“If there were such an obvious mistake, it probably wouldn’t have won an award. The competition organizers aren’t illiterate.” Ji Li turned around. “Class is starting. Don’t be late.”
A note from the author:
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Roller shutter
"Wake up, Princess Aurora."
The Deep Sea Witch knelt on the ground, beneath her intricate magical runes, her eyes fixed on the Sleeping Beauty on the bed: "Look at your kingdom, your people, and those who love you deeply beside you."
Ji Li stood by the window, the script in his hand turned to the end, when suddenly a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted around him.
Wu Yiqing jumped up from the table excitedly: "It's perfect! We're definitely going to win first place at this arts festival!"
Ye Ruhui poured cold water on the idea without any mercy: "Just based on these nagging and verbose lines?"
Screenwriter Wu slammed the script on his head: "What do you know!"
Ye Ruhui did not understand.
Looking at the script in his hand, he couldn't understand what had gotten into him to agree to perform in the stage play.
As lunch break was drawing to a close, Wu Yiqing packed up her things: "That's all for today. Midterm exams are tomorrow and the day after, so rehearsals will be suspended for two days."
The midterm exams are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
In fact, most students actually welcome exams more than classes, because school exams are usually scheduled before the weekend, and the amount of homework after the exam decreases inversely with the importance of the exam.
For students in the experimental class, there's probably a little more to it: they won't have to take a weekly test this weekend.
Lin Chengshuang almost burst into tears.
"Why are you happy that I don't have to take weekly tests?" Ji Li asked.
"If you're home on Sunday afternoon, wouldn't I have a reason to come see you?"
Don't you have tutoring classes on Sunday afternoons?
"Isn't this a plan to escape to your place?"
"Are you really not planning to improve your grades?"
Am I out of my mind?
"Well……"
"I really don't need to study. My family is rich anyway, and my parents have said that as long as I don't make any big mistakes or go to jail, they won't starve me. I don't dream of becoming the richest person in the world, so why should I work hard?"
"Well……"
"And I really don't understand you." Lin Chengshuang looked at him. "You always ask me why I don't study, but why do you insist on studying? I remember your family is well-off. Your parents... well, although I've never met them, aren't they traveling all over the country to earn money for you to spend? Your grandma spoils you so much, why not take advantage of this time to eat, drink, and enjoy life instead of wasting your time on this thankless task?"
Ji Li suddenly spoke up: "Ying Yunsheng."
Lin Chengshuang: "Huh?"
Ji Li didn't look at him, but stared at the stairs in front of her.
Ying Yunsheng, who had arrived at some point, looked at him and asked, "Are you going home now?"
Ji Li shook his head: "I want to go to the bookstore first."
Ying Yunsheng immediately said, "I'll go with you."
The bookstore was located on campus. It was called Qingyun and was a small shop of less than 100 square meters. It sold more novels and magazines than study guides and exercise books.
From the moment Lin Chengshuang stepped inside, she completely let loose and plunged headlong into the ocean of comics.
Ji Li led Ying Yunsheng to the rear area. Just as he took out two magazines, his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket.
He took it out, looked at it, and stuffed the thing in his hand into the other person's hand: "Hold this for me, I'm going out for a bit."
Ying Yunsheng instinctively followed, saying, "I'll go with you."
"I'm going out to take a call, what are you doing following me?" Ji Li waved his phone. "Stay here, I'll be right back."
Ying Yunsheng paused for a moment, then stopped and took the magazine from the other person's hand.
.
The caller was an elderly woman from the capital city.
Ji Li walked out of the back door of the bookstore onto the street behind it and pressed the call button.
The scene here is the opposite of what was seen before. It's so deserted that hardly any students come here on weekdays, making the sound from the other side of the screen exceptionally clear.
The old lady is blind and it's inconvenient for her to make phone calls on weekdays for fear of disturbing her grandson who is studying at school, so she waits until Saturday when he has a day off, and inevitably she nags a bit.
He wasn't impatient and managed to calm the old man down. Just as he hung up, someone in front of him called out uncertainly, "Ji Li?"
It's Zhu Yi.
The other person was standing in front of the garage of the residential building, with the roller shutter door pulled down and the glass door behind them half open, as if they had just run out of it.
Ji Li subconsciously glanced at the surrounding residential buildings, only then remembering that he had run into Ying Yunsheng in this area when Ying Yunsheng invited him out for dinner at the beginning of the semester.
The other person seems to live here.
Zhu Yi felt as if he were being burned by his gaze, and hurriedly looked away from his eyes, then forced himself to turn his head back: "I... I've already told the teacher about that matter."
Ji Li raised his head.
“My dad usually sets up a stall up front.” Zhu Yi opened his mouth, struggling to utter the words “stall.” “A while ago, the city management officers came to crack down on them. He was not only fined, but his car was also smashed… You write such a good essay, I can tell at a glance that you’ll definitely win an award. Winning an award means a prize, so I… I…”
He lowered his head, and before he could finish speaking, tears fell down his face. He bit his lip tightly to keep himself from making a sound.
Ji Li didn't speak, but listened quietly to his suppressed sobs.
It was quite some time before Zhu Yi finally spoke again, after his emotions had calmed down enough for him to speak normally: "The teacher took the certificate back later, but he'll try to find a way to give you a replacement... He told me to pay you back myself... Can I pay him now?"
Ji Li looked down at the other person's hand.
"My house is right behind here, and the money is in my desk!" Zhu Yi lowered his head in embarrassment. He had rushed out without taking anything, and his tone was eager to prove his sincerity. "I...you come with me, and I'll pay you back right now!"
Ji Li followed him forward.
The other party lives in the garage on the first floor of a residential building, which can be converted into a one-bedroom apartment.
Zhu Yi ran into the room to get his things, but Ji Li didn't follow him into the bedroom or other private areas. He stopped in the outer hall and had only stood there for a few seconds when he suddenly heard a creaking sound of machinery behind him.
He turned his head.
The roller shutter door, which was only half open, suddenly closed downwards.
If you don't press the switch on the side of the electric roller shutter door, you can only control its raising and lowering with a remote control.
"You deliberately lured me here?"
There wasn't much space under the door to begin with; he had to bend over to get through when he came in, and in just a short while, it had shrunk to a width that a normal person couldn't pass through at all.
Zhu Yi stood at the door of the room, snapped off the remote control antenna, and threw the broken remote control toward the door with a "thud," the metal hitting the door with a loud echo.
Ji Li heard his heart tremble.
The small garage was cluttered with miscellaneous items, and there were objects everywhere that could be picked up and turned into murder weapons with a single swing.
Zhu Yi grabbed a wine bottle. Despite being only a high school student, his eyes were heavy with something unseen, as if they would burst at any moment: "Did you really think I called you here for money? If I'm not having a good time, I won't make sure you're having a good time either!"
"Splash—"
.
Ying Yunsheng stood in front of the bookshelf for a long time, but still didn't see Ji Li return. He simply put down the book and walked out the side door, just in time to see the other party enter the garage.
Then the roller shutter door closes.
Ying Yunsheng frowned. He had assumed that the other person would only go in if they saw someone they knew, such as a classmate. What could possibly require closing the door?
He quickly followed and saw through the window next to the roller shutter that someone turned around with a remote control in hand, threw it away violently as if in a fit of rage, then bent down, picked something up from the ground, and slammed it hard outside the door.
The windows were not fitted with security grilles.
With a loud crash, the sound of glass shattering both inside and outside the door overlapped perfectly.
Zhu Yi's brain was congested with blood, and he didn't notice the excessively loud noise. He missed his first attack, grabbed the other half of the broken bottle, and used the sharp end like a dagger to stab the person in front of him.
Suddenly, a muffled thud.
The backpack flying through the air suddenly hit Zhu Yi on the head. Zhu Yi was stunned for half a second by the impact, and the next moment his hand loosened.
Ying Yunsheng kicked him hard in the chest.
The immense force was like a tidal wave, instantly sending the person flying backward and crashing heavily into the wall.
Ying Yunsheng stepped forward, picked up a chair from the ground, and smashed it hard against the body lying on the ground.
"Thump—"
Ji Li was jolted back to her senses by this sudden movement and quickly stepped forward to pull him away, saying, "Don't hit him!"
Ying Yunsheng turned around upon hearing the sound and silently glanced at him.
Ji Li was stunned by what was in his eyes and froze on the spot.
Ying Yunsheng's hands did not stop moving; the wooden chair was lifted high again and then slammed down heavily.
"Thump—"
Ji Li couldn't hold him for a moment, then remembered the phone in her hand and immediately pressed the speakerphone button.
"Thump—"
Suddenly, a loud shout rang in my ears: "Stop! Police!"
The body next to him relaxed for a moment, and Ji Li seized the opportunity to snatch the chair from the other person's hands and completely separate the two.
Zhu Yi, who had been curled up on the ground, froze upon hearing this. With a sudden burst of strength, he lunged forward, snatched the phone, and, seeing the call time on the screen, demanded, "When did you make that call?!"
“When you asked me to come to the garage together,” Ji Li hadn’t intended to have a conflict with him, so she let him take her phone. “Modern technology is so advanced that the police can locate my address using my number without me having to say a word.”