Tang Tang caught her breath and took two quick steps backward, gasping for air. After just two breaths, she felt a churning in her stomach. It seemed that the whole toilet was filled with the smell of blood.
Tang Tang frowned and took a moment to calm down. When her heart stopped pounding so violently, she seemed to finally realize what was going on. She gently knocked on the toilet door and asked in a soft, trembling voice, "Is anyone in there?"
There was no sound from inside, only the ticking of water dropping. The hand Tang Tang had placed on the doorknob trembled slightly, and she quickly let go. Without hesitation, she turned around and walked out.
Huang Xiaoli was standing outside. When she saw Tang Tang's pale face, her heart skipped a beat. "What's wrong?"
"Come on, let's find the teacher."
Tang Tang grabbed Huang Xiaoli's hand, preventing her from looking into the toilet. Huang Xiaoli was startled by Tang Tang's action and almost jumped up. Her voice changed, taking on a slight tremor. "What did you see? Tell me. If you don't, I'll keep thinking about it."
People are always like this. What scares them the most is often the fantasy in their hearts.
Tang Tang looked back at Huang Xiaoli's deathly - pale face and couldn't help slowing down. She said softly, "Actually, I didn't really see much. I just saw a pool of blood and a pair of shoes in the inner room, and then I came out."
In fact, she had originally wanted to go in, but as soon as she thought of what Brother Zuo Mu had told her in the morning, her hand that had been on the door handle loosened.
"Ah..."
Huang Xiaoli looked back at the toilet and quietly let out a sigh of relief. But soon, that breath she had let out caught in her throat again when they saw the teacher leading the police over.
Li Jin walked in the front. When he saw the two of them, he subtly pulled them behind him. Looking up at the police, he said, "This is the place. After we found it, we didn't seal off the scene in time. My two students accidentally entered here. I'm really sorry."
Shen Hao glanced at Tang Tang, then turned and walked into the toilet.
Shen Hao dispatched an entire team. They quickly entered, opened the toilet door, and after a look, his face darkened.
Tang Tang was standing nearby. She saw Shen Hao come out of the toilet, followed by several young policemen with green - faced expressions, carrying a... doll out.
The people following behind looked extremely uncomfortable.
Li Jin glanced at the doll and his face immediately turned red. He opened his mouth as if to explain, but said nothing. He actively cooperated with Shen Hao's investigation. Huang Xiaoli, who had been deathly pale, had an extremely complex expression on her face when she saw the doll.
"I really didn't expect..."
Zhao Shi sighed. He poked his head out of the window and watched as the police calmly carried a doll across the school playground with nearly ten thousand people. Then he slammed the door shut with a bang.
Zhao Shi sat on the table with his back to the podium. He grabbed one of Tang Tang's cookies and said while eating, "Our school is really... There's actually such a character. I admire him as a brave man. A good criminal policeman was actually forced to join the anti - prostitution squad."
That doll was simply too eye - catching.
Tang Tang used a tissue to sweep up the crumbs Zhao Shi had sprayed around. When she looked again, there were crumbs all over a book.
Tang Tang said, "Can you please eat properly and not talk?"
"No, I'm suddenly feeling a bit complicated." Zhao Shi patted his chest and tried hard to swallow the crumbs in his mouth. Looking up at Tang Tang, he said, "I just heard that they went to check the surveillance. Who do you think could be the mastermind?"
Shen Hao also didn't know who this mastermind was. They went to check the surveillance, but the footage for that time period was blank. It was obvious that someone had destroyed it.
Zuo Mu had just finished a surgery when he heard about what happened at the Experimental High School. The worry in his heart was relieved after he called Tang Tang.
"I almost went in."
After thinking for a while, Tang Tang decided to confess on her own initiative. She walked to the patio, leaned on the railing, and said with her earphone in, "But I thought of what Brother Zuo Mu said. Leave professional matters to professionals."
"That's my good girl,"
Tang Tang's eyes curved, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. She whispered again, "I also dragged a classmate with me. Xiaoli and I went to find the teacher together."
After saying this, she thought for a moment and added, "I even wanted to call you, brother."
When Zuo Mu heard the last sentence, he knew that Tang Tang was just trying to be a bit coquettish, but he still couldn't help asking, "Scared?"
Of course she was scared. At that moment, Tang Tang's mind was blank, and all she could imagine was a dead body.
Tang Tang touched her nose. Tang Gu and Zhang Lingling had always taught her to be independent, to face any situation on her own, to make her own judgments, and to protect herself.
But it felt really nice to have someone to rely on.
Tang Tang closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the phone. Without opening her mouth, she whispered an "mm" with her breath.
Zuo Mu's heart skipped a beat. He softly comforted her, "Don't be afraid. It's all fake. Look, the police uncle just took out a... doll from there."
When Tang Tang heard about the doll, she couldn't help but want to laugh.
"Besides, what are you afraid of? You're a living person. Are you afraid of a dead person? He can't even stand up and bite you."
Tang Tang, "..."
What if the dead person came back to life? Isn't that how it's always shown in TV dramas?
Zuo Mu seemed to know what Tang Tang was thinking. He continued, "As a Young Pioneer of the 21st century, Comrade Tang Tang, you should believe in science."
Hearing "Young Pioneer", Tang Tang burst out laughing. She corrected him, "No, no, I'm not a Young Pioneer anymore. I'm a member of the Communist Youth League!"
"Wow, so amazing."
Zuo Mu gently stirred his teacup with his hand. Looking up, he saw Shen Hao walking in through the door. Zuo Mu raised his hand to signal, then lowered his head and whispered into the phone, "Okay, that's it for now. I still have something to do here. I'll pick you up after school. Be a good girl. I'll hang up now."
Shen Hao glanced at Zuo Mu, sat down in his seat, reached out to pour himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and let out a soft sigh.
"It smells so good."
Shen Hao took another sip, nodded, and said, "It tastes much better than the ten - yuan - a - bag tea leaves I bought. Mine is full of crumbs when I drink it."
"The tea from this place is always good."
Zuo Mu turned his cup and looked up at Shen Hao. "I heard that Officer Shen encountered a strange case at the Experimental High School today?"
"What strange case..." Shen Hao had an indescribable expression on his face. "We've found out that it was a student's prank. The student who put it in the toilet has been detained."
These days, no one knows what's going on in the students' heads. Their thought processes are really strange.
Zuo Mu smiled. "It's normal. They're in their adolescence."
Zuo Mu pushed the cup in his hand to the side, folded his hands, and looked up at Shen Hao. "I won't say any more redundant words. I've already said what needed to be said on the phone yesterday. I came here today mainly to talk to Officer Shen about how big this case really is?"
Shen Hao was silent for a moment, then looked up at Zuo Mu. "It's quite big."
Shen Hao leaned back and sighed. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, rolled it between his fingers. "Ten years ago, our city cracked a major drug - trafficking case. The city's criminal police team, together with the special police detachment and... the special forces Snow Wolf Brigade, raided the criminal gang. The criminal gang was very cunning. We missed them several times. Even the people we caught were insignificant. They knew nothing about their superiors. It took us a great deal of effort to investigate them."
Back then, after they caught a few people, they realized that this was different from the previous small - scale cases. This was an organized gang.
They had a clear division of labor and a set of strict rules, just like in the TV dramas.
Shen Hao only found out during the interrogation later that the boss was really good at managing people.
Shen Hao brought the cigarette to his nose and took a sniff. He continued, "Later, there was a female student in our police academy. She was a very beautiful girl. She didn't look like a police academy student at all. She had long hair flowing over her shoulders. Logically, a girl like that should be very gentle, but she was actually very decisive and had a tough streak. If you gave her a cigarette, she could totally be the boss."
"Several higher - ups took a fancy to her. She didn't really want to go. She had a boyfriend. She became a police officer just to fulfill her childhood dream. She just wanted to be a civilian police officer and serve the people."
At this point, Shen Hao suddenly stopped. He paused for a moment and looked up at Zuo Mu. Zuo Mu had been quietly listening to Shen Hao. Shen Hao looked at Zuo Mu and grinned. "Later, her boyfriend... broke up with her. She didn't know at first. She found out later when she was on a mission. Her boyfriend was afraid that she wouldn't come back. Suddenly, she seemed to understand. She told the higher - ups that she agreed to carry out a special mission."
"This special mission was to be an undercover agent. She was very successful. She coordinated with us from the inside and outside and raided the criminal gang's lair in one fell swoop."
"Her name was Tang Tang. This is her photo."
Zuo Mu took it with both hands and was immediately stunned. It was a girl who looked very similar to Tang Tang.