Chapter 7

When Ruan Mingxi first called him to the school, Jiang Xuzhou already had a faint premonition, though he hadn’t let himself imagine the worst.

Now, hearing the confirmation with his own ears, his feelings were deeply conflicted.

After taking several deep breaths, Jiang Xuzhou asked, “Which part of the body was the bone from?”

He seemed to be clinging to a shred of hope: if it were the ulna, the radius, or even the tibia or fibula, then perhaps the person might still be alive. As long as they were alive, there was still a chance to bring them back.

But Ruan Mingxi shattered that hope: “The pelvis.”

Lin Peixin had examined it. The pelvis they brought back was somewhat small, but overall the bones were thick and heavy. The inlet was heart-shaped, funnel-like, consistent with male skeletal features.

“Why did you grow suspicious yesterday?” Jiang Xuzhou wanted to know what had prompted Ruan Mingxi to think of comparing Professor Yan’s DNA sample.

Ruan Mingxi was straightforward: “His movement patterns, and the fact that the last time Yan Zhan appeared on surveillance footage was near the crime scene.”

Yan Zhan was missing, had once been at the site where the body was dumped, and was of the same age as the victim. To rule things out, the test had to be done.

Now that their suspicions were confirmed, no one at the bureau felt any sense of relief.

Seventeen years old — his life had only just begun, yet it had ended in this way.

A missing-person case had turned into a homicide, casting a heavy shadow over the investigation.

Jiang Xuzhou’s eyes darkened. “Has the bureau contacted the family yet?”

“Not yet. I held it back for now. I wanted to check the situation at the school first before reaching out to the family,” Ruan Mingxi replied.

With clues already in hand, it was only a matter of time before the family had to be told.

Ruan Mingxi had called Jiang Xuzhou over partly because of his academic background and his connection to Professor Wei Wenshan and the police, and partly because, as the one who first noticed the problem, he might have some useful clues.

“I don’t know much,” Jiang Xuzhou admitted. “Yesterday, when Professor Yan was at the bureau, he already handed over all the materials I had seen.”

Jiang Xuzhou then recounted how Professor Wei had suddenly called him to the school the day before. Ruan Mingxi’s expression barely changed — clearly, this was the answer he had expected.

“But just now in the classroom, I found something new.”

Before Ruan Mingxi could respond, Jiang Xuzhou quickly shared what he knew.

He handed over the photos he had just taken at Yan Zhan’s desk, including the small words scribbled on the desktop in pencil.

The further Ruan Mingxi looked, the deeper his frown became.

Yan Zhan’s textbook was covered with messy marks made by a pen, and the scratches were so deep that they cut through several pages.

It was easy to imagine how agitated Yan Zhan must have been when he carved those marks into the book.

Realizing something was wrong, Ruan Mingxi immediately called Ying Shi, who was waiting in the car: “There’s a storage box in the trunk. Bring a few more evidence bags.”

Ying Shi, busy sorting through the information they had just gathered, jolted at the words and quickly replied, “Got it.”

“Move fast. I’m waiting by the senior-year building. The students will be getting out of class soon.”

Ruan Mingxi didn’t want to cause a scene. His plan was to quietly collect the items before the classmates noticed anything unusual.

At that moment, the class teacher had finished the prepared lesson and left fifteen minutes for the students to work on exercises.

Suddenly, the back door moved, and the physics teacher’s eyes widened in surprise.

Those two who had run off — why were they back again?

With a subtle gesture from Ruan Mingxi, the physics teacher, half annoyed and half speechless, stepped outside.

“Sneaking around like that — if I hadn’t seen your real ID, I’d think you bought one of those toy police badges at the school gate for two yuan.” The physics teacher knew Ruan Mingxi well enough; though they didn’t often keep in touch, they weren’t strangers.

Ruan Mingxi shamelessly grinned. “No way. If I did that, I’d end up in lockup*.”

(*蹲局子 – slang for “end up in jail”)

The physics teacher laughed in exasperation at his cheeky expression. “What’s going on here? You ran off and now you’re back — planning to get caught again and be made to read a self-criticism at the flag-raising ceremony?”

Hearing that, Ruan Mingxi choked for a moment, then turned his head to glance at the smiling Jiang Xuzhou.

“You two just can’t let go of this joke* today, can you?” Ruan Mingxi laughed in exasperation.

(梗 – “joke” or “running gag,” something repeatedly brought up in conversation.)

Seeing that the end of class was approaching, he quickly explained why they had come back.

He didn’t reveal the news of Yan Zhan’s death, only said that the police needed to take the items from the desk for investigation.

The physics teacher understood immediately. “Alright, I get it.”

Back in the classroom, the physics teacher told the students they would finish five minutes early today and head to the cafeteria for lunch.

Just as the students were about to cheer, he held them back.

With five minutes still left before the dismissal bell, the whole class rushed out in a swarm.

Ruan Mingxi and Ying Shi hurried into the classroom, quickly packing the items and sealing them one by one in evidence bags.

“Captain, should we take the desk itself too?” Ying Shi asked.

Ruan Mingxi froze for a moment. If possible, he would have liked to, but the trunk of his car probably couldn’t handle it.

Besides, they didn’t have evidence bags large enough to hold a desk.

Just as Ruan Mingxi finished packing the last book, his peripheral vision caught sight of a dark red mark beneath the desktop — as if someone had smeared it there with a finger.

“I drove here too. Since no one’s sitting in the back, we can put the desk there,” Jiang Xuzhou suggested.

With suspicious traces discovered, leaving the desk behind was no longer an option.

The backseat of Jiang Xuzhou’s car had more space than Ruan Mingxi’s, so fitting the desk in wasn’t a big problem — though the edges might get scratched.

But for now, there was no other choice.

Yan Zhan had too many books for Ying Shi to carry alone. Just as the physics teacher was about to help Jiang Xuzhou move the desk, he saw Jiang pull out a fresh pair of latex gloves from his pocket.

Ruan Mingxi noticed the corner of another glove peeking out of Jiang’s pocket and immediately recognized it as a pair that had already been used.

Jiang Xuzhou was a meticulous person, but not to the extent of carrying latex gloves everywhere — and he had several of them in his pocket.

Where had he come from that morning?

Ruan Mingxi temporarily set aside his doubts and focused on loading the collected evidence into the car.

The desks and chairs at Jinghai No. 1 High School were wooden. They didn’t look very big, but they were surprisingly heavy.

Carrying one from the classroom building to the school gate left the physics teacher exhausted.

“Thanks for your help, teacher. Next time I come back, I’ll treat you to tea,” Ruan Mingxi said with a smile.

The physics teacher chuckled. “It’s fine if you come back, but remember to use the front gate — stop climbing over the walls.”

Ying Shi looked baffled. “Captain, no wonder you’re so good at chasing suspects over walls — you’ve been practicing since you were a kid!”

Ruan Mingxi: “…”

After saying their goodbyes, the group set off while the students returned to their classrooms for the lunch break.

They arrived at the bureau just in time for lunch.

“These are all Yan Zhan’s belongings. After we eat, let’s examine them first.”

Handing the items over to the forensic department, Ruan Mingxi then took Jiang Xuzhou to the bureau cafeteria for a meal.