Chapter 31

Lu Siyu and Song Wen came out of the small restaurant, still taking the same route back. Their train tickets were for 1:30 in the afternoon, and it would take some time to rush back to the city. Time was quite tight, leaving only about ten minutes if they didn’t want to risk missing the train.

When Song Wen arrived downstairs, he specifically checked if the old lady was still there. It was lunchtime, and the residential area became quieter. The two of them climbed up to the fourth floor, knocked on Lin Wanwan’s door, and after several minutes, a voice came from inside. The door was then opened, and Wang Wenyan, behind an iron gate, looked up at them with some surprise, “You, why have you come back again?”

Song Wen said, “Auntie, we forgot to ask a few more questions just now, and we would like to inquire about them.”

Wang Wenyan looked at him, not as indifferent as the first time they came, “I’ve told you everything I can tell.”

Lu Siyu, listening behind, frowned slightly. This statement couldn’t be taken lightly. What does it mean to tell everything one can? What are the things that cannot be told?

Hastening, Song Wen went straight to the point, “We want to ask about the gas poisoning incident three years ago.”

Wang Wenyan’s eyes flickered, as if suddenly someone had pressed an acupoint, her voice trembling a bit, “Where did you hear about it? That incident has nothing to do with the current situation in Wanwan’s dormitory. Besides, that matter has long passed, and no one got hurt.”

Lu Siyu whispered from the side, “Auntie, do you want us to discuss this matter in the hallway?”

At this moment, they were separated by a security iron gate, with Song Wen and Lu Siyu standing in the hallway, and Wang Wenyan standing inside the door. In this position, anyone coming up the stairs could see, and some neighbors might also hear.

Wang Wenyan hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want them to come in again, but she also didn’t want others to know. Having the police show up at the door was not a glorious matter. Especially now, this matter was related to her daughter, Lin Wanwan.

Song Wen supported the iron gate with his hand, lowered his head slightly, and looked down at her, a determined look as if he wouldn’t give up until he got inside, “We just want to ask a few questions, and once we’re done, we’ll leave.”

Wang Wenyan lowered her head, and after a moment, the door lock made a sound, and she opened the door. This time, her attitude was much colder. On the coffee table were the leftovers from a recent meal, simple and plain—one dish, one bowl. When Song Wen and Lu Siyu entered, she didn’t ask them to sit and didn’t pour any water.

Song Wen went straight to the point, “I want to ask about the gas poisoning incident three years ago. At that time, was Wanwan not at home?”

Wang Wenyan crossed her arms and nodded, “She has the habit of going to the library for study. She left around six in the morning.”

“When did you discover the poisoning incident?”

“It was around ten o’clock. Our house has a ventilation window leading to the corridor. At that time, the corridor was filled with a gas smell, and someone made a call to report it.” The memories sealed away were suddenly brought back, and Wang Wenyan answered a bit slowly.

Song Wen asked again, “What time do you usually wake up in the morning?”

“Between seven-thirty and eight.” Obviously, due to the gas poisoning, they couldn’t wake up on time.

Lu Siyu, recording on the side, looked up and asked, “During Lin Wanwan’s vacation, does she always go to the library so early? As far as I know, the library doesn’t open that early.” He had just checked the distance from here to the library. The whole town was not large, taking a car would be fifteen minutes, and even if walking, it would take about thirty minutes. General libraries would open at eight-thirty. Even if she left early at seven, it should be enough, and she could grab some breakfast on the way.

Wang Wenyan visibly hesitated, not sure if she genuinely didn’t know or if she hadn’t thought about this question before, “I… I don’t know. Usually, when I wake up, she’s not at home.”

Song Wen continued, “On that day, what was the situation with the water on the gas stove?”

Wang Wenyan’s face changed slightly, and she lowered her head, speaking softly, “It’s… it’s my fault. When I went to the bathroom in the morning and wanted to drink water, I found there was no hot water at home, so I boiled some and forgot to turn it off.” This was the excuse she had repeated countless times later. Her head lowered further, as if she wished there was a crack to hide in.

Song Wen, looking down at the woman in front of him, could feel the guilt emanating from Wang Wenyan. She seemed to regard herself as a sinner, “Is that true? Why did you go to boil water so early in the morning? Have you done such a thing before?”

Wang Wenyan pursed her lips and shook her head, “I don’t remember.” She stood there rubbing her hands, looking like a student scolded by a teacher for not handing in homework, feeling awkward and uneasy.

“After that, did Lin Wanwan often mention this matter to you?” Lu Siyu interjected.

“She… she mentioned it, blaming me for being forgetful.” Wang Wenyan lowered her head, took a step back, and self-reproach seemed to be embedded in every wrinkle on her face.

In a typical family, after such an unfortunate event, people would avoid talking about it and wouldn’t want to bring it up. However, Lin Wanwan treated this as a means to threaten her mother, repeatedly bringing it up. She wasn’t afraid or hesitant to mention it, seemingly indifferent to the fact that discussing it could further disturb her mother.

Song Wen and Lu Siyu exchanged a glance. This matter was indeed not simple.

After thinking for a moment, Song Wen spoke, “From the information I have here, when someone initially came to inquire, you didn’t say it this way. You claimed that the water was not ignited by you.” The old lady’s statement was ambiguous, so he had to combine guesses with probing.

Lu Siyu, noticing Wang Wenyan’s hesitation, added, “This incident happened three years ago. No one will be held accountable now, but we want to understand the situation. If this wasn’t something you did, do you really want to continue carrying the accusation of almost killing your own family three years ago? If you don’t speak now, perhaps no one will ever know the truth.”

Wang Wenyan’s eyes flickered, seemingly moved by Lu Siyu’s words. Over these three years, she had faced suspicions and accusations from her family and outsiders. Everyone’s gaze upon her was a mix of fear and doubt, as if she were an attempted murderer. However, after a brief pause, she still insisted on her previous statement, “I don’t know… I don’t know why the fire was lit. I have no recollection.”

Lu Siyu continued, taking a step forward, “Then, what about your daughter, Lin Wanwan? What time did she leave? Was the fire ignited before or after she woke up? Who informed Lin Wanwan, and where was she at that time? How did she explain it after you were rescued?”

Lu Siyu’s questions came quickly, bringing a sense of pressure to Wang Wenyan. Pressed like this, she could hardly think and shook her head in denial, “No… it wasn’t Wanwan. It couldn’t have been her. I know my daughter very well… Wanwan said that day…” Her words suddenly halted, her eyes trembling, and she bit her lip.

Lu Siyu continued, “I didn’t say it was her. I’m just asking about the time the fire was ignited.”

Realizing she misspoke, the woman swallowed hard, looked at them somewhat helplessly, stayed silent for a few seconds, and then said in a low voice, “Wanwan said… she didn’t notice if there was a fire on the stove.”

Song Wen’s eyes narrowed slightly, applying additional pressure to the woman in front of him, “Your reaction now seems like you once doubted your daughter’s involvement in the incident.”

Upon hearing this, for a moment, Wang Wenyan seemed to be transported back to her home three years ago on an ordinary morning. She heard the sound of Wanwan going out to close the door. Later, lying in bed, she was clearly awake but couldn’t open her eyes. It felt like her body was paralyzed, as if pinned down by a ghost. She smelled a strange odor in her nose. At first, she could distinguish the pungency, but later, even that sensation disappeared. It was as if she had been walking on a road, faintly feeling that she shouldn’t be here, but she couldn’t recall anything.

Moving forward would lead to the gates of life and death.

For a long time afterward, she suffered from insomnia. Whenever she closed her eyes, the burning flames, the bubbling water on the stove, and in her dreams, someone pointed at her nose, calling her a murderer.

Who ignited the fire on the stove? Was it herself? Or… or…

She dared not imagine that possibility. She had given herself countless reasons. Wanwan had a good memory; she couldn’t forget. Wanwan was her biological daughter; she couldn’t have lit the fire… But besides her, who else could it be… Did she really doubt her own daughter?

No!

Wang Wenyan widened her eyes, rejecting that thought in her mind. She couldn’t have doubted her own daughter. Wanwan was her most beloved person in the world. When she was young, Wanwan used to hug her and say, “Mom, it’s okay if Dad doesn’t want you. I’ll always be with you.” Wanwan was the angel in her life, the hope she endured and survived for. Even if she was wrong, Wanwan wouldn’t be wrong.

Therefore, it must be that she had forgotten, only if she had forgotten, Wanwan would accuse her with a smile, saying, “Mom, how could you forget again?”

It must be that she had forgotten; otherwise, this family wouldn’t exist.

Wang Wenyan touched her cheek, lifted her head, waved her hand, trying to muster her spirits. “No, I haven’t… It’s just me forgetting things. My memory is bad; I always make mistakes, can’t find things I put away properly, forget to lock the door when I go out. None of this has anything to do with Wanwan, or the case you’re investigating. Please, don’t ask me anymore. Don’t force me.” Her eyes were full of pleading, and her voice carried a hint of crying.

Lu Siyu didn’t continue pressing. The woman’s reaction had already given him the answer. He bit the pen and continued asking, “Do you think that this dormitory incident could have been done by Wanwan?”

Wang Wenyan continued to deny, “It has nothing to do with… with Wanwan…” Her gaze became increasingly uneasy, but she still insisted, as if by denying it, everything could be overlooked, her daughter would be fine, and this family would be fine. It all felt like that incident from back then, like a dream. Once awakened, everything would be fine; everyone in this family would be safe. The innocent girls, Wanwan’s classmates, the truth of the matter – she couldn’t manage any of it.

“You don’t even know the specific details of the dormitory case. Did your daughter instruct you to say this?” Song Wen continued to press her, “Did you know the police were coming before the phone call last night?”

“No… I didn’t…” Wang Wenyan was on the verge of tears.

Wanwan had called, she was still in the hospital at that time, reportedly borrowing a nurse’s phone. She said, “Mom, a classmate in my dorm ate something wrong and ended up in the hospital. I’m fine here. Don’t come over. The police might come to ask about it. If they ask you later, don’t be nervous. Just tell them what you know.”

When she received the school’s call, Wang Wenyan was anxious. Later, when she received Lin Wanwan’s call, her daughter’s calmness seemed like her backbone. However, the more she understood the situation, the more anxious she became. These past few days, she could hardly sleep, always feeling that someone was standing at the head of her bed whenever she opened her eyes.

When did it start? Her daughter, who should have been closest to her, suddenly grew up overnight and became as cold as ice. The calls became fewer, the greetings became fewer. Sometimes, when she looked at her daughter’s unfamiliar face, she even felt a bit scared. Was that really her daughter? Wang Wenyan suddenly felt like there was something lodged in her chest, making it difficult to breathe.

She felt weak, isolated, overly dependent on men, living a life that was not what she wanted. She had high hopes for her daughter, often saying, “Your mother is too foolish. Don’t be like your mother. Forge your own path. Be a bit selfish, don’t follow your mother, always living for others.” So, her daughter became intelligent, strong, independent—everyone said she was gentle and likable. She had finally become what she hoped for, a hundred times better than herself. But she knew her daughter was not right.

It seemed that after junior high, Lin Wanwan developed an interest in biology. Wang Wenyan even once found a dead bird in her room. The bird’s claws were tightly curled, eyes wide open, black as night, and its body was completely stiff…

“The poisoning happened with chocolates,” Lu Siyu revealed the truth, staring at Wang Wenyan, and the calmness that was once present in the woman was gone.

In an instant, Wang Wenyan thought of the box in her daughter’s room filled with chocolate wrappers, the chocolates that Lin Wanwan loved the most. Those chocolates were rewards she received for achieving good grades. No wonder these two police officers had such strange looks when they glanced at that thing earlier. She remembered vividly how Wanwan once jokingly said, “Mom, if I die one day, I’ll make sure to have chocolate as my last supper because there’s nothing in this world tastier than it.” At that time, she hurriedly responded, “Nonsense, at such a young age, what are you talking about?”

“Stop talking! Don’t say anything more!” Wang Wenyan was like an injured deer, cornered by hunters, wounded and bleeding on the ground, emitting a despairing sob.

In an instant, it was as if someone had struck a match, and an orange-red flame shot up, thrown into the room full of gas. With a loud bang, Wang Wenyan felt as if something in her mind had exploded. The flames scorched her flesh, and in the towering blaze, everything burned to ashes, ceasing to exist, never to return.

Wang Wenyan’s trembling hands resembled a sieve, and tears finally slid from the corners of her eyes. She kept repeating, “It’s all my fault…” As if regardless of right or wrong, blaming herself for everything could resolve it.

Facing the crumbling Wang Wenyan, Song Wen didn’t continue questioning. Instead, he put on a professional smile, saying, “Auntie, thank you for cooperating with our work. We need to leave now; otherwise, we’ll miss our train.” After saying this, he exchanged a glance with Lu Siyu, exited through the door, leaving Wang Wenyan in tears.

The two of them went downstairs, hailed a taxi using a ride-sharing app, and sat in the back seat. Speaking in a low voice, Song Wen said, “One thing Wang Wenyan said is true: she knows her daughter well. Perhaps Lin Wanwan had already called, instructing them not to say anything to the police. She might have considered the possibility that her daughter was the culprit. The first time we went, she was prepared, tense and cautious. The second time, she didn’t expect us to return, and she was very flustered, revealing her true colors.”

Lu Siyu looked at Song Wen and said, “Have you heard of the Gaslight Effect?”

Song Wen shook his head.

Lu Siyu explained, “It’s a term in psychology, a form of emotional violence and manipulation. It originated from a movie called ‘Gaslight.’ In the film, the husband repeatedly instills information into his wife that she has a mental illness and poor memory. He intentionally takes things she leaves behind, then accuses her of misremembering. The wife is gradually tormented by her husband’s lies and manipulation, leading her to madness. This control doesn’t happen overnight but slowly forms in daily life. The manipulator constantly denies and distorts facts, instilling false information, subjecting the other person to mental torture.”

Song Wen asked, “Is this a form of psychological manipulation?”

“It’s a form of chronic psychological torment, and many people are trapped in it without realizing it.” Lu Siyu looked at Song Wen. “I think Wang Wenyan’s condition is somewhat similar.”

Song Wen frowned. “Did you deduce this from Li Zichen’s accusations and Wang Wenyan’s behavior?” He had studied some courses on criminal psychology and knew that psychological manipulation, although sounding mysterious, had manipulable aspects.

Lu Siyu nodded. Forgetfulness, useless. Sister not returning home, these attitudes couldn’t have been innate in Li Zichen. Connecting these innocently spoken words revealed Lin Wanwan’s consistent attitude toward her mother. Wang Wenyan’s bewildered and fragile state was abnormal.

Lin Wanwan has no emotional connection with this mother and this family. Wang Wenyan, forgetful and weak, presents herself in a lowly manner. She feels indebted to her daughter, and if this personality and mentality are manipulated, she could become a puppet without resistance. Perhaps she did start with some forgetfulness, but constant accusations and oppression from family members distorted the facts in her eyes and mind, undoubtedly exacerbating these issues.

In her life, it’s as if someone lit a gas lamp, flickering unpredictably.

Did Wang Wenyan really ignite the gas that morning?

In her own memory, this point is probably blurry. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. Perhaps at that time, Lin Wanwan saw the burning water, or perhaps that pot of water was placed on the stove by Lin Wanwan. Maybe she is innocent and completely unaware. The incident happened three years ago, and no one died as a result. The truth of this matter is now entirely untraceable.

In this household, the one who manipulated Wang Wenyan earlier could not have been her absent husband or her underage son. It could only have been her daughter who previously lived in the house. Lu Siyu became more convinced that Lin Wanwan had a controlling personality, but this manipulation had weakened with her daughter living away from home.

Sunlight fell on Lu Siyu’s pale face, his dark eyes gently moved, and he continued, “I believe that every criminal, the reasons for their crimes, and the process are closely related to their upbringing. Most murderers show some signs and escalating behavior, such as animal cruelty or harming others. If it wasn’t her mother who forgot to turn off the stove, then this could have been an attempt.”

On that morning, that girl might have been standing not far below, staring closely at that window, waiting for the gas to consume the lives of her loved ones. She wiped away her fingerprints, prepared excuses, but unfortunately, her family was saved. For so long, she has never shown any regret or fear regarding this incident.

Lu Siyu’s current words are speculative but bolder than before.

So, Lin Wanwan’s suspicion has increased. However, why would she kill those dormitory classmates?

TN:

Wow what kind of psycho gaslights their own mother?! I don’t really watch old films so I haven’t seen Gaslight. But from the reviews and info I’ve seen online, it seems like a worthy watch. It’s the 1994 Gaslight. Not to be confused with the 2023 Indian film with the same name.