During the lunch break, An Chen left the school gate. He sent Su Xiaojiu home, then bought some snacks and drinks outside the school that students had ordered that morning and couldn't be found at the school's convenience store, bringing them all back with him.
Actually, even if An Chen hadn't sent Su Xiaojiu home, she would have run back on her own; after all, there truly wasn't much fun to be had at that school.
After just one morning, Su Xiaojiu's head was already spinning.
This school, it might as well not be attended!
In the afternoon, An Chen wouldn't continue sleeping, but listening to lectures held no meaning for him.
What the teachers taught was of little significance to him.
However, An Chen was very grateful that the school had built a small library, so small it could almost only be called a reading room, and usually, few students went there.
There were almost no novels inside, not even literary classics; anything with a strong narrative was not placed on the shelves. What was available were mostly highly academic books.
To summarize the characteristics of these books: they were thick and uninteresting.
This was to prevent students from getting engrossed and affecting their studies.
Anyway, a library, it was just something written in the admissions brochure.
This strategy was indeed effective; this small library usually had no ordinary students visiting, but An Chen clearly did not fall into the category of "ordinary students" and frequently patronized it to borrow books. Furthermore, due to his "special status," it was tacitly allowed for him to bring books into the classroom.
Although he couldn't say he particularly liked reading these books, reading was always better than not reading, and An Chen didn't have to worry about forgetting, and his reading speed was fast.
In just a few afternoons, he could finish an entire book two or three centimeters thick.
This was also an important way for him to expand his knowledge reserves.
An Chen had just taken out a new book he had just borrowed today, and before he even opened the cover, he suddenly felt his right hand being nudged.
An Chen subconsciously thought it was Su Xiaojiu who had run back to school again, but he immediately realized that to his right was not the empty space between the seat and the window, but his deskmate.
"What's wrong?"
Looking at his deskmate, who rarely ever lifted her head, An Chen asked.
Ye Xinning hardly ever spoke. As deskmates, he had indeed exchanged words with Ye Xinning, but perhaps only a few sentences each week.
At this time, Ye Xinning should have been preparing to start practicing past provincial joint examination papers; theoretically, she wouldn't interrupt her study flow.
So, Ye Xinning suddenly seeking him out was quite abrupt.
"Who were you chatting with this morning?"
An Chen was startled.
"What did you say?"
Ye Xinning pursed her lips and pointed to An Chen's scratchpad placed to the side.
"Those things you wrote on it, weren't you chatting with someone?"
An Chen's heart almost stopped beating.
How did she figure it out?
Wasn't she always looking down, doing practice problems??
"You never use a scratchpad normally."
As if knowing what he was thinking, Ye Xinning explained.
Scratchpads are mostly used for calculations, but An Chen could solve all the problems encountered in high school just by mental calculation, and even for writing essays, he only needed to draft them in his head.
So, his scratchpad, from the first time it was handed out until now, had always been new.
Speaking of which, this morning was indeed the first time he had used it.
Although ripples had already formed in his heart, An Chen maintained a calm expression, clearing his throat lightly.
"Have you heard of the Ouija board?"
"Oui...ja board?"
"That's right, the Ouija board is a spirit-summoning game, through which one communicates with an energy body, or a deity, known as the Ouija board spirit..."
...
"The most important thing is, you must never ask the Ouija board spirit how it died!"
After blabbering for a long time, watching Ye Xinning's expression change from suspicion to curiosity, and finally to blankness and confusion, An Chen let out a slight sigh of relief.
She finally believed him.
Feeling much lighter, An Chen put his hand into his pants pocket and found a few candies inside. Zhao Jing had given them to him yesterday. He took out two, placed one in front of Ye Xinning, and unwrapped the other before popping it into his mouth.
"Next time, if you encounter a problem you can't solve and want to seek answers, you can come to me. I'll take you to invite the Ouija board spirit; it's more effective with two people."
Speaking of which, this wasn't the first time he had given candy to Ye Xinning.
Ye Xinning didn't have his time management skills. Although she also worked part-time, she had to sleep at night and study hard during the day, so she naturally didn't have much time to earn money.
Even the only poverty student subsidy spot in the class, An Chen didn't take it himself but gave it to her. However, this was still not enough; Ye Xinning often didn't eat enough, was emaciated from hunger, and lacked energy on her face.
Zhao Jing always gave An Chen a handful of candies, and An Chen, seeing Ye Xinning's pitiful state, would give her two pieces.
Through these exchanges, the two gradually became a little more familiar, occasionally exchanging a few words.
"Thank you."
Thanking him as usual, Ye Xinning also put the candy into her mouth.
The afternoon passed quickly. Since it was Saturday afternoon, and Sunday would be a day off, An Chen didn't have to take orders today.
Amidst the crowd, An Chen slowly walked out of the school gate.
At this moment, he noticed that not far in the direction of his home, construction had already begun, and half of the road was blocked.
However, what was strange was that a police car was parked outside the temporary isolation wall of the construction site.
"Could it be that something was discovered?"
An Chen frowned slightly and quickly walked over, crossing to the other side of the road, onto the sidewalk closer to the construction site.
Since yesterday evening, his nerves had been half-relaxed and half-tense, fearing that someone would discover Su Xiaojiu's existence.
An Chen quickly saw two police officers through a gap in the isolation wall.
However, it seemed they were only communicating with the construction workers and the site manager; one of them was even holding a small notebook and jotting something down.
An Chen saw that the faces of the two police officers and one of the workers showed an expression similar to "incredulity." Another worker, with his back to him, gestured with his hand, extending his arm and drawing a circle outwards, seemingly indicating something very large.
An Chen was puzzled and didn't understand what they were doing.
Walking slowly, An Chen took out his phone, quietly turned on the recording function, and then casually held the phone by his side as he continued to walk forward, as if nothing was amiss.
The few people were not far from the sidewalk. As he passed, he should be able to hear their conversation. Turning on the recording was to avoid deliberately looking at them.
"That was an excavator, an excavator! Such a big piece of iron, how could it just disappear!"
"Comrade, we've checked the surveillance too; this thing just vanished into thin air..."
"Vanished into thin air? Then what about the losses at our construction site!"
??!
"Clatter."
An Chen's phone fell to the ground.
What on earth was lost????