When she saw Zhao Yang, Li Ai knew that her plans had to change. Now, all she had to do was put on an expression of terror and misery, and the entire crime would fall onto Zhao Yang’s head. She would just be an unfortunate student that almost fell into the killer’s trap.
Her whole body shivered as she falteringly pointed at Zhao Yang: “It’s him…I recognize him!”
Xue Yunxin saw how frightened Li Ai was and rushed to comfort her: “It’s okay, you’re here in the precinct. He can’t do anything to you. We guarantee your safety.”
“He’s Hu Wenning’s boyfriend! Whenever they would argue, he’d say he wanted to kill her!”
Zhao Yang went red in the face: “Don’t blather nonsense! I never said I wanted to kill her!”
Li Ai faced him defiantly: “One time when you two fought and broke up over the phone, I heard Hu Wenning herself say that you wanted to kill her!”
Zhao Yang was angry enough to flip the table, but two officers were currently holding him down, so he had no choice but to behave himself. Li Ai wasn’t wrong, he had definitely threatened Hu Wenning before, but he’d never acted on it!
“Officers! Please investigate justly!” Zhao Yang yelled.
Xue Yunxin looked at him, her voice icy as she said: “Don’t think otherwise, Zhao Yang. Even without Li Ai here, you can’t escape your fate.”
“What do you…what do you mean?!”
“On the one hand, the amount of illegal drugs we found in your possession is enough for a bullet to send you straight to see the King of Hell1. On the other, in Hu Wenning’s clothing, we found some human hair. After comparing the DNA results, we know that these hairs are yours. The evidence is conclusive, enough to convict you on a capital offense!”
This statement shocked not only Zhao Yang, but Li Ai as well.
Li Ai set off some firecrackers in her heart to celebrate the occasion. All of the gods in heaven must be on her side! She also hadn’t suspected that the hair on Hu Wenning’s body would be Zhao Yang’s. Although Jiang Qinglan had said that it was fine once the burden of the crime was laid on Jack, Li Ai could now settle her remaining misgivings.
She had pretended to be Hu Wenning, sending him a message over WeChat that there were people there to buy drugs. Li Ai had already known what Hu Wenning’s boyfriend did, she just hadn’t envisioned using the knowledge this way. She only needed the surveillance team to catch him entering the fine arts building…but this stupid dog obviously didn’t know that the area around the school was under watch. Adding in the hair sample, it was enough to condemn none other than Zhao Yang!
“You people! This was all planned from the beginning! You! You!” Zhao Yang agitatedly tried to stand up, but he was pressed down again by Li Yang: “Zhao Yang, behave!”
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!!!” Zhao Yang roared, glaring at Li Ai: “You ugly bitch! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
Xue Yunxin stepped in front of Li Ai: “Zhao Yang, you can still atone for your crimes. Confess, where did you get these drugs?”
Li Ai stared at Zhao Yang blankly as she was escorted out by the officers, but inside she felt exhilarated! Zhao Yang may not have much of an impression of her, but she clearly remembered how he and Hu Wenning had treated her in the past, stealing her scholarship! The present Zhao Yang was nothing more than livestock to be slaughtered. His struggles were nothing more than the final performance before his death.
Li Ai’s gaze skittered away, not out of fear, but out of excitement!
She had never felt more comfortable and at ease.
She had successfully killed off her weak, incapable self! It was like she had a second chance at life!
Li Ai covered her face with both hands, concealing her excited, savage smile. Her movement drew Song Nuan’s attention, who used her elbow to prod Xue Yunxin, signaling with her eyes to look at Li Ai.
Xue Yunxin tilted her head, her brow creased: “Xiao Ai, are you alright? Were you frightened?”
Li Ai opened her hands and looked at Xue Yunxin: “Officer Xue…”
“I’ll escort you out.” Xue Yunxin realized that Li Ai might not be accustomed to staying in the precinct and took her to a milk tea shop nearby.
“Were you scared just now?”
“No…but, Officer Xue! Is he really…Jack?”
Xue Yunxin bit her straw, deep in thought: “We can’t really be certain…after all, we don’t have any evidence that Zhao Yang is Jack.”
If she knew that Jiang Qinglan was the ‘Jack’ they had been looking for for so long, how would she react? Li Ai was now curious.
“Officer Xue, do you and Teacher Jiang really have a normal type of friendship?”
Xue Yunxin was dumbfounded by her words. “Why did you suddenly ask me this?”
“Teacher Jiang always treated you differently from other people…”
Xue Yunxin pondered for a bit: “It really is a normal type of friendship.” Who the hell was she kidding, even Xue Yunxin herself didn’t believe she and Jiang Qinglan were ordinary friends! They’d already kissed back in junior high!
Li Ai bit her lip: “Officer Xue, do you have a boyfriend? A girlfriend?”
“No, I don’t.”
Then, was it one-sided affection on Jiang Qinglan’s part? Pitiful, Teacher Jiang, too pitiful…She presides over the life and death of others from on high, yet sinks so low in the arena of love!
“I really like you, Officer Xue! I really do!” Xue Yunxin faced Li Ai and smiled: “Thank you.” Was she playing dumb? Did she really not understand that the ‘like’ she was talking about was not of the friendship variety?
Li Ai was sure of her regard for Xue Yunxin, despite the short time frame. The warmth and kindness she received from Xue Yunxin was something she had only experienced from her parents. For something so hard for her to come by, she was clearer about it than others. However, this ‘treat’ was guarded by a watchdog!
“Xue Yunxin is mine! No one can have designs on her!”
“I like you. I hope you don’t disappoint me.”
Noticing that Li Ai’s morale dropped after her answer, Xue Yunxin hurriedly asked: “Xiao Ai, are you alright? Do you feel unwell?”
“No, I’m fine, Officer Xue. I have class soon, so I’ll leave now.” Li Ai stood up and left the coffee shop. It hadn’t been Xue Yunxin’s reply that made her depressed. Rather, she had suddenly understood something⸺she had to fight for her happiness. The biggest obstacle between her and Xue Yunxin was Jiang Qinglan, but once Jiang Qinglan was out of the picture, everyone would be happy. Li Ai took out her phone and called Jiang Qinglan: “Teacher Jiang, I have something I want to talk with you about…”
“Okay, then how about you come directly to my house? I’ll send you the address over WeChat.” Jiang Qinglan got straight to the point. Jiang Qinglan readily admitted that she liked Li Ai. She empathized with her, like she was Xue Yunxin empathizing with her back in junior high. However, if she turned on her, she would cut her down. Jiang Qinglan was twenty-seven this year. From a young age, she had been mired in many challenging circumstances. She had experienced all kinds of suffering and seen all kinds of misery. Would she honestly be scared of Li Ai?
She grabbed a knife from off the table, joyfully waiting for her upcoming performance. She had long guessed that Li Ai would turn on her one day, and everything was going according to her plan.
Half an hour later, Li Ai arrived on schedule. She was expressionless, and there was nothing timid or cowardly in her posture, but she was nervous about killing her. She knew that Jiang Qinglan would be her greatest opponent. Jiang Qinglan invited her inside and offered her a cup of coffee: “Was there a lot of traffic?”
“It was okay.” Li Ai drank the coffee in one gulp, looking to alleviate her complicated sentiments.
“Is that so.” Jiang Qinglan looked at her, smiling warmly.
Li Ai lifted her head, gazing into Jiang Qinglan’s smiling eyes. Jiang Qinglan was wearing dark green pajamas today. She seemed a little lethargic, but she hadn’t lost her sex appeal. The dark green clothing did nothing to hide her curves, and although the clothes were a bit outdated, when Jiang Qinglan wore them, she remained bewitching. She had a great body, so in this situation, most people would find it hard to control themselves.
However, when Li Ai saw Jiang Qinglan, she only felt more inferior.
Jiang Qinglan’s appearance, figure, and status all made Li Ai feel envious. She wasn’t deluding herself, and she wouldn’t imagine that she was in some kind of Cinderella2 plotline. Maybe…Jiang Qinglan deserved Xue Yunxin more than she did…
But, a voice in her head kept telling her, if she killed Jiang Qinglan, she could become her. The so-called Jack really wasn’t anything! If she killed her, she would be the only one in Xue Yunxin’s eyes!
Jiang Qinglan sat in front of Li Ai: “What is it?”
“…Teacher, why me?”
Jiang Qinglan didn’t expect her to ask this question, and she laughed softly as she replied: “Because you and I are alike. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t have any other intentions. I just wanted to add some more fuel to the fire. If your heart is not swayed by me in the slightest, then what I have done does not have any meaning. I’ve only just discovered the true you, but it seems that she has pulled you out.”
Jiang Qinglan more-or-less slightly regretted turning Li Ai into her current state. Wasn’t this inviting a wolf into her home?
“Perhaps you remember what I said to you then.” Jiang Qinglan looked into Li Ai’s eyes as she asked: “Do you remember?”
Li Ai didn’t answer.
Jiang Qinglan pulled out a small screen and placed it on the side table.
On the screen was Li Ai herself.
Li Ai looked at the screen. The background was the milk tea shop she and Xue Yunxin had just been at!
Jiang Qinglan turned up the volume, and out of the black rectangular device came Li Ai and Xue Yunxin’s voices.
“Officer Xue, do you and Teacher Jiang really have a normal type of friendship?”
“Why did you suddenly ask me this?”
“Teacher Jiang always treated you differently from other people…”
“Officer Xue, do you have a boyfriend? A girlfriend?”
“I really like you, Officer Xue! I really do!”
Li Ai stared at Jiang Qinglan. This woman had put a surveillance camera on Xue Yunxin!
“Did you put a camera on Officer Xue?!” Li Ai yelled. This woman was too scary! “Does Officer Xue know about this?!”
Jiang Qinglan laughed: “She doesn’t, but even if she knew, she wouldn’t do anything to me.” Jiang Qinglan reached out a hand to cradle Li Ai’s face: “Because this is what Xue Yunxin owes me!” Jiang Qinglan then pushed Li Ai away.
She had originally believed that Li Ai had some ingenious way to spoil her and Xue Yunxin’s relationship, and, truth be told, she had been recklessly looking forward to it. But she didn’t have a plan, and her rash, meaningless actions were like that of a buzzing housefly. Offensive to the eye!
Jiang Qinglan pulled open a drawer, meticulously choosing a sharp dagger and walking over to Li Ai.
“I don’t like it when others disappoint me.”
Li Ai ran to the door to leave, but she discovered that the door would not open. Jiang Qinglan took a large step and grabbed Li Ai’s hand: “Why do you want to flee? Are you scared of me? Don’t be like this! I’ll give you the knife, come use it to kill me. I’m giving you the chance!” Jiang Qinglan placed the knife into Li Ai’s hand: “Come! Kill me! If you kill me, Xue Yunxin is yours! Consider it my reward for you! Come on! Don’t let me down! Don’t you want Xue Yunxin? Kill me, and she’s yours!”
1 阎王爷, Yama, the King of Hell
2 霸道总裁, referring to the TV drama/romance novel trope of the rich CEO/businessman falling for the more unfortunate girl. I translated it as Cinderella to make it a bit more concise and immediately recognizable, but please be aware that it is referring to something slightly different. Tbh, if we’re going for a western literature selection, it’s more of a Pride and Prejudice vibe…