Because of a single remark from Chief Li yesterday, Zuo Mu got up unusually early to take Tang Tang to school.
Actually, their place of residence was quite close to the school, just a three - stop bus ride, which took less than half an hour.
However, when Zuo Mu offered to take her, Tang Tang spent the whole night thinking of rebuttals but to no avail. Instead, she was hauled out of bed at six the next morning. By the time they reached school, her eyes were still bleary.
When Zhao Shi saw Tang Tang, he burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Ouch, were you beaten up too badly last night?"
Tang Tang rolled her eyes and ignored him. Just as she was arranging her books on the desk, Xiao Li leaned over mysteriously and said, "Tang Tang, I think something might be going to happen at our school."
Tang Tang forced herself to perk up, widened her eyes, nodded and let out a soft "ah". Yawning, she said, "What could possibly happen? If something does, there'll be taller people to deal with it."
Xiao Li didn't relax because of Tang Tang's words. She tightly grabbed Tang Tang's hand and said nervously, "I heard that a girl has gone missing from our school. My home is quite close to the school, so I saw several policemen come here yesterday. This morning, I heard that the missing girl is Wang Lin from Class 13."
Tang Tang paused in the middle of tidying up her things and turned to look at Xiao Li in surprise. "Wang Lin?"
"Yes, Wang Lin. I remember you two were quite close,"
Tang Tang put down her books, took a sip of water, and forced herself to calm down. "How many days has she been missing?"
"Counting today, it's been three days."
Tang Tang's hand holding the water bottle trembled, and a little water spilled out. She quickly wiped it dry.
Come to think of it, Wang Lin and she were indeed on good terms. Wang Lin was a liberal arts student while she was a science student. They struck up a friendship during the high - school proficiency test in their sophomore year.
A science idiot and a liberal arts idiot got together and actually complemented each other.
Tang Tang rubbed the corner of her book with her finger, feeling a sense of unease well up inside. Wang Lin had been missing for three days, but she had just contacted her yesterday morning, saying that she wanted to borrow her math notes and asked her to bring them to her part - time job place at noon.
They had that incident with the crew - cut guy at noon yesterday. With all that going on, Tang Tang had completely forgotten about it.
She remembered it last night, but it was already twelve o'clock. She originally planned to take the notes to Wang Lin's class this morning.
Tang Tang felt a bit on edge and wanted to do something to ease her nerves. Just then, the Chinese teacher came over to distribute the morning reading papers. Tang Tang touched the papers and felt a bit more at ease.
The Experimental High School was quite tight - lipped about information. No one discussed the matter all day. On the way home in the evening, she did run into several policemen.
Among them were the chubby policeman munching on cookies and Shen Hao. Shen Hao still looked serious as he discussed something with Chief Li. Chief Li listened calmly, nodding from time to time, but his eyes kept wandering.
Tang Tang consciously stood a bit farther away from them. Just then, Zuo Mu called and said that there was a traffic jam and he might be a bit late.
Xiao Li had been on edge all day. When she heard that Tang Tang was going to wait for Zuo Mu outside the school, she insisted on waiting with her. Unable to persuade her otherwise, Tang Tang bought ice - creams and the two of them stood on the street munching on them.
"I wonder when they'll find her. She was such a nice person, and the police aren't being very helpful," Xiao Li muttered.
Tang Tang knew that Xiao Li was nervous, so she patted her on the shoulder and said, "When we played hide - and - seek as kids, we even had a designated area, and there were still times when we couldn't find someone. There are too few clues now."
"You're right," Xiao Li plopped down on the curb casually. After thinking for a while, she said, "Actually, I just find it really scary. A person just disappeared right next to us."
As soon as Xiao Li finished speaking, Tang Tang saw a black Mercedes pull up beside them. Zuo Mu got out of the car, smiled at Xiao Li when he saw her, and pointed at the car, indicating that he would take her home.
Xiao Li didn't refuse. She said "Thank you" and got in the car.
She was in a bad mood today, and even Zuo Mu noticed. After getting out of the car, Zuo Mu said to Tang Tang, "Your little friend seems to have something on her mind. You should care about her more."
Tang Tang held her schoolbag with one hand and smiled. "Okay."
"I just saw the policemen near your school. Is there any news about the missing girl?"
When Tang Tang heard this, she couldn't help but frown. "No."
While waiting at a red light, Zuo Mu turned to look at Tang Tang carefully. He couldn't help but reach out and ruffle her hair, his voice tinged with amusement. "What's wrong? Are you influenced by your little friend?"
"No," Tang Tang shook her head, biting her lips. Suddenly, she turned to look at Zuo Mu seriously. "Brother Zuo Mu, the missing girl is our..."
Before Tang Tang could finish her sentence, her phone vibrated. She didn't pay much attention to it. She didn't usually have many people to contact, and she had only bought the phone to keep in touch with her parents. Tang Tang glanced down at her phone and froze on the spot.
Her hand holding the phone trembled involuntarily. Tang Tang subconsciously shrank back and leaned against the seat.
Zuo Mu had only heard half of the sentence when the red light turned green. As he started the car, he asked, "Is she your what?"
When Zuo Mu turned his head, he saw the change in Tang Tang. He caught a glimpse of her phone from the corner of his eye, grabbed her hand and said, "What's going on? Whose call is it?"
Tang Tang stared at her phone, held Zuo Mu's hand tightly with her other hand, swallowed hard, and said dryly, "It's Wang Lin."
Then she added, "The missing girl from our school."
Zuo Mu looked back at Tang Tang, quickly pulled the car over to the side of the road, reached out to ruffle her hair, and said in a soothing tone, "Answer it. It's okay. I'm here. Put it on speaker and start recording."
Tang Tang tightened her grip on Zuo Mu's hand and obediently pressed the green answer button.
"Wang Lin? Are you okay?"
There was no response from the other end. All she could hear was a crackling sound, like a cat scratching on a metal plate, coming through the speaker, which made one's heart ache.
After a while, there was a faint sound. It was quite far away and not very clear. It was a conversation between several people.
Finally, she managed to make out a word. A man said something, and then there was a rustling sound. Tang Tang was a bit confused.
Just as she was about to ask something, someone on the other end suddenly cleared their throat. A teasing male voice came through. "You're that girl's classmate, right? The one named Tang Tang?"
Tang Tang's hand tightened involuntarily. Zuo Mu placed his hand on Tang Tang's head and patted it. Tang Tang looked back at Zuo Mu, took a deep breath, and said cautiously, "I'm Tang Tang. Who are you?"
"Who am I?"
The person on the other end seemed to have heard something funny. He laughed and slapped the table. "Who am I? Oh, who am I?"
After laughing for a while, his voice suddenly softened. A low voice came through the phone. "Don't you know who I am?"
Tang Tang's heart skipped a beat. She subconsciously pursed her lips. "I..."
Tang Tang couldn't seem to speak. It was as if she had lost her voice, and her throat was dry and painful.
The person on the other end didn't really care what Tang Tang said. He said slowly, "Why didn't you come that day? Your classmate said you two were very close. If you had come, your classmate might still be alive."
"I... had something come up that day. How is my classmate now? What do you want to do to let her go?"
"I can't let her go."
There was another crackling sound. Tang Tang subconsciously covered her ears. Then she heard the person on the other end say, "I heard you two are good friends. Where do you think she is the most beautiful? I think her eyes are nice, but I like her heart the most."
Tang Tang took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "What exactly do you want to say? What do you want?"
"What I want to say is very simple. My game with her is over. I can let her go, but I've taken a fancy to her heart."
The person on the other end spoke in a flippant tone, but the words he said could freeze one to the bone.
Tang Tang's mind was a bit muddled. She was in a daze and couldn't think clearly. She felt a bit out of breath. Her hand tightly grabbed Zuo Mu's, as if it was her only support.
"Come to the moat tomorrow. Remember to collect your classmate's body."
The person's phone must have hit something. Tang Tang only heard a click, and then she heard the person say, "By the way, do you want to know what your classmate wanted from you that day?"
The person let out a low laugh and then said, "But you don't have a chance now."
The call on the phone showed that it had been hung up. Tang Tang only felt her hands and feet go cold, and her back was also cold. The voice of that person still echoed in her ears.
Tang Tang took a moment to calm down. She patted her chest. Just as she was about to speak, her phone beeped. Tang Tang held the phone and looked down at the screen. Her pupils constricted, and she immediately threw the phone on the ground.
Zuo Mu was sitting close to Tang Tang and saw the photo on the screen clearly. A girl was lying on a white bed with a hole dug out where her heart should be, and blood was trickling out. There was also a plate with a heart on it.
Zuo Mu pulled Tang Tang into his arms, patted her on the back, and said in a low voice, "It's okay. Don't be afraid. We'll go to the police right now."
Tang Tang closed her eyes and let Zuo Mu stroke her hair. Her heart was pounding. She covered her heart with her hand and glanced down at the phone. She saw a new message on the phone.
"I've changed my mind. I now think not only her heart is beautiful, but also her other organs."
"However, now, our game begins."