No matter what mistakes
"I'll do my best to look after that child,"
"Actually, you don't need to worry about that," said the officer behind the interrogation table, walking over as well. "We can contact child welfare services for assistance. As long as you show genuine remorse, you might even be able to see your child again in the future."
"My child?" Fan Yu's aunt stared at the officer, her blank expression slowly changing. Her mouth split open as she looked at the officer's shoulder, and for some reason, she broke into a smile. "Alright. I'll tell you everything I know."
The officer began the formal interrogation process, and Chen Ge felt it was inappropriate for him to stay, so he took the initiative to leave.
After exiting the district precinct, he flagged down a taxi and headed for Fan Yu's place.
This matter seemed resolved, but in truth, the biggest question still remained unanswered — a question only Chen Ge knew about, and the answer to it could only come from Fan Yu.
The sky cleared, and the sun rose above the horizon, but the warm sunlight didn't seem to penetrate the tangled maze of alleyways.
After getting out of the cab, Chen Ge followed the route from memory and ran into the deepest part of the alley.
He found the place where Fan Yu's aunt had been renting, rushed to the second floor, and knocked on the door. After several continuous minutes of knocking, the sound of a latch turning came from behind the iron door, and it opened a crack.
Chen Ge pulled the door open. To his surprise, the room was completely empty. He stood in the doorway for a long time, and even with sunlight falling on him, he couldn't feel any warmth.
"Fan Yu?" Chen Ge stepped inside, feeling even colder.
The living room and kitchen were both empty. Chen Ge crept toward the bedroom.
He tried pushing the door, and just like the first time he had entered Fan Yu's room, it wasn't locked and swung open easily.
Thick curtains blocked out all the light, and no lamps were on inside. The room was dim, with crumpled wads of waste paper scattered across the floor.
Chen Ge picked one up at random. It was the same as before — a black house crammed full of small red figures.
"Why throw away all these drawings? Were they not good enough?" Chen Ge looked toward the desk while holding the paper in his hand. Fan Yu was sitting at the desk with his back to him, seemingly lost in a daze.
Chen Ge carefully stepped around the drawings on the floor and approached, only then noticing that the single drawing left on the desk was the only one that hadn't been thrown away.
On the white paper, drawn in black lines, was a house. Inside it stood a solitary small black figure.
"Where are all the red figures?"
Chen Ge hadn't really expected Fan Yu to answer, but the boy turned his head to glance at him and said softly, "They found a new place to live."
"They moved out?" Chen Ge thought of the twenty-four extra school uniforms that had appeared in his haunted house and vaguely understood. "Are you friends with them?"
The boy shook his eyes fixed on his own drawing, reached into a drawer, and pulled out a cardboard box, handing it to Chen Ge.
"For me?" Chen Ge looked inside the box. There were twenty-four student ID tags, each bearing a different name. Between the tags sat a group photo showing twenty-four students standing with their backs to the camera.
These twenty-four names were likely the reason the final classroom had come into existence. Now Fan Yu had placed the twenty-four names into Chen Ge's hands.
After handing over the ID tags, Fan Yu didn't say another word. No one knew what was going through his mind at that moment.