“Wait a second.”
Zhou Huaixia raised her hand, trying to save herself from the security guard’s grip on her jacket collar.
However, the guard tightened his hold, choking her slightly.
She struggled, dragging her feet on the ground.
“Uncle, I dropped something inside.
Can you let me find it first?”
The security guard, a tall and sturdy man in his forties, firmly held onto Zhou Huaixia’s collar with an iron grip.
He sneered.
“You dropped something all the way from Library Two to here?
Be honest!
I noticed you from the moment you started looking at the first manhole cover!”
At first, he had seen this female student bending down to check a manhole cover and was about to step forward to ask if she needed help.
But then, he saw her moving sneakily along the way, bending down to examine each manhole cover, and finally stopping in this remote corner to pry one open.
The security guard tugged at her collar.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to.
This road is completely deserted, not even covered by surveillance cameras.
Are you trying to jump in?”
He sighed and began speaking earnestly.
“I know you students face a lot of academic pressure.
Sometimes, your minds get overwhelmed, and you start thinking of extreme actions.
But you’re still so young, with a long road ahead.”
Zhou Huaixia’s struggle paused.
“Huh?”
“Huh, what?
I’ve been a security guard here for seven years, and every year, I’ve seen students lose their minds and attempt suicide.
But this is the first time I’ve seen someone trying to jump into a sewer.”
He continued walking, dragging her along toward the security office.
Zhou Huaixia stopped resisting and spoke seriously.
“Uncle, I just started my first year of college.
I was just freed from the college entrance exam.”
She pulled out her student ID card from her pocket and handed it to him.
The security guard hesitated, shining his flashlight on the card.
Sure enough, it showed she was a freshman.
He looked at her sincere eyes, and they stared at each other for a moment.
“You’re not crazy?”
Zhou Huaixia nodded.
“I’m not crazy.”
She added.
“And you’ve never heard of someone committing suicide by jumping into a sewer, have you?
What, am I trying to suffocate myself with the smell?
Besides, Mirror Lake isn’t far from Library Two why would I go through all this trouble when I could just jump into the lake?”
The security guard still didn’t believe her.
“Then why did you come all the way out here to open a manhole cover?”
Zhou Huaixia replied calmly.
“I overheard someone saying they threw a cat into the sewer near Library Two, so I wanted to check.”
The reason was plausible, but the security guard wasn’t so easily fooled.
“Then how were you so sure it was this manhole?”
He had followed her the whole way and knew she had only pried open this specific cover.
Zhou Huaixia shifted slightly, finally freeing her collar from his grip.
“Because I think I heard a cat meowing underneath it.”
The security guard hesitated, uncertain whether to believe her.
Zhou Huaixia spoke sincerely.
“Uncle, can you check?
Besides, the manhole cover isn’t closed, and there are no streetlights around.
What if someone falls in?”
He had been so focused on stopping what he thought was a suicide attempt that he had forgotten to put the cover back.
After a long moment of consideration, the security guard chose to believe her and decided to go back.
He reminded her.
“I’ll check and close the manhole.
If there’s a cat inside, I’ll see it.
Next time, if something like this happens, report it to security instead of sneaking around alone.”
Zhou Huaixia nodded quickly.
“Mm-hmm.”
They returned to the manhole.
The security guard and Zhou Huaixia squatted beside it, and he stretched out a hand to block her.
“Stay back.”
The sewer smelled awful.
With the rain, the damp air made it even harder to distinguish the odors somewhere between rot and sewage.
Zhou Huaixia took a deep breath, trying to pick up the scent of blood.
The security guard heard her inhaling and suspiciously shone his flashlight on her face.
“What are you doing?”
Zhou Huaixia endured the stench and took another breath, speaking in a muffled voice.
“I have a cold.
My nose is blocked.”
She didn’t smell blood, only an overwhelming stink.
She nearly gagged.
The security guard turned his flashlight back toward the sewer.
With the strong beam, they could finally see most of the inside.
Zhou Huaixia tiptoed, straining to get a better view.
Due to the rain, the sewage level had risen.
The murky black water flowed rapidly in different directions.
There was no solid ground—only floating debris.
If anything had been thrown in, it had either been washed away or sunk.
She had no reason to ask the security guard to retrieve a possibly nonexistent cat’s body from the sewer.
After staring inside for a while, the security guard spoke.
“If there was a cat, it’s not here anymore.”
Seeing the girl’s silence, he tried to comfort her.
“Cats can swim.
Maybe it found a way out somewhere else.”
Zhou Huaixia forced a weak smile.
If her dream was real, the cat had already been dismembered.
The security guard asked.
“What did the person who threw the cat look like?”
“It was too dark.
I couldn’t see clearly.”
Since they didn’t find anything, they had no choice but to put the manhole cover back.
As they passed by Library Two, they happened to see the building closing for the night.
“Zhou Huaixia?”
Lü Jin stepped out and immediately spotted her, waving in greeting.
“Your classmate?”
The security guard glanced at her before leaving.
“Don’t worry.
I’ll patrol that area more often from now on.”
Zhou Huaixia watched the security guard walk away, then turned to look at Lü Jin, who was coming down the stairs.
Her gaze was cautious and scrutinizing.
On the surface, Lü Jin was no different from any other college student.
She had even warmly invited her to the cafeteria earlier in the day.
But anyone who dreamed of torturing and killing like that was definitely not normal.
Lü Jin took a step closer, then hesitated and stepped back, giving Zhou Huaixia a strange look.
“Why do you smell like a sewer?”
She recognized the scent of the sewer that easily?
A test!
The word popped into Zhou Huaixia’s mind, and she quickly made something up.
“I almost fell in earlier.
The security guard pulled me out.”
Lü Jin adjusted her backpack straps, shifting the weight off her shoulders.
“You came to Library Two looking for me?
But it’s already eleven o’clock.
Why aren’t you asleep?”
Being shorter than Zhou Huaixia, she could see the wrinkled yellow duck pajamas peeking from under her jacket.
Recalling the earlier phone call, she asked.
“Did you call me for something?”
Zhou Huaixia nodded.
“I thought about it.
Even though we just finished the college entrance exam, we shouldn’t relax too much.
So, I wanted to invite you to study together at the library every day.”
If Lü Jin’s schedule was packed with medical courses, she wouldn’t have time to torture cats.
Lü Jin adjusted her glasses.
“Sure.
But sometimes, I’ll be in the lab, so I won’t always be able to come to the library with you.”
Already making excuses before they even started studying together.
Zhou Huaixia’s suspicion deepened her roommate was craftier than she had thought.
The two walked back together, but Lü Jin always kept a two-step distance from Zhou Huaixia.
As soon as they reached the dormitory, she couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Go take a shower.”
Her sense of smell was sharp, and the faint but persistent stench had been wafting from Zhou Huaixia’s hands the entire way.
She didn’t know what kind of filth had gotten on them.
Zhou Huaixia glanced at Lü Jin a few more times.
She was taking out a book from her backpack when she accidentally pulled out another item.
She quickly stuffed it back, but Zhou Huaixia had seen it clearly—it was a set of surgical scalpels.
A normal medical student would take them out openly, not hurriedly hide them.
Lü Jin was actually carrying tools for premeditated crime.
After showering, Zhou Huaixia climbed onto her bed with her laptop.
The glow from the screen faintly illuminated her face as she expressionlessly navigated to the school’s official website.
She found the emails for the Facilities Management Office, Campus Security Office, and even the President’s Office.
She wrote a formal complaint stating that Library Two’s Fifth Avenue lacked streetlights and surveillance, creating a serious safety hazard for students.
If a crime were to occur, it would severely damage the school’s reputation.
After successfully sending the email, she opened the contact for the Psychology Department’s student advisor.
She typed “Request to Change Dormitory,” but her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
After a moment, she deleted it all and closed her laptop.
Lü Jin sat upright at a library desk, turning a page in her book.
Then, she pushed up her glasses and looked seriously at Zhou Huaixia, who was sleeping soundly across from her.
It had been a week.
Since they had agreed to go to the library together, Zhou Huaixia had never studied—not even once.
She slept during the day.
She slept at night.
After sleeping at night, she slept again during the day.
Lü Jin seriously doubted whether a normal human being needed this much sleep.
She glanced around.
Since it was lunchtime, most students had left.
She stretched out her foot and kicked the person across from her.
“Zhou Huaixia, wake up.”
Zhou Huaixia groggily sat up, rubbing her eyes slowly.
“What is it?”
Lü Jin took a deep breath.
Out of kindness for her new roommate, she had endured this for a week.
But she couldn’t take it anymore.
“You come to the library with me just to sleep?”
No, to monitor you.
Zhou Huaixia refuted in her mind, but she was too sleepy to say it out loud.
Lü Jin looked at the completely empty desk in front of Zhou Huaixia, feeling utterly appalled by her laziness.
“You don’t even bother putting a book in front of you to pretend!”
“I only said I’d come to the library,” Zhou Huaixia replied blankly.
“I never said I’d study.”
Lü Jin replayed that night’s conversation in her head and fell into silence.
Ever since Zhou Huaixia had thrown a pillow at her after a nightmare, Lü Jin had suspected that her roommate wasn’t entirely normal.
“Wow, you’re something else.”
Lü Jin chuckled in disbelief.
“You just finished sleeping through high school, and now you’re sleeping through college too, huh?”
She closed her book, deciding to go get lunch.
And to think she had believed she’d found a diligent, hardworking roommate.
Zhou Huaixia had no books to pack.
She simply shoved her hands into her pockets and followed Lü Jin at a leisurely pace.
“Are you coming to the library this afternoon?”
Lü Jin hesitated.
“…No!”
Zhou Huaixia trailed behind her.
“Why haven’t you gone to the bamboo garden to play with the cats lately?”
She had visited the bamboo garden a few times.
She had seen the little calico cat.
Even the tabby that always ran away from people.
But she hadn’t found the white cat with the black-tipped tail.
“No time.”
“I went there once during my training class, and I didn’t see that white cat.”
Lü Jin turned back to look at her.
“It’s getting colder.
The school’s cats move to different places.”
“Is that so?
But the other cats are still there.”
Lü Jin slowed her steps and asked.
“Tomorrow is National Day, and students are allowed to leave campus.
Aren’t you packing to go home?
I saw people leaving early today.”
She remembered Zhou Huaixia was from out of province.
A topic change and a probe into whether she’d be leaving.
Zhou Huaixia was seriously suspicious that Lü Jin was planning something over the break.
Her home was in S City.
With fewer people on campus during the holiday, if Lü Jin was preparing to carry out her cat torture plans, there’d be even fewer witnesses.
But Zhou Huaixia’s parents had been urging her to come home for the holiday.
She couldn’t stay on campus any longer.
That night, Zhou Huaixia planned to send another round of emails to the Facilities Management Office, Campus Security, and the President’s Office.
Over the past week, she had noted every unlit, unmonitored path around both libraries, the training building, and the bamboo garden.
She reported all of them.
When she returned after the break, she’d go around the medical school and other areas, reporting every dark, unsupervised spot.
She wouldn’t give Lü Jin any opportunity to act.
While her mind was busy strategizing, she simply said aloud.
“I’m not sure yet.
I kind of want to stay in S City and explore.”
At noon on National Day, in A City, outside Exit 3 of the airport.
“Xia!”
As soon as Zhou Huaixia stepped out, she heard her mother’s voice.
She looked up and saw her parents walking toward her.
“Tired?”
Her father reached out and pulled her light backpack off her shoulders.
“Why do you have so little stuff?”
“Everything’s at home.
Didn’t feel like bringing anything from school.”
Her mother held her hand.
“How’s school?
Are your roommates easy to get along with?
We didn’t get to meet them on move-in day.”
There was only one roommate.
And that roommate might be a psychopath.
Of course, Zhou Huaixia wouldn’t say that.
She just replied, “It’s all fine.”
Her father drove while her mother chatted with her in the backseat.
They smoothly returned to their neighborhood.
The residential complex was built over twenty years ago.
There were only five buildings, none taller than eighteen floors.
The buildings were spaced far apart, with plenty of greenery, a park, and an artificial lake.
People often strolled around in the mornings and evenings.
Thanks to past housing policies, most of the residents were middle school teachers.
They were strict about their children’s education, which contributed to the strong academic performance of nearby schools.
Zhou Huaixia’s parents were both middle school teachers.
She had attended a local high school.
But her parents never pressured her about grades.
They just wanted her to live healthily.
Still, she worked hard and got into S University.
Her bedroom at home had been tidied in advance.
A bright yellow bedsheet and blanket were neatly laid out.
A yellow duck pillow sat squarely in the middle of the bed, facing the door.
Her desk was spotless, with a row of yellow duck figurines arranged in size order.
“Xia, wash your hands and come eat.”
Her father called from the living room.
“Coming.”
Zhou Huaixia casually grabbed the smallest yellow duck from her desk, squeezed it, then turned toward the dining room.
That night, Zhou Huaixia lay comfortably on her bed, completely at ease.
She was finally home.
No more wandering into those chaotic dreams.
Maybe university students overthink things, worry too much, and that’s why they have nightmares.
The nights at school weren’t as peaceful as those in her neighborhood.
She hugged her yellow duck pillow and fell asleep without a care, looking forward to a rare, dreamless night.