Lu Min felt truly helpless. He took a tissue and gently wiped the tears from Ying Yulian’s face. He parted his lips to speak, but he did not know where to begin. Should he actually reveal everything? Should he tell the boy that he was reborn and that he had returned to find him specifically to kill him?
He glanced at Chen Shen, who was standing nearby, and gestured for him to leave. Chen Shen took the hint and walked away.
Lu Min looked down at the youth, who was still gripping the hem of his overcoat tightly. Ying Yulian looked stubborn, as if he would never let go unless Lu Min spoke. His fingertips lightly brushed through the boy’s smooth hair. Lu Min did not want to lie, yet he knew how absurd the truth of rebirth would sound. Moreover, he still harbored a lingering sense of defensiveness toward the youth. If Ying Yulian ever began to deviate from the right path, Lu Min would strike without hesitation.
After a moment of thought, Lu Min spoke. “It was someone who could not quite be called a friend.”
“Is he very similar to me?” Ying Yulian asked. “Was he a friend of yours before? Was your relationship like the one you have with Uncle Chen Shen? Why was he eventually not considered a friend? Did he do something to hurt you? Or was it because he was too useless, so you did not want to be friends with him anymore?”
Ying Yulian stared at Lu Min without blinking. Usually indifferent to others, the youth became a fountain of questions whenever it concerned Lu Min. Lu Min was caught off guard by the barrage of questions, but seeing the “kitten” before him with its fur completely ruffled, he curved his lips in a helpless smile and explained patiently.
“No, he is nothing like you. Perhaps your appearances are similar, but your personalities are worlds apart. Compared to him, you are an obedient child, while he was simply a madman. We were never friends. We were mortal enemies. However, I always thought he had lived a successful life from childhood and that his malice toward others was innate. It was only much later that I realized he had a very miserable childhood. His environment likely played a part in shaping his morbid and frantic personality.”
In a calm tone, Lu Min lightly described his relationship with the Ying Yulian of his past life. He ran his fingertip across the boy’s face to clear away the tear stains, acting as if he were comforting the youth while also soothing himself. “Fortunately, such a frantic villain finally received his retribution and died. Therefore, there is no need to dwell on it.”
Besides, the person he had hated most in his past life was now right under his nose, under his guardianship and care. He would know immediately if anything happened. Everything about Ying Yulian was within his control.
“Brother, no matter what happened between you and him, I will always stay by your side from now on,” Ying Yulian said.
Lu Min looked down and realized that Ying Yulian had wrapped his arms tightly around his waist at some point. The youth pressed his head against Lu Min’s chest, listening to the steady heartbeat as he made a promise of eternity.
“I do not need you to stay by my side. As long as you do not take the wrong path, that is good enough,” Lu Min replied. In this life, he had indeed given Ying Yulian a chance, but if the boy followed the same path as before, Lu Min would not be soft-hearted.
“You are my whole world,” Ying Yulian said, looking into Lu Min’s eyes and emphasizing every word.
“You are so young. How can you understand a lifetime? No one stays with anyone for a whole lifetime,” Lu Min said, smiling as he pinched the bridge of the boy’s nose. In his past life, colleagues and friends had come and gone at the police station. In the end, he was the only one left. He never believed that anyone could stay with him forever.
Ying Yulian shook his head. He took Lu Min’s hand and placed it over his own heart, rubbing his soft head against Lu Min’s stubbled chin. “You can listen to my heartbeat. I am not lying.”
The heartbeat beneath his palm was steady. “And do not think I understand nothing just because I am young. I understand quite a lot.”
“Very well,” Lu Min said, nodding helplessly before flicking the youth’s forehead. “Go back and do your homework. I have to go finish my report.”
Over the next few days, the reports and interrogations at the police station concluded quickly. Lu Min still found it incredible that a cold case from his past life had been solved so easily, even with a different victim. The criminal was indeed one of the farmers from the East District who had previously clashed with Zhou Fu. The details of the crime he confessed to matched the specifics found on Zhou Fu’s body perfectly.
As for why Zhou Wei had been tied up in the old factory rather than killed, the killer explained that after killing Zhou Fu, the scene was a mess. He wanted to clean up before dealing with Zhou Wei. Fearing that the neighbors would become suspicious, he moved her to a different location. He had not expected the police to be so quick to locate and rescue her.
The killer’s story seemed flawless. Since Lu Min was reborn, he had mastered a great deal of information ahead of time, allowing him to save Zhou Wei before the killer could act. However, he still felt that something was wrong. He had seen that the door lock had no signs of forced entry. How could someone who had a grudge against the owner be invited inside?
If Zhou Fu truly felt the person was not a threat and let him in, there should have been signs of a struggle. Instead, it looked as if Zhou Fu had simply allowed the killer to kill him. There must have been someone inside the house helping or drugging Zhou Fu. Yet, no drugs were detected at the scene.
After reflecting for a moment, Lu Min decided to visit Zhou Wei at the hospital. However, to his surprise, he saw someone there who should have been at school.
“Xiao Lian, why are you here?” Lu Min asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
When Ying Yulian saw Lu Min behind him, a sweet smile immediately appeared on his face. He climbed down from the chair, ran to Lu Min’s side, and hugged him. “Is the case closed, Brother?” he asked cheerfully.
However, a slight tremor in his voice betrayed his unease. Lu Min took a step back to create some distance between them. He pressed his fingertip against Ying Yulian’s damp nose as the boy tried to lean closer. “You have not answered my question.”
“It is because Zhou Wei sent me a message saying she left her textbooks in her desk. You often tell me to help my classmates, so I brought them to her.”
“Textbooks? Can I see them?” Lu Min asked. He was reminded of a case he had handled in his past life where two killers worked together despite having no social connection. They had coordinated perfectly, and no one could find evidence of their collaboration. Their only commonality was their frequent visits to the library. Later, Lu Min had checked the books they borrowed and discovered they passed messages by circling words in the text.
“You can take them,” Ying Yulian said.
Lu Min took the textbooks. He caught a glimpse of Zhou Wei lying on the hospital bed. She remained calm and even somewhat dull. Is she this composed? Lu Min flipped through the textbooks. They were clean and lacked the circled words he had expected; there were only steps for solving math problems.
However, the cleanliness was unnatural. He touched the paper and felt the obvious marks where an eraser had been used. Lu Min looked at the pen and the eraser in the girl’s hand and chuckled. For a moment, he did not know if Zhou Wei was naive or foolish. Did she really think such a trick would break the chain of evidence?