I went back to re-read Chapter 1 so I decided to write a review: spoiler
Chapter 1 - opening shot
The opening immediately intrigues the reader as we are told about a person with a rare condition, treated unfairly by his family and even worse by society because of his ugly appearance. The only person that cares for him and tries to understand him and overlooks his appearance is his teacher, who he is in love with, which is understandable given his circumstances. All such a person can care for and crave is genuine connection with someone. The youth puts a very approachable persona despite being bullied by his peers but he retaliates by secretly destroying their things. The youth has come to bid goodbye to his teacher as his family can't afford to let him go to college anymore due to financial strains and they would rather spend it on their more normal child. The youth reads books through out the night in his teacher's house which she allows, the chapter ends with the teacher learning that the youth has died, which literally blew my mind. I was heavily excited and I couldn't wait for the next chapter when I first read it.
After thoughts: (big foreshadowing!!!)
Now, I know meatbun loves foreshadowing and as I read the further chapters of the case file compendium, the more I realise how similar 'the youth' in He Yu's story is to him.
He Yu has a rare disease, his family barely cares about him, they are more invested in his younger brother, giving him all their love and attention. He Yu has an approachable image but it's just a persona to blend into society, he has a darker, dangerous side which he hides from everyone except Xie Qingcheng.
And just like the youth He Yu is connected to the world through the compassion of only one person, he wrongly assumes this person is Xie Xue, however it's always been Xie Qingcheng. Xie Qingcheng's opinion, presence and advices meant the world to He Yu, he always dispised him because of what his mother told him about Xie Qingcheng which made him homophobic when he was younger. However, He Yu somewhat always respected Xie Qingcheng’s beliefs since he had given him the hope that he could be normal. Xie Qingcheng was the first person he let in his life, his first genuine connection, although He Yu feels like this is one-sided and Xie Qingcheng never really cared, I think Xie Qingcheng did really care about him to a certain extent that Xie Qingcheng himself doesn't want to admit because of his own baggage.
The first Chapter ends with the youth basically confessing his sins to his teacher, beloved, his only connection to world before he dies, his death seems like an accident or is it though He Yu doesn't continue the story anymore after this so we don't really know what direction he was taking it to, but He Yu's had history of self-harm so I don't really know what to conclude from this, other then the fact that, though meatbun claims that case file compendium is not going to be as angst filled as her previous works, I beg to differ.
Will He Yu confess his sins to his beloved before he dies like how it's hinted? I hope not, I don’t think so either. Case file compendium is supposed to be a love story, though it's a dark one, it's still a love story and I know my Hexie will get their happy ending but I do know that heavy angst is inevitable in this book. Getting ready to have my heart broken by meatbun again, can't wait really!!