Chapter 102

When she spoke, her firm gaze fell on the two of them.

Lin Shaoze: "Then let's investigate."

Cheng Ziming raised his hand: "Me! I'll immediately contact the cyber police colleagues, pull up all the information from Jing Shi No. 1 High School forum from back then, and restore anything that was deleted."

Just then, a noisy commotion came from not far away.

A few minutes earlier, the guardroom.

The police suddenly arrived to investigate; hearing the news, the guard grandfather found it rare, then his mind turned—wasn't this fresh gossip?

So, before long, the news of the police's arrival spread throughout the guardroom.

They were all guessing: could another case have happened at the school?

The younger guard asked doubtfully, offering a cigarette: "Grandpa, did we previously have a case here?"

The old grandfather crossed his arms, sat on a small stool, narrowed his eyes, and looked him up and down: "You're new here, right?"

He nodded; the old grandfather said mysteriously: "Of course there was."

"Three years ago a female student suddenly disappeared; rumor had it she ran off with a petty thug, and afterward no one knew where she went—whether she was abducted or just vanished. In any case, it caused quite a stir across the city, yet in the end they never found her."

"Do you think this counts as a case?"

"Yes, of course it does!" The young guard blinked, then nodded vigorously.

After he finished, the grandfather said: "Maybe the police are here to investigate that old case; if something had happened at our school, police cars would have come rolling in by now."

"I think those few are plainclothes."

He muttered to himself; the young guard beside him heard it clearly, turned his head, wiped his face, and said: "I'll go smoke a cigarette, Grandpa—could you watch my post for a bit?"

"Hey, you little brat, you've only been on the job a few days—forget it, I'll help you this once."

The young man bowed his waist: "Thanks, Grandpa! Next time I'll bring some good tea from home."

"Go on, go!"

He turned around, didn't take a cigarette, but pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed: "Auntie, I just heard some news—plainclothes police have come to No. 1 High; maybe… it's related to Xinxin, maybe not, but the police really are here—"

Before he could finish, he heard a choked voice on the other end: "Sorry, I've got something come up, I can't do it—if you want to eat, make it yourself."

"Auntie?"

Then there was complete silence, because the call had been hung up.

At the crepe stand.

The woman clutched her phone, whatever was possible or impossible—her mind was full of her daughter; she didn't even care about the stall.

The woman, wearing an aged floral apron, wiped her hands, shoved through the students, and ran straight for the school gate.

And thus came this scene.

When Ling Yue rushed over following the sound, the woman was being stopped by someone; she shouted loudly: "Police, I want to see the police! I want to see the police!"

The principal stared, face flushed red then white, vaguely recognizing her, but feeling uneasy—seeing the police? What reason could there be to see the police? Surely something had happened!

Good heavens, isn't this pushing him onto a dead end?

The surrounding students gathered, curious, watching the woman causing a scene; many recognized her and whispered: "Hey, isn't that the auntie who sells crepes outside the gate? Why is she here?"

"What's wrong? The auntie is especially kind, speaks gently—how could she suddenly become like this?"

"It couldn't be related to our school, could it?"

Hearing that, the principal's face turned as black as a pot bottom, both angry and resentful; just then the class bell rang, and he immediately ordered the teachers: "Don't let our matter interfere with the students' studies; if their grades drop later, you'll be responsible!"

The teachers never expected a huge black pot to fall from the sky; each looked at the principal with a dark face, resigned—there was nothing to be done.

All they could do was earnestly advise: "Students, hurry back to class; trust the teachers, trust the school."

In the crowd, someone let out a sigh.

The principal's eyes almost popped out; he couldn't find it, and he was so angry he felt like a Buddha leaving the world, a Buddha ascending to heaven—he nearly fainted.

Fortunately, within a few minutes the scene was cleared.

Ling Yue glanced at the people present; by chance, the homeroom teacher, Zhou Jiyou, the principal, and several teachers were all there.

She then turned to the woman: "May I ask who you are—"

The woman directly said: "You're here to investigate the three-year-old Shen Xinxin case, right? I'm her mother, Shen Yu."

Ling Yue startled, looked at her, then the next moment averted her gaze; the woman's eager eyes made Ling Yue unable to bear looking directly, while the little sparrow on her shoulder continued to chatter.

"Is she the mother of a close friend? We've met her mother before, and Xinxin said her mother works at a big company—she's quite pretty, so how come I didn't notice?"

The sparrow Queque said: "It shouldn't be me called Queque; you should be Queque, absent-minded—you know she used to work at a big company, what about now?"

"Xinxin disappeared—how could her mother possibly give up searching?"

Indeed, as the sparrow Queque said, Shen Yu had only this one daughter; her husband had died early, she guarded her daughter alone, watching her grow from a clingy little doughball into a graceful maiden—the daughter was her heart's flesh.

Now, that piece of heart's flesh has been gouged out by someone.

Shen Yu whispered, lips trembling, hand over her heart: "Mother and daughter share one heart; since Xinxin disappeared, I have not for a moment given up searching for her—I quit my job, sell crepes at the school gate, I don't even know what I'm doing myself; I feel Xinxin is right here, always thinking the next second she'll walk out with the after-school crowd, backpack on, calling 'Mom, let's go home for dinner.' I can't forget it, nor can I give up."

"Police comrade, please, you must help me find my daughter!" She said this and then thumped to her knees.

It happened so fast one couldn't react.

Her knees hit the floor, making a dull, teeth‑aching thud.

Ling Yue hurried over, supported the woman, and looked at her with a heavy heart.

The woman painfully shed tears, which Ling Yue silently wiped away; only her moist red eye sockets betrayed everything.

Ling Yue twisted every day: "We will help you; please get up first, then speak—regarding Xinxin's matter, we already have some leads."

Hearing that, everyone was stunned; the most incredulous should be Zhou Jiyou, who pinched himself hard to barely stay steady.

"Impossible—what do these good‑for‑nothings understand? They couldn't solve it three years ago, let alone three years later!"

The homeroom teacher, who had vaguely guessed something, couldn't help swallowing; his mouth was dry, his forehead sweating, his face deathly pale, his body swaying on the verge of collapse; a colleague noticed something was wrong and asked with concern: "Old Qiu, why is your face so white? Are you feeling unwell?"

Homeroom teacher: "Yes, yes, I'm not feeling well; I want to leave and go to the infirmary."

The colleague still hadn't answered when a clear female voice was heard; Ling Yue looked at the class teacher and said, "Are you feeling unwell or are you afraid?"

In an instant, everyone's gaze fell on Ling Yue, their expressions uncertain; they were all adults, and the meaning of her words was obvious: Old Qiu, possibly related to Shen Xin Xin's disappearance case?

This thought suddenly arose; the director of discipline's expression turned stern—he was a former special forces soldier, and usually he actually looked down on the class teacher, Qiu Hua.

It wasn't that he acted high and mighty; rather, this person was insatiably greedy, especially fawning over the children of wealthy parents, while those of middle or poor backgrounds were basically ignored.

He categorized the children according to their family background into nine ranks, and as the family gap varied, his attitude shifted repeatedly, like a two‑faced person in a novel.

If Jing Shi No. 1 Middle School were a pot of good soup, then class teacher Qiu Hua would undoubtedly be a mouse dropping! But he has the school board behind him—even the principal can't do anything about him, let alone a mere director of discipline.

But to say he committed a crime, the director of discipline didn't believe it; this person is just a coward, he wouldn't dare.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

They were silent, but Ling Yue could not be silent; she remembered clearly what her purpose was here and what she needed to do.

She looked at the principal: "We need to borrow a school computer for a moment; the investigation requires it."

The principal startled: "Ah, okay."

He had little room to refute—this was an official investigation—but deep down he felt uneasy, unconsciously glancing at Zhou Ji Yao beside him; the latter was dazed and also somewhat unstable.

The principal instinctively said, "Why not use my office computer? Everyone can rest a bit."

As soon as he said that, he wanted to slap himself for talking too much.

Ling Yue smiled slightly: "All right, thank you for your cooperation."

On this side, Cheng Ziming had already contacted a specialist, who sent over a link and outlined the procedure.

Cheng Ziming glanced at it and introduced, "As long as you open this link on a computer, you can directly log into the campus network of Jing Shi No. 1 Middle School; everything previously deleted can be retrieved."

Someone sucked in a breath of cold air.

Lin Shaoze glanced at the crowd; his dark, deep eyes were like a deep pool, with undercurrents flowing.

He strode swiftly toward the principal's office, with Zhou Ji Yao following behind; with each step his body temperature dropped a degree, as if each step were treading on a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, drawing ever closer to the abyss.

He kept his head down, desperately thinking of a solution; cold sweat had soaked his collar—what difference was there between this few‑hundred‑step walk and a death row inmate being led to the execution ground?

The principal's office.

In silence, Ling Yue clicked the link; on the large screen, the forum page instantly unfolded, and at the top was a highlighted post.

【I report, Class 1 of Senior Year Three, Zhou Ji Yao colluded with the class teacher to leak exam answers and cheat!】

No one expected that clicking it would be a bombshell.

Everyone who saw this inhaled a breath of cold air, except Shen Xin Xin's mother, who was dazed and couldn't react, yet she inexplicably felt an ominous premonition.

The main page showed only a few hundred floors, indicating that this post had certainly been deleted back then; otherwise, such a hot topic would have already piled up to thousands of floors.

Below the highlighted post was another entry with almost the same title, the only difference being that it added a person's name.

The instant she saw it, Shen Yu nearly collapsed, but Ling Yue caught her.

Shen Yu murmured, "Xin Xin, my Xin Xin."

Next, Lin Shaoze took over Ling Yue's work; amid the click‑click‑click of the mouse, the posts were opened one by one, containing the unyielding statements of the female students.

They accused Zhou Ji Yao, the class teacher, and indeed all the teachers and the school.

【I, Shen Xin Xin, top student of Class 1, Senior Year Three, report that Zhou Ji Yao and the class teacher colluded to leak exam answers; I don't know how many times they did it, but on October 11 I personally saw the class teacher, Qiu Hua, hand over the answers of this mock exam to Zhou Ji Yao.】

Below were shocked and bewildered replies from alumni.

【Holy shit, Shen Xin Xin, no, Sister Shen, awesome!】

【Did Zhou Ji Yao cheat? Were his answers copied?】

【Any evidence? Empty talk without proof!】

【Let me take another look, another bite of the melon!】

【Sister Shen, you're too bold; the Zhou Ji Yao family background is something ordinary people like us can't afford to provoke—better delete it.】

……

【Although, the comments have already been deleted.】

Below were all kinds of miscellaneous derivative posts: '【Holy shit, the post is gone? Did I just dream? Please reply.】'

【No dream, it's real!】

【Administrator 01, the forum will undergo maintenance in ten seconds; please study well and make progress every day.】

【Coward! You really are a coward!】

Seeing this, the principal and his group turned deathly pale; the director of discipline was stunned, because he had only just been hired this year and knew nothing about this.

Ling Yue looked at Qiu Hua again; the man was drenched in sweat, as if just pulled from water, and under her dark eyes he stammered, 'I, I…'

'Where is my daughter? Where is my daughter?! Tell me, tell me!' Shen Yu couldn't control herself; like an enraged mother beast, her petite body lunged at the man.

She tearfully demanded of him: 'Tell me, my Xin Xin… my Xin Xin, where is she?', ，.