Incendie mystérieux

Chapitre 61

On Monday afternoon, he rushed to the gym as soon as get out of class ended, only to be shocked by the girls' frenzy. The schedule clearly stated that from Monday to Friday, aerobics classes were from 5:30 to 6:30, yoga from 3:00 to 4:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, and street dance from 6:00 to 7:00. And now? He pulled out his phone; the TFT screen showed only 4:10, but the usually bright and spacious aerobics room was already packed. The girls were sitting, standing, or even using their bags and aerobics mats to artificially divide the area into smaller sections to ensure their own space. This must be what they call reserving seats, right? He gave a wry smile. He always needed to reserve seats—for classes, for studying, for meals in the cafeteria, for showers, even for dancing and playing sports. He never imagined that now even aerobics required reserving seats, and with such early lines. It was indeed too early. The girls were either chatting together or doing leg stretches and other warm-up exercises. Some even took out a red book from their bags and muttered to themselves, apparently memorizing vocabulary. Some were even doing their homework on the floor!

"Are these girls crazy?" As a married man, he couldn't help but feel indignant. To openly approach a guy who was into sports like that was clearly a sign of disrespect for the men at K University! That aerobics coach, who at least politely called him "teacher," was just a simple-minded, muscle-bound guy! Only those with poor grades who couldn't get into a decent university would teach sports; how could they compare to these top-performing students selected through rigorous college entrance exams? So what if he's handsome? Can he eat that? He almost cried out in anguish, "Girls! You're all intelligent girls, winners who have survived the brutal college entrance exams and reached the top! How can you be so shallow, going crazy over some so-called handsome guy?"

As he was thinking this, the small door in front opened, and a man leaped in front of the mirror like a whirlwind. His steps were light and agile, just like a pure white snow leopard. "You're all here early!" he greeted the girls warmly.

"Good morning, Teacher Bai!" The girls all smiled, their eyes crinkling, completely oblivious to how inappropriate this greeting was—it was clearly afternoon.

Mr. Bai smiled shyly, revealing a set of clean, even teeth, and walked towards the men's locker room with his backpack. When he emerged, he had changed. His physique, previously concealed by a loose sports jacket, now appeared even more muscular and well-proportioned under the tight-fitting, stretchy bodybuilding suit. Tall, with broad shoulders that could easily accommodate any crying girl, and narrow, taut hips—every curve of his body exuded masculine beauty, a sculptural beauty originating from ancient Greece, passed down through ancient Rome, and further developed by the Renaissance. He didn't seem like a living, breathing person, but rather a masterpiece sculpted by the hand of God.

He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of jealousy. No, An Lin was wrong. A man as dashing as Teacher Bai was a rare find in the entertainment industry. He had such perfect assets, so why didn't he pursue other careers instead of coming to K University to teach aerobics?

“I’m looking for someone,” a voice suddenly rang in his left ear, a cold, evil man’s voice filled with deep-seated hatred, “a man who is not human, a monster.”

He abruptly covered his ears and looked around in terror. There were no men around, only girls. The only person who might be talking was Teacher Bai, but he was currently chatting happily with the girl closest to him.

If it's not Teacher Bai, then who could it be?

He thought he must have misheard. His ears were filled with the voices of many girls—chatting, screaming, cheerful and high-pitched—but a cold male voice always pierced through them, powerful enough to suppress all the surrounding noise.

“I’m sure he will show up,” the voice said, like a knife slowly stabbing into his ear canal, “because so many of his favorite prey are gathered here.”

The man's voice chuckled coldly at the end, a laugh that sent chills down his spine. He couldn't help but look up. The radiant Mr. Bai was smiling brightly, revealing a set of pearly white teeth, while the girl sitting opposite him gazed at him tenderly, her eyes filled with affection that even a fool could see.

Anlin!

This was an expression he hadn't seen in a long time. An Lin was so stingy with her boyfriend, yet she so easily showed it to a dance instructor she'd only recently met. He was furious; his blood rushed to his head. He rushed over and pulled An Lin up from the ground. Ignoring her protests, he dragged her outside.

"What are you doing?!" An Lin's eyes widened as she desperately tried to shake him off. Due to the suddenness of the incident and her anger, her face turned bright red, and a few strands of hair fell down from her head, making her look even more pitiful.

"You..." He was filled with resentment, but he was completely defeated in front of An Lin. The words he had prepared vanished in an instant, and he could only stammer, unable to utter a sound, "You..."

An Lin glared at him contemptuously, turned to leave, but he grabbed her tightly.

"Let go!" She uttered only these words from her lips.

"Come back with me, Anlin." His attitude softened without him even realizing it. "Shall we go eat?"

"Stop it!" An Lin didn't bother with him at all. "I'm going to do aerobics, I'm going to lose weight, I'm not going to eat, don't you understand?"

No! The sound coming into his left ear was completely different from that in his right ear; they were a chaotic jumble, yet he could still hear them clearly:

"I don't want to stay with you anymore! I prefer being with Bai..."

"White what?" he asked weakly.

An Lin smiled without hesitation, her smile as radiant as a spring flower. "White Tiger," she replied.

Volume 4, The Soul Singer, Third Movement: The Sick Half-Eared Man (Part 4)

From that moment on, everything around him felt wrong. He felt as if his left ear was blocked by some indescribable membrane, throbbing uncomfortably, yet buzzing incessantly. It was as if some ethereal sound, not of this world, flickered faintly in his left ear canal, but he could only vaguely sense it, unable to truly grasp it. Now, his only intact right ear bore the burden of receiving information from the normal world. However, his independent ear was almost unable to determine the correct source of sound; he often couldn't hear conversations clearly, let alone appreciate movies or even music. He began to feel irritable, sullen, and prone to inexplicable outbursts of anger.

All of this is because he is sick.

He visited numerous hospitals throughout the city, but all the examinations came back normal. Not a single doctor could explain his strange illness. There was no otitis media, no sore throat—a completely inexplicable ailment. Finally, the doctor asked helplessly:

"Can't you really hear anything?"

No, not really. Sometimes, I don't know why, I hear strange things. Like that time with my girlfriend, or another time during aerobics class... But the strange thing is, the words always sound different in my right ear. Besides those two times, I think I've heard some other things, but the voices were too soft for me to hear clearly.

The doctor abruptly stopped writing with his ballpoint pen, which he had been casually playing with for a long time.

“Well then,” he scribbled on the medical record for a long time, clearly deliberating carefully, “we can’t treat your condition here. How about I recommend you go to another specialized hospital?”

He stared intently at the doctor's purplish-red lips, watching their every movement. Two sounds surged into his ears simultaneously, making it impossible for him to distinguish them in his haste. He could only judge by the shape of the doctor's lips.

“He’s insane,” the left ear whispered to him, “he also has severe auditory hallucinations. I suggest he go to the Fourth Hospital (a mental hospital) for a thorough examination.”

He exclaimed, "Oh! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" He pointed angrily at the doctor, who was terrified by his sudden outburst. "I heard you! I don't want to go to the Fourth Hospital!"

He took off running. Firstly, it happened suddenly, and secondly, he was young and strong; in the huge hospital, no one tried to stop him, nor could they. He held his breath and ran for a long, long time, leaving the white hospital building far behind, until he saw the simple gate of the school before slowing down.

Once he stepped over the school walls, he finally felt certain that he was normal and safe.

It was already 11 p.m., and he was still sitting alone in the study room, the circuit textbook in his hands purely for show. The pale fluorescent light tubes flickered incessantly above his head, and apart from him, there was no other presence in the classroom. Everyone else had gone back to their dormitories to rest, leaving him alone, isolated and forlorn, feeling abandoned by the whole world. No, it was he who had abandoned the whole world. He was unwilling, unwilling to be deaf to their words, unwilling to be swayed by those strange voices.

However, even if he is rejected by the entire human society, he still has one last piece of his heart.

An Lin.

His rough fingers traced the contacts on his phone, lingering on the name "An Lin," as if he could feel a deep warmth emanating from the cold LCD screen. An Lin, I only think of you. An Lin, I only love you.

How long has it been since he lost contact with her? How long has it been since he last called her, since he last listened to her voice? Perhaps at the beginning of their relationship, she was still passionate for a while, but at some point, calling her became his sole, taken-for-granted right, and she saw it as a burden she took for granted. Now, thinking back, was she already cold towards him from the very beginning? Ever since the ordeal at the Ivy League Ghost House…

She acted on impulse... No!

She did it out of gratitude... no!

She doesn't love me at all... She said it herself... No!!!

He slammed his forehead against the table, trying to calm his racing thoughts. "Please, let me have some peace and quiet!" he cried, pounding his head.

The phone screen suddenly lit up, accompanied by cheerful music. A text message! His eyes lit up, and he grabbed the phone. It was from An Lin; it must be her!

"Are you free for the horoscope forum gathering tomorrow night? Everyone misses you ^_^" Sender: Yan Wuyue.

He remembered that besides An Lin, he also had other things to do. Since entering the school, he had been the moderator of the astrology forum and also the founder and president of the astrology association—it was time to meet all the netizens.

He doesn't want to reveal his real name, but his online name is quite famous; those who know him generally call him Lonely Cow.

Yan Wuyue, that somewhat tomboyish girl, had always been his right-hand woman at work, and they had even gone through the Ivy League Ghost House incident together. He felt guilty because, since then, he had focused on his relationship with An Lin, and his contact with her had noticeably decreased. He was no longer as single-mindedly devoted to club work as before. It's been so long since I've seen her. She must still be that same chattering girl, right? Honestly, not cute at all. "Everyone misses you so much!" Don't you care about me at all? Even though we often bicker, we've always been good friends!

His hands rested limply on the table, his empty eyes devoid of any life. Only in moments like these did he realize how precious long-lost friendship was, like the last drop of dew in the desert, perfectly positioned within a budding flower; and the more he felt this, the more overwhelming his loneliness became, surging up and engulfing him.

The gathering was a resounding success, if one ignored Lonely Bull's unusual silence. A new generation of students was gradually maturing, and their discussions were exceptionally lively. Fragments of words kept flying into Lonely Bull's right ear, chattering and clamoring, yet he couldn't categorize them into any meaningful sentences. His left ear, however, remained unexpectedly quiet.

Yan Wuyue, sitting to the side, rarely spoke, which was extremely rare—because getting her to shut up and be quiet was an incredibly difficult task. She merely shifted her toes restlessly; only such a slight detail was in keeping with her lively and active nature. Her eyes darted around anxiously, their focus fixed on the Lonely Ox to the left and right.

He was completely unaware of this.

Time was almost up, and people were gradually dispersing. Lonely Ox slowly sat up, preparing to leave—he just wanted to get away quickly, to find a lively place where no one knew him, to disappear into, and hide away. Just as he stood up, he clearly heard something in his left ear—

"Are you and Anlin... doing well?"

It was a girl's voice, and it was timid. He looked up, and his eyes met Yan Wuyue's.

Volume Four: The Soul Singer, Third Movement: The Sick Half-Eared Man (Part Five)

Her lips remained stubbornly closed, her clear eyes as always. Her mouth didn't move, yet he clearly heard her voice—pure and unadorned.

"Are you and Anlin... doing well?"

Was this the only thing she wanted to say to him? He gave a bitter laugh, his mouth filled with a bitter taste, and then slowly turned around and left without looking back.

At this moment, he could only miss that name even more. He clenched his fists and rushed to the cherry blossom tree next to the stadium, making a long-overdue phone call to An Lin. It was still early in the season, and the cherry tree only stretched out its still-withered branches and leaves, sparsely obscuring the starry sky above him.

She didn't do her morning exercises today, nor was she in her dorm. "I'm studying in the second teaching building," she replied, "memorizing vocabulary."

His blood rushed to his face, burning intensely in the darkness. "I...I'll come to the Second Teaching Building to pick you up right away," he stammered, barely able to finish his sentence, "Ten minutes, no, five minutes later, I'll be waiting for you!"

When Anlin arrived, Lonely Cow was bathed in the bright fluorescent light. He was in a great mood; in fact, perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, Anlin seemed particularly enthusiastic, talking non-stop the whole way. They walked hand in hand towards the school supermarket, the moonlight casting long, hazy shadows before them. He casually took Anlin's arm, and her petite head rested against his shoulder.

"Have you been busy lately?" he asked softly. "Are you tired?"

"It's alright," Anlin's voice was tired, yet mixed with a hint of excitement. "It's the same every day, classes, meals, self-study, and so on." She gave him a reproachful look with her dark eyes. "You never spend time with me."

His heart pounded, but he tried to pretend he hadn't noticed anything and calmly asked:

"What about aerobics? Aren't you doing it anymore?"

Anlin sighed weakly, her voice immediately softening:

"And you're right! Ever since Teacher Bai left, the school has been so stingy. They hired some female teacher who can't speak clearly and is very fierce. Who would want to go there? Everyone has dropped out of classes."

"Teacher Bai is gone?" he asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” she pouted, looking extremely charming, “I don’t know what happened, but one day she suddenly left without saying goodbye, and we ended up being taught by that female teacher, hmph.”

He was secretly pleased, but couldn't help but comfort her, "It doesn't matter, you don't need to lose weight anyway, so it's fine if you don't go."

“But I’ve never seen anyone that handsome!” Anlin replied earnestly. “It’s such a shame that he ran away without saying a word! He should at least have told us, right?”

Lonely Cow chuckled twice, feeling that An Lin was quite bold tonight. Praising another man's good looks in front of her boyfriend—wasn't that deliberately trying to make him jealous? But upon closer reflection, didn't this further demonstrate that An Lin cared about him and wanted to use Teacher Bai to stir up his jealousy?

"Yes, I should have known!" He slapped his forehead excitedly, almost jumping for joy. It had to be right! He'd gone through life-and-death trials to be with An Lin, how could he be so easily stolen away? Besides, what was that "White Tiger" guy? Besides his pretty face and great figure, what attractive qualities did he have? Absolutely none! And An Lin knew almost nothing about him, how could she possibly fall for someone like that!

Her behavior, to put it bluntly, is just being a fangirl; she loves chasing celebrities and drooling over handsome men, both Chinese and foreign, both on and off screen—most girls do this nowadays, it's nothing unusual. Thinking of this, Lonely Cow couldn't help but smile slightly. Yan Wuyue seemed to be a famous fangirl too!

He finally felt relieved; the heavy burden of being called "Teacher Bai" was finally lifted from his shoulders, and this time, An Lin hadn't lied. He couldn't hear any of her thoughts in his left ear, so he softly called her name and pulled her into his arms.

The next morning, Anlin's schedule was packed with four classes. The first two were in the East Campus, Building 2, from 7:50 to 9:25, and the next two were in the West Campus, Building 3, starting at 9:45—the journey from the East Campus to the West Campus, even running, would take more than 15 minutes. This meant time was extremely tight. As soon as the teacher said "get out of class dismissed," she immediately grabbed her schoolbag and rushed to the school bus stop. The school bus, which was scheduled to depart on time at 9:30, was already parked in front of the stop, packed with people, and a long line of people trying to squeeze on. "We can't fit any more people!" the driver shouted loudly, raising the horn, "The next one will be here soon!"

The next bus departs at 9:35, but unfortunately, it will be too late for class. Anlin had calculated precisely that the school bus takes 10 minutes to travel from the East Campus station to the West Campus station, and with the remaining five minutes, they can get to the Third Teaching Building on time. Taking the 9:35 bus would obviously make them late, and everyone understood this, so they all pleaded, "We're in a rush to class! Please give us a ride!"

With no other option, the driver shouted into the bus, "Anyone not in a hurry to class, please take the next bus! Please give up your seat for the students in class!"

Almost no one moved. There was nothing they could do; perhaps the schedule this semester was poorly arranged, but there were significantly more students commuting between the east and west campuses to class than in previous years, and everyone could only catch the single 9:30 class. An Lin glanced at the long line of anxious heads outside the car window, thinking she was definitely going to miss it. If she had known this would happen, she would have just started running down the side path as soon as get out of class ended; that would have made it in time. Without thinking, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and started jogging down the side path.

Just as she stepped out of the school gate, a mountain bike brushed past her, stopping precisely in front of her. "Excuse me," the rider said, one foot on the ground and the other still on the pedal, "how do I get to the Third Teaching Building?"

She was frantic, and the words of refusal slipped out, "I'm sorry, I have to go..."

It was the person asking for directions who exclaimed first, "You look familiar... Haven't we met somewhere before?"

She finally looked up and saw his face clearly. His thick, jet-black hair was casually draped around his ears, with only the ends dyed golden. He wore a loose-fitting tracksuit that clung to his body, yet still subtly revealed the well-defined muscles beneath. This time, she saw his eyes clearly; they were bright blue, reflecting the sunlight with a dazzling brilliance.

His smile was even brighter than the sunshine.

“Where have we met before? Haven’t we?” he asked sincerely.

Volume Four: The Soul Singer, Third Movement: The Sick Half-Eared Man (Part Six)

An Lin lowered her head shyly. There were so many girls in the aerobics class, and she wasn't particularly beautiful; surely Teacher Bai wouldn't remember her well? Just then, the west gate of the school rushed past them, and the third teaching building suddenly appeared before them. An Lin looked up at the clock. Thankfully, it was only 9:40; there were still five minutes before class. She breathed a long sigh of relief and solemnly thanked Teacher Bai, who was locking her bicycle.

Oh, right, she suddenly remembered something. What was Teacher Bai doing in the third teaching building? Was he also teaching?

“You’re right,” Teacher Bai scratched his head a little embarrassedly and chuckled, “Actually, I applied for your school’s adult education program.”

"Aren't you a sports coach?" Anlin asked, her eyes wide with confusion.

"That kind of job is only good for young people, it won't last long. It's never a bad thing to learn more while you're young."

No wonder he resigned from his aerobics coach job just to go back to school and improve himself? An Lin felt a surge of respect, her gaze warming involuntarily. The latter, on the other hand, seemed even more awkward, managing only an embarrassed cough.

"It's getting late, let's go inside."

An Lin nodded; as she took a step, Teacher Bai called her back from behind, her tone very serious.

“And also,” he put on an oversized pair of black-rimmed glasses, instantly toning down his dazzling brilliance and making him appear simple and bookish, “I’m no longer a teacher. Please call me White Tiger.”