Everything was as Zheng Yuan expected: Song Anning returned to the growth center as Xie Li, and privately contacted five contemporaries led by Tie Wenbin, who used the purchase of art raw materials as a cover, distributed a large amount of charcoal powder through the biscuit cone as a cover, and then passed it on to the students on other floors, and they pressed the powder under the mattress, hid it behind the curtains, and threw it in every hidden and within their reach.

On the day of the incident, he ignited two gas pressure canisters in his car, and the open flame and high temperature caused the first round of deflagration, and a negative pressure was formed in the center of the explosion. Song Anning himself died on the spot, Song Youyang was severely burned and died after being sent to the hospital, and after the fire was extinguished, they found Ge Yumei's body in the burned-through rear compartment. An autopsy revealed a high concentration of tranquilizers in her body, and she eventually died of suffocation caused by smoke inhalation during the fire.

Some people settle down, while others are swept up with sediment. The director died, and the new life hospital was finally caught in an investigation storm due to years of violations and abuses, and was completely closed down a few months later. Under the mediation of Wang Shiqi, Gu Tianqing was reburied, and his urn was put into Gu Tianyu's side.

Half a month later, a letter was delivered to Zheng Yuan - to be exact, it was sent to the consultation mailbox of the Legal Weekly, which was opened by a young intern and sent by registered mail by Director Zhuo. Zheng Yuan stared at the name on the envelope, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, indigo ink outlined a thin stroke, and it was the handwriting he had never seen before that made up the name: "Lakeside." ”

Teacher Zheng, Zhan Xinjia.

By the time you receive this letter, I should have been gone.

Forgive me for using such a vulgar beginning, but this kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is really hard for people to give up. After all, life is mediocre and boring most of the time, even for people like me.

Of course, there are many things I need your forgiveness forgiven, and Lushan Lake has made you suffer a lot, right? I don't mean to hurt you, it's just that some things have to be done to get the most out of the next step. I'm not a god and can't be foolproof, and I think you should be able to forgive me for that, because you said we were so alike, like you felt terrible.

I like to listen to you, although I haven't known you for a long time, but I take your words to heart. I remember you exposing yourself unreservedly just to save me, and I remember you recreating a past that I didn't mention to anyone with just a little clue. Smart as you must have guessed, Gu Tianqing and I, we are neither hostile nor friendly, if I have to say, we are symbiotes entangled with each other. I knew him before I met him—from Gu Tianyu's description, from the smile in her eyes when she thought of him. Gu Tianyu is really my friend, she likes to write, even if she was locked up in the hospital, she didn't give up, yes, it's the "letters" you read. Do you remember that painting? The Valley of Shooting Stars? I drew several pictures back and forth, and one small one was brought in and given to her, but I didn't expect that in the end she was found to have an accident because of this painting.

Later, I met Gu Tianqing, he is so naïve, hot-blooded, kind and easy to deceive. I did design for him to take me away from the center, because I was locked up in solitary confinement by the dean, tortured, and my eyes were injured. She hated me, but she chose me to pretend to be her son, and I later learned what a punishment it was, and how would a person who could kill his own child treat the child of his enemy? I think the only reason to stop her from killing me was probably just a bit of trouble finding another person pretending to be Xie Li.

Gu Tianqing is a good person, just like you, after escaping, he didn't get angry with me, but tried to find a way to settle me down and hide behind his back. It was I who took out Gu Tianyu's notes and brought up her matter again, I encouraged him, pushed him, I let him get out of a world that had begun to work steadily and even planned to start a family, and touched the butcher's knife with his clean hands. You may think that my behavior is extreme and cold-blooded, but people like me have no future, people who have no future, people who can't see tomorrow, the only thing they can count on is probably revenge, only hatred can make me survive in the pain of grinding. You guessed it, I instructed Gu Tianqing to kill the first few people, and I assisted him, forged a suicide note for him, looked at the door, and pretended to be him as an alibi. These people died well, I originally thought that everything was under control, and the later loss of control came from Gu Tianqing and Ge Yumei herself.

Maybe you think it's ridiculous, I spent so much energy to cover up the traces of the crime, but Gu Tianqing sent such a letter full of loopholes. How else to say that he is a fool? Sorry, he didn't have any clever motives, he just wanted to fulfill his sister's wish before he died. What Gu Tianyu wants most is to publish her best-written article in the newspaper, but unfortunately, all the things about her have been destroyed, and all that is left is these scribbled notes, I didn't expect that this would really be noticed by you, and I insisted on digging deeper. I thought maybe she had been trying to stop her brother from going to a dead end, but someone else pushed him hard besides me.

These things are things you don't know: Gu Tianqing had actually gone to Ge Yumei after dealing with Doctor Meng, but he couldn't do it. He came back that night and shook the floor all night, his whole back soaked with cold sweat. He said that his goal was to get rid of the people who killed his sister, including the Xinsheng Hospital and Peili Middle School, but Ge Yumei told him that the biggest murderers were actually his parents, who raised him with their own hands.

It was the Gu family's parents who acquiesced in Ge Yumei's behavior, and from the first day they sent Gu Tianyu to the center, they signed a waiver agreement.

For imperfect children, it is good to forcibly correct them, and for children who cannot be corrected, it is good to destroy them on the spot. What cold-blooded logic, but that's what some parents "love".

Not all love is unconditional, and parental love is also not.

What a familiar feeling. His tears, his trembling, the smell of despair emanating from his body were so similar to who I once was. From this moment on, I knew that he had become another me.

Later, at his house, I did it for him. After that, I walked with him every time.

Ge Yumei did not call the police for the time being, but we all knew in our hearts that there was not much time left for us. It was Gu Tianqing who exchanged his life for my innocence and gave me a last chance, and you should already know what happened later.

It wasn't the way I expected it to end, but I don't think it's that bad now.

I'm going to leave for the funeral home later, and you should be there too. I'm sorry to trouble you until the end. It looks like it's going to rain, so hopefully you're wearing an extra piece of clothing and don't catch a cold.

I also wish you an early end to the rainy season of your life.

"Isn't it a cold, why are you still sitting on the tuyere, can you spare your life." A blanket came from behind, accompanied by Wang Shiqi's familiar voice: "Are you hungry?" ”

"Hmm......" Zheng Yuan nodded vaguely in the twilight, the weather was fine today, and the slanting sun stained the burning clouds into layers of bright colors, and even his pale cheekbones were dyed a little red. He coughed twice and put down the letter, reached out to touch the pepper shortbread on the table, and was snapped down: "It's time to eat and have snacks!" How dare I let you go like this? ”

"Always have to go." Zheng Yuan shook his head and slowly stood up: "Now that the case is closed, your injuries are almost healed, and it's not a matter for me to stay here." Besides, the job in Jinju is still waiting for me to go back and get it. ”

"You're really, I don't know if you're cold-blooded or efficient." Wang Shiqi pouted unhappily: "I'm just a case for you, right?" ”

"Did you blow up your brain, like a resentful woman?" Zheng Yuan laughed at him, in exchange for Wang Shiqi's angry pursuit. After half a circle, he leaned on the sofa and gestured for a truce, and when he was out of breath, he finally straightened his expression and said word by word: "You know best what you are to me." ”

Wang Shiqi was stunned for a moment, and a smile suddenly faded on his face, but his eyes softened. The softness mixed with the gradual spread of the night, deep, but in the depths shone the brightest light.

"If you think it's the best option, so be it. In the future, you have to take care of yourself, and if you don't want to contact me, it's okay, just if you ...... If anything, you know, I'll always be there. He walked up to him and looked down at him, a warm snort falling on top of his head. Zheng Yuan lowered his head, he felt that he might need a hug at this moment, but in the end he didn't have the courage to raise his hand.

In the end, it was Wang Shiqi who broke the silence. "Let's go," Zheng Yuan's glasses slipped to the tip of his nose, Wang Shiqi tapped his finger on it, and gently pushed him back: "At least finish this meal first." ”

The next time they sat down to eat together was ten years later.