Chapter Thirty-six: Danger

“Can you be more specific? In what way did he seem off? Was it his mental state, or was there some external factor at play?” Seeing the topic brought up, Kong Ge followed up with further questions.

“Some time ago, Wenrui Xu called the police, claiming he was in danger.” Zhuangkai Zhuang seemed to have made a great effort before opening up about Wenrui Xu’s private affairs, looking as if he were bracing himself to wade into troubled waters.

“Did he tell you he called the police, or did you hear him make the call yourself?” Yan Xue asked quickly.

Since Wenrui Xu’s case involved chronic poisoning, the police were paying close attention to his recent situation. But clearly, among the information they had, there was no mention of Wenrui Xu calling the police for help.

With someone else, Yan Xue might simply have wanted to confirm the facts, but given how Wenrui Xu had presented himself so differently to different groups, and the lies he’d told to maintain his image, she had to consider the possibility of him seeking attention for its own sake.

“He made the call right in front of me—well, not exactly in front of me. He didn’t know I was in the dorm that day. I wasn’t feeling well and was resting inside. When he came back, he looked flustered and didn’t so much as glance at my bunk. After the call, he was agitated and stormed out in a huff, so he probably had no idea someone else was in the room to hear it.”

Zhuangkai Zhuang finished and then, finding his own words a bit ridiculous, gave a self-deprecating smile. “But really, why should I even care if he knew or not? He’s gone now—what difference does it make?”

“So, why did he call the police? Was someone at school threatening his safety?” Kong Ge asked.

“It didn’t seem to be anyone from school. From what I gathered, it was someone outside the campus.” Zhuangkai Zhuang was certain on this point. “That day, Wenrui Xu came rushing in from outside, clearly in a hurry. Normally, he always maintained this inexplicable air, as if he were some kind of celebrity on campus—always composed, never rushing about or flustered. But that day, he barged in, slamming the door so loudly it gave me a fright. I was about to get up and see who was making such a scene, but before I could move, I heard him on the phone below. He sounded genuinely panicked, his voice trembling. Even though I wasn’t close to him, we’d been roommates for over three years. I’d never seen him like that. I was so taken aback, I just stayed there quietly and didn’t dare make a sound.”

“You were on the upper bunk? So he couldn’t see you when he came in?” Yan Xue asked, puzzled.

“I have blackout curtains around my bed. When I don’t need them, I pull them aside, but I can close them when I want privacy,” Zhuangkai Zhuang explained quickly. “I often study late, especially during exam prep. When I used a reading lamp, my neighbor would complain, or the teachers doing room checks would tell me to turn it off. Then I overheard some girls at school talking about blackout bed curtains, so I bought a set online. That day, I was resting, so I had them closed. As long as I stayed quiet, no one could tell if someone was on the bed.”

“So when he rushed in to make the call, why didn’t you just get up?” Kong Ge asked, baffled.

Zhuangkai Zhuang bit his lip. “Well… we’re roommates who see each other every day. Wenrui Xu was always so concerned with appearances, always wanting to be in the spotlight. If I saw him in such a sorry state, and later anything negative about him got out, he’d assume I was the one who spread it. How could I explain myself then?”

“I see your point,” Kong Ge nodded in understanding. “Go on.”

“So he called the police, demanding they send someone immediately to protect him. He said someone was following him, had been for several days, and he feared harm, so the police needed to catch the person around our school. But from what I could tell, the police didn’t agree to his request.”

“He called the police but no one came?” Yan Xue pressed for details, finding it odd. “Do you remember anything specific about what he said during the call?”

“I couldn’t hear the other side, but from Wenrui Xu’s responses, I could guess. Honestly, if I’d been the officer, I wouldn’t have taken him seriously either—I’d think he was imagining things. He said someone was following him, and when the police asked for a description, he was all over the place—first one way, then another, like telling a ghost story: he’d turn around and see someone, but then the next moment, they’d vanished! Sometimes he could see the person, sometimes he just felt their presence nearby. If someone called you for help and described their stalker as sometimes male, sometimes female, with long hair and a long dress, then finally said maybe it was a group taking turns following him—wouldn’t you think something was wrong with his head?”

“That does make sense—his description was confusing,” Kong Ge agreed.

“Exactly. I wondered if he’d been so scared he’d lost his mind. We didn’t talk much, but I’d never seen him so afraid or incoherent. Later, the police must have asked if there were any other threats to him, but I only heard Wenrui Xu answering ‘No’ over and over. After a while, he got upset and started yelling into the phone, demanding why they wouldn’t help him. He didn’t want them to just check things out—he wanted a police car to patrol the area immediately, to catch the person, or at least to assign officers to protect him. He insisted he was a taxpayer and had that right.”

“Quite a sense of entitlement!” Kong Ge remarked, tongue in cheek.

Zhuangkai Zhuang gave a slightly mocking laugh. “Maybe it’s because his family has money, and he’s used to being the center of attention. After a while, he probably believed he was really someone important.”

“Is his family wealthy?”

“I don’t know the details, but judging by the expensive things he used and wore, his family must be well off.”

“So, after his request was refused, do you know what happened next?”

“Afterwards… that’s what I heard from Hao Xu later.” Zhuangkai Zhuang shook his head. “After the call, Wenrui Xu seemed really angry and stormed out. I went to the library and didn’t come back until it closed. By then, he’d already gone home and never returned. Not long after, he had his incident, and you came to investigate. Hao Xu said he made quite a fuss that day, even went to the security office, and later the police came to check things out. The school didn’t want the commotion, so they handled it in the security office. In the end, I don’t know what was decided—the police left, the security office had two guards escort him back to the dorm to pick up a few things, and then he left again.”

Yan Xue calculated the timeline and realized this must have been the last time Wenrui Xu was seen at school. After that, due to his condition, he went home to rest, and soon after, the incident occurred. At first, Yan Xue thought he’d left to recover from stress, but now, hearing about this episode, it seemed likely the school had also encouraged him to take a break, especially as the term wasn’t over and there were still courses left.

“Did your counselor know Wenrui Xu had gone home to rest and wasn’t staying in the dorm?” Yan Xue asked.

“They probably didn’t know the details, just that he’d taken leave,” Zhuangkai Zhuang replied, hesitating a bit. “Hao Xu said Wenrui Xu wouldn’t let up at the security office, wouldn’t listen to reason, and was emotionally unstable. The student affairs office was worried he’d affect other students, so they approved his leave and let him go home.”

Given the situation, Xu left hurriedly with a leave permit from the student office, clearly quite agitated. Since Zhuangkai Zhuang had only heard this secondhand, Yan Xue and Kong Ge didn’t press for more details.

“Why is Kai Xu so interested in Wenrui Xu’s affairs?” Kong Ge asked with interest. “He doesn’t like Wenrui Xu much, does he? You two are close friends, but your attitudes towards Wenrui Xu are so different. You barely want to discuss him, but Hao Xu, despite disliking him, is always eager to dig up information.”

“Maybe it’s just our personalities,” Zhuangkai Zhuang replied. “I’ve always believed that less trouble is better, and I don’t want to involve myself in things that don’t concern me. Hao Xu is more outgoing, so he’s more curious about these things.”