He Zhikeyi Chapter 1 (1)

This is a mystery novel. Dedicated to each generation of Chinese students who struggled with political conflicts and historical torrents, but never gave up thinking.

Calling it reasoning, it doesn't really count. The protagonist is just an ordinary person with no special skills and an IQ within the normal range. It's just that the beginning is still death and corpses, and then the protagonist has to explore one question after another to find the answer.

will write very slowly. Looking forward to hearing from readers.

On May 4, 2019, the weather was fine.

The gentle sea breeze pushed the waves of the Pacific Ocean and slowly rushed towards the black gravel beach. In the salty sea breeze, white seabirds fly against the wind. The brown German Shepherd opened his mouth and had fun on the beach, stopping from time to time to look back at the master who was slowly following behind him.

It stopped suddenly, and the tip of Min Rong's nose smelled an unusual smell, it was a rotten smell, the smell of meat. It turned its head and barked a few times at its owner.

The master stepped forward with some doubts. In front of the dog's eyes, all this was just a pile of objects, but he could see it clearly - in the white foam piled up by the waves, lay a snow-white female corpse, naked.

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In front of the bar in the small cafe, Xie Wen raised his head. The TV on the wall is broadcasting local news:

“A woman was found dead this morning at Hamilton Bay Beach. A man found her when walking his dog. He said she was naked and lying down on the beach. The police are still trying to verify her identity….”

“Sweetie, your grande latte.”

Xie Wen looked down from the TV. The waiter at the cafe was probably in his 50s, but he had thick flaxen hair. Xie Wen took the coffee from her. She followed Xie Wen's gaze to the TV and said, "It's horrible, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Too horrible."

"I can't believe someone did this to her. Such evil."

“I got the alert this morning, telling us to avoid the area.”

"Yeah, you should."

Xie Wen took a sip of coffee, praised it, and said goodbye to the waiter: "Well, I have to go. Have a good day!"

"You too." Xie Wen bid farewell to the waiter, held the coffee, and pushed open the door of the cafe. The warm spring breeze and sunlight are blowing in. Spring has come. Across the red brick plaza, sunlight glides over the metal sculptures, leaving dazzling arcs. Tall oak trees obscured the sky and clouds, leaving only specks of light on the ground.

The East Asian Library is right next to Oak Road. The old brown-grey building often wafted a pleasant smell, like a mixture of heating, musty, paper and ink. It was built in 1902. The original funder was an American businessman. He arrived in India with a fleet in 1893, and then went to Guangzhou, where he sold opium and cloth, bought silk from Zhejiang and sugar from Taiwan, and shipped them back to the American continent. Perhaps in gratitude for the piece of land that made him a fortune, he funded the construction of the East Asian Library, and the portrait is still hanging in the library to this day.

Xie Wen passed the portrait of the gentleman and walked straight to the elevator. She was going to the second floor of the library, which contained the historical materials of all the Chinese students who came to study here from 1902 to 1949. Teachers who teach the history of Sino-US relations left homework and asked them to write a reflection of themselves. Xie Wen's chosen topic is to compare her own life with that of Chinese students studying in the United States in the early 20th century.

She is very clear about her own life, and it is not difficult to interview her classmates. Today's Chinese international students live almost the same life, reading papers, reading books, doing homework, and sharing information about newly opened Chinese restaurants in WeChat groups. Sometimes her parents would use WeChat to video her, telling her about the mysterious shooting incident in Y City that Xie Wen had never heard of, and then told her to be careful. Xie Wen just nodded perfunctorily.

Xie Wen's fingertips slid across the rows of books. Will the life of a Chinese student more than 100 years ago be similar to her? Maybe not? I heard that the international students at that time were very diligent and smart in order to get scholarships to pay for their high tuition fees and living expenses here.

Her fingertips rested on a book.

The red cover, but not a fine hard cover, looks more like a rough photocopy. Maybe the people who made the photocopy didn't care much about this book, and the cover simply wrote "Liao Shen'an's Diary".

"Diary?" Xie Wen thought, this is the primary source, so lucky.

She opened the cover, and the beginning was a simple preface, written in Chinese and English, to the effect that all the originals in the museum had been collected in the museum, and a copy was left for readers to borrow. Then there is a brief introduction of the author, only to say that Liao Shen'an studied here from 1917 to 1921, and returned to China after obtaining a bachelor's degree in agriculture.

Xie Wen turned on his phone and searched for a long time, but couldn't find out who the alumnus was.

can also understand. After all, not everyone who studies in the United States and returns to China will become a well-known professor. She nodded, then opened the first page.

"October 2, 1917

It is rainy today. Yin and cold invade the bone. I didn't bring rain gear, so I asked Peterson to borrow it, but I didn't bring it either. Western men are strong and not afraid of the cold. The same goes for women. Different from the People's Congress of my country. "

"October 7, 1917

Wen book. Botany exam next week. "

"November 5, 1917

Today, I travel to Chinatown with my cohabiting gentlemen, and eat Li Kee duck breast rice. Although it is not as good as Nanjing Baochang Building, it is already a delicacy compared to steak and coffee. Westerners are good at scientific calculation, but in food, Chinese are still slightly better. Westerners eat raw food, and civilized people drink blood, just like unreformed people, how strange it is! "

......

Xie Wen hastily turned a few pages, not recording his homework, or complaining that American food is extremely unpalatable. She was a little hesitant. What is the difference between this person's diary and her life?

She was about to put the book back on the shelf, but after hesitating for a moment, she took it away. There is still a bit of luck in her heart, if there is any interesting content behind it?

The phone "buzz-buzz-" twice. Xie Wen took out his mobile phone from his pocket. It was two WeChat group chat notifications from the Chinese Student Federation. This group was added by Xie Wen before admission. Almost every Chinese student will join this group before coming out. Perhaps it is the nature of animals that live in groups. When they arrive in a foreign land, people always unconsciously look for their fellow villagers in order to gain a certain sense of support. And this organization did give support - when Xie Wen arrived at the airport with two boxes, it was the pick-up team organized in the group that sent her and her luggage to the school.

She put the diary down temporarily, sat on the chair beside the bookshelf, and clicked on the group chat. Organizers are calling on them to sign a joint letter asking the school to cancel the activities of the Hong Kong International Students Union.

The letter said the Hong Kong Students' Union would hold an event in the school's main square this week to oppose the Hong Kong government's revision of the extradition law and to show solidarity with the imprisoned nine sons of Zhanzhong. This activity is a great harm and disrespect to all Chinese students.

"We request that the school immediately cease all support for this campaign," the letter concluded.

When publishing this open letter, the group owner @@ everyone.

The response came immediately. It's all the responses you can think of: thumbs up, cheers, support, "is the school killing it?"

Xie Wen took two glances, turned off WeChat, and stood up quietly.

She put away the phone, took the book to the front desk, swiped the card to borrow the book, and stuffed it into her schoolbag. The classroom in today's class is 200 meters away from the East Asian Library map in a straight line, but considering the twists and turns on the campus, Xie Wen has to set off now.

Her phone was still in her pocket, buzzing.

Xie Wen was a little impatient. She hurried forward, her head and neck stretched forward, but her legs and body couldn't keep up with the speed of her head, dragging behind her, looking like a funny turtle.

She took out her mobile phone, clicked on the group again, set "no message reminders", and threw the mobile phone back into her pocket.

The phone just slid in and buzzed twice.

Xie Wen scolded impatiently and took out his phone again - this time it was not a group message, but a message from his friend Miao Lanlan. The message consists of six words in total, with five exclamation marks.

"Fuck!! It's Chinese!!!"

Xie Wen had no time to pay attention to this endless news, letting the phone buzz in his hand. From the degree of its tremor, Xie Wen could probably expect how emotional Miao Lanlan would be at this time.

Xie Wen stepped into the classroom with the bell. As usual, Morgen sat on the left side of the third row of the classroom, with a bag next to him occupying a seat, which was reserved for Xie Wen.

"Hey, have you finished the paper for the history class?" Morgen didn't say hello to her, straight to the point, concerned about the progress of his colleagues' homework.

"Nope. I haven't even started. What about you?"

Morgen shook his head, saying his progress was disappointing.

"Did you watch the news? They said the woman was a Chinese student at our school." Morgen asked again.

"What?!!" Xie Wen was a little shocked, and immediately thought of Miao Lanlan's thrilling message.

She quickly turned on her phone, and Miao Lanlan sent her five or six new messages. She clicked on one of the news links and swept it down at a glance.

There is not much information provided in the article, except that the police have verified the identity and determined that the deceased is a Chinese student at the school. According to her roommate, she went out at about 9pm last night and never came back. Police found her clothing and a suicide note on the beach, presuming she committed suicide.

"It was a suicide." Xie Wen said.

"What happened to her? Did you know her?"

Xie Wen shook her head, she hadn't heard that anyone around her suddenly disappeared. If so, this message should have spread throughout the circle of friends.

The professor came in from outside the door, and Xie Wen and Morgan stopped talking.