An hour after the broadcast, Tao Xinhua still hadn't seen Sha Xiaoyan. He immediately contacted the school to check the surveillance footage and called Sha Xiaoyan's parents. Upon hearing the news, Sha Xiaoyan's parents took leave from their work and came over.

The school's surveillance cameras only captured Sha Xiaoyan coming out of the girls' restroom. The direction she returned to was indeed the classroom of Class 18, but she was nowhere to be seen in the second half of the surveillance video, as if she had disappeared into thin air.

"Old Sha, how could our daughter just disappear like that?" Sha's mother asked with a worried expression. "We've been so busy with work lately, have we overlooked something? Could she have run into trouble?"

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

Mr. Sha quickly comforted her, saying, "Don't think nonsense. Don't you know our daughter? She's always been well-behaved and wouldn't misbehave just because we have some money... Maybe she'll be home when we get back?"

Upon hearing this, Sha's mother was not comforted at all; instead, she cried even harder. "I called her, I called the landline at home, but no one answered. She must not be home, otherwise she would have answered my calls."

Before Sha's father could say anything more, he suddenly heard Tao Xinhua shout from beside him: "Old Xu, zoom in, zoom out, it looks like something flashed by on the ground. Zoom in and take a look."

Upon hearing this, Lao Xu, the head of the monitoring room, operated the keyboard and zoomed in on the image several times.

There seemed to be a corner on the lower right of the screen. Old Xu squinted and looked at it carefully, saying uncertainly, "It looks like some kind of mask... kind of like a Peking Opera mask?"

"Peking Opera masks?" Speaking of which, Tao Xinhua remembered that there was a theatrical performance at the school tonight.

"Teacher Tao, Teacher Tao, my daughter Xiaoyan was raised by her maternal grandmother since she was little. My mother especially loves listening to opera, and Xiaoyan has been influenced by opera culture over the years and is very interested in it..." Mother Sha exclaimed. In her heart, this might be a clue to finding her daughter.

"So, according to you, the school has invited a Peking Opera troupe to perform tonight. Will Xiaoyan be there too?" Tao Xinhua frowned. "But the school rules state that this event is not open to senior high school students."

Mr. Sha shook his head with a sullen face: "Even if Xiaoyan loves opera, she wouldn't go to such lengths. Teacher Tao, please check again and ask other students if they have seen Xiaoyan. My daughter is perfectly fine; she could never have just disappeared into thin air."

As he spoke, Sha's father suddenly glanced at Lao Xu, his tone turning several degrees colder: "Has your school's surveillance system been tampered with?"

Old Xu was inexplicably dragged into this, and feeling a bit resentful and helpless at being glared at and suspected like this: "Mr. Sha, please don't suspect others without reason. I've worked at Shuangyi for so many years and have never tampered with the surveillance cameras. I've always been conscientious and diligent in my work. Please don't doubt me; it will hurt my feelings."

Mr. Sha took a deep breath and calmed himself down before saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Xu, I didn't mean to target you. I was just saying... could the surveillance footage have been tampered with by someone else?"

Old Xu chuckled and said, "Don't worry about that. I haven't left this door today, and no one has come in. The security cameras aren't going to cut themselves out, are they?"

Seeing this, Tao Xinhua tried to smooth things over: "Gentlemen, the truth of the matter is still unknown. If Xiaoyan still hasn't appeared, then report the case to the police after 48 hours. Mr. Sha, I take responsibility for this matter, and I will take full responsibility."

Sha's father had dealt with Tao Xinhua a few times before and knew that Tao Xinhua was not an ordinary teacher, so he gave him some face and did not embarrass him.

He nodded, his attitude still respectful: "Teacher Tao, thank you for your trouble. I'll go back and check if Xiaoyan is home. If I hear anything about her, I'll let you know."

"OK."