The Scorching Sun - 50
Wei Xi and the others stood guard in front of the grassy area behind the dormitory building, conducting a meticulous search. Lunch break was about to begin, yet several girls were still milling around nearby, lining up with their phones raised as they snapped pictures of the completely ordinary patch of grass. They refused to let any other students come near, staking out their territory with all the unreasonable possessiveness of wild animals.
Students from the neighboring class passed by and immediately cried foul at the sight.
"Why do they get to openly play with their phones?!"
"Why doesn't the dorm supervisor yell at them?"
"Do we have an insect observation class or something? Don't tell me that. I absolutely refuse to believe it!"
"Stop shouting nonsense." Wei Xi snapped irritably. "A thief climbed in through here, forced open the balcony door, and robbed our dorm. One of our roommates lost a large amount of money. We need to preserve as much evidence as possible before the police arrive. If you've got nothing to do, go back to class. Don't come over here and contaminate the scene."
Several of them asked in surprise, "Who?"
Now that the police had been called, there was no way to keep something like this secret. Wei Xi sighed. "Fang Zhuo. The money her uncle needs for his treatment was stolen. Whoever did it has absolutely no conscience."
A boy beside them blurted out, "Ah! You mean that handsome uncle who had his...?"
He awkwardly twisted the sentence around before he could finish it. Wei Xi shot him a look but let it go.
Bai Lufei, who had been silent beside them, suddenly asked, "How was it stolen?"
"It was stolen from the dorm!" Wei Xi said. "She fell outside, and someone probably saw the money fall out. Then they followed her all the way back to the dorm."
Everyone frowned at that.
The boy said, "Isn't that too creepy?!"
"Didn't the security guard stop him? How did he even get in?"
Wei Xi was scrolling through the photos on her phone, convinced that every indentation in the ground could potentially be a footprint. Distracted, she muttered, "If I knew, why would I still be standing here?"
Bai Lufei hesitated for a moment before tentatively saying, "Could it have been one of the construction workers who've been renovating the dorm lately?"
There had originally been an empty lot beside their school. Later, a developer bought the land and planned a gated residential complex there, which had been under construction for the past two years.
A High School itself had a long history, and some of its dormitory buildings had become badly outdated. The school frequently had problems with water and power outages, while the exteriors looked almost like condemned buildings. Parents had complained about them repeatedly.
After discussing the matter, the school had reached an agreement with the construction team across the way. Since they were already working nearby, they could renovate that old building as well, allowing the school to repurpose it for something else later.
The workers generally came during class hours, so students rarely encountered them in their day-to-day lives.
Afraid they might misunderstand, Bai Lufei immediately defended himself, raising his voice. "I'm not being prejudiced! I've actually seen a man skulking around the school before, constantly staring at girls as they walked past. He was seriously creepy! Our class was taking an exam just now, and I finished early. When I came over from the teaching building, I happened to see him running out in a panic. It wasn't even his working hours. Why would he sneak into our school alone?"
"It's not exactly fair to assume it was a construction worker, is it?" Wei Xi asked skeptically. "Which one are you talking about?"
"What does being a construction worker have to do with it? I'm not suspicious of him because of his job. I actually saw him!" Bai Lufei was getting worked up, but his thoughts were racing, and soon he was laying out his reasoning in an orderly fashion. "Everyone was in class when Fang Zhuo's things were stolen, which means the thief probably wasn't a student. The only people who can move freely around the school without attracting suspicion are school employees or the workers who've recently come in to renovate the building, right?"
Wei Xi thought it over. "And?"
Bai Lufei continued, "There usually isn't anyone behind the dormitory building, and the cameras can't cover that section of lawn. The thief may have acted on impulse, but he must have observed the area beforehand. I've seen that man hanging around nearby."
None of that proved anything. Even the connections between his points were somewhat tenuous, and most of his argument was based on subjective speculation.
Seeing that they weren't convinced, Bai Lufei hurriedly added, "The cameras can't see this area, but if that guy came in from outside the school, he would've had to pass the convenience store. If you don't believe me, go ask the owner whether he saw a man in work clothes passing by around the time Fang Zhuo lost her things. Or just ask whether there's a security camera outside the store. Why would I frame him for no reason?"
The others began to waver.
From a common-sense perspective, it did sound plausible.
Wei Xi said hesitantly, "But... even if someone saw him coming from the dormitory, we still wouldn't have direct evidence. Shouldn't we wait for the police to collect footprints and whatever else they need before deciding who to arrest?"
"If you really wait for the police to get here, there won't be any evidence left." Bai Lufei said. "It's money! Does money have trouble disappearing? Once it's spent, what evidence is there? Did someone carve Fang Zhuo's name into every bill? How are you going to get it back?"
Wei Xi said, "The police in our country respond pretty quickly."
The words had barely left her mouth when several figures appeared on the main road. A teacher on duty was accompanying several uniformed police officers toward them.
The teacher spoke quietly as they walked, explaining the school's security arrangements. When he saw the crowd of students gathered here, his expression hardened. "Why are you still standing around here? Get back to class!"
Wei Xi and the others stayed behind to explain what had happened, while the other students were chased away.
Bai Lufei left with several classmates. Even after thinking the matter through again on the way, he still felt it wouldn't work.
By the time the police finished questioning everyone, collected the evidence, and went to arrest the suspect, the man might already be gone.
A batch of computer graphics cards had previously been stolen from one of their school's teaching buildings. The loss had been worth far more than ten thousand yuan, and after the evidence was collected, nothing ever came of the case.
As far as Bai Lufei was concerned, once money was lost, it was lost. The chances of getting it back were tiny.
But for Fang Zhuo, this ten thousand yuan could mean everything. And this was money meant to pay for medical treatment. If she lost it, it could leave a lifelong shadow over her life.
Bai Lufei stopped walking. Before he could say anything, the boy beside him had already slung an arm over his shoulder, understanding immediately. "I know what you're thinking, brother. You want to play the hero and save the damsel in distress, don't you?"
Bai Lufei could only smile bitterly. What hero can he possibly be? Even if he managed to get Fang Zhuo's money back, she probably still wouldn't think much of him.
For all he knew, he might even be one of Fang Zhuo's psychological scars.
The boy glanced at his watch. "There's forty-five minutes until the first afternoon class. Who's this guy you were talking about? Let's go wait for him over there. Forty-five minutes should be enough time for the police to finish questioning everyone, right?"
Bai Lufei opened his mouth, then closed it again. In the end, he punched the boy lightly on the shoulder. "Thanks, bro."
The group of workers usually lived in temporary dormitories that had been set up in the neighboring residential complex. The students decided to sneak over by climbing the wall along the path behind the sports field and see whether the worker was still in his dormitory.
They crept toward the wall, only to run into Zhao Jiayou and the others, who were apparently planning to climb over it too.
The two groups stared at each other.
Zhao Jiayou was the first to recover. "Fuck! Fang Zhuo's in our class. What the hell does this have to do with you?"
"Bai Lufei is a witness. How is it none of his business?"
"Aren't you worried about getting called out and criticized by the school now?"
"Isn't that something only you model students have to worry about? Where's Yan Lie? Where'd he chicken out to?"
"I'm not arguing with you!" Zhao Jiayou said. "Give your grandpa a hand. Cake's useless as hell. We can't pull him up!"
Shen Musi snapped, "You still blame me for that? I just recovered from a serious illness and only recently came back to school. If the two of you can't even pull one person up, isn't that your problem?"
The last time these people had spoken to one another had been over that fight. There was a mountain of old and new grudges between them, and normally, merely seeing each other was enough to make their faces flush and their necks stiffen with anger. This time, however, they wordlessly made peace, helping one another climb over the wall and drop into the neighboring residential complex.
They hadn't gone far when they ran into a worker transporting materials.
The middle-aged man was pulling a small cart. When he saw the group, he pushed his hard hat higher on his head and gave them a meaningful smile. "Skipping class in the middle of the day? Then I'm going to have to report you. Imagine that, perfectly good students not going to class."
Zhao Jiayou hurriedly said, "No, we're here to find someone."
The middle-aged man asked, "Who?"
Zhao Jiayou briefly explained what had happened. The man had only heard half of it before giving a cold laugh and cutting him off. "What? You see us and immediately assume we're thieves? Look down on us working people? Aren't you impressive."
Zhao Jiayou gestured with his hands as he described the suspect. "No, we've got a classmate who saw him with her own eyes. About half an hour ago, that person ran out from the direction of the dormitory. He's got a spiky haircut, about this tall, dark skin, close-set eyes..."
The man gave a derisive smile. "Haven't you heard the saying? 'A hemp rope always breaks at its thinnest point, and misfortune always finds those who already have it hard.'"
The students stepped forward excitedly. "What are you trying to say? We're serious!"
One of the more level-headed students grabbed them and lowered his voice. "Don't shout. You'll bring the teachers over."
The man adjusted the direction of his cart and turned to leave.
Bai Lufei hurried after him, speaking rapidly. "If it were some other student, fine. But our classmate is in a really difficult situation. Her family is struggling badly. She's got no one but a disabled uncle at home, and now that he's been hospitalized, she somehow managed to scrape together ten thousand yuan. She'd barely brought it to school before someone stole it. Do you know how important that money is to her? Don't you have children in your family too? Either way, we're going to find that money and get it back to her!"
Zhao Jiayou said, "Exactly! That money has to be returned to her! Just tell us who it was. We won't rat you out."
The man stopped and gave him a long, searching look.
Seeing that he might finally be getting somewhere, Zhao Jiayou was about to tell him in detail about all the hardships Fang Zhuo had endured when the man suddenly muttered something inexplicable. "Forget it."
Then he continued walking.
The boys followed beside him, chattering incessantly in the hope of moving him with their words.
When they reached the open area in front of the dormitory building, the man shouted a name. It was difficult to make out, something that sounded like "Songzi."
A moment later, a dark-skinned man emerged from the building in response.
Bai Lufei's eyes lit up. He pointed at him. "That's him!"
The man suddenly looked terrified, turned around, and ran.
The students shouted and chased after him.
"Give the money back!"
By the time the police arrived after receiving word of the commotion, all they saw was a group of people tangled in a brawl, with another group on the side trying to pull them apart. Everyone was grabbing and wrestling with everyone else, impossible to tell who was who, let alone who was on whose side.
The lead officer could only laugh helplessly before shouting sternly, "Everyone, stop! What do you think you're doing?!"
Liu Qiaohong paced back and forth outside the hospital, repeatedly dialing the same number on his phone. Each time, all he got was the busy signal, he guessed that Ye Yuncheng's phone had probably run out of battery.
When he checked the time again, Fang Zhuo and Yan Lie finally appeared at the hospital entrance.
Liu Qiaohong let out a huge sigh of relief and hurried over. He put a hand on Fang Zhuo's shoulder and gave her a loose embrace as he told her, "The surgery's over. It was a huge success!"
Fang Zhuo looked up, her eyes growing hot.
"It's all right now," Liu Qiaohong said gently. "Go upstairs and see your uncle.”
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