107 Life Is Not a Story

Because Zhang Pa did not like horror movies, Liu Xiaomei said they might as well skip it and came out carrying a tub of popcorn.

“Let’s switch to another one,” Zhang Pa said.

Liu Xiaomei shook her head. “Movies aren’t interesting anymore. Let’s find somewhere to sit.”

So they sat. Outside the cinema was a McDonald’s. They went in, bought two cups of cola, and found a secluded corner.

“Are you afraid of horror movies?” Liu Xiaomei asked.

“It’s not about being afraid. I just don’t want to watch them,” Zhang Pa replied.

Liu Xiaomei smiled. “All right. I won’t watch them either from now on.”

“Have you seen many?”

“Not that many.” Liu Xiaomei glanced at the time. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Mom said we should go over for dinner tonight.”

“Again?” Zhang Pa exclaimed.

“What’s with that attitude? She’s your mother-in—” Liu Xiaomei nearly let the words slip out. “At present, we’re not related at all.”

Zhang Pa chuckled. “Your parents really know how to influence people without making a fuss. They interrogate me while chatting. It’s a lot of pressure.”

“You should be satisfied. Plenty of people would love to be interrogated and never get the chance.”

Zhang Pa nodded. “That’s true.” Then he asked, “Should we buy some groceries to take over?”

“I’ll ask.” Liu Xiaomei called home. A while later, she put down the phone. “No need. Mom says she doesn’t trust the vegetables at the market.”

Zhang Pa acknowledged this and asked what time they should go.

Liu Xiaomei said they could stay a little longer.

So they stayed a while, then went to Liu Xiaomei’s home. They ate delicious food while her mother questioned Zhang Pa. Her father did not take part this time. After dinner, the two of them spent another short while alone together before Zhang Pa took his leave.

Just before he went out, Liu Xiaomei’s mother said with a smile, “I’m more and more satisfied with you. Keep it up.”

Zhang Pa smiled back. “You really are an extraordinary mother-in-law.”

It had been an exceptionally fulfilling day—the most fulfilling day Zhang Pa had spent since arriving in the provincial capital. He had done no typing, but had rushed all over the place, attended a banquet, eaten dinner, and enjoyed himself immensely.

He returned home in high spirits. Even sleeping felt pleasant.

Unfortunately, his mood changed the next morning.

According to regulations, all students had to be at school by seven-thirty. Wang Jiang was absent, as were the five students who usually went around with him.

Staring at the empty seats, Zhang Pa’s face darkened so much it seemed ready to drip.

He stood there without looking away from those seats.

The students were all clever. They lowered their heads and read. No one played with a phone, and no one spoke, terrified that Teacher Zhang’s anger might spread to them.

From seven-thirty until eight, Zhang Pa stood there for half an hour, and the students remained silent for half an hour. Wang Jiang and the others still did not appear.

When the class bell rang, the subject teacher entered. Zhang Pa left the room with a grim expression.

The moment he was gone, the students let out a collective sigh of relief. Someone muttered, “Wang Jiang’s going to be in trouble, isn’t he?”

Zhang Pa walked out of the teaching building and stood at the entrance, looking outside. The school’s large iron gate was already closed, and the playground was deserted.

He called Wang Jiang. Fortunately, the little bastard answered. His first words were, “I’m sorry, Teacher. Something came up today, and I forgot to ask for leave.”

“What happened?” Zhang Pa asked.

Wang Jiang hesitated, then said, “Hu Wanhua from Class Four is missing. She’s been gone for two days.”

“What happened?”

“She went out on Saturday afternoon and never came home. She didn’t come home yesterday either. I’m looking for her.”

“Can you find her?” Zhang Pa asked.

“It’s still better than sitting around doing nothing,” Wang Jiang said. “We reported it to the police, but they only said they’d notify us if they found any leads. They’re not actually doing anything. I don’t know what else to do.”

“Don’t panic. Keep looking. Where are you? I’ll come help.”

“I’m running around everywhere… By the way, can you talk to Sheng Yang and Luo Chengcai?”

“What’s going on?”

“They used to hang around nightclubs…”

Wang Jiang had only gotten halfway through the sentence when Zhang Pa understood. He cut him off. “Wait there.”

Zhang Pa turned and ran back to the classroom. He knocked first, then told the teacher, “I need to take a few students out for something.” He called Sheng Yang, Luo Chengcai, and the other three—He Shengsheng and his companions—out of the building and explained, “Hu Wanhua from Class Four is missing. Wang Jiang needs your help.”

He handed the phone to Sheng Yang.

Sheng Yang took it and spoke for more than two minutes before hanging up. As he returned the phone, he said to Zhang Pa, “Teacher, things are a little complicated for the two of us… But we can make a few calls.”

Wang Jiang had asked Sheng Yang and Luo Chengcai to contact their acquaintances in the nightclubs and find out whether anyone had seen Hu Wanhua. The two boys had been arrested for selling pills. After being released, they had returned to school, but they had not yet seen their former boss and did not know how to explain themselves.

He Shengsheng and the other two had an even bigger problem. They had already become enemies of their former boss, Blackhide. Asking them to gather information was out of the question.

“Ask around if you can,” Zhang Pa said. “Do you have a photograph? Should we go to Splendor and ask?”

Sheng Yang gave Zhang Pa a look. How did the teacher know where they operated?

“It won’t be open at this hour,” he replied. “Everyone’s asleep. Going there would be pointless.” Then he added, “We can’t call yet either. Not until at least ten.”

Zhang Pa thought for a moment. “Go back to class first.”

The five students answered and turned back toward the teaching building.

Zhang Pa hurried to the principal’s office.

“A girl from Class Four is missing.”

“Missing? Who?” Principal Qin sighed. “There are always students skipping class, sometimes for long periods. Being gone for two days isn’t necessarily unusual.”

“This time she hasn’t even gone home. She’s been gone for two days, and no one can contact her.”

That finally made the principal somewhat nervous. “Who?”

“Hu Wanhua from Class Four.”

The principal immediately called the Third-Year Office. After exchanging a few words, he hung up. Two minutes later, the grade director and the Class Four homeroom teacher entered together.

The Class Four teacher’s surname was Huang. As soon as she came in, she said, “Principal, Hu Wanhua hasn’t attended class for a week.”

Principal Qin looked deeply frustrated. “What kind of students do I have?” He turned to Zhang Pa. “Tell us what you know.”

“I don’t know much. I only know that the police have been notified. She went out on Saturday afternoon, hasn’t returned home for two days, her phone is switched off, and no one has heard from her.”

“Are we sure she’s missing? Maybe she went somewhere to have fun,” Teacher Huang from Class Four said.

It was not that she was irresponsible. The child was simply so troublesome that anyone in her position would have thought the same.

Zhang Pa considered this, then asked, “Do you have many students skipping class?”

“Today four students who never usually skip class are absent too. Could they have gone to look for Hu Wanhua?” Teacher Huang said.

“That’s very possible,” Zhang Pa replied.

Teacher Huang frowned. “Where are we supposed to look?”

Zhang Pa thought it over. “Go to work for now. We still have to take care of the majority of the students.”

“Exactly. Let’s hold class first. Since the police have been notified, they’ll inform us as soon as they have news,” the grade director said.

The principal thought for a moment. “That’s all we can do. Start the lessons.”

After the two teachers left, Zhang Pa said, “I’d like to ask for leave.”

The principal looked at him. “You can go out and search, but you can’t take students with you.”

Zhang Pa sighed. “I don’t even know what Hu Wanhua looks like. What would I be searching for? I’m going to look for Wang Jiang and those few hooligans from my class.” He paused, then continued, “If they were skipping class like they used to, I wouldn’t spare them a glance even if they died somewhere. But this time they’re doing something good, and Wang Jiang is reckless. I’m worried something might happen.”

“I knew I hadn’t chosen the wrong person—or the wrong teacher,” the principal said.

Zhang Pa gave a bitter smile and turned to go downstairs.

He rode his bicycle out of the school and called Wang Jiang. Whether or not they found Hu Wanhua, he could not let anything happen to Wang Jiang.

Wang Jiang gave him his location. Zhang Pa hurried there, and the two of them met while searching in different directions.

Perhaps Zhang Pa was surrounded by a fortunate aura. Not long after they met, Wang Jiang’s phone rang. It was Hu Wanhua’s mother. She said the police had found her daughter and wanted them to go to the station.

That was good news. Wang Jiang told his teacher, then took a taxi. Zhang Pa had no choice but to chase after him on his bicycle.

Hu Wanhua was about five feet three and extremely thin. She sat in the interrogation room at the police station, doing nothing but cry.

Zhang Pa did not see her when he arrived. Hu Wanhua’s mother was speaking with the police, while Wang Jiang waited outside.

Hu Wanhua was not a criminal, and the police were very considerate. They suggested to her mother, “It would be best to take her to the hospital for an examination.”

Her mother thanked them, then asked, “Can we leave now?”

“You’re not criminals. You can leave whenever you want.”

Her mother thanked them again, then went inside and brought Hu Wanhua out.

Only then did Zhang Pa see the girl for the first time.

She looked wretched. Her short skirt was filthy, and she had a large coat draped over her upper body. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes were swollen and red from crying. Once she came out, she nodded at Wang Jiang, and tears immediately began streaming down her face again.

Hu Wanhua’s mother said to Wang Jiang, “We’ll go home first. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Wang Jiang replied, watching the mother and daughter leave.

Zhang Pa asked Wang Jiang what had happened.

Wang Jiang said he did not know either.

Hu Wanhua was already suffering so badly that asking even one more question would only tear open the wound again. Wang Jiang said, “Teacher, let’s go back to class.” Then he added, “This shouldn’t count as skipping class today, right?”

“Why are you in such a hurry? Where are those little followers of yours?”

Wang Jiang let out a startled sound. “We still have to wait for them.”

Zhang Pa looked at him, then went inside to speak with the police. In essence, he explained that he was the girl’s teacher and that she was frequently absent from class. He wanted to know what had happened.

The officer thought for a moment. “It’s not convenient to say anything yet.”

What could possibly be inconvenient about it? Zhang Pa wondered. But since the police refused to say more, he thanked them and went outside to wait with Wang Jiang.

The day’s events made it clear that Wang Jiang cared deeply about Hu Wanhua. He had not only searched for her himself but had also brought along classmates and friends. Over the next twenty minutes, more than a dozen people gathered outside the police station.

Wang Jiang thanked everyone for coming and said he would treat them to dinner that evening. For now, they should disperse, and they could discuss anything else that night.

The group agreed without asking what had happened.

Wang Jiang then said, “I’m going back to school. Who’s coming with me?”

Naturally, they all went. The students from Classes Eighteen and Four took taxis together, once again leaving Zhang Pa to pedal his bicycle back alone.

On the way, he called the principal and reported that Hu Wanhua had been found, though they still did not know exactly what had happened.

“As long as she’s safe, that’s enough,” the principal said. “The rest can be asked about and investigated slowly.”

Zhang Pa agreed and hung up.

He was the last one to return. Because he had suddenly left the school, Chinese class had turned into a self-study period—one as chaotic as a marketplace.

Zhang Pa opened the door and first looked toward the seats belonging to Wang Jiang and the others. They had all returned. Wang Jiang was staring blankly into space, while the others were asleep.