Chapter 111: Four Missing
“It’s quite official.” Du Bai glanced at the chat group. He didn’t take Zuo Jun’s message seriously, “I skipped classes during school. Now, he wants me to follow the rules after graduation?!”
“I miss attending classes.” Gao Ming found his bed. He checked it for snakes and talismans.
“That’s because you’re not a teacher. People say we have long holidays, but only teachers know how much work there is.” Du Bai was tall. He was Gao Ming’s roommate in high school.
“Do you really think we’re here for a holiday?” Xuan Hui closed the bedroom door and said darkly, “I advise you not to stay too long in the hostel. Follow Zuo Jun’s instructions closely.”
“I admit Zuo Jun is accomplished now, but why is he acting like this before his friends? I had bad feelings about him since back then.” Du Bai looked at Bed 6. Zuo Jun used to share their room. After Zuo Jun moved to another school, Bed 6 was left empty.
“If you don’t listen to him, people will die.” Xuan Hui warned. “I’m not kidding. My family died because of Zuo Jun. He forced me to come to Han Hai to trick you all with him!”
“Ah Hui, are you under a lot of pressure lately?” Du Bai wanted to console Xuan Hui but Xuan Hui smacked his hand away. “Stay away from me. Don’t get close to me. Who knows if you’re human or ghost?!”
Bang! Bang!
The bedroom door opened. Xi San and third-generation nouveau riche Wang Jie came in to shatter the awkwardness. “It’s not easy for Room 1314 to gather again!” Xi San followed Wang Jie obediently. This was completely different from high school. Back then, Xi San was a star basketball player. He was tall and handsome. He looked down on Wang Jie. He slandered the man’s name behind his back, saying that Wang Jie had no positive traits except having a rich father.
“You can stay here. I’m going to Zuo Jun.” Xuan Hui didn’t say anything else. He grabbed his phone and left.
Gao Ming sat on the bed and observed everyone. Room 1314 was quite famous back then. Everyone was very unique. Wang Jie was the richest, Xi Wan the most athletic, Du Bai had the book smarts, Yuan Hui had the most responsibility, Gao Ming was silent and the easiest to bully Zuo Jun.
“It looks like no one has been swapped.”
There was nothing strange in the bedroom. Gao Ming looked at the time and said casually. “Come on. Let’s go check out other places of the school.” Gao Ming grabbed his roommates and left the hostel. They walked down the corridor between the hostels and the math building.
“Gao Ming, where are you going?” Du Bai didn’t like Wang Jie and Xi San. One was too rich, and the other too handsome.
“I just thought Xuan Hui was acting strange, so I wanted to see the consequences of violating the rules.”
Standing in the corridor, Gao Ming glanced at the clock inside the hostel.
Zuo Jun sent messages to urge them every five minutes. Half an hour later, the hostel doors would be locked from inside. Zuo Jun sent another message, “I’ve prepared food for everyone at the canteen. You will eat in the canteen from now on. The canteen is open from 6 am to 8 am, 10.30 am to 1.30 pm and 5.30 pm to 1.30 am.” The message looked normal at first glance, but there were many issues. “From now on? He makes it sound like we’re going to live here.”
“The canteen is open at 1.30 pm but the hostels should be locked by then. The canteen serves not only the students but also others.” There was no anomaly in the hostels, but Gao Ming kept his eyes on the entrance. Over the past half an hour, only 44 students came out. Discounting Zuo Bo and Yuan Hui, four people were gone.
The students chatted among themselves. No one paid attention to this. Gao Ming tried to remember their names and faces, but he felt like his memory was getting blurry. He couldn’t remember who had gone missing. He tried to get close to the hostel to check the pictures again, but the entrance was already locked.
“Let’s go to the canteen!” Wang Jie waved at Gao Ming.
Han De Private School’s canteen had three floors. Food service was automated. The students only needed to wave their cards at the window. The students who forgot their cards could order the meals using their school numbers. Everything there was free.
“Students nowadays have it easier than we did. They have so many choices to pick from.” Xi San saw the automated food servers for the first time.
“These are premade. It feels like they lack something. What is there to be envious of?” Du Bai grumbled. He picked out the food on the menu. In less than a minute, the smell of food came from the window. Du Bai planned to grab his food when a thin arm flashed and grabbed something from his tray.
“What’s this?” Du Bai looked through the window, but he only saw the machines. “Is Zuo Jun crazy? It’s not easy for us to gather, and he’s giving us these for lunch?”
“Give them to me if you don’t want them.” Xi San chuckled. “They smell delicious.”
Some students treated this as part of the experience. A small part started to complain. They came so far but didn’t even get alcohol.
The bell for 12 chimed. Footsteps entered their ears. Everyone turned to the canteen entrance.
A group of adults in school uniforms rushed into the canteen. Most of them had no expression. Everyone held a book. They ordered quickly and found a place to sit. Some of them gulped down the food and left, while others sat down and ate while reading.
“All adults?” Gao Ming looked at the ‘student’ beside him. The brother was almost 40. His hair was white, and he had serious short-sightedness. When he ate, his face was almost down to the plate. Gao Ming inched closer to him to check the book he was reading. The characters were piled together. Gao Ming recognised every word, but together, they made no sense to him. The whole school felt like a strange code.
Sensing Gao Ming’s movement, the brother slowly turned around. He stared at Gao Ming. His dull face slowly revealed a smile.
“Hi…”
Then, his smile disappeared like he remembered something horrible.
He picked up the hot noodles and poured it down his throat. After that, he grabbed his book and ran away.
‘The students’ used less than half an hour to order and finish their food. These people felt like students to Gao Ming, but they looked older than Gao Ming.
“A ritual to borrow afterlife longevity?”
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m