The sky darkened rapidly, and soon it was deep night, with a bright moon hanging high in the sky and a sky full of stars.
The sound of many footsteps could be heard in the silent campus. Everyone went downstairs to the cafeteria to look for clues while scratching their mosquito nets. The changing seasons here were so sudden that it was unpredictable. It was winter and summer, and it was so hot and cold that even an iron man could form a layer of rust, let alone a flesh and blood body.
A girl in the team couldn't stand it and caught a cold due to wind and heat, with a sore throat and cough. The young man had a cold due to wind and cold, and was shivering in the hottest weather.
Chen Yang could understand how his teammates felt when they were sick in the mission world. He also caught a cold and had a fever on the A3 floor, and understood that it was a double blow to the body and mind.
It seems like Wen Qing’s clear snot can never be wiped away. It is wiped away one second and appears again the next. His nose has been rubbed red and he looks very haggard.
Chen Yang suggested: "How about you let Mr. Jin carry you?"
Wen Qing's throat itched, so he took out a bottle filled with melted snow water and said, "No, I won't let anyone carry me."
Chen Yang said without hesitation: "Didn't Zhao Yuan carry you on his back?"
Wen Qing's mouth had already opened to the edge of the bottle, but he stopped as if he was stuck when he heard these words.
"Ah..." Wen Qing said slowly, like an old zombie waking up, "It seems so. If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten." He took two sips of snow water, "I remember that the school hunk carried me on his back in the locker room. It was just him and me at the time. He told you that."
Chen Yang nodded. Zhao Yuan complained that Wen Qing wanted him to carry him on his back. He had just walked a few steps on his back when the other party struggled to get down again. His reaction was very abnormal, like a bird whose wings had been ripped off and whose head was stepped on, and it let out a sharp cry of impending death.
At that time, Chen Yang felt that Zhao Yuan’s description was too exaggerated, but now he feels that Zhao Yuan inadvertently touched Wen Qing’s inner world.
Judging from that story, it is very likely that Wen Qing’s adoptive parents and biological parents had never carried him on their backs. Perhaps he acted on a whim and asked Zhao Yuan to carry him on his back. That behavior was like a larva hiding in its shell, curious about the outside world, and mustering up the courage to stick its head out to take a look. It saw the sunlight for the first time and thought it would hurt itself, so it was so scared that it shrank back into its shell.
Chen Yang found a light-hearted topic and joked, "Zhao Yuan is the class hunk, not the school hunk."
"Everyone has their own eyes for beauty. To me, he is the most handsome boy on campus." Wen Qing stopped spinning the bottle and tilted his head to look at Jin Xiaochang. "Why is Miss Jin not talking? Are you thinking about what to eat tomorrow morning?"
"I was wondering, which little dog said he would rather die than be carried on someone's back." Jin Xiao rolled up the sleeves of his school uniform, revealing his pale forearms. His hair was messy and fluffy in front of his forehead, and he looked sexy and casual.
"Oh, why do you care so much when you are alive?" Wen Qing said angrily, "I only recited it for a short while, no more than five seconds."
Chen Yang glanced at the two of them, touched his nose, and sped up his pace.
"Hey, Brother Yang, wait for us, why are you walking so fast?" Wen Qing panted loudly, feeling very weak. He rubbed a bruise on his jaw and laughed sinisterly.
Seeing Jin Xiaochang looking over, Wen Qing jokingly said to him, "Don't say I'm a loser who can't even subdue an animal, or I'll get angry."
Jin Xiaochang: "Chen Yang watched you get kicked?"
"How can that be possible?" Wen Qing waved his hand. "He is helping me."
"They didn't let me go up, saying I had to act on my own, but I ended up getting injured. Qingqing, no matter how many missions you take on, you never learn your lesson." Jin Xiao took his hands out of his pockets, and something between his fingers was flicked into the air by him, and it landed steadily in his palm. It was a coin.
It looks like an ordinary coin, but it carries a sad story.
The curve of Wen Qing's mouth dropped. He only had two coins in total. He gave one to Lao Jin a long time ago to repay him for saving his life, and then he had only one left.
Wen Qing had a premonition that Zhao Yuan was going to get into trouble at the beach, and he thought that such a sunny and innocent boy could walk a little further, so he secretly put the coin into his pocket. Later, Zhao Yuan saved his life, and Wen Qing got the coin back.
Old Jin will never get back what he has. Wen Qing sighed, "I'm not even tall, how can I remember anything? I really underestimated the enemy this time. Fortunately, I have good neighbors."
Jin Xiaochang: "Go to the kitchen and get a knife later."
"Oh no," Wen Qing said seriously, "Brother Jin, this is a youth campus, not a virus apocalypse, use a pen instead of a knife."
Jin Xiaochang said: "Cut off the leg that kicked you."
Hipster: “…”
Mr. Jin, who was particularly obsessive about killing people and chopping up corpses, curled his lips and said, "Cut off two legs, neatly."
Hipster: “…”
"My weak heart has been hurt even a millimeter. I'm going to find my brother Yang and tell him that you encouraged and induced me to do bad things." Wen Qing said while wiping his nose.
Jin Xiao glanced at Wen Qing: "Didn't you say he's not a saint?"
"He is not a saint. He hates that animal, but he doesn't want me to get bloody for that kind of thing. We are not the kind of people who like to chop and kill, unlike you." Wen Qing snorted, narrowed his eyes, and a weird and evil smile appeared on his face. "You and his partner are the same kind of people."
"How well do you think you know him?" Jin Xiao glanced at the tall and thin figure not far away.
"I know that if I turn my back to him, he won't stab me, that's enough." Wen Qing shrugged, "As for a deeper understanding... I don't think so. Li Mao's possessiveness is growing day by day. When he comes back, it will definitely be a new level. I dare not provoke him." He patted Jin Xiaochang's arm, "After this mission, your impression of Lao Chen will change. I'm an experienced person, believe me."
Wen Qing ran towards Chen Yang, sniffed his nose and put his arm on his shoulder: "Why do I feel like you've grown taller?"
"Yes, it's grown." Chen Yang was unable to stand straight because of the weight he was stretched to. He was not surprised at all that he was taller. Everyone's task began the moment they entered the classroom.
Their bodies returned to their youth, the timeline was moving forward, and they were growing up.
"You don't seem to have grown any." Chen Yang turned around to look at Jin Xiaochang who was walking behind him, and met his blue-green eyes, the old cat demon.
"Stop talking. It's just tears. No one in the family has lived to be over 180." Wen Qing shook the half-full bottle of snow water in his hand. "Why don't you eat the milk tablets? Why did you give them all to Old Jin?"
"We didn't bring in many of them in total," Chen Yang said.
Wen Qing didn't say anything more, because he was afraid that if he continued, his neighbor would think of Li Mao and become sad and depressed. Falling in love with Li Mao during a mission is no joke, and if you're not careful, there will be no future.
Noticing the gazes of several girls, Wen Qing wiped his nose with a tissue in one hand and waved to them with the other hand: "Hi, good evening."
"… "
Yang Xue looked back as she walked: "Lin Chengye didn't follow."
Liu Xiaorong felt hot and dizzy: "Who cares what he does? That kind of scum should be chemically castrated."
"Why cut him? What if he becomes even more mentally twisted and takes revenge on society? I say he should be sentenced to death!" the girl next to her said with disgust.
"The best way is to skin and slow the body down! And fry it in oil!" someone agreed.
After everyone had satisfied their desire to talk, they returned to their anxious state. What they had to consider now was to stay alive. Nothing was more important than this.
Bai Tang, Zeng Jin, and the Qian brothers walked together, almost at the end of the team.
Zeng Jin's legs were shaking. "Professor Bai, I don't know if it's my illusion, but I always feel like there are footsteps following us."
Bai Tang paused: "If you hope it's an illusion, then it's an illusion."
Zeng Jin shuddered. So it wasn't an illusion? Was it really there... He subconsciously wanted to turn back, but was stopped by Bai Tang halfway through.
"Don't look back when you walk at the end of the team at night." Bai Tang said.
Zeng Jin quickly left him behind and rushed to the front of the team.
"Professor Bai, you cared about him, but he left you behind," Qian Han muttered, "My brother is right, people are selfish."
Bai Tang's brows were cold and he said, "As long as I have a clear conscience, it's fine. What others do is their business."
Qian Han pursed his lips and said with emotion: "Whatever a learned person says has a philosophical flavor." He asked curiously, "Brother, do you get along well with Professor Bai? You are both academic, although one is in the arts and the other in science, but arts and science are one family. I feel like you can be comrades-in-arms."
The people around him didn't say anything, as if they were absent-minded. Qian Han called out again, "Brother?"
Qian Qin stopped and looked down at him.
Qian Han blinked his round eyes: "Brother, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Qian Qin touched his brother's hair and face. The bright moon hanging high behind him was covered by dark clouds, making it appear dark.
Not long after, Chen Yang and his group sneaked in from the back door of the cafeteria. They did not pry the door open.
Because the door is open.
The stainless steel kitchenware gathered into a halo, as if welcoming the arrival of the fifteen taskers. Chen Yang found the light switch and asked everyone hesitantly: "I turned on the light."
"Open it!" Wu Lingling panted. Her best friend's death had made her mentally ill. She would dream about her best friend saying that the closet was too crowded and asking her to help her. She was afraid that her best friend would suddenly appear.
Chen Yang turned on the light and saw a clean and tidy kitchen. He looked around and said, "Then let's split up."
"Part your hair?" One girl couldn't help saying, "How about not parting your hair? Isn't it better for everyone to have the same hair?"
"The timeline is jumping," Chen Yang said a well-known piece of information, "who knows when it will be dawn." He looked at the girls who were looking at her with pleading eyes. He had sympathy for them, but his reason was above everything except Chao Jian. "Once it's dawn, the kitchen will be full of employees. We won't be able to check. We can only wait until the next late night."
"Having said that, there is one thing I have to remind you. All of us may not be here next late night." Chen Yang sighed softly.
The girls were not stupid and understood that it was very dangerous here and that it would become more and more difficult as they went on. They no longer tried to fish in troubled waters with the hope of getting away with it and they dispersed one by one.
Chen Yang walked to a shelf with storage boxes, pulled out a storage box and took a look. It was empty, and there was a label with the name of the ingredient on the outside of the box.
Bai Tang came over and asked, "Mr. Chen, are you a lecturer?"
Chen Yang: “?”
"The situation just now could easily have caused chaos and crying, but you defuse the situation by saying a few words that everyone knows. What really works in your words is your patience and your sincere attitude of caring for them, which is empathy." Bai Tang looked at him deeply, "You are very good at communication."
Chen Yang felt like he was being praised by the dean, who had a pair of peach blossom eyes that were full of affection even when looking at the floor. He scratched his eyebrows and cleared his throat: "Maybe it's because of getting along with the newcomers."
Bai Tang smiled faintly: "The first time I did a mission, I didn't meet an experienced tasker as patient as you, who was also willing to help newcomers."
Chen Yang watched Bai Tang leave, thinking that people with immortal aura have extraordinary talents on the back of their heads. After he left, he would talk to Xiangdong about this mission.
The kitchen was very large, and everyone was searching for items. The location where Wang Yang's body was placed pointed to this place, the smell of oil smoke on the owner of the eye outside the window pointed to this place, and the newspapers in Wang Juan's desk pocket and the school's internal documents in the office paper trash can also pointed to this place.
Then there must be important clues here.
Qian Han stood in front of a row of freezers. He slowly opened a freezer door, leaned forward, and said nervously, "Brother, do you think there will be a body in there?"
Qian Qin opened the cabinet door a little, and a gust of cold air rushed out.
“Ah—” Zeng Jin, who was behind him, screamed loudly without even looking, “Ahhh!!!”
"Stop shouting, there's no body." Qian Han covered his ears and shouted.
Zeng Jin was trembling with fear: "No, no, damn, I was scared to death... damn, damn..."
“Poor Zeng,” Wen Qing said sympathetically, “Repeat ‘fuck’ to yourself ten times and you’ll understand…” He dragged out the tone, full of the mysterious feeling of a suspense story.
Zeng Jin couldn't help asking, "What?"
Hipster smiled: "This world is made up of fucks."
Zeng Jin: “…” You are so right!
"We have to hurry up. After searching the kitchen, let's search other places." Chen Yang opened the plastic basket containing the ingredients, searched for something and put it back. He walked inside and saw a piece of paper stuck on the wall. He immediately strode over.
That was a duty roster, and there would be one person in charge of the kitchen hygiene every day.
"Who has paper and pen?" Chen Yang shouted towards the kitchen.
"I have it!" Yang Xue trotted forward, quickly opened her backpack, took out a pen and paper and handed them to Chen Yang.
Chen Yang copied down the list of all staff members on the duty roster.
Yang Xue asked quietly: "Is this useful?"
"Whether it's useful or not will depend on what happens later." Chen Yang returned the ballpoint pen with a white-bearded old man sitting on the tip to her and said gently, "Whether it's a big discovery or a trivial one, you have to treat it with caution. Sometimes the answer to the puzzle is the easiest thing to overlook. Details are very important."
In the second year of high school, Yang Xue's classical temperament made her stand out even more. She bit her bright red lips and said, "Mr. Chen, can I team up with you?"
Chen Yang did not jokingly say "Aren't we in a group?", but directly said: "No." He chuckled, "I have a partner."
"Sure enough..." Yang Xue murmured. She didn't feel much disappointed and didn't mention it again.
Chen Yang turned into a locker room.
The girls who followed him in later all suffered from closet phobia and didn’t dare to touch them at all. They were afraid that the closet door would open by itself, or that a woman’s crying would be heard from the closet. What was even more terrifying was their own cries for help!!!
They really shouldn't watch horror movies normally, as those scenes were playing automatically in front of their eyes.
Chen Yang touched the cabinets one by one from front to back, and they were all closed.
"Employees lock their lockers before leaving get off work. Even if there are worthless items inside, it is still personal privacy." Bai Tang half-knelt and checked the row of lockers below. As soon as he finished speaking, a slight sound was heard in the locker room.
"Creaky..." A cabinet was opened by Chen Yang.
The air in the room froze into ice at that moment, and all the girls held their breath and dared not move.
Chen Yang looked into the cabinet and saw a copy of "Wu San" and another copy of "Ten Years of College Entrance Examinations".
These two reference books were very famous during the student days. Their appearance in this occasion seemed out of place, yet gave Chen Yang a subtle sense of expectation.
Chen Yang took out two reference books and found that there was a Chinese test paper with only a few multiple-choice questions inside "Wusan". The class was not written on the test paper or the book, only the name.
—Chang Chao.
“Chang…” Chen Yang quickly took out a piece of paper from his pocket to check. There was indeed a person with the surname Chang on the duty roster, Chang Qing.
Chen Yang asked Bai Tang to try all the remaining lockers. Bai Tang tried and found that the only locker in the locker room that didn't have a lock was the one that held the reference books. This was obviously a clue.
There was a cartoon picture on the innermost part of the open cabinet - me and my father.
There is a small house by the river. The little boy is playing in the river happily. He likes the look of the water. The adult is watching him, holding a small fishing net in his hand.
"So, Chang Qing is a cafeteria employee, and Chang Chao is his son." Qian Han said at the locker room door, "They are father and son."
Bai Tang pointed to another item in the cabinet, a brand-name thermos cup used by students.
"Wow, how luxurious! A child with a dad is like a treasure." The hipster said.
The items in the cabinet revealed that Chang Qing loved his son Chang Chao very much. As for Chang Chao's class, everyone had the answer in their hearts, but they just lacked solid evidence.
A lot of clues have been accumulated so far. Once Chang Chao's class is verified, the background of the mission can be basically inferred.
Chen Yang took a look at the Chinese test paper. Chang Chao got all the multiple-choice questions wrong. He turned the paper over and found a picture on the back. It showed a headless man with flags with the words "College Entrance Examination", "Score", "Education", "Job", "Income" and "Motorhome" stuck on his body.
Even without a head, that person still had a sense of dejection and world-weariness.
"Look at this realist, he has a talent for painting." Wen Qing rarely did not act, and gave a serious evaluation. He shook his head, "It's just that his grades are too bad. He can't even answer such a simple multiple-choice question on the test paper."
"Every profession has its top talent." Qian Han couldn't help but speak up for the poor student.
Wen Qing said: "Who cares about you?"
“That’s right…” Qian Han’s head drooped.
Wen Qing glanced at Qian Qin who was looking at his brother in a daze. He chewed the gum vigorously and blew out a deflated bubble.
"Boring." Wen Qing muttered and touched Chen Yang's shoulder.
Chen Yang folded the paper along the fold lines, then checked the reference book several times, and put it back in the cabinet after making sure there were no other clues.
"That Chang... why are his things here?" Liu Xiaorong's voice was as small as a mosquito.
"Come to his dad's place after school..." Yang Xue was interrupted by Wu Lingling before she could finish her words.
"Can you smell it?" Wu Lingling's pupils dilated and her lips turned pale.
Zeng Jin got up from the ground and asked, "What?"
"Wu Lingling, don't be so startled. Scaring others can kill them, right?" Liu Xiaorong was terrified.
"It smells like oil smoke," Wu Lingling pulled at the wig on her head and trembled, "It smells like oil smoke!"
"What's that smoke..." Liu Xiaorong's voice suddenly stopped, she also smelled that smell!
The smell of oil smoke wafted in from outside, mixed with the aroma of steaming food.
Chen Yang rubbed the cabinet door with his hand twice. Usually, employees would take off their work clothes and put them in the cabinet after get off work, then change into their own clothes and leave. However, there were no work clothes in this cabinet.
This means that Chang Qing, the owner of the cabinet, has not finished get off work yet and is busy in the kitchen, perhaps making a midnight snack for his son who is preparing for an exam.
From the direction of the kitchen came the sound of a spatula rubbing against an iron pan, and the smell of oil smoke became stronger.
Chen Yang closed the cabinet door and said, "Go!"
Everyone left the locker room one after another. They didn't dare to stop or look around when they passed through the kitchen. They just ran out with their heads down.
More than half of the team collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
"The chef is the evil spirit!" Wu Lingling stared at the cafeteria with her red and swollen eyes, "He was the one who killed Da Yu!"
"Keep your voice down." Yang Xue was also a little neurotic.
Wu Lingling suppressed her sobs, and several girls tried to comfort her half-heartedly.
We were not familiar with each other and had only known each other for one day at most. It was impossible to be sincere to each other. It was too unrealistic. Besides, they were scared to death and almost went crazy.
Chen Yang was sorting out the fresh clues. He planned to go to the head teacher's office to verify Chang Chao's identity. Bai Tang saw what he was thinking and suggested going with him.
After they had walked three or five steps, the thick night began to thin, and a hint of orange and white appeared on the horizon.
"It's dawn." Zeng Jin murmured while looking at the sky.
"The sun has set." Chen Yang frowned, and time jumped by.
"Student Zeng, how come you can't even tell the difference between sunrise and sunset?" Wen Qing made Zeng Jin blush. He rubbed the wet hair off his forehead, and the black birthmark grew a little bigger.
"It's evening now, and we have to go to evening self-study again." Wen Qing said with a smile, "Wish us good luck."
Others: “…”
Chen Yang's face was a little gloomy. The timeline jumped to an evening study session on an unknown day, so he couldn't go to the office during this period. Before he could get rid of the anxiety and irritability on his face, he caught a glimpse of Jiang Wei walking towards him with a stack of homework books.
"The head teacher asked you to go to his office." Jiang Wei did not stop when he passed by Chen Yang.
Chen Yang asked: "Now?"
"Yeah." Jiang Wei walked towards the teaching building.
Chen Yang greeted everyone and ran to the head teacher.