“Let’s go.”
Ning Li put her phone away and left with He Xiaochen.
Ren Qian turned to Pei Song.
The look on Pei Song’s face reminded him of what had happened on the court earlier and he started to wonder whether his thoughts were true.
…
The janitor’s room.
As the minutes turned into hours, the sky outside turned dark.
At first, Sun Huihui felt anxious. She knocked on the door as hard and loudly as possible, trying to create attention but no one came to her rescue.
She was relentless at first but she gradually grew tired when her screams and knocks produced no results.
It was quiet, so quiet that all she could hear was her own breathing.
It also quickly became dark. She tried to turn on the light but the switch did not respond.
Eventually, she remembered that she had cut the fuse to the janitor’s room earlier because she had wanted Ning Li to suffer more.
However, in the end, she was the one that had ended up trapped inside the dark and quiet janitor’s room instead.
Sun Huihui felt scared.
This particular office was located in a secluded corner of the campus and the janitor’s room itself was inside the office.
It was already late, so she had to assume that everyone had already left.
She paced around in circles anxiously for some time before finally curling up in the corner. Her eyes started tearing up before finally breaking down completely in tears.
She had only intended on scaring Ning Li as a warning to the girl to stay away from Pei Song. She had not expected to end up falling into her own trap.
It was a cold autumn night. The girl shivered in a corner as icy cold tears trickled down her cheeks.
Ning Li must have jumped out of the window, but Sun Huihui was not brave enough to take the same leap of faith.
After a long while, she fell asleep leaning against the closet.
…
Click!
The sound of the door being unlocked from the outside woke Sun Huihui up.
She opened her eyes and saw Mr. Su, the teacher who was in charge of this particular office and janitor’s room.
The morning sun shone through the window.
Sun Huihui bolted up but did not realize that her legs had gone numb after curling up the whole night.
She lost her balance and fell onto the cleaning tools.
Crank!
The buckets and broom fell and scattered across the floor.
Mr. Su was startled by the sudden noise. “Who’s that?”
Sun Huihui cried, “Mr. Su!”
Mr. Su came over and found the student beside the closet.
Her eyes were red and she was still wearing her uniform. It looked like she had been put through the mill and based on the timing, she must have spent the night locked up in here.
“Who are you? Which class are you from? Why are you here?”
Sun Huihui broke down in tears.
“I’m from the third-year first class! Mr. Su, someone locked me in here last night!”
Mr. Su was shocked. He looked serious because locking someone up was no joke.
“Who locked you up in here?”
Sun Huihui wiped her tears and said meekly, “Ning Li! It was her!”
…
Third-year first class.
It was still early, so the class was having a self-study session.
Other students usually had breaks after the midterms but not the third-year students, especially the students from the first class.
The Chemistry and Biology teachers had told the class that they would be giving an extra lesson today.
Rather than teaching the students new things during the extra lesson, the teachers were there to help the students solve any problems that they faced in their studies. No one would want to miss a rare opportunity like this.
Those who could make it had come to class.
Cheng Xiangxiang glanced at the seat behind her and had a strange feeling.
“Is Sun Huihui not coming today?”
“Maybe.”
Ye Ci was solving a chemistry question.
Cheng Xiangxiang pouted.
“That’s rare. She’s much more hardworking than I am and even I came. Where’s that girl?”
It was then that a teacher came in and asked for Ning Li.
“Ning Li, a word please.”
Everyone in the class looked at her.
The man was none other than Mr. Su, the teacher in charge of the rear office.
What was happening with Ning Li again?
Ning Li closed her book and got up.
“Yes, Mr. Su? Is anything the matter?”
Mr. Su sighed and said, “Let’s go to the discipline teacher’s office.
…
After Ning Li’s exit, the quiet class became nervous.
“What happened? Why is Ning Li called to the office again?”
“The results for the midterm shouldn’t be out today…”
“What are you guys thinking? Didn’t you guys notice Sun Huihui is not here? When I walked past the discipline office earlier, I heard that she had been locked up in the janitor’s room last night! Maybe that’s why Mr. Su called Ning Li out.”
Ye Ci’s hand froze for a moment.
Those words surprised not only Ye Ci but everyone in the class.
“No way. I never knew Sun Huihui had any beef with Ning Li. Why would Ning Li do that?”
“I know, right? Besides, even if she really dislikes Sun Huihui, there are a million ways to get back at her. Why lock her up?”
“How would I know? We will soon find out whether it is true or false.”
Ren Qian mumbled, “No way…”
For some reason, he turned around to look at Pei Song.
He noticed Pei Song had zipped his school jersey and leaned back slightly in his chair, with a gloomy expression on his face.
…
Ning Li followed Mr. Su to the discipline office.
Sun Quan was also there.
A student being locked up for a whole night was a serious matter. It was considered a crime and the school had to treat this matter with the utmost seriousness.
He had not anticipated that Ning Li would be involved again.
The moment Ning Li stepped in, she was met with Sun Huihui’s glare.
“Mr. Sun, Mr. Su! It’s her! It was Ning Li who locked me up yesterday!”
Sun Quan said, “Sun Huihui, calm down. The school will get to the bottom of this and do you justice.”
He then looked at Ning Li.
“Ning Li, Sun Huihui was found locked up in the janitor’s room last night. Tell me, was it you?”
Ning Li looked momentarily surprised before shaking her head. “No. I didn’t know what had happened.”
“You liar!”
Sun Huihui became anxious.
If the teachers were not around, she would have slapped Ning Li.
Ning Li barely reacted.
“I was on janitor’s duty yesterday. Sun Huihui had asked me to return the cleaning tools for her. After I put them back, I went to the basketball court to watch the boys play. As for what happened to her… I don’t know anything.”
“There’s a surveillance camera in the corridor. If you don’t believe me, you can pull up the surveillance footage.”
Sun Quan frowned. “Unfortunately, the surveillance camera has been blocked.
Since yesterday afternoon, the surveillance camera had recorded nothing except for a black screen.
The malfunctioned surveillance camera had increased the difficulty of this case and was also evidence that someone plotted this act. This had not been an accident.
That was the reason the school was treating this matter seriously.
“Sun Huihui’s bag had also been tossed among the flowers and her phone had been used to send a message to her family, saying she was going to be at a sleepover at a friend’s house.”
If not for the message, her family would have known that she was missing.
“Oh? Too bad then. It’s unfortunate that the surveillance camera was blocked. I can see that whoever is behind this is quite meticulous, don’t you think so, Sun Huihui?”
Ning Li spoke evenly and slowly as she looked at Sun Huihui.
Sun Huihui’s heart skipped a beat.
Ning Li added, “Besides, I remember that Mr. Su usually checks all the rooms before he leaves. Didn’t Mr. Su find her yesterday?”