Too late for regrets

  "What time is it in the wee hours?"

  I fell silent, and when I spoke again, my voice was a little hoarse: "I was woken up by the alarm." If I didn't remember wrong, the time I checked the text message later was almost 4 am.

  As expected, the cold-faced policeman Zhang Ji looked at me with a more severe gaze, while Xu Jianglun patted my shoulder and said: "Xia Zhu, this matter has nothing to do with you, go do what you need to do." He then turned his head and made a please gesture towards Gao Cheng, "Let's go."

  Gao Cheng didn't say much, just threw out a sentence: "I'll change my clothes." Indeed, he was still wearing his pajamas, and neither Zhang Ji nor Xu Jianglun raised any objections. The wheels rolled, and his figure disappeared in front of the door. Just a few minutes later, when Gao Cheng reappeared, he again attracted everyone's astonished gaze, because he was wearing a black windbreaker jacket... and had walked back with big strides.

  Xu Jianglun finally couldn't help but ask: "Your leg..."

  Gao Cheng raised an eyebrow, "If you don't mind helping me move the wheelchair downstairs, I'm fine with it."

  Couldn't bear to see Xu Jianglun's stunned expression, silently sighed in my heart. When Gao Cheng passed by me, he suddenly stopped and looked down at me, thinking he had something to tell me, but heard him ask: "Is it him? The flower sender?"

  I was also shocked.

  He looked at Xu Jianglun again and then turned his head to me: "Not accepting is right."

  I was restless all day, picking up my phone and putting it down several times. After what happened to Gao Cheng, should I or shouldn't I call the landlady? I promised to take care of him, but he's been "invited" to the police station after just two days, and it's related to a murder case.

  I don't think the fall of Wu's father and daughter has anything to do with Gao Cheng, although I witnessed their quarrel, it shouldn't be that someone would harm others just because of a little dispute. Especially since he had only been in the neighborhood for a few days and didn't have any deep-seated grudges with Mr. Wu.

  After some thought, I still dialed Xu Jianglun's phone number, which was not the first time I had done so. Each time, the answer was that Gao Cheng was still in the interrogation room. When Gao Cheng was taken away this morning, it was really embarrassing, and I didn't know how he knew that Xu Jianglun was the one who sent me flowers on my birthday. Then, after his ruthless words came out, Xu Jianglun's face immediately turned red.

  The phone was answered quickly, and Xu Jianglun's voice came through, already helpless: "Xia Zhu, the results aren't out yet."

  I hesitated for a moment and asked: "Can you tell me why Gao Cheng was locked in as a suspect?"

  "Xia Zhu, this has nothing to do with you, you shouldn't be prying into these things."

  "But..."

  "Listen," Xu Jianglun interrupted me, "you just promised the landlord to take care of her son, but you are not his guardian. In fact, he is already over the age of majority and does not need a guardian, so he must be responsible for his own actions."

  "A chill ran down his spine, 'You mean he might really be...'"

  Xu Jianglun interrupted me again: "No, Xia Zhu, I didn't say anything. The superior attaches great importance to this case, revealing a bit of internal information to you, at the scene of the crime there are signs of footprints being cleaned up and remaining signs of struggle, so we have reason to suspect that this is not an accidental accident, but murder. Xia Zhu, do you think you still have the ability to handle this matter?"

  Fell silent, as if it had really gone beyond my ability.

  In the evening, Xu Jianglun called again: "Has that kid Gao Cheng gone back? This afternoon I didn't tell you, after we brought him to the bureau, he was first questioned by Zhang Ji, and then the director came over to interrogate him personally. The interrogation lasted for a whole afternoon, during which even Zhang Ji and others were dismissed. It wasn't until dusk that the door opened, and the director was very gentle with that kid, even sending him out of the gate himself. Then he ordered the cancellation of Gao Cheng's suspicion. Huh, I'm telling you, Xia Zhu, what kind of person is your landlord?"

  "You mean..."

  "It goes without saying that he must have pulled some strings, otherwise there would be eyewitnesses pointing to his dispute with the deceased and the time of death would not match up. And think about it, this case is severe but Zhang Ji is known as a 'godly detective' in the police force, he has the most experience with cases like this, why would the director need to personally intervene?"

  Xu Jianglun seemed to feel more and more uneasy as he spoke, and with a serious tone, he instructed me: "Xia Zhu, from now on, it's better if you don't get involved with that kid anymore. It's best if you keep your distance from him. You should know that he has parents who can cover the sky, but you don't, so don't bring trouble upon yourself."

  At this moment I am deeply regretful for not listening to Xu Jianglun's advice, and indeed brought disaster upon myself.

  Just because I saw a suspected high-rise building shadow appearing and disappearing at Mr. Wu's fall location, I ran down the stairs in a trance-like state, resulting in the current situation.

  Is this a case of one misstep leading to another, and then regretting it when it's too late?