The officer surnamed Zhang from Shan’e Street Police Station, who was responsible for investigating the missing-person case, had already arrived at Beiye Sub-bureau. He was so nervous that he was almost stammering. The missing girl was Liu Wenran, seventeen years old, a Grade 12 student in Class 13 at No. 10 Middle School. When the school first reported her missing, he had assumed it was just another case of a student running away from home. Every year, ninth and twelfth graders ran away because of excessive pressure and similar reasons. After visiting the school, he had not found anything particularly unusual either. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the DNA they had just collected would produce a match in Beiye Sub-bureau’s Criminal Investigation Squad. Had he stumbled into a criminal case?
Chen Zheng said, “Captain Zhang, don’t be nervous. We only found Liu Wenran’s DNA in another case. We still don’t know whether she was involved in it. Take your time.”
Officer Zhang glanced at Kong Bing. Kong Bing had been the one who called and ordered him to hurry over to the sub-bureau, practically roaring through the phone. Everyone at the police station dreaded dealing with the Criminal Investigation Squad, and he was no exception.
Chen Zheng turned around. “Captain Kong.”
Kong Bing had been glaring at Officer Zhang like a tiger watching its prey. At Chen Zheng’s voice, he answered darkly, “What?”
Chen Zheng said, “Why don’t you go get him a cup of water? And stop pacing around. You’re making me nervous.”
Kong Bing clicked his tongue. As he went to pour the water, he muttered, “You get nervous too?”
Seeing Kong Bing sent away, and by the much gentler-looking man in front of him at that, Officer Zhang assumed Chen Zheng was some newly transferred superior specifically assigned to keep Kong Bing under control. He finally relaxed. “Here’s what happened. The student boards at school. Her homeroom teacher was the first person to realize she was missing…”
Liu Wenran’s class was one of No. 10 Middle School’s average classes, so compared with the experimental classes, the pressure was not especially severe. She was considered exceptionally pretty at school, particularly because of her waterfall of long hair, which drew a great deal of attention.
When a middle-school or high-school student disappeared, the usual lines of inquiry were fairly standard: school bullying, an early romantic relationship, poor exam results, conflict with roommates, and so on. Officer Zhang had investigated along those lines and found that although Liu Wenran was pretty and had plenty of secret admirers, she had never dated anyone. Her closest friends could all attest to that. So early romance had been ruled out.
She had not suffered school bullying either. The atmosphere in Class 13 was relatively harmonious. There were little cliques among the girls, but no one was being deliberately excluded. Liu Wenran’s grades were average, she took part in almost every class activity, and whenever someone was short on money or feeling unwell, she would offer to help. She was very popular.
Poor exam results were possible. The midterms had ended not long ago, and her grade ranking had dropped several places compared with the placement exam at the beginning of the term. But it was only a few places. Surely that would not be enough to make her do something drastic?
Her homeroom teacher was also surnamed Zhang and had only taken over the graduating class that semester, so she did not know Liu Wenran especially well. She said Liu had always behaved herself and was very cheerful, the kind of personality that rarely came into conflict with anyone. She simply could not understand why Liu Wenran had disappeared.
Chen Zheng held Liu Wenran’s photograph. The girl in it was laughing brightly, her long hair gleaming in the sunlight. “You said just now that whenever someone was short on money, Liu Wenran would help them?”
Officer Zhang nodded. “She seems to have been very generous. Students only borrow small amounts from one another anyway. Teacher Chen, is there a problem?”
Chen Zheng said, “With students, once money is involved, even small amounts can sometimes create problems.”
Officer Zhang did not quite understand, but immediately said, “Then we’ll verify that again.”
Kong Bing returned and set a disposable cup on the table a little too hard, making the water slosh over the rim. Officer Zhang, whose nerves had only just settled, immediately felt them rising again.
Chen Zheng pushed the cup toward him. “Anything else?”
Officer Zhang took a drink to calm himself. “Liu Wenran’s classmates said she’d been acting a little strange lately.”
Before Chen Zheng could speak, Kong Bing barked, “Strange how?”
Officer Zhang nearly choked. He grimaced. “I hadn’t had time to investigate that in detail before you called me over!”
“You!”
Chen Zheng stopped Kong Bing. “How about this, Captain Zhang? Liu Wenran may be connected to a homicide our squad is investigating. Captain Kong wants to take this case over and investigate them together. We’ll pick up whatever you haven’t had time to check yet, but we’ll need your station to coordinate and cooperate with us. How does that sound?”
Officer Zhang could not have been happier. “Sure, sure! Teacher Chen, I’ll listen to you! Whatever you say needs investigating, we’ll investigate!”
As soon as Officer Zhang left, Kong Bing turned a dark face on Chen Zheng and said sarcastically, “‘Our squad,’ huh? Director Chen, you’re a cadre from the research institute. Since when did you become one of us?”
Chen Zheng had long since discovered that Kong Bing was easy to handle. He pulled out the temporary Beiye Sub-bureau work ID Kong Bing had given him and waved it. “Didn’t Captain Kong give me this? What else am I supposed to be?”
A vein tightened at Kong Bing’s temple. “I never said I was taking over the case. Why are you making decisions for me?”
“Oh, fine.” Chen Zheng nodded indifferently and headed toward the door. His pace grew faster and faster until he simply started running.
Kong Bing immediately realized something was wrong and chased after him. “Fuck! Stop! Where are you going?”
Without looking back, Chen Zheng said, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want the case? Captain Zhang can’t have gone far. I’ll call him back.”
Kong Bing’s hair practically stood on end. “Chen Zheng! Get back here!”
“What’s going on?” Ming Han suddenly appeared in the corridor, openly wearing the expression of someone delighted to have stumbled across juicy entertainment. “Why are we suddenly calling Teacher Chen by his full name?”
Kong Bing’s temper was directed almost entirely at Chen Zheng. He and Ming Han had always gotten along like brothers. Once Ming Han pulled him aside, Kong Bing realized he had lost his composure and straightened his expression. “Nothing. It’s that case at No. 10…”
Kong Bing briefly explained the situation. Ming Han had actually already been around when Officer Zhang was summoned, so he knew perfectly well what was going on. “Then this is definitely Teacher Chen’s fault. Why does he keep making you angry? How about this: you stay here and I’ll go take a look at No. 10 with him.”
Of course Kong Bing had no intention of sitting around at the sub-bureau either. He went downstairs with Ming Han. Ming Han went after Chen Zheng, while Kong Bing sent someone to Shan’e Street Police Station.
Chen Zheng had only been putting on a show. He had never seriously intended to call Officer Zhang back. The police station’s information was far too sketchy, and he needed to visit No. 10 Middle School himself. Just as he was about to start the car, a figure flashed past. Without even saying hello, Ming Han slid straight into the passenger seat. Chen Zheng opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Ming Han had already buckled his seat belt. He blinked innocently. “Seat belt’s fastened. Any other orders, Bro?”
Chen Zheng: “…”
What had he been about to say?
News that a Grade 12 student had gone missing had already spread throughout No. 10 Middle School. Chen Zheng was not wearing a police uniform, but people kept staring at him as he walked through the campus. His hearing was good enough to catch the students whispering.
“That guy’s a cop, right? He’s here for the missing-person case.”
“Never seen him before. He’s definitely not a teacher.”
“Holy crap, a cop without a uniform? This is serious! Plainclothes police are here. Something huge is happening at our school!”
Chen Zheng looked down at his leather jacket. It isn’t as though I deliberately came here in plain clothes. Wearing the research institute’s uniform here would have been inappropriate, and the sub-bureau had not exactly issued him one of theirs.
When the Grade 12 director learned that someone from the sub-bureau had arrived, he invited Chen Zheng to his office before Chen could speak to any teachers or students. Then came the bureaucratic speech. First, the Grade 12 students had heavy exam workloads and were already under enormous psychological pressure, so he hoped the police would avoid upsetting them. Then, the incident would have a serious negative impact on the school, so it would be best if the news could be contained. Boiled down, he wanted the police investigation to be “restrained.”
Chen Zheng had dealt with situations like this many times and remained perfectly calm. “‘Restrained’ in what sense? We shouldn’t ask anything?”
The grade director hurriedly waved his hands. “Of course not. I only mean that you should try not to disrupt the normal lives of the teachers and students.”
Chen Zheng smiled. “Then I’ll be straightforward. The moment Liu Wenran disappeared, the normal lives of your teachers and students were already disrupted. The moment I entered the school today, I heard students discussing how Liu Wenran disappeared and why. Doesn’t that count as disruption?”
The grade director could only say, “Yes, yes. But…”
Chen Zheng said, “In a criminal case, an incomplete investigation is effectively no investigation at all.”
The grade director was shocked. “A c-criminal case?”
Chen Zheng said, “It’s a possibility. Director Wang, we also want to find Liu Wenran as quickly as possible. Only after she’s found can the impact of this incident begin to shrink and eventually disappear. Wouldn’t you agree?”
The grade director was silent for a while, apparently weighing the matter. “I understand. We want the student found as soon as possible too.”
Class 13 had PE that afternoon. Most of the boys were playing ball, while the girls and a handful of boys had gathered together to discuss Liu Wenran. Chen Zheng listened for a while and soon had a rough idea of which students were closest to her.
When they saw a police officer approaching, the students fell silent. Chen Zheng called one of them by name. “Wang Ke, could you come over here?”
Wang Ke glanced beside her and forcibly dragged another girl along. Both were Liu Wenran’s roommates. Wang Ke said, “You’ve already questioned us. Wenran didn’t go back to the dorm the entire weekend. She does that pretty often, so if Teacher Zhang hadn’t suddenly asked me about her, I wouldn’t even have realized she was missing.”
Chen Zheng asked, “Do the people in your dorm usually go out for meals together? How do you split shared dorm expenses?”
Wang Ke looked surprised. “Does that have something to do with Wenran going missing?”
“I heard she’s very generous,” Chen Zheng said. “But ‘generous’ is a broad description. I want details. The more we understand about her, the better our chances of finding her.”
Wang Ke understood. She and the other roommate both said Liu Wenran’s family was fairly well-off. They were not fabulously wealthy, but they were willing to spend money on their daughter. Liu Wenran could casually pull out a few hundred yuan, and if someone was genuinely broke, she would sometimes pay for their meal without asking to be repaid. Most people repaid her anyway.
Chen Zheng asked whether Liu Wenran had ever voluntarily talked about her family, such as what her parents did for a living or how much allowance she received each month. Wang Ke thought for a moment and said no, but she and the others had simply assumed the Liu family had money.
That assumption came partly from Liu Wenran’s generosity and partly from the care she put into her hair and the many hair clips she wore. No. 10 required students to wear uniforms, but girls were not forced to cut their hair short, so much of their desire to look pretty was expressed through their hair. Someone who maintained hair as long as Liu Wenran’s surely could not be badly off financially.
As they spoke, a laugh suddenly came from nearby. The malice in it was unmistakable. Chen Zheng turned toward the sound and saw a short-haired girl. Wang Ke heard it too and glared at her. “Ao Yan, Wenran is missing. What exactly are you laughing at?”
The girl called Ao Yan said disdainfully, “I’m laughing because you’re feeding the police false information. I’d advise you to stop talking before you interfere with the investigation. Are you helping Liu Wenran or hurting her?”
Wang Ke and the roommate snapped angrily, “What do you mean, false information? That’s the Wenran we know! Just because you don’t like her doesn’t mean you should stir up trouble now!”
Ao Yan rolled her eyes and waved a hand. “Fine, I won’t interfere. As if I care about your stupid business anyway.”
Chen Zheng did not immediately go after Ao Yan. Instead, he had Wang Ke take him to the dormitory. Ordinarily, as a man, he would not have been allowed inside the girls’ dorm, but the circumstances were unusual and the school had provided authorization. After checking his credentials, the dorm supervisor sighed. “Liu is such a polite girl. How could something like this happen to her?”
Chen Zheng simply asked the dorm supervisor to come upstairs with them and listened along the way as she described the Liu Wenran she knew. It turned out Liu’s generosity extended to the dorm supervisor as well. During the hottest part of the summer, Liu Wenran had bought her mung-bean slush several times. It had not cost much, but the dorm supervisor had always remembered it.
The dorm room opened. Perhaps because the girls knew the police were coming, they had already tidied everything. It was spotless, almost like a model room in a school admissions brochure. Chen Zheng did not know whether to laugh or sigh. He would have preferred seeing the dorm in its natural state.
Four students shared the room, with beds above desks. Liu Wenran’s spot was by the door. Her desk held notebooks, a cup, toiletries, and other everyday items.
Chen Zheng picked up her facial cleanser, toner, and moisturizer one by one, then opened the wardrobe. Inside were only a few sweaters and undergarments. At the very bottom were two pairs of socks with holes in them.
He returned everything he had examined to its original place and closed the wardrobe.
If the students had not told him that Liu Wenran’s family had money and that she was generous, he would never have reached that conclusion from her personal belongings.
The school had a dress code, but students from genuinely well-off families usually kept clothes in their wardrobes for the weekends, including at least one piece that would count as a premium brand among students. Liu Wenran had nothing like that. Her toiletries and skincare products were very cheap as well. Her vanity box, however, contained many pretty hair clips.
After leaving the dorm, Chen Zheng searched for the hair clips he had seen. They looked nice, but they were all inexpensive.
Liu Wenran’s image became a little clearer. She did have some money, but nowhere near enough to qualify as wealthy. Because of the school uniform requirement, she did not need to spend much on clothes. Children her age naturally had good skin and did not need expensive skincare. Hair, on the other hand, could make someone stand out as long as it was carefully maintained, and students generally did not care how much a hair clip cost as long as it looked good.
She had constructed the image of someone wealthy.
Remembering the exchange between Ao Yan and Wang Ke, Chen Zheng found Ao Yan at the campus shop. The girl, who had seemed eager to perform earlier, now looked uncomfortable. “Why are you looking for me? Liu Wenran and I aren’t close. I don’t know anything about what happened to her.”
Chen Zheng said, “You aren’t close? Why don’t you get along?”
“Why does there have to be a reason?” Ao Yan said. “Don’t you have anyone you dislike? Are you some kind of saint?”
“Of course I do,” Chen Zheng said. “People like you who snap at everyone for no reason? I find that pretty annoying.”
“You!” Ao Yan’s eyes widened. Was this man really a police officer? He was nothing like the police she had imagined.
Paradoxically, Chen Zheng’s jab narrowed the distance between them. He continued, “I already told you why I dislike you. Shouldn’t you return the courtesy and tell me why you dislike Liu Wenran?”
Ao Yan pointed at the so-called “coffee assassin” in the drinks refrigerator. “Buy me that.”
Elio’s Notes: “Assassin” is Chinese internet slang for an ordinary-looking item whose unexpectedly high price ambushes your wallet.
What counted as an “assassin” to a student was merely an ordinary drink to an adult. Chen Zheng bought it for her and picked up a bottle of unsweetened tea for himself.
Sipping her coffee, Ao Yan suddenly found Chen Zheng much more agreeable. “Liu Wenran is so fake and pretentious. She isn’t some goddess at all, okay? But she insists on putting on that goddess act. If she’s really such a goddess, why does she live on Xingwen Street?”
Xingwen Street? Chen Zheng knew the place. It was considered a chaotic neighborhood even by Zhuquan City standards, filled with single-story houses and old corridor-style apartment blocks, all kinds of people mixed together. To many locals, it was practically a slum.
“You even know where she lives,” Chen Zheng said. “And you claim you don’t know her well?”
“It’s not like I wanted to know! It’s not my fault we’re neighbors!” As soon as Ao Yan finished, she seemed to regret saying it. She lowered her head and tugged at the sleeve of her school uniform.
Only then did Chen Zheng notice that Ao Yan’s shoes were badly worn and that her short hair had no accessories at all. She looked far more like someone who lived on Xingwen Street than Liu Wenran did.
“It isn’t your fault,” Chen Zheng said. “Is living on Xingwen Street a crime? Want an orange juice?”
Ao Yan stared blankly at him, her mind empty for several seconds. This police officer really was different.
Chen Zheng waved a hand in front of her face. “Go on. Tell me about Liu Wenran. What’s her family situation?”
Ao Yan came back to herself and shook her head, making her short hair flick upward like two rabbit ears. “It’s just her and her mom. Her mom doesn’t have a job. She watches a mahjong parlor for people, and she doesn’t give Liu Wenran money either. Everyone says Liu’s a rich second-generation girl, some rich-girl goddess. Makes me laugh. She’s kind of pathetic, honestly. She doesn’t have anything, but she insists on pretending she does. Her family can barely put food on the table, and her mom goes around begging people for handouts, but she’s still treating people to meals at school. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Chen Zheng asked, “If her family is really that poor, where does she get the money to do her hair and buy meals for people?”
“She…” Ao Yan opened her mouth, but something seemed to hold her back.
Chen Zheng waited. “You were talking a mile a minute just now. Why don’t you want to speak anymore? Do I need to buy you another coffee?”
“No!” Ao Yan frowned, hesitating. “I’m not sure it’s true. If it’s false, saying something like this would really destroy her reputation. She’s still… she’s still a girl.”
Chen Zheng’s expression turned serious. “Tell me first. I’ll verify whether it’s true.”
Ao Yan hesitated again before saying, “I heard Liu Wenran ‘sells’ herself outside school.”
It was only a single word, but Chen Zheng understood perfectly well what it meant. His gaze immediately went cold.
Ao Yan continued, “And not in the usual way. She sells herself to… to filthy old men!”
Chen Zheng felt as though some viscous force were dragging him downward, his feet sinking into filthy mud. Every step stirred up a wave of nausea.
Why had this case drawn his attention in the first place? Because Yin Gaoqiang was dead, and the police had found long hair inside Yin Gaoqiang’s home. DNA testing had confirmed that the hair belonged to Liu Wenran. How had a pitiful old man who had spent ten years waiting for his son become entangled with a teenage high school girl? No one had an answer.
Now, however, a highly suggestive lead had appeared: Liu Wenran might have had improper relationships with elderly men.
Without realizing it, Chen Zheng’s voice lost its teasing edge. “Who did you hear that from?”
Ao Yan lowered her head, both hands squeezing the coffee bottle. “…People where we live. Everyone says it. If you don’t believe me, go ask!”
While Chen Zheng was speaking with Ao Yan, Wang Ke, and the others, Ming Han followed the Shan’e Street Police Station interview records and found the two girls who had said Liu Wenran had been acting strangely and seemed depressed lately. They were not her roommates and did not sit near her in class, but they sometimes went shopping with her.
Ming Han noticed that both girls had new-model phones, and one was wearing a fairly expensive watch.
“Why did Liu Wenran become depressed?” Ming Han asked. “When you go out after school, what do you usually do together?”
Zhou Xi was the student wearing the expensive watch, and she was more mature and composed than most girls her age. “In Grade 11, we’d go sing karaoke, watch movies, things like that. We went out to eat pretty often too. We went to concerts and stationery shops… Wenran liked stationery shops best. But Grade 12 got too busy. Wenran goes home on weekends, so we’ve only eaten together two or three times, all near school.”
Ming Han said, “Liu Wenran likes stationery shops best? Her grades are pretty good.”
Zhou Xi glanced at her companion, looking as though she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Ming Han said, “Is there another reason? Don’t worry. I’m not scary.”
Zhou Xi shook her head. “It’s not you. It’s just… kind of hard for us to say.”
“Say it even if it’s hard. I need the information you give me to find her, ladies.”
Ming Han’s tone eased some of their misgivings. Zhou Xi said, “It’s like this. After spending enough time with Wenran, we all knew she actually wasn’t the same kind of person we were. But she’s nice, and we really enjoyed being with her, so none of us ever said anything.”
Her words sounded vague, but Ming Han caught the implication. “You mean she wasn’t as wealthy as she made herself look, right?”
Zhou Xi felt guilty for revealing her friend’s secret. She lowered her head and answered softly, “Mm.”
“She liked stationery stores because the things there were relatively cheap, within a range she could afford. Concerts and things like that were beyond her budget, so she never went.” Ming Han asked, “Am I understanding correctly?”
Hearing Ming Han put what she wanted to say into words made Zhou Xi relax, and gradually she stopped being so guarded. She and her companion insisted they were not snobs. It was simply that friendships also required people to have compatible attitudes toward money, or both sides would suffer. At first they had included Liu Wenran because they thought she was like them. She joined them for meals and karaoke, knew plenty of little tricks for styling hair, and could do makeup. They had a lot in common and genuinely enjoyed spending time together.
But during the summer after Grade 10, Zhou Xi invited the girls on a seaside holiday. Liu Wenran said something had come up at home and she could not go. They did not think much of it at first. Later, as the friends grew closer, everyone learned what the others’ families did, while Liu Wenran never spoke about hers. And whenever they went shopping, attended concerts, traveled, or visited expensive restaurants, Liu Wenran always found an excuse not to go. Gradually, they realized it was not that she had no time. She had no money.
Everyone understood without saying it aloud. They only invited Liu Wenran when the activity was inexpensive. Whenever they went to a stationery store, Liu Wenran seemed to be on her home turf. Eventually, everyone got used to the arrangement and saw nothing wrong with it.
Ming Han asked, “Did Liu Wenran know that you knew?”
“She probably did,” Zhou Xi said. “But we really never told anyone. If you want to put it selfishly, we were each getting something out of it. She seemed to care a lot about the image she’d created. Being with us helped reinforce that image. As for us, we genuinely liked spending time with her, and she’d do our makeup. Everyone was happy, so why expose it?”
Ming Han nodded. “Then you knew Liu Wenran fairly well. What did you think when she suddenly stopped being sociable?”
Zhou Xi whispered with her companion for a while before saying that perhaps something had happened at home. In any case, it probably had not happened at school, because everything in the class was normal. They also mentioned their homeroom teacher. “Teacher Zhang is very responsible. She’s a good teacher, and the graduating classes she takes always get results. But if you want to know more about Wenran, you should ask Teacher Jiang. He was our homeroom teacher for the first two years. Grade 10 and 11 teachers manage the students. Grade 12 teachers manage the grades.”
Ming Han thanked them and was about to leave when Zhou Xi suddenly remembered something. “Wait, there’s one more thing.”
Ming Han sat back down. “Mm?”
Zhou Xi frowned. “I don’t know whether it had anything to do with Wenran becoming depressed, but near the end of last month, she received a gift. It was a doll. It was kind of ugly, although not exactly ugly. It just looked strange, kind of sinister. Wenran said it made her uncomfortable to look at.”
Ming Han immediately thought of the doll Chen Zheng had brought back from Huang Fei’s home. According to Huang Fei, Yin Gaoqiang had given it to him.
“Did it look like this?” Ming Han opened a photograph of the doll.
Zhou Xi and her companion cried out at the same time. “It does! It looks like that one!”
Ming Han asked, “Where’s the doll? Does she still have it?”
Zhou Xi said, “Wenran threw it away right then! Where did you find this one?”
Ming Han asked in return, “Where did she throw it?”