Chapter 2
The next morning, the sky was no longer the clear blue of past days. It was just a vast expanse of gray, as if it were silently protesting the injustice brought by this wave of online public opinion.
In a certain corner of Wuhan City, a sanitation worker started his day early as usual. Carrying his broom and humming a little tune, he began sweeping the streets.
However, when he swept into a secluded, shadowed corner, he discovered a horrifying scene. It was clearly Ding Li's corpse, lying quietly in that dark nook. As the worker approached, he saw that the puddles on the ground had long since turned into a pool of blood. The shocking crimson color stabbed painfully into his eyes. The thick, bloody smell assaulted his nose, mixed with a nauseating stench that struck straight into his heart and soul.
Where had this sanitation worker ever witnessed such a sight? Terror and shock instantly flooded his mind. The churning in his stomach grew stronger and stronger until he could no longer hold it in; he vomited violently on the spot. Vomit splattered onto his clothes and shoes, leaving filthy stains, but at that moment he had no attention to spare for such things. Only one thought remained in his mind: call the police, now!
With trembling hands he pulled out his phone and dialed 110. The operator on the other end was calm and clear, forming a stark contrast with his own panic and chaos. Trying his best to steady his voice, he described the scene, telling them that a body had been found and police were needed immediately.
After hanging up, the worker still could not calm down. He stood there, staring blankly at Ding Li's corpse. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but on that blood-smeared, mangled side of the face, the corners of the mouth seemed to be slightly upturned; it was as if the dead man wore an expression of relief and happiness at being freed, or perhaps a mocking sneer at the evil of the world. That faint, eerie smile made every hair on the worker's body stand on end. He could not imagine what Ding Li had gone through in the final moments of his life that even in death he wore such an expression.
—
When the shrill wail of police sirens tore through the morning silence, the very air seemed to freeze. The sound grew closer and louder until it became deafening right at the corner where the incident occurred.
The sudden noise attracted the surrounding crowd. People stopped in their tracks, looking around curiously, wondering what had happened.
"Oh my goodness, what's going on? Why are the police here so suddenly?" An auntie's face was full of shock, her eyes brimming with curiosity.
"I don't know. Sounds like something big happened," a young man beside her replied, sounding unsurprised; perhaps in his eyes such things were already commonplace.
"Look, look! They've put up police tape over there. Something definitely happened; why else would so many people be gathered?" someone shouted, pointing into the distance.
Instantly every gaze turned in that direction. Beyond the yellow police tape, officers were solemnly sealing off the area while a huge crowd of onlookers pressed forward.
Everyone stood on tiptoe, craning their necks, desperate to see what was going on.
"Good heavens, don't tell me someone jumped?" "It can't be… something that terrifying actually happening here? Won't this building become haunted now?" another person exclaimed with worry in their voice.
The murmurs rose and fell. Everyone wanted to know exactly what had taken place…
But the police maintained a tight cordon, forbidding unrelated people from entering, which only made the crowd more anxious and curious.
At that moment, some well-informed individuals began spreading rumors. Some said there had been a fight and someone was arrested; others claimed it was a thief who got caught; still others insisted it was a suicide by jumping.
By the next day, the police had worked through the night and swiftly concluded their investigation. They determined the incident was a suicide by jumping.
The event caused an enormous uproar in Wuhan City. People everywhere discussed what kind of story lay behind this tragedy.
In this era of high-speed internet, information spread faster than ever before. At the same time the police released their findings, various posts about Ding Li were already circulating online.
Some said he was the culprit of the upskirt filming incident and had killed himself because he couldn't bear the pressure of public condemnation. Others insisted he was an innocent victim who had taken his own life after being wrongly accused and slandered.
Yet the majority leaned toward the first version: Ding Li had committed suicide out of guilt over the filming incident.
Comment sections on social media became the eye of this new storm of public opinion. Netizens argued fiercely, each side wielding their keyboards like weapons, defending what they believed was justice. But in this seemingly righteous war of words, the truth was drowned beneath endless saliva and insults.
Just then, a video from the Wuhan subway system suddenly swept across every major platform. The footage clearly recorded the entire sequence: the child bumping into Ding Li, the phone slipping from his hand and falling, Ding Li picking it up, and his desperate attempts to explain himself to the girl. Throughout the whole video, Ding Li never once tried to secretly film anything. He was only trying frantically to prove his innocence.
The appearance of this video was like a ray of dawn piercing the abyss of darkness, finally letting people see the truth. Ding Li had never taken any illicit photos; he was simply an innocent victim. Unable to endure the overwhelming pressure of misunderstanding and slander, he had chosen to end his own life.
This revelation left everyone shocked and filled with regret.
Those who had once cursed and insulted him now began to reflect on their actions. They realized they had rushed to judgment without knowing the facts.
Ding Li's death left his friends overwhelmed with sorrow and remorse. They posted tributes on social media, expressing how much they would miss him.
Jiang Mengyan, a girl who always appeared strong in daily life, now cried until she was utterly spent. When she learned of Ding Li's death, pain twisted her heart like a knife. Regret, guilt, and grief intertwined until she could barely breathe.
She remembered their last phone call; how cold and final her words had been. At the time she had been cornered by her parents' pressure, thinking only of calming the storm quickly and then slowly persuading them to accept Ding Li again later. She never imagined that those words would become the final straw that broke him.
If only she had trusted him a little more, given him a little more support; maybe things would never have come to this.
Jiang Mengyan had grown up in an extremely strict family. Her parents' expectations were a mountain crushing her spirit. She had never truly known familial warmth until she met Ding Li. His appearance was like sunlight breaking into her icy world, letting her feel loved and cherished for the first time. Whenever they were together, Ding Li took care of her in every little way, giving her a happiness she had never known before.
Yet that happiness had been so fleeting.
Now Ding Li was gone forever. No one in this world would ever care for her the way he had.
Jiang Mengyan could not accept this reality. She felt she had failed him, failed all the beautiful memories they once shared.
As night fell, she went alone to the roof of the dormitory building. Looking down at the streams of people under the streetlights, an inexplicable impulse surged within her. She climbed onto the railing, intending to follow Ding Li.
But when the moment came to take that final step, she discovered she was afraid. The terror of death formed an invisible wall that stopped her cold. Only then did she truly understand: not everyone possesses the courage to face death.
Thinking of the pain and despair Ding Li must have felt in his final moments made her heart ache even more. She climbed down from the railing, collapsed against it, hugged her knees, and wept uncontrollably. Tears rolled down like broken pearls.
Jiang Mengyan's sobs echoed through the night sky, filled with endless grief and remorse; just like another person's cries had echoed under that very same sky not long ago…
Yet the internet's memory is short. No one would remember the person they had wrongly condemned for long. The next time something similar happened, they would once again rush in as self-righteous warriors, denouncing and attacking without ever bothering to learn the truth.
—
Inside the police station, the morgue was ice-cold and silent, steeped in sorrow. Beneath a white sheet, Ding Li's body lay alone on the metal table, quietly awaiting its final destination. Perhaps only the flames of the crematorium could offer him the last bit of warmth and peace this world still had to give.