The second message that Fan Xiaolu issued was, "@Everyone. Except for Wei Wei and Yu Lanjie who are still in the hospital and myself, everyone else must reach Yulin High School at 7:40 this morning. If anyone is late or absent, they will be responsible for any consequences arising from their actions"
Long Xi was jolted suddenly. She looked at the alarm clock. It was for six twenty already.
She got up quickly, steamed the Steamed Buns stuffed with pickles and pork that had been made yesterday. She brushed her teeth, washed her face quickly and changed into her school uniform at the same time. Giving her grandmother two Steamed Buns, she said goodbye, rushed out the door with two steamed buns and ran to the subway station.
Long Xi's home was on the eastern edge of the city, about an hour's bicycle ride from Yulin High School, which was on the western outskirts of the city. It might be too late to go by bicycle.
If she took Metro 3, the line went straight to Yulin High School, it would be faster than riding a bicycle.
As for taking a taxi, although it was the fastest option, the fare would be more expensive. She couldn't afford to spend that kind of money.
The subway station was very crowded, everyone was packed like sardines in a can. As always, she gave up her seat to the old, the weak, pregnant women and babies, while she stood, holding on to the handles.
Forty minutes later, Long Xi arrived at the gate of Yulin High School.
She looked at her watch. It was 7:15 and she was very much on schedule.
The school gate was already open. She saw several cla.s.smates rus.h.i.+ng into the school and followed them.
Usually, when students returned to school after a long vacation, Deng Chao, the princ.i.p.al and the teacher on duty would stand at the school gate with the students on duty, to check on the students' return to school.
Yulin High School's school rules were stringent. No dyeing of hair, no ear piercings and no fancy clothes. Students could only wear school uniforms when they were in school and were allowed to wear their own clothes only after school hours.
But this morning, Deng Chao princ.i.p.al was not at the school gate. There were only two teachers and a few students on duty.
Even more strange was that Man Shahua was standing at the school gate, with two policemen beside her; a middle-aged male policeman and a short-haired female policewoman and both of them looked somewhat familiar.
The policewoman was very young, had very healthy wheat skin, a beautiful face, was graceful and looked strong enough to be elected as a bodybuilding miss. She looked like a King Kong version of Barbie.
When Man Shahua saw Long Xi, she immediately came up to Long Xi in a very graceful manner, stretched out a finger, pointed to Long Xi and said, "Police, it's her! She is the one that stole my treasure."
Long Xi clenched her hands and said, "Why are you shouting? Are you accusing me?"
The two policemen immediately came over and stood beside Long Xi, one on each side
The two policemen first showed their IDs and then introduced themselves. They were the local police officers in Yulin District. One was Liu Dazhi and the other was Fu Xinjie. They received a report from Man Shahua and had come over to investigate the case.
Long Xi said, "I know you. You were the one who investigated the case of Xu Xianer"
Fu Xinjie smiled and said, "Yes, you have a good memory!"
Man Shahua said, "Long Xi, I saw you stealing my sachet with my own eyes."
Long Xi said, "What sachet? I've never seen that before!"
Man Shahua said, "Of course you will not admit it! It's the sachet from the Tang Dynasty, used by Yang Concubine, which is very valuable! When Yang Concubine died in Mawei Hill, the sachet was buried with her. Later, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang sent people from the Tang Dynasty to find the tomb of Yang Concubine. They found that her body had decayed, but her sachet was still there."
Long Xi said, "You copied those lines from the National Treasure, didn't you?"
Man Shahua said, "You must be joking. My family owns a chain of antique shops. This sachet was a birthday gift from my father. And it is our family heirloom. I showed it to you when we went shopping last night! I actually trusted you so much! As a result, you stole it while I went to the bathroom. I saw it with my own eyes!"
Long Xi said straightforwardly, "My relations.h.i.+p with you has never been good. When we meet each other, it's like Mars. .h.i.tting the earth. The whole cla.s.s knows it! Why would I ever go shopping with you? How could you show me the heirloom?"
Mansha Flower had thought of the excuse already and immediately retorted, "Yes, our previous relations.h.i.+p was not good. But when we met on the street last night, you apologized to me. You said you wanted to be my friend and offered to go shopping with me. I am not such an ungracious person, so I forgave you and went shopping with you. Unexpectedly, you took the opportunity to... "
Long Xi raged at her and said, "Since you saw me stealing, why didn't you call the police at that time?"
Man Shahua said reasonably, "At that time, I was considering our friends.h.i.+p and I had hoped that your conscience will trouble you, so you will give it back to me. But you are so unrepentant! "Police, I guess the sachet is in her schoolbag now. You can search for it! I, Man Shahua will never wrong anybody!"
Long Xi burst into a rage and roared, "But when you wrong others, you're not human! I didn't do anything bad. How can you search for my bag? I know the reason why you are doing this. You just want to delay my time so that I can't get to the cla.s.sroom on time! Man Shahua, my grievance with you is just a little grievance. Do you need to be so cruel?"
An ominous premonition arose in her mind and she clutched her schoolbag tightly, not wanting it to be searched by them.
Now that Man Shahua had deliberately set out to wrong her; she must have done something before.
When she took the subway, the people behind her were standing very close to her. It was possible that anyone could have opened her schoolbag secretly and put the stolen goods in it
It was said that money talks. Man Shahua was short of everything but money!
Man Shahua showed an innocent expression as if she didn't understand what Long Xi was saying.
Long Xi was really angry. She did not expect anyone to be as shameless like this!
In Long Xi's opinion, although there were differences between her and Man Shahua, they didn't need to kill each other. Was it really necessary for Man Shahua to do this?
Liu Dazhi was very cool. As he smoked, he calmly said, "Well, let's not waste your time and words. And we don't want to search you in public. Out of respect for your feelings, Citizen Long Xi, please come with us to the police station to a.s.sist in the investigation."
Long Xi looked at her watch and it was already 7:25.
She pointed to Man Shahua and said, "Since you reported the case, you should also go to the police station to make a record and a.s.sist in the investigation."
Man Shahua said, "Police, I have something else to do at school. Please take Long Xi back for interrogation and search her. I'll go there later."