Day [X]

"Little Bai."

"You're... Lin?!"

...

...

Ye Weibai had a dream.

Dreams should spill like rainbow ink, bright enough to warm the heart, yet he woke with a weight on his chest, a needle-fine ache threading in.

He let out a long breath, lay back in the sofa chair, and stared at the ceiling like a pale, empty sky until the pressure eased a little.

He glanced at the office windows, shut tight like sealed lids, and wondered if the air had gone stale.

"Hm? Where’s Little Bell?"

He looked around, and the small, darting shadow that always haunted his side was gone; the sudden quiet felt strange, like a kite cut from its string.

In a mere two “days,” he’d grown used to Mu Ling’s chirping, laughter clear as silver chimes, a little sun always skipping ahead.

His hand went to his pocket on instinct, and he fished out a small, cold thing.

"Isn’t this Little Bell’s?"

He rubbed the stubble on his chin, a smile tugging like a breeze at the corner of his mouth. "That little imp. Slipped it into my pocket—what’s she up to this time? Planning to extort me again?"

He stared at the dented silver bell, as if a heel had crushed it, and it tugged at a thread of memory he couldn’t catch.

"Didn’t she swear it was her ID? You should’ve kept it safe, kiddo."

He couldn’t place it. He shook his head, tucked the bell back, and decided to return it later.

He stretched, bones clicking like bamboo in wind, and checked the wall clock.

Two in the afternoon.

After leaving Bai Rong’s place, he’d felt the kind of drowsiness that rolls in like fog; he skipped lunch, reached the Detective Agency, and crashed on the office sofa.

Mu Ling had been good as a sparrow on a branch, following him back without eating too, and when he slept, she perched on the chair by the desk.

She propped her chin in both hands and watched his sleeping face in silence, her thoughts floating like paper boats; a smile would ripple across, then sour a little, bittersweet as unripe fruit.

He meant to nap for a while, but darkness fell and lifted, and two hours were gone like a stone in a pond.

The little thing was off somewhere now.

He reached for his phone to call her, then let the idea drift away like mist. Give her a day off. I can handle the next move alone.

He stood, pushed the door, and traded lazy greetings like fallen leaves with the others, then popped open his umbrella and stepped out of the Detective Agency.

It must’ve poured at noon; the sky, drained of anger, still wore a heavy gray, and rain hung like fine threads that cooled the skin if you braved it bareheaded.

"Where to?"

The cab driver looked like the chatty kind, a man in his forties with warmth like a heater in winter.

Ye Weibai folded his umbrella, pulled out his phone, and read an address.

"Mangfu Elementary? Got it. Bit of a drive." The driver slid into conversation like a fish into water. "You going to pick up a kid?"

"Something like that."

"You’re early then. They let out around four. It’s a half hour from here." He chuckled like gravel in a tin. "You must really love the kid, scared to miss the bell, huh?"

Ye Weibai didn’t explain.

He was idle anyway, so he chatted back in easy drifts.

The old hand was true to form; half an hour later, they rolled to a stop.

Ye Weibai said goodbye to the still-eager driver, got out, and looked up at the gate of Mangfu Elementary.

It wasn’t three yet. Dismissal was a long way off.

The entrance was mostly empty, wind idly flipping the pages of a guard’s newspaper like a slow stream.

Ye Weibai walked straight up, nodded to the white-haired guard, and slipped in without a snag.

"Back to investigate?"

"Mm."

"Do your best. Catch that creep."

"Count on it."

It wasn’t Bai Ye’s first time here, and his purpose was clear: the series of child molestation cases.

He moved along a tree-shaded path; to the side, a central garden spread wide like a quiet lake, and he took the western edge toward Teaching Building A.

The scale and the landscaping said it all.

Mangfu was a noble school; the children here wore family names like crests, their parents' shadows tall as old pines.

And yet, in such a place, three cases had flared in quick succession—methods and scenes cut from the same mold as that person years ago.

Three students: two in third grade, one in fifth.

Each assault happened in a secluded spot; when people found the scenes, the girls lay naked, bound with rope, bruises blooming like storm clouds, unconscious and cold.

The crimes happened off campus, but fury and fear still raked the upper ranks of the school.

If the perpetrator truly targeted the children of the elite, struck again and again, and kept slipping the net, Mangfu’s reputation would sink like a stone.

The board would never stomach that.

"But is ‘it’ really aiming at elite kids? There were victims from poor families before. A smokescreen?" His eyes glinted like ice under a winter sun. "No. If I were ‘it’—if I were that proud—why stoop to sleight of hand?"

Yes.

From Bai Ye’s memory, Ye Weibai judged the suspect, that ‘it’, to be very, very proud.

"Anything changed lately?"

"Changed…"

In her chair, the homeroom teacher, Li Nuo, a tall, long-haired beauty nearing thirty-five, pushed up her glasses and frowned as if smoothing a crease in silk. "Oddly enough, nothing bad."

They spoke in the teachers’ office.

Only Ye Weibai and Li Nuo were there.

This wasn’t the first time he’d asked her about that child.

"I only noticed recently. Man Zhi used to be a bit withdrawn, but after… that happened, she’s actually brighter than before."

Ye Weibai lifted his gaze. "Brighter?"

Afraid he’d take it wrong, she hurried to clarify, voice soft as rain. "Yes. I hesitated to say it, but that’s how it feels. If you want, I can take you to see her?"

"No need. I’d rather go alone."

He rose, and Li Nuo called after him.

"Mr. Bai."

"Mm?"

She bit her lip, words trembling like a leaf. "Do you think I’m talking nonsense, or trying to dodge responsibility?"

So that was it.

No wonder her brows had knotted like thread.

Ye Weibai smiled, gentle as a lamp. "How could I? The most complex thing in this world is the human heart. More so with girls and children. They look pure as snow, but that matches a sensitivity that shatters like glass. Any change is possible."

He sat again and met her bright eyes. "And I’m grateful, Ms. Li. Also, try not to carry too much weight over this. Finding the culprit is our job as Detectives. The best thing you can do is treat Man Zhi the same as always."

"No special treatment," Ye Weibai added. "Kids are keen as foxes. If you treat her differently, it’s bad for her and bad for the rest."

"O-oh!" For some reason, meeting his eyes made color rise on her cheeks like dawn.

She dipped her head; her black-stockinged legs brushed, a quick, nervous whisper, and she blurted, "Then… one private question. After school, are you free, Mr. Bai?"

She paused, realized what that sounded like, and hurried on, flustered as a bird. "I—I just thought we could talk more about the child."

"Bad timing. My niece is in town, and I should pick her up."

"I see…"

"Yeah. Next time, if we get the chance."

"Mm. Mm!" Her spirits dipped, then lifted like a kite caught by a new gust. She smiled. "Next time, then!"

"Mm. I’ll go check on the child."