“Do you remember me? It was just the other day.”
Meng Bai simply stared at Zhang Gou. The teachers and students around her all turned their eyes toward him, and everyone was momentarily stunned.
Two seconds of silence passed.
Zhang Gou rubbed his chin and chuckled, letting his laughter smooth over the awkwardness.
“Of course I remember you.” He turned and beckoned to a man wearing glasses, pulling him closer. “Hey, Glasses, wasn’t it this kid who came to the construction site a couple days ago looking for us?”
The Glasses Man nodded along. “Yeah, yeah. She wanted our help finding her friend.”
Zhang Gou clapped the Glasses Man on the shoulder and nodded approvingly. “What did we tell her back then? We said if we could help, we sure as hell would!”
Only then did the principal catch on. “You mean Zhou An, right? She’s one of our top students here. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since she went missing.”
Whether he meant it or not was anyone’s guess.
The principal then turned to introduce Meng Bai. “Mr. Zhang, this is the Meng Bai I told you about earlier. She’s always at the top of her class. If she keeps up her usual performance, she might even bring some glory to our school!”
Zhang Gou’s smile took on a deeper, more knowing edge as his gaze swept over Meng Bai. “That right? Well then, Meng, I’ll have to keep a close eye on you!”
“Heh heh heh, indeed.” The principal adopted a very deferential air. “Thanks so much for your help, GM Engineering.”
“No trouble at all.”
Meng Bai stayed silent the whole time, watching Zhang Gou put on his show.
Even when their eyes met, he looked perfectly at ease.
She wanted to rip off his fake mask right there, to shout to everyone what he’d really done.
But then Meng Bai reconsidered. Since Zhang Gou had so boldly acknowledged her, he must have some plan up his sleeve.
“Meng Bai.” A gentle female voice spoke from nearby.
Meng Bai glanced sideways to see Teacher Xu standing in the crowd, beckoning her over. “Come to the office and grab the class’s test papers.”
Teacher Xu’s timing couldn’t have been better.
Meng Bai let out a quiet breath of relief. The principal did too.
Maybe even Zhang Gou.
The principal gestured down the path ahead. “Well then, Mr. Zhang, let me show you to the classrooms?”
Zhang Gou waved it off. “Cut the formalities. Come on, Principal, you lead the way…”
The whole group trailed after Zhang Gou into the school building, while Meng Bai headed off with Teacher Xu.
As far as Meng Bai could recall, Teacher Xu rarely sent her to fetch test papers—there was a math class rep for that, after all.
But not anymore.
The math class rep was Zhou An.
“Teacher Xu.” Meng Bai quickened her pace to catch up, falling into step beside her.
Teacher Xu’s brows knitted together. “Did you really go see Zhang Gou?”
She said Zhang Gou, not Mr. Zhang—and from her tone, she clearly wasn’t a fan.
“Yeah, I did.” Meng Bai stole another glance at Xu Qin, her reaction striking her as odd.
As mentioned before, Teacher Xu had come from the city—likely fresh out of university this year, volunteering to teach in this small town. She didn’t have much experience or the stern authority of the old guard.
Truth be told, Meng Bai often felt like there wasn’t much separating them.
“Don’t go see him again!” Xu Qin halted, giving Meng Bai a worried look. “Listen to your teacher, okay?”
Meng Bai froze, locking eyes with Xu Qin. She quickly pieced together the subtext and spoke up plainly. “So you know something about it too, don’t you, Teacher Xu?”
What was really going on here? It felt like the whole world knew what had happened to Zhou An.
Teacher Xu glanced around, her expression turning peculiar. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then clamped it shut and hurried forward, muttering under her breath, “We’ll talk in a couple days.”
“Why wait that long?”
“It’s complicated.”
They reached the office soon enough. Xu Qin handed Meng Bai a thick stack of test papers. “Take these to class and pass them out.”
“Focus on your lessons. Study hard.”
“I—”
Xu Qin silenced her with a gesture. “Don’t worry too much about Zhou An.”
Meng Bai started to protest, but Xu Qin had already turned to chat with the other teachers.
She dropped it.
~~~
She couldn’t say exactly when it had started, but school days had become almost unbearable.
Senior Year 3 was all about review now, with teachers rehashing the same digested knowledge points.
Endless stacks of practice sheets and nonstop lectures had become the norm.
The days dragged on, sparse and mundane on the surface—no different from last semester. And yet, everything felt off.
Zhou An’s disappearance. Miao Bai’s presence. Teacher Xu, who seemed to know something. Xu Zhou, who’d suddenly wanted to befriend her.
All of it…
It was enough to distract anyone.
Meng Bai kept zoning out, her practice pace slowing to a crawl. By the end of the day, she still hadn’t finished her planned work.
Xu Zhou stopped by her desk on her way out and gave it a knock.
“Walk home together today?”
Meng Bai looked up. “I’m not done with my papers.”
Xu Zhou grinned. “Take a break. Finish them at home?”
Meng Bai set her pen down, rubbed her temples, paused for a couple seconds, then started packing her things. “Sure, let’s go.”
They walked side by side through the emptying school building, taking a leisurely stroll across the sports field.
It was an autumn evening, the sky awash in orange light. The fiery sun dipped behind the mountains, casting a warm glow over the earth.
The sunset stretched their shadows long across the ground.
“I was probably the first one to find out about that thing with Zhang Gou,” Xu Zhou said softly, kicking at a pebble underfoot. “You’ve gotta be wondering why. Because I was the first victim.”
Meng Bai stopped in her tracks, her heart thudding heavily.
She turned to Xu Zhou and saw disgust etched across her pale cheeks.
“What did he do to you?!”
“He tried, but he didn’t get the chance.” Xu Zhou spoke slowly, laying it out. “That night Zhou Qiang and Zhang Gou were playing cards, my dad was there too. Zhou Qiang wasn’t the only one who lost eighty thousand—my dad, Xu San, dropped fifty thousand.”
Here was the full story, as Xu Zhou told it:
That night, Zhou Qiang lost eighty grand, and Xu San lost fifty. They’d had a taste of winning before—pocketing a few thousand each—so they figured the boss’s money was easy money.
A dozen or so guys were playing zha jin hua that night. Zhou Qiang had three nines in his hand, Xu San had a flush straight. They went all in, never dreaming Boss Zhang was holding something even bigger.
Xu Zhou had no idea what Zhang Gou said to those two men.
In any case, on the third day, Xu San took her to the construction site.
There was the project department with its bright red lettering, the room at the end of the corridor, and Zhang Gou—beer belly, rolls of flesh, the whole package.
That day, Xu Zhou stood before him, watching warily. “What do you want?”
Xu San scolded her. “This is the big boss sponsoring your school. Show some manners! Call him Uncle Zhang!”
Zhang Gou eyed her smooth, tender skin and reached out to pinch her cheek. She dodged just in time.
“You beast! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” A woman burst through the door.
By the time Xu Zhou reached this part of the story, her voice was shaking. “I guess what set me apart from Zhou An was having a mom who loved me fiercely. Without her, I don’t know what might have happened.”
That day, her mother had stormed the construction site, fighting tooth and nail to drag Xu Zhou away. Zhang Gou had resisted at first, all false piety as he droned on. “I’m a proper gentleman. What could I possibly do to your daughter? I only called her here to offer to pay for her schooling.”
“Pfft! My daughter’s my responsibility! I don’t need your damn charity!”
Xu Zhou had fled the dusty construction site that day, glancing back at the workers perched on the rebar frames. She had no idea what expression to wear as she faced them.
Would their children end up as victims someday too?
Xu Zhou had no way of knowing.
“The next day, Mom told me Carpenter Zhou had been at that table too and lost money. It terrified me. I bolted out the door right away. But the rain was pouring that day—heavy sheets of it. I raced over anyway and ran smack into Carpenter Zhou heading out with Zhou An. He was on his motorcycle, her riding behind him. I screamed her name for all I was worth. She turned to look at me. I shook my head frantically and motioned for her to get off. God knows if she got the message.”
“And then?” Meng Bai’s brows knit together.
“Afterward, scared she might not have gotten away, I went to the police with Mom. The town cops came with us to the project department, but Zhou An wasn’t there. That’s when she vanished for good.”
“So Zhang Gou looked plenty suspicious to them, right?”
Xu Zhou nodded, still baffled. “Yeah, but they never followed up. It was weird.”
Meng Bai let out a relieved breath, her fondness for Xu Zhou growing. “Thank you. From what I heard, Zhou An hopped off midway, claiming she needed the bathroom. By the time Carpenter Zhou realized, she was gone. Your warning probably saved her.”
They figured Zhou An had sensed something off along the way.
She was sensitive like that—sharp intuition, quick to pick up on hints.
Xu Zhou went on. “That’s what I think too. But I’m still worried sick. No clue where she went. I even searched the hills—no sign of her.”
“Don’t overthink it yet.” Meng Bai patted her shoulder, urging her to ease up. “My friend will track Zhou An down. Shouldn’t take long.”
“Your friend? That Zhou Chuxing guy?” Xu Zhou sounded skeptical, like he wasn’t the most reliable sort.
“Nope.”
“Who, then?”
“Can’t say for now. But trust me—she’s the real deal.” Meng Bai glanced up at the sky as she spoke.
Evening had fallen, the horizon ablaze with color. Dusk was closing in.
She ached to go find Miao Bai.
But Miao Bai had said last night that today was no good—tomorrow instead.
It left her heart scratching with itch. She’d been hooked on Miao Bai, that was it. One day apart felt like three seasons gone.
“Hey? Earth to Meng Bai?” Xu Zhou sidled closer, teasing. “This friend of yours… mentioning her’s got you all dreamy-eyed, like a schoolgirl with a crush.”
Meng Bai jolted back to the present. “No! Hey, she’s just a regular friend. What are you getting at?!”
“Whoa, touchy much?” Xu Zhou burst out laughing. “I didn’t even say anything!”
That smile tugging at Xu Zhou’s lips left Meng Bai flustered.
Weird.
“Anyway, enough chatter. Time to head home.”
“Hey, slow down!” Xu Zhou hurried after her.
Meng Bai’s long legs carried her swiftly to the bicycle. She unlocked it, swung on, and pedaled off in one fluid motion. “Gotta go—homework waits for no one.”
She shot forward without warning.
Xu Zhou watched her retreating figure, then cracked up laughing. “What kind of friend gets you this shy…”
