El hibisco como pintura

Capítulo 18

In front of the teaching building, Gao Xiaoyuan dashed out, glanced left and right, then turned and ran west, Chen Shuai close behind. But when they reached the blackboard, she was nowhere to be seen. They searched high and low, but found nothing.

"She ran away again," Gao Xiaoyuan said disappointedly.

"Who exactly is she? She looks a lot like..." Chen Shuai frowned, as if he was thinking about something.

Gao Xiaoyuan turned around and looked at the blackboard behind her, noticing that it was decorated with musical notation. Gao Xiaoyuan couldn't read musical notation, so she didn't know what it was, but she did notice a line of small print in the lower right corner of the blackboard.

Gao Xiaoyuan leaned closer to the blackboard and carefully looked at the line of small characters.

Li Biqi, Class 0, Grade 11

"That's right!" Chen Shuai suddenly exclaimed, his eyes widening. "That girl is Li Biqi, that's right, it's her!"

Gao Xiaoyuan turned to Chen Shuai and asked, "Do you know her? Is her name Li Biqi?"

"How did you know?" Chen Shuai looked at Gao Xiaoyuan in surprise.

Gao Xiaoyuan pointed to the small print on the blackboard: "I think there are still some people alive in Class 0 of Grade 11."

Chen Shuai looked at the blackboard, his brows suddenly furrowing: "This piece..."

"What's wrong with this piece?" Gao Xiaoyuan looked at Chen Shuai. She suddenly realized that Chen Shuai was from Class 0 of the first year of high school, so he must also have musical talent, and he must be able to read sheet music.

“This is Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata,” Chen Shuai said casually.

Moonlight Sonata? Li Biqi? What's going on here? And what's the connection between them?

Two-note code

Inside a McDonald's on a corner not far from the school, Gao Xiaoyuan was sitting by the window, staring blankly at the street outside.

The streets were deserted, with only a few cars passing by occasionally, but very few pedestrians.

Gao Xiaoyuan glanced at her watch; it was already past eleven at night. Other students were usually asleep by then, but although she had parents, she felt like an orphan, with no one to care for her or show concern. She grew up in loneliness day after day. Whenever she thought about this, Gao Xiaoyuan felt an urge to cry. Perhaps because of this, she was also introverted and didn't like to socialize much.

"Yellow Hair, what are you daydreaming about!" Chen Shuai said, flicking Gao Xiaoyuan's forehead.

Gao Xiaoyuan let out a soft cry, covered her forehead, and glared angrily at Chen Shuai.

Chen Shuai handed the McNuggets to Gao Xiaoyuan: "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Hurry up and eat."

Gao Xiaoyuan didn't say anything, picked up a McNugget and took a bite, almost choking. Chen Shuai smiled and handed Gao Xiaoyuan a Coke: "I knew you'd do that."

Gao Xiaoyuan blushed, quickly lowered her head and took a few sips of cola, then looked up at the window again.

"Still thinking about what happened earlier?"

Gao Xiaoyuan did not respond.

"It seems you're similar to me."

Gao Xiaoyuan looked at Chen Shuai, her brows furrowing slightly; she didn't understand what he meant.

“You have parents, and I have a mother, who is my biological mother,” Chen Shuai said with a bitter smile, “but we are no different from orphans.”

Gao Xiaoyuan looked at Chen Shuai in surprise. She hadn't expected him to see through her thoughts so quickly. However, she wished it was Xu An who had seen through her thoughts, but Xu An had vanished like a gust of wind, and she didn't know when he would suddenly reappear.

"I've never asked you before... what musical instruments you play?" Gao Xiaoyuan asked Chen Shuai.

Chen Shuai leaned closer to Gao Xiaoyuan and said, "Do I look like I know anything?"

Gao Xiaoyuan opened her mouth: "I don't know."

"Sigh, I've known you for a few days now, and you're only just now thinking of asking this question. Yellow Hair, you're really something else." Chen Shuai stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Gao Xiaoyuan.

"What are you doing?" Gao Xiaoyuan stared at Chen Shuai with wide eyes.

Chen Shuai waved his hand again.

"Just say what you want to say. Why are you holding out your hands? Do you want me to read your palm?" Gao Xiaoyuan asked, puzzled.

Chen Shuai was so angry he couldn't speak. He could only roll his eyes and then look at Gao Xiaoyuan, saying, "Yellow Hair, you're really an idiot! I didn't ask you to read my palm, I asked you to look at my fingers. What can such long and slender fingers be used for!"

"How would I know?" Gao Xiaoyuan stared innocently at Chen Shuai's fingers.

Chen Shuai angrily slapped Gao Xiaoyuan on the forehead and shouted, "Such long and slender fingers are of course for playing the piano!"

Gao Xiaoyuan touched her forehead, blinked, and glared at Chen Shuai, saying, "You think you can play the piano with those chicken feet?"

Chen Shuai was so angry that he reached out to slap her again, but Gao Xiaoyuan quickly covered her forehead and closed her eyes.

Chen Shuai shook his head helplessly, lowered his head and took a few deep gulps of cola.

Gao Xiaoyuan slowly opened her eyes and looked at Chen Shuai: "I want to understand Li Biqi."

"She's very introverted and doesn't like to talk to people, which is a bit like Lin Nana. If I remember correctly, she and Lin Nana were very close." Chen Shuai inserted the straw into his cola, took a big sip, and then stared at Gao Xiaoyuan before continuing, "It's really strange. My mom said that all the students in Class 0 of the first year of high school died in that fire, but how come Li Wenbin, Lin Nana, and Li Biqi all came back to life?"

"Lin Nana said she didn't do it," Gao Xiaoyuan muttered softly.

"It seems you really did meet with Lin Nana behind my back." Chen Shuai glanced at Gao Xiaoyuan sideways.

“I did see her, but I didn’t get any information out of her,” Gao Xiaoyuan said dejectedly. “Who could have done it? Wang Qin and Lu Yao, and who was that girl in the school uniform I saw? She looks so much like Lin Nana?”

"Wasn't Li Biqi, whom we just saw, also wearing a school uniform?" Chen Shuai casually remarked.

Gao Xiaoyuan's eyes lit up: "By the way, didn't you just say that Li Biqi and Lin Nana are very close? Could it be that Wang Qin and Lu Yao used to bully Lin Nana, and Li Biqi pretended to be Lin Nana to scare them?"

Chen Shuai suddenly looked up: "It's possible. When they were in school, they liked to wear the same clothes and their styles were often very similar. But why didn't Li Biqi die?"

"Could he end up like Lin Nana, locked up by someone?"

"Locked up? Where are you locked up?" Chen Shuai seized on Gao Xiaoyuan's question and wouldn't let it go.

Gao Xiaoyuan shook her head and said, "She doesn't know, but she was locked up for a year."

Chen Shuai tilted his head and said, "What do you think the teachers' reaction will be when they see that blackboard bulletin tomorrow?"

"They must have thought it was a prank."

"I think it might be hinting at something." Chen Shuai rested his chin on one hand and shook the straw in the Coke bottle with the other.

"A hint?" Gao Xiaoyuan looked out the window again, then suddenly stood up and rushed out of McDonald's without saying a word.

"Yellow Hair! Yellow Hair!" Chen Shuai called out as he chased after him, just as his cell phone rang in his pocket. Chen Shuai answered the phone while pushing open the door.

"Xiao Shuai! Why aren't you home?" Principal Chen's worried voice came from the other end of the phone.

Chen Shuai stiffened for a moment, then softly called out, "Mom..."

"Xiao Shuai, what's wrong? Your voice sounds a bit off."

“I’m fine. When are you coming back? I have some questions for you.” When Chen Shuai looked up, he saw that Gao Xiaoyuan had already gotten into a taxi. “Mom, I’ll call you again.”

"Xiao Shuai—Xiao..." Chen Shuai hung up the phone, but the taxi had already driven away.

"Yellow Hair—Yellow Hair—" Chen Shuai waved, but the taxi had already driven further and further away. Chen Shuai wanted to flag down another taxi, but found there wasn't a single car in sight. Chen Shuai quickly dialed Gao Xiaoyuan's cell phone, but found it was off. Chen Shuai stood there helplessly, looking in the direction the taxi had disappeared, and sighed. He then dialed Principal Chen's cell phone, but it rang for a long time without being answered.

"You're asleep so soon?" Chen Shuai didn't pay much attention and hung up the phone.

The taxi stopped in front of Li Wenbin's house. Gao Xiaoyuan ran out of the car as fast as she could, then pushed open the gate and rushed to the door. She looked him up and down, then tried to push the door open.

The door was indeed unlocked.

Gao Xiaoyuan quickly slipped into the room, fumbled to turn on the living room light, then hurried upstairs to the second floor, pushed open Li Wenbin's bedroom door, and headed straight for the table. Just then, she suddenly heard a knock on the door on the first floor. Gao Xiaoyuan stopped and glanced at the bedroom door.

Li Wenbin in the photo on the door is still smiling, but Gao Xiaoyuan doesn't find that smile cute at all; instead, she feels a sense of dread.

Footsteps sounded.

Gao Xiaoyuan's heart tightened. Who was it? Could it be Chen Shuai who had followed her? If it were him, he would have called her. Could it be Li Wenbin? Thinking of this, Gao Xiaoyuan quietly retreated to the bathroom.

"Thump—thump—" The person was going upstairs.

Gao Xiaoyuan gently opened the bathroom door, tiptoed inside, then closed the door, leaving only a crack. She turned sideways and quietly peered into the bedroom.

The bedroom door slowly opened, and a figure slipped in.

Gao Xiaoyuan held her breath.

The person walked to the table and turned on the desk lamp.

Gao Xiaoyuan immediately recognized the person's back. A light green dress…

It's Lin Nana!

The Ghostly Figure in the Music Room

When Gao Xiaoyuan pushed open the bathroom door, Lin Nana was so startled that she dropped the notebook in her hand. When she turned around and saw that it was Gao Xiaoyuan, she breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Oh, it's you! You scared me to death." Lin Nana bent down to pick up the notebook from the ground.

Gao Xiaoyuan recognized the notebook at a glance: "So you're here to find this too."

Lin Nana nodded slightly, picked up her notebook and flipped through it casually: "I saw the musical notes on the blackboard."

Gao Xiaoyuan walked up to Lin Nana and said, "So you were there too."

Lin Nana suddenly burst into tears: "Xiaoyuan, you really have to believe me. Lu Yao's death has nothing to do with me. I only went to school secretly after hearing the news, but I never expected... I never expected to see the musical notes on the blackboard."

"How did you know to come here to check Li Wenbin's notebook?" Gao Xiaoyuan wondered why Chen Shuai didn't know.

“Because I know that the blackboard bulletin was written by Li Biqi for Li Wenbin.” Lin Nana suddenly stopped crying and said seriously, “I believe Biqi is not dead either.”

Gao Xiaoyuan looked at Lin Nana. Why did Class 0 of Grade 1 have so many secrets? It seemed these secrets would never end. And why were these surviving students hiding? And why didn't they know what happened that night? What exactly happened?

"Nana, why are you survivors hiding?" Gao Xiaoyuan really wanted to know the answer to this question.

Lin Nana looked at Gao Xiaoyuan with a look of horror in her eyes and said, "Xiaoyuan, because we have to hide."

"Why?" Gao Xiaoyuan asked anxiously.

Lin Nana's hands were trembling. She suddenly stared at Gao Xiaoyuan and asked, "You know Chen Shuai, right?"

Gao Xiaoyuan nodded.

Do you know who Chen Shuai is?

Gao Xiaoyuan nodded again and said, "I know he was also a student in Class 0 of Grade 11, but he said that there was a sudden power outage that night, and he was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he heard that all the students in Class 0 of Grade 11 had died. Principal Chen sent him to study abroad, and he only recently came back."

Lin Nana looked at Gao Xiaoyuan with a strange expression: "You believe what he said?"