Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Doubts

◎“Do you have time recently? I’d like to treat you to a meal.”◎

Shen Muyun stood still for a long time.

Looking at the happy-tailed large black dog, he suddenly remembered something.

The neighbor moved to Europe last year and didn’t have time to deal with the property, so it remained empty.

Before leaving, he saw the neighbor close all doors and windows, turn on the security system, and seal the villa tightly.

A expensive building with the corresponding level of security matches its cost, and due to strict regulations on high-end properties, stray dogs cannot enter.

— Even pet dogs can’t stay in the empty villa for a whole year.

At this thought, a cold feeling spread from his painful tailbone up to his head.

He grabbed the handrail and stood up again. The black dog still wagged happily, its fur shining brightly in the sunlight, making him subconsciously imagine its soft and warm texture.

This scene seemed real and beautiful.

But Shen Muyun’s face turned pale, his lips tightened, and he stared at the black dog indistinctly—it was unclear if it was just an illusion.

As he watched, the black dog in the distance seemed to sense his emotions. Its bright smile looked forced, and its happy tail slowly dropped. Even when it turned its head toward the reflection in the balcony glass door, it might be checking if it looked ugly.

It’s clearly a dog, yet it exhibits many expressions that humans can’t do.

…It looks more like an illusion. Shen Muyun’s thoughts became more definite.

He didn’t stay stubborn on the balcony. He turned into the room, washed his face with cold water, and took a calming medication.

After ten minutes, the medicine began to work. He returned to the balcony and, as expected, found nothing on the other side.

The large black dog had vanished without a trace, as if it never existed.

It was indeed an illusion. Shen Muyun pressed his forehead.

Over the past few days, his hallucinations seemed to get worse. Maybe he should see his previous therapist for a check-up… But in seven months, he’ll die. Is therapy really necessary?

The phone on the bed made a noise, interrupting his dull thoughts.

Shen Muyun returned to the bedside and noticed that his “suspects” had started sending messages one after another.

The first to reply was Shen Yi, a workaholic.

Shen Yi sent back a photo with a response written in his notebook: “Of course I enjoy your paintings, boss.”

As the saying goes, his handwriting reflects his personality. Though clumsy, every stroke was neat and clear—like a good third-grade student’s essay, opposite to the distorted confession letter.

Below the photo, he also sent a WeChat message: “Boss, what’s wrong? Why did you suddenly ask me to write for you?”

Shen Muyun stared at the words “I,” “love,” and “you” for a long time, confirming that they had nothing in common with the confession letter. Finally, he replied briefly: “Nothing.”

Shen Yi immediately responded: “I have no schedule these days. You should eat well at home and take your medicine on time.”

Shen Muyun: “Mm.”

The second person to reply was Liang Heyu.

They had known each other for years. Liang Heyu spoke without hesitation and simply sent three question marks: “???”

Then another sentence followed: “Another brilliant idea? Didn’t the psychologist say you were improving last time?”

After waiting a few minutes and seeing Shen Muyun still didn’t reply, Liang Heyu honestly sent a photo.

Though Liang Heyu comes from a finance background, he is a painting and calligraphy enthusiast. As a child, he often attended classes with Shen Muyun, so he wrote the answer directly on the canvas using a blue paintbrush:

“No one doesn’t love your paintings—I do too.”

Liang Heyu’s handwriting flows smoothly and is executed in one continuous stroke, with bold and delicate strokes, showing the style of a famous artist—even suitable for framing and selling.

His reply also contains the words “I,” “love,” and “you,” but clearly—very different from a confession letter.

After sending the photo, Liang Heyu asked, “Are you satisfied now?”

Realizing the handwriting didn’t belong to him, his long-time friend Shen Muyun took a breath of relief and didn’t explain much. He replied, “Your handwriting has improved again.”

The third person who replied was Shen Jia.

Different from the previous two, Shen Jia wrote the answer directly on his palm.

Shen Muyun had seen his handwriting before—just as gentle and neat as his demeanor. Due to being written on skin, it appeared even smoother and less angular.

He wrote, “Of course, I love your paintings deeply, Shen Muyun—would you like me to give you one?”

The moment he saw this handwriting, Shen Muyun’s heart skipped a beat; something stirred in him. He immediately opened the photo, enlarged it, and used another phone to open the confession letter’s image, comparing them carefully, examining every stroke.

Unfortunately, the longer he looked, the more disappointed he felt.

It’s not Shen Jia.

Shen Jia’s handwriting is too neat, while the confession letter is too rough—the difference between the two is even greater than between Shen Yi.

The initial attraction… maybe due to the texture of the skin.

Shen Muyun pressed his lips unhappily, returned to the chat history, and replied to Shen Jia: “Okay, I’ll give you one. Bring it when you come for the next check-up.”

The fourth responder was Shen Ding.

After receiving his message, Shen Ding’s excitement was evident in the dense reply that filled the chat box.

“Senior, of course I love your paintings! Your works are the greatest in the world. With time, you will surely become a landmark figure in modern oil painting history! These past few days, I’ve been copying your still-life paintings. The more I copy, the more I realize your unique artistic perspective on color. I also start to feel the vitality in every brushstroke and structure. This experience is truly amazing—it’s like I’m having a soulful conversation with you through the paintings.”

“Will you return to school soon? I can’t wait to have deeper conversations with you. I also want you to see my latest works. It would be great if you could give some feedback. Additionally, your student said you’ve been feeling unwell lately. I really want to visit you, but I’m afraid to disturb the senior’s rest. Is your health improving? I really miss you…”

Shen Muyun had no doubt that Shen Ding was the fourth responder because he wrote so much nonsense.

He flipped through several pages helplessly, and finally found the photo at the bottom.

Shen Ding wrote the answer on a white T-shirt, using five different colors—at first glance, it looked like a new design from a niche trendy brand.

The answer was just three simple words: “I love you！！！！!”

The five exclamation marks were even drawn in five distinct shapes.

Shen Muyun: “……”

He stared silently for a few seconds, not even opening the confession letter image to compare, and immediately ruled out Shen Ding as a suspect.

It was really… ugly. So ugly that it became an art form—undoubtedly completely different from the handwriting on the confession letter.

Shen Muyun opened the input box and tried to write more words to avoid appearing too cold: “Thank you for caring about me. My health has improved a lot. If I have time these days, I’ll visit school again. I’m looking forward to your work.”

After sending it, Shen Ding’s chat window started ringing wildly, with countless new messages popping up—filled with emojis and exclamation marks—blinding Shen Muyun.

So he ruthlessly closed the page, returned to WeChat’s home screen, and looked at the last responder.

The last responder was Shen Bing.

To be honest, he had no relation with Shen Bing. Except for adding WeChat last time when she sent him home to thank him, they had never communicated at all.

Shen Muyun thought she wouldn’t pay attention to his random request. After all, Shen Bing was known as a cold person at school—she had remained indifferent even when helping others before.

Unexpectedly, he didn’t ask anything and directly sent the photo.

His answer was written on the blackboard, seemingly written with chalk right after class—very simple, just two words:

“Love to read.”

Shen Muyun enlarged the photo, his gaze fixed on the character “love.” He remained still for exactly five minutes, simply staring at it.

…… similar.

But not exactly similar.

The font looked familiar; at first glance, it resembled some of the “love” words in the confession letter, but upon closer inspection, there were obvious differences. Only the writing style and font atmosphere gave him a strong sense of familiarity.

Among the five people’s handwriting, only Shen Bing’s had this feeling. The other four were completely different from the confession letter.

But Shen Bing was also the one most unlikely to send him a letter.

Shen Muyun opened the photo of the confession letter again and compared it repeatedly. As he continued to look, sudden sharp pain flared in his eyes, as if exposed to some unknown contamination. Tears began to flow uncontrollably.

He had to close the photo and close his eyes for a long time.

During this time, Shen Bing didn’t send any more messages. Instead, she took a photo as he asked, seemingly not curious about what he wanted to do.

Shen Muyun wiped away his tears and looked back at the chat window, opening Shen Bing’s profile and social media posts.

Nothing.

After hesitating for a few seconds, wanting to confirm the truth, Shen Muyun chose a topic to continue the conversation: “Teacher Shen, thank you for bringing me back last time.”

After waiting a moment, Shen Bing replied at a calm pace: “You’ve already thanked me. There’s no need to be polite.”

Shen Muyun: “I only expressed my thanks via WeChat before. Recently, due to health reasons, I haven’t been at school, so I couldn’t thank you in person.”

This time, Shen Bing didn’t reply, probably thinking he was acting strangely today.

Shen Muyun waited for a long time, until it became awkward for him too. He felt even more that such a person couldn’t possibly write crazy confessions, but still continued the conversation: “Do you have time recently? I’ll treat you to a meal.”

This time, Shen Bing quickly responded.

He said, “Teacher Shen, I don’t think your last small effort was worth worrying about for two months. Are you making an excuse to meet me?”

Shen Muyun: “…………”

For a moment, he was so embarrassed that he wanted to withdraw his message and completely exclude Shen Bing from the suspect list.

Shen Bing… no way she would do such a thing.

But the message had already been sent, and Shen Bing had seen it. Retracting it would only make things more awkward. Shen Muyun had no choice but to continue anyway: “Yes. If I offended you, I apologize.”

Shen Muyun thought the other person would ignore him again, but after a while, Shen Bing sent another reply.

The reply read, “Okay. Tomorrow noon at 12 o’clock. You decide the location.”

Shen Muyun widened his eyes in surprise.