For a long time he had felt like he was standing at the edge of an abyss, doing his utmost to spy the unknowable monster within. Then as the case progressed little by little, the monster slowly began to rise up, its outline growing more and more distinct amid the darkness. And yet there had always been a layer of mist between them, preventing Fang Mu from seeing the beast clearly. All the while, however, he had sensed that the monster was watching him, watching him and laughing to itself. But although the monster was only an arm's length away and Fang Mu could smell the blood on its lips, he had been unable to reach out and touch it.
Now the mist seemed to be growing thinner and thinner.
The dining hall. Lunchtime.
Recently, eating had become nothing more than a burden for Fang Mu. He seemed to have lost all sense of taste. It no longer mattered to him whether he liked something or not; he would order whatever food he could eat fastest.
After carrying his tray to the corner of the dining hall, he sat down and dumped his stewed chicken and potatoes onto his rice. He mixed it up with his spoon and began wolfing it down.
When he happened to look up, he saw several people walk into the cafeteria and head toward one of the booths. Zhao Yonggui and Bian Ping were among them.
Seeing Fang Mu, Bian Ping said something to Zhao Yonggui, who then looked over at Fang Mu as well. Zhao Yonggui then led several people into the booth, while Bian Ping walked toward Fang Mu.
"What are you eating?" Bian Ping asked as he sat down across from Fang Mu. He looked at his bowl. "Stewed chicken and potatoes?" He laughed.
Fang Mu forced himself to smile, but said nothing.
"I always miss the food we used to get here," Bian Ping said. "Although back then we never got anything this good. Still, from the looks of things," he said, pointing at the meager amount of chicken in Fang Mu's bowl, "it seems like even after all these years there hasn't been much progress."
Fang Mu had no interest in making small talk with him. "Has there been any news on Professor Qiao?"
Bian Ping's face fell. "Nothing. That's actually why I'm here today. I wanted to go to the law school and see what was going on."
Fang Mu had nothing to say. His appetite was now gone as well.
"When do you graduate?"
"2004, why?"
Bian Ping snorted and then lit a cigarette. "Then it would seem you're Professor Qiao's most conscientious student."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"None of your fellow students are upset over this like you are. Sure, many of your shixiong and shijieare getting terribly worried, but I can tell that what they're most anxious about is that if no one helps them on their theses, they won't be able to graduate." (Translator’s note: Shijie, elder female apprentice.) He tapped his cigarette ash on the floor, causing a dining hall worker who was walking past to glare at him. "The top people at the law school asked me to come teach some classes, but when would I have the time to do that? So in the end, Mrs. Qiao recommended someone else for the job."
"Sun Pu?"
"Hey, how'd you know?" Bian Ping's eyes widened with surprise.
"I just sat in on his criminology class this morning. I also heard that he's my shixiong?"
"That's right. He graduated with a masters in '91. I was '86."
"Then why…did he start working in the library?"
"Oh, that's a long story…" Bian Ping smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Just then Zhao Yonggui squeezed out of the booth and waved Bian Ping over.
"All right," Bian Ping said, seeing his gesture, "I'll be there in a second." He looked back at Fang Mu. "Shidi, there was something serious I wanted to talk to you about for a moment. Professor Qiao thought very highly of you, you know. He told me more than once that you were quite gifted, and I also believe that you've got a real talent for this stuff. So then how about it? Want to come work for us after you graduate?"
Fang Mu shook his head. "I've never thought of becoming a policeman."
Bian Ping looked a little disappointed. "Eh, everyone has their own aspirations. However, if you did join the police, I believe you'd be fulfilling Professor Qiao's wishes." He stood up and patted Fang Mu on the shoulder. "Take it easy. If there's any news I'll contact you."
After leaving the dining hall, Fang Mu stood outside for a few minutes. At last he decided to head over to Professor Qiao's house.
Mrs. Qiao was the only person home. As soon as Fang My walked inside, he smelled the strong odor of some kind of traditional Chinese medicine.
"Are you sick, Mrs. Qiao?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen. A very small clay pot was on the stove, filled with a bubbling liquid and sending up steam.
"Aye, how could I not be sick?" she said as he came in.
In the few days since Fang Mu had last seen her, Mrs. Qiao had lost a lot of weight, and her hair was nearly all white.
"You came just in time; in a moment you can help me strain this medicine." She sighed. "I'm sorry there was no one here to greet you. Little Yu left to look for her father again. Now can I get you something to drink?"
Fang Mu hurriedly told her not to worry about it. Then after helping her to lie down on her bed, he rushed back into the kitchen, sieved the medicine into a bowl, and brought it back to her.
"How is everything going at school?" Mrs. Qiao asked after motioning for him to sit beside the bed.
"Well enough. Makeup classes have begun for criminology."
She sighed softly. "The thing my husband disliked most was delaying his students' education. So even though he wasn't around, I couldn't let them keep missing class. There was nothing we could do for the graduate students, but at least we could schedule makeup classes for the undergrads."
Fang Mu was silent for a moment. Then after summoning his courage, he asked, "Mrs. Qiao, Librarian Sun…also used to be one of Professor Qiao's students?"
"That's right. Let me think for a moment." She lightly massaged her temples. "He was part of the class of '91."
"Then why did he go work in the library rather than become a teacher?"
"Aye, that boy has been through a lot." Mrs. Qiao put the bowl of medicine down beside her. "At the time, Sun Pu was the most outstanding student in his class. Old Qiao is rarely the type to praise his students lightly, but back then he would often mention Sun Pu's name at home, and I could tell that he thought very highly of him. After Sun Pu graduated, Old Qiao recommended that the school hire him and arranged for Sun Pu to become his own teaching assistant. Sun Pu has always been driven to excel, and performed superbly in this position. Soon after, before he was even thirty, the school made an exception to their rules and promoted him to associate professor. At the time, Sun Pu was already quite well-known across the province as a very talented young man. Later, however…aye…" Mrs. Qiao shook her head and sighed.
"What happened later?" Fang Mu asked hurriedly.
"As you know, the law school sometimes helps the public security bureau work on cases," she continued. "At the time, Old Qiao had Sun Pu assist him in solving several. After they worked on a few together, Old Qiao decided to see how Sun Pu would do solving some on his own. Sun Pu seemed to have a special gift in this area, and he made expert work of several cases in a row. That's when all the honors and praise started rolling in. Sun Pu was still quite young back then, and he had some trouble keeping himself under control. In 1998, several cases of rape-and-murder occurred one after another on the outskirts of the city. At the time, Old Qiao was out of the country doing research, so the police asked Sun Pu to help them with their investigation. Using your guys' criminal profiling techniques, Sun Pu described the general characteristics of the killer. Soon after, the police arrested an individual who matched these characteristics closely. In the end, however, this person died without making a confession. Because the police had no other evidence, they needed this confession to make the case, but the suspect wouldn't own up. At the time this case was a very big deal and the higher-ups were all demanding that it be solved as soon as possible. The pressure on Sun Pu and the rest of the police was immense. I think this is what made young Sun Pu lose his head, because he soon incited the police to make the suspect confess by any means necessary."