On the other side of the phone, Xie Lin paused for two seconds before dropping another bombshell: “That person is male. He is the ‘he’ written in Yu Lan’s note.”
Ji Mingrui was utterly shocked.
The street was packed with endless traffic. He turned the steering wheel, pulling the car out of the lane and parking it by the curb: “You guys even managed to deduce that?”
Just a moment ago, they had been discussing the gender of this mysterious contact without a single clue.
Even fortune-telling wouldn’t be this fast.
This time, the person who spoke was Chi Qing. His friend’s voice came through cold and detached: “If the other party assumed the user of that social media account was Yu Yang, then regardless of his actual gender, he would definitely adopt a female identity to add Yu Lan as a friend. Yet, Yu Lan used ‘he’ to describe that person.”
Ji Mingrui understood instantly.
It wasn’t hard for a guy to pretend to be a girl in front of another guy. But pretending to be a girl in front of an actual girl? Could they really pull it off?
Especially since Yu Lan, though quiet, was highly perceptive.
She had likely seen through the person’s true gender, which was why she wrote “he” in her note.
“And looking at it this way, it explains why Yu Lan never mentioned this person to her other friends,” Su Xiaolan, sitting in the passenger seat, chimed in. She found it easy to empathize with Yu Lan’s mindset. “The other party didn’t know Yu Lan was the one using the account; the person he wanted to ‘flirt’ with was Yu Yang. Yu Lan would definitely assume this was an old classmate of Yu Yang’s… a boy who liked Yu Yang, a male classmate pretending to be a girl who mustered up the courage to reach out, even going so far as to use a female account.”
The friend history and chat logs related to that “he” had long been wiped clean.
However, it wasn’t hard for them to visualize the scene when the two first added each other.
The other side: Hi there! You might not remember me, but we’ve met before.
Yu Lan: Huh?
The other side: The way you play basketball… is really cool.
Yu Lan: Ah… Oh. Thanks.
And then, very quickly, the other party slipped up on “girls’ topics.”
Xie Lin said: “Exactly. So Yu Lan couldn’t bring herself to expose him, nor did she want to crush his courage and ruin his disguise. She discovered his secret, and clearly, out of kindness, she maintained the relationship at first. And then… she fell in love with him.”
Jiang Yu, who was the last to receive the update after just getting home, felt his worldview shatter: “A guy? A guy using a female account? And he’s dating that many people at the same time?”
He sighed: “Online dating really is terrifying. Imagine knowing someone for so long and not even knowing their gender. Back in college, my roommate did the online dating thing. At worst, the girl was just a catfish—she turned out to be fifty pounds heavier than her photos. But compared to this case, that wasn’t even a scam. At least my roommate’s online girlfriend was an actual woman.”
The scene shifted back to a classroom, frozen in time three months prior.
The classroom was dim and tedious, filled with the scattered, drowsy murmurs of students reading aloud.
[You are now friends. Start chatting now.]
Three different “girls” from three different accounts sent a sweet, coquettish message: Hello, big brother.
Yet, in an unknown location, a phone screen cast a cold, blue fluorescent glow. Beneath that stark light, a hand with distinct, well-defined masculine features continued to type on the screen keyboard: Hello big brother, you were so awesome just now.
-I’m not very good at games. Can you teach me?
After typing the line, his index finger slid gently over to the send button and tapped it lightly.
Once the concept of a “man pretending to be a woman” opened up, the entire case began to clear up rapidly.
On the whiteboard mapping out the relationships, Yu Lan’s profile picture was covered by another photo. It was a sun-drenched, bright young boy who bore a striking resemblance to Yu Lan.
Below the photo, where Yu Lan’s name was written, the letters had been crossed out with a blue marker and rewritten as Yu Yang—with this, every illogical fragment of the case finally clicked into place.
On the entire whiteboard, all four key figures belonged to the former Class 1, Grade 10.
From Wang Yuan to Jin Hongbo, Ma Hui, and finally Yu Yang—who was supposed to be the deceased.
These key individuals forced them to refocus their attention entirely on this specific class.
After changing the name on the board, Ji Mingrui said: “There is definitely something wrong with this class. It’s too strange.”
Everyone present felt the looming weight of a daunting challenge.
The suspect they were looking for was an invisible, intangible internet ghost.
But the more difficult it became, the more fired up they felt.
“At least we know their gender now, and he definitely isn’t from Honghai High School. Otherwise, he would have realized by now that the person who died wasn’t Yu Yang… Everyone, stay sharp. Even if the opponent is an internet phantom, we will catch him.”
Catching someone hiding behind a screen was easier said than done.
All the teams were reorganized, and Ji Mingrui’s group headed back to Honghai No. 6 High School to continue investigating the former Class 1.
“I’ve already told you everything I know,” the Dean sighed, looking at the large group of officers. “No matter how many times you come back, my answers will be the same.”
Ji Mingrui sat down right in front of him: “What we’re discussing today is definitely fresh. Today, let’s talk about Yu Yang.”
“Yu Yang?”
The Dean pondered for a couple of seconds: “Yu Yang was a good kid. Is this matter related to him? That shouldn’t be possible.”
“Back in Class 1, he was very well-behaved. Even though he hung around Wang Yuan and those boys—I remember during the school basketball tournament, they were in the same group—Yu Yang never participated whenever Wang Yuan and the others got into trouble.”
This was exactly what Ji Mingrui wanted to know.
If this was a revenge killing, what on earth had Yu Yang done alongside Wang Yuan’s group?
“Not even once?”
“Never. Yu Yang had high marks in moral conduct and never received a single disciplinary write-up. I remember it clearly. Aside from his grades being a bit poor at the very beginning… but he was a teenager, who doesn’t go through a rebellious phase?”
Ji Mingrui thought to himself that this Dean truly knew absolutely nothing useful.
Midway through the questioning, he received two text messages from Xie Lin.
-Don’t ask the Dean.
-Ask the classmates.
Ji Mingrui: ……
Did this guy plant an eye right next to him?
Stepping outside, Ji Mingrui sent a reply: Where are you guys right now?
Xie Lin and Chi Qing hadn’t stayed with them. Even though both teams had driven out at the same time, Xie Lin’s car had veered off down another road after passing an intersection.
At the time, Ji Mingrui had poked his head out of the car window, shouting: “Where are you going?”
The only response he got was a hand reaching out from the driver’s side window. The hand, adorned with a ring, waved at him casually from a distance.
“……”
Ji Mingrui didn’t receive a reply to his text.
Jiang Yu, who was in charge of taking notes next to him, leaned over to look: “What did he say?”
“Nothing,” Ji Mingrui muttered.
Jiang Yu gave a disappointed “Oh.”
“Based on your understanding of your idol, what do you think he went to do?”
Jiang Yu thought about it: “Do you really think I can fathom the thoughts of someone who started solving criminal cases back when he was a student?”
The former students of Class 1 were now scattered across various classes. They spent half the day running around, recording a mountain of trivial notes.
“Wang Yuan always used to pull my ponytail from behind.”
“They forced me to pass them test answers. I swear I actually passed them, but they were just too stupid. They even copied the answers wrong and targeted me for a while after that.”
“In their little clique, everyone only got along with Yu Yang. No one dared approach the others. Yu Yang was just a nice guy; his seat happened to be close to theirs, and he didn’t hold any prejudice against them. Sometimes when they went too far, Yu Yang would step in to smooth things over.”
“They used to bully Xu Xingzhou too. When Xu Xingzhou first transferred here, they said he looked like a little girl, fragile and weak. None of us dared to say anything because we were afraid of being targeted. It was Yu Yang who stepped in to help. He walked in through the back door holding a basketball, grabbed Wang Yuan by the neck, pulled him away, and said, ‘What are you doing? Don’t get so close to our little Zhouzhou.’ “
“Yu Yang and Xu Xingzhou had a pretty good relationship. Xu Xingzhou didn’t like to talk much, and Yu Yang looked out for him a lot.”
“……”
The notebook was filled with paragraphs of mundane school drama. Jiang Yu’s handwriting was beautiful, looking almost like print.
By the time they wrapped up their day’s work, darkness was beginning to fall, and the two finally drove back.
“They still have evening self-study,” Ji Mingrui noted as he drove. “Students these days really don’t have it easy.”
Twilight deepened, and the sky turned a profound shade of blue.
Pedestrians rushed past as streetlights flickered on one after another.
Ji Mingrui rested his hand on the car window, counting down the seconds for the red light to change. Suddenly, a giant screen on the left side of the road flashed to life. This shopping mall was the tallest building in Huanan City, designed in a semi-circular shape with an exterior facade made of countless interlocking mirror screens. Now, those panels were awakened, casting a dazzling blanket of light over the dim street.
Usually, this screen broadcasted commercial advertisements. Whoever managed to secure an ad slot on this city landmark possessed immense commercial value.
Probably some advertisement playing…
Ji Mingrui thought.
The next second, the flashing white light on the screen faded into darkness.
Then, familiar characters appeared: Huanan News.
“Hello, everyone. I am Zhao Lan, the host of the Huanan News program. Today, we are broadcasting an important notice.”
Ji Mingrui stared. “…News?! On a screen this massive? Using it to broadcast the news?”
Since when did the news channel get this kind of VIP treatment?
It wasn’t just the giant screen outside. The car TV in Ji Mingrui’s vehicle was also forcefully hijacked and connected to the news channel. The exact same face appeared inside the car. Hair styled immaculately, the host continued: “Recently, our city has seen four cases of vicious homicides.”
The host paused here, her gaze seemingly drifting to somewhere just off-camera.
Beyond the frame of the lens, a hand wearing a black glove was holding up a smartphone, displaying a line of text on the screen.
Because the distance was a bit far and the host was nervous, she couldn’t see it clearly at first.
Thus, the hand had to stretch forward a bit more.
Ji Mingrui saw those black-gloved fingers clear as day. In the blink of an eye, the glove vanished from the screen again. This bizarre habit of wearing a glove was practically a trademark of a certain childhood friend of his.
The host read aloud from the screen: “According to the investigation, in addition to the previous three victims, the victim of the arson case, a certain individual surnamed Yu, is also connected to this case. Through extensive investigation, the police have preliminarily identified a suspect who was previously threatened by the three victims. We are currently gathering tangible evidence, and the case will continue to move forward. Citizens are advised not to panic, do not spread or believe rumors; previous rumors are entirely unfounded. Lastly, we hope the public will actively provide clues to assist the police in solving the case as soon as possible…”
At this hour, whether someone was listening to the radio, watching TV at home, or looking down at their phone on the subway, they were bound to receive a push notification regarding this news broadcast.
The shadow of the Huanan News station was everywhere.
Because the rumors had been concentrated within schools, the small televisions inside every single classroom across Huanan City were unprecedentedly turned on. The screens in the student cafeterias were even larger, which usually scrolled through school mottos and motivational chicken soup for the soul.
Now, the entire city was filled with the sound of hushed discussions.
Chi Qing stood outside the broadcasting room, looking through the massive glass window. The entire city unfolded beneath his eyes.
Inside his car, Ji Mingrui rewound the broadcast and listened to it once more.
He thought to himself that he finally understood what Xie Lin and the others had gone to do.
A certain individual surnamed Yu.
A suspect who was previously threatened by the three victims.
The previous reports on the fire hadn’t been extensive. By referring to the deceased simply as “a certain individual surnamed Yu,” they weren’t lying, but they successfully achieved their goal of making the killer believe that this “Yu” was indeed Yu Yang.
As for the suspect who was threatened by the three victims—no one except the police and the killer knew that this referred to Jiang Yiyun.
Since the killer’s original motive involved framing Jiang Yiyun, he would absolutely not pass up this opportunity.
He was bound to show himself.
This city-wide broadcast…
Was a direct siren call to the killer.
