Evanescent Dreams

13. Three things to sort out

The teacher frowned at the little girl sitting across her at the round table. Lin Xingren sat down next to her and frowned too. 

All her classmates had left to go home except for the little girl. The teacher asked her to stay behind and write a self-reflection of her actions at school today.

It was the third time this year, and the little girl was getting a little impatient, so she asked about the word count.

"You write until I can see your sincerity this time. If you think of goofing around and writing off topic like last time, I'll call your parents."

The little girl snickered recalling the last self-reflection she wrote after not collaborating with her classmates in a group project:

On the Northern Thailand airplane, villages slowly blur into dull and dirty fog, then the airplane goes up more, and I see white clouds and clear blue skies again. Spread out like the fluff in blankets.

"But teacher, I didn't call anyone stupid or 'bossed' people around this time. All I wanted was people to attend my tea party."

The little girl had hand written two invitation letters to her tea party, and handed them out to two of her best friends. Her plan was simple. If one of them did not have time, she told them to pass the invitations to her second best friends on the list. If the second best friends did not have time, they would pass the invitations to her third best friends. Liu Gujing was the last on the list because the little girl didn't really like her for some reason she didn't really know.

"Lin Xingren, how many times have I told you to learn about empathy? You know what empathy is? Empathy is to step in someone else's shoes."

"Step in someone else's shoes..." the little girl pondered and scratched her nose.

"You really don't understand, Lin Xingren?"

No. I never understood anything, anyone, teacher. I still don't even understand myself. That's why I hate myself so much.

---

"The murderer stuck them on, of course," Ye Zhen declared.

 It was lunch break and the four of them were gathered around a low round porcelain table next to the library, which was still closed off since Xuan Miaomiao's death. 

"Huh?" 

Weng Bai scrunched up his face in disbelief.

Lin Xingren, too, gasped. She didn't expect that Ye Zhen would repeat her exact words from last night. 

After the emotional dialogue on sunflower fruit last night, Lin Xingren finally started discussing profusely about her own thoughts on Xuan Miaomiao's case. Not letting the others know she took part of the brave conclusion she had come to, Lin Xingren let Ye Zhen share her thoughts. 

"The murderer," Ye Zhen stood up and leaned crossed-armed on a pillar nearby, "likely intentionally stuck the labels of a traditional Chinese medicine bottle on top of the original coffee pill bottle Xuan Miaomiao's had. This would cause her taking 40 coffee pills at once, mistaking the coffee pills as traditional medicine."

"Hence, it wouldn't have been suicide, but homicide," Ye Zhen concluded. 

"40 pills...of coffee pills not traditional medicine...that's definitely enough to kill someone!" Weng Bai rose up in shock. 

"Wait wait wait, " Weng Bai lightly banged his hands on the table in thought, "isn't Xie Xubo the one with the traditional medicine bottle and fake labels? How does that have to do with Xuan Miaomiao?"