It Was Not a Murder Chapter 3

Time flies, and it’s December in a flash.

During this time, I lived a law-abiding student life, commuting between the classroom and the dormitory every day. When I was reading, I would occasionally think of the girl named Olivia. I secretly hoped to meet her unexpectedly in the library, cafeteria or public class classroom.

But that never happened once.

Near the end of the year, the student union posted a notice on the bulletin board, announcing that a Christmas Eve dance for students would be held on the evening of the 24th. The slogan "A Night of Beautiful Memories" really moved me. If you hope to meet people from different colleges, this kind of event for the whole school is naturally the best opportunity.

But I didn't sign up after all. It was the end of the semester and the exam period was approaching, so I really didn't have the leisure time to indulge in relationships with the opposite s3x.

Half a year ago, I failed the college entrance examination due to a cold, and my score was far from what I expected. I was ashamed to contact any of my high school friends because I didn't want to talk about my college entrance examination results. For this reason, I even applied for a university in a southern province. When I boarded the train alone with my luggage, I secretly made up my mind to do well in my studies in college and wash away the shame. My goal was to get a full scholarship and be admitted to graduate school after graduation (although even if I was admitted to graduate school, I would choose a better goal).

Of course, it was difficult to maintain an exemplary academic performance in college. Unlike the high school environment, I was surrounded by lazy students and seemed to be the only one who had academic problems.

Everyone has their own hobbies, such as chess, games, clothing, club activities and love, enjoying themselves in the warm sunshine of the campus. Many freshmen gradually mastered the tricks, from being late to skipping classes. Classes where students are called one by one and classes where students can impersonate others, professors who are rigorous and professors who don't care, even if they don't study them deliberately, rumors will naturally enter their ears.

In order to maintain my self and not be corrupted by the environment, I pay special attention to healthy living habits. Like a bricklayer laying bricks one by one according to the tight guidelines, I strictly follow the schedule - go to bed early and get up early, never skip classes, get up at 6 am for a long run, and go to the study room to read at 7 pm. I don't smoke, refuse to drink alcohol and carbonated drinks, and bite the bullet to finish the hard-to-swallow green vegetables in the cafeteria.

As the winter chill deepened, everyone woke up later and later. I was the first to arrive in the classroom and the last to leave. From morning to night, I watched the classroom seats change from empty to full and then empty again like the tide. This process always made me feel emotional.

The school dormitory is equipped with a self-service laundry room. Every sunny weekend, I would put aside my study plan, take off the bed sheets and quilt covers, and throw them into the washing machine along with the dirty clothes. After washing, I would hang them in the dormitory to dry in the sun.
 
"You know what? You are the only boy in the school who is interested in washing bed sheets." Jack commented on my behavior.

"No one is interested in washing sheets, they just have to be washed when they are dirty."

"You call that dirty?"

I understand that what he said makes sense. The definition of dirty varies from person to person. My roommates may think that I have a mysophobia. Without exception, they regard washing as a hassle and will never step into the laundry room unless it is absolutely necessary. I can even smell their movements from their clothes: the smell of cigarettes from the Internet cafe, the smell of sweat from the stadium, the smell of cumin from the barbecue stall... Or maybe I am just too nervous.

Jack is the same. He occasionally accompanies me to the laundry room, but he rarely washes clothes. He has never washed bed sheets. For most men, bed sheets are probably a permanent fixture tied to the bed.

"I can't imagine a more extravagant waste of time than wasting my precious weekend time in the laundry room." He leaned against the door of the laundry room, playing with his mobile phone while saying.

"I spent two months chatting with a high school girl with a cute profile picture on a social software day and night, pretending to be a close friend. But I blocked her as soon as she sent me a photo. People who do this must be really good at wasting time."

"That was an exception. Who knew her profile picture would be so outrageous after being photoshopped?" Jack said unhappily. "Besides, there are many successful examples. I have an appointment with one tonight."

"You haven't changed your denim jacket for a week, aren't you afraid that the other person will dislike the smell?"

"You underestimate me too much." Jack said proudly, "I always have a set of decent clothes in my wardrobe for emergencies. The key to love is to maintain your image in front of girls, even if it is just an act..."

I listened absentmindedly to his love experience, focusing on the timer of the washing machine. Should I go back to the dormitory to dry a batch of clothes first? The laundry room is much more crowded on weekends than usual. There are only 10 washing machines. If I leave halfway, I may have to wait a long time for my turn.

Someone handed me a flyer and I took it.

Being on campus, I can’t help but receive some advertising flyers. The flyers include promotions for clubs, newly opened restaurants, and mobile network discount packages. I’ve long been accustomed to this.

But there was something strange about the flyer in hand - poorly printed, with crooked layout. The title was not "Free home delivery for takeout orders over 20 yuan" or "First-year special offer for online packages", but a line of ambiguous English letters "No Keeping No Feeding". There was a black-and-white picture in the lower right corner, and a closer look revealed a bloody scene of a spotted cat eating a bird, with feathers scattered all over the floor.

I looked up in confusion at the person handing out flyers.

It turned out to be that weirdo Max.

He looked at me seriously and asked, "What do you think about wild cats preying on birds?"

"Cat? Why catch birds?" I totally couldn't understand what he wanted to say.

Max smacked his lips. "You didn't read my flyer carefully."

He also gave one to Jack. Jack only glanced at it and continued to play with his phone without interest, "You haven't finished sending them yet, how long are you going to finish?"

"Of course, I will do it until everyone in this school understands the purpose of NKNF."

Max pulled out a flyer, stood in the center of the laundry room, and read aloud:

"According to the definition of "IUCN", oh, that is, "International Union for Conservation of Nature", stray cats are recognized as one of the most dangerous invasive species with a red warning! Due to human selection, they have no natural enemies in the urban ecological chain, and their reproduction number cannot be regulated by the ecosystem. Once the species multiplies and grows, it will have catastrophic consequences for the ecological balance. Did you know? Stray cats have caused the extinction of at least 63 populations worldwide! They hunt birds, reptiles, amphibians, rodents, etc., not only for food but also for entertainment..."

Several boys carrying basins of dirty clothes walked into the laundry room, glanced at Max, whispered a few words, and then turned and walked out. I also wanted to avoid it, but the timer but.ton of the washing machine was only half a turn away.

"In view of the harm that stray cats cause to the environment, I hereby urge everyone not to feed them at will, that is, 'No Keeping No Feeding' - if you do feed them, be responsible to the end, take them to the hospital for examination, get vaccinated, and then take them home to raise. Never feed them at designated spots in the wild out of excessive compassion..."

"Excuse me for interrupting." Jack put his phone in his pocket and smiled maliciously, "The campaign of not feeding stray cats you mentioned, was it initiated by that Bob Polyester?"

"No." Max was stunned for a moment before answering, "Mr. Bob's songs are highly symbolic and usually do not mention specific issues. This is my own idea."

"Really? But I still remember your heroic words in English class. A great man who wants to protect world peace is actually concerned about trivial matters like cats and birds. It's really a waste of talent!"

"You're too kind. I'm not that great." Max was quite shy. It was disgusting to hear a grown man speak in such a delicate tone. I wanted to plug my ears.

Moreover, I doubt that he didn't even hear Jack's sarcasm.

"Hey, what about world peace?" Jack pretended to be concerned.

"Of course, I have not missed the call for peace. Until yesterday, I visited the official UN accounts on Facebook, Twitter and other websites every day and left messages calling for an end to the war against Iraq."

He spoke in a serious manner, but this behavior was not something a normal adult would do. Even Jack was stunned and didn't know how to respond.

"Let's put aside the topic of peace and talk about stray cats first." Max looked around the laundry room. Except for Jack, everyone was busy doing laundry and avoided meeting his eyes. "Last month, I witnessed a tragedy with my own eyes. It was at the west gate of the school. I had just finished eating beef ramen and was on my way back to the dormitory. I unexpectedly saw a white cat squatting in the bushes ambushing sparrows. I was going to watch the joke. How could a flying thing be so easy to catch? In an instant, the cat scurried out like lightning, and the sparrow died before it could flap its wings and take off. As I was stunned, it left leisurely with the sparrow in its mouth, with blood at the corner of its mouth."
 
As if seeking support, he pressed the leaflet against the washing machine in front of me, finger-printing the picture.

"I am ashamed to say that I have also fed stray cats. They are cute and friendly, and I can't help but want to take care of them. But this behavior actually deprives other creatures of their chance to survive. There are many people like me - just because of human preferences, we arbitrarily decide the survival of biological populations. Don't you think it is a shame to civilized society? Shouldn't we do something to cut off the chains and return the right of natural selection to nature?"

If you calm down and think about it, there is some truth in this statement. But its poor salesmanship makes people really unwilling to agree with it.

"I've never fed a feral cat, and I never will," I declared icily. "Find someone else to spread the word."

"Does this mean you can just stay out of it? Are you indifferent to the tragic fate of bird populations?" Max pressed on.

I ignored him. Jack came forward, took a leaflet and looked at it over and over again, as if he felt sympathy for the birds that died like autumn leaves. "I see. Is there anything we can do?"

Max smiled unguardedly and nodded vigorously. I thought, "Nothing is easier to deceive than someone who firmly believes that what he is doing is right."

He pulled out a form filled with names and asked, "Are you free next Sunday?"

Although there is indeed no arrangement, I don't want to tell this man about it. I always feel that nothing good will come out of it.

"What does it matter to you whether I am free next Sunday or not?"

"If you want to raise public awareness of protection, it's definitely not enough to just hand out flyers at universities. Next Sunday, I plan to hold a charity fundraiser in the city center, and I'm now recruiting like-minded volunteers." He raised the form in his hand, "More than 30 people have signed up."

It was surprising that someone would sign up for such a suspicious activity. If it were me, I would not want to participate in it at all.

When I was thinking about the reasons to refuse, Jack agreed immediately, "It sounds very meaningful, let's sign up too."

"Stop joking..." I wanted to argue, but Jack used his eyes to signal me not to speak.

"Welcome, welcome. Just sign here."

Not knowing why, I had no choice but to watch him sign both of our names on the form.

The registration form filled up a whole page. I read through the list, and most of them were boys, many of whom I knew, from the same class. I suddenly spotted an unexpected name, and just as I was about to check it carefully, Max raised his hand and took the list back.

"So it's a deal. Meet under the glowing tree at the entrance of Daxinggong Station on Line 2 at 3pm on Sunday."

"What tree?"

"It's the glowing tree, the one at the entrance of the mall...you'll know when you get there."

The weirdo left after saying this. I even suspected that he didn't even remember our names.

"What 'No keeping no feeding'? That guy's English is really bad." Jack laughed blatantly, "But now it's going to be interesting."

"It's fine if you don't agree with him, but why do you actively invite trouble?"

"Don't worry, you can figure it out with your toes. How could anyone go to such a silly event? And if you calculate the date, next Sunday is Christmas Eve. A popular man like me has already made an appointment."

"But that registration form..."

"That registration form was full of fake signatures. Led by that guy's roommate, everyone pretended to sign up enthusiastically. They had already agreed privately that no one would show up on that day to embarrass him."

"Doesn't he get along well with his roommates?"

"Who knows? However, he is always so arrogant and domineering, so many people must be annoyed with him."

You are one of them, I thought to myself, but I didn't say it out loud.

"I heard that guy spent half a month printing flyers and making billboards. There were so many of them that they blocked the dormitory corridor. When he found that no one showed up, he must have been very disappointed. It was a lesson for him."

I couldn't help but imagine the scene: Max stood by the road holding the sign he had worked so hard to make, and found that no one came. He suddenly realized that he actually didn't have any friends at school. It was like a Shiba Inu that was abandoned in the wild and only realized it after its owner drove away. It was a bit pitiful.

"That's a bit too much, isn't this bullying?"

"What bullying are you talking about? He's not a junior high school student." Jack laughed again.

"There's no difference in terms of childishness."

"Just pretend to forget about it. Everyone is doing it anyway, so we can't be out of touch." Jack opened the lid of the washing machine and took out his underwear.

Then I remembered my bed sheets. The sun is so bright, should I take down the curtains and wash them?

The following Sunday, Jack had a date. I ate lunch alone in the school cafeteria and ordered braised pork with thousand pieces of knots and stir-fried cabbage. The lady who served the food shook as usual and shook off half a spoonful of each dish. The braised pork that survived was 90% fat. The stir-fried cabbage had too much soy sauce, so it was shiny black and terribly salty. The person who made such pig food should be tried for the crime of wasting food.

After finishing the meal with great effort, I went to the study room as planned, intending to spend half a day reading the book "Currency War" which I had just borrowed from the library.

It should have been a peaceful afternoon, but it was completely ruined by an unexpected accident.

"I dream about you every night."

"That's annoying!"

"Really, I'm not lying. Before I met you, the world was lonely and cold. I don't know how I survived."

A shameless couple sat in the row behind me, with no intention of reading at all, and they kept talking about love.

I tried hard to concentrate on the content of the book, but the seats were too close to each other and what the man said was too stupid, so it was impossible to pretend not to hear.
 
"Let's spend this wonderful night together."

"But we are not allowed to enter the dormitory after 10 o'clock."

"Leave it to me. I'll always find a place to stay for the night..."

Bullsh!t!

In desperation, I closed the book, stood up, and cast a condemning look at the couple. The man with a slicked-back hair and silver earrings whispered in the woman's ear, paying no attention to me at all. The woman looked up.

Ouch, the powder is applied as thickly as the bottom of a pot, what a vulgar face!

For some reason, this couple who talk so much nonsense reminds me of Max. In comparison, his nonsense about world peace is much cuter, the difference is like the difference between cow dung and a teddy bear.

Although the colors of the two are similar.