Doce Torres de Jade

Capítulo 15

"Then let me ask you again, how did you get into Guo Qinqin's room?"

Did I get in?

"Didn't go in? If you didn't go in, then why were you hanging a ghost head in someone else's room to scare me that night?!"

The blond-haired man shrugged: "No comment. Besides, so what if I go in? I go in to resist tyranny and uphold justice, a righteous act. You go in to plot something sinister, a despicable act. If I tell you, wouldn't I be aiding and abetting evil?!"

"To be precise, it's collusion, oh no, it's... it's this... this teaming up to wipe them out." Xu Haibing stepped forward and patted the blond-haired guy on the shoulder, trying to win him over with a friendly smile: "I think you, little brother, although you're a bit slick, aren't a bad person at heart, and you're quite agile, unlike that fat security guard who's as dumb as he is, there's nothing wrong with him. If you cooperate with me, you won't suffer any losses. If I get the chance, I'll talk to the school officials and see if they'll look after you. Looking at your qualities, becoming the head of the general affairs department is out of the question, but it's still possible to get the head of general affairs to arrange a better place for you. You're always out at night, running around in this building, you must know a thing or two about the situation here..."

"No trees, but some firewood." Yellow Hair took a deep drag on his cigarette and flicked it away with a flourish.

"Alright, chopping wood is fine too. Hey, give me a bold guess: if, hypothetically, if Shen Daxing's death had some human element, who would be the most suspicious person?"

QQ Lost, Episode 23(2)

The blond-haired man blurted out, "Guo Qinqin!"

How can you tell?

"She and Shen seemed to have had a disagreement or argument some time ago, that night..."

Which day?

"I can't remember exactly which day, but one night, I was stuffing advertisements under every door in this building, I won't hide it from you... When I got to room 407, I suddenly heard a man and woman arguing inside. I leaned in to listen, and I heard a girl's angry voice: 'Then let's go our separate ways! I'll suffer the consequences, but you'll suffer the same way!' Then I heard her come and open the door. Seeing that I couldn't dodge in time, I quickly lay flat against the wall! Oh, right, that night when you came out chasing me, I dodged like that too... Then I saw Guo Qinqin come out with an angry face, slam the door, and leave."

Xu Haibing pondered, "What could their relationship be?"

Huang Mao's answer surprised Xu Haibing even more: "Hmm...it seems they've known each other for a long time."

Seeing that Xu Haibing didn't quite believe him, Huang Mao pulled him to the edge of the rooftop railing and pointed to the open space below, telling him, "On the day of school registration, I was standing here watching people out of boredom. The area below was full of students and parents coming and going. I saw a man carrying luggage towards the apartment building. Because he was blocking half of his view, he bumped into a girl who was walking and reading a book. He noticed that several books she was carrying under her arm had fallen to the ground, so he quickly put down his luggage and knelt down to help her pick them up. I was watching closely because I wanted to see what was going on, and I saw them both stop at the same time, look up at the same time, and freeze in shock when their eyes met. And what's even stranger, guess what?"

Xu Haibing, engrossed in the conversation, shook his head.

Finally, the girl carried the man's luggage, and the man carried the girl's books as they silently walked towards the apartment building! Now, guess who these two are?

Xu Haibing tried to say, "Could the man be Shen Daxing? And the girl be Guo Qinqin?"

The blond guy jumped up: "So you're not an idiot after all."

"Oh?... " After hearing this story, which clearly wasn't fabricated, Xu Haibing was first stunned, then became alert, even rubbing his hands together excitedly. He spun around halfway, and finally decisively pointed at the blond-haired man: "You, you name your price!"

The blond-haired man chuckled dismissively, "You're quite sensible..."

The school bell rang loudly as students prepared for class.

Looking down from the rooftop, Guo Qinqin and some classmates were walking in twos and threes towards the teaching area with their books.

Having accepted the monetary deal, Huang Mao saw that the time was right and waved to Xu Haibing, who then ran into the northwest corner room with him.

Huang Mao led Xu Haibing, bending over and squeezing through the twists and turns of the pipes, to the corner of the wall. Huang Mao knelt down on one knee, picked up a cement brick, and then reached down to take a decorative panel. Immediately, a burst of light appeared below.

Xu Haibing looked down--

It was the bathroom in room 507.

Huang Mao nimbly slid smoothly down the pipe into the bathroom, then Xu Haibing's legs dangled in the gap in the ceiling, unable to come down for a long time.

The blond-haired guy urged, "Idiot, hurry up and slide down!"

Xu Haibing's voice boomed from the ceiling: "Hurry up and help me out."

Helpless, Huang Mao reached out and grabbed Xu Haibing's ankle, pulling him down onto the edge of the bathtub. But as soon as he took a step, he slipped and fell forward onto Huang Mao's back. Huang Mao disgustedly pulled away, causing Xu Haibing to lose his balance and fall flat on his face in the bathtub.

The blond-haired man scoffed and went to the outer room. Xu Haibing followed him out, shaking off his wet and dirty clothes, and was about to scold him: "You..."

The blond-haired man silently pointed to the door, signaling him to shut up.

Xu Haibing had no choice but to swallow his resentment and begin to survey the room. His gaze was drawn to a photo frame on the desk. He picked it up and examined it, and saw that the frame contained a group photo of Guo Qinqin with the hall and school leaders after she was elected as the student council president.

The blond-haired man peeked over, pointed to the person to Guo Qinqin's right, and asked, "Who's this?"

Xu Haibing replied, "Principal."

The blond-haired man pointed to the person to Guo Qinqin's left and asked, "Who is this?"

Xu Haibing replied, "Director."

The blond-haired man pointed first at the department head, then at the school principal: "Who's older, him or him?"

Xu Haibing pointed at the department head: "Of course he's older."

The blond-haired man pointed first at the department head, then at himself: "Who's older, him or me?"

Xu Haibing rolled her eyes at him, ignored the nonsensical joke, put down the photo frame, and went to turn on the computer.

He immediately spotted the QQ penguin icon on his desktop, clicked it, and saw a QQ number displayed in the pop-up QQ login window. He guessed it belonged to Guo Qinqin, took out a pen and paper, and quickly wrote it down.

The blond-haired man called out to him, "Hey, what's this thing? It doesn't look like headphones for listening to music."

Xu Haibing turned his head and saw Huang Mao leaning against the bed, fiddling with a large pair of headphones. He got up, took the headphones, and listened to them: "Hmm? Why does it sound like a modified telephone receiver? Don't touch anything, stand behind the door and listen."

Xu Haibing put the headphones back on the bed, pulled Huang Mao up, and then sat back down at the computer to continue searching for files.

The blond-haired man pressed his ear against the back of the door and suddenly whispered, "Oh no, someone's coming. Turn off the phone quickly."

Xu Haibing didn't believe it: "What kind of trouble are you causing? How could you..."

The blond-haired guy pulled him over: "Hey, listen for yourself--"

Xu Haibing listened intently but heard nothing. However, he noticed a small pile of glue bottles in the corner and squatted down to examine them closely.

Huang Mao hurriedly unplugged the computer himself, then grabbed Xu Haibing: "Listen to it again!"

Xu Haibing listened intently again.

Sure enough, footsteps grew closer and closer in the corridor!

Xu Haibing turned and ran towards the bathroom, but Huang Mao grabbed him and pointed under the bed.

Xu Haibing lifted the bedspread of one of the beds on the left and bent down to crawl inside.

The sound of a key unlocking the door could be heard outside!

Huang Mao quickly gestured for someone to crawl onto a bed on the right that had no blankets.

The door has been opened a crack!

"Whoosh--" Xu Haibing and the yellow-haired mouse darted under the bed on the right.

QQ Lost, Episode 23(3)

Sure enough, it was Guo Qinqin who had inexplicably returned to the house. She locked the door, took out her phone, and checked the number…

Under the dimly lit, cramped bed, Xu Haibing held her breath, her heart pounding. Huang Mao, however, seemed completely relaxed, even finding it amusing, and secretly lifted the bedspread to peek outside.

"Smack!" Guo Qinqin's shoe swung over, almost hitting the blond-haired guy in the face. Xu Haibing pointed at the blond-haired guy, signaling him to be careful.

The two listened to the sounds coming from outside--

The sound of Guo Qinqin lying on the bed… the phone ringing… Guo Qinqin's coquettish voice: "...Ugh, so annoying, I just got into the classroom and you're already rushing me… Ugh, you're so naughty… Ugh, no…"

Huang Mao, curious, tried to lift the bedspread again, but Xu Haibing quickly stopped him. Huang Mao nudged him aside with his elbow and slowly lifted the bedspread to look outside.

On the opposite bed, Guo Qinqin's face was obscured by a large, open copy of "A New Course in Capital," with only the earphone on her right ear visible.

The blond-haired man openly stuck his head and body out to try and see what was going on.

Xu Haibing hurriedly wrapped his arms around his chest and pulled him in. For some reason, he was almost speechless with surprise, but Huang Mao quickly covered his mouth.

Then all I heard was Guo Qinqin abruptly end the flirtatious phone call, get out of bed, leave the house, lock the door, and leave...

Rooftop.

Huang Mao and Xu Haibing, both looking rather abnormal, emerged one after the other from the room in the northwest corner.

The blond-haired boy lay on the railing, chin in hand, gazing northward.

Xu Haibing, hands on hips, finally spoke after a long pause, her voice laced with anger: "Who exactly are you? Not only are you playing tricks, but you're also dressed as a woman—oh, a woman dressed as a man!"

The blond-haired girl calmly retorted, "When did you ask me if I was a girl? And when did I tell you I was a boy? Who said only men can have long hair and women can't have buzz cuts? We country girls are just like that, headstrong, carefree, and all tomboys. So what? Can't afford to go to school, can't farm, so we dress up as boys to make a living, what's wrong with that? Don't like it? If you don't like it, you can go far away!"

Xu Haibing turned to leave, then stopped, saying, "Hmph, you're heartless? How can someone so heartless be so sentimental? Tell me honestly, did you throw those flowers in that grove of trees over there? Was that where you were having a secret rendezvous with someone?"

The blond guy shrugged: "What nonsense! Why would I throw away flowers? Are you out of your mind?"

"Then why did you leave your shoes there?"

"I threw them away myself; I can't wear either of them anyway."

"You went there specifically to throw a shoe?"

"What am I supposed to use? I'll just throw it right here," the blond-haired man said casually.

Xu Haibing's mouth dropped open: "Huh?!"

The blond-haired guy rolled up his sleeves: "What 'huh'? Don't believe me? Let's make a bet!"

"What kind of bet?"

"Throwing a shoe, huh? What if I could throw my shoe from here onto that hill over there? What would you say then?"

"Will I give you more money?"

"No, I don't want money this time. I want you to carry me to the pond by the hill so I can wash my feet."

"What if you can't?"

Yellow Hair patted his chest: "Turn around, I'll carry you on my back and wash your feet!"

Xu Haibing was quite magnanimous: "Forget it, if you lose, just do as I say from now on." He thought to himself, "You're bound to lose."

True to his word, the blond-haired man calmly took off one of his blue shoes, then took a few steps back, suddenly took a running start, swung his arm in a wide arc, and threw the shoe out.

All I could hear was the sound of the wind, and I saw the blue shoe draw a beautiful, high and far arc in the blue sky!

Xu Haibing's eyes were fixed on the arc as he walked.

A flock of chirping sparrows took flight from the pine grove on the distant barren hills!

Xu Haibing looked at Fei Que, then at Huang Mao, and could only stare blankly, acting completely foolish...

To uphold his manly dignity, Xu Haibing had no choice but to agree to condescend to carry Huang Mao to the pond behind the hill to wash her feet after his offer of double compensation for breach of contract was rejected.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor," Xu Haibing thought to himself. "Even if I'm just sucking up to someone, I should at least know who I'm sucking up to." He asked the blond-haired man his full name, and the blond-haired man said that calling him by his full name would be too formal. "People abroad all use nicknames among their friends. Just call me Ma Ya."

Xu Haibing first climbed over the iron fence behind the apartment building, and while waiting for Ma Ya, he secretly rejoiced that Ma Ya did not insist that he carry her through the school gate, which saved him some face.

Before I could even feel relieved, I heard Ma Ya, who was swaying precariously on the iron fence, shout, "Oh no! I'm going to fall! Quick, come and catch me!"