El hibisco como pintura

Capítulo 27

"This calendar is broken. Did my sister hide something in it?"

“What can you hide in such a thin calendar? I don’t think you can hide anything.” Li Biqi couldn’t understand.

Chen Shuai suddenly smiled, looked at Xu An, and said firmly, "It's a phone call, okay?"

Xu An nodded.

Lin Nana and Li Biqi suddenly realized.

Chen Shuai immediately picked up his phone and dialed the number on the electronic calendar. A man's recorded voice came from the other end of the line. Hearing that voice, Chen Shuai froze, then hung up and looked at Xu An.

Xu An didn't ask; he was waiting for Chen Shuai to answer on his own initiative.

"We guessed right, Ms. Xia was indeed investigating. This phone number belongs to a private detective agency. It seems Ms. Xia was worried about something happening to her, so she deliberately left her phone number so that someone would find out."

Xu An smiled with relief: "Let's go now!"

Five survey data

Night fell, hazy and indistinct, not a single star in sight. Fog blanketed the city, engulfing it entirely. In a narrow alley, a winding path stretched into the darkness. Withered leaves nearly buried the path.

Lin Nana raised her phone, turned it on, and nervously shone the light ahead, whispering, "Why isn't there even a street lamp here?"

Li Biqi peeked out from behind Lin Nana, her round eyes wide with timidness, and said, "Chen Shuai, are you sure the address is correct? I can't see any companies here."

"You two cowards, you're so timid yet you pretend to be ghosts to scare people. Just follow behind us." As Chen Shuai was saying this, Xu An had already started walking down the path.

"Hey, wait for me!" Chen Shuai immediately chased after him.

The two girls looked around in fear, then quickly followed.

A gust of wind kept blowing, I don't know where it came from.

Xu An stared coldly ahead.

There was a dilapidated house ahead, looking quite run-down. The word "demolish" was written in large characters on the door and walls, one window was missing, a light was on inside, and some old-fashioned music was coming from inside.

"This place is so dilapidated, could there be a mistake?" Lin Nana asked in surprise, looking at the house that was about to be demolished.

Xu An didn't answer, but instead reached out and pushed open the door that seemed ready to fall at any moment.

A middle-aged, overweight man with a slightly balding head was reclining in a chair, his feet propped up on the table as he leisurely listened to music, his chubby fingers tapping on the table in rhythm with the music.

The table looked quite old; the paint was almost completely peeled off, and it was cluttered with random things. Documents were scattered haphazardly, a water glass was upside down, water was spilled on half the table, and there was even a pile of leftover lunch boxes.

Looking at the messy table, Li Biqi almost threw up.

The fat man merely opened his eyes a crack to glance at the person in front of him before continuing to enjoy the music with his eyes closed.

Chen Shuai let out a breath, took out his wallet from his pocket, and threw a large wad of RMB onto the table.

The fat man opened his eyes again, this time without closing them, but smiling into crescent moons. He immediately put his feet down and greeted him warmly, "You can investigate anything you want. My abilities are not those of ordinary people..." Just as the fat man was about to take the money from the table, Xu An quickly snatched it away.

"What do you mean by this?" The fat man looked at Xu An in surprise.

Xu An held up the money in his hand: "If you can help us, we will give you twice as much money."

The fat man narrowed his eyes to slits: "I never let my customers down."

Xu An nodded in satisfaction and gestured to Lin Nana. Lin Nana immediately understood and took out Teacher Xia's photo from her pocket and handed it to him.

The fat man took the photo, glanced at it, then looked up at the crowd and asked, "Is there something you need?"

“She’s your client, right?” Xu An asked.

The fat man hesitated.

Xu An raised the money in his hand.

The fat man lowered his head and thought for a moment, then bit his lower lip and said, "Although I love money, I will never reveal anything about my clients' privacy."

"Really?" Xu An leaned closer to the fat man: "You really don't want this money?"

The fat man continued to hesitate, then turned his head to the other side without saying a word.

"Please, she's my sister. I want to know what happened to her. She left your number; she must have wanted me to come find you," Lin Nana pleaded.

The fat man looked up at Lin Nana with surprise, scrutinizing her from head to toe. Suddenly, he opened a drawer, took out a photo, and examined Lin Nana closely again.

"You really are that woman's sister." This time the fat man was certain.

Lin Nana looked at the photo in the fat man's hand in surprise: "How do you have my photo?"

“It was left by your sister. She said that if the woman in the photo ever comes looking for me, I should give her all the information I’ve found.”

Lin Nana looked at the fat man with surprise: "So, my sister really was investigating something?"

The fat man took out a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, pulled one out, put it in his mouth, lit it, and sighed: "A year ago, your sister came to me, saying that someone was threatening her and asked me to help her investigate who it was."

"Someone is threatening my sister? Threatening what?" Lin Nana was very surprised.

“Your sister told me that someone knows her diploma is fake, so they can use that to threaten her into doing things.”

"My sister's diploma is fake?" Lin Nana was shocked again, but then asked, "Why did that person threaten my sister?"

"Your sister told me that someone called and threatened her to go to the restaurant to pick up something using the fake diploma."

Chen Shuai stepped forward and asked, "Have you found out who made that threat?"

The fat man shook his head helplessly: "That Teacher Xia provided me with a list of some suspicious people, so I secretly investigated them, but I couldn't find anything and had no clues."

Li Biqi looked at Lin Nana with a dejected expression: "I thought I could find some clues, but it seems there's nothing."

"Do you still have the information on the people you checked?" Xu An asked.

The fat man took a brown file bag from another drawer and handed it to Xu An. Xu An took the bag and immediately opened it to look through it. Chen Shuai, Lin Nana, and Li Biqi immediately gathered around.

The folder contained information on some teachers from Beiqing High School, indicating that Teacher Xia had suspected quite a few people and had investigated the backgrounds of almost every teacher at Beiqing High School. However, when Xu An flipped to the last file, he froze, then looked up at Chen Shuai.

"I..." Chen Shuai was startled and snatched the documents away, examining them carefully. He discovered several photos of Principal Chen in his youth tucked inside, all taken against the backdrop of an old-style school. One photo showed a young Principal Chen leaning against a green door with a class sign hanging on it. Only half of the lettering on the sign was visible; it appeared to be the number 6, 8, or perhaps 3.

"Sixteen years ago, the Beiqing High School where Teacher Xia worked was destroyed by a fire. After the fire, it was reduced to ruins and the school was gone. However, a few years later, Principal Chen bought the land and rebuilt Beiqing High School. She herself became the principal."

As Chen Shuai flipped through the documents, he suddenly noticed something, looked up at the fat man, and asked urgently, "My mother... no, Principal Chen's high school was the same high school that was destroyed in the fire sixteen years ago?"

"Yes, what's so strange about that? Maybe the principal missed his high school, so he rebuilt it when he had the money."

Chen Shuai didn't know what else to ask, but he always felt that his mother seemed to have ulterior motives for doing so.

"Is all the information that Teacher Xia asked you to look up here?" Xu An asked the fat man.

The fat man nodded: "It's all in your hands." He tapped his right finger twice more in time with the music.

"Thank you," Xu An said, placing the money on the table and walking out of the dilapidated house with the documents. Lin Nana and Li Biqi followed him out, but Chen Shuai hesitated for a moment before finally coming out with the documents in his hand.

The fat man exhaled a puff of smoke, leaned back in his chair, and continued listening to music.

The alley was still dark. Xu An and the others kept their heads down and continued walking without making a sound. Finally, Chen Shuai couldn't help but ask, "Xu An, do you think Principal Chen's construction of the school building has anything to do with what's happening now?" His question seemed to be directed at himself.

Xu An stopped, without saying a word.

Lin Nana and Li Biqi followed the two nervously, not daring to even breathe.

Chen Shuai stopped and looked at Xu An: "What are you thinking about?"

Xu An remained silent, looking at the documents in his hand, and softly asked, "I wonder how Xiao Yuan is doing now."

Chen Shuai remained silent, only watching Xu An. He suddenly sensed that Xu An's feelings for Gao Xiaoyuan had surpassed what he himself realized—or perhaps Xu An's feelings for Xiaoyuan were always... Chen Shuai sighed inwardly. Even he himself didn't know what his relationship with Xu An truly was—was it rivalry or friendship? He only hoped that Xiaoyuan would be alright!

9. The Hidden School Building

If you want to hide something, the best way is to cover it up.

Xu An, where are you? Why can't I catch you? Why are you getting further and further away from me...? I'm so scared, so scared. Help me, help me, Xu An!

Gao Xiaoyuan suddenly opened her eyes.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock—" the hands of the clock are ticking.

Gao Xiaoyuan's eyes rolled 360 degrees.

Where am I? This place feels so damp and cold, and those light bulbs look like they're about to break.

Is this a hallway? Is this a school? Why does it look so old, and the paint on the walls...?

Gao Xiaoyuan stood up from the ground, holding her breath as she looked at everything in front of her.

Time ticked by, but Gao Xiaoyuan's heart pounded faster and faster. She suppressed her fear and asked softly, "Is anyone there?"

The only sound in the corridor was her own echo; nothing else could be heard.

Gao Xiaoyuan nervously bit her lower lip and subconsciously crossed her arms over her chest, but suddenly found something cold in her hand. She immediately looked down and opened her left hand to see the "Open Sesame" key.

How did I end up with the key?

Gao Xiaoyuan felt something was off. She looked up at the corridor again and saw a door at the end of the corridor. The door looked very dilapidated. Although the paint on it was almost completely peeled off, you could still see its original green color.

Could this key open that door?

Gao Xiaoyuan couldn't figure it out, but she decided to give it a try, so she mustered her courage and walked toward the door.

Gao Xiaoyuan's footsteps echoed in the corridor as she cautiously approached the door.

The door was covered with a thick layer of dirt, as if it hadn't been opened for many years. Gao Xiaoyuan hesitated before inserting the key into the lock, then turned it to the right after a moment's hesitation.

"Pop—" The door was actually opened, which made Gao Xiaoyuan even more nervous. She hesitated for a long time but did not dare to push the door open. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead.

"Xu An, if you were here, you would definitely protect me, right?" Gao Xiaoyuan forced a smile and pushed open the door, but at that moment, a look of astonishment appeared on her face.

Xiaoyuan from Gaojia High School is back, but...

It's a new day, and the sky is covered with thick clouds that completely block out the sun's rays, making it look lifeless.