Chapter 23

Chapter 23 2. Eden Lake-14

Although the case hadn’t been formally classified, the frequent comings and goings of police and forensic experts on campus, even directly searching the girls’ dormitory, made the severity of the situation obvious to all students and staff.

As a result, Su Ruirui’s classmates, who had previously been pressured by the school not to speak much, gradually opened up one by one during repeated questioning, allowing the police to piece together the full picture of a campus bullying case.

Lin Yuan, class monitor of the advanced class, wasn’t the top student academically, but consistently ranked high. She was beautiful, tall, outspoken, and enthusiastic about participating in school activities, making her the most conspicuous figure in the class.

According to students’ testimonies, Lin Yuan came from a wealthy family. Her father ran major government contracts, provided large donations to the school, and frequently gave teachers expensive gifts during holidays, earning her special favor from the faculty.

Many times, teachers turned a blind eye to her inappropriate behavior or even deliberately protected her, gradually cementing her status in the class as a little queen whose words were law.

Su Ruirui, on the other hand, was the opposite—average in appearance, grades, and family background, shy, and with a slight stutter, rarely spoke up. After entering the advanced class in her first year of high school, she was soon targeted by Lin Yuan and her friends due to her introverted personality, quickly becoming the lowest tier in the class, an easy target for bullying.

Pampered by privilege and backed by teachers, Lin Yuan’s behavior grew increasingly arrogant year by year.

In the first year, she merely encouraged classmates to ostracize and mock Su Ruirui. In the second year, she escalated to slaps and head pats. By the third year, she even dared to kick Su Ruirui in the stomach in front of homeroom teacher Chen Yu. Any sign of resistance from Su Ruirui would result in being dragged into the bathroom and brutalized in the toilet.

Listening to students describe Su Ruirui’s torment at the hands of Lin Yuan and her clique, An Pingdong couldn’t help but grind his teeth.

Peeking at homeroom teacher Chen Yu standing quietly in the corridor, head down, he noticed she was utterly silent, not daring a sound, a stark contrast to her previously commanding demeanor.

An Pingdong deliberately paused, then strolled over to her, chuckling strangely as if to himself, voice loud enough for Chen Yu to hear:

“Hey, what did our colleague say before?”

He repeated Liu Yi’s earlier words: “We will uncover the cause of Su Ruirui’s death thoroughly.”

Chen Yu shuddered.

Even with thick makeup covering her face, the color drained immediately.

When she first learned Su Ruirui had suddenly died in the lake, she knew it had to be connected to Lin Yuan and her friends, having witnessed the frail girl being kicked over by the class monitor she relied on.

At the time, she assumed Su Ruirui had committed suicide due to bullying. Since she had received many favors from Lin Yuan, although a death was too extreme, exposing the truth would implicate her. So she tried to cover it up—Su Ruirui’s parents weren’t very attached to her, and the school could quietly settle with Lin Yuan’s family, and it would be over.

But now, with the case’s development, anyone with eyes could see Su Ruirui’s death wasn’t simple suicide. Helping cover it up could easily implicate Chen Yu as an accomplice.

“Um, officer…”

Chen Yu’s lips trembled as she forced out a sentence.

“Hm?”

Hearing her sharp, short voice, An Pingdong lazily turned and gave her a seemingly indifferent glance.

“I… I remember…”

Chen Yu dared not look at the tall, imposing detective. She quickly lowered her head, fists clenched tightly behind her back, nails digging into her palms.

“Lin Yuan had a large red LV suitcase, usually placed beside the wardrobe. When you entered earlier, I noticed it was missing.”

An Pingdong’s lazy gaze instantly sharpened: “What kind of suitcase?”

Having said it, Chen Yu decided to come clean:

“A burgundy suitcase, with diamond-patterned floral print on the surface.”

Since hearing the police were searching for a suitcase, she had guessed its purpose and noticed it missing from Lin Yuan’s room. Quietly telling the police now, she hoped for leniency, thinking they might overlook her previous obvious lies.

An Pingdong stared at her, then pulled out his phone and called his partner.

“A burgundy LV suitcase, with diamond-patterned floral print.”

“Okay, got it.”

After Qi Shanyu hung up, he told Liu Yi: “He said it’s an LV suitcase, burgundy.”

“Typical rich girl—money’s definitely no issue.”

Liu Yi remarked, then asked: “How do you plan to find it?”

“Since it’s not in Lin Yuan’s dorm, and she wouldn’t entrust a suitcase that held a body to someone else, and she never left campus, it’s most likely she personally dumped it at the school’s garbage station.”

Qi Shanyu glanced back at Liu Yi, hesitant: “You’re going with me to look for it?”

“Sure, just drop me back at the institute afterward.”

Liu Yi shrugged indifferently.

Since he had sent Jiang Xiaoyuan to take the previously collected blood samples from Lin Yuan’s bathroom back to the institute, he had nothing else to do. Walking a few extra steps was fine, and when they found the suitcase, he could conveniently open it on site.

Qi Shanyu’s gaze lingered on Liu Yi for several seconds before moving, softly saying: “Thank you.”

Liu Yi: “???”

He didn’t understand the thanks but didn’t ask, simply smiled and accepted it calmly.

The school had four garbage disposal points; the one closest to the girls’ dorm was behind the high school cafeteria.

According to the school worker guiding them, daily dormitory trash was collected from each floor hallway, twice a day, consolidated at the disposal points, and taken away by truck at night.

During holidays or semester-end, when there was more or bulky trash, students sometimes brought items themselves to the disposal point.

Qi Shanyu noted the walking distance from the girls’ dorm: just four minutes, indeed very close.

The garbage point was cleaner than expected: a concrete alcove with three large bins, lids tightly closed, minimal odor. Against the right wall leaned a large woven bag.

Qi Shanyu checked: the bag’s zipper was broken, opening partially, showing seven-tenths full of empty cans, clearly sorted out by someone.

“Ah!”

A middle-aged man in a bright yellow jacket, a janitor, spotted them from afar, ran over nervously: “Officer, what’s going on?”

Qi Shanyu flashed his badge, signaling him not to panic—just asking some questions.

“You normally manage this area?”

Having heard about a student drowning in the artificial lake, the man guessed what the young, handsome officer was investigating. He quickly shook his head, distancing himself: “I—I don’t know anything! We only handle trash, no contact with students!”

Qi Shanyu shook his head, gesturing to stay calm: “We’re asking if anyone recently discarded a suitcase here?”

A suitcase would be very noticeable. Seeing the half-filled bag of cans, he knew they scavenged. Even if the suitcase was put in one of the bins, they should have found it.

“Ah…”

The janitor’s eyes flickered. “A suitcase…”

Although he tried to hide it, Qi Shanyu noticed. He immediately stiffened, lowering his voice seriously: “Was there one?”

“Well… uh…”

The janitor lowered his head, wiping cold sweat from his brow with a dirty sleeve. “A few days ago, there was one…”

He rubbed his sleeve: “My wife said it’s a designer brand, looks new, so we took it home to not waste it…”

Qi Shanyu glanced at Liu Yi, then asked quickly: “Where’s the suitcase now?”

The janitor, confused why the officer cared about a discarded suitcase, replied helplessly: “At—at our home…”

……

Twenty minutes later, Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi saw the five-digit LV suitcase in the janitor’s cramped apartment near the school.

Liu Yi opened it, and both exhaled deeply.

At that moment, both felt the sense of closure.

The light-colored lining at the bottom showed several faint brown stains. Although fully dried and faded, even without testing, they knew what it was.