In the Yongchuan University café, bamboo blinds separated each booth.

Coffee had spilled across half the table at the next booth, but no one around moved to wipe it.

Lin Chen slowly raised his head, looking at the lady sitting in the shadows across from him.

“Are there parts in this that you’ve never heard before?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Xiang Zi never told me any of this,” the lady’s voice was gentle and hoarse. “Are you sure those reporting letters were sent by Xiang Zi?”

“I have a friend who’s good with computers. I asked him to help me check, and we can confirm it was him.”

“Why on earth would he do such a thing?” she asked with a trembling voice.

Lin Chen said softly, “Shu Yong selected Xiang Zi after careful consideration. First, according to Fu Hao, Xiang Zi has an inherent hostility toward women due to family reasons. Second, in the email account he used to send those reports, we saw many similar anonymous letters. He often positioned himself as a righteous person, and Shu Yong knew his temperament well. Finally, Shu Yong only needed to show favoritism to Lin Wanxing to make Xiang Zi resent her, which allowed him to control and use him effectively.”

The lady listened attentively.

After some time, she stood up directly, lifted the bamboo blind, and walked to the next table.

“Why did you never tell me about these things?” she asked directly.

The bamboo blind was suddenly lifted, and air rushed in.

A gentle yet dignified and powerful voice sounded in the space, startling everyone.

Wang Fa looked up in surprise to see a middle-aged lady.

She was short and thin, with some white hair at her temples. She wore a navy blue cross-collared light jacket that made her look dignified and gentle, inspiring closeness.

Xiang Zi jumped up in shock, “Teacher’s wife, why are you here?!”

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian exchanged a glance and followed her.

Looking at the group before him, Xiang Zi immediately understood.

He angrily said, “My teacher’s wife’s health has just improved a bit. What are you thinking about bringing her out here? To let the victim be hurt again?”

Wang Fa quickly realized.

The dignified lady before them must be Professor He Youting, Shu Yong’s widow. With this thought, his earlier sense of closeness immediately vanished.

Even Qin Ao and Wen Chengye narrowed their eyes, warily watching the lady who looked so thin she could be blown over by a gust of wind. They didn’t know why she had come.

“No one invited me. I came on my own,” He Youting’s voice was gentle and hoarse. She looked at Xiang Zi and repeated her question, “I’m asking you, why didn’t you tell me about these things?”

“How could I tell you? You were so ill, and I should have told you the teacher was having an affair?”

“Then why didn’t you tell me after he died?”

Xiang Zi wanted to speak but stopped, looking like he was about to go mad.

Lin Chen answered the question for Xiang Zi, “If he had spoken up afterward, many would have questioned, ‘Why didn’t you tell your teacher’s wife earlier? Perhaps the teacher wouldn’t have had to die.’ So keeping himself completely uninvolved was the best choice.”

He Youting seemed to instantly understand everything, “‘He’ really calculated it all so well.”

Xiang Zi held his head high, wanting to speak but hesitating, seemingly dissatisfied with Lin Chen’s comment about “staying uninvolved.” “What’s the point of knowing so many details about the teacher’s affair? I was trying to protect you,” he said to He Youting.

“Don’t use protecting me as an excuse to hurt others. I don’t need that,” He Youting said firmly.

“Who did I hurt? Lin Wanxing?” Xiang Zi found this ridiculous. What was happening now? The legal wife protecting the mistress?

Wang Fa also looked at Professor He in disbelief. This was somewhat different from what he had imagined.

“Now I ask you, you said you saw Wanxing’s photo in his office. What kind of photo was it exactly?” He Youting asked Xiang Zi.

“It was… it was a photo where she showed her waist and made a heart sign, with hearts on her clothes too.”

“What color was the clothing, and where was it taken?”

“I don’t know where it was taken, maybe the clothes were red?”

Wang Fa suddenly remembered something. He took out his wallet, pulled out the photo of Lin Wanxing he had picked up in the hallway, and placed it on the table.

Xiang Zi looked down and showed a contemptuous “just as I thought” smile, “You received one too? It’s very similar to this one, but in that one, the gesture was bigger, with her hands making a heart above her head.”

In the photo, Lin Wanxing smiled brilliantly.

He Youting gazed at the girl in the photo with a complex expression, as if turned to stone.

“It’s similar to this one,” Xiang Zi said firmly. “Regardless of what you all think, I haven’t lied.”

“That photo couldn’t possibly have been placed by Wanxing,” He Youting seemed drained of all strength. Her skinny fingers gripped the table as she slowly sat down.

“Why not?”

“Because the photo you described was taken by me,” she said.

Her voice was gentle. The boys were shocked, not expecting Shu Yong’s wife to be so decisive.

For a moment, the area around the coffee table was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Professor He Youting explained that the photo on the table was from a Women’s Day spring outing organized by the Psychology Department.

She was the chief physician of thoracic surgery at Yongchuan University Affiliated Hospital. Usually very busy, but she happened to have time to join that event.

She wasn’t very familiar with the other female teachers and wives from the Psychology Department. Lin Wanxing, as a student leader helping out, stayed by her side fearing she might be bored, so they took many photos of each other.

Lin Wanxing was considerate and thorough. Afterward, she had some photos developed, made a small booklet, and gave it to her as a memento. Shu Yong saw the booklet, knew Lin Wanxing had developed these films, and got an idea. But perhaps heaven had eyes — he happened to choose this particular one.

“During that event, I took Wanxing’s photos. The photo you discovered in his office — I thought her hand blocked the light making it too dark, so I never gave it to her, but Shu Yong didn’t know this.”

He Youting patted her chest with her thin hand, her voice full of sorrow as she looked at Xiang Zi, “So do you understand? Lin Wanxing wasn’t smiling at my late husband; she was smiling at me.”

Mrs. He was extremely sad.

Xiang Zi was completely flustered, with equally horrifying guesses forming in his mind. He stood up directly, “None of you saw that photo. How can you be sure what it looked like? Maybe someone else took photos of her too, or maybe I remembered wrong!”

Everyone looked at the lady sitting at the table.

“You know you wouldn’t have remembered wrong,” He Youting finally said.

“I haven’t lied. Teacher’s wife, you’ve just been brainwashed!” Xiang Zi pushed his chair away forcefully. But clearly, no one here was on his side. “That person seduced your husband, causing your family to fall apart, and you’re still speaking up for her?”

His face was full of anger, the huge shadow in his mind completely terrified him. Finally, he slammed the table and walked away.

The glass table shook. On the coffee table, Lin Wanxing was still smiling.

He Youting’s hair at her temples was graying, her frail body trembling.

Lin Chen comforted her, “Professor He, in this matter, you’ve always been the victim. Xiang Zi merely used your name to vent his personal views. Those emails ultimately stemmed from Shu Yong, not from you.”

“I understand,” Professor He’s voice was full of sorrow, “But for so many years, I never knew whether the person sleeping beside me was human or a ghost.”

Wang Fa immediately became clear-headed. He knew that as Shu Yong’s wife, Professor He Youting as the original spouse should hate Lin Wanxing to death. Yet she could remain rational and even come out to speak for Lin Wanxing, which was moving.

“Thank you,” Wang Fa said to Professor He.

After speaking, Wang Fa felt his head being ruffled. Looking up, he found it was his little uncle.

Xing Conglian’s face was solemn, “Why do you have that little Teacher Lin’s photo in your wallet? What’s your relationship exactly? Are you dating?”

“Not really.”

The next moment, Xing Conglian scrutinized him from head to toe with a masculine gaze, “Are you capable? Together for so long without dating, do you not like girls?”

Wang Fa understood this was Xing Conglian’s attempt to lighten the mood, so neither he nor Professor He would feel too bad, “You’re the one who doesn’t like girls!”

Xing Conglian, “Is that how you talk to your elders?!”

Just then, Lin Chen lightly coughed, interrupting the two, “Professor He came specifically this time because Yan Ming deceived you all.”

“Yan Ming?”

“I was suspicious when you relayed her ‘natural observation.’ Without even surveillance cameras around you, she couldn’t possibly ‘observe.’ She took the responsibility with an excuse to hide some other matters.”

“What was she hiding?”

“Me,” He Youting took a deep breath and said.

Wang Fa suddenly looked at the frail lady across the coffee table.

“Come, walk with me along with your students,” Professor He composed herself and said to him.

At Yongchuan University, by the lakeside path.

The lake shimmered with light. Occasionally, pedestrians were walking and chatting, students practicing tai chi swords by the river, and others reciting English programs loudly. Everyone was busy with their affairs, and no one paying attention to them.

Walking with Professor He was stressful for Wang Fa.

Although Professor He had just spoken for Lin Wanxing, given the awkward identities, he wasn’t clear why she specifically wanted to talk with him.

And Qin Ao and Wen Chengye were even more at a loss, trailing behind like little followers, maintaining distance, completely unaware of why they had also been called out.

Professor He walked slowly.

After following her for some time, the silence grew too long, and Wang Fa asked first, “Do you… know Yan Ming?”

“Shu Yong once taught Little Ming. I’m also considered her teacher’s wife. Later when I fell ill, she happened to return to China and came to see me.”

“Is your health better now?” Wang Fa suddenly remembered Xiang Zi saying Professor He also had lung cancer…

“I discovered it early, had surgery, and then took targeted medication. Currently, it’s under control, much luckier than Jiang Lei,” Professor He said slowly.

Hearing the somewhat familiar name, Wang Fa didn’t immediately react.

The students who had been awkwardly standing behind suddenly spoke up, “You know our coach?”

“Yes, I do,” Professor He’s face finally showed a trace of smile and nostalgia, “We’re fellow patients.”

Water birds took flight, and many incredible emotions surged upward as all the stories seemed to converge.

“Were you in the same hospital room?” Wang Fa asked.

“Yes, he was in the bed next to mine.”

“Our coach, our coach…” the students murmured behind.

“He was so annoying. Secretly watching the English Premier League on his phone at night. When I was feeling uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning, he would call me over to watch with him,” He Youting pretended to complain in a slow and gentle tone, but her words were full of nostalgia.

The boys walked closer, looking somewhat cautiously at Professor He, not knowing what more to say.

“Did you end up watching football with him?” Wang Fa asked.

“At first, of course, I couldn’t watch. When you’re sick, you need to rest quietly. But Jiang Xun said he wouldn’t die in peace without seeing Guardiola win another Champions League. Since I couldn’t sleep anyway, I reluctantly watched with him.”

“Damn, our coach was quite toxic. Pep hasn’t won the Champions League even now…” The students listened intently from behind, instinctively commenting, then feeling they had been interrupted rudely, stepped back.

Professor He looked at the students and smiled slightly, “Your coach said he liked Ronaldinho and even recommended him to me. He said, ‘Watching Ronaldinho play football is like seeing the Brazilian sunshine, making your whole body feel comfortable, curing any illness.'”

“Our coach’s promotional lines haven’t changed in ten years,” Qin Ao said.

“But football is indeed very interesting. For most of my life before, I was always busy. When I suddenly fell ill and had time, I felt my life was just emptiness apart from medical treatment. Jiang Lei was the kind of person who, although awkward in conversation, was very enthusiastic. He kept talking to me about football, telling me team gossip, and finding handsome football players for me to look at,” Professor He smiled gently. “He loved to talk about his team, always animated when describing how amazing his team was.”

“We’re generally good,” Wen Chengye said.

“We’ve already made it to the semifinals of the Youth Super League,” Qin Ao said, scratching his head somewhat shyly.

Looking at the shy yet proud students, Professor He said, “I know.”

“How do you know?” Qin Ao was puzzled. “Have you become such a football fan that you even watch the Youth Super League?”

“Because the person at your Coach Jiang’s tomb that day was me,” Professor He said.

Still by the lake at Yongchuan University, this was the sunny side. Aquatic plants swayed, and the spring breeze filled their bodies.

Wang Fa looked at the frail lady beside him. Her temples were graying, her gaze gentle. There was too much pain hidden inside, but ultimately, it remained gentle.

“The person who had Lin Wanxing coach the Hongjing Eighth Middle School football team?”

“It was me.”

Wang Fa stood frozen.

Indeed, how could Yan Ming, far away in England, know Lin Wanxing was returning to Hongjing and suggest to Jiang Xun to let her lead the students? Yan Ming had used a grand concept just to hide a small detail. Unless Professor He stood out herself, Yan Ming would never mention her name.

After speaking, He Youting continued forward.

“Why?” Looking at Professor He’s frail back, Wang Fa shuddered and took several quick steps to catch up.

“What ‘why’ do you want to ask?” Professor He asked in return.

Wang Fa’s heart pounded violently, “At that time, Lin Wanxing should have been rumored to have an affair with Professor Shu Yong, with gossip all over the school, right?”

Why would you do that?

“Yes, Shu Yong’s suicide note, the message he sent to Wanxing before his death, and the emails Xiang Zi wrote, including the paper evidence — I know about all of it,” Professor He was too thin, more delicate than the reeds by the shore.

“Then why did you still have Lin Wanxing coach the students?”

Professor He extended her thin wrist, took out a small booklet from the pocket of her cross-collared light jacket, and handed it to Wang Fa.

It was a handmade memorial booklet with eight pages, somewhat thick because photos were attached.

Opening the first page, Wang Fa immediately saw Lin Wanxing’s familiar handwriting.

TO the beautiful and kind Professor He,

I hear you’re a remarkable thoracic surgeon, and I enjoyed spending Women’s Day with you!

I’ve organized some photos for you as a memento~

Hope we have another chance to go out together!

Lin Wanxing still had a lot of girlish charm back then. In the booklet, not only were there photos of Professor He, but Lin Wanxing had also drawn handcrafted pictures and decorated them with many colorful stickers. There was a subtle similarity to the colorful items the students had received.

Photos were at the front, and on the second-to-last page was a selfie of Lin Wanxing with Professor He.

The wind blew by the lake, making the pages rustle.

Wang Fa saw a small poem on the last page.

Life

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting Robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

Elegant strokes, touching verses, the same cursive English script.

He Youting sat down on a bench by the riverbank.

Wang Fa held the booklet, speechless for a long time.

“Wanxing left this poem for me because I’m a doctor,” Taking advantage of the soft lake breeze, He Youting slowly began, “After Shu Yong died, she once knelt at our doorstep, saying she had never done those things, crying and begging me to believe her. But that day, I didn’t open the door.”

Wang Fa sat down silently beside Professor He.

“Later, when I was tidying up the house, I saw this little book. My first thought was to burn it. But when I opened it, I don’t know why, but I cried,” He Youting looked at the lake’s surface, her hair at her temples disheveled by the wind, wrinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes. “I asked myself, she called me ‘the beautiful and kind Professor He,’ but was I truly kind?”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Wang Fa interrupted her. “Shu Yong arranged too many things before his death, with sufficient evidence. If I were in your position, I could never have believed Lin Wanxing’s one-sided words.”

“Yes, because if I believed Wanxing, then I would have to acknowledge a terrifying fact — my husband’s soul wasn’t taken by another woman; he simply never loved me. For me at that time, this was too difficult.”

“Perhaps he loved you once, but people change.”

He Youting shook her head, “I was always busy at the hospital, rarely attending to home matters, but I believed my relationship with Shu Yong was harmonious, that I understood him. Suddenly, not only had my marriage failed, but I also had to admit that I couldn’t even tell whether the man I had been married to for over thirty years was a human or a ghost. I really couldn’t do it. And if that’s the case, how could I possibly see clearly into a young girl?”

“But you still wanted to see,” Wang Fa said.

“Yes, I wanted to see with my own eyes. Jiang Lei truly gave me a lot of vitality in life, but he died. That day, standing at his tomb, when I heard that Lin Wanxing’s grandparents’ tomb was nearby, I was truly stunned. They kept talking about how good her grandparents were, and how pitiful Wanxing was. Looking at the names on the elderly couple’s tombstones, as candle wax dripped down one drop at a time, I thought, they’re all watching me from heaven; I need to do something,” He Youting took a deep breath. “If Wanxing’s teacher was a beast, then I wanted to see what kind of teacher she would be.”

“Were you the one who found Yan Ming?” Wang Fa suppressed the emotions in his heart and asked softly.

“When Little Ming came to see me in the hospital, Jiang Lei’s son heard she often watched football matches live in England and added her on WeChat, saying he wanted to regularly steal some live photos from her Moments. I knew about this,” He Youting showed an expression of some emotion. “Having Little Ming make that suggestion might be the most correct thing I’ve done in my life.”

Serious illness, husband’s suicide, failed marriage.

Wang Fa found it hard to imagine just how intelligent and resilient the woman beside him must be to maintain a clear and rational mind in a dark and desperate life, making a kind choice.

His previous resentment toward Yan Ming had completely vanished. Apart from thanking Professor He, he didn’t know what else to say.

“She was very fulfilled with the team, and should have been happy,” Wang Fa said. “Thank you, truly thank you.”

“Thank you too,” Professor He patted Wang Fa’s arm. “When Little Ming told me you were living in Wanxing’s grandparents’ house, I thought it was like a scene from a novel. Occasionally hear about your stories, from initial doubt to finding it sweet. She must be a very good girl for heaven to arrange you in her bitter story.”

“She has always been a very, very good girl,” hearing Professor He say this, Wang Fa felt only bitterness. “I was too stupid, unable to keep her.”

He Youting shook her head, “When I learned she left, I couldn’t understand. I believe she’s a good girl, life had finally gotten better, so why did she leave?”

Wang Fa looked at Professor He.

The students behind, with reddened eyes, also showed puzzled expressions.

“Later I realized, ah, in this story, I had only been concerned about myself all along. The pain and torment she endured were no less than mine. Because she was too clear-headed and strong, it seemed like she could always organize her emotions and live on. As if nothing was wrong anymore, but that wasn’t the case at all. I didn’t know how to handle all this, so I wrote that fax to you, hoping you could understand her story and help her,” Professor He said.

In Wang Fa’s ears, he seemed to hear Lin Wanxing’s voice from the phone at the train station that day.

She said “no need.”

She said she was “about to leave.”

She said, “Not all problems can be solved.”

She was leaving and didn’t want to stay with them anymore.

Being questioned by the police again certainly made her suffer, but what she truly feared wasn’t this.

She had tried so hard to live.

But the moment she saw Shu Yong’s photo again, she suddenly realized it was a shadow she could never escape in her lifetime.

She didn’t want to experience strange gazes again, didn’t want to be judged by those closest to her again.

She had so, so many things she didn’t want.

But most importantly, she didn’t want to be disappointed again.

“Why did our teacher have to leave?” The students couldn’t understand this question.

“Because she couldn’t trust people anymore,” Wang Fa looked at his players, finally understanding. “And we are also people.”

Time went back to that night on the rooftop.

Wang Fa could still remember Lin Wanxing’s gaze at that time.

Her gentle smile as she pulled out a one-yuan coin from her pocket.

She said heads meant to go, and tails meant to stay.

The coin gently fell to the ground, and the result appeared.

There was no disappointment in her eyes; she just kept looking at him, clear and peaceful, like water, like a mirror.

They gazed at each other as if seeing themselves.

Wang Fa finally understood.

Why Lin Wanxing could understand him so well, why did she constantly try to help him solve his inner problems, why did she persuade him to stay a little longer…

When Lin Wanxing looked at him, it was as if she was looking at herself.

What truly made them avoid wasn’t those surface problems, but the confusion in their hearts.

Just as he couldn’t understand why people wanted to play football, what about Lin Wanxing?

“She received a full scholarship, but didn’t continue her studies,” Wang Fa said softly.

“Yes, she gave up psychology,” Professor He said slowly.

Wang Fa awoke as if from a dream.

He had always thought the problem was in those reporting letters, that Lin Wanxing couldn’t continue her studies because of them.

But that wasn’t the case.

She had indeed wavered, but what shook her wasn’t the letters, but something else.

Her teacher Shu Yong had been immersed in the field of psychology for years, yet remained so vile, without reverence, full of personal desires. Her classmates slandered her widely, and even her parents didn’t believe her.

If a gentle push could send people sliding down into the abyss of evil, what use was education, and what use was psychology?

The collapse of faith happens in an instant. Wang Fa suddenly understood all the contradictions about Lin Wanxing.

They weren’t incomprehensible or inconsistent. Before others tried to persuade them, they had already tried to persuade themselves countless times. But problems remained problems, and when faced with the most extreme questioning, they still couldn’t convince themselves.

Confusion and bewilderment were like rocks, constantly pressing on one’s heart.

That was the narrowest, most confined part of the journey that only those who had traversed a thousand mountains would encounter.

You know very clearly that stepping back means vast skies and seas, but when the coin falls, when the bell rings, you’re still trapped in this narrow journey.

Because those who can truly walk the narrow path will never abandon it.

The reeds stood still, the lake surface calm and waveless.

Wang Fa looked at the frail lady sitting upright beside him.

One night, unable to sleep, He Youting opened the small photo album and dialed Yan Ming’s number.

That afternoon, Lin Wanxing finally walked into the multipurpose classroom about to be filled with football players.

“You’re both afraid, yet still want to try again.”

“Yes, we want to try.”