El hibisco como pintura

Capítulo 23

"She's also a student in Class 0 of Grade 11?" Gao Xiaoyuan didn't expect another one to appear. So, there are still two people in Class 0 of Grade 11 that she doesn't know.

"Yes, she has a very lively personality and gets along with everyone. I remember she plays the flute very well," Chen Shuai praised, but he still couldn't understand how Fang Manting ended up in his house, let alone how she hadn't died.

"I know that Peng Zhi, Su Siyu, and Qiu Wangzi are in Class 0 of Grade 11." As she said this, Gao Xiaoyuan unconsciously glanced at Xu An.

Xu An's face remained calm, without any expression.

“And then there’s Li Wenbin, Lin Nana, Li Biqi, and you,” Gao Xiaoyuan glanced at Chen Shuai again, “and now there’s Fang Manting, so who are the other two?”

“Zhu Yu and Gao Qixian,” Chen Shuai answered quickly.

“Now we’re all together.” Gao Xiaoyuan said to herself, and also thought to herself, “Peng Zhi is dead. Xu An and I saw her body, but then her body disappeared.”

“I didn’t hide it,” Xu An said calmly.

Gao Xiaoyuan didn't stop and continued, "I once answered Su Siyu's phone call, and I also saw someone else's handwriting in my diary. The handwriting looked like it was written by a man. Su Siyu is dead, and the cause of death seems to be related to Prince Qiu, but there is no news of Prince Qiu now. He may be alive, or he may be dead."

Chen Shuai glanced at Xu An: "You two really do look alike."

Xu An remained silent.

"Then I discovered that Li Wenbin wasn't dead, he was still alive. Next came Lin Nana and Li Biqi, and now Fang Manting has appeared..." Gao Xiaoyuan suddenly stopped, then looked at Xu An and then at Chen Shuai: "Could it be that most of the students in Class 0 of Grade 11 didn't die? But why are they hiding? What are they hiding from?"

Chen Shuai and Xu An both turned to look at Gao Xiaoyuan, then looked at each other, but neither of them spoke. They turned their heads back to their sides and looked out the window.

"Let's go check out Fang Manting's house; maybe we'll find something," Chen Shuai said casually.

Gao Xiaoyuan glanced at her watch: "I think we'll know the answer in another half hour."

The village house looked like a makeshift shack, in danger of collapsing at any moment, and seemed out of place among the neat village houses around it.

That was Fang Manting's home. Gao Xiaoyuan looked down at the student files that Chen Shuai had stolen from the office.

Fang Manting lives with her adoptive mother, so it seems that Xu An's statement that Class 0 of the first year of high school is full of orphans is true, except for Chen Shuai.

Reaching the shack-like house, Gao Xiaoyuan stopped and said softly, "Looks like this is it."

Xu An and Chen Shuai stopped at the same time and looked up at the village house, where a series of knocking sounds were coming from inside.

Gao Xiaoyuan looked at Xu An and Chen Shuai from left to right. Neither of them had any expression on their faces, so it was impossible to tell what they were feeling. But she herself was extremely nervous.

The students of Class 0, Grade 11, all died in the concert hall a year ago, but now most of them are still alive. Why don't they come out? Why are they hiding? What secret is Principal Chen hiding? Just as Gao Xiaoyuan was pondering this, a shrill old woman's voice, like the clucking of a hen, entered her ears.

Who are you?

Gao Xiaoyuan was startled and looked up to find a short, thin old woman squatting in the middle of the shack. Her face was covered with wrinkles, making her look like a Shar Pei dog. She was holding a wooden board in her hand.

Is this Fang Manting's adoptive mother?

Gao Xiaoyuan couldn't help but glance at the old woman a few more times. She was a typical countrywoman, possessing both the simplicity and the wariness of a country person. At that moment, her gaze swept over the three of them.

"Are you Fang Manting's adoptive mother?" Chen Shuai asked uncertainly.

Upon hearing the name Fang Manting, the old lady's eyes widened suddenly. She scanned Gao Xiaoyuan and her two companions up and down again, and asked warily, "Who are you?"

“We’re Manting’s old friends,” Gao Xiaoyuan tried to lie, but the old lady laughed and said, “You’re not Manting’s friends at all. You’re here to investigate that matter, aren’t you?”

The old lady saw through her, and Gao Xiaoyuan opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

"Your adopted daughter is dead. Haven't you ever thought about knowing the truth?" Xu An asked calmly.

"You yourself said she's just my adopted daughter, not my biological daughter." The old lady squatted down, lowered her head, and waved the long wooden board in her hand to tap the clothes in the basin. She seemed to care nothing about Fang Manting's matter, and seemed to have no welcome for Gao Xiaoyuan and the others.

“I…I’m not Manting’s friend, but we’re all students at that school.” Gao Xiaoyuan hoped the old lady would accept the three of them, so she spoke very politely. “We came here because we really want to know about that matter, which is why we’ve come to bother you.” Gao Xiaoyuan spoke very carefully, afraid of offending the old lady. But the old lady seemed not to hear her and completely ignored Gao Xiaoyuan.

"Auntie..." Gao Xiaoyuan felt a little embarrassed.

"Fang Manting is not dead!"

As soon as Xu An finished speaking, the old lady suddenly dropped the wooden board in her hand and staggered towards Xu An: "What did you say?"

"She's not dead yet," Xu An emphasized again.

The old lady seemed to collapse, and suddenly stumbled backward until she knocked over the basin of water and fell to the ground.

"Auntie, are you hurt?" Gao Xiaoyuan didn't expect the old lady to react so strongly, so she quickly stepped forward to help her up.

The old lady shoved Gao Xiaoyuan aside, glared at Xu An, and asked loudly, "You just said... Manting is still alive?"

Xu An nodded.

"You saw her?" The old woman's face showed a look of horror.

"No, but we heard her speak." Chen Shuai didn't want to lie to the old lady.

Upon hearing this, the old woman suddenly burst into tears, crying bitterly, "So it wasn't a ghost after all, it really was her who came back. Manting... my Manting..."

"What did you say? You saw her?" Gao Xiaoyuan exclaimed.

The old woman shook her head, then looked weakly at her three children. "These past few days, I've been seeing lights in her room inexplicably in the middle of the night, but when I go in, I don't see anyone. At first, I thought it was just my old age and forgetfulness, that I'd left the light on. But then I noticed that Manting's things were often being rummaged through, sometimes on the table, sometimes all over the kang (heated brick bed). It really scared me to death! I thought Manting missed this family, so she came back as a ghost. But even though it's Manting, I'm still afraid. I haven't slept well these past few days." The old woman wiped away tears as she spoke.

Gao Xiaoyuan, Xu An, and Chen Shuai exchanged glances.

"Could you take us to Manting's room?" Chen Shuai asked impatiently.

The old lady looked at Chen Shuai, then at Gao Xiaoyuan and Xu An, sighed and said, "I dare not go in, but come with me, I will tell you which room it is."

Four letters I wrote to myself

Fang Manting's room was at the back of the shack, with a broken door that was more than half a person's height and a mesh window for ventilation. The whole room looked very shabby.

"This is it, you can go in." The old lady looked at Fang Manting's room, her expression somewhat nervous.

Chen Shuai glanced at Xu An, and the two didn't say much. Chen Shuai pushed open the door, and Xu An followed him inside.

The room was small, only about seven or eight square meters. Apart from a single bed and a broken table, there was almost nothing else, and it looked very poor. On one side of the bed was a large, faded trunk with a large padlock on it.

"Manting has lived in this room since she was a child?" Chen Shuai could hardly believe his eyes. Compared to his environment, Fang Manting was practically living in a slum.

"Who told her to have a poor foster mother like me?" The old lady sighed softly.

"Why did you adopt Fang Manting when you're so poor?" Gao Xiaoyuan asked curiously.

The old lady sighed again: "I can't have children, but I love children, so I adopted Manting."

"What are Manting's hobbies?" Xu An asked as he walked toward the box next to the bed.

“Manting doesn’t talk to me much. Maybe she thinks I’m useless as her mother, so whenever she comes back, she stays alone in her room,” the old lady said, pointing to the box beside the bed. “Manting keeps all her things in that box. I didn’t know Manting was still alive, so when I saw a light in the room, I came in to check. I found that the lock had been opened every time, and the things inside had been rummaged through several times. I’ve changed the lock several times. I’m really scared.” As she spoke, the old lady handed the key to Gao Xiaoyuan. “Whether she’s dead or alive, I don’t dare touch that box again. I don’t want to come into this room again. You can make yourselves at home.” After saying this, the old lady turned around and quickly walked out.

Gao Xiaoyuan looked down at the key in her hand, somewhat at a loss. Chen Shuai stepped forward, snatched the key, and eagerly jumped onto the bed, quickly unlocking the lock hanging in front of the box.

Inside the box were some notebooks and books that Fang Manting used to use, as well as some diaries and other things she had written in casually.

Gao Xiaoyuan slowly walked onto the bed and helped Chen Shuai carefully examine the contents of the box.

Xu Anze sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the table in front of him.

"It seems Fang Manting really enjoys writing," Chen Shuai said as he flipped through the pages.

Gao Xiaoyuan glanced at Chen Shuai, said nothing, but gave a faint bitter smile.

Girls are often sentimental, and every girl at this age has secrets in her heart, but they have no way to confide in others, especially their parents. They simply don't understand the thoughts of children at this age, so they can only express themselves in writing. Gao Xiaoyuan is no exception.

Gao Xiaoyuan continued rummaging through the letters when she suddenly noticed several letters pressed against the left side of the cabinet. She reached out and picked them up, only to find that the envelopes had no sender's name on them, and the recipient's name was Fang Manting. Gao Xiaoyuan quickly unfolded one of the letters, then frowned, and picked up another, and so on, one after another.

"What are you looking at?" Chen Shuai leaned closer.

“There are some letters here, but they look like they were written by Fang Manting to herself,” Gao Xiaoyuan said softly, frowning.

Chen Shuai snatched the letter and quickly flipped through it.

Manting:

I know you're unhappy, I know you're having a tough time, and I'm willing to be your loyal friend and listen to your story.

Your mother doesn't know what maternal love is; she raised you like livestock. Your classmates don't talk to you much because they don't appreciate you. They're all idiots, so why bother arguing with them…

The following message contained a string of insults, which Chen Shuai couldn't stand, so he sent another one.

Manting:

I saw Deng Zhuofan. He's really handsome and attractive. I think any girl would be attracted to him. But he'll only like you and won't like any other girl...

Chen Shuai sneered and threw the letter aside.

"I never expected that Fang Manting had a crush on you all along." Gao Xiaoyuan was quite surprised.

Chen Shuai didn't say anything, and then opened another letter.

Manting:

Hello! Wishing you happiness! May you be as beautiful as an angel!

I've been thinking about something: what kind of relationship does Principal Chen have with us? As far as I know, none of the students in Class 10 of Grade 11 got in on their own merits. In fact, every student in Class 10, like me, was chosen by Principal Chen, not admitted through exams. In Principal Chen's words, the students in Class 10 are all musical prodigies with special talents, but I always feel that things aren't that simple. I've discovered that the students in Class 10 have strikingly similar backgrounds; they are all orphans.

Where do we come from?

Although the letter looks somewhat new, it's clear that it wasn't written recently; it was probably written a year ago.

"It seems everyone has questions in their minds," Chen Shuai muttered to himself.

When Gao Xiaoyuan's gaze returned to the box, she was startled, "That's...?"

At the bottom of a pile of notebooks in the box, a corner of a picture frame was visible.

Gao Xiaoyuan recognized the photo frame at a glance; it was the same photo frame she had found in Class 0 of the first year of high school. How could it be here now? Could it be another one?

Gao Xiaoyuan quickly took out the photo frame, and the moment she saw the photo inside, she froze.

This is a complete photo, showing the appearance of all the students in Class 0 of Grade 11.

"Chen Shuai, are these your classmates?" Gao Xiaoyuan asked anxiously.

After taking the photo from Gao Xiaoyuan and examining it carefully, Chen Shuai said, "They are my classmates."

"Which one is Fang Manting?" Gao Xiaoyuan continued to ask.

Chen Shuai pointed to one of the pretty female classmates and said, "That's her."

"What about these two?" Gao Xiaoyuan asked, pointing to three classmates she had never seen before.

"Those two male classmates standing next to each other are Zhu Yu and Gao Qixian."

"Are these two people dead or alive?" Gao Xiaoyuan murmured to herself, her gaze falling on Lin Nana in the photo. She was alive too, but where had she gone?