I decided to visit Wuhan University one more time. 

Nowadays, the technology to duplicate documents was pretty good. I was easily able to pass the security check after I showed my student ID card at the university entrance. 

There was a sprinkle of rain, so I held an umbrella and strolled along the small path. Eventually, I stopped outside the girl dormitory. 

I casually wiped the water off a cold bench and sat down. I gazed at the window on the third floor, the place Shiso had shown me. 

It was the bedroom where Li Xiaoling used to stay. 

I wondered,

 What happened to her that pushed her to commit suicide? 

I sat there for quite a long time, and the rain had stopped. 

A girl wearing a thick sweater walked out of the dormitory. I took a glance. It was Zhuang Ning. 

She frowned slightly and looked at me. “Why are you here again?” 

“I have something I haven’t figured out, so I came to see if I could clear my doubts.” I smiled. “I visited Tang Shuangshuang in the hospital. Her situation isn’t good.” 

Zhuang Ning pouted her lips and said indifferently, “Is that so? She deserves it.” 

I found that Zhuang Ning was very hostile toward Tang Shuangshuang. 

“Do you hate her?” I asked. 

Zhuang Ning looked strangely calm and nodded. “Not only do I hate her... I loathe her from the bottom of my heart!” 

When Zhuang Ning said this, she even gritted her teeth. 

I was surprised. 

Zhuang Ning sighed then sat next to me. “Tang Shuangshuang is a person with a despicable mouth! Do you think that I’m being mean? She’s a girl in my dorm room, and now she’s in grave trouble. Her face has almost been ruined, so I should forget the past and care about her, right? Haha, but I just can’t do it.” 

I felt somewhat speechless and smiled. “What did she do to you that makes you hate her so much?” 

“There were six female students in my dorm room. Except for Li Xiaoling who killed herself, the others have gone home or stayed in the hospital. When I witnessed Li Xiaoling’s death, I was greatly shocked. But do you know why I’m so persistent to stay in this university?” Zhuang Ning shot me a glance. 

I shook my head to indicate that I didn’t know.

Zhuang Ning didn’t mind it. “I’m from a very rural and remote village. Going to school is the dream of my life. All of the folks in my village collected money to sponsor me so that I could attend here. I stay in Wuhan every summer break or winter break and work part-time in Wuhan. I don’t even want to spend money on the train ticket to visit my hometown.” 

She continued, “Last semester, I exerted a lot of effort to get an assistant job in the school. The job was to help the professors prepare the lessons. At that time, Tang Shuangshuang was my rival. However, since her image wasn’t good, she didn’t get the job. When she learned that I was chosen, she spread a rumor and told the other classmates that I got the job because I slept with the professors every day. They spread the rumor fast enough, and in just a blink of an eye, I became the university’s villain. To avoid the negative impact, the professor had to recruit a male student to be his assistant.”

When she came to this part, Zhuang Ning turned to me, her face calm. “Tang Shuangshuang just said a few words, but they lost me my job and my dignity! When I went to her to question it, she just laughed and said it was just a joke.” 

I understood and nodded. “Because of this, you hate Tang Shuangshuang?” 

“What, should I be thankful to her?” Zhuang Ning sneered. “Anyway, what have you learned until now?” 

“Currently, there’s no progress,” I answered. 

Zhuang Ning didn’t believe me. However, she was a smart girl, so she changed the topic. “Mister, why are you interested in this? Who asked you to come here? You’re not a student at Wuhan University. Why do you want to get involved in this?” 

“Because I’m bored. Also, I’m a merchant specialized in collecting strange antiques.” I forced a smile. 

My answer was out of Zhuang Ning’s expectation. 

Zhuang Ning raised her eyebrows. She got up and was prepared to leave. “Curiosity killed the cat. I think you should control yourself.”

I called to her, “Zhuang Ning, last time you told me that that before Li Xiaoling committed suicide, she left a letter. Did you read that letter?” 

Zhuang Ning nodded. “I did.” 

“What did it say?” I asked. 

“Only one line: ‘Gossip is a fearful thing.’” Then, Zhuang Ning went into the female student dormitory. 

“Gossip is a fearful thing?” I repeated the words.

Why did they sound so familiar?

I quickly returned to my antique shop and used my computer for a quick search. Soon, I found an article. 

There was a movie star from the Republic of China period (1912-1949) that left a note with the same line when she committed suicide. She was an icon of Chinese cinema, and her name was Ruan Lingyu. Ruan Lingyu was a beauty that could mesmerize anyone and was addressed as the top beauty amongst the Four Beauties of the Republic of China. She was a movie star and also a socialite. However, her life was ruined by her ex-husband, who was a hard-core gambler. He always relied on Ruan Lingyu’s money, and if she didn’t pay him, he would spread rumors to tarnish her name. He would say that she was a mistress that had slept with countless men. 

In the end, Ruan Lingyu couldn’t stand this humiliation and the pressure, so she drank poison to end her life. In her last letter, she left the line ‘Gossip is a fearful thing.’

This can’t be just a coincidence, right? 

Then, I remembered that Li Xiaoling was wearing a black jade bracelet when she killed herself...

I frantically typed the keyword ‘goldfish bracelet’ in the search bar. However, I got nothing. I had to search through Ruan Lingyu’s black and white photos and scroll through a lot of them.

When my eyes were already sore, I finally found a yellowed picture of Ruan Lingyu wearing a black jade bracelet over her porcelain-white wrist.

Although it was a picture taken in the Republic of China period, the black bracelet was still eye-catching. The goldfish on it looked lively, just as if it could swim away in the next moment. 

So, the otherworldly item this time is this goldfish bracelet? 

While I was contemplating, Li Mazi strolled into my shop. “Little Brother Zhang, have you eaten yet?” 

“Not yet.” 

“Awesome. I haven’t, either. I’ll stay in your shop for another meal,” said Li Mazi. Then, he comfortably sank into my sofa. 

He did it so naturally that I was stunned. 

“Li Mazi, do you think my house is a cafeteria?” I stood up and kicked him. “When I want to see you, I only find your shadow. And when I don’t want to see your face, you always show up in front of me.” 

“Ouch. What? You wanted to see me?” 

“I have something for you to do.” I scratched my head and ruffled my hair, then said with a yawn, “You’ve been bragging to me that you know everybody in Wuhan, right? Go and ask around if anybody bought a goldfish bracelet from a flea market in the past two months.” 

“A goldfish bracelet?” Li Mazi squinted his eyes. They sparkled with greed. “Is it valuable?” 

I put on a poker face and silently looked at him.

Li Mazi felt awkward. “All right, I’m going. Let alone the flea market, if you ask, I will climb the sword mountain and swim across a sea of fire for you. However, I need to refill my energy first.” 

I kicked him one more time. “Move, now!” 

“Little Brother Zhang… There are seven or eight flea markets in Wuhan. I have to go and check them one by one. Shouldn’t you treat me to a meal before I leave?”

I seriously thought about it for a solid second. I then gratefully bowed to Li Mazi. “Thank you for your labor.”

Then, I directly slammed my door shut and went back to my bedroom while Li Mazi cursed by the door.