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墨書 Inktalez
I understood something, yet I felt as if I did not understand at all. The human heart is the most difficult thing to comprehend in this world. The death of five people was accompanied by the rebirth of four. If the sixteen million were divided into four parts, each person would have four million. Four million may not seem like much in a big city, but if one were to move to a smaller city, it would be enough to live a lifetime.
That night, Li Taida wanted to buy a house and live with his mother. Zhao Erming dreamed of traveling around the world. Lin Rou wished to open a café, while Zhang Xue desired to go to an unknown place. With that four million, they could do anything they wanted.
The night was already deep. As I gazed at the twinkling stars outside, I suddenly remembered something. That night of dreams seemed to be exactly two years ago today, but now Zhou Guo was dead, and Li Taida had been arrested. I wondered if they felt anything unusual.
The bright moon cast its light upon the earth.
"Let's go," I said, patting Gu Chen beside me. "Tonight, I'll help you find the missing twenty million."
"Can we really find it?" Gu Chen looked out into the dark night. "It's so dark now; where are we supposed to look?"
Gu Chen and I made our way to the rooftop of Yucai Middle School's high school section, armed with a military-grade night vision telescope. If my guess was correct, Zhang Xue and the others would likely come here tonight. I began to sense that Zhang Xue played a significant role in Zhou Guo's death.
If it weren't for Zhang Xue, I wouldn't have known what had happened back then. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have learned about Zhou Guo's knot-tying technique either. Everything was based on what Zhang Xue had told me. Was it possible that this had all been arranged by Zhou Guo in advance? But how could he have known we would follow them tonight?
As I pondered this, Gu Chen gently tapped my shoulder and said, "Someone's coming up."
I took the night vision telescope from Gu Chen and looked out into the distance. Sure enough, I saw six figures approaching from across the way. Upon closer inspection, they were indeed Zhang Xue and her companions; however, Li Taida and Zhou Guo were nowhere to be seen—only three remained: Lin Rou, Zhang Xue, and Zhao Erming.
The three exchanged glances in silence. I noticed Zhang Xue pulled something out and handed it to the other two—a thin card that could only be seen vaguely in the dark. A realization struck me; it must be a bank card. The sixteen million that Zhou Guo had bought with twenty million must have been divided into four parts.
Could it be that Zhou Guo had planned for this very moment two years ago?
The group initially froze before bursting into laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they laughed.
Zhang Xue seemed to share some secret with them when Zhao Erming shouted in a low, hoarse voice, "Zhou Guo, you’re such an idiot!"
It turned out that Zhang Xue was aware of Zhou Guo's plan but did not stop him from going through with it. I remembered that Zhang Xue had visited Zhou Guo's home before; she must have known that his mother had passed away long ago. However, during her visit, she did not act as if she knew.
Zhang Xue told me that at that time Zhou Guo's mother was still paralyzed, but judging by the dust on the table at Zhou Guo's house, it had been many years since anyone had cleaned there. This meant that this was not just Zhou Guo's plan; it was a scheme involving both him and Zhang Xue. Yet Zhang Xue did not seem like someone who would trade Zhou Guo's life for her own dreams.
Zhou Guo liked Zhang Xue; perhaps he acted this way for her sake—hoping that the police would never investigate her or her friends.
Zhao Erming across the street was still shouting, and such loud cries would soon attract security. Gu Chen, lacking night vision goggles, couldn't see what was happening in the distance. He nudged my shoulder and asked, "What’s going on? What about that twenty million in the hands of those students?"
I wanted to respond, but the words stuck in my throat. That twenty million had cost five lives. Gao Rui had always been a gentle person; everything he did was for others. So when he died, did he also try to help others as much as he could?
Li Zhinan and Wang Yiman were both lonely individuals. One chose to die in solitude, while the other chose to bloom like a blood flower. Both were solitary souls, unnoticed and uncared for. When they died, would they care about those children who were almost just like them? Those children who were overlooked and neglected.
As for Maliang, he had deceived others for three years and chose suicide as a means of atonement. So before his death, would helping others count as redemption?
The saddest case was Zhou Guo, whose mother had seemingly passed away, yet he pretended to be indifferent. In class, he always wore a smile, as if nothing could trouble him. But the deeper someone hides their feelings, the more profound their pain. Zhou Guo chose to end his life to fulfill the rest of us; it was his way of providing closure so we could conclude the case with him.
So what should I do? Should I forcibly reclaim that money, which has an unclear origin, shattering these students' dreams? Or should I simply stop investigating here? Zhou Guo had done everything possible to launder that money so these individuals could use it without being discovered.
And did I have any evidence? The money came from lottery winnings, and although the funds used to buy the lottery tickets were illicit, all those involved in laundering it were dead—there was no one left to testify. Where could I close this case? It seemed there were many who shared this kind of troubling dilemma.
Did I really want to return these children to parents who had utterly failed in their guardianship? To let Zhao Erming continue enduring school funded by money earned through his mother’s exploitation? To allow Lin Rou to keep suffering from her family's gender-based violence? To let Zhang Xue remain a victim of her biological father's abuse? To see Li Taida walk down the path of crime once more?
If punishment is not meant to penalize wrongdoers but rather restrict good people, then what purpose does punishment serve?
Gu Chen nudged me again and asked, "Did you see anything?"
I shook my head and decided to stop my investigation here. "No, I misjudged the situation; it has nothing to do with these students. The money from Maliang has been sent overseas; it seems that's indeed the case. I thought I might find that money."
Seeing me sigh, Gu Chen patted my shoulder. "So many people have died; the issue of money is no longer relevant. As long as no more lives are lost, can we close this case?"
At this point, Gu Chen suddenly shook his head in confusion and said, "It should be time to close the case, but how exactly should we conclude it? Is it all suicide? Or did Zhou Guo incite these people to commit suicide?"
Suddenly, I recalled a famous poem: some people die while others remain alive; some are alive but already dead. In this vast Dongxing City, soon enough, those who committed suicide would be forgotten in the corners of the city—only their relatives would remember them forever.
Yet even their relatives might not realize how great an act these individuals performed before their deaths. They had already sunk half their bodies into darkness and been consumed by it. But before they ultimately chose suicide, they hoped to help a few young souls trapped in darkness find their way out.
On the second early morning, a letter arrived at the police station.
The sender was Zhou Guo; this was a letter he had written to us. It was sent via express delivery and appeared to be a carefully chosen option by Zhou Guo himself. If it had been sent through another courier service, it would have arrived immediately after he finished writing it. If Zhou Guo hadn’t died, we wouldn’t have had to go through all this trouble.
Upon opening the letter, I wondered what Zhou Guo wanted to convey to us.
"When you read this letter, I will have already committed suicide. Everything that has happened was my doing; those people are dead, and so am I. You might not understand why we chose to end our lives. The reason is something I cannot share; it is a secret among us."
With Zhou Guo's death, everyone involved in the money laundering scheme had also perished. The twenty million had completely vanished without a trace, and we could hardly recover it.
"This world is strange; sometimes, death is more useful than being alive. I could never comprehend why some people choose to take their own lives. I always thought that if someone dared to commit suicide, they wouldn't fear living. The answer is fear. Often, there are things in this world that are harder than death."
"Some people are separated from their loved ones by death, while others have their beloved taken away from them. Some endure loneliness through long nights, while others cannot escape the inner torment even under the blazing sun. Loneliness can kill; solitude can kill; depression can kill."
"Compared to being alive, death requires the least courage. It is the weakest who choose suicide, that much is true. Yet sometimes, when contemplating suicide, we hope that our existence in this world was not in vain. The emotions surrounding suicide resonate with one another; I sometimes struggle to understand why I can see what others cannot."
"In the span of a year, I sensed suicidal tendencies in those four individuals multiple times, yet no one else seemed to notice. Eventually, I understood that a seed of despair lay hidden within my own heart. Only those who wish to end their lives can truly comprehend how another person contemplating suicide thinks."
"So, farewell to this world. Goodbye, Zhang Xue; goodbye, Lin Rou; goodbye, Li Taida and Zhao Erming; goodbye to this world. We have merely left a step ahead of you. You must continue living well for me, carrying my life with you and pursuing what I wished to see fulfilled—complete your dreams."
"Your good friend, Zhou Guo."
As I stared at the letter, memories flooded back to when Guan Zengbin spoke to me in the classroom: stealing was perhaps the biggest thing Zhou Guo ever did.
But what Zhou Guo did was far greater than mere theft; he stole not just money but something much more profound.
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