How terrifying are high-IQ crimes?

The suspense novel written by my boyfriend was turned into a script-killing story. When we experienced it together at a class reunion, he suddenly pointed out that I was the murderer.

He was not talking about a script-based murder case, but a real murder case that happened in our school that year.

A case that has been concluded and the murderer has been caught.

“You are the murderer.”

I sneered, “Where’s the evidence?”

1

“He Mai, you are the murderer!”

My boyfriend Du Zhening stretched out his hand and pointed it directly at my face, his eyes extremely sharp.

This is the last line of the script-killing drama.

But he changed the murderer’s name to my name “He Mai”.

My heart skipped a beat.

Du Zhening has been acting strange since this morning. He changed his usual simple style and put on a very formal suit and sprayed his hair with hairspray.

He also wore black contact lenses, which made his pupils look dark and fake.

Now, with those two black holes staring straight at me, the weirdness was even worse.

Sweat broke out on the palms of my hands.

After a long while, someone finally broke the silence, “Wonderful! So wonderful! It turns out that writers can act, too.”

“The couple showed off their affection in various ways!”

“Your acting skills are no worse than my wife’s!”

Amid the booing, the atmosphere of a joyful party was finally restored.

…

Today is the third anniversary of my love affair with Du Zhening, and it is also the day when his novel “Death Lake” was adapted into a script-killing drama and released online.

With double happiness coming together, Du Zhening proposed to invite a few good college classmates to have an in-depth experience together.

I was very happy at first because, as a drama actor, I have a natural advantage in script-killing.

Moreover, he invited all the cadres with whom he had a good relationship in the past, including the student committee member Chen Lulu, the sports committee member Li Meng, and the art representative and drama club president Song Yubin. Class monitor Gu Chuan heard about the party from somewhere and also clamored to join.

There happened to be a vacant role in the script-killing game, so everyone agreed.

Du Zhening chose a quiet villa as the place, brought several large bags of snacks, imported fruits, even a fruit knife, and a full range of beer and foreign liquor.

Everyone joked, “We’ve all become hands-off shopkeepers. Sorry, we’ll collect the money from the group later, Lao Du!”

By the time the car turned many corners and arrived at the villa, the relaxed and lively atmosphere suddenly cooled.

The villa in front of me is of Chinese style, with white walls and gray tiles in the mountains, and a pair of big red lanterns hanging on the black lacquered door.

As soon as we pushed open the door, everyone seemed to be forcing a smile. The rooms in the villa were filled with carved Chinese furniture in the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was really old-fashioned and had a bit of “Chinese horror” feel.

Song Yubin tried to smooth things over: “Master Du, you are indeed a writer, but you are traditional…”

Du Zhening explained, “In the novel, when the girl died, she was wearing a red dress. When she was immersed in the water, it matched the environment very well, didn’t you think?”

Chen Lulu looked disdainful: “What kind of analogy is that? It’s even more frightening…”

Song Yubin smiled innocently and put his arm around Li Meng’s shoulders.

“There are police officers here. They are very masculine. Don’t be afraid.”

Gu Chuan stood aside without saying a word, his eyes like a mouse, looking at everyone.

After dusk, the script-killing officially begins.

The mahogany and red gauze of the Chinese-style villa were out of the sunlight, exuding an indescribable sense of weirdness and gloom under the dim light.

“The Deadly Lake Murder Case” was fictionalized by Du Zhening based on a sensational case in our university.

The night the girl died was as dark as it is today, without a single light.

However, the murderer in the script is a “roommate” who holds a grudge against the victim.

But now, he is standing in the main seat.

Pointing directly at me as the murderer.

2

“I have evidence.”

Du Zhening said loudly, and the room suddenly became quiet.

Chen Lulu looked at me in bewilderment and muttered, “No…it’s just a game…why are you taking it so seriously?”

The others remained silent.

I felt that there was suspicion in many of the eyes looking at me.

My fingertips trembled slightly and I clenched my hands unconsciously. Fortunately, I am a professional actor and am good at controlling my facial expressions, so I can still keep a calm face.

Song Yubin explained to Chen Lulu: “In our industry, this is called an Easter egg.”

At this time, the students who were wearing modern clothes but sitting in Chinese-style armchairs felt unsteady on their butts.

Everyone was looking at Du Zhening. At this moment, he looked like a young master from a scholarly family giving a speech.

I saw him curl the corners of his lips slightly and press the remote control at hand.

Suddenly, a lift slowly rose up from the center of the large carved round table in front of us.

On it was a dark red lacquer storage box, glowing faintly under the dim lantern.

Du Zhening said to me softly, “I have a special gift for you.”

After saying this, he smiled deliberately.

I turned to look at the box, feeling increasingly uneasy.

I looked back at Du Zhening, and there was an irrepressible excitement in his dark eyes, ready to burst out.

He put his hand on the brass lock of the box, and with a “click”, the lock opened.

He removed the padlock and put it aside. He lifted the pull ring with his slender index finger and slowly opened the box.

When the full picture of what was inside came into view, the people gathered together retreated violently.

My heart sank, my scalp went numb, and my body swayed slightly. I could only hold on to the edge of the table to avoid falling.

Chen Lulu suddenly screamed in fear, and the others also dodged backwards suddenly. The armchair rubbed against the ground, making a violent and unpleasant squeak.

“What’s this?!”

Inside was a tattered red dress, full of wrinkles, with frayed hems and covered in dried green algae mud, some of which had been pulled into thin threads.

A dirty, soaked skirt.

This is the “special” gift Du Zhening gave me.

Du Zhening looked around at everyone proudly, and finally fixed his eyes on me.

“He Mai, does it look familiar? Here is the evidence.”

3

Everyone’s eyes were on me.

If I had any fear at this moment, it would have confirmed my suspicion.

I took a deep breath, pulled out the dirty skirt, and threw it angrily at Du Zhening’s face.

“Du Zhening, is it fun to play tricks?”

But the man threw away the red skirt and just sneered.

Out of professional habit, Li Meng took out a tissue and pinched a corner of the skirt, then lifted the skirt out, looked at it carefully, and came to a conclusion.

“This is Gu Yuanyuan’s skirt.”

Gu Yuanyuan was the victim in the fatal lake case that year and also the victim in Du Zhening’s novel.

Everyone held their breath and retreated to the side in fear, as if they were avoiding the plague god.

“Why is her skirt here?!”

Du Zhening finally spoke up, “Don’t be nervous, it’s just the same style. Gu Yuanyuan’s skirt was taken away by the police a long time ago.”

After saying that, he moved towards me step by step, looking at me provocatively.

“He Mai, do you dare to tell everyone the truth?”

I looked at Du Zhening angrily. Something seemed to be pressing and filling my chest, making it difficult to breathe.

“the truth?”

I looked at Du Zhening’s hideous grin and everyone’s confused looks, and scratched the flesh on my palms with my nails. The pain immediately filled my eyes with tears.

He raised his head again and looked at Du Zhening with tearful eyes.

“the truth?”

“Du Zhening, are you really going to let me tell you the truth?”

Du Zhening has a pair of bright and charming peach blossom eyes, and he looks at everything with tenderness and affection.

It was these eyes that made me fall in love with them.

At this time, the windows of the room had been closed tightly and the candlelight was much brighter.

I stood in front of everyone and looked at him, and I felt that he was already extremely unfamiliar.

If you are unkind, don’t blame me for being unjust.

“Back then, you cheated on Gu Yuanyuan and gave her and me two identical skirts. You didn’t have to go to such great lengths to get me to tell you about this scandal. If you told me yourself, wouldn’t it be the same?”

Du Zhening lowered his head slightly, slowed down, and raised his head again: “I did cheat back then.”

I snorted coldly.

The students around him were all feeling very uncomfortable.

The couple figurine that Chen Lulu gave me reflected the dazzling light.

Du Zhening’s face flickered in the candlelight, and he continued, “But you are the third party.”

I was completely stunned.

I never knew that he was actually with Gu Yuanyuan.

Now, he pointed out in public that I am the mistress.

Where will our three years be placed?

Those memories between him and me were like a piece of rag torn to pieces by his own hands.

Du Zhening then said, “You designed to seduce me away from her because of what happened 18 years ago.”

Everyone held their breath and concentrated.

4

Eighteen years ago, I was in the third grade of junior high school.

I am the hope of the whole town, and my academic performance is good enough to get me into the key No. 1 Middle School in the city.

However, during that summer vacation, a piece of bad news suddenly fell from the sky like a huge hailstone, smashing through our small home.

I never thought that my shameful past would be exposed in such an occasion.

I could never have imagined that it was my own lover who would open it with his own hands and cut into my ugly wound again.

Du Zhening seemed to be enjoying it all.

There was uncontrollable excitement in his voice.

Eighteen years ago.

My father is dead.

When the police came to notify the family, they were holding my father’s ashes.

We were not even allowed to see the body.

They said that my father accidentally drowned while trying to save a girl who fell into the water from the next village.

The moment I heard the word “death”, my blood froze.

It seemed as if, at that moment, I was the one who was drowned.

The muddy water from the rice fields poured into the nasal cavity, ear canal, and eyes, and my five senses gradually disappeared and my loved ones separated.

Is this how my dad died?

Can’t see or hear.

My mother was standing by, mumbling in a daze: “Save people…dead?…”

“Who did you save? Where’s that person? Where’s that person?”

The police only said: “They had no obligation to come. We have investigated it thoroughly. It was purely an accident. We are sorry.”

Then they turned and walked away, as if they were running away.

Not a word of condolence.

I also ignored my mother’s questioning and shouting behind me.

We, mother and daughter, were left sitting on the ground, crying and holding each other’s heads.

Later, rumors from the neighboring village gradually spread that the person my father saved was Gu Yuanyuan, the eldest daughter of the party secretary of the nearby Gujia Village.

The point of the rumor is that my father intended to molest her, not save her.

…

Du Zhening stopped the story here, and everyone present was shocked.

Based on his one-sided explanation, everyone thought that my father really molested Gu Yuanyuan.

I looked at him coldly with an indifferent expression, not saying anything for a long time.

Suddenly, he picked up a half-full bottle of red wine on the table and smashed it at Du Zhening’s head. He dodged and the bottle hit the blue brick floor with a “bang”, making a mess.

Du Zhening didn’t get angry but laughed instead. He clapped his hands, and his black pupils were covered with bloodshot.

“Yes, that’s right. You were also very angry when Gu Yuanyuan found out.”

In my freshman year, Gu Yuanyuan and I were admitted to the same university.

She has always been the center of attention since she was a child, and she still has many suitors even after entering university.

I tried hard to suppress the hatred I had for her and forced myself to look forward to it, but her provocation brought it all out.

Not long after I entered school, I was slapped by her at the door of the dormitory. Gu Yuanyuan gave me an extremely arrogant look and a simple comment – “bastard!”

Chen Lulu was deeply impressed by this incident.

But the goddess also has to bow her head one day.

When Du Zhening, who was as cold as Mount Nanga Parbat, appeared, Gu Yuanyuan lowered her noble head shyly.

5

If a person’s hatred is not vented, it will be swallowed up by it sooner or later.

Du Zhening crossed his arms and sighed, “I am the bargaining chip for you to vent your hatred, right, He Mai?”

I looked at him, and the awkwardness of our first encounter suddenly appeared.

It was obviously Du Zhening who approached me cautiously first, but now he was like a gossip, talking about our past to everyone.

He said he didn’t know why we met by chance at the deserted Deadly Lake.

Due to the spread of the strange story of “killing the lake god and sacrificing living people”, almost no one from the school came to this place.

It just so happened that he had liked to come here a long time ago, and He Mai, who hated Gu Yuanyuan, also came.

It is clear who has ulterior motives.

“Going to the lake just to seduce you? This conclusion is too narcissistic.” I said sarcastically.

“Of course not, you have more important things to do.”

Li Meng touched his chin and looked at us with amusement.

“What what?”

Chen Lulu asked curiously from the side.

Song Yubin could hear the sound of flipping pages. “Maybe it’s because of this.”

After saying that, he put Du Zhening’s novel in the middle.

“Have you forgotten about the script-killing game you just played?”

Gu Chuan said sinisterly: “My goodness, this thing can be linked to reality?”

Everyone leaned over to look at the page.

——”Death Lake”, page 177, Chapter 34: “Jumping for the Other”.

“Replacement?”

Chen Lulu pronounced these two words with a rising tone.

“Haven’t you remembered yet? The murderer was wearing the same clothes as the victim and was pushed into the water by someone else. He disguised himself as the victim to exonerate himself.”

“Could it be that the person who danced as a substitute was He Mai?”

“That’s impossible. The lake is so deep. Wouldn’t you drown if you jumped in?”

Du Zhening said slowly:

“Perhaps, we will all drown if we jump in, but He Mai will definitely not.”

“Because she is an expert in swimming and diving.”

Chen Lulu frowned, looked at me in disbelief, and then looked at Du Zhening.

“That’s impossible… We’ve lived together for four years…”

Du Zhening pointed to the door and said, “Don’t believe it? There’s a hot spring right outside. Just push her head in and soak for a few minutes and you’ll know.”

I glared at Du Zhening.

It turned out that this was the purpose of his booking the hot spring.

At this time, Li Meng, who had been observing from the side, asked.

“He Mai, where were you on the night of the 23rd?”

6

Finally, Du Zhening achieved his goal.

Li Meng is a policeman.

At this time, he interrogated me in front of my old classmates like a vicious criminal suspect.

The world is ridiculous.

Du Zhening, the person who has depended on me for three years, is now so deliberate in destroying me. Don’t blame me for ignoring the love and time we have had over the years.

I put away all my uneasiness and climbed up with a calm expression.

Now, it’s my turn to fight back.

I clapped my hands and laughed wildly, “This is wonderful, so wonderful!”

I was playing with my phone and spoke softly.

“But before I answer this question, I want to ask you a question first.”

Li Meng remained serious, “What?”

I put my hands on the table, crossed my fingers, and looked at Du Zhening with extraordinary calmness.

“Why today?”

“You picked this place?”

“You specially called everyone to watch your performance?”

He suddenly became nervous, his eyes widened, and he retorted loudly and wildly.

“What does this have to do with you killing Gu Yuanyuan?!”

I sneered, “Of course it matters, Du Zhening, you carefully arranged all the people present today.”

I looked around and finally fixed my eyes on Song Yubin, who was dressed in a suit.

“Master Writer Du, if I didn’t know about your conspiracy with Song Yubin, I would have really been caught here today.”

“Conspiracy?” Chen Lulu asked puzzledly.

“Do you remember who you called at 8pm last Friday?”

Du Zhening’s expression, which had been relaxed all night, became unnatural. “I don’t remember.”

“It seems that Mr. Du’s good memory is intermittent. Then let me remind you.”

As I said that, I unlocked the screen, tapped the screen a few times, and played a recording.

Inside were the voices of Du Zhening and Song Yubin.

——”Only 5,000? That’s not a good result.”

——”I have a plan. I’m sure I can make it to the top of the list this time.”

–“What?”

——”Hype.”

——”How to stir-fry?”

——”Do you think that if the case in the novel came true, would it become a big hit?”

–“Um?”

The voice at the back was so low that I couldn’t hear it clearly.

Song Yubin, the content director of a certain video website, holds the power of life and death over a large number of adapted IPs.

He also initiated this collaboration with Du Zhening.

However, Du Zhening’s past sales performance was too poor, so Song Yubin was unable to provide him with the best resources.

Therefore, the conspiracy is clear at a glance.

Gu Chuan spat, “What a scumbag.”

Song Yubin just sipped his wine without saying a word, his embarrassed look lingering on his face.

Chen Lulu stood by me and shouted, “Are you still human? I almost believed you!”

I turned off the recording and asked Du Zhening:

“You’re putting in all this trouble, aren’t you just trying to frame me as the murderer and promote your new book!?”

Du Zhening’s mouth seemed to be sewn shut and he stood there in a daze.

“I’ve even thought of a title for you: “A novel involving a real university case” and “The murderer was caught and turned out to be the author’s hidden bedmate”. This will be on several trending searches and will stay on the topic for a week or so.”

“Even if I’m found innocent in the end, no one will care about my clarification, and you’ve already gained fame and fortune.”

“Du Zhening, you really have a good plan.”

“How come I never realized in all these years that you, who were so affectionate, could be such a beast?”

With every word I said, the anger in Du Zhening’s eyes grew.

He never thought that I had heard his entire phone call with Song Yubin.

Also recorded the audio.

“You bastard!”

Du Zhening slammed the table and yelled at me.

It was exactly the same as what Gu Yuanyuan used to scold me back then.

7

“Now that you have asked your questions, you can answer mine. Where were you on the night of the 23rd?”

While others were already furious, Li Meng remained rational.

As if he was carrying out a mission, he interrogated me step by step, the criminal he had identified.

Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn back, and their eyes moved between Du Zhening and me.

I smiled calmly, “Officer Li, are you interrogating me as a criminal?”

I spread my hands, nonchalantly, “But this is not your interrogation room.”

For a moment, the situation was tense.

Chen Lulu frowned and pulled me, “We are all classmates, let’s talk it out.”

I stared at Li Meng. I know that police like to observe the eyes of prisoners to judge whether what they say is true or false. In that case, I’ll let you see enough.

“Number 23, me, at the Deadly Lake.”

After he finished speaking, there were gasps in the room.

Li Menglang locked his eyes on me like he was staring at his prey. I shook the red wine in the glass and spoke softly.

“But I wasn’t the one who killed Gu Yuanyuan.”

Li Meng kept asking, “So what are you doing by the lake?”

8

What am I doing at the lake?

The Death Lake was not originally called this name. Its name was, Wisdom Lake.

It seems that every university has a lake full of youth and literary memories, but the lake in our school is only gloomy.

The Deadly Lake is bordered by the campus’ back garden on only one side, which is also covered with small trees and shrubs. The other three sides are surrounded by mountains with winding jungles on the back hills. It is very remote and shrouded in smoke, and no one comes here all year round.

Later one year, a student’s body was fished out of the lake, and the cause of death was unknown.

The “Death Lake” became famous, and all kinds of rumors filled with unknown horror became more and more intense.

It reached its peak when I entered school.

Not long after the start of my freshman year, there were posts on the BBS about “killing the lake god and sacrificing people.”

Some say that if you push a living person into the lake, the lake god will grant you a wish. Others say that as long as you curse the lake devoutly, your small wish will come true.

My father’s life, the uncleared false accusation, and the unprovoked humiliation inflicted by Gu Yuanyuan since she entered school.

With new and old grudges adding up, I often stood by the Deadly Lake and cursed Gu Yuanyuan, releasing my hatred for her.

I cursed Gu Yuanyuan to lose whatever she wanted. At that time, she often failed in exams, got injured, and had failed secret crushes…

After listening to me, everyone had complicated expressions.

“So, I am in the Deathly Lake, cursing Gu Yuanyuan. I wish she would disappear from this world!”

Li Meng was still not satisfied, “That’s all? On the night of the 23rd, you were also cursing her, that’s all?”

I said word by word, “Of course there is more than that. There are other things that happened.”

“What is that!?”

Except for Du Zhening, the others said the same thing.

“Gu Yuanyuan is a proud, selfish, and vindictive person. After hearing me curse her and snatch Du Zhening away, will she let me go?”

I smiled bitterly, “What you saw, such as beating me at the dormitory door, pouring food on my head in the cafeteria, stealing my group assignments, and even asking about my thesis to submit to the teacher first, forcing me to have difficulty graduating, are just small things.”

Chen Lulu frowned: “This… is just a small problem?”

Everyone looked at me with questioning eyes – What on earth have you been through?

I smiled, trying to hide the sadness and self-pity that was welling up in me.

But the tears still fell uncontrollably, dripping.

“If a girl wants to destroy another girl, what’s the best way to do it?”

Several men looked at each other in confusion. Only Chen Lulu, a girl who knew about Gu Yuanyuan’s methods back then, understood.

She took a deep breath and shook her head in disbelief.

“How dare she?! Impossible…”

I laughed at myself and said, “She is Gu Yuanyuan, there is nothing she dares not do.”

Gu Chuan and Song Yubin didn’t understand yet, and murmured, “What do you mean?”

I looked at them, and the faint voice reached the ears of everyone present.

“Gu Yuanyuan hired someone to rape me.”

“They are the landscaping workers who are responsible for pruning the trees near the Deadly Lake.”

“On the night of the 23rd, I was raped by him.”

Chen Lulu covered her mouth tightly in fear, Li Meng and Song Yubin frowned deeply, and Du Zhening finally looked at me with a hint of heartache.

Gu Chuan widened his eyes and murmured, “Impossible…”

9

My classmates all had sympathy in their eyes, the kind of sympathy that disgusted me.

The sin is over, and any further emotions are unnecessary.

I looked at Li Meng calmly, “So, do you still need me to describe in detail what happened on the night of the 23rd?”

Du Zhening’s lips moved slightly, then closed again, and turned to look to the other side.

Li Meng’s grim expression finally relaxed a little, but he did not do less of what he should do out of sympathy.

He nodded, “Yes.”

Haha, I sneered.

I steadied my voice and explained to everyone.

On the 23rd, when I went to the Deadly Lake in the afternoon, I was pinned down in the bushes by the landscaping workers who had been lying in ambush there…

The man grabbed me with his big dirty hands and dragged me into the bushes.

He tore my clothes and I felt very cold.

The rough branches on the ground scratched my skin.

I’m in pain.

This is what it feels like to be burned by a red-hot iron.

However, just as I was pressed under him, I saw Gu Yuanyuan’s face hiding behind the bushes.

She is smiling.

I wanted to scream, but before I uttered the first syllable, the man covered my mouth.

He stuffed that disgusting tongue into my mouth.

A foul smell.

My shoulder was about to be crushed, the sound of bones cracking and the man’s breathing like a wild boar was right next to my ears.

The pain lashed me like a whip, not only my body but also my soul.

I stopped crying and making a fuss.

The more painful I was, the happier Gu Yuanyuan laughed.

That winter, I learned what the coldest temperature is and what the hottest temperature is.

After it was over, I lay naked by the lake for a long time.

The Walking Dead.

I finally understood what the meaning of this word is.

I can’t even cry anymore.

I can’t cry.

By this time, my nose was so blocked that I couldn’t breathe.

There was silence in the room, and no one knew what words to use to comfort me.

“When I saw Gu Yuanyuan, she was still alive, and then… I went to find Du Zhening.”

On the evening of the 23rd, I called Du Zhening to the hotel and told him about this, hoping to get a little warmth from him.

However, he did not offer me the slightest comfort. While I was in the bathroom, he left me in the cold hotel room and left.

I kept calling the front desk, asking the girl if she had seen my boyfriend.

The little girl only told me that he went out in a hurry…

In despair, I waited until I fell asleep…

Chen Lulu shed just as many tears as I did, and questioned Du Zhening angrily.

“She was like that, and you didn’t stay with her. Where did you go?!”

Li Meng frowned slightly, seeming to be angry at Du Zhening’s ruthlessness.

Everyone turned to look at him.

Du Zhening’s cheeks were creaking and his whole body was visibly shaking.

“I also want to know… Where were you on the night of the 23rd, when Gu Yuanyuan died?”

I still remember how small that room was.

At that time, I curled up and waited for Du Zhening for more than two hours, but he hadn’t come back yet.

I fell asleep.

It was past midnight when he came back.

Li looked at Du Zhening fiercely, waiting for his explanation.

“I……”

“You went to the Deathly Lake to find Gu Yuanyuan!!”

Without waiting for Du Zhening to explain, I shouted out these words at the top of my lungs.

“You thought I didn’t see you turn your back and read a text message?”

“A text message from Gu Yuanyuan!”

“She asked you to make a wish by the Deadly Lake, wishing that even if you were separated from each other in the future, you would still care about each other!”

“Hahahaha…what a caring relationship…”

Memories rolled over my skin inch by inch like wheels, and I laughed and cried.

At this point, my performance is completely over.

The rest of the story is left to the audience.

10

Li Meng glanced at Du Zhening, who was rubbing his hands nervously, picked up the phone and went to another room.

The door is closed.

Du Zhening shook his head and muttered to himself.

“No… I didn’t… It wasn’t me! Don’t listen to her nonsense!”

Du Zhening was breathing heavily, his expression full of fear.

Song Yubin patted his shoulder: “Brother… why are you so nervous?”

He was full of doubts.

“Need I say more…” Chen Lulu rolled her eyes at him.

It was midnight, and the ancient clock hanging on the wall suddenly made a deep sound of “dong-dong-dong”.

As heavy as everyone’s heartbeat.

Du Zhening was as nervous as a hare in the forest, with his ears perked up, ready to spy on the enemy at any time.

The door of Li Meng’s room was not opened for a long time.

30 minutes of silence. The atmosphere was like ice, colder than the water in the Death Lake.

“Squeak—”

The door opened, and Li Meng, who had found the evidence, walked out, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at Du Zhening coldly.

“He Mai didn’t lie.”

“The time you left the hotel that day coincided with the time Gu Yuanyuan died.”

“Tell me, what did you see?”

11

It’s only half an hour long, and the plot and characters haven’t changed.

But the suspect that is the target of public criticism has now become you, Du Zhening.

I laughed in my heart, thinking that you are not as good as me in story-writing skills. Perhaps I am more suitable to be a suspense writer than you.

Du Zhening was still struggling, “I left the hotel for a while, who can prove that I went to the Death Lake! Do you have any evidence?!”

I sneered, took out my phone, slowly opened the screen, and clicked on the “Network Disk APP”.

“I took a picture of that message.”

Time: 21:34 on February 23, three years ago.

The mobile phone number of the person who was talking was Gu Yuanyuan’s, and the mobile phone number that sent the text message was Du Zhening’s.

Du Zhening’s eyes were filled with shock, and even his black invisible glasses couldn’t suppress it.

I pretended to be strong, held back my tears, and suppressed my grievances.

“I never thought that the photos I took as evidence of my infidelity could prove my innocence today.”

Then she cried, “I have always trusted you and believed that you could not kill Gu Yuanyuan. I have kept this matter in my heart and have never told anyone, but you actually want to kill me for profit.”

After saying that, I covered my face and started crying.

Upon hearing this, Chen Lulu immediately pointed at Du Zhening’s nose and cursed.

“I never knew you were such a shameless and despicable person!”

Song Yubin frowned, observed the situation, and said nothing.

Li Meng got straight to the point, “Did you kill him?”

Du Zhening waved his hands quickly, “It’s not me! Haven’t you already concluded the case? The murderer is a landscaping worker! I… I just saw…”

Li Meng’s voice suddenly rose, “What did you see!”

Du Zhening collapsed and said, “See that landscaping worker, kill Gu Yuanyuan.”

Chen Lulu asked sharply, “What? You saw the murder scene? And today you want to accuse your girlfriend of it??? You are so awesome!”

Gu Chuan, who was standing next to Du Zhening, spoke up quietly, “So, you watched someone die without helping?”

He pulled Du Zhening by the collar and gritted his teeth.

“Why, you let her die without helping her? She likes you so much!”

Du Zhening slapped his hand away and uttered a soft “huh”, which sounded like disdain and ridicule.

“That man is holding such a big axe, who dares to go up and save her? Who?”

Du Zhening sat on the chair, his head half tilted, looking so cynical that he really deserved a beating.

Everyone was silent.

You can be afraid and dare not move forward, but you cannot be proud of it.

Everyone looked at Du Zhening with contempt, but he didn’t care.

After a long time, Gu Chuan on the side said.

“I dare you.”

12

Gu Chuan suddenly rushed towards Du Zhening like crazy.

In his hand was the fruit knife we ​​brought with us, and he suddenly stabbed it into Du Zhening’s chest.

He moved so quickly that no one had time to react, and Li Meng didn’t have time to stop him.

“Du Zhening, I’m CNM, you killed Yuan Yuan!”

The knife stabbed directly into Du Zhening’s body.

Chen Lulu’s scream of “Ah——” filled the villa. Li Meng and Song Yubin stepped forward to control Gu Chuan, then ran to Du Zhening to stop his bleeding.

Chen Lulu could no longer cry. She frantically took out her cell phone and dialed 120 and 110.

Du Zhening fell to the ground, face up, chest heaving, arms trying to support his body, but he couldn’t get up.

I stood there stupidly, watching the blood stain his clothes red and turn his blue coat black.

The sudden attack disrupted my plans. Why did Gu Chuan suddenly go crazy?

I didn’t care about anything else and rushed forward to press Du Zhening’s wound to stop the bleeding.

The blood kept flowing, becoming thick and bright red, covering my hands.

The smell of blood rushed straight to my head, making me dizzy for a moment.

Li Meng drew a circle around the fruit knife and did not allow anyone to approach.

This is the murder weapon and the evidence.

I don’t know how long it took, but Du Zhening and Gu Chuan were taken away amid the sounds of police cars and ambulances, and the dizzying red and blue flashes.

Li Meng said a few words to several uniformed policemen, and then they took Chen Lulu and Song Yubin to the side and started taking notes with notebooks.

My mind went blank and I sat in the chair for a long time, unable to recover.

The fragments of that night flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope, but I couldn’t catch any of them.

Just looking at the blood-stained fruit knife on the ground, I couldn’t describe the feeling in my heart.

The fruit was still lying quietly on the countertop, unopened.

There are cherries, strawberries, bananas, grapes…

etc.

No need for a knife at all with these fruits!

13

It was two days later when I saw Du Zhening again. He was moved from the ICU to the general ward.

Although Gu Chuan’s knife caused a lot of bleeding, it did not pierce any organs.

As soon as I entered the door, the smell of disinfectant permeated my nostrils.

Du Zhening’s thin body was half lying on the bed, staring blankly out the window. He seemed to have become much thinner overnight.

Seeing that it was me coming in, he patted the side of the bed.

“You came to see me, sit down.”

I walked forward obediently, but just stood beside Du Zhening’s bed, looking down at him.

“Almost stabbed his lungs, just to sell a few more books?”

Du Zhening called me softly, “Maizi.”

He called me Maizi again.

This is his nickname for me.

At this time, he was not wearing contact lenses, and his gentle and affectionate peach blossom eyes regained their look, looking straight into my heart.

After a long while, he opened his lips and asked.

“Actually, Gu Yuanyuan died on the 22nd.”

What?

I looked at Du Zhening in disbelief, and the muscles in my face twitched uncontrollably.

14

I forced myself to calm down.

He snorted disdainfully and reached out to touch his head.

I said indifferently, “So you don’t have a fever.”

Du Zhening raised his hand with some difficulty and held my hand.

“Maizi, I know everything.”

I wanted to pull my hand back, but I had no strength.

“I don’t understand what you are saying.”

Du Zhening just reached out and brushed away the loose hair on my forehead.

“Maizi, do you still remember why you were at home at that time when you heard me and Song Yubin talking on the phone?”

My heart skipped a beat.

Because he called me to send the keys back.

He asked me to go back on purpose.

Deliberately letting me hear it!

“I asked Song Yubin to play a play with me. I know you could hear me when I made that call.”

“To make you doubt, and believe.”

“Doubt, I’m going to betray you.”

“Believe me, I did betray you.”

“Only by believing can you convince yourself and contribute the most natural acting skills.”

Du Zhening’s expression was so calm and elegant, and his confidence frightened me.

He pulled me towards him with a strong tug and held my hand tightly.

Although his face was pale and weak, it was filled with the confidence to be in control of everything.

What did he know?

15

Next, it’s Du Zhening’s performance time.

…

On the evening of the 23rd, you said something happened to you and asked me to take you to the hotel to take a shower.

When I saw the wounds on your body, I felt something was wrong.

You said that you met the gangsters at the Deadly Lake in the afternoon.

However, there is no blood on the wound on your body, and it is covered with a layer of yellow film. The wound is not new.

So I went out and I bought antibiotics, bandages, and… emergency contraception.

That night, I went to several pharmacies before I could buy it. I was out for two hours, and it was past 12 o’clock when I got back to the hotel.

You are taking a shower in the bathroom.

You sent me a message asking me what time I would be back, and I told you it would take more than half an hour. I thought you were anxious and needed me to accompany you, but it turned out that you were calculating the time to commit the crime, so I rushed back.

When I saw the red skirt lying at the door, wet and covered with algae mud, I knew it.

So I closed the door and left, then stayed out for another half an hour before coming back.

When I came back, you had already laid down. I slept beside you and could smell the scent of cheap shampoo in your hair. But what you didn’t know was that it did not completely cover up the fishy smell in the lake water.

He Mai, I know everything.

On the night of the 23rd, you sneak out.

Went to the Deathly Lake.

And it’s the bottom of the lake.

16

My secret was like a bubble that was poked by Du Zhening with a needle.

But Du Zhening did not feel excited about the secret at all, but instead felt inexplicably sad.

“After you killed Gu Yuanyuan, you took her phone and sent me text messages pretending to be her, luring me to the Death Lake.”

“In order to clear herself of suspicion, she even secretly used my phone to reply to her messages, took photos and deleted them.”

“So, you can use that photo as evidence in front of Li Meng.”

As he said this, he smiled and shook his head in an angry tone.

“Since the night of the 22nd, Gu Yuanyuan’s text messages have become very strange. She used inverted grammar, refused to use punctuation, and used alternate lines for each sentence. I knew she was gone on the 22nd.”

He squeezed my palm hard and said, “You can’t even pretend.”

He looked hurt and his eyes dimmed.

“He Mai, I know you too well, even better than you know yourself, but you don’t know me that well.”

“Even if Gu Yuanyuan sent me 100 text messages, I would never go to see her. I don’t care about that person at all.”

“Besides, since the Death Lake incident has already passed, you shouldn’t bring it up again. Don’t give me ideas just because I’m stuck. When you said ‘you can write a stand-in’, I was 100% sure it was you. How stupid!”

It turned out that Du Zhening had already caught me in all my traps.

Yes, I killed Gu Yuanyuan.

This woman deserves to die.

17

Everything I did to Gu Yuanyuan was what she deserved.

I hate her, I hate her so much.

Back then, it was their family who turned against my father and killed him.

I didn’t even get to see him for the last time. When the police came to my door, they just threw a jar of ashes in front of me.

They said that was my dad.

That handful of fine dust seemed like it would be blown away by the wind, as if it would take away with it the blood and flesh that had been entangled between me and my father for more than ten years.

For more than ten years, I have been the happiest girl in our town, and my father is the best father in the world.

And my best dad was burned into a jar of ashes somewhere.

The backbone of the family collapsed.

My world was destroyed at that moment.

I was at a loss and didn’t even know who or what to blame.

My mother never gave up trying to find out the truth.

The police in the town only said that my father died while saving someone, but they didn’t even say who my father saved.

That family never came to see my mother and me.

Perhaps it was because my mother and I looked like zombies that the neighbors felt sympathy for us. They told my mother that the person my father saved was Gu Yuanyuan, the youngest daughter of the village party secretary in a nearby village.

When I heard a specific name, my resentment suddenly found a direction.

After finding out the family’s address, my mother went crazy. She was determined to find that family and ask for an explanation.

Before she even walked into the village, the lackey of Gujia Village told the village party secretary what had happened.

Seven or eight men holding sticks stood at the door of the village party secretary’s house, driving my mother away like a dog.

“Get lost now, you just want to extort money, right?”

“If you come here again, I’ll chase you to your house and beat you up!”

“The wife of a scoundrel is also a scoundrel and a bitch!”

They were shouting and cursing.

My mother cried like crazy in Gujia Village, but there were only indifferent onlookers around her.

Until Grandma Wang came to call me, “Maizi, quickly call the police to pick up your mother, you can’t mess with that family!”

When my mother’s limping figure appeared in front of me, the tears that I had been holding back for a long time finally flowed down.

I just wanted to rush up and tear that family to pieces.

At 15, I had no idea that human beings could be so despicable.

Is this how they treat their savior?

Grandma Wang held me back, and in a trembling voice, the old woman told me a deafening truth.

She said that my father had already pulled Gu Yuanyuan to the shore.

The people from Gujia Village arrived late. My father held Gu Yuanyuan’s waist and wanted to lift her out first.

As a result, a man came up and hit my father on the head with a shovel.

He said that my father had taken advantage of the girl from the Gu family, and that Gu Yuanyuan was his childhood sweetheart.

As soon as he started to take action, other people from Gujia Village came over and besieged my father.

The passers-by outside the village had already left, and none of the few people who remained testified for my father.

There is only the Gu family’s one-sided story.

No matter how my dad explained or called for help, no one paid any attention. He was all alone and helpless.

He was beaten to death.

The girl he rescued from the water didn’t say a word during the entire five minutes that my dad was beaten.

She is the only one who knows the truth.

Gu Yuanyuan was like a deaf, dumb and blind person, condoning the tragedy.

Isn’t it her who is to be damned?

As Grandma Wang spoke, I cried, and my tears flowed like raindrops on the glass window.

I cried until my tears ran dry, but the sorrow in my heart was still not released.

When one is extremely sad, one is speechless.

I could even imagine my father struggling helplessly under their sticks. He must have been thinking, it’s a good thing Maizi wasn’t around, otherwise she would be so sad if she saw it.

From then on, I became enemies with Gujia Village.

From then on, Gu Yuanyuan no longer came to our town and even dared not go near any water.

She is afraid.

So, whatever she fears, I should love.

Ever since my father passed away, I have been practicing swimming and diving, and I always feel that this is where my father’s last breath is.

On the other hand, I wanted to know everything about Gu Yuanyuan, and I followed her wherever she went.

Then, she and I were admitted to the same university.

Unexpectedly, a bigger nightmare came.

18

My father’s life could not buy the conscience of Gu Yuanyuan, the venomous snake.

Instead, it became more vicious.

She is the daughter of the party secretary of Gujia Village, who has more power than the village chief. She has already been spoiled.

As the only girl in the class who refused to submit to her, she started to target me everywhere.

I also didn’t expect that she would be able to call the shots after coming to university.

On the surface, both boys and girls in the class sided with her.

I was bullied like this for nearly three years.

From time to time, her lackeys would pour water on my bed or put disgusting bugs in my water cup.

I wanted to resist, but I was afraid she would find out about my father.

History is written by living people. If she insists that my father molested her.

It’s all over.

So I endured it for nearly three years.

19

When I was a junior in college, the feud between me and Gu Yuanyuan took a turn.

I found out she was in love with a boy.

The boy has a cold temperament, is not very sociable, and does not want to be sociable.

He is white, thin and tall.

The profile is three-dimensional, as if it were carved.

When she was a freshman, Gu Yuanyuan was surrounded by boys, and she never needed to take the initiative to get close to others.

Until she discovered Du Zhening’s treasure.

Du Zhening loves reading and he always spent time in the library during his freshman and sophomore years.

At the end of her sophomore year, Gu Yuanyuan went to the library for the first time and met Du Zhening by chance.

This inconspicuous boy who usually sat in the corner of the class somehow caught Gu Yuanyuan’s eye.

From then on, she kept chasing after him.

Du Zhening no longer liked going to the library after that.

I met him by the Deadly Lake.

In the past, there were many supernatural legends about the Death Lake, so no one went there and the lake water was very clean.

Moreover, the sign that read “No swimming, consequences at your own risk” was hung very high and very large.

So, it was almost my own paradise.

I really have nowhere to go.

The Deadly Lake is the only place where I can relieve my worries and boredom.

In the first semester of my junior year, I met Du Zhening on the shore.

That day, I had just finished swimming and was wearing a tacky floral dress over my swimsuit. My hair was wet.

He didn’t expect that someone was swimming here. He looked up in astonishment, with a hint of surprise in his eyes:

“You? You’re swimming?”

“Do you know me?”

He paused and said “hmm”.

After saying that, he lowered his head to read again.

I curled my eyes and laughed, deliberately breaking his shyness.

“I know you, Du Zhening, my name is He Mai.”

He closed the book and nodded at me.

I walked up to him, leaned over him, and read the title of the book.

“I like Seicho Matsumoto’s “Killing Intent” too!”

That day, we talked for a long time.

Although that day was very short, it marked the beginning of a new year in our university life.

Du Zhening suddenly had a few more good friends around him, because he, who used to be like a dull guy, suddenly asked a question in the dormitory.

“What’s the best way to woo a girl?”

From then on, the social barriers between boys seemed to be suddenly broken.

The advice given to him by his roommates was: give her a skirt.

I was very angry because of that skirt.

Because Gu Yuanyuan also received an identical skirt.

I felt quite jealous when I thought that they knew each other earlier than I did.

I grabbed the skirt with one hand, and asked directly, no matter how shy Du Zhening was:

“You are my boyfriend now, right!?”

Du Zhening’s face was full of surprise, and then his face turned even redder. His skin was very white, and it was tinged with red, turning into a pink color.

“yes……”

Afterwards, Du Zhening brought me into his circle, and a male classmate from the drama club invited me to join the club. They said that they had actually noticed me for a long time.

After more than two years, I finally found a place for myself in the school.

Although we were both very low-key in the class, few people knew we were together.

Of course, Gu Yuanyuan hated me even more.

20

I will never forget that day.

February 21st.

That winter vacation, my mother was seriously ill, so I asked her to come to the city where I was studying to be hospitalized so that I could take care of her more easily.

Because of her poor postgraduate entrance examination results, Gu Yuanyuan decided to stay in school and take the exam again.

During the winter vacation, which was just before the Chinese New Year, his family came to the school to see her.

By chance, I was discovered.

The people in Gujia Village recognized me – I was the daughter of “that man”.

It was then that Gu Yuanyuan realized why I was as stubborn as a weed no matter how she suppressed me.

Never gave her a good face.

Originally, I was just a blade of grass that she hated.

From that day on, he became a thorn in her side.

Originally, she hadn’t thought about how to play with me.

Has she done such evil things to me in the past four years?

Is there anything more exciting?

Until she found out that Du Zhening also stayed in school to accompany me.

Jealousy ignited the evil rooted in the deepest part of her soul.

The worst of evil.

Taking advantage of the fact that there were few people in the school, she bribed the dirty landscaping worker, gave him five thousand yuan, and asked him to rape me.

During the winter vacation, crows flew over the campus with a cawing sound, and even during the day, not a single ghost could be seen.

The landscaping worker dragged me to the lake.

For a full half hour, I struggled and screamed.

Gu Yuanyuan hid behind the bushes and watched the scene.

However, the landscaping worker later felt bad about it and told me that someone had sent him there and asked me not to report him.

He has elderly parents and young children to take care of, he cannot be unemployed, and he cannot go to jail.

I said woodenly: OK.

But my heart was already withered, and I was ready to burn myself and Gu Yuanyuan together.

twenty one

Gu Yuanyuan succeeded.

In the dormitory corridor, I heard her whistling happily.

I didn’t dare tell Du Zhening that I just borrowed his mobile phone card.

On February 22, I asked Gu Yuanyuan to go to the lake in the name of Du Zhening.

“I… broke up with He Mai, and I have something to tell you.”

“By the way, put on that skirt. I like you in that skirt.”

Gu Yuanyuan thought that her “evil plan” had succeeded and that she had successfully made Du Zhening dislike me and remember her kindness.

When I think about it now, the person she saw was me by the Deadly Lake, and that shocked look, I feel very happy.

I held her head under the water, and the violent coughing she made after she choked on the first mouthful of water made me happy.

I held her head tightly, and her long hair was like a water ghost’s hands, climbing on the shore of the lake.

The bright red skirt was soaked and turned a dark color.

Finally, she stopped breathing and stopped moving.

I pushed her into the lake.

Then, she picked up her cell phone that she had dropped by the lake and messaged Du Zhening as if nothing had happened.

It’s all part of my plan.

twenty two

The next day, I told Du Zhening that something had happened to me.

Then he was called to a hotel in the suburbs, away from the crime scene.

Then, I used their cell phones to create a second “date” without Du Zhening’s knowledge.

He really went out.

The plan was being carried out in an orderly manner, but my heart was cold.

The reason I chose this hotel is that there is a pond behind the simple building, which is no different from the wilderness. There is no surveillance at all, and I don’t have to go out through the main gate.

After I slipped out of the pond, I put on Gu Yuanyuan’s coat that I had prepared early in the morning and ran all the way back to the Deadly Lake.

I knocked on the door of the bungalow where the landscaping workers were resting, crying and cursing, challenging that person’s bottom line.

I pretended to be Gu Yuanyuan’s voice and yelled at him:

“You actually betrayed me!? I’m going to send you to jail!”

As expected, the man caught up with me. I saw him get up and run towards the Deadly Lake.

There was not a single light by the lake, and the night was pitch black.

As soon as he touched my body, I leaned back and fell into the lake.

I was wearing Gu Yuanyuan’s clothes, and my figure and long hair were very similar to hers.

The landscaping worker thought that the person he pushed was Gu Yuanyuan.

A layer of ice had formed in the center of the deadly lake in winter. I swam carefully to another shallow beach and saw Gu Yuanyuan’s body in a red dress floating towards the center of the lake.

I returned to my room through the back door of the hotel and avoided the front desk.

That’s how I created my alibi for the night of the 23rd.

You all know what happened next.

The next day, the body was found and the landscaping worker was arrested.

He explained how he committed the crime.

But I didn’t tell you about my story.

No one wants to impose a sentence on themselves.

twenty three

I tried to keep my voice calm as I faced this man who had everything under control.

“Then why did you go to the villa and do this on purpose?”

“Because Li Meng deliberately came to test me. Gu Yuanyuan’s relatives wanted to reopen the investigation into the Death Lake case.”

I gasped.

Du Zhening patted my hands.

“Don’t worry, either the authorities will reopen the investigation, or Li Meng will check it out himself to see if there is anything unusual.”

“People are like this. When they ask someone, they may not necessarily believe the answer. But when another person asks, they, as a bystander, believe it.”

“He only has those pieces of evidence. I asked you all of them, and you answered them fluently.”

“Oh, and with a hint of hatred towards a scumbag like me.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, such a pitiful woman, crying and complaining.”

I slapped Du Zhening’s hand away and said angrily.

“Couldn’t you tell me in advance?”

He didn’t care. “After I told you, you’re willing to put the blame on me? I know you love me so much!”

I rolled my eyes.

“Narcissistic! You’re the one who made a fool of yourself and almost lost your life!”

“You know so much, why didn’t you take Gu Chuan into account?”

Du Zhening looked at me without saying a word, his slightly raised lips full of pride.

I was shocked, “Did you figure it out?!”

I thought back to the bloody fruit knife that day…

And fruits that don’t even need a knife to cut…

Du Zhening didn’t say anything, just smiled.

I stared at him, frozen in place.

twenty four

There was a knock on the ward door.

Du Zhening suddenly coughed and said in a deliberately low and hoarse voice, “Please come in.”

A strange man in a suit and tie stood in front of us.

“Hello, I’m a life insurance claims adjuster. I’m here today to settle Mr. Du’s insurance claim. The accident insurance that Mr. Du purchased has taken effect, and the claim amount is 1 million.”

I turned around suddenly and looked at Du Zhening.

His smile shone golden in the sunlight.