Chapter 75 Calmness and Responsibility
Gu Qiuyue's knuckles as she held the receiver were blue and white from exerting too much force. Lin Xiu's broken, desperate sobs as she uttered the three words "I'm scared" seemed to carry a fishy smell, echoing repeatedly in the small communication room, making her feel stuffy in the chest.
What could possibly terrify a martyr's widow to such a degree? Furthermore, she had previously been replaced on the Gaokao. Alarm bells rang in Gu Qiuyue's mind. Lin Xiu's pale, distraught appearance the day she left Dui Ren instantly overlapped with her discontinuous sobbing. What she was facing now was definitely no small matter!
She turned around suddenly and almost rushed to the window of the reception room: "Auntie! Can you tell where the call was from just now? Long distance or local?"
The old lady was startled by her pale face and shook her head, saying, "Oh, the noise was so loud, like frying beans, how could I hear it clearly? The other party hung up on their own, it was disconnected so quickly."
Unable to rely on herself anymore, Gu Qiuyue took a deep breath, forced down the turbulent waves in her chest, and slammed the receiver back into the base with a crisp "click".
Without any hesitation, she rushed out of the message room, her steps as fast as the wind, and ran towards the office building where the department counselor's office was located with a clear goal.
The warm afternoon sun shone on the campus path, but she could not feel a trace of warmth. Lin Xiu's confused and helpless eyes flashed through her mind. The four words "martyr's widow" weighed heavily on her heart, adding an unshirkable responsibility. The troubles brought by Zhou Mingxuan were as small as dust at this moment.
"Report!"
Gu Qiuyue didn't even wait for a complete response from inside before she pushed open the door of her counselor, Teacher Li. Teacher Li was a female teacher in her forties with a serious face. She was writing something at her desk at the moment. When she heard the voice, she looked up and saw Gu Qiuyue's unusually solemn expression, and her brows immediately frowned.
"Teacher Li, it's an emergency!" Gu Qiuyue spoke quickly and clearly, without any nonsense. "I just received a call from Lin Xiu. Our investigation revealed that someone's university place was replaced by a girl named Wu Meili."
Teacher Li's expression suddenly froze. He took the school's information, looked at it, and nodded. "What's wrong with her? Do you know her?"
"Yes, she's a martyr's widow. Her husband used to work for me. She called me for help." Gu Qiuyue organized her words. "She was very emotional, her voice was shaking. She said... she was very scared. The call was disconnected before she could finish."
Gu Qiuyue stared intently into Teacher Li's eyes and emphasized her tone, "Teacher, she's suffered psychological trauma. If she hadn't been in great difficulty or even danger, she would never have been so out of control as to ask for help from someone I've only met a few times! I suspect the situation is very serious!"
"Family members of military martyrs?" Teacher Li repeated the word in a low voice, his face completely gloomy and his eyes became extremely sharp.
She obviously knew what this meant. She even dared to replace the college entrance examination quota of a military martyr's family member. It seemed that someone in the local area abused his power, and now that it was discovered, something bad might really happen.
"Good! Gu Qiuyue, you responded very promptly. This matter is of a special nature and cannot be delayed. I will immediately report it to the school party committee and the armed forces department. I will also contact the local civil affairs department and the Women's Federation, requesting that they intervene quickly to verify the situation and ensure the safety of Comrade Lin Xiu.
You've done a great job. I'll let you know as soon as there's any progress!" Teacher Li's speech quickened, and with unquestionable decisiveness, he quickly picked up the phone on the table and started dialing.
Seeing Teacher Li's swift and decisive actions, Gu Qiuyue's tense heartstrings relaxed a little. The organization's attention and efficiency gave her hope. She quietly left the office. The huge rock in her heart was not completely put down, but at least she was no longer fighting alone.
With a sense of heaviness and worry, she walked back to the dormitory building.
As soon as I walked downstairs, an unusually loud noise came from upstairs, mixed with sharp cries and fierce quarrels. The source... seemed to be from the direction of my dormitory.
Gu Qiuyue's heart tightened. She rushed up to the third floor in two steps and pushed open the half-closed door of Room 308. The scene before her made her pupils shrink suddenly:
The dormitory was in a mess, with books scattered all over the floor and an overturned enamel basin with water flowing everywhere. Liu Mei was being grabbed by the hair by a woman wearing a washed-out, rusty cotton shirt, her face full of grief and anger, the woman's eyes almost bursting with rage, and she cried and cursed in a hoarse voice:
"You shameless slut, you seduced other people's men and destroyed their families. You will die a horrible death!" The saliva almost sprayed on Liu Mei's pale face.
Liu Mei was so frightened that her soul was about to be shattered. She struggled in vain and cried out, "Let me go! You lunatic! I don't know you! Help!"
The other roommates in the dormitory were terrified and huddled in a corner, not daring to make a sound. Only Wang Fang, who always regarded herself as the boss, tried to intervene with a sullen face: "Talk it over nicely, don't use violence, this is school!"
"Talk nicely? What's there to talk to this bitch about?" The woman lost control of her emotions and pushed hard. "I told you to seduce my man and get pregnant with a bastard!"
"Bang!" A muffled sound!
Liu Mei was pushed hard against the hard iron bedside behind her by this great force, and her waist and abdomen hit the cold iron edges. She let out a shrill and distorted scream, and her whole body fell down as if all the bones were pulled out. She curled up on the floor, rolling and groaning in pain, and the glaring bright red quickly spread on her light-colored pants, like a flower of despair.
Time seemed to stand still.
The country woman looked at the rapidly expanding pool of blood and was also stunned. She subconsciously loosened her hands that were pulling her hair and stood there in a daze.
"Ah!" One of the onlookers finally screamed.
"Go call the school doctor! Notify the teacher! Quick!" Gu Qiuyue was the first to react and shouted sternly. Her voice had an unquestionable penetrating power that instantly woke up everyone who was stunned.
She rushed forward, trying to check on Liu Mei's condition, and at the same time used her body to separate the still dazed country woman to prevent her from making any more extreme moves. In the chaos, her cuffs were stained with a few glaring red spots.
Liu Mei, in severe pain, lay on the ground with a dazed look in her eyes and cold sweat soaking her forehead. Her gaze swept through the chaotic crowd and finally fell on Gu Qiuyue's face, which was stained with blood but still calm and composed.
Perhaps it was the trance brought on by the severe pain, or perhaps it was a moment of remorse, but her lips trembled and she let out a shrill cry filled with endless self-mockery:
"Retribution... hehe... retribution..."
This cry was like a basin of ice water, pouring into everyone's heart. Wang Fang, who was huddled in the corner, looked at Gu Qiuyue with complicated eyes. She was half-kneeling beside Liu Mei, calmly directing her frightened roommate to get a towel and pour warm water, while she herself tried to press the place where Liu Mei was bleeding profusely. Although her movements were unprofessional, she revealed an extraordinary calmness and responsibility.
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