Chapter 1

I returned to the police station again.

It felt as familiar and natural as home.

I sat crookedly in the interrogation chair and asked Captain Li with a grin,

“What’s for lunch today?”

“Same as before, still boxed meals?”

Captain Li had a steady temperament, and without even raising his head, he prepared for the interrogation.

The young officer beside him glared at me sternly and slammed the table hard.

“Zhang Mingyuan, watch your attitude!”

“Would we arrest you if we didn’t have evidence?”

“Tell the truth, why did you kill them?”

I spread my hands.

“Who did I kill?”

“Your three roommates! They had excellent grades and conduct, and they were about to transfer into a bachelor’s program, but you ruined their lives!”

“That really is such a pity! I’m also very sorry about the deaths of those three good students. But why would I kill them?”

“Because you—”

“Ahem! Xiao Wang—”

Captain Li’s cough cut off the young officer’s words.

What a shame, I failed to bait out the “motive for murder” they had assigned me from their perspective.

“Zhang Mingyuan, on March 11th, which was yesterday, what did you do? Please describe it in detail, and don’t leave out any details.”

Captain Li’s voice was still as steady and calm as ever.

I narrowed my eyes and started recalling.

“Went to class!”

“I have this habit where I can’t sleep in bed, but I can fall asleep during lectures.”

Captain Li made a mark in his notebook. “Did you sleep all day?”

“No, I left around two or three in the afternoon after sleeping until then, because my buddies asked me to help settle something, and I couldn’t just ignore it! Too bad we didn’t end up fighting in the end, so we played mahjong for a while, otherwise I could’ve slept on a detention center bunk again, and those are even more comfortable than a luxury hotel...”

Captain Li did not raise his head and made another mark in his notebook. “What time was it when you finished playing mahjong, and what did you do after that?”

“A little after nine, and after eating I went to an internet café to stay overnight—”

Captain Li suddenly raised his head, and the pen in his hand stopped moving.

“Did you leave something out?”

I paused, looking as if I had suddenly remembered. “Look at me, my brain’s gone dumb from sleeping too much. You need an ID to use the internet, don’t you? So I went back to the dorm to get it.”

“Captain Li, why are you looking at me like that? Is it illegal to go back and get an ID?”

“Oh no, don’t tell me those three good students were killed right around the time I went back?”

“How did they die? Was it gruesome? Do you have photos?”

My unruly attitude made Xiao Wang unable to hold back, and he shouted, “Zhang Mingyuan, three roommates who lived with you day and night are dead, and this is your attitude?”

I laughed.

“What attitude should I have?”

“I fucking didn’t kill anyone!”

“You brought me here for questioning because I fight, because I’m ignorant and useless, and because I look like a suspect, didn’t you?”