On a Stormy Night, the Campus Belle Knocked on My Door Seeking Shelter
Chapter 1: The Stormy Night Ten Years Ago

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Stormy Night Ten Years Ago

The old overhead light in the records room hummed, its ballast failing with age. Chen Mo pushed aside a stack of yellowed case files and carefully pored over the documents.

Page 47 of the 20xx crime scene investigation report. In the photograph, the rain-washed flagstone path glistened. Outside the police tape, the onlookers’ umbrellas formed a black wave.

"Still working on this case, huh?" A colleague leaned over to look at the files Chen Mo was reading and shook his head helplessly.

The case was ten years old. A torrential downpour that night had washed away every last trace, leaving no clues behind. It was a completely unsolvable cold case.

"This case is the reason I went to the police academy, the reason I fought tooth and nail to get into the criminal investigation division..." Chen Mo replied without looking up, exhaling a puff of smoke.

RUMBLE. A low thunderclap rolled through the clouds outside. His colleague, Old Zhang, flicked the ash from his cigarette. "The forensics team back then combed through it three times. They couldn’t even find a single shoeprint pattern..."

CRACK! A sudden clap of thunder outside cut Old Zhang off. A torrential downpour began, hammering relentlessly against the metal rain shelter.

Just like the turmoil in Chen Mo’s heart every time he reviewed the case file.

Old Zhang pushed the ashtray closer to the window and continued, "The experts from the provincial department already concluded it was a transient offender. But you insist the killer is right here in the city..."

Chen Mo didn’t look up, his hands still arranging all the case-related information he had gathered over the years through countless interviews and investigations.

The yellowed interview notes were a jumble of scattered information, making it nearly impossible to find the key to solving the case.

RUMBLE!

As the second low rumble of thunder sounded, the downpour seemed to grow even heavier.

Chen Mo subconsciously turned to look out the window. ’The weather today is so much like that day.’

The rhythm of the rain lashing against the windowpane overlapped with his memories. Shaking his slightly groggy head, Chen Mo stood up and grabbed the uniform jacket draped over the back of his chair. "I’m going to the roof for some air."

Passing the evidence room, he caught sight of an evidence bag in the dehumidifying cabinet. The blood-stained white shirt inside still had a faded school emblem pinned to its collar, making his heart clench once more.

...

The fire door slammed shut behind him. A strong wind carrying rain immediately funneled down his collar, the cold shock bringing with it a sliver of clarity.

Rain slanted down, shattering into beads against the concrete barrier. Chen Mo pulled out his pack of cigarettes and put one to his lips. The wheel of his windproof lighter spun uselessly under his thumb several times; the flame that finally sparked was extinguished by the curtain of rain the moment it touched the tobacco.

Giving up, he crushed the damp cigarette into a gap in the barrier, where the remains of countless old cigarette butts had accumulated over the years.

CRACK! As lightning split the clouds, he watched a clothesline dance wildly in the wind.

Suddenly, the cold touch of rain on the back of his neck returned, overlapping with the memory of a scalpel’s chill.

The moment he turned, a thunderclap exploded overhead. In the bright flash, Su Yuqing appeared, wearing a drenched white shirt. The wet fabric clung to her collarbones, and the stitching on the second button had come undone by half an inch.

Everything was exactly as it had been on that day.

The next moment, the illusion vanished. Chen Mo looked up at the sky and gave a bitter smile. "It’s been so many years. You always appear before me during thunderstorms. You must be blaming me for not solving your case and getting you justice."

Rubbing his throbbing temples, he plunged directly into the downpour.

SPLASH. As he felt the cold, heavy rain hammering down on him, the throbbing in his head gradually faded.

Just then, with a sudden CRACK, a bolt of lightning struck him straight on. In an instant, a searing, numbing sensation washed over his entire body. Amid a flash of white light, Chen Mo felt the world spin around him. When his senses cleared, he was shocked to find himself in an extremely familiar room.

The moment he saw the room’s layout, a flood of memories poured into his mind.

CRACK! DING-DONG!

The familiar sound of the downpour echoed in his ears once again. A clap of thunder, accompanied by the ringing of the doorbell, jolted Chen Mo from his reverie.

He moved to the door on instinct. Through the peephole, the girl from his memories appeared again. Under the sensor light, the faint blue veins of her soaked shoulder blades were visible through her fair, tender skin.

Chen Mo’s fingertips hovered over the doorknob, trembling slightly. The words "Victim: Su Yuqing" from the autopsy report in his past life suddenly burned in his mind’s eye.

CLICK. The moment he unconsciously opened the door, Chen Mo froze.

The eighteen-year-old girl before him, drenched by the rain and shivering from the cold, had actually reappeared in his world.

Everything was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

"Chen Mo..."

Droplets of water ran from the tips of Su Yuqing’s hair down into her collar, and a pale blue lace bra was faintly visible beneath her soaked white shirt.

The way she hugged her arms reminded Chen Mo of the defensive fetal position often seen in the morgue. According to the medical examiner, it was the final act of self-preservation for many victims before they died.

"I heard... your parents are away on business, and you’re home alone..." Her eyelashes, beaded with water, trembled with each breath as she forced herself to summon her courage and blurt out the words she had practiced so many times. "Could I... stay at your place for a few days? I won’t stay for free. I can help with chores or something else... to pay you back."

The girl’s soft, gentle voice, with a delicate quality like threads of rain, vibrated against his eardrums, pulling Chen Mo back from his daze.

It had been so long since he had heard that voice, a voice that could instinctively soothe one’s body and soul.

Every time it stormed, he would only see her standing there silently, watching him with a faint smile. She never spoke a single word to him.

Hearing that familiar voice again today, Chen Mo’s eyes even began to burn, quite against his will.

The motion-sensor light in the entryway suddenly went out. In the darkness, Chen Mo took the opportunity to wipe his wet eyes before flipping the switch. Warm yellow light once again washed over the girl’s pale cheeks.

When the light came back on, Chen Mo could clearly see the tiny, diamond-like droplets clinging to her eyelashes. The raindrops rolled down her trembling eyelids, gathering at the tip of her nose like a crystal before falling and shattering on her bluish lips.

The knuckles of the fingers clutching her arms were a pale, marble-veined white. Wet hair stuck to the side of her neck, winding down like a stream of black ink, making the faint blue vein on her neck stand out all the more clearly.

Chen Mo stared intently at Su Yuqing, as if trying to burn her image into his memory once more.

Because at that moment, he couldn’t even tell if he was in reality or a dream.

’Why did I suddenly appear in my high school home after being on the roof of the police station?’

Being stared at so intensely by a boy, especially while she was soaking wet, made Su Yuqing’s heart hammer in her chest like a frightened deer’s.

Anxious and shy, the girl gave a slight nod, a truly pitiable sight to behold.