Chapter 24
“You’re too extreme,” Zhong Minglang tried to persuade me.
I didn’t care much and continued, “Unless you’ve suffered as others have, don’t urge them to be virtuous. Kids like you, who grew up in happy, original families, will never understand us.”
The man took a deep breath. “Fine, in that case, tell me about Cheng Youran and Qin Xue. Let me understand you all better.”
I turned my head to look at him. “Didn’t you police investigate this?”
He was silent for a while, then nodded. “We’ve investigated everything that needed to be investigated, if you and Deng Xingxing aren’t the culprits. So, that leaves only Cheng Youran and Qin Xue.”
“Maybe, if you tell it, there will be some different discoveries.”
As night deepened, I sat across from this young policeman. In this empty, desolate dance studio, I suddenly felt a desire to confide.
About Cheng Youran.
My impression of her is cold, reserved, and gloomy.
She always seemed shrouded in a dark aura and didn’t like to talk.
After our third failed attempt to call the police, Cheng Youran wouldn’t let us try again.
Every month, after we met with the leadership, she would take out a spare phone and take pictures of us, documenting the marks on our bodies.
To this day, I still don’t know where she kept that phone.
But I remember the first time she did this, I asked her, “Why are you taking pictures?”
She played with her jet-black hair and pursed her lips. “What if, someday, someone is willing to help us?”
Qin Xue was a bit disapproving. “You’re taking pictures of our faces too. If someone finds the phone, how will we face people?”
Cheng Youran ignored Qin Xue and kept taking pictures. As she continued, she suddenly started crying and asked me:
“Xiaxia, do you, like Qin Xue, think I’m especially careless, that I don’t care about chastity at all, and am not the least bit worried about what would happen if the phone got lost?”
I hurriedly shook my head and comforted her, “No, you’re great.”
But Cheng Youran didn’t believe me. She broke down, clutching the phone, collapsing onto the floor, and forced out a painful sentence:
“If you had lived my life since you were seven, you would be just as used to it as I am.”