Wang Fa quickly stepped over and pressed the "Start" button.
After a loud "beep," the printer whirred to life, the faint scent of ink drifting through the air as a sheet of paper slowly emerged.
On it was a poem:
Life
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can save a heart from breaking,
I shall not have lived in vain;
If I can soothe a life's aching,
Or ease one's pain,
Or help a feeble robin
Return to its nest again,
I shall not have lived in vain.
New Mission: Save a lost ☆.
Chapter 116: Clue
The poem was handwritten—the upper half in elegant English cursive script, the lower half in neat, graceful regular script.
When picking up items earlier, the students had seen too many such handwritten notes, so they immediately recognized Lin Wanxing's handwriting.
At first, everyone was excited.
But after reading the final line, no one could bring themselves to smile.
Upon closer inspection, the poem on the fax paper had faint shaded borders around it. It seemed as though Lin Wanxing hadn't written it directly on the opposite sheet but had instead written it on something else, which was then photocopied over.
Moreover, the font of that rather chuunibyou-style mission beneath the poem was clearly different from Lin Wanxing's handwriting.
So, it must have been someone else who wrote that final line about saving a lost ☆.
The only ☆ they knew was that one.
"Is someone asking us to save the teacher?" Zhi Hui asked, unusually agitated.
Emily Dickinson, a renowned 20th-century American poet.
From the age of twenty-five, she withdrew from society, secluded herself in her family home, and spent half her life behind closed doors, writing poetry for thirty years in tranquility and solitude.
Only a few of her poems were published during her lifetime. It wasn't until after her death that her sister discovered over a thousand poems her sister had written, stored in an iron box. Only then did those exquisite works become widely known, profoundly influencing the entire American continent.
The above was all the author information the students found when searching for the poem on the fax.
She was a woman with her own independent spiritual and soulful world. Lin Wanxing must have liked this poem to have copied it down.
But—
"How is the teacher lost?"
"What does this even mean?"
The words "save" and "lost" clearly carried negative connotations. Lin Wanxing must have encountered some insurmountable difficulty.
Yet, for the students, they had no idea what was happening!
Among everyone, perhaps only Wang Fa could sense the darkness and loneliness Lin Wanxing had once experienced.
She had openly admitted to having suicidal tendencies, but what exactly that entailed, Lin Wanxing had never given him the chance to understand.
Wang Fa could have forced his way into her privacy, but that would have been deeply disrespectful to Lin Wanxing. And the content of the fax seemed urgent.
"Let's search online first," he finally said, choosing the most appropriate approach.
"Ah, secretly looking up the teacher... doesn't feel right, does it?"“How is looking up things online considered ‘sneaking around’?” Qi Liang quickly retorted.
In this regard, credit was due to Lin Wanxing herself for teaching her students so well. They were highly capable and proactive.
Qi Liang directly powered on the computer in the tutoring center’s small storage room, opened Baidu, and typed in “Lin Wanxing.”
Soon, the page displayed a large number of search results related to “Lin Wanxing.”
Lin Wanxing Ma Wei Full Text Free Reading No Pop-ups Finale
Lin Wanxing Sweet
Lin Wanxing Name Test Score—Five Elements Query, Three Talents and Five Elements Fortune
“Who is Ma Wei?” Feng Suo glanced at the search results and immediately asked Wang Fa, “How did the teacher end up kissing him?”
“That’s a pirated novel website,” Qi Liang said helplessly as he clicked to the second page.
The content on the second page was more or less the same as the first.
The name “Lin Wanxing” was somewhat popular, appearing as a female character in three different types of online novels. The search results were filled with scenes of her being intimate with others.
In the end, even Qi Liang couldn’t bear to look anymore.
He closed the tab and reopened Baidu.
“Search for ‘Yongchuan University Lin Wanxing,’” Wang Fa suggested after a moment of thought.
Narrowing the scope was, of course, a common search strategy. But for Wang Fa, it was because he suddenly remembered Lin Wanxing’s uncharacteristic behavior when she encountered her former teacher by Dongming Lake in Yongchuan. Her reaction was almost emotionally uncontrolled, and though Lin Wanxing managed it well, Wang Fa could sense her trauma.
On the computer screen, after narrowing the scope, many results related to Lin Wanxing herself appeared. There were her published papers, news about her being the top scorer in the college entrance exam, and even some announcements from Yongchuan University’s official website.
In summary, Lin Wanxing was indeed exceptional.
Since Lin Wanxing was so outstanding, everyone grew even more curious about why she ended up watching over the sports equipment room.
The students changed their search terms and began searching for “Yongchuan University Psychology.”
This search yielded nothing but all sorts of murder-related news.
The university’s criminology program was nationally top-tier, but its crime rate was also unusually high. Recently, there had been terrifying incidents like three bodies being dug up under a tree by the school’s lake.
A criminologist with the same surname as Lin Wanxing frequently appeared in the news, though he was male.
The students naturally filtered out this information.
“Go back six months,” Wang Fa suggested, realizing the issue. If something had happened to Lin Wanxing in college, it would have been further back in time.
But Yongchuan University from before… was also… anything but peaceful.
Small fires, student self-harm, professor suicides, workplace harassment, drug incidents—most of these didn’t specifically occur in the psychology department.
However, the university itself was the size of a small town with tens of thousands of people, and the variety of social incidents that had taken place was dizzying. Perhaps Lin Wanxing’s story was mixed in among these incidents, but most discussions omitted names, making it impossible for them to find any leads.
They searched tirelessly for a long, long time. Qi Liang had long since started rubbing his eyes, Zheng Feiyang was squatting on the floor exhausted, scrolling through his phone, and Fu Xinshu persisted, though his face was pale.
“Turn it off,” Wang Fa finally said.The online investigation was bound to make little progress. Many deeper layers of content wouldn't be captured by search engines. They weren't hackers and couldn't employ gray-area methods for investigation.
Moreover, even if such methods existed, it would be difficult to maintain ethical boundaries—far too disrespectful to the individuals involved.
The room fell into silence once more, with only the faint mechanical hum of that old computer filling the space.
"So what do we do now?" Zheng Feiyang said somewhat dejectedly. "Why didn't Coach Jiang just tell us directly?"
Based on the CD Wen Chengye received, everyone had long assumed the "mysterious person" was Coach Jiang. Therefore—
"You no longer have any way to contact Coach Jiang?" Wang Fa asked after some thought.
"We even went to his house later—the place was already sold," the students suddenly exclaimed. "Damn, are aliens targeting us or something? Coach Jiang left without a word, and so did that woman!"
"What about Teacher Qian?" Wang Fa suddenly asked.
"Free Ball Rental 100 Times Card," "Strange Cigarette Box," "Treasure Map," "Pie Takeout Slip," "CD"...
Lin Wanxing had speculated that the person consistently guiding her and the students' understanding was Teacher Qian.
After all, whoever left these clues not only needed to understand the students' movements but also had to deliver the clues skillfully at just the right moment.
It definitely had to be a teacher or staff member at the school.
Even if the "mysterious person" behind the scenes was Coach Jiang, he would still need an accomplice—and the likelihood of that accomplice being Teacher Qian was very high.
If they couldn't find Coach Jiang now, could they really not find Teacher Qian?
Chapter 117: Past Events
"Teacher, don't try to deny it—we know the 'culprit' is you!"
Hongjing No. 8 Middle School Staff Residence Building.
Just after daybreak, Qian Jianjun was awakened by knocking at his door.
His phone showed several missed calls from unknown numbers. Having been a boxer in his youth and being somewhat stout, Qian Jianjun wasn't particularly afraid of anyone seeking revenge. He yawned as he opened the door, but was instantly startled awake by the scene outside.
Eleven robust high school football team players with gloomy demeanors, plus a football coach whose expression was frosty.
Before he could even speak, the young men started talking over each other, launching into their explanations.
Qian Jianjun had been prepared—he knew the football team students would come to him someday. But when he heard "express delivery" and "fax," he narrowed his eyes and frowned, unable to comprehend what was happening.
The students finished delivering their concluding statement.
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