Qiming Middle School
Class A1
"Li Xiu...Li Xiu?"
Someone gently pushed Li Xiu.
"ah?"
After a long while, Li Xiucai turned around and looked at the other person as if he had just woken up from a dream.
The girl sitting next to him was looking at him worriedly.
"Did you finish yesterday's math test? Can I see the answers? I feel like the teacher made a mistake on the supplementary questions. Nothing I do seems right."
"That's right, the solution requires a different approach. There's a trap in the supplementary question."
Li Xiu spoke subconsciously, then handed her paper to the girl sitting next to her. She thanked her repeatedly, but after taking the paper, the girl didn't leave immediately. Instead, she stared at Li Xiu for a few seconds. After hesitating for a moment, she lowered her voice and whispered, "Li Xiu, are you really okay? You suddenly took leave yesterday, and you're so absent-minded today... Well, someone said yesterday that they saw you drinking milk tea with the prince of the Fang family in Wangfujing."
"ah?"
"Are you being blackmailed by that kind of person?"
The girl stared at Li Xiu's overly pretty face, her expression gradually becoming serious. It took Li Xiu several seconds to realize what she was saying.
"Ah, no...no. I was a little distracted today because of something at home."
"That's right." The girl blinked, breathed a sigh of relief, and then laughed bitterly, "I forgot. That's Fang Qianan. There's no way he'd blackmail ordinary students like us."
But before returning to her seat, she couldn't help but kindly remind him, "But no matter what, if you can avoid getting involved with someone like Fang Qianan, then don't get involved with him. He's...sometimes quite scary anyway."
As she spoke, the girl instinctively looked around.
"There's a rumor that Fang Qianan's mother is mentally ill and was sent to a mental hospital a long time ago, so Fang Qianan's brain... well, you know."
The girl drew a circle next to her temple.
"I see."
Li Xiu paused for a few seconds before responding in a very faint voice.
Is Fang Qianan's mother mentally ill?
Upon hearing the news, Li Xiu's first thought was not the rumor that Fang Qianan had inherited mental problems, but the other party's face that was covered in scars but looked completely normal yesterday.
At that time, Fang Qianan said that all the terrible signs of domestic violence were caused by his father.
"But you mustn't tell anyone about these things. Fang Qianan is really..."
"Hurry up and look at the paper. I'll need it later."
Li Xiu suddenly interrupted the girl.
When the girl saw that Li Xiu did not give the reaction she expected, she stopped talking and sat back in her seat with some boredom.
Li Xiu, who was sitting next to her, stared at the table for a long time before lowering his eyes and looking at the mobile phone screen in the drawer.
[Li Xiu: Fang Qianan, are you there?]
Li Xiu actually didn't know how she got to school.
After learning about the incident from the neighbor's elder sister, Li Xiu even wanted to rush back and wake up her grandmother to seek a scientific explanation.
But his instinct stopped him from doing so.
Call it an escape or call it childish.
Li Xiu found that he didn't want to delve into what happened in his family... He always felt that once he really started to delve into it, his peaceful life would completely fall apart.
So Li Xiu mechanically came to school and started morning self-study. When he noticed it, he found that he had sent this message to Fang Qianan.
It was as if he could really discuss something with Fang Qianan.
Coincidentally, Fang Qianan's reply letter appeared at this moment.
[Fang Qianan:?]
Li Xiu's fingertips hovered over the screen, but he didn't know what to do.
At this time, Fang Qianan sent several more messages.
[Fang Qianan: You actually came to me on your own initiative. Is there something wrong?]
[Fang Qianan: I didn't go to school today.]
[Fang Qianan: But don't worry. If you encounter any problems, just tell me your name and I'll take care of it for you when I get to school.]
Obviously Fang Qianan himself can hardly protect himself...
Li Xiu looked at Fang Qianan's message and finally replied simply.
[Li Xiu: It's okay.]
After a moment's hesitation, he added.
[Li Xiu: No matter what, it's better for students not to skip classes.]
After all, Teacher Xu said that the best way to avoid ghosts is to concentrate on studying.
[Fang Qianan: …]
[Fang Qianan: This isn't called skipping class, this is called asking for leave.]
[Fang Qianan: Forget it, I'll come see you this afternoon.]
[Fang Qianan: By the way, have you had breakfast? ]
[Fang Qianan: How about I order you some breakfast? ]
After being rejected by Li Xiu.
[Fang Qianan: I finally understand why you can't even get enough flesh on your body. Last night, when I hugged you, I felt pain from your bones.]
[Fang Qianan: You won't grow taller if you don't eat breakfast. Of course, even if you drink milk every day from now on, you won't be taller than me, hahahaha.]
[Fang Qianan: Would you like some hot cocoa?]
…
Li Xiu looked at the meaningless words that Fang Qianan kept sending him, and the veins on his forehead began to twitch slightly.
Li Xiu: No need for that. I hope you'll shut up. I'm turning off my phone. Class is in session.
But just when Li Xiu wanted to turn off her phone and concentrate on studying, the class group interface inexplicably popped up on the phone screen.
Li Xiu's phone was very old, and the system had been malfunctioning for a while, so he didn't take it too seriously.
But today, when he was closing the group, he took another look for some unknown reason.
Then, Li Xiu was unable to do anything else during the entire morning self-study session.
At this moment, the class group was already in an uproar.
[Wow, is this a mistake? How did the Ouyang incident get leaked?]
[So annoying! This is Qiming's own business, who the hell leaked it to anyone?]
[It's going viral online right now.]
[Oh my god, can't the school delete this post? Help me…]
Who the hell wants this to be known to the entire internet? I'll just ask my mom to change my school.
…
Amidst the constant complaints of a group of students, Li Xiu clicked on the link forwarded to the group by the student who spoke first.
Only then did Li Xiu learn that Ouyang's previous posting of a self-exposure message and a photo of himself hanging in the group had become a hot news on social media.
Unlike the group of students who were worried about tarnishing the school's "innocence", Li Xiu didn't care if the incident became known to the entire Internet. What really attracted his attention were some comments under the marketing news.
Ouyang's behavior originally revealed an inexplicable weirdness - without any inducement, the internet celebrity teacher who had been hiding well suddenly exposed his most private and unbearable side and finally sent those horrible photos.
In the words of the marketing account, "It's like being controlled by some supernatural force."
The marketing account also connected several other incidents that occurred at the school during this time, particularly the incident in which a student, after being taken to the hospital with food poisoning, was attacked there and mysteriously died in the Xiao family's haunted house. This led to the marketing account's blog post being forwarded crazily by hundreds of thousands of people. After all, even after more than a decade, the infamous Xiao family massacre in City A still stirs people's most hidden fears and curiosity. And what happened at Qiming Middle School in just a few days is difficult to explain with common sense.
Netizens left countless messages under the marketing account.
Li Xiu's gaze lingered on one of the popular comments for a long time.
[tj178676: That Mr. Ouyang was never a good person. I warned him several times back when he was still an internet celebrity, but you guys kept laughing and saying I was jealous. Doesn't that hurt? He's been a bad person since he was little. He's done everything from peeping to secretly filming. It was exposed several times back when we were in school.]
[tj178676: It's a case of fate. He was able to escape every disaster thanks to his sister marrying into the Xiao family, who always used her power to pressure others. Later, when the family extermination case broke out, this man quickly fled the country in disgrace. Upon his return, he became the internet celebrity teacher you idiots chased after and licked their screens, calling them "brother and husband."]
[tj178676: He wasn't afraid of death himself and went to teach at Qiming. Now he's finally got what he wanted. May he and his bitchy sister languish in hell forever.]
…
The ID of the person who left the message was a series of numbers that came with the system, and it was obviously a small account.
It was filled with all kinds of insults and humiliations against Ouyang and the Xiao family, which made his message seem unreliable. Many people also accused him of just trying to ride on the popularity and making far-fetched claims and nonsense.
Li Xiu stared at his phone, his expression growing more serious. He knew very well that what the other party said was probably true.
In the Xiao family's family portrait, he did see Ouyang when he was young.
So, is that why Ouyang has been lingering in the terrible nightmare he and Fang Qianan had because of the Xiao family haunted house?
Ouyang's sister turned out to be the mistress of the Xiao family...
The horrific, decaying corpse he'd seen in his hallucinations flashed through Li Xiu's mind. Had that woman really abused a child so brutally? Where was that child now?
Li Xiu shivered unconsciously and began to feel cold again.
No--
Li Xiu bit the tip of her tongue and forced herself not to focus on the Xiao family's past.
After all, studying was his most important priority right now. If he could maintain his top grade in the monthly exams as usual, according to his contract with Qiming, he would receive a 3,000 yuan scholarship this month.
With a little planning, he might be able to buy a cheap home surveillance system to put in his house.
After all, grandma's condition is obviously not right now, and Li Xiu doesn't know what grandma will do when she is alone at home as her Alzheimer's disease continues.
Just as the bell for morning self-study get out of class rang, Li Xiu was called out of the classroom again.
This time, it was the police looking for Li Xiu.
…
*
Academic Affairs Office, Comprehensive Building
Li Xiuru sat in the office of the Academic Affairs Office on pins and needles, and had to take responsibility for the two policemen in front of her.
Of course, compared to the Dean of Education, the two policemen were much more friendly and gentle. They were asking if Li Xiu had any special behavior when Ouyang last saw her.
It was not until this time that Li Xiu realized that she was the last person to come into contact with Ouyang at school that day.
"Strange?"
Li Xiu frowned and tried hard to recall the scene at that time.
"At the time... well, the wind blew open the window and some books fell off the shelf, so he looked a little frightened."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the two policemen in front of him exchange glances.
The police then asked Li Xiu to identify the colors of the books on the shelf, but she had been so busy in the past few days that she couldn't really remember. After a quick process, Li Xiu was escorted out of the Academic Affairs Office.
"Okay, thank you for your cooperation, Li Xiu."
The policeman patted Li Xiu on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Don't be too nervous. We're just asking about this matter. It has nothing to do with you."
As if noticing Li Xiu's nervousness, a policeman made a special explanation before parting.
Li Xiu tried hard to force a smile and dealt with it.
Of course, he couldn't tell the police in front of him that what made him nervous was not their identities, but this building.
What happened with Fang Qianan in this complex building was a nightmare that Li Xiu never wanted to recall in her life.
In fact, when the office door was closed, Li Xiu quickly fell into a heavy mood.
He looked at the elevator at the end of the corridor in embarrassment, then turned to look at the stairs.
The psychological trauma brought by the elevator was too heavy for him. How about taking the stairs? At this moment, Li Xiu suddenly felt a strong gaze.
He couldn't help but turn his head, just in time to see a slightly bluish face with deep eye sockets slowly emerging from the corner of the corridor.
Only the man's neck and face were exposed, and his body was bent so low that it even made people feel that he was lying on the ground, with only his head sticking out from the corner of the wall, peeping at others.
"Wang Rongfa?"
Li Xiu looked at him for several seconds before he could barely recognize who the haggard face belonged to.