Ming Han was in No. 10 Middle School’s surveillance room, although calling it a dedicated surveillance room was generous. It was really just a storage area beside the computer classroom. A computer teacher was anxiously trying to retrieve the footage Ming Han wanted. Whether because the equipment had malfunctioned or for some other reason, the surveillance from inside Class 13 and the corridor outside was blank on the day Liu Wenran received the gift.
“…It looks like there was interference.” After fumbling with the system for a while, the computer teacher said awkwardly, “I can’t find it.”
Ming Han asked, “Can it be recovered technically? I can call over one of our technical investigation officers.”
The computer teacher looked deeply embarrassed. “You can only recover something if it was recorded in the first place. In this case, someone seems to have interfered beforehand so the cameras couldn’t record anything at all.”
“Then there’s nothing to recover.” Ming Han nodded and even smiled at the nervous teacher. “All right, thanks for your trouble. We’ll think of another approach. I’ll also have to ask you to copy the footage from before and after that period for me.”
The computer teacher did as requested. Ming Han asked the grade director about the surveillance system. The director spent some time boasting about the new equipment the school had recently installed, but firmly denied knowing anything about the system being compromised, adopting a lofty posture of we’re victims too.
Ming Han planned to speak with Liu Wenran’s homeroom teacher, Teacher Zhang, but she was supervising a self-study period. While waiting, he thought about the surveillance interference. Liu Wenran had only discovered the gift in her desk on October 28. Whoever left it there had not wanted to be recorded, so they had tampered with the surveillance. In that sense, there was some similarity to Yin Gaoqiang’s death. In Yin’s case, the killer could erase every trace by simply blowing up the noodle shop. In Liu Wenran’s case, they could hardly blow up an entire school, and school surveillance was usually uploaded to cloud storage anyway.
When class ended, students surrounded Teacher Zhang with questions. She was not only Class 13’s homeroom teacher but also the English teacher for another class, so she was busy and popular with the students. It took quite a while before she managed to get away.
But a police officer was waiting for her in the corridor. The moment she saw Ming Han, she instinctively lowered her head. “Are you… here to see me?”
“Teacher Zhang, you’re too nervous,” Ming Han said. “Relax a little. The students are watching.”
Teacher Zhang reflexively glanced back at the classroom. The students in the front rows really were looking at her. “Let’s talk somewhere else,” she said quickly.
There were other teachers in the office, so Teacher Zhang took Ming Han to an empty competition classroom downstairs. “Officer Ming, what do you want to ask?”
“I heard you were the first person to notice Liu Wenran was missing?”
Teacher Zhang held her phone in both hands. “Yes. When everyone comes back on Sunday, I take attendance.”
“You’re very responsible,” Ming Han said, looking her in the eyes.
Teacher Zhang froze, then finally relaxed a little, although her nose stung with emotion. “I don’t pay enough attention to their lives. I teach a graduating class, so I’ve always focused on grades. If I’d paid more attention to Liu Wenran, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
Ming Han shook his head. “I have enormous respect for teachers who handle graduating classes. You work harder than anyone. Don’t put every bit of responsibility on yourself.”
Teacher Zhang had expected to be interrogated. Instead, she found herself being comforted by a police officer. She nodded gratefully.
“The main reason I came to see you is that I’ve heard some things about Liu Wenran. A student said she had improper associations with older men outside the school. Have you ever heard anything like that?” Ming Han deliberately chose words that sounded somewhat gentler than the underlying allegation.
Teacher Zhang was still startled. “How is that possible? She’s still a high school student! Spreading a rumor like that about a girl is vicious! Officer Ming, who said it?”
Ming Han did not give her Ao Yan’s name. Instead he asked, “Have you met Liu Wenran’s parent?”
Teacher Zhang sighed. Not long ago, Grade 12 had held a parent-teacher meeting, and it was her first time meeting the parents of Class 13. Beforehand, she had repeatedly stressed that every student’s parent needed to attend. Liu Wenran had come to her apologetically and said her mother had returned to her hometown to care for her sick maternal grandmother and truly could not come. Teacher Zhang checked Liu Wenran’s school records and learned that she had no father listed. If her mother could not come, there really was no one else.
“I told her that when her mother came back, the two of them should come see me separately,” Teacher Zhang said. “Every Grade 12 parent meeting is important. Liu Wenran’s grades are decent, and I don’t want her falling behind while she’s in my class. But… her mother still hasn’t come. After Liu Wenran disappeared, I finally contacted her and learned that she doesn’t have any hometown like that to return to, much less a sick grandmother who needs care. Her mother simply couldn’t be bothered to attend the meeting.”
By this point Teacher Zhang was visibly angry, her dissatisfaction with Cao Wenmei spilling into every word. “I’m not deliberately trying to excuse the school, but I think if something happened to Liu Wenran, a large part of the reason may lie with her mother. What kind of mother cares so little about her own daughter?”
Teacher Zhang was a young mother herself, which made Cao Wenmei’s indifference toward Liu Wenran even harder for her to understand. Ming Han listened to her for a long time but gradually realized that she was an outsider through and through. Talking to her would never bring him closer to the living, breathing Liu Wenran beneath the surface.
Perhaps he needed to find Liu Wenran’s teachers from Grade 10 and Grade 11.
Ming Han casually asked, “Do you know Class 13’s previous homeroom teacher?”
“Jiang Luoqing, Teacher Jiang. He teaches math. We teachers who specialize in graduating classes don’t spend that much time with the ones who handle Grade 10 and 11, but after taking over Class 13 these past few months, I can tell the students all really like Teacher Jiang. And our class does better in math than in any other subject. That’s his doing.”
Grade 12 had a separate teaching building. The entire structure seemed steeped in tension and oppression, and it was difficult to tell whether the pressure came from the looming college entrance exam or the sudden disappearance of a student. Ming Han went downstairs, crossed the garden, and headed toward the Grade 10 and 11 area.
Jiang Luoqing, Class 13’s former homeroom teacher, now taught Grade 10. He already knew what had happened to Liu Wenran. The moment Ming Han appeared, he said, “I should’ve come to you on my own much earlier. I just… couldn’t make up my mind.”
Ming Han was mildly surprised, and his gaze became more assessing.
Jiang Luoqing wore very thin glasses, probably with a weak prescription. His facial lines were soft, and the hair at his temples had been tapered slightly. The style was fashionable without being excessive and suited his profession as a teacher. Judging only from his appearance, Ming Han could understand why Teacher Zhang had said the students liked Teacher Jiang.
The two went to the balcony outside the office. Jiang Luoqing closed the glass door behind them. The other teachers could see them, but could not hear their conversation.
The balcony had a wide view. Not far away, Grade 10 students who had not yet begun to feel the pressure of the college entrance exam were playing soccer. Boys and girls crowded along the edge of the field, cheering loudly. The sheer force of their youth seemed to dispel some of the gloom hanging over the school.
Ming Han asked, “What were you about to tell me?”
Jiang Luoqing gripped the railing with both hands, veins standing out along his arms as though he were struggling internally. “Actually… I’ve always known about the Liu family’s circumstances and Liu Wenran’s situation. But right up until I handed the class over to Teacher Zhang, I chose to avoid dealing with it.” His brow furrowed deeply. “I used to think I hadn’t done anything wrong. Especially because I’m a male teacher and she’s a female student. Maybe there were things I shouldn’t interfere with too much. But now something has happened to Liu Wenran, and I can’t stop thinking that maybe if I’d intervened earlier, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
“You said you know the Liu family’s situation,” Ming Han said. “So what exactly is going on with the family? And what situation was Liu Wenran in?”
Jiang Luoqing took out a cigarette and lighter. “Officer Ming, do you mind?”
Ming Han raised a hand, indicating that he should go ahead.
Jiang Luoqing took two drags and seemed to calm somewhat. At least the veins no longer stood out on the backs of his hands. “I’d never been a homeroom teacher before. Class 13 was my first. Like a lot of new homeroom teachers, I wanted to interfere in everything my students did and understand every single detail of their lives. In hindsight… it was a little excessive.”
After reviewing every student’s registered family information, Jiang Luoqing had marked more than a dozen students who might need special attention. Liu Wenran was one of them. The students he marked either came from single-parent homes or had poor economic circumstances. Liu Wenran fit both categories. Yet unlike many students from poor families, she carried none of their usual restraint or awkwardness and showed no sign of inferiority.
She enthusiastically participated in class activities and introduced herself with great energy when running for class office. Many girls got along well with her, and boys secretly talked about her too. What surprised Jiang Luoqing somewhat was how well she fit in with Zhou Xi’s circle. He often saw the girls going out together.
Jiang Luoqing explained that he was not being a snob. Students simply had their own social rules, and people from similar family backgrounds tended to gravitate toward one another. Zhou Xi’s family owned a company and lived comfortably. The other girls in her circle came from comparable families. Liu Wenran, meanwhile, lived with her mother, who had no formal employment, on Xingwen Street, a place many people in Zhuquan considered a slum.
For a while, he had even suspected Zhou Xi and the others might be bullying Liu Wenran. Similar cases were common. Wealthy girls sometimes wanted one person, or an entire group, to serve them and flatter them. But after observing for some time, he realized Liu Wenran was not being bullied. The girls genuinely got along.
At the time he had thought that perhaps Liu Wenran was simply naturally cheerful and easygoing, while Zhou Xi and the others happened to be kind and innocent. School uniforms also served as a protective layer for adolescent girls, concealing poverty and embarrassment.
The first semester of Grade 10 was packed with activities. Liu Wenran’s outstanding performance gradually reassured Jiang Luoqing, so he postponed his home visit to the Liu family, planning to visit the other high-priority students first.
By December, Liu Wenran had completely integrated into the class. Even many students from other classes knew that Class 13 had a “rich-girl goddess.” Only then did Jiang Luoqing realize things had moved away from what he had imagined. Liu Wenran really was beautiful, but the “rich” part could not have been further from the truth. He could not help putting himself in her place. When Liu Wenran heard people describe her as wealthy, did she feel embarrassed? Did she think they were mocking her?
Adolescent boys and girls could sometimes be terrifyingly fragile. A sentence that sounded perfectly ordinary to an adult could push them to the edge. Worried that Liu Wenran might be hurt, Jiang Luoqing turned his attention back to her and was surprised to find that she did not merely accept the “rich-girl goddess” image calmly. She seemed to be deliberately encouraging others to believe that her family, like Zhou Xi’s, was very well-off.
Like many younger teachers, Jiang Luoqing had studied some basic psychology. He began to feel that Liu Wenran, despite appearing normal, was not normal at all. He regretted not contacting her mother sooner. He even imagined one frightening possibility: perhaps Liu Wenran had stolen money from home to maintain the image she had created.
I can’t keep waiting, Jiang Luoqing thought. I have to go to Xingwen Street immediately.
Xingwen Street was not far from No. 10 Middle School, yet the two places felt like different worlds. Jiang Luoqing went there only once and never wanted to return. Even now, recalling what happened made him frown.
“The people there looked at someone like me, someone who obviously didn’t belong there, with absolutely no attempt to hide it. How do I put it? Curiosity, greed, like they wanted to get something from you. And hatred too.” Jiang Luoqing gave a bitter smile. “I’m not rich. I’m just an ordinary teacher. I don’t even own a home yet. But their resentment toward wealthy people still got directed at me.”
Jiang Luoqing had wanted to turn around and leave immediately, but he remembered that he was a homeroom teacher and had come for an important reason, so he forced himself onward. The Liu family’s door was tightly shut. No one was home. A disheveled middle-aged woman next door, still wearing pajamas, impatiently told him to go look at the mahjong parlor.
At the mahjong parlor, he saw Liu Wenran’s mother, Cao Wenmei, sitting on the lap of a bald man. The man was saying things too filthy to listen to, while she smiled and turned over her tiles. The whole room was thick with smoke. For Jiang Luoqing, who had gone directly from the ivory tower of university into a middle-school campus, the sight was so shocking that he nearly felt sick.
After several rounds of mahjong ended, Cao Wenmei got up to rest and only then noticed Jiang Luoqing. She swayed over. “Who’re you looking for? Want to play a round?”
Jiang Luoqing struggled to keep his composure. “Hello. I’m Liu Wenran’s homeroom teacher. My surname is Jiang. I came today to… make a home visit.”
At that, the hand holding Cao Wenmei’s cigarette froze. Embarrassment flashed across her face, and her gaze darted around. “Oh, you’re a teacher. Come, sit, sit.”
Cao Wenmei took Jiang Luoqing into a small room. There was a bed inside, and contraceptives sat on the bedside cabinet. One glance was enough to tell what the room was usually used for.
After closing the door, Cao Wenmei noticed the things on the cabinet too. “Hey, this isn’t my room. Anyone can use it. I only brought you in here because you’re a teacher and shouldn’t have to listen to the crap outside. What happened with our Wenran? She didn’t tell me I’d been called to school. If that kid caused trouble there, tell me. I’ll straighten her out.”
From the moment he entered the room, Jiang Luoqing’s eyelid had been twitching violently. Half of what he had planned to say vanished from his mind. He had known Liu Wenran’s family was poor, but he had not expected her mother to be involved in this kind of borderline sex business.
“I… well…” Jiang Luoqing said. “Right. Our grade has some assistance slots for students from impoverished families. I came to see whether Liu Wenran needs one. With your circumstances, you should qualify.”
Cao Wenmei’s eyes widened. “How much money is it?”
“The top tier is over six thousand yuan a year.” Jiang Luoqing watched her visibly brighten. “But Liu Wenran hasn’t applied. If you decide you need it, fill out this form and have Liu Wenran bring it to me tomorrow.”
Cao Wenmei broke into a delighted smile. “Great, great! I’ll make her fill it out as soon as she gets back!”
Jiang Luoqing took a deep breath. “And your occupation is?”
“Occupation?” Cao Wenmei checked herself in a small mirror and reapplied her lipstick. “Do I have to have a job to get the subsidy?”
“No. Since I’m making a home visit, I just want to understand Liu Wenran’s situation better.”
“I don’t have a job. I watch this mahjong parlor for them. If they’re short a player, I sit in.”
“I see…” Jiang Luoqing was already desperate to leave, but asked what Liu Wenran’s father did.
Cao Wenmei instantly became irritated. “That damned bastard? He’s been dead to us for years!”
“What?” At first Jiang Luoqing thought she was speaking in anger, but Cao Wenmei went on to explain that the man was a compulsive gambler who had run up enormous debts. When he could not repay them, he fled and left the entire mess behind for mother and daughter. Liu Wenran had still been tiny when he escaped to Southeast Asia. Cao Wenmei struggled for several years before finally paying off the debts.
Jiang Luoqing was horrified and asked whether the police had done anything. Cao Wenmei laughed disdainfully. The man had fled overseas, she said. What were the police supposed to do? Better to pretend he no longer existed.
Jiang Luoqing felt as though he were sitting on needles. He reminded Cao Wenmei to complete the form and assured her that their circumstances should qualify for assistance. Cao Wenmei cheerfully opened the door and saw him out. But the moment they reached the main room, he froze. At the table where Cao Wenmei had been sitting earlier, Liu Wenran, still in her school uniform with her backpack on her lap, was playing mahjong with the men.
Liu Wenran reacted even more violently. She shot to her feet so abruptly that she nearly overturned the table. The other players protested. “Are you playing or not?”
Liu Wenran stared at Jiang Luoqing in absolute terror, as though she had seen a ghost. Jiang Luoqing would never forget that expression. A moment later, Liu Wenran grabbed her schoolbag and ran. The other players shouted after her, and Cao Wenmei hurriedly took her seat. “Kids don’t know any better. I’ll play with you.”
Afraid something might happen to Liu Wenran, Jiang Luoqing immediately chased after her. He was unfamiliar with Xingwen Street and expected it would take time to find her, but Liu Wenran stopped after running only a short distance and waited for him in an alley.
He hurried over. “Are you all right, Liu Wenran?”
Liu Wenran’s eyes were red. She looked as though she had suffered some enormous fright and an equally enormous injustice. Suddenly, tears poured down her face, catching him completely off guard. He was grateful he carried tissues. “What’s wrong? Tell Teacher Jiang. I’ll do everything I can to help you!”
“Teacher Jiang, why did you have to come?” Liu Wenran sobbed.
He was confused. “I… I came for a home visit.”
“Does every student get a home visit?”
“Uh, no. Home visits are targeted.”
“At poor students like me?”
Jiang Luoqing saw stubbornness, anger, inferiority, and pride all tangled together in Liu Wenran’s eyes, and suddenly did not know what to say. Yes. His home visits were targeted at poor students and students from troubled families, and Liu Wenran fit both categories.
“Teacher Jiang, you saw everything, didn’t you?” Liu Wenran had calmed slightly.
Only after a moment did Jiang Luoqing nod. “Just now, were you…?”
“I keep them company while they play cards. I can earn some money.” Liu Wenran looked at him and laughed bitterly. “Did you think I was like my mom, sitting on their laps?”
“…”
“No. I haven’t sunk that far.”
Jiang Luoqing did not know what to say. “Now that I understand your situation, don’t worry. The school will help you.”
Fear suddenly appeared on Liu Wenran’s face. “Teacher Jiang, what did you just say?”
Jiang Luoqing explained that he had given Cao Wenmei the application form. Liu Wenran’s tears, which had finally stopped, immediately began falling again. She crouched down in anguish. “Teacher Jiang, why did you have to do that? Does tearing open someone else’s wounds make you happy?”
Jiang Luoqing was completely baffled and could only crouch beside her. “What are you talking about? Why would something like that make me happy?”
“You think I don’t know about that application? I do. Why do you think I never applied?” Liu Wenran looked at him through tears. “Teacher Jiang, don’t you understand? I have dignity too. I don’t want my classmates looking down on me because of my family!”
Jiang Luoqing remembered. The names of students who successfully received assistance would be publicly posted. They would be stamped with the label of poverty. But did that really matter? More than six thousand yuan was real, practical help, and public disclosure also served an oversight function.
“Don’t trap yourself in that way of thinking,” Jiang Luoqing said. “With that money, you wouldn’t have to sit in a place like that to supplement your household expenses. You’d have more time to enjoy school life.”
“I’m not trapping myself in anything! I’m doing everything I can to maintain the life I want! Teacher Jiang, why can’t you understand?” Liu Wenran became increasingly agitated. “My family is already like this. Why do I have to be labeled poor at school too? My mom’s a whore, my dad ran away. Is that my fault? I just want to make friends at school like a normal person. Is that wrong?”
“…” Jiang Luoqing stared wordlessly at the hysterical girl. At school, she had never behaved like this. She was always confident and composed, the “goddess” in her classmates’ eyes.
At that moment, Jiang Luoqing wondered if perhaps he had been wrong. Pretending to be a “goddess” at school might have been Liu Wenran’s way of compensating for her misfortune. He had never endured what Liu Wenran had. He was a man. How could he possibly understand exactly what she felt?
“Teacher Jiang, I’m begging you. Please don’t tell anyone what you saw today.” Liu Wenran could not stop crying. It was as though the sky had collapsed. “What I’m like at home has nothing to do with how I act at school, does it? I only want to get through high school properly. I don’t want to be treated differently.”
After a long time, Jiang Luoqing said, “I understand.”
Before leaving, he still could not help warning her, “When you keep those men company at mahjong, you need to know your limits. Whatever you do, don’t become like your mother…” He immediately regretted the cruelty that had slipped unconsciously into his words and could not finish the sentence.
Liu Wenran promised him she would never do anything out of line.
After that day, Jiang Luoqing calmed down and came to regard the experience as one of the most important lessons he had learned after becoming a homeroom teacher. Liu Wenran never submitted the assistance application, and he did not know whether she had fought with her mother over it. For a while, his own inaction troubled him. But when he saw Liu Wenran remain as lively and cheerful as ever, he began to think that perhaps he had done one thing right: as a male teacher, he had protected the turbulent pride of an adolescent girl.
That summer, his time as Class 13’s homeroom teacher ended. The students were reluctant to see him go, and many gave him small gifts. He handed Ming Han a note. “Liu Wenran wrote this for me. Lately I’ve been wondering whether I failed to deserve this gratitude.”
Ming Han took it. The note read: Teacher Jiang, thank you for indulging my hypocritical dignity.
Ming Han asked, “You know Liu Wenran lent money to classmates, right?”
Jiang Luoqing nodded. “At first I wondered where she got the money too. I assumed it came from accompanying people at mahjong.”
“She’s been doing that for the past two years?”
“I don’t know for certain, but given her family’s circumstances, if she wasn’t working somehow, she couldn’t have had that much money.”
Because the next question was sensitive, Ming Han considered his phrasing for a moment. “You guessed what Cao Wenmei might do besides keeping people company at the mahjong table, didn’t you?”
Jiang Luoqing nodded awkwardly.
“Then is it possible that Liu Wenran was influenced by Cao Wenmei and also…”
“Impossible!” Jiang Luoqing’s expression became extremely serious. “Officer Ming, please don’t casually speculate about a girl like that. Liu Wenran is still a student.”
Ming Han said, “I heard some rumors, so I’m asking you to verify them.”
“Who’s spreading that filth?” Jiang Luoqing became angry. “Is it those people from Xingwen Street?”
Ming Han did not answer. Jiang Luoqing continued on his own. “It has to be them! They’re stuck in the mud themselves, so they can’t stand seeing anyone else do well. Yes, Liu Wenran pretended to be a rich girl, but once you know what her family is like, you can understand why. She wanted to climb out of that place and have a better life. But some people simply can’t stand seeing an outstanding girl. They slander her and tear her down for the pleasure of it.”
Jiang Luoqing’s conclusion was somewhat extreme, but Ming Han knew that human nature really could be like that.
“So in your opinion, Liu Wenran could never have become like her mother.”
“Yes! Absolutely impossible!”
Ming Han brought up the Dream Island milk-tea shop. Jiang Luoqing froze, then remembered that many girls liked buying drinks there. Liu Wenran had even treated him once. He told her not to waste money, and certainly not to spend it on him. Liu Wenran had smiled brightly and told him she had earned the money herself.
For the past two years, after seeing Liu Wenran break down in tears that day, he had instinctively avoided asking about her home life. As a result, this was almost everything he knew. Now regret was swallowing him whole.
“I’m worried that someone connected to her father may have come looking for her. Her mother might know something, which could be why she still refuses to come to the school.” Jiang Luoqing lit another cigarette, as though smoke might drive away the pain. “I failed Liu Wenran.”
Ming Han took Liu Wenran’s note with him. He spent some time sorting through his thoughts and was about to contact Chen Zheng when a technical investigation officer called. The surveillance from that day was still missing, but after repeatedly reviewing the footage that remained, they had discovered a student whose movements were somewhat unusual.
The student’s name was Lü Ou. He was in Experimental Class 2.