shameless
"More than one?" Shen Wumei's expression turned solemn. Zhushi Academy was originally an elegant place for teaching and nurturing people, and the students here were very likely to become pillars of society in the future.
Now, however, murders have occurred, and there may be more than one.
But their government office received no news at all; this matter is truly terrifying to think about.
Shen Wumei couldn't even imagine what the consequences would be if this continued.
Zhu Qinghe also felt that this matter was of great importance. This Zhushi Academy had deep-seated problems, and Fang Xiaoguo's death could not be explained away as a simple accident.
"Based on the information we have received in the past few days, the students of Zhushi Academy have already formed two distinct groups."
"One group consists of wealthy students led by Hao Ziming and Xu Yishu; they belong to the bullying group."
"The other group of victims is represented by students like Fang Xiaoguo and Cong Yan, whose families are not well-off."
Shen Wumei asked, "Did you find out who the first student who was killed by Xu Yishu was?"
Zhu Qinghe sighed: "Aunt Ge said she didn't know that student, and strangely enough, a new student quickly filled her vacancy."
So after that, no one paid any more attention to the student who committed suicide.
Shen Wumei took out the student directory that the mountain lord had given him and threw it into Zhu Qinghe's arms.
Zhu Qinghe looked conflicted. Shen Wumei stared at her, his expression calm but carrying a subtle pressure: "What did I tell you last time? You need to stand on high ground and look down from above, and step outside of personal sympathy. You are not them. Your indulgence will not only fail to help them, but will also harm them."
Zhu Qinghe took a deep breath, opened the catalog, and closed her eyes after seeing the name she was looking for.
Just as I expected.
When Zhu Qinghe knocked on Cong Yan's door again, her heart was heavy.
Cong Yan opened the door, her face pale. Zhu Qinghe's expression tightened, and she helped the swaying woman into the house.
"Sister Cong, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Cong Yan sat on the bed and gently shook her head: "I'm fine, don't worry, it's just an old ailment."
After she finished speaking, she coughed violently for a while. Zhu Qinghe quickly went to pour her some water, but when she did, she smelled a strange odor, it seemed—
She was still sniffing intently when Cong Yan called out to her, "Qinghe, are you done?"
"Alright," Zhu Qinghe said, skipping over the question and handing her the water.
Seeing that Cong Yan's complexion had improved after drinking the water, Zhu Qinghe jokingly asked, "Sister Cong, you're weak. Are you pampered at home and do nothing?"
"Speaking of which, does Sister Cong have any brothers or sisters?"
Cong Yan's little finger, which was slightly raised while holding the cup, twitched slightly, but she quickly covered it with her other hand. Zhu Qinghe pretended not to notice anything and looked at her curiously.
"Yes, I had an older sister, but she's no longer with us."
Zhu Qinghe covered her mouth in alarm, looking apologetic: "I'm sorry, Sister Cong, I didn't know..."
“It’s alright,” Cong Yan shook her head. “It’s all in the past.”
Moreover, everyone will eventually pay the price. Thinking of this, a sinister fervor crept into her eyes.
It was fleeting, but Zhu Qinghe still managed to capture it.
The situation is not good; we need to quickly find Shen Wumei to discuss countermeasures.
"Sister Cong, I suddenly remembered that I think I left something in the cafeteria. I'll go go look for it."
Cong Yan smiled faintly and didn't say anything. Zhu Qinghe had just stood up when she felt dizzy and weak, and collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
"Qinghe, are you going to see your Lord Shen?" Cong Yan leaned down and pinched Zhu Qinghe's chin. "We sisters were having a nice conversation, why would you suddenly go to see him?"
Zhu Qinghe knew she had been exposed, but at this moment she could only pretend to be stupid.
Meeting Cong Yan's sharp, suspicious gaze, she asked innocently, "What Lord Shen? What are you talking about, Sister Cong?"
"Oh, you mean Brother Shen? He's not some adult, he's just the older brother I grew up with in the next village. Later, I was kidnapped by human traffickers and became a maid in a rich man's house. If you don't believe me, go ask Aunt Ge in the backyard, she knows all about this."
"You really aren't people sent by the government?" Cong Yan's expression remained suspicious.
"How could that be? Look at the way we're acting, how could we possibly be officials? Aren't all those high-ranking officials incredibly shrewd?"
“I think your Brother Shen has quite an extraordinary air about him,” Cong Yan said.
Zhu Qinghe continued to fabricate: "Oh, Sister Cong, don't be fooled by his appearance. He's not a good person at all."
"His only redeeming quality is his face; he's lazy and good-for-nothing all day long. He used to hang out with the young widow at the edge of the village."
Cong Yan seemed to be shocked, her expression blank for a moment, and then she looked at her with a complicated expression: "He... even in this state, you are still devoted to him?"
Huh? Ah.
Zhu Qinghe quickly put on an expression of unwavering devotion.
Three parts sorrow, five parts infatuation, and two parts rolling one's eyes inwardly.
It seems she can't keep her face today.
"What can I do? I love him. Even if he makes a mistake, as long as he's willing to come back to me, I'm willing to be with him."
vomit--
Zhu Qinghe was about to vomit from talking to herself.
This time, she absolutely must claim her workers' compensation.
Cong Yan remained silent for a long time, seemingly stunned by her words.
A good opportunity! Taking advantage of her inattention, Zhu Qinghe began to sneak towards the door.
When they got to the table, Cong Yan finally noticed her movements and lunged at her to grab her.
She kicked over the round stool, which tripped Cong Yan, who then struggled to her feet and ran towards the door.
Cong Yan didn't chase after them. Instead, she took out the things she had prepared beforehand from under the bed, and with a smile on her face, slowly poured them onto the floor.
Zhu Qinghe felt as if she had turned into a noodle, her whole body limp and she couldn't stand up straight. She went outside, grabbed a student, and asked, "Have you seen Chen Wumei?"
"Who?" the man asked, puzzled.
"It's that tall guy with a terrible temper, who always has an icy look on his face."
"Oh, him? He's in the library."
Zhu Qinghe hurriedly ran over.
Shen Wumei was about to register with a book when she heard someone exclaim in surprise, "Why is there smoke over there?"
Before he could even look over, a person rushed into his arms at the door, their voice urgent: "Cong Yan, it's Cong Yan! She set the fire! She's going to burn down the entire academy!"
Shen Wumei's expression tightened, and the surrounding students began to discuss in panic, with some even running away.
"What's wrong with you?" Shen Wumei noticed that Zhu Qinghe's condition was not right. Beads of sweat were seeping from her smooth forehead, and she was frowning in discomfort as if she was about to faint at any moment.
“Cong Yan lit sleeping incense in the room. It was my fault for being careless. The sleeping incense masked the smell of kerosene, otherwise I wouldn’t have only noticed it now.”
"Wait here for me, I'll go take care of it." Shen Wumei helped her sit down and turned to leave, but Zhu Qinghe grabbed her arm.
“Lord Shen,” she looked earnestly at Shen Wumei, “Cong Yan is the key to the case, and I hope you can rescue her.”
"Don't worry," Shen Wumei squeezed her hand, "Even if it weren't for the case, I wouldn't disregard a human life."
Shen Wumei hurriedly left, and behind him, Zhu Qinghe watched his retreating figure and slowly closed her eyes.
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