After Zhang Ya walked away, he turned around and saw four police officers splitting into two groups and heading in different directions. His expression was twisted and ferocious, completely different from his earlier bowing and scraping demeanor.
“Damn it, a bunch of running dogs acting like big shots! Once I get what I want, I’ll kill every single one of you idiots I see.”
Zhang Ya looked up towards the top of the teaching building, thinking.
“There’s no way the police would suddenly conduct a surprise inspection like this… there must be something fishy going on…”
His eyes slowly became bloodshot, with red veins covering the surface of his eyeballs, and his fat face flushed red, like a boiled pig’s head.
Zhang Ya slowly raised his head, surveying everything around him.
At this moment, in his eyes, the walls were like translucent jelly, and every person nearby was simplified into an amorphous ball of light; some light balls were calm and steady, while others were faintly glowing.
Zhang Ya knew this represented people who were sleeping, thinking, or agitated.
He slowly stretched out his hand and pointed at a calm ball of light.
Instantly, that ball of light became agitated, fluctuating violently twice.
He was very satisfied; he could now control his power much better. He couldn't help but recall again when he first gained his power.
“Ever since I made contact with that adult, ah… thank that adult… thank him for everything he gave me… I won’t disappoint you… I will stand at the very peak with you…”
Zhang Ya’s anger was quickly diluted by this morbid happiness. His steps became lighter, feeling as if each step was landing on a musical note. He pushed open the principal’s office door, walked in, and then lightly closed the door.
At this moment, in the gymnasium.
Two young police officers symbolically walked around the stadium once, then checked the time and quickly turned back towards the dormitory building where the older police group was inspecting. They recalled the recording the operator had pulled up last night.
“This call is suspicious.”
Li Yanguo frowned, pausing the phone recording.
First of all, who would dial 110 by mistake?
“Twelve Middle School… a closed school. The dormitory Daye wouldn’t have a phone and need to use a student’s phone to make a call?”
Li Yanguo turned to look at the younger police officers and said:
“And I’ve never heard of a principal holding a meeting for the dormitory Daye.”
The young police officer pondered for a moment and said:
“And Daye’s speaking speed was very fast, not giving the person on the phone any chance to interject. A normal dormitory Daye would never be so forceful when speaking to a homeroom teacher…”
Mid-sentence, he looked up at Li Yanguo. Li Yanguo looked at the young police officer, nodded, and said:
“Hmm, Wu Xiaofeng, continue.”
Wu Xiaofeng slightly relaxed and continued:
“Later he also said, ‘If I were closer, I’d wish I could go immediately to apologize.’ Would anyone really say something like that over such a small matter? Could it be that something urgent happened, and the school wanted to conceal it, which made Daye anxious to get the police to come? So he said something like that as a hint?”
Li Yanguo listened silently for a moment. He slowly filtered through this strange call made to 110. The cigarette he had just lit, with only one puff taken, flickered on and off as his fingers lightly tapped it, and smoke spread upwards.
Finally, he remembered the lit cigarette, put it in his mouth, took a deep drag, and then said:
“...Twelve Middle School, I remember it’s been a year since the last safety lecture, hasn’t it?”
Li Yanguo exhaled a smoke ring, extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray, turned, put on his jacket, waved his hand, and said:
“Tomorrow I’ll report to my superior. Autumn is here, so let’s ensure the safety lecture is done properly.”
“Hello, gentlemen, we are police officers, here are our credentials. We’ve already spoken with Principal Zhang. We’re here to inspect the safety hazards at your school.”
Li Yanguo handed his credentials to Huang Daye, who had come to greet them, and at the same time looked at the man behind Daye.
“Officer Li… good, good, good, no problem, no problem. Since the principal agreed, then there’s naturally no problem.”
Huang Daye chuckled, handed back the credentials, and then stepped aside.
Li Yanguo knew immediately that this Huang Daye was the one who made the call last night, but he showed no expression. Instead, he questioned the man who had not yet spoken.
“And you are…?”
Li Yanguo’s police instincts alerted him to the man’s abnormality.
“Ah, hello, hello. I just heard from the principal that police comrades were coming to inspect. I’m here to welcome the inspection. My surname is Yang, my name is Yang Desheng, and I am the Yang Director of this school. You’ve come suddenly this time, but our school cannot neglect its hospitality, so I will accompany you during the inspection. What do you think?”
Li Yanguo frowned and said:
“Yang Director, we also have to do things officially. Our superiors require us not to have school personnel accompany us. Please understand our position.”
As Li Yanguo spoke, he winked at Wu Xiaofeng behind him. Wu Xiaofeng understood, and discreetly retreated.
Yang Desheng’s face was not good. He took two steps forward, wanting to call back Wu Xiaofeng, who was pulling away, but before he could speak, Li Yanguo slightly turned his body, blocking the doorway, and smiled, saying:
“Oh, look, Yang Director, these young people of ours are just impatient, disorganized, and undisciplined. I’ll definitely make him write a self-criticism when we get back.”
Seeing Wu Xiaofeng leave, Yang Desheng had no choice but to suppress his anger. Looking at Li Yanguo in front of him, he understood that the other party was an old hand. The more he tried to stop him, the more suspicious the other party would become. Although this sudden inspection was strange, as long as he could fob them off this time and then meticulously investigate again, it would save some effort later on. So, he no longer expressed his desire to accompany them. He began to try to evade Li Yanguo.
But before Yang Desheng could speak, Huang Daye suddenly spoke up from the side.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Yang Director, Officer Li, my stomach hasn’t been feeling well these past two days. I’m going out to use the restroom. When you get old, your body just isn’t as useful anymore.”
Then Huang Daye bowed and scraped to the two men, shuffling towards the door. When Li Yanguo wasn't paying attention at the door, Huang Daye winked at Yang Desheng.
Yang Desheng understood Huang Daye’s meaning and was very pleased with the old man’s perceptiveness. He quickly said:
“Oh, Old Huang, look at you! If you weren’t feeling well, you should have told me earlier. Go quickly! We all have three urgent needs, and no matter what, we can’t delay going to the restroom, can we?”
Then Yang Desheng smiled at Li Yanguo. Li Yanguo showed no expression, just nodded, moved away from the door, and Huang Daye scurried out.
Li Yanguo said nothing more, just looked at his watch and then smiled slightly, closing the door behind him. He then hooked a nearby chair with his foot, slowly sat down, and spoke with a hint of mockery.
“So, Yang Director… I really haven’t been here in a long time. I hear you have good tea. May I taste it?”
Yang Desheng also breathed a sigh of relief, believing that a young police officer with Huang Daye watching him wouldn’t cause any trouble. Just as he bent down to pick up the kettle on the table, he heard a piercing sound.
Creak-----
The dormitory door suddenly pushed open. Through the wide glass of the monitoring room, the two police officers saw Li Yanguo sitting upright. Li Yanguo nodded, and the two police officers also spread out, going to inspect separately.
Yang Desheng’s movements froze for a moment; his face wasn’t looking good.
Li Yanguo, on the other hand, relaxed, tapping his fingers lightly on his knee, and began to observe the small monitoring room.
...
Wu Xiaofeng was inspecting the dormitory. Based on experience, if a serious incident occurred at the school, it would invariably be a student issue. Once an injury issue arose, the Hospital should respond, but after receiving the call last night, the higher-ups had already communicated with the Hospital, and there were no students sent for medical treatment. So, incidents that could be temporarily concealed were only a few possibilities.
Severe bullying, group poisoning or injury, harsh corporal punishment, and suicide.
The former few could be asked about as soon as students left school or when turning into the teaching building, but fearing the school would seal off information in advance, they decided to search the dormitories first, where evidence might appear, to prevent the other party from stubbornly refusing to cooperate.
The school leadership’s attitude was very problematic; there must be something fishy going on. He wondered how people with such psychological resilience could keep things hidden, and they even made teachers who could move freely conceal and not report it. The dormitory Daye didn’t dare to call the police directly. What exactly was going on…
In short, if it was truly a serious incident, the dormitory would definitely be temporarily emptied. Wu Xiaofeng decided to start from this point.
“Oh dear—wait a moment, young man!”
As Wu Xiaofeng was thinking, Huang Daye’s voice suddenly came from behind him.
Wu Xiaofeng knew Huang Daye was the one who called the police last night. He stopped in his tracks after hearing Huang Daye’s call.
“What’s wrong, Daye?”
Wu Xiaofeng turned to look at Huang Daye, who was jogging over.
Huang Daye saw Wu Xiaofeng turn around and quickly smiled, saying:
“Oh dear, young man, Daye’s stomach isn’t feeling well, so I thought I’d go to the restroom. Daye will come and walk around with you after I’m done. We little people working under others have to be more considerate. Please bear with Daye; Daye will be right nearby and won’t delay your work.”
As he spoke, Huang Daye rubbed his pocket, looking at Wu Xiaofeng.
Wu Xiaofeng looked at him, thought for a moment, then looked up and observed the surroundings, seeing the cameras around. He nodded and said:
“Alright, Daye, but let’s agree, when my work requires it, you can’t obstruct me, otherwise, we’ll do things officially, and I won’t consider your feelings.”
“Oh, good, good, good. I’m just going to the restroom. Do you smoke? Want one?”
Huang Daye then casually pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took two for himself, and handed the rest to Wu Xiaofeng.
Wu Xiaofeng hesitated for a moment, took the Daye’s cigarette pack, and went to the restroom with Daye.
Wu Xiaofeng’s eyes were sharp; he saw a small black mark inside the opening of the cigarette pack.
“...Let’s go.”
Upon reaching the washroom, Huang Daye waved his hand, indicating there was no need to follow, and then walked into the restroom. Wu Xiaofeng, on the other hand, observed his surroundings, confirmed there were no cameras in the washroom, and then opened the cigarette pack. As expected, there were indeed words on it, but they were extremely small.
“There’s a ghost, leave quickly!”
Wu Xiaofeng was startled but quickly regained his composure. He reached into the cigarette pack and pulled out a cigarette. His hand trembled slightly. He was both confused and found it eerie. The sentence itself was just a kind of expulsion, nothing to be afraid of. But remembering a sentence his master told him when he first joined, some inexplicable cases in recent years, and the several “police officers” who were named at the beginning of the year, he became nervous.
“This world is starting to have ghosts.”