵突然响起的哭声，让两人的身体都怔了怔，互相望了眼，俱是一脸紧张。 哭声是从卫生间的排气管传出的——因为有洗浴间，学校可能是担心洗澡后水蒸气集在屋里散发不掉，会弄湿墙壁，于是在洗浴间顶上装了一个排气管，一直通到楼顶天台，洗完澡按下开关，水蒸气很快就能被排出去。只是今晚从排气管出来的不是水蒸气，而是与往日听到过的一样的呜呜咽咽的女人哭声。 楼顶上风大了起来，吹得两人后背发冷。张佳茗猛地站起来，几步冲到类似于天窗一样的排风管前，趴在沿口看了看，有十来秒钟左右，她突然转身朝楼下跑去，嘴边一边说着：“我过去看看去！” “张佳茗——” 纪如萱着急地叫了她一声，但没用，张佳茗还是飞快地下到了七楼，走廊上很快响起她匆匆的脚步声。 卫生间里会不会有危险？ 纪如萱犹豫了一下，也跟着快步跑下了楼，穿过走廊，刚到自己宿舍门前，看到张佳茗正神色异常地从卫生间里走出，门是开着的，哭声早已消失无踪。 “怎么样？”纪如萱栗声问道。 张佳茗缓缓摇了摇头，“什么都没有。” "what?" “快睡觉吧，我有点困了。” 纪如萱愣了愣，还想追问，张佳茗已快速上床，并用被子蒙住了头。纪如萱魂不守舍地爬上自己的床铺，朝敞开的卫生间门看去——里面一片漆黑，什么都看不见。纪如萱算了一下，从张佳茗飞奔下楼，到自己也下来，看到她从里面出来，不过是二十来秒的时间，在这短短的三分之一分钟里，她在卫生间里究竟看到了什么？当然，她不相信张佳茗真的什么都没看到。