The Final Monologue

The air in the interrogation room suddenly became thick and heavy after Feng Jianguo said, "I can't wait any longer." The stark white light shone on his pale, sickly face, reflecting a strange calmness, even... peace. It was completely out of place in this room specifically designed to crush lies and break down psychological defenses.

He looked at the two stern-faced criminal police officers in front of him. The younger one (Li Zhen) still had the shock and resentment of being exposed for "leading a confession" on his face, while the older one (Wang Yong) was like a deep well, all the ripples of emotion contained behind his deep eyes.

Feng Jianguo seemed quite satisfied with the effect he had created, or perhaps he had already transcended this silent power struggle between people. He spoke slowly, in an almost casual tone, as if chatting about everyday matters:

"The doctor told me it's stage three stomach cancer." He raised his handcuffed hands and gently pointed to his stomach. "It's completely rotten inside. The doctor said that if I can completely quit drinking and get proper treatment..." He paused, a small, bitter, and mocking smile curving his lips, "At most, I'll have a month."

His gaze was somewhat unfocused, as if he were seeing through the walls to the doctor who had given him the ultimatum, or perhaps to some "old buddy" he could never leave.

"Alcohol has been with me my whole life." A complex warmth lingered in his voice. "I drink when I'm happy, and I drink even more when I'm sad. It made me lose my job, drove my wife away, and even my daughter... doesn't want to acknowledge me as her father anymore." His eyes dimmed for a moment when he spoke of his daughter, but quickly returned to their numb calm. "Tell me, I've come to this point, can I really abandon this old buddy for the last month? I can't do it."

He seemed to be asking the two policemen, or perhaps talking to himself. Then, he looked up, his calm smile returning to his face, tinged with an almost absurd politeness. "Officers, could you... give me a cigarette?"

Wang Yong and Li Zhen remained silent. The news was too sudden. A terminally ill cancer patient on the verge of death and a crazed, violent criminal—these two identities superimposed on the same person created an extremely bizarre sense of incongruity.

Wang Yong didn't say anything, but silently took out a cigarette he often smoked, a not-so-good brand, from the cigarette pack, stood up, walked around the table, and handed it to Feng Jianguo's lips. Then, with a "click," he pressed the lighter, and the orange flame moved closer.

Feng Jianguo took a deep drag by the flame, the smoke filling his lungs and triggering a suppressed, muffled cough. He paused for a moment, then exhaled a long, satisfied puff of grayish-white smoke. The smoke curled upwards under the lamplight, blurring his lifeless face.

"Thank you," he said softly.

The cigarette burned between his large, white-knuckled fingers as he stared at the flickering red light, as if lost in some kind of memory.

"To be honest, my life has been... truly unremarkable." His tone was calm, as if he were telling a story unrelated to himself. "When I was in school, my grades were neither good nor bad; the teachers never paid any attention to me. When I started working, I was a technician in a factory, just average. I never got a position, nor did I develop any extraordinary skills. Later, the factory's performance declined, and I was laid off, so there's even less to say about that."

"Marriage... was pretty ordinary. We were introduced by someone, thought it was alright, so we got married. Life was just so-so." He took a drag of his cigarette. "Later, it was all because of this alcohol." He swirled the cigarette in his hand, as if the cigarette were the alcohol, "The more I drank, the more I drank, and the less I could control myself. At first, my wife would argue, then she would cry, and then... she ran away, taking our daughter with her. My daughter was still little then, but now... she's all grown up and lives with her grandparents. She doesn't want to talk to me. After she became an adult, we had even less contact. We didn't even exchange a phone call all year round."

His tone contained little resentment or obvious sadness, only a resigned statement.

"When the doctor told me I only had a month left, I sat alone on a bench in the hospital corridor, thinking for a long time." Feng Jianguo's voice rose slightly, and a different light seemed to appear in his dull eyes. "I was thinking, I, Feng Jianguo, have lived for over forty years, like a small pebble on a riverbank; thrown in, it doesn't even make a splash. I haven't done anything commendable, and it seems... I haven't deliberately done anything heinous either. I've just... muddled along, lived."

He paused, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and then stubbed it out in the small, specially made ashtray on the armrest of the interrogation chair.

"Although my life has been ordinary, I don't want to... end up dying quietly in some corner, like a lump of mud, where no one will even know when I've rotted."

His gaze fell on the two policemen again, and this time, there was something more in his eyes—a kind of almost insane determination.

"Then, I saw those messages on... Quick Sound Chinese short video platform)." He was referring to the media storm sparked by the Sun Tingting case. "The internet was in an uproar, with all sorts of things being said. That young man named Lin Feng, that policewoman Zhang Qian, and that female student who died... it was all a mess, true or false."

"I can't tell who's right and who's wrong." He shook his head, then nodded, as if confirming a certain idea he had. "So, I've decided to investigate myself."

Li Zhen's breathing suddenly quickened; he sensed that the crucial part was about to begin. Wang Yong remained calm, though his hand, hidden under the table, unconsciously clenched tighter.

"I went to Sun Tingting's school," Feng Jianguo continued, his tone still flat, as if he were talking about going to the market to buy groceries. "I pretended to be looking for someone, or just an old man strolling around. I talked to the owner of the convenience store near the school gate, chatted with some students, and loitered around their dormitory for several days. Gradually, I figured out the general outline of what happened."

He raised his eyelids, looked at Li Zhen and Wang Yong, and said frankly:

"So, I killed her."

"You killed Sun Tingting?!" Li Zhen could no longer control himself and blurted out, his voice shrill with excitement. "Where did you kill her? When did you kill her?!"

His mind went blank. This morning, the next team received a report of a young woman's body found in front of the girls' dormitory at the University of Technology. The death was gruesome, and her mouth was stuffed with a broken light bulb! Because Sun Tingting had previously been the focus of public attention, this case immediately attracted great attention, but it hadn't yet been combined with the car accident case involving Feng Jianguo, which they were currently interrogating. Now, Feng Jianguo's confession instantly connected the two shocking cases!

As Li Zhen began to speak, Wang Yong subtly and forcefully nudged him with his elbow, his brow furrowed. Interrogation is most dangerous when a suspect is interrupted while giving crucial information, as this can easily bring them back to their senses or create resistance, making subsequent questioning difficult. He inwardly cursed the young man for being too inexperienced and lacking composure.

However, Feng Jianguo didn't seem to mind being interrupted. He glanced at Li Zhen's face, which was flushed with excitement, without showing any displeasure or answering immediately. He slowly picked up the cigarette case that Wang Yong had placed on the table earlier and gestured to it with his eyes. Wang Yong remained silent, took out another cigarette, and lit it for him.

Feng Jianguo took a deep breath, squinted his eyes in enjoyment, and smoke slowly escaped from his nostrils.

"I caught her last night," he continued, exhaling smoke, "At Sun Tingting's house."

Seeing that Feng Jianguo hadn't stopped talking despite Li Zhen's interruption, but was instead willing to continue, Wang Yong breathed a slight sigh of relief. He glanced at Li Zhen with a warning look in his eyes, but didn't stop him from asking questions. Sometimes, an impatient questioner can actually stimulate a suspect to reveal more details.

Receiving a look from his master, Li Zhen suppressed the turmoil in his heart and tried to keep his tone calm as he pressed on, "Last night? Then why did you have to bring Sun Tingting to her school and then kill her? Also, you said you caught her at Sun Tingting house last night, so where were her parents? Where were they at the time?"

Feng Jianguo, puffing on his cigarette, slowly replied:

"I tied up Sun Tingting's parents and gagged them. They should still be at her house now..." He said it casually, as if he had only asked the elderly couple to stay in a corner for a while.

Then, he changed the subject and answered Li Zhen's first and most crucial question.

"As for why we had to bring her to the campus..." Feng Jianguo's gaze drifted away again, as if recalling a fragment he had overheard during his "investigation," "It's because, while I was inquiring about what happened, I heard more than once that this Sun Tingting had made a vow in front of many people, in public."

He paused, making sure both officers were listening.

"She said that the young man had molested her, and if she was lying, she would... jump off the dormitory building."

The detached, even slightly morbidly satisfied smile on Feng Jianguo's face reappeared.

"In that case," he flicked his cigarette ash lightly, his tone chillingly calm.

"Then she shall have what she desires. Whichever building she swore she was referring to, I'll make her jump from that building..."

The words had barely left his mouth.

In the interrogation room, only the faint hissing sound of burning cigarettes and Li Zhen's uncontrollable, heavy, and horrified breathing could be heard. Wang Yong looked at the emaciated man opposite him, whose life was as fragile as a candle in the wind, and a chill ran from his tailbone along his spine to the top of his head.