Some time after posting this thread, I received a private message that contained just one sentence.

The person quickly retracted the message, and since I didn't take a screenshot in time, I couldn't recall the exact words. The general idea was hoping I would delete the post because it contained a lot of truthful information which could disrupt the normal lives of the people involved.

My gut feeling told me that the sender was someone in the know, so I immediately replied saying I could delete the post, but asked if they could provide me with some useful clues.

The account didn't reply again, and any further messages I sent failed. It seemed the account had been deactivated. The profile picture was the default gray avatar, suggesting it was created specifically to send me that private message.

But why did this person suddenly disappear?

Who could he or she be?

I had a gut feeling that this person was either Lin Chujing or Xia Rong.

I thought I would carry these mysteries with me forever, but during that summer break, while I was out for a breather, I happened to bump into Lin Chujing at a hotel.

She was working there, responsible for changing the bedsheets, towels, and taking out the trash in the rooms every day.

Lin Chujing moved very quickly. Just as I was about to speak to her, she had already finished tidying up my room and was pushing the cart to the next room.

I immediately chased after her, fearing she would disappear with her mysteries again.

After she finished tidying up all the rooms, I saw her return to the cleaning storage room, where she took out a backpack from the corner, and from it a set of practice tests.

The shelves around were lined with bedsheets, garbage bags, and various other consumables. It was actually a good place to study; even if someone read aloud, no one would hear.

"I didn't expect you to still be studying." I tried to greet her calmly.

Lin Chujing looked up at me: "What, scum can't go to college?"

"I don't understand. You should have already received a university admission letter, even if not Tsinghua or Peking University, at least a 985 institution. You could even have participated in competitions and received early admission. This should have been your life..."

Lin Chujing quickly wrote answers on her test: "Don't forget, my grades were cheated."

"Zhang Lei told me everything.

"Those you bullied also told me the truth."

Lin Chujing stopped writing: "It seems I didn't scold them harshly enough. I should have scolded them so much that you'd never want to hear my name again."

Lin Chujing was referring to the day she left school in junior high.

"Was that private message from you?"

Lin Chujing looked puzzled.

It seemed it wasn't her.

I kept pressing: "So, what exactly happened to you?"

Lin Chujing shook her pen and continued with her practice tests: "Just a naturally rebellious student whose true colors were discovered by the teachers before graduating junior high, who then gave up on herself, failed to get into high school, and after experiencing harsh societal realities, decided to start studying again."

Lin Chujing gave me a small smile: "Actually, it's quite an inspiring story."

No, that's not how it was.

"I have the right to know the truth. I believe you used me and ruined me..." My emotions were running high.

"Ruined you?" Lin Chujing looked up at me, "Whatever happened to you afterward, it wasn't because of me. Rather, if you hadn't met a good student like me, you as a scum teacher would naturally have had the life you deserved!"

My face burned. I knew I could never return to school now. I just wanted an answer and pressed on:

"You're lying. The you before your father's death was the real you. The so-called cheating, the so-called bullying, those were just disguises. What are you hiding?

"Everything is related to your father's death, isn't it?

"You said you witnessed your stepmother killing your father. Because you were a good student, we believed your testimony implicitly. Until you made us believe you were a naturally rebellious, incorrigible liar, I began to suspect you were lying...

"Your goal was to make us realize you were lying?"

Just then, Lin Chujing's walkie-talkie sounded; someone was checking out. She immediately put down the half-done test and pushed the cart to tidy up the room.

I followed her closely. I had to get to the bottom of the mysteries Lin Chujing left me with today.

"You didn't need to go through all that trouble. You just needed to show a tiny flaw, and we'd realize you were lying. Why ruin yourself like this?

"But the real question is, why did you want to make me discover you were lying?

"If you wanted people to know your stepmother didn't commit the murder, couldn't you have just not told this lie from the start?"

I watched her expertly change the sheets and wipe the table.

In a flash, I suddenly understood everything!

Understood it all!

"You tampered with the crime scene! You said you tampered with the crime scene to frame your stepmother for murder, but the truth was you were actually covering up her murder!

"The killer who murdered Lin Shan was Xia Rong, wasn't it?!"

She finally stopped what she was doing.

I knew I was right and continued my conjecture:

"The police saw a suicide scene that was tampered with and immediately thought it was a murder disguised as suicide.

"So you had to go the other way, claiming you tampered with the scene to make a suicide look like a murder! You destroyed all the evidence!

"The gunpowder residue! You had to destroy the evidence of gunpowder residue, didn't you? Your stepmother shot your father before he could react. Therefore, there shouldn't be any gunpowder residue on his cuffs.

"Your stepmother wouldn't have been stupid enough to leave a direct clue, but she seemed ignorant about gunpowder residue.

"You didn't change your father's clothing to one with gunpowder residue that could prove it was a suicide, but to one without residue, which was ironclad proof he was murdered!"

I finished and quietly waited for Lin Chujing's response.

At that moment, it felt like our roles were reversed. I was the diligent student who jumbled up my answers on the test sheet, anxiously waiting for the teacher to grade it.

The room was dark, with thick curtains allowing only a sliver of light.

Lin Chujing turned to face me, and I couldn't see her expression clearly, only hearing a sigh.

"I knew she hated my dad, and I knew he always had a homemade gun my grandfather made. But I never thought she would actually kill him...

"I just returned home during a self-study break to grab a book of mistakes, but saw a crime scene full of holes. It's like seeing a test paper full of errors. What would you do?

"That scum deserved to die, but I couldn't let my mom die with him!

"The tea stains left by cups on the table, holding a gun but no gunpowder smell on the cuffs, no signs of forced entry on the doors or windows.

"Even standing at the door and glancing at it, I knew who the killer was. She planned to leave the scene to my aunt and the police while she ran out to buy groceries, hoping to fabricate an alibi?

"If I told the police I could vouch for her, would they believe me? She's my stepmother, my longtime caregiver. I had motive and reason to lie for her.

"But what if it were the reverse?

"If I accused her of being the murderer, the police would believe me, right?

"Because I was an excellent student. When a bad student does something good, people think he has ulterior motives. When a good student does something bad, people think she has another reason."

I was shocked: "So, you used me to quickly turn yourself into a bad student?"

Lin Chujing didn't answer me and started cleaning the bathroom.

"But the case was already ruled a suicide. You could have done well on the high school entrance exams and gone to a good school!"

Lin Chujing grabbed a garbage bag and threw it into the trash bin.

"A performance needs to look complete. Have you ever seen a bad student turn good in just a month? If I don't act bad to the extreme, there will always be teachers like you, wishfully thinking I must still be that good student with a hidden reason."

I was silent; she was right.

"I asked Qin Chuan, the police officer responsible for your father's case. Your stepmother later took an adult education exam and went to study in another province."

Lin Chujing's expression remained unchanged.

"Xia Rong told Qin Chuan she hasn't been in contact with you since the case closed. She's lying, isn't she?

"Your father left a deep psychological shadow on her. She couldn't touch books or study. Though your father is gone, that shadow isn't easily healed.

"You helped her review, didn't you? Just like you helped Zhang Lei."

For the first time, I saw a ripple of emotion on Lin Chujing's face.

Lin Chujing said: "She was only twenty-four when my father ruined her. From twenty-four on, her life descended into darkness, turning into endless beatings, caretaking, and serving my father... Now she's only in her early thirties. Her life is just beginning, isn't it?"

"Swish," Lin Chujing pulled open the curtains, and the strong summer sunlight flooded the room, making me squint.

In the blur, I felt something was wrong.

That essay! Summer! Yes!

"You said these plans were made after Xia Rong killed your father, but why did you write such a subtle essay hinting at your hatred for Xia Rong half a year earlier?"

Lin Chujing smiled but didn't answer.

"So you knew back then that Xia Rong would kill your father? You had it all planned out; after the crime, you would use me?

"If you knew she would kill, why didn't you stop her? Or were you the one behind it, manipulating her to kill?

"Why kill your father? Because he hit you too? Or did he do something else to you..."

I asked a series of questions.