Every Wednesday afternoon, Class 2 and Class 3 of Senior High School have physical education classes. Today, it happened that the physical education teacher was on leave, so this class was empty and was arranged as a self-study class.
Self-study classes are basically equivalent to leaving school early, because most students in this era do not care about learning. They do not study seriously in classes with teachers, let alone in classes like this that rely entirely on self-discipline.
So the students in Class 3 of Grade 12 dispersed and left the school in groups of three or five. Only a few students who really liked to study stayed in the classroom to study.
Cheng Maixiang originally wanted to stay in the classroom to study, but she remembered that when Lin Jiayu sent her to school this morning, he had said mysteriously that he would let her meet someone tonight, which successfully aroused her curiosity.
It has been so long, and she hasn't visited the steel plant where he worked. Today is a good day since she has some free time, so she decided to go over and check it out. Maybe she can meet the friend he mentioned in advance.
Cheng Maixiang walked out of the school gate with her schoolbag. The steel plant was on the north side of the school, about thirty to forty minutes' walk away. She really didn't want to walk there, so she waited at the bus stop at the school gate.
After about twenty minutes, a large white iron bus came lazily over and stopped in front of Cheng Maixiang with a bang.
The buses of this era were much larger than those of later generations. The interior of the bus was very spacious, but there were not many seats. Fortunately, it was not peak hour, so there were still many empty seats in the bus.
Cheng Maixiang bought a ticket, chose a seat by the window and sat down, turning her head to look at the scenery outside the window casually.
There are gray bungalows or two-story buildings everywhere, as if the scenery in nostalgic photos has been directly moved into real life. However, the greening on both sides of the street is well done, with lush trees and green shade.
Cheng Maixiang felt a little tired after reading for a while. She was about to sit up and stretch when she suddenly felt the bag on her body move.
Cheng Maixiang looked back and saw a short man in his forties sitting behind her, dozing off in his seat. He didn't even notice that Cheng Maixiang looked back at him.
Cheng Maixiang didn't notice anything unusual and thought it was just an illusion. Just as she was about to turn around, someone suddenly said loudly from behind, "Okay, stop pretending to be asleep. Return the handkerchief to your female classmate."
Cheng Maixiang turned around suddenly and saw a tall man suddenly stand up from the last row of seats. He walked to the short man in a few steps, grabbed his hand, and dug a handkerchief out of his palm.
When Cheng Maixiang saw the pattern on the handkerchief, she quickly took off her schoolbag. Sure enough, the schoolbag was opened for some reason and the handkerchief in the bag disappeared.
The little man's eyes suddenly opened and he said impatiently, "What evidence do you have to prove that the handkerchief belongs to this female student? Her name is on the handkerchief?"
As he spoke, he pulled his hands outwards with all his strength, trying to shake off the tall man's grip, but the man was so strong that he was unable to get rid of him.
"Is this handkerchief yours? As a man, would you use a handkerchief with a pattern that suits girls?" the tall man sneered.
"What do you care about me? I bought this handkerchief just because it has a beautiful pattern. Besides, who says men can't use handkerchiefs with this pattern?"
The tall man snorted, "You're quite good at making excuses. I saw you open this girl's backpack and steal the handkerchief from behind. How dare you deny it?"
"Which eye of yours saw me stealing? I even said that you and that schoolgirl were colluding to steal the handkerchief from me."
The little man was obviously being a rogue.
At this time, the passengers in the carriage were alarmed and started talking. Most people believed that the handkerchief was hers because Cheng Maixiang was dressed fashionably, but some people supported the little man's words.
The conductor rushed over from the front of the bus. He had also heard the dispute between the two parties and said kindly, "Since you can't agree, there is a police station in front. After you stop the bus, go to the police station together to report the crime and let the police handle this matter."
The tall man nodded repeatedly, "Okay, it would be best to go to the Public Security Bureau and ask the police to help us solve the case and see who the thief is."
The short man retorted unconvincedly, "Go ahead, who's afraid of who?"
Cheng Maixiang slowly stood up and said in a deep voice, "Comrade, I urge you to return the handkerchief to me immediately and apologize. If you really end up at the Public Security Bureau, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave."
"What do you mean? I've already told you that the handkerchief is mine. I say that wherever I go. You say the handkerchief is yours. What evidence do you have?"
The little man stiffened his neck and refused to admit defeat.
"Well, since you said the handkerchief is yours, then tell me, what is the pattern on it?"
There were two blue irises embroidered on the handkerchief, a flower that Cheng Maixiang loved in her previous life. However, irises were not produced in Linwen County, and the locals basically didn't recognize this flower.
The little man choked for a moment, then continued to argue, "Just because I don't recognize the flowers on the handkerchief, does that mean it's not mine? Yes, I really don't recognize the flowers, I just bought it because I thought it was beautiful, is that okay?"
Cheng Maixiang immediately replied, "Okay, of course, but it doesn't matter if you don't recognize this flower as an iris, then why are my initials on your handkerchief?"
The short man was shocked. Although he didn't look at the handkerchief closely, he was sure that there were no Chinese characters on it.
Before he could say anything, Cheng Maixiang said to the conductor, "Comrade, if you don't believe me, take the handkerchief and look at it. Next to the iris are three English letters: C, M, and X. My name is Cheng Maixiang, and these three letters are the first letters of my name in Chinese pinyin."
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