Chapter 9 8. Who was I in the previous life

In the dream, Ji Ruxuan saw the long-lost Liu Xiaoxiao and Niu Fang who had just left.The two each carried a faint green lantern, walked side by side to the bed, and beckoned her to go out together. Ji Ruxuan followed them as if possessed, unknowingly left the dormitory building, passed through the garden and tall teaching buildings, a grass field appeared in front of them, and continued to move forward, finally, they came to the tall building in front of the bell tower. In front of the big arched door, "I'll take you there, we should go." Niu Fang said lightly.After that, the two people disappeared without a trace in an instant, as if they knew how to separate themselves.

The man who couldn't see his face appeared again, with his back turned to Ji Ruxuan, he persuaded her to go in with him in a gentle voice.Ji Ruxuan hesitated, so he grabbed her hand, and a chill spread all over his body in an instant—his hand was so cold. Why did you bring me here again? Ji Ruxuan asked, but the man didn't answer, he took her hand and walked in, walked through the dark hall and corridor, and then went to the wooden spiral staircase that he had visited several times in his dreams, and went up to the second floor, facing another long road. The long hallway is different from the first floor in that there are many small dark rooms on the walls on both sides, without windows, and the doors of several rooms are all painted with red paint. There are stained marks, like a sticky pool of blood dripping down.

While walking in the aisle, Ji Ruxuan clearly heard a strange noise in a room, like the rough choking sound of something like a newspaper and the concrete floor when it was moving. It sounded creepy, but the room was dark. It's painted so you can't see anything in it.Ji Ruxuan suddenly felt very scared, so she held the man's hand tightly. Even though the hand was cold, it gave her a sense of security. The aisle soon came to an end, and an open door appeared in front of it, and there seemed to be a bright light shining inside, flickering like flickering candlelight in the corner blocked by the wall.

The man wanted to pull her inside, but Ji Ruxuan flinched, broke away from the hand that gave her a sense of security just now, and stood still. "Why did you bring me here? Who are you?" Ji Ruxuan seemed to wake up suddenly, realizing the danger of the situation, and shouted at the man's back. "Go in. After you go in, you will understand everything." The man said without looking back. "I don't, I want to go back!" Ji Ruxuan took a few steps back, and was about to turn around and run back, when suddenly, the man rushed in front of her with lightning speed.

"After entering, you will know who you are..." Before the words were finished, Ji Ruxuan had already woken up, and before he had time to look at the man's turned face, she still didn't know what he looked like. who am I?Am I not Ji Ruxuan? Ji Ruxuan shook her head, as if someone had hit her head with a hammer, it was throbbing with pain. This is already the fourth day since Niu Fang was killed. This incident has been widely circulated in the school. Many people have linked Niu Fang's murder with Liu Xiaoxiao's suicide. After all, the two lived in the same dormitory before their death. They are so close together, it is inevitable that they will be used by good people for lust, and even create ridiculous rumors such as cursing and killing people.

Lin Ying kept her schedule low as always, but she talked less than before. Although Ji Ruxuan never saw her cry, her eyes were swollen every morning, which was of course the price of crying too much; In contrast, Qiu Suling's performance was a bit stronger, regardless of her predecessors, she almost never shed tears, but in Ji Ruxuan's view, this was a manifestation of numbness caused by excessive sadness, just like the famous saying: Injury, there is nowhere to hurt. Ji Ruxuan felt that she was also a little numb, unlike the days when Liu Xiaoxiao just left, she would curl up in bed and cry alone from time to time, but now, there is no more tears to shed, just feel that the weather is very cloudy every day, and there is no sunshine .She didn't even have the strength to speculate and investigate the truth of Niu Fang's death.

"It's almost eight o'clock, Xuanxuan, you won't go to class this morning?" Zhang Jiaming returned to the bedroom after washing up, and found Ji Ruxuan still in her pajamas sitting on the bed in a daze, so she asked with concern. "Well, I don't want to go." Ji Ruxuan replied in a low voice. In fact, she didn't want to be asked about Niu Xiaoxiao and Niu Fang by her classmates anymore. It felt like a wound that hadn't healed was being torn open again and again.Although she didn't give them the answers they wanted every time, there were always some curious people who, like flies that couldn't be driven away, asked her in different ways every day—and Lin Ying, so Lin Ying these days She didn't go to class very much, but Qiu Suling went every day, but no one would ask her anything. Her personality and temper explained the reason.

"Then shall I go out for a walk with you? Seeing that you are bored in the dormitory every day, it's time for a change of air." I didn't expect her to care about herself so much.Ji Ruxuan looked at her gratefully: "Where are you going?" "You haven't been to Xianghu Park, have you? It's not far from here. My boyfriend took me there last week. The scenery is really nice. How about we go there?" "Okay." Ji Ruxuan said after hesitating for a moment, wanting to call Qiu Suling and Lin Ying together, turned her head to look at the two people's beds, and no one was there.

"They left long ago." Zhang Jiaming said, "So let's just stay together." "Okay." Ji Ruxuan nodded, how did she know that this was a "conspiracy" specially prepared for her. Xianghu Park is located between the urban area and the suburbs. It takes about 20 minutes to get there by car from the gate of South University of Technology.Along the way, Ji Ruxuan looked at the country houses lined up on both sides of the road, and that mysterious sense of familiarity came again. However, unlike the previous times, the feeling of coming and going in a hurry in the past actually lasted until After getting out of the car and entering Xianghu Park, the feeling of déjà vu not only did not subside, but gradually became stronger.

Everywhere Ji Ruxuan looked was familiar, as if she had been here before, and more than once.This is of course impossible. The scale of Xianghu Park is not small, especially when passing through a forest and standing on the embankment by the lake, the open water surface in front of them immediately gave the two a feeling of vastness and boundlessness.There are some small boats in various colors floating in the middle of the lake, like a bunch of small bugs crawling slowly on the water.There is an island far away from the lake. The island is densely populated with trees, giving people a feeling of deepness in a peach garden.

"It's a leisure island with a nice view. I went to play last time. Let's go and have a look!" Zhang Jiaming said as he walked forward. When he turned around, he found that Ji Ruxuan was still standing there, looking at the center of the lake. Dao was in a daze, so he turned back again: "What's wrong with you? Let's go." Ji Ruxuan had no choice but to follow her.Soon, after getting off the dam, two long curved bridges appeared on the lake in front of me, leading to the left and right respectively.Because the surface of the lake is too wide, the curved bridge is in the shape of winding and twisting. Standing on the shore, it is impossible to see where the end points of the two bridges are.Zhang Jiaming muttered softly: "Hey, which bridge can go to the island? I can't remember." "Try this bridge." Ji Ruxuan pointed to the bridge on the left, and walked over first. Zhang Jiaming followed suspiciously. After walking for a while, another "sub-bridge" leading to the right appeared in front of her. ", but the length of the "sub-bridge" is only about 50 meters. At the end is a small pier, and a large dragon boat is parked on the shore. There is a big sign on the pier, which says "Dragon Boat Hotel" in big characters. Zhang Jiaming clapped his hands suddenly: "Yes, it's this bridge! Last time I walked halfway, I also saw this dragon boat. Xuanxuan, have you been to this park before?" Ji Ruxuan opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but she didn't know what to say. "I...I really don't know why." She said with a wry smile. Zhang Jiaming smiled slyly. Seeing that the time was right, he pouted towards a row of benches standing by the bridge: "It's still early, let's sit for a while and chat before going over." The two sat down on the stone bench side by side, and Zhang Jiaming looked sideways at Ji Ruxuan who was in a daze: "Is there something on your mind? Don't hold it in your heart, let me hear it." Ji Ruxuan nodded slightly, staring intently at the turbulent lake in front of her, hesitated again and again, and finally expressed the confusion entangled in her heart-not long ago, she had a chat with Zhang Jiaming about this matter. At that time, although Zhang Jiaming He comforted her softly, but the expression on his face clearly showed disbelief - no one would believe such a strange thing.But this time, Zhang Jiaming smiled slightly after listening to her story, as if everything was in her expectation. "Are you sure you've never been to Xuyou City before? I mean before you transferred schools." "Absolutely not!" Ji Ruxuan said decisively. "I lived in my hometown in Shanghai before I was admitted to university, and I have never even been to the north, let alone Xu Youshi." "This is the problem. You have never been to a certain place in your memory, but you know what this place looks like. This cannot be explained scientifically. Whoever you tell it to, probably no one will believe it, right? ?” Ji Ruxuan nodded painfully. "But I believe." Ji Ruxuan turned her face sideways in surprise, and saw something in the same eyes she was looking at her: sincerity. Zhang Jiaming shrugged suddenly, and said slowly: "Have you ever heard of such a thing: Some children are born and grow up to the age where they can speak, and suddenly claim who they are, where they live, and how they are in their previous lives." Dead, it turned out that there was indeed this place after verification, and even the name of the person mentioned by the child, and the cause of death was completely consistent with what the child said. I often see this kind of report in books and newspapers, most of which happen abroad, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.” Ji Ruxuan was stunned for a while, then tremblingly said: "You mean...I..." "I'm just making a metaphor. Besides, you also said that this kind of thing happened only recently. You have been normal since you were a child." "Yes, after Xu You." "Then, maybe it has something to do with the environment." Zhang Jiaming suddenly put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her steadily, "Do you really want to know the truth?" Ji Ruxuan looked at her without knowing why, and nodded vigorously for a moment. "What if... the truth makes you unable to accept it?" Ji Ruxuan heard that there was something in her words, she collected herself, and was about to ask, when the cell phone in her pocket rang untimely—it was a text message.Ji Ruxuan didn't want to care about it at this moment, she held Zhang Jiaming's hand nervously, and asked, "Do you know something?" "You should read the text message first." Zhang Jiaming smiled meaningfully. Ji Ruxuan hesitated for a moment, had no choice but to take out her mobile phone, glanced at the screen, her heart trembled suddenly - the sender was actually the "number does not exist". After being stunned for a few seconds, Ji Ruxuan clicked on the content of the text message, which said: Don't believe her words, you must stay away from her! Who is she?Zhang Jiaming?Otherwise, why did this text message come when the two of them talked to a critical moment?Ji Ruxuan couldn't help thinking of the reminders this person had given her several times before, all of which were to keep her away from the people around her.Based on the text message just now, Ji Ruxuan can only conclude that the other party is referring to Zhang Jiaming! "You know, Qiu Suling scolded me yesterday." Ji Ruxuan was startled, she didn't expect her to change the subject so quickly.Although Ji Ruxuan was still deeply involved in the topic just discussed and couldn't extricate herself, she wanted to find out why, but she was still interested in Zhang Jiaming's sudden words, so she asked, "Why?" "Why else, say that I am a disaster star, that strange things have continued since I moved into your dormitory, that Xiaoxiao and Niu Fang's murders were indirectly caused by me, let me get out of 714." It turned out to be the case. "Actually, everything has nothing to do with you. I believe you. Everything happened after moving to the new campus. You just happened to live in it. Really, it has nothing to do with you." "Actually, it has nothing to do with moving." Zhang Jiaming's eyes suddenly turned red, and he looked at her and said quietly: "I know that our time together is numbered, and some things must be resolved as soon as possible, but... alas Well, how should I put it, some things are much more complicated than I imagined..." She paused for a moment, holding Ji Ruxuan's hand a little harder, "Xuanxuan, I want to tell you in your most calm state. You are the truth, so it is obviously not possible now, when the truth about the death of Xiaoxiao and Niu Fang is revealed, and when you are no longer so sad, I will definitely tell you the truth, the truth about the things you have been worrying about these days!" Before she finished speaking, Ji Ruxuan's heart surged and her breathing became short of breath. After a long time, she tried her best to suppress her excitement, and begged in a calm voice, "Can't you just tell me now?" "I'm sorry, I'm thinking of you." Zhang Jiaming shook his head, "The unexpected death of the two of them is already a big blow to you, I can't add fuel to the fire. Wait a little longer, murderer It will show up soon, really, you believe me." "But--" "Don't pester her anymore, okay?" Zhang Jiaming interrupted her politely, holding her hand tightly with both hands, "Believe me, I will definitely say it when the time comes. Let's go to the island for a walk Go." After speaking, he stood up and strode forward.Looking at her back, Ji Ruxuan knew that it would be useless to force her at this time, and she should look for opportunities after returning home.However, another question arose in Ji Ruxuan's mind: Why did Zhang Jiaming know the so-called "truth" and who was she?And who is that mysterious person who has repeatedly warned himself to stay away from her? These annoying puzzles made Ji Ruxuan feel the feeling of breaking down again. She felt that she really needed to relax.So, following in Zhang Jiaming's footsteps, he strolled forward. While Ji Ruxuan and Zhang Jiaming were sitting on the bench in Xianghu Park and having that cryptic conversation, Jiang Xiaolou and his cousin Jiang Binger were also having a conversation in a tea restaurant in the city center. , a conversation about the facts of the case and about the motives of the murderer. "I have studied the case carefully in the past few days, and I have made new discoveries." Jiang Xiaolou took a sip of coffee, and said to Jiang Binger, who was sitting opposite the table and was gnawing bread. "Is it still the pure reasoning of the case?" Jiang Binger looked up at him, as if she was not very interested in his so-called "new discovery". "Nonsense, I'm not a policeman, where can I find physical evidence and clues?" "So forget it, Lao Gao said, he has already thought of your inferences, everyone can reason, so you don't need to worry about it." Jiang Xiaolou sneered disdainfully. "Don't worry, after listening to my reasoning, you will definitely feel that Lao Gao is farting." "Hehe, let's talk about it." Jiang Binger stuffed the last piece of bread into her mouth, patted the bread crumbs on her hands, and looked at her cousin with a contemptuous smile, saying, "I see what earth-shattering reasoning you can come up with." . "Let's continue the topic of the day and say that I overlooked the most important point at the time-Liu Xiaoxiao and Niu Fang each received a doll, and the writing on the back imitated Niu Fang's writing, while the writing on the back of the second doll was Niu Fang's. My name, in this way, the investigators will definitely be puzzled after comparing the handwriting: Assuming that the handwriting was really written by Niu Fang, Liu Xiaoxiao received the doll earlier, which can be understood as Niu Fang's foreplay to kill her, but why did she give it to herself? Get a doll and write your name on it?" Jiang Binger nodded involuntarily. "Indeed, when the handwriting comparison results came out for the first time, we were very troubled by this problem. Why?" Jiang Xiaolou smiled triumphantly. "The reason is very simple. You think that the appearance of the two dolls is a plan arranged by the murderer in advance. In fact, I guess that when the murderer gave Liu Xiaoxiao the doll, he didn't consider that he would also give Niu Fang a gift in the future." One, at that time, I only wanted to put the blame on Niu Fang, so I imitated her handwriting. You took 'accident' as the murderer's established plan, and reasoned according to this line of thinking, how can you not go wrong?" Jiang Binger stayed for a few seconds, turned her head around, and gave Jiang Xiaolou a thumbs up: "Brother, it's a pity that you don't become a policeman. Let me use this set of analysis, I will go back and fool Lao Gao. Let him treat you to dinner next time!" "Don't worry, let me ask you, if you are asked to imitate my handwriting, do you think you can imitate it?" "This... probably won't work." "It's not an estimate, it's definitely not possible. Everyone has their own writing habits. It is very difficult to deliberately imitate other people's handwriting and imitate it very similarly. The result may not imitate others well, but expose it. The characteristics of their own handwriting. Therefore, people who are sure to imitate other people's handwriting must first be very close to the person being imitated, and they can often see the handwriting written by him, so that they can be influenced by the person's writing habits; the second is to have this specialties. You think about it, am I right?" Jiang Binger stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to say for a while. "I heard that people who can write with both hands can write two kinds of handwriting with both hands. Moreover, because the left hand does not often write, there is no fixed font, so it is easier to imitate other people's handwriting." Jiang Binger said "ah" suddenly: "Niu Fang's closest people... should be Xuanxuan and the others, right? Who could it be?" "I don't know, it's not Xuanxuan anyway." Jiang Binger frowned and thought for a while, then said: "Anyway, those people are the ones who are most suspected of committing the crime. Find out who among them can write with their left hand, and the answer will be clear?" "You're a pig." Jiang Xiaolou gave her a blank look, "How can this kind of thing be found out? You can't let each of them write with their left hand to show you? Even if it doesn't work—the murderer is not a fool, you know You are testing him (her), she will definitely not imitate Niu Fang's handwriting, so this method will definitely not work." "then what should we do?" Jiang Xiaolou shrugged, "I'll ask Xuanxuan first, who in their dormitory can write with their left hands, if there is such a person, then the breakthrough will be found, and the investigation and evidence collection will be up to you. The best result, if Xuanxuan says she doesn't know, then this inference can only be invalidated." "Okay, you can ask first, they have lived together for so long, maybe they really know." "Don't make a conclusion yet. Whether the murderer is the woman who lives in 714 is still unknown. Moreover, my inference of 'writing with the left hand' is just an inference. Don't take it too seriously, or if I make a mistake How embarrassing." "Well, no matter what, it's always good to have multiple directions of investigation. Cousin, Lao Gao has invited you for this meal!" "I hope." Jiang Xiaolou habitually tilted his mouth to the left. "A person who can write with his left hand?" Ji Ruxuan looked at Jiang Xiaolou in surprise, not understanding why he suddenly asked this strange question. "Don't worry about why I ask this, just think about whether there are such 'talents' around you, not just the people in your dormitory." "I really didn't pay attention to this..." Ji Ruxuan frowned and thought for a while, then shook her head. "I don't know, I really don't know who has this ability." "Forget it, pay attention in the future, and let me know if you find anything." "Why are you asking this?" "It's too complicated to say, but it's to solve the case anyway." Jiang Xiaolou turned his face, glanced at the bell tower standing behind the woods in the distance, suddenly remembered something, turned around and said to Ji Ruxuan: "You'd better stay away from that Stay away from Jia Ming, there is something wrong with this person." Ji Ruxuan opened her mouth wide, "What's the problem?" "I don't know what the problem is, anyway, you listened to me right." "I don't need it anymore." Ji Ruxuan smiled wryly. "She's gone." "Gone? Where are you going?" "I don't know where to go. Anyway, I moved out of the dormitory, and I can't get through the phone." "When did this happen?" "Last night, when Lin Ying and I were having dinner in the cafeteria, I received a call from her, saying that she would move to live off-campus, and then hung up the phone, and then turned off the phone when we called back. We went back to the dormitory to see all her things. are gone." Jiang Xiaolou pondered for a moment, "Did she say anything to you before she left?" "She said... she will tell me the truth when she shows up again." "What truth?" Jiang Xiaolou became more and more confused as he listened. Ji Ruxuan hesitated for a moment, and then said all the strange things that happened to her recently, and then said with some grievances, "I told you a long time ago that there is something wrong with this matter, but you don't believe it, and you say it's a coincidence of……" "How do you teach me to believe? This kind of thing cannot be explained scientifically." "I knew you didn't believe me!" Ji Ruxuan looked away angrily. "Of course I believe you," Jiang Xiaolou put his hand on her shoulder and explained patiently, "But it's not a matter of believing or not. I believe you, so what? This is beyond what science can explain. How do you ask me to explain it? You can’t say that you have been here in your previous life, and then you didn’t drink Mengpo soup, so you will feel familiar everywhere when you revisit the old place in this life? And—” "Wait!" Ji Ruxuan reached out her hand to stop him, and began to dig out a memory not long ago, and finally she found it, it was what she said inadvertently when chatting with Zhang Jiaming on the roof that night.That's right!She also mentioned reincarnation and Mengpo soup at the time! Could it be that the facts are really as she and Jiang Xiaolou said just now?Ji Ruxuan tried her best to restrain the trembling of her body, thought about what happened carefully, and found that if she used the phrase "past life and present life" to explain it, then all the strange things that happened to her recently can be explained... But, people really Do you have a previous life?Then why is it that only I remember things from my previous life, while others are normal? "Are you thinking wildly again?" One sentence brought Ji Ruxuan back to reality, yes, I must not be superstitious, otherwise I will only fall into a deeper mystery, such as those questions just now that are as ethereal as clouds in the sky What's more, Zhang Jiaming has made it clear: When the truth about Liu Xiaoxiao and Niu Fang's death is revealed, she will definitely come back and tell herself the secret. Ji Ruxuan believes in her promise, but when will the case be solved?Ji Ruxuan couldn't help asking her boyfriend for help, asking him about the progress of the case - she knew that Jiang Xiaolou had been paying attention to this matter. "There is no result yet, but I think soon, the fox will show its tail soon." "Can you guarantee it?" "Yes, because I am a good hunter." Jiang Xiaolou smiled slyly, and Ji Ruxuan could see one more thing from this smile: self-confidence.She trusts him, no matter what.So, she hugged his neck tightly, put her head on his shoulder, and said sincerely and pitifully: "You are my only support now, you have to promise me to find the murderer as soon as possible, otherwise I really want to I can't hold it anymore, I'm so tired..." "Don't worry." Jiang Xiaolou touched her face and whispered softly in her ear, "No matter what happens, I'm still here, you don't have to be afraid." After having dinner together and sending Ji Ruxuan back to the dormitory, Jiang Xiaolou came to the back playground alone, took a walk slowly, immersed in concentrated thinking.He didn't want to go back to the dormitory so early, it was too chaotic and crowded, which made him unable to calm down. Suddenly, a figure came up from behind him, and when he was about ten meters away from him, Jiang Xiaolou stopped, turned his head, looked at the shadow for a while, and said, "Who are you?" Immediately, the black shadow let out a series of silver bell-like laughter, and stepped forward, Jiang Xiaolou recognized that she was the person whom Ji Ruxuan had just mentioned in the evening——Zhang Jiaming.The two met only once, but Zhang Jiaming was very beautiful, and Jiang Xiaolou never forgot the beauty's appearance. "I heard from Xuanxuan that you are assisting the police in investigating Niu Fang's case, so I came to you." Zhang Jiaming spoke first, with a charming smile on the corner of his mouth. ——At least in Jiang Xiaolou's view, this smile is charming. "I don't understand what you mean." Jiang Xiaolou said. "I know the police are investigating me. Please tell them not to waste time on me. I have nothing to do with this case." "Really?" Now that the other party said so, Jiang Xiaolou didn't want to go around in circles. "Then why did you lure them to the clock tower? Then you 'accidentally' found the cursed doll. - Don't tell me what to look for samples, I think you know that the police have already checked your details, and you don't have any boyfriends at all .” As Jiang Xiaolou said, he took out his mobile phone, pretended to check the time, and quickly turned on the recording function. This is why he dared to announce the results of the police investigation: he hoped that the beautiful woman in front of him could tell something useful in an unguarded situation. The truth of the case-of course, the premise is that she is the real murderer of Niu Fang, or has something to do with these two cases. Zhang Jiaming sneered, "I took them to the bell tower for my own purpose, but that doll has nothing to do with me, and I don't know why so many things happened, I am very innocent." Jiang Xiaolou was somewhat surprised by this passage, so he followed her words and asked, "Then what is the purpose of taking them to the bell tower?" "Sorry, I can't speak now." "Then why did you come to see me? It can't be a date, right?" Jiang Xiaolou laughed twice. "At first glance, you are a frivolous person. I really don't know what Xuanxuan likes you." Zhang Jiaming shook his head helplessly, opened the crossbody backpack on his body, carefully took out a black convenience bag, and handed it to Jiang Small building. "Hold it carefully, there may be fingerprints of the murderer on the thing inside." "What!" Jiang Xiaolou was shocked and stared at the other party. Zhang Jiaming unhurriedly described the ins and outs of the matter, and finally said to Jiang Xiaolou: "If possible, you can tell Xuanxuan the truth. There are too many mysteries in her heart. If you can solve one, it is one, otherwise I'm afraid she won't be able to hold on." Jiang Xiaolou mused, "I can't tell her for the time being, otherwise her character will definitely be exposed. Wouldn't that be a shock to the snake?" Zhang Jiaming sighed, "I thought so too, so I never told her." "I don't understand. Why don't you go straight to the police?" "It's very simple, I don't like to hear them moaning. So I will do it for you. After the matter is done, I will go." "Where are you going?" "You can't control it, anyway, I don't plan to date you." Jiang Xiaolou shrugged, "Thank you for the clue, but why did you do this?" "Just like you, for Xuanxuan. The sooner this matter is over, the sooner she can return to normal. Isn't it?" "That's right." Jiang Xiaolou nodded and asked suddenly, "Is it because of Xuanxuan that you sneaked into bedroom 714?" "I don't want to lie to you, it's like this, but don't ask me why, it's not the time to say it yet, you just have to believe that I'm not hurting her." After finishing speaking, she stared at Jiang Xiaolou for a while, then sighed meaningfully, turned around and left the same way. "Then..." Jiang Xiaolou said loudly towards her back: "Can you tell me, who are you?" "The person who brought Xuanxuan to this world." After finishing speaking, he left without looking back. After evening self-study get out of class, Qiu Suling returned to the dormitory, and threw the big convenience bag in her hand on Niu Fang's empty bed—the day after Niu Fang was killed, her father came to take away all her things, leaving only one empty bag. The bed board echoed Liu Xiaoxiao's empty bed, forming a miserable landscape. "Come and drink at the bar. The one surnamed Zhang has left, and there are only three of us sisters left." Qiu Suling untied the convenience bag while talking, and put a can of Tsingtao beer on the small table opposite.Seeing this situation, Ji Ruxuan and Lin Ying glanced at each other. "Why drink?" Ji Ruxuan asked. Qiu Suling opened a can of beer first, took a big sip, and said coldly: "After drinking this wine, let's get together and get away." "A good get-together?" Both of them stood up from the bed in shock. "I just told the director that we can no longer live in this dormitory. Every time I see those two empty beds, I feel uncomfortable. The director agreed, and tomorrow I will discuss it with the dormitory management office. The three were sent to other dormitories." "I don't want to disband!" Lin Ying suddenly yelled loudly, with tears in her eyes, "There are only three of us left, and we still have to disband, I don't agree!" "Yeah, there are only three of us left." Qiu Suling took another gulp of beer and let out a long breath, "Recently, I often recall the scene of the five of us worshiping in the dormitory a year and a half ago. Yesterday, why did Fangfang and Xiaoxiao disappear in the blink of an eye..." Qiu Suling burst into tears.On the eighth night after Niu Fang was killed, she finally cried.It turns out that no matter how strong a person is, there will be times when they are tired and vulnerable. Influenced by her, Lin Ying also covered her face and sobbed, choked up, "I don't want to disband... If we disband, everything will really be over..." Ji Ruxuan wiped away her tears, and sighed softly: "Lao Qiu is right, it's time to break up, if we live in this dormitory again, everyone will suffer even more." "Then, let's have a drink." Ji Ruxuan took the beer from Qiu Suling, sat on the bed where Niu Fang had slept, raised her head, and drank half of the bottle in one gulp. "It tastes good, as good as the beer we drank when we got married." "Yes, I tell you, the reason why beer tastes good is because it is too bitter." "So, we must get drunk today." Lin Ying also stopped crying, came over and sat next to Ji Ruxuan, took beer from the table and drank it. "Do you still remember our first group picnic?" Qiu Suling said with a smile, "On the 'Eagle Mountain' in Xunan County, we purchased a large package that day, but Niu Fang bragged that she was a barbecue expert. After giving it to her, the whole meat was burnt, hehe, what a waste!" "Don't mention it! It almost caused a fire that time, but luckily it rained later, God bless you!" Just as Ji Ruxuan finished speaking, Lin Ying took up the conversation again, "Do you still remember the time we went swimming in the North Lake together? Swimming, Xiaoxiao's swimsuit on her upper body went somewhere. Those boys screamed at that time, hey, I feel ashamed for her..." "I remember this, it's so funny! Haha..." "Ha ha……" The three of them laughed together until they burst into tears. Finally, the laughter stopped and the scene fell into an unprecedented silence.After a long time, Qiu Suling stood up, walked over and sat between the two of them, and stretched out her arms to hug them respectively, "No matter when it comes, the five of us are good sisters." "Yes, forever good sister..." Tears flowed from Ji Ruxuan's eyes again, but she felt that she was still happy. They were all really drunk that night. The next day, the instructor, Teacher Wang, came early in the morning with people from the dormitory management office. After some conversation, the three of them learned the house numbers of the new dorms they were going to. bedroom. "You can move out at any time, even later." The aunt of the dormitory office said, "Anyway, there is currently no plan to arrange students to live in this dormitory." "Understood." Ji Ruxuan nodded sadly, peeking at Lin Ying and Qiu Suling, both of them looked sad. After the supervisor and the people from the dormitory management office left, the three of them sat on a lower bunk each, silent for a while. "Just like what we said last night, let's each start a new life." Qiu Suling finally broke the deadlock and said with a slight smile. "To be honest, Lao Qiu, there is something I haven't told you." Ji Ruxuan said. "Ok?" "Actually, you look pretty when you smile." "This...then I will laugh often in the future." Qiu Suling said, but tears flowed out. "Lin Ying, how is your cross stitch, is it finished?" "It's almost there." Just as the cross-stitch was by her side, Lin Ying shook out, and it was a pattern of an angel, which was embroidered so vividly that it was only missing a pair of wings. "When the wings are embroidered, she will be able to fly." "Yes, she can fly after embroidering her wings." Ji Ruxuan firmly held Lin Ying's hand. "Remember, we are still sisters." "Well, I must not betray the revolutionary team." In the morning, Jiang Xiaolou was sleeping soundly, the phone suddenly rang restlessly, he picked it up in a daze and saw that it was Jiang Binger calling, and the drowsiness disappeared immediately. "Hey, is the fingerprint identification result out?" Jiang Xiaolou asked hastily as soon as the phone was connected. "It's so fast, at least two or three days." "Oh. How many fingerprints did you take for comparison?" "Niu Fang, Lin Ying, Zhang Jiaming, Qiu Suling, and your wife's." Jiang Binger said "giggle" and laughed. Jiang Xiaolou didn't think it was funny, and asked, "Why is Niu Fang still there?" "Yeah, she hasn't had any accidents since the fire broke out. After taking notes for them, everyone got their fingerprints. This is the rule." "Understood. Why are you looking for me?" "Hey," Jiang Binger's voice became affectionate. "Dear cousin, next Tuesday is my birthday..." "Next Tuesday..." Jiang Xiaolou snapped his fingers and calculated, there are still four days left. "Tell me, what gift do you want?" "Hehe, look at it and send it." "Well, can I send you a set of underwear? It's more interesting. I saw a nice set when I went shopping yesterday. I just went to buy two sets, one for you and one for Xuanxuan. To ensure that you wear It looks good, you can change it for me to see in person, if it doesn’t look good, how about I change it for another gift?” "Get lost! I knew I was taking advantage of your sister!" The siblings laughed and quarreled for a while, Jiang Binger coughed twice, and said: "It's time to get down to business, can you find that Zhang Jiaming now, Lao Gao wants to talk to her and make a formal record." "You can find it yourself, I can't find it. I heard from Xuanxuan that her mobile phone was turned off, who knows where she went." "Then what should we do?" "Isn't she a student of our school? Come to the school and ask, anyway, this is your business. Remember to inform me of the results of the appraisal. Is there anything else?" "Well, not anymore." "Then thank you for calling me so early, just in time for breakfast, hang up." Putting down his phone, Jiang Xiaolou got dressed and got up, dressed up in front of the mirror until he felt that he was more handsome than anyone else, then he went downstairs satisfied and walked towards the school gate - he has recently become obsessed with the snacks outside the school gate The buns from a shop on the same street, and the beautiful waitresses in the shop, that's why they went all the way to have breakfast. However, it is a pity that the waiter was not at work today, and Jiang Xiaolou finished eating the buns empty-heartedly. He wanted to go back to school directly, but he saw a jewelry store across the street. Thinking about going back so early, it would be fine, so he decided to go shopping Go shopping—of course it is impossible for him to actually give underwear to his cousin as a birthday present. The jewelry store is not big, but the four walls are covered with trinkets, all kinds of trinkets, Jiang Xiaolou looked at everything, and couldn't make up his mind, so he looked at each one. Suddenly, his His gaze was fixed on a special trinket, and he did not move for a long time. The shopping guide quickly took off the jewelry and handed it to Jiang Xiaolou. "You have a good eye. This kind of doll is the exclusive product of our store. It is very popular with girls. You must buy this as a gift for girls..." "You just said that only you can buy this doll?" Jiang Xiaolou asked excitedly. "Yes, I can assure you that we are the only store in Xuyou City that has this new style of doll, because we buy it from Hong Kong, and other stores basically come from the local area..." No wonder the police searched for so long and found no results. Dare love this is the only store in the city that sells them.Jiang Xiaolou was pleasantly surprised. Suddenly, when he looked up, he saw the scrap paper with the words "Good luck with the opening" on the opposite wall. They were all new, so he asked, "How long has your store been open?" "Today is the third day." What a joy, Jiang Xiaolou sighed in his heart, but heard the shopping guide lady say: "Our store is a branch store, and the main store is in the city center. It has been in business for many years, and it is very reputable. brand, so there is absolutely no problem with the quality of the product—” Jiang Xiaolou's enthusiasm "rubbed" back again, interrupted her sales lines as if reciting a text, and asked anxiously: "Does your main store also sell this kind of dolls?" “有啊，上架两个月了，销量一直很好。” “谢谢啊。”蒋小楼说完就往外跑，到门口突然想起什么，又回头问道：“你们一共就这两家店吧？” “嗯，不过正在筹备开第三家分店，因为生意很好，所以……” “行行，我知道了。”蒋小楼不耐烦地打断她，转念一想对方帮了自己这么大忙，有点不过意，于是边往外跑边叫道，“我去有点急事，一会儿就回来，我一定从你这买个东西，最贵的！” 在714寝室的最后一天，经过邱素灵的“拷问”，林颖终于承认了她与杨川恋爱的事实和“对上眼”的经过。原来，一切都是从双节棍社团开始的——自从晓晓出事后，林颖和纪如萱就没再去练过双节棍，然而某天晚上，林颖晚自习下课，在寝室楼下遇到了杨川，杨川便询问她为什么不去训练了，两人聊了一会儿，杨川请她去吃夜宵，林颖也不知道自己为什么没有拒绝，就这样，两个人就开始了…… 中午，三人原本约好一起吃饭——眼看着要“分家”了，自然要多在一起聚聚。结果杨川打电话约林颖去吃饭，最后邱素灵抢过电话，要他请大家吃饭，杨川很爽快地答应了。 “老邱，你怎么好像变了个人似的？你以前不会这么干的。”纪如萱纳闷地问。 “是的。我坐了几天禅，想通了一些事情，我以后不再装酷了。”邱素灵说着哈哈笑了两声。“我知道，她们俩就在天上看着我们，看到我们整天愁眉苦脸的样子，一定也会难过吧。所以，我们一定要开心起来，把她们放在心底作永远的纪念，然后开始崭新的生活。” 纪如萱觉得，自己这个姐妹说的很对，很有道理。 半小时后，三人按约定来到校外一家饭店，刚进门就看到先到一步、正在点菜的杨川。 “美女们好啊。”杨川扫了一眼正在走来的三人，落在纪如萱脸上时，稍稍停顿了一下，纪如萱连忙低下头。 “你们想吃什么，尽管点。” “好，你说的啊。”邱素灵笑着抢过菜单，开始认真研究起来。杨川趁机将林颖拉到一边，用惊奇的眼神看了邱素灵一眼，小声问林颖：“她今天怎么了，我记得她以前不是这样的啊？” 林颖看看纪如萱，耸了耸肩。 纪如萱却一阵心酸，她心里明白，邱素灵先前声明要忘记痛苦，开始崭新的生活，这她相信，但好友离世的痛苦哪是这么容易就能忘记的，人也没有这么容易就改变性格的。所以，邱素灵这番一反常态的表现，一定是因为分别在即而做给自己和林颖看的——她想鼓励她们，用自己的改变来鼓励她们。 老邱，你真是个好姐妹。纪如萱在心里由衷地感慨道。 这顿饭吃的还算可以，席间气氛比较活跃，三人都努力将悲伤往下压到心底，能笑的时候尽量都在笑。尽管这对她们本人来说，可能比哭还要难受。也许，这就是友情吧。真正的心灵相通的友情。 最让纪如萱受不了的是，席间杨川老是伺机对自己“眉目传情”，纪如萱心里明白，只好尽量低着头，不与他对视。看着林颖依偎在他身边一脸甜蜜的样子，她感到很不舒服，她替林颖感到不值。但是能怎么样呢？总不能直接对林颖说杨川不喜欢她，喜欢的是自己，所以这样的男人还是不要了吧。于是，纪如萱只好强迫自己是多心了，杨川怎会不喜欢林颖，不然为什么跟她在一起呢？ 然而，这种软绵绵的自我安慰，在林颖和邱素灵一起去上厕所的空挡、在杨川对自己的一番表白之下，轻易被推翻了。 当时，几个人都喝了点酒，已经微醉了。杨川突然一把握住纪如萱放在桌上的手，用柔软的如同蜜糖一样的声音说道：“萱萱，你应该明白我的心意吧？” 纪如萱吓了一跳，用力挣开他的手，低着头不说话。 “你知道吗？我那天到你们宿舍楼下的本意是想等你，想见你一面，结果没等到你，却看到林颖，我故意跟她搭话、约她吃饭，是想从她那里套出有关你的情况，我对你着迷。但是，林颖她喜欢上我了……我没有办法啊，我只能退而求其次，但我最喜欢的还是你，萱萱。你知道吗？” “请你别再说了。”纪如萱被他充满磁性的声音搅得心潮澎湃，于是头更往下低了一点，轻声说道，“你这样对林颖不公平，我希望你能善待她。” “我会的，假如你真不接受我的话。” 杨川突然快步来到她面前，伸手捏住她的下巴，轻轻往上托起——纪如萱感到好像托着她下巴的不是杨川，而是一股她无法抗拒的神秘力量……四目相对，展现在纪如萱眼前的，是一张近乎完美的男人的脸孔，他喷出的气息中除了酒气，还有一种令人陶醉的绝品男人才有的气息。数秒钟后，这张脸慢慢伸了过来，纪如萱浑身无力地靠在椅背上，脑海里几乎一片空白。 就在四片嘴唇即将连在一起时，纪如萱害羞地闭上了眼睛。然而，她看到的不是黑暗，而是蒋小楼那双烁烁有神的眼睛，在用一种愤怒、伤心的眼神望着自己。 “滚开！”她大叫一声，推开了眼前的男人。 杨川一个踉跄向后倒去，幸好身后就是把椅子，他扶住了椅背没有摔倒，傻傻地，有些不解地望着突然变卦的心上人的脸。 “我是不会喜欢你的，永远别想！”纪如萱冷冷地说道，站起来冲出了包间。 我刚才是怎么了？是喝醉了吗？不，这不是借口。 纪如萱蹲在酒店门口的地上，“嘤嘤”地哭了起来，压抑已久的悲伤情绪正好借此机会宣泄了出来。最后，她为自己刚才短暂的精神出轨找到了借口——她曾在一本探讨女性心理的杂志上看到这样一段话：女人经常会为气氛所感染，碰巧这时又遇到一个心仪的近乎完美的男人，在三分钟内，会产生抛弃一切跟他远走高飞的念头，这跟爱情无关，你还是深爱着你的另一半。 也许，自己就是遇到这种情况了？毕竟杨川就是一个近乎完美的男人。而自己刚也喝了酒，更容易被气氛所迷醉了。 尽管找到借口，纪如萱还是觉得自己犯下了不可饶恕的错误，愧疚地将脸埋在臂弯里，蹲在地上哭个不停，直到林颖和邱素灵二人闻声赶来，好一番劝慰，看到林颖脸上为自己的痛哭而着急难过的神情，纪如萱更加觉得羞愧难当，好半天止住了哭，却再也不愿踏进酒店一步——她不愿再看到那个可恶的勾引自己出轨的男人。 她给蒋小楼打去电话，偏巧他正在宿舍吃午饭，很快赶来。“交给我吧，你们进去继续吃饭吧。”蒋小楼冲林颖和邱素灵温和地笑了笑，扶纪如萱站了起来，对她说：“咱们去后操场走走怎么样？” 纪如萱点了点头，像个受伤的小孩似的，搂着蒋小楼的胳膊，跟着他向校门方向走去。 “我没有他帅么？我哪里不如他？”杨川透过包间的窗户，看着两人相拥着逐渐走远的身影，失神地喃喃自语道。 在后操场，纪如萱趴在男友怀里，哽咽着坦白了刚才的经历——真是一个单纯的姑娘。蒋小楼听完她的话，没有生气，反而将她搂得更紧了。 “傻瓜，你不是还在我怀里躺着么，以后少喝酒就行了，没事的，别多想了，啊？” “老公，你不会嫌弃我吧？” “当然不会，呵呵，何况我也……”蒋小楼想起自己出轨的经历，就女友那这点事儿，跟自己比起来太不值一提了。 “何况什么？”纪如萱意识到什么，追问道，“你是不是也……” “别瞎说，没有的事。”蒋小楼当然不敢说，但是，一想到女友那点小事都跟自己坦白，而自己却……现在，感到愧疚难当的是他了。 两人坐在草地上，上半身紧紧拥抱在一起，直到蒋小楼的手机响起。来电话的是蒋冰儿，接通后劈头就是一句：“小楼，查清楚了。” 蒋小楼愣了愣，才想起她说的是什么，忙问：“是谁？” “是牛芳，一点没错，店员一看她照片就认出来了，11月3号，也就是火灾发生的五天前，她去买了五个娃娃，因为买的多，所以店员印象深刻。” 蒋小楼紧紧皱起了眉头——纪如萱在一旁看着，便知道他是遇上最棘手的难题了，否则凭蒋小楼的性格，想让他皱眉是尤其困难的事。 “怎么会是她呢？”蒋小楼喃喃自语。 “还有，那个录音笔的指纹鉴定也出来来，也是牛芳！” "what!" “没办法，虽然出乎我们所有人预料，但事实就是这样。小楼，你怎么看？” “你先忙去吧，让我想想，回头再给你电话。” 放下手机，蒋小楼看了纪如萱一眼，她两眼直直地盯着自己，意思再明显不过了，说不说呢？蒋小楼犹豫了一下，决定还是告诉她吧，不然实在是说不过去了。于是，他简要地讲了一遍自己在饰品店看到一模一样的娃娃的经过和警方调查的结果，然后，又讲了有关那个录音笔的事情： “你不是经常听到寝室卫生间半夜有女人哭声吗？告诉你，就是这个录音笔做的怪，这件事是张佳茗告诉我的，她夜里几次听见哭声，进卫生间后却看不到一个人，早就怀疑了——她可不像你们，遇事老往迷信上想，而且巧的是，那天你们在天台上聊天，哭声又来了，她在冲下楼之前，跑到排风管前往下看了一眼，当时就看到排风管连接处的凹槽里插着一个黑乎乎的东西，天黑看不清楚，但根据声音响起的方位来看，应该是这个东西发出的，她马上跑到楼下，刚进卫生间哭声就消失了。” “你当时还问她怎么回事是吧？她还没彻底搞明白，当然不会告诉你，第二天她趁没人，又跑到楼顶，从排风管里就掏出了那个录音笔，她虽然琢磨不透事情真相，但知道这东西有问题，于是从寝室搬出来时，就找到我，让我将录音笔转交给警方。经过老高他们的检查，认定这是个可以定时播放声音的录音笔——其实就是一个个性化的闹钟，事先录好声音，调好时间，到那个时间后声音就自动播放了。这下你全明白了吧？” 纪如萱紧咬着下唇，半天没有说话。 “真是没想到，牛芳就是纵火的真凶。”蒋小楼叹了口气。“你上次还说牛芳在卫生间看到又一个刘晓晓，当时说的还挺迷信的，现在也能解释通了——牛芳在撒谎，目的与鼓捣那支录音笔一样，装神弄鬼，干扰大家的视线，据我猜测，这一切都是她为对付刘晓晓而做的铺垫。那个诅咒娃娃则直接将矛头指向刘晓晓。对了，我记得你跟我说过，在钟楼第一个发现娃娃的人，正好就是牛芳对吧？” “可是……那个录音笔，并不是每晚都有声音啊？” “你也可以控制你的闹钟什么时候响吧？而且据警方测试，那个录音笔'报时'的时间是五分钟，你仔细想想，每次哭声从响起到结束，是不是只有五分钟这么长？” 纪如萱仔细一想还真差不多，但她无论如何不愿相信牛芳会伤害刘晓晓这个事实，于是继续从蒋小楼的推理中寻找破绽。“如果录音笔真是牛芳放在通风管里的，她就不怕被我们发现吗？” “我听张佳茗说，你们宿舍通风管的下部是弯曲的，从屋里往上看什么都看不见，而且哭声响起时你们连卫生间大门都不敢进，谁会发现问题。” “即使你说的对，那……牛芳在上面留下指纹，未免有点太冒险了吧？还有她去饰品店里买娃娃，她就不怕事发后你们查到这个店吗？” 蒋小楼缓缓点头。“你说的有道理，既然整件事策划这么精密，没理由留下这么多破绽等人去发现。不过牛芳跟晓晓的案子肯定扯不开关系了，毕竟有这么多直接证据。” 纪如萱无力地坐倒在草地上，低下头，呆呆地望着开在脚下草丛间的一朵小红花，内心如失魂落魄一般空虚。 蒋小楼蹲下来，伸手搂过她的肩膀。 “现在不是难过的时候，我们还有一个最重要的谜题没有解开——到底是谁杀死了牛芳，动机又是什么。” 纪如萱身体颤了颤，抬头一脸迷茫地看向蒋小楼。 蒋小楼无奈地耸了耸肩，直到此时他才真正意识到，这个案子有多复杂。