Beneath the Dome, Sin within Sins

It wasn’t until Bai Yue’s sobs turned into soft whimpers that I finally spoke. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask about what happened back then. After all, you were there, and there must be things you know better than anyone else.”

At that moment, Bai Yue, still trembling from crying, stammered as she looked at me, “I… I didn’t… didn’t kill anyone.”

“Whether you killed someone or not, I will find out the truth. Don’t worry, I will never wrong an innocent person.”

I said these words with utmost sincerity, putting all of my faith into them. Yet, to my surprise, Bai Yue didn’t seem reassured by what I had said. On the contrary, she appeared even more anguished.

Seeing her like this, I couldn’t help but ask, concerned, “Are you alright?”

“Lu Ying, do you really not remember me?”

Her words made my eyes widen in shock. Could it be that we had met before? But why didn’t I have any memory of it? I didn’t recall ever knowing a lady of wealth like her when I was younger.

Seeing my continued confusion, Bai Yue wiped away the tears on her face and said, “I came to this home eight years ago. Before that, my mother and I lived in the staff housing provided by the hospital.”

Hearing this, my eyes widened even further. If that was the case, then I seemed to vaguely remember a little girl fitting that description.

Everyone has a holiday that leaves an indelible mark on their memory, and I was no exception.

My grandmother was a professor at the Medical University and usually lived in the staff housing arranged by the hospital. During summer vacations, I often went to visit her, sometimes with Lu Che.

Back then, I didn’t know why, but I had a strange fondness for the smell of disinfectant in hospitals. Perhaps it was a sign of my eventual connection to medical research.

I remember there was one summer when my younger sister couldn’t join me at our grandmother’s because she had come down with chickenpox. That year, I went there alone.

Summers for boys are always synonymous with mischief. I was playing with a few kids from the staff housing when I accidentally bumped into a little girl who looked about ten years old.

She wasn’t particularly pretty, but her eyes-those sparkling eyes-were incredibly beautiful.

The girl looked unfamiliar; I hadn’t seen her during my previous visits. Curious, I asked my friends about her. They told me she had moved here not long ago and lived with her mom. She always kept to herself, and, in fact, this was the first time any of them had spoken to her.

Since Lu Che hadn’t come with me that summer, my vacation felt lackluster. On a whim, I decided to bring the girl along with us to play. Just like that, I gained a new companion for the summer.

By the time the summer ended, school had started again. Before leaving, I made a promise to the little girl: next summer, we’d play together again!

But when the next summer came, it was my turn to catch the chickenpox. When I finally returned to the staff housing, everything had changed. My old playmates had all moved away.

The memory of those beautiful eyes I’d seen that summer slowly faded, and eventually, I completely forgot about them.

The truth is, I forgot about her so quickly for one simple reason: I never even asked for her name. Without a name to hold onto, it became easy to forget her.

Could it be that this girl was…?

I stared at Bai Yue for a long time, trying to reconcile her with the little girl from that summer, but I simply couldn’t make the connection.

“What’s wrong? I’ve given you so many hints already. Don’t you remember me?” There was a hint of sadness in Bai Yue’s gaze.

Faced with this kind of emotional confrontation, I never knew what to do. Awkwardly, I managed a smile and stammered, “You… you’re that girl?”

Hearing this, Bai Yue lit up with a look of joy. “You remember!”

Her expression suddenly brought back a long-buried memory: that summer night, walking home under the moonlight, the little girl waving goodbye to me. Gradually, the two images-the little girl and the woman in front of me-merged into one.

“Yeah, I remember now. I never would’ve thought we’d meet again here.”

Though she had been a childhood playmate, eight years had passed. Our connection was limited to that one summer and the promise we never fulfilled. Even though I had remembered her, I suddenly found myself at a loss for words.

At that moment, Bai Yue said to me, “After that summer, I couldn’t keep our promise. During winter break that same year, my mother passed away. After she died, I didn’t have any other family, so I moved to Sanya with my aunt. I was so regretful that I couldn’t make it to our meeting. I always thought our connection had completely disappeared with my move to Sanya. I never imagined we’d meet again here.”

It wasn’t just Bai Yue who hadn’t expected this-I hadn’t either. No, to be precise, I had never given it a second thought. In my memory, I had long since forgotten about that girl entirely.

Now, hearing her say this out of the blue, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt. A promise I had completely forgotten about had remained in her heart all these years. I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

“It’s alright. I missed our promise too. The following summer, I got sick, so I didn’t go back,” I explained.

After hearing what I said, a faint look of disappointment crossed Bai Yue’s eyes. In that moment, I became flustered, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, Bai Yue didn’t dwell on it. She simply gave me a smile-a smile that reminded me of the night we waved goodbye under the moonlight.

“Really? I was worried you’d be mad at me for not showing up, but it looks like neither of us made it,” she said, covering her mouth as she let out a soft laugh.

Compared to her earlier lively and playful demeanor, Bai Yue now seemed much gentler.

“Yeah,” I replied.

Though she had been my childhood playmate, this didn’t seem like the right moment to reminisce. I wanted to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand, but I suddenly didn’t know how to continue.

Bai Yue had been leading the dialogue between us from the start. Now that she fell silent, an awkward tension settled over us.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but just as I was about to summon the courage to break the silence, Bai Yue unexpectedly let out a quiet laugh. Her sudden laughter startled me.

“You’re still the same as you were when you were a kid-hesitating and unsure when you want to say something.”

Her words made my face flush instantly. I couldn’t believe it-my thoughts had been seen through so effortlessly by this girl.

“Hah, I thought I was doing a good job hiding it, but I guess I was wrong,” I said with a sheepish smile.

Bai Yue rolled her eyes at me and said, “The one who passed away today was my aunt, who was also my guardian. She was always very kind to me. Today was her fifty-fifth birthday. She had told me that after this birthday, she would take me on a trip to France. But… but I never thought…”

She trailed off, lowering her head. Even so, I caught a glimpse of the fear in her eyes. Seeing this, I let out a deep sigh.