It was around ten at night, just as evening study sessions were ending at the middle school. From a distance, the vast campus was still bright and lively. You Mingxu explained her purpose to the school liaison: just a few more questions for Li Biran.

She and Yin Feng waited in a relatively secluded, quiet corner of the school. A street lamp above cast a dim light.

In the distance, they saw a teacher approaching with someone.

The person had his hands in his pockets, walking with that distinctive teenage swagger. His slightly defiant posture seemed to create an invisible barrier between him and the teacher.

As they got closer, You Mingxu could see his fair complexion, bright eyes, and healthy appearance.

But with just one glance, You Mingxu could sense that this youth’s demeanor had changed dramatically from what she’d seen a week or two ago.

In her memory, Li Biran had been that drowsy teenager sleeping in the internet café. Even later in the car, he’d been fidgeting his legs, speaking carelessly and superficially, eager for attention. After seeing his relative’s corpse, he’d been shocked, emotionally breaking down in tears, unwilling to say much.

But now, his eyes clearly showed an interweaving of confidence and indifference. Even approaching the police, he maintained a casual, lazy attitude, emanating a cold aura. The fifteen-year-old seemed to have developed an icy shell.

You Mingxu wasn’t sure why.

“Officer You, what else is there?” Li Biran said face turned aside, showing complete nonchalance.

You Mingxu stared at Li Biran’s face and asked, “Do you know Liu Ruyu?”

She saw Li Biran’s pupils suddenly contract, his whole body momentarily freezing before he said, “Who-who’s that? Don’t know him!” His voice trembled slightly.

In You Mingxu’s heart, it felt as if a river was slowly submerging something. She said, “Four days ago, Wednesday, between 10 PM and midnight, where were you?” That was when Xu Jiayuan was killed.

Li Biran’s face slowly reddened as he said, “I couldn’t sleep that day, so I just wandered around near home. Don’t remember where exactly I went.”

You Mingxu smiled and said, “You seem to remember quite clearly, answering so quickly…”

Li Biran looked at her, his gaze flickering, saying nothing.

“What’s your shoe size?” You Mingxu asked again.

Still, just a teenager, after all, Li Biran unconsciously stepped backward, answering, “38, 39 maybe.”

You Mingxu stared at his feet: “Those are sneakers, right? Lift them so I can see the sole pattern. Without shoe covers, these kinds of soles leave very clear patterns in blood. Even with the same shoe model, everyone’s walking habits and wear patterns are different. Some people wear down the left foot more, others the heel. Like how no two leaves in the world are exactly alike. How many pairs of shoes do you have? Where are they? I see you’re wearing a brand name—probably wouldn’t want to throw them away, right?”

Li Biran’s lips moved several times, but no words came out. You Mingxu couldn’t truly comprehend how nervous this child must be feeling right now. His face had turned ashen.

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t know!” Li Biran growled hoarsely.

Looking at the youth’s handsome but distorted features, You Mingxu recalled the image of Xie Huifang’s family’s three bodies piled together, feeling coldness accumulate in her heart like falling snow. She said, “Your aunt was very strict with you, and often scolded you. Being naturally frugal, she wouldn’t satisfy your excessive material demands. Did you hate her?”

Li Biran’s tears burst forth as he blurted out, “So what if I hated her? I wanted her dead. Was she even human?”

“What did she do to you?”

Li Biran’s face turned pale, his eyes dark, like a stubborn young bull. He said, “She didn’t treat me like a person! When I did poorly on tests, she promised to keep it secret, then turned around and told my parents. My dad came back and beat me again. At the parent-teacher meeting, that bitch slapped and scolded me in front of all my classmates, so loud the whole school could hear. Was that treating me like a person? She even stalked me, wouldn’t let me go to internet cafés, and embarrassed the café owner. Why doesn’t she treat her kids like that? She’s just the most treacherous person, always out to get me. I’d been wanting to stab her to death for ages. I’ll just serve a few years in prison, they’ll give me a lighter sentence anyway since I’m young!”

After hearing this, You Mingxu felt incredulous, even slightly bewildered. She asked, “Just because of these things, you collaborated with Liu Ruyu to kill Xie Huifang? And her two children?”

Finally, a trace of panic and regret flashed across Li Biran’s face, his lips quivering for a while. By then, You Mingxu’s backup was arriving, with police sirens sounding outside the campus. Li Biran stood stiff as a board for a good while before saying, “We hadn’t planned to kill those two, Brother Liu had it all planned out, but we didn’t expect them to be home that day. Though those two were annoying, always tattling to Xie, they didn’t deserve to die.”