Chapter 28 Chapter 28 The Second Drawing
Early on August 8, Pei Qing got up and opened the curtains.
The sky is overcast and a storm is coming.
Pei Qing looked at the weather forecast, which showed that it would be cloudy today and rain heavily tomorrow.
She opened her previous drawing again and stared at the people in the rainstorm again and again.
Xu An knocked on the door.
"Pei Qing, are you awake? Get ready to go."
I'm going to see Xu Qianyu's homeroom teacher today.
Xu Qianyu’s homeroom teacher is named Qian, a little old man.
The old man attaches great importance to Xu Qianyu.
As soon as Xu An and Pei Qing arrived at the school gate, they saw the old man waiting at the door.
The three of them simply greeted each other and walked towards the teacher's office.
The old man asked with a worried look on his face: "No news about Qianyu yet?"
Xu An comforted him: "I'm looking for it, and there's some progress."
The three of them approached the office. There were only a few teachers in the office. When they saw someone coming in, they just looked at them curiously and then lowered their heads to do their own things.
The old man found a bench for Xu An and Pei Qing to sit on.
Xu An continued to ask: "I heard you say before that Xu Qianyu didn't want to live in the school. Is this her own idea or her mother's idea?"
The old man: "I can tell what Qianyu means. Qianyu has always been a person who speaks her mind. If her mother disagrees, she will just say it directly.
She really doesn’t like group life. The school required students to stay in school for self-study at noon. During the lunch break, other students could sleep on their desks, but she couldn’t sleep. She wasn’t energetic in the afternoon. If she couldn’t sleep at night while living in the school, it would be bad. How could she go to class the next day? So I didn’t persuade her any more.”
Xu An understood that it was normal to not be able to sleep due to different personal habits and loud noise in the environment.
He continued to ask, "I heard that Xu Qianyu dropped out of school before. Can I ask the specific reason?"
The old man thought for a moment and said, "Qianyu took a leave of absence two years ago. I was not her homeroom teacher before that. She came back from a leave of absence and transferred to our class. The reason for the leave of absence was written in her file as health problems."
Pei Qing interjected: "Who was her previous class teacher?"
The old man said, "Oh, it's Teacher Mu. She's teaching Grade 1 this year and hasn't started work yet. If you want to find her, you can only go to her house. But does this have anything to do with Qianyu's disappearance?"
Xu An: "I just want to know more about Xu Qianyu's family."
The wrinkles at the corners of the old man's eyes were squeezed together.
"Qianyu's mother has some problems. She is more anxious than other parents. We have tried to find a solution. Some teachers even suggested that she find a part-time job to distract herself, but she didn't listen."
He sighed, "Actually, I know Qianyu can't stand her mother, but she doesn't have any reliable relatives at home, and she doesn't accept living on campus. I wanted to coordinate and find her a single room in the dormitory, but she thought it was too much trouble for me and wanted to ask the director to apply for it, but she felt it was unnecessary."
Pei Qing couldn't help but ask, "Has she been planning to run away from home for a long time?"
This is not difficult to guess. He has run away from home three times, and each time he has more experience than the last. Maybe the first two times were just tests, and this time is the successful version of running away from home.
The old man worried: "That's right, this kid is very smart. But he can't just hide outside until the college entrance exam."
Xu An asked her where her funds came from, because she always needed money when she was away from home. With Xu Qianyu's mother's condition, how much pocket money could she give Xu Qianyu?
The old man said, "She has a scholarship. Our school's scholarships are supported by alumni. There are scholarships for weekly tests, monthly exams, midterms, final exams, and progress awards."
Pei Qing: "Then her mother doesn't know?"
The old man was embarrassed and said, "Her mother would ask me, but I usually just fooled her. Qianyu is already under a lot of pressure, and her mother is very strict. Her meal card is topped up by her mother. How can a girl be without money? If something happens, she will have to borrow from others. With Qianyu's personality, she won't borrow money from others, so I just fooled her."
He has been a class teacher for more than 20 years and has fully mastered the essence of the art of fooling people.
Pei Qing was full of admiration.
From this perspective, Xu Qianyu's days at school should not be difficult. Teachers and classmates all like her, which is much better than at home.
Xu An frowned and continued to ask: "How much does her scholarship add up to? Is it enough for her to spend outside? Where does she live? What does she eat?"
Before he could finish, the bell for the end of get out of class rang and there was a sudden commotion outside the office.
Pei Qing looked outside and saw several teachers returning to their offices one after another, followed by several students holding test papers.
The student looked at Pei Qing and Xu An and felt that they did not look like students coming back to see their teacher, so he looked at them a few more times.
Recently, after Xu Qianyu from Lao Qian's class ran away from home, the police came to the school several times, but they didn't find anything. Hey, is this also a policeman? She seems to look different from last time. Let's take another look.
Seeing several students staring at people, several teachers started to chase them away.
"You can leave after the test papers are delivered. Go back."
"Teacher, I can help you mark the test paper."
“I also bring my own red pen.”
"Go away, go away."
…
Several students were kicked out of the office, and they were quite lively.
Pei Qing said to the old man and Xu An: "I'm going to go out for a walk."
Let's see if I can find out anything.
When I walked out of the office, the corridor was full of students running around.
Pei Qing had just walked to the corner when he suddenly found a few people hiding behind the corner. They were the students who had just come out of the office.
Pei Qing saw them gathered together and couldn't help asking, "What are you doing squatting here?"
Discovered!
A few students laughed awkwardly, said a few mumbled words, and ran back to the classroom. Only a hesitant girl was left in front of Pei Qing.
She didn't run away. Instead, she stood there hesitantly for a while, then asked Pei Qing: "Are you here to ask about Xu Qianyu?"
Pei Qing nodded. She keenly noticed the uneasiness on the girl's face and asked carefully, "Is there anything you want to tell us?"
The girl rubbed the corner of her school uniform and said, "Do you really have to find it?"
Why does she seem to know where Xu Qianyu is?
Pei Qing concealed his expression and said, "Of course, it's not safe for her to be outside alone. What if she runs into a bad guy?"
The girl stammered, "But she's not safe at home either."
Um?
Pei Qing: "What do you mean?"
The girl looked around and there was no one around.
She said carefully: "Sister, I'm telling you, don't tell other classmates. I haven't told anyone else."
Pei Qing swore: "I promise not to tell other students."
Girl: "Xu Qianyu's mother would beat her. She had many injuries on her body."
???!!!!!!
Pei Qing said angrily: "Xu Qianyu's mother is still taking action?"
She always thought it was mental pressure.
The girl nodded: "I saw it secretly before, but I didn't dare to tell anyone else."
Pei Qing listened to the girl's detailed account of what happened.
Xu Qianyu never went to the toilet in the teaching building because the door could not be locked. Girls would go to the toilet in the administrative building in groups. The toilet in the administrative building was a single room with a lock. One time when Xu Qianyu was going to the toilet, the door lock slipped and the toilet door opened, so she accidentally saw the wound on Xu Qianyu's body, which was bruised and bloody.
Girl: "So don't look for her anymore. Xu Qianyu must have suffered a lot of grievances at home, she just doesn't say it. Everyone knows that her mother is sick."
Pei Qing: "But how can you be sure that Xu Qianyu is safe now?"
She was puzzled: "She is a single girl, what if she encounters a kidnapper?"
“Ding-ling-ling——”
The bell rang, and the girl avoided Pei Qing's questions and ran back to the classroom.
A few minutes later, Xu An walked out of the teacher's office and saw Pei Qing in a daze.
"What are you thinking about? Jia Yang called just now and said that Zhuo Pancai refused to cooperate. It seems that he really needs to find a pickpocket to steal her phone."
Pei Qing: "Just now a girl came over and said that Xu Qianyu was abused by her mother and her body was covered with wounds."
Xu An: "Huh? Really? Is Zhi Hongmei so sick?"
Pei Qing: "And from what she said, she is very sure that Xu Qianyu is safe now. How does she know? Is she connected to Xu Qianyu like Zhuo Pancai?"
Xu An: "I'll go ask."
Pei Qing grabbed him and said, "You can't try students as if they were criminals. I just saw that she ran back to Class 17, which is not the same class as Xu Qianyu. Does Xu Qianyu have a good relationship with students from other classes to help her run away from home?"
Xu Qianyu's homeroom teacher asked several female classmates who were good friends with Xu Qianyu about this question. When asked which student in Class 17 Xu Qianyu had a good relationship with, the female classmates all shook their heads.
"Qianyu can talk to anyone, and the best ones are those in our class. Class 17 and our class are not even on the same level, so there is no revolutionary friendship!"
Pei Qing asked again whether Xu Qianyu had sent any messages to everyone recently.
Several female classmates shook their heads quickly, looking worried.
"No, police sister, when can Qianyu come back to class?"
It seems that they don't know that Xu Qianyu is injured.
The girls in Class 17 knew it was just an accident.
After leaving the school, Pei Qing and Xu An found Xu Qianyu's homeroom teacher before she dropped out of school.
The head teacher’s surname is Mu, she is a female teacher and she happens to be at home today.
When the two arrived, Teacher Mu also cut out a fruit plate.
She is a very enthusiastic person, but when she was asked why Xu Qianyu dropped out of school, her enthusiasm gradually faded and a hint of uneasiness appeared on her face.
Teacher Mu hesitated: "Didn't Teacher Qian tell you that Qianyu is not in good health?"
It's obvious that there's something hidden.
Pei Qing: "Xu Qianyu has been missing for five days. If we can't find her, she is missing. She is not just running away from home. We still want to get to know her better."
Teacher Mu clenched the glass: "Five days. It's never been this long before."
She told the truth to the police.
"It's not a health issue, it's that she's fighting with her dad at home."
This answer is really shocking.
Pei Qing: "Xu Qianyu and her father fighting? Barehanded or with tools?"
Teacher Mu: "I don't know the details, but she hit her father on the head and made a cut. Later, her parents arranged for her to take a leave of absence from school. I didn't agree at first. Why should she take a leave of absence if she's not sick or in any way! Xu Qianyu herself didn't want to take a leave of absence from school, so I went to her home for a home visit."
She recalled: "When I arrived at their house, no one was there. Their neighbors said that the family went out to relax. At that time, I felt something was wrong. I had met Xu Qianyu's parents, and they were not pushovers. Her father had just been stabbed in the head, and he took his daughter out to relax. No one would believe it. I called Xu Qianyu's parents five or six times in a row, but Xu Qianyu didn't answer once, and I didn't hear her voice."
The room fell silent for a moment, and the only sound that could be heard was the warm water in Teacher Mu's glass hitting the wall of the glass.
Teacher Mu: "Then the school urged us to go through the process of taking a leave of absence, so I had no choice but to follow what Xu Qianyu's parents said and arrange for Xu Qianyu to take a leave of absence."
So where was Xu Qianyu taken by her parents?
Teacher Mu doesn’t know, and Pei Qing and Xu An don’t know either now, but everyone knows that Xu Qianyu’s parents don’t spoil her. Instead, they have strict control over her. So where will Xu Qianyu be taken after she kills her father?
Teacher Mu: "After Xu Qianyu dropped out of school, I went to her home several times. Her parents haven't been home for half a year. I asked the neighbor downstairs, and the old lady said that Xu Qianyu found out that her father had a mistress, so she got angry and fought with her father. She didn't know where Xu Qianyu was taken. After Xu Qianyu came back from her dropout, I saw her several times. She has changed a lot. Her personality is not as outgoing as before, and her grades are much better than before. I thought she would be able to finish high school smoothly and get into a good university."
But it was obvious that Xu Qianyu had her own ideas.
＊
After leaving Teacher Mu's house, Pei Qing felt heavy-hearted.
Xu An pulled her to the passenger seat.
"Seat belt, I found someone to steal Zhuo Pancai's phone. Zhuo Pancai is eating out now."
Pei Qing fastened his seat belt.
Xu An touched her hair and said, "Don't think too much. There are too many unqualified parents in this world. Don't put yourself in their shoes."
Pei Qing: "No, I'm not as unlucky as Xu Qianyu."
Xu An went to find the pickpocket to take Zhuo Pancai's cell phone.
The pickpocket was Xu An's informant. He handed the phone to Xu An and teased him whether he was bored or not.
Xu An: "Watch your mouth."
The pickpocket closed his mouth and said, "I promise not to say anything nonsense. Hey, by the way, if you want to return your phone, you can also contact me."
The phone was unlocked, and Pei Qing looked through the chat history. Logically speaking, since the phone was lost so suddenly, Zhuo Pancai would not have had time to delete the chat history.
But after searching again and again, she couldn't find Xu Qianyu on Zhuo Pancai's chat interface.
Pei Qing found Xu Qianyu's class teacher again and asked about Xu Qianyu's WeChat and □□ accounts. He found that Zhuo Pancai did have two accounts of Xu Qianyu, but the chat records were up to January this year, before Xu Qianyu ran away from home for the first time.
Before this, their chat records were normal, all about trivial matters in life. After January, they lost contact.
Xu An also saw it.
"That's not right. They did it on purpose. They have a strong sense of anti-detection. There must be other ways to contact them."
Pei Qing: "Only rely on that red bell? What if the cat is caught by someone? There must be other ways to communicate online. The girl in Class 17 is very sure that Xu Qianyu is fine. She is not worried about Xu Qianyu's safety outside at all. There must be some way to know Xu Qianyu's condition."
What can we do?
Pei Qing continued to look through Zhuo Pancai's phone, and she found that Zhuo Pancai had joined many groups.
Pei Qing: "What group is this?"
Xu An read the name of the group: "Assassin's League? What is this? A game?"
Pei Qing smiled: "That's pretty smart. Private chatting in the game is indeed less likely to be discovered than WeChat. I remember this is an online game that requires a computer."
Xu An: "Xu Qianyu climbs the water pipe to Zhuo Pancai's house every day to play games?"
Don't be too outrageous.
Pei Qing didn't care: "You can make money by playing games for others."
Xu An was convinced: "Very good, now the source of funds has been confirmed. Give her a computer and she can stay at home for a year."
Pei Qing opened the drawing he had drawn and looked at it again.
"So what's up with my painting?"
Xu An was still thinking: "Where did Xu Qianyu get the computer? A high-end computer is not cheap. It's impossible that she took Zhuo Pancai's computer with her when she ran away from home? Then how did Zhuo Pancai contact her?"
Pei Qing: "Xu Qianyu can buy it herself."
Xu An: "That also requires someone to help her. If she had bought it online or in a physical store, with financial transactions, Jia Yang would have found her long ago."
If it wasn’t found, it means she didn’t use her own card.
Xu An: "I'll ask Jia Yang if Zhuo Pancai has bought anything recently. If it's not Zhuo Pancai, then someone else might be helping Xu Qianyu. It's probably the person in your painting."
Pei Qing looked at the red liquid in the suitcase in the drawing and thought: "Is Xu Qianyu really safe?"
With a "boom", Pei Qing raised his head.
First there were raindrops as big as peanuts, then there were strong winds and heavy rain.
The rainstorm came earlier than the weather forecast said.
＊
At 7 o'clock in the evening on August 8, it rained heavily.
The man with glasses is watching Xu Qianyu choose a mask.
Every time Xu Qianyu asked which one was better looking, the man with glasses always said it was better looking.
Xu Qianyu was so angry that she didn't want to pay attention to him.
Man with glasses: "You look good in anything you wear."
The rain outside is getting heavier.
The man with glasses asked, "Do we really want to leave now? What if the bar event is cancelled?"
Xu Qianyu: "No, it's not raining in the bar. Okay, drag the suitcase out."
The man with glasses obediently dragged out the blue suitcase from under the bed.
Xu Qianyu tried again to make sure she could get in.
Man with glasses: "I'll show a crack then."
Xu Qianyu: "I'm not afraid, so why are you afraid? If I'm really feeling suffocated, I can just knock on the suitcase. What if someone finds me? I've been looking for a long time to find a suitable bar. Don't mess it up!"
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