Neue Brücke der Hilflosigkeit

Kapitel 2

After regaining his balance, Cao Xiangui waved away Yi Lan's hand, looking disgusted: "I'm not old yet, I don't need you to help me."

"Is she here for a picnic?" Feng Qi turned the camera to the departing criminal police officers. One of them, a tall, thin man, was carrying a plastic bag containing some oddly shaped cans of fruit beer and cardboard boxes for French fries.

"Who knows?" The old man rubbed his right hand on his dark blue trousers, took a cigarette from behind his ear, and lit it. "Young reporter, let's go!"

"Hospital?"

"You're quite smart!"

"Captain Cao!" Yi Lan called out to the old man again, "It's just a simple suicide case. You've already retired!"

The old man turned around and said calmly, "I don't remember ever teaching you to subjectively characterize a case before thoroughly investigating it."

"In any case, I don't want you to get involved in this case, and you no longer have the right to!"

"Who said I was going to interfere? The reporter wants to know the truth of the matter, and I, a man with one leg in his coffin, am just running errands for him. I'm just a concerned citizen!" After saying this coldly, Cao Xiangui nudged Feng Qi: "Little reporter, aren't you leaving yet? If you're late, there won't be any exclusive news to dig up!"

The stubborn old man was more of a headache than anything else. Yi Lan and Feng Qi exchanged a helpless glance.

Chapter Two: The Kiss

(two)

The deceased was named Ran Anhui, a 16-year-old female high school student at No. 15 Middle School. She fell from the eighth floor, suffering a fractured skull and dying instantly. A forensic examination ruled out homicide.

Feng Qi did not see the deceased's body, but he did see the deceased's mother, An Ying, who was crying so hard she was almost breathless.

She was a mother who looked quite young, sobbing softly like an animal, her tears drying and then flowing again, repeatedly muttering, "Huihui, Huihui, how could you be so heartless!" After a moment of calm, she burst into tears again for something else.

Ran Anhui's father, Ran Qilei, sat on a plastic chair outside the hospital without saying a word, letting his wife make a fuss and cry. He just kept rubbing his hands together, his lips tightly closed.

After asking around for a while, the answer was still, "Our daughter has always been very well-behaved, with a lively and cheerful personality. She is the joy of our lives. She would never have any enemies. Although we noticed that she had something on her mind recently, we never thought she would have suicidal thoughts."

“The main problem is the lack of eyewitnesses, otherwise this case would be simple. Now we just have to wait…” Yi Lan took out a cigarette and was about to light it when Feng Qi interrupted him, “Captain Yi, this is a hospital. Please continue—”

Looking at Feng Qi with a curious expression, Yi Lan shrugged and put the cigarette back in his pocket.

"We're waiting for the forensic examination, but there were no signs of a struggle at the scene, so suicide is highly likely."

Upon hearing this, Feng Qi glanced towards Cao Xiangui. The old man stood alone by the window, his back to everyone.

"However, what Captain Cao said also makes a lot of sense."

"Captain Cao? He's too meticulous. Where would so many murder cases come from in this small town? The person who called your newspaper might have called because he saw that Ran Anhui had suicidal tendencies. Of course, we also need to find him and have him testify. Then this case can be considered closed."

"Dad, Mom."

A young girl appeared out of nowhere, and instead of sitting, she stood directly in front of the couple who were overwhelmed with grief over the loss of their daughter. Her gentle voice was enough to completely shut out the noisy world.

Ran Qilei looked up, staring blankly at the calm-faced girl. An Ying, sitting on the other side of the chair, also stopped crying.

"What are you doing here?" An Ying suddenly stood up, walked up to the girl, and slapped her across the face. "Your sister is dead, and you're happy? Didn't you like competing with her? Now that she's dead, no one can compete with you for anything. You should be laughing! Why aren't you laughing? Weren't you the one who loved to sneer the most? You're the one who killed your sister!"

"An Ying!" Ran Qilei's face turned pale and then black, extremely embarrassed.

Before he could finish speaking, everyone was stunned.

After being slapped by her mother, the seemingly frail girl retaliated by slapping her twice more: "Calm down. You lost your daughter, I lost my sister. I'm not having an easier time than you. There are funeral arrangements, you need to take time off work, and you have to give instructions to the school. There are many things waiting for you to do. You can't just keep crying here." Her gentle voice remained completely calm even in this situation, as if she were talking about something that didn't need to be done right away.

Touching her face, An Ying lowered her head and wept uncontrollably.

"Mo Ran, go home with your mother. Leave the matters here to me." Ran Qilei gave a few perfunctory instructions, then turned his head and stared blankly at the end of the corridor.

"He's here too?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Qi and the others all looked towards the end of the corridor.

The tall, thin boy stood there, not coming over, but his gaze remained fixed on the family. The afterglow of the setting sun behind him obscured his expression; his silhouette appeared blurred and soft in the sunlight.

"Siyan, come here!" After staring at the boy for a long time, Ran Qilei sighed, "You go back with them."

Feng Qi didn't miss the bloodshot eyes filled with hatred in An Ying's eyes. If her hysteria just now was merely an outburst, the hatred now appearing in An Ying's eyes was far more genuine. However, she didn't do anything to the approaching boy, only glaring at him fiercely. When the boy reached their side, An Ying suddenly spat a thick wad of phlegm in his face.

"An Ying, haven't you made enough of a scene?!"

The boy took out a tissue, silently wiped his face clean, and said to Ran Qilei, "Uncle Ran, I want to see Huihui one more time."

“Huihui’s current appearance…” Ran Qilei looked troubled: “Alright, you and Mo Ran go and take a look.”

"Xie Siyan!" An Ying opened her mouth to say something, but Ran Qilei pulled her back.

"They are all still children."

Xie Siyan and Mo Ran exchanged a glance, but neither of them spoke.

I'll be waiting for you here.

The quiet girl stopped in front of the morgue, and a barely perceptible smile suddenly appeared on her expressionless face.

The boy turned his head and caught the fleeting smile, but the disgust in his eyes made the girl curl her lips into a smile again.

"Don't you want to see your little sister Huihui one last time alone? I'm granting your wish."

The hand that touched Mo Ran's cheek was pale and cold, similar to Mo Ran's body temperature, yet different. At least, Xie Siyan could feel the flow of blood and the beating of a pulse beneath his skin. Sliding down the smooth skin, Xie Siyan pinched Mo Ran's chin, looking down at her.

Why don't you just die?

"A scourge can linger for a thousand years; you, with your excellent character and academic achievements, have forgotten this old saying?"

Lowering his head, Xie Siyan sealed Mo Ran's lips with a kiss, completely disregarding the nurse behind him who suddenly felt embarrassed and muttered to herself, "Kids these days..." as she hurriedly walked away.

The punitive kiss was anything but enjoyable; a faint taste of blood mingled with saliva, seeping into her tongue and throat. The slight pain at the wound acted like a stimulant, and Mo Ran found herself laughing unconsciously. The two remained calmly focused on each other's eyes throughout, even as one's actions were fierce and brutal, and the other's posture submissive and ambiguous. There was not a trace of warmth in their gazes.

"Doing this in front of the morgue, do you want An Hui to see this and be so angry that she comes back to life?" Taking out a tissue and a small mirror, Mo Ran carefully wiped the blood and saliva off her lips: "Kissing is such a disgusting thing."

Xie Siyan remained silent, his gaze drifting as he looked at Mo Ran.

"Not funny?" Mo Ran packed her things and tidied her hair. "It's rare for me to say something witty."

"If you don't go in, then none of us will go in."

"Is this a threat? I don't fall for that, you know that." Seeing that his bow tie was crooked, she simply went and loosened it.

"I'm just stating the facts that will happen." Xie Siyan's unwavering gaze swept over Mo Ran's beautiful face. He took the bow tie from her hand and casually tossed it into the trash can beside him.

With a cold laugh, Mo Ran pushed open the door in front of her.

A chill swept over me, and all I saw was a desolate expanse of white.

When asked, the people in charge said they saw the body covered with a white sheet.

The person in charge advised, "The corpse is too gruesome, covered in blood. You are too young to look!"

Unwilling to believe it, Xie Siyan lifted the white sheet, only to see a face so familiar it was almost unrecognizable. Blood flowed from the eyes and nose, now congealed into purple stains. The back of her head must have hit something hard during the fall; white solids clung to the skull, starkly contrasting with the red and purple hues. Dark lips were embedded in the bluish-purple skin, and he suddenly remembered her round, rosy face from childhood.

The once calm and composed person gradually turned pale, and fear filled their eyes.

“Suicide is the most foolish thing a person would do, you know, my sister…” Mo Ran gently stroked An Hui’s face, her eyes suddenly softening with tenderness: “Once a person dies, they are nothing, they can’t gain anything.”

She moved to the top of An Hui's head, leaned down, and gently pressed her lips to An Hui's dark lips, her eyes remaining coldly fixed on Xie Siyan opposite her. Noticing Xie Siyan's gaze shift from An Hui to her, Mo Ran didn't look at him, only saying, "You think she, my poor sister, is terrifying?"

Xie Siyan involuntarily looked at An Hui's face, the kiss at the door overlapping with the scene before him now. He forcibly suppressed the acid churning in his stomach, leaning awkwardly on the table, panting, "You..." He seemed to suddenly remember that there was a bloody corpse on the table, and abruptly withdrew his hand, his face growing even paler.

"Mo Ran, why did you have to go to such lengths?" After calming down, Xie Siyan gradually concealed his panic and coldly questioned him.

With a chuckle, Mo Ran took his hand: "You're the one who let me in. I said I wouldn't come because I didn't know what I would do in front of my lovely sister. If you thought you should do something that wouldn't be too much, you could have just told me beforehand. Why are you being so cold to me now?"

"madman!"

“They’re lunatics, Xie Siyan. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve done.”

For a moment, he was taken aback, perhaps even a little flustered. He quickly glanced at the calm Mo Ran, then withdrew his right hand and turned to leave.

Following behind, Mo Ran smiled with a hint of interest.

Once outside, she couldn't find Xie Siyan anywhere. Mo Ran tilted her head, turned right, and pushed open the emergency exit door.

In the deserted corridor, the sounds of the man retching echoed amplified several times over. Yet, he only vomited bile, nothing more. From Mo Ran's perspective, the boy's thin back trembled slightly; she couldn't see his expression, but a pang of pity rose in her heart. Had he gone too far?

Mo Ran silently moved closer and put her arm around Xie Siyan's waist.

"Let's go back."

Clearly sensing his momentary stiffness, Mo Ran repeated, "Let's go back, they're waiting for us."

Xie Siyan stopped gagging, straightened up, took out a tissue and wiped his mouth hard, remaining silent throughout.

"Let's go back. We still need to handle An Hui's funeral arrangements."

Turning around, Xie Siyan hesitated for a moment before leaning down and gently kissing Mo Ran, his kiss completely devoid of the previous ferocity, as light as a dragonfly skimming the water. The tenderness in Mo Ran's eyes quickly cooled, until it was as cold as ice. But Xie Siyan was unaware of all this change; he closed his eyes.

The scent of death emanated from Mo Ran's lips, mingling with the sour, putrid smell in his throat, swirling between the two. It belonged to An Hui, something she left for them. Even in death, she would watch over him, watch over them. At that moment, Xie Siyan truly understood what despair was—a despair powerful enough to destroy everything that had been.

Pushing Xie Siyan away, Mo Ran wiped her mouth with the back of her hand: "You just threw up!"

"Don't you think you're ridiculous?" Xie Siyan sneered as he straightened his shirt. "Which is dirtier, a mouth that's kissed a dead person or a mouth that's spat on?"

"You think kissing An Hui is dirty?" The soothing tone remained unchanged: "How come I remember once witnessing someone forcibly kissing An Hui, and it was only a few days ago?"

Ignoring Mo Ran's mockery and making no attempt to defend herself, Xie Siyan tidied herself up and opened the door.

"Gone"

...

Back in his rented room, it was midnight. To save electricity, Feng Qi didn't turn on the lights. He lay flat on the bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, where light and shadow played, pondering how to write the manuscript. The final forensic examination revealed no signs of poisoning, no struggle, and no fingerprints or hair from another person. It was just a simple case of suicide due to a failed relationship.

"But, that phone call the teacher received... someone must have seen it, right?"

The door creaked open, and Feng Qi, with his eyes closed and a smile on his lips, asked, "Feixue! Finished eating?"

The only response was a soft, sweet "meow~". Then, a snow-white kitten jumped onto his bed, gently approached his ear, and licked his nose with its bright red tongue. Burying his head in the kitten's embrace, Feng Qi let out a soft sigh: "When will I have my own house? When will I finally make something of myself?"

As if sensing human nature, the kitten licked his face again.

“Today, an old man kept asking me about my situation—where I’m from, what university I went to…my parents…where my parents work,” Feng Qi chuckled, gently stroking Fei Xue’s soft downy fur. “I don’t even know myself, and he’s asking me. He might as well tell me, hehe…”

Meow~

Feng Qi ruffled Feixue's hair, amused by its squinting eyes: "Only you understand me best!"

After a long silence, Feng Qicai said wearily, "I really don't understand. With parents, a happy family, and no worries about food or clothing, why would someone commit suicide? Is a human life so cheap?" As he spoke, he was already very sleepy.

The autumn night in Zhicheng was damp and cold. Feng Qi curled up into a bow shape, the kitten in his arms becoming his only source of warmth.

Early in the morning, Feng Qi turned on his computer, recalling the events of yesterday. He quickly wrote a news report of no more than a hundred words. This was also at the request of the deceased's parents—to not involve Mo Ran and Xie Siyan. If they were to write about An Hui's cause of death, they would only say it was a suicide due to love. Yet, he still felt that the relationship between that family and that boy yesterday was very dramatic, and perhaps there was some news worth digging into.

I looked up; it was just dawn outside.