El hibisco como pintura

Capítulo 13

Weren't all the students in Class 0 of Grade 11 dead? Why are they all coming back to life one by one?

5. Blood star sugar

If you see a blood star candy, never pick it up!

A star-shaped candy

Lin Nana, where are you?

Gao Xiaoyuan looked at Lin Nana in the photo. Her smile looked innocent and adorable, especially the glasses that made her round face look even cuter.

Is she a friend?

Gao Xiaoyuan asked herself this question, but unfortunately, she couldn't find the answer. She and Lin Nana had only met twice; how much could they possibly know about each other from just two meetings?

Looking at the four blurry faces in the photo, Gao Xiaoyuan was filled with questions. What did they look like? Although Chen Shuai had described them to her, Gao Xiaoyuan still couldn't make out their features. What puzzled her most was who had secretly switched the photo, and what their purpose was.

Gao Xiaoyuan put down the photo, casually opened her diary, and that line of words caught her eye again.

I love it when you ride your bicycle through the school in the early morning, singing a beautiful song. At that time, you are the most beautiful angel in the world.

Is this Xu An's handwriting? He doesn't acknowledge himself as Prince Qiu, so who wrote this in the diary? Could this person be the same one who switched the photos? If that person could easily enter her house, it could only be Xu An besides herself and her parents. But she said she would trust Xu An, so who else could it be?

Gao Xiaoyuan shifted her gaze to the doorway.

Could it be their parents?

Impossible! They knew nothing about Class 0 of the first year of high school. They only knew how to work and make money. They didn't care about anything else, including her.

Gao Xiaoyuan sighed softly and picked up her pen to write in her diary.

Xu An, you are like a free-flying bird, no one can guess your whereabouts, just as I can never guess your heart.

I want to ask you if the words in the diary were left by you, but I don't have the courage. Besides, I said I believe you, and since I believe you, I can't ask any more questions.

Gao Xiaoyuan looked up at the night sky, a bitter smile on her face.

A chilly autumn wind blew in through the window, causing Gao Xiaoyuan to shiver. She put down her pen and stood up to close the window. Just then, she inadvertently noticed someone in the garden in front of the building.

Why would anyone still be here so late?

Gao Xiaoyuan frowned and turned her gaze toward the garden.

Two swings stood in the middle of the garden, and a girl was sitting on one of them. The girl was wearing a school uniform and had her back to Gao Xiaoyuan. Her neat, long hair hung down her back, and she held the ropes with both hands, her body swaying gently with the swing.

For some reason, Gao Xiaoyuan suddenly thought of Lin Nana. Back in the orphanage, Lin Nana sat on the swing just like this.

Gao Xiaoyuan couldn't help but smile wryly, laughing at herself for overthinking things, and reached out to close the window. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she glanced again at the garden outside the window.

The swing stopped, and the girl slowly turned her head to the left.

Gao Xiaoyuan saw the glasses. Although she couldn't see the girl's face clearly from her angle, she recognized the glasses at a glance.

“Lin…Nana…” Gao Xiaoyuan cried out in disbelief. She never expected that the girl sitting on the swing was really Lin Nana.

The swing continued to swing, and the girl turned her head back, her body continuing to sway with the swing.

Gao Xiaoyuan rushed out of the bedroom as fast as she could and ran out of the house under the astonished gazes of her parents.

It's Lin Nana, no doubt about it! That hairstyle, that posture, that way of swinging on the swing—it all looks exactly like Lin Nana!

Gao Xiaoyuan ran to the garden like a madwoman, only to find that the girl was gone, leaving only the lonely swing swaying in place.

Gao Xiaoyuan quickly looked around, but there wasn't a single person in sight.

Helpless, Gao Xiaoyuan walked to the swing, suddenly reached out and grabbed it, and sat down on it weakly.

Lin Nana left again. Why was she here? Was she looking for her? If so, why did she leave?

Gao Xiaoyuan was puzzled, but then she saw a pink object on the gray ground.

Gao Xiaoyuan put her feet on the ground, stopping the swing, and got up to walk to the thing.

A pink star-shaped candy.

Gao Xiaoyuan reached out and picked up the star-shaped candy, carefully unwrapping it, only to find a few words written on the white inside of the wrapper:

Give it to a friend.

Gao Xiaoyuan was stunned. In her mind, the word "friend" was a luxury. She had become accustomed to loneliness, but now, seeing these two words, her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and a warm current seemed to flow through her body.

“Friend…” Gao Xiaoyuan murmured to herself, a slight smile appearing on her face, but the smile immediately froze.

By the moonlight, Gao Xiaoyuan noticed that there seemed to be some other words below the words "gift to a friend." The words looked the same color as the inside of the candy wrapper, also white, but... they seemed to be fluorescent.

Gao Xiaoyuan dashed back, turned off the main light as soon as she entered her bedroom, then ran to her desk, turned on the desk lamp, and adjusted the angle of the candy wrapper. Finally, she could see the few dark words written on the wrapper:

There are people in Class 0 of Grade 11.

There is someone in Class 0 of Grade 21.

There's someone in Class 0 of Grade 11!

What does this sentence mean? With this question in mind, Gao Xiaoyuan secretly slipped to the school gate while her parents were asleep.

The sound of Grandpa Liu snoring could be heard coming from the guardhouse.

Clutching a flashlight, Gao Xiaoyuan huddled up and slowly made her way towards the gate from the corner of the guardhouse wall. Reaching the gate, she crawled through the gap in the floorboards. As she stood up and lightly brushed the dirt off her school uniform, she seemed to catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. Gao Xiaoyuan quickly looked up and gazed outside the gate.

The street outside the gate was quiet, with only the occasional car driving by.

Gao Xiaoyuan frowned slightly, shrugged, and turned to run into the campus.

At that moment, Grandpa Liu in the gatehouse turned over and started snoring again.

The campus was pitch black, and a cold wind was blowing.

Shivering, Gao Xiaoyuan switched on her flashlight, focused on the southwest corner of the teaching building, and ran in that direction as fast as she could. But after a few steps, Gao Xiaoyuan stopped and looked back. She had a feeling that there was someone else on campus, but she couldn't see them.

There are people in Class 0 of Grade 11.

Gao Xiaoyuan remembered the words written on the candy wrapper again, and she looked up at the southwest corner of the teaching building.

The southwest corner is exactly where Class 0 of Grade 11 is located.

Is anyone really there? Gao Xiaoyuan asked herself. Just then, a light suddenly came on in the southwest corner.

There really is someone there!

Gao Xiaoyuan stared wide-eyed in surprise, "Who...is that?" Filled with questions and an inexplicable nervousness, Gao Xiaoyuan quickly ran in that direction.

The corridor was quiet, and Gao Xiaoyuan's footsteps echoed muffledly in the empty space, sounding somewhat eerie. With a pounding heart, Gao Xiaoyuan slowly walked forward until she reached the classroom where miscellaneous items were stored, at which point she stopped.

The lights in Class 0 of Grade 11 are off!

This result surprised her. She had clearly seen the lights on in the classroom just now, but now...

Gao Xiaoyuan raised her flashlight and shone it on the door of Class 0, Grade 1. The door was unlocked, so it seemed that someone had indeed been there. Therefore, the words written on the candy wrapper were real.

Gao Xiaoyuan pushed open the door without hesitation.

The floor was covered with old books, and broken tables and chairs were piled up against the walls. There was dust and cobwebs everywhere, nothing special about it.

Gao Xiaoyuan shone her flashlight around but found nothing unusual. However, when she shone it on the ground, she was surprised to find several messy footprints clearly visible on the dusty ground. Gao Xiaoyuan walked over to the footprints, carefully squatted down, and examined them closely.

The footprints weren't very big. Gao Xiaoyuan stretched out her own foot and compared it to the footprints; the two feet were about the same size. It seemed the footprints were likely left by a girl. Could it be Lin Nana? If it was Lin Nana, why would she have left "Someone in Class 10, Grade 1" on the candy wrapper? Judging from this, Lin Nana wasn't referring to herself. So who could it be? Perhaps someone in Class 10, Grade 1 is still alive? Just as Gao Xiaoyuan was making these bold guesses, she heard a series of hurried footsteps outside the door.

It seems someone has arrived.

Gao Xiaoyuan quickly glanced around the classroom, then swiftly hid behind a broken cabinet in the right corner, quickly turning off her flashlight. At the same moment, the classroom door was pushed open.

"Are we really going in?" A slightly delicate voice rang out as a flashlight beam shone through the air, sounding like a female student.

“We barely managed to sneak in by avoiding Grandpa Liu, so of course we have to go in now that we’re here.” The second person to speak was also a girl, but her voice sounded very strong.

"But...but...I'm really scared..." It was that delicate voice again.

"I'm scared too, but if you don't come today, we're all going to die! Do you want to die?"

"In no mood!"

"Then go in!" As the powerful voice fell, a petite girl holding a flashlight was pushed into the classroom, but as soon as she entered, she immediately covered her head, squatted on the ground, and screamed.

"Are you crazy! Do you want to wake up Grandpa Liu?!" As soon as the words were spoken, a chubby girl, whose school uniform was almost bursting open, walked in. She put one hand on her hip and held a bottle in the other, glaring angrily at the petite girl squatting on the ground.

"Wang Qin, I...I'm really scared..."

The girl called Wang Qin rolled her eyes and reached out to pull the girl who was squatting on the ground up: "Lu Yao, I'm scared too. Let's finish what we need to do and leave quickly!"

“That’s right, where’s the bottle? Let’s put it here quickly and then we can leave.” The girl called Lu Yao suddenly felt motivated.

Hiding in the corner, Gao Xiaoyuan frowned. What were they here to do? And what was in that bottle? It looked colorful, like… Gao Xiaoyuan tilted her head slightly, trying to see what was in the bottle, but her angle was too hidden, and she couldn’t see it clearly at all.

"Let's put this on the podium." Lu Yao shrank next to Wang Qin, looking at the dusty podium in horror.

Wang Qin glanced at the podium but didn't dare look around. It was clear that she was also very scared. She looked up and placed the bottle in her hand on the podium.

At this moment, Gao Xiaoyuan finally saw what was in the bottle. It was a pile of star-shaped candies of various colors.

Strange, why did these two girls run into Class 0 of Grade 1 in the middle of the night and leave a bottle of star-shaped candies here? What are they planning to do?

"Lin Nana, today is your birthday, we've come to see you." Wang Qin's voice trembled slightly when she mentioned Lin Nana's name.

Lin Nana! Gao Xiaoyuan was startled.

The Dark Cave

The fact that these two girls mentioned Lin Nana means they know her. Could they also be students in Class 0 of Grade 1? Could it be that the person in Class 0 that Lin Nana was referring to is the two of them?

Gao Xiaoyuan held her breath and listened quietly. Wang Qin spoke first.