After class, the little girl who had been watching Zhou Yu ran out of the classroom immediately.
"……ah!"
Zhang Mumu screamed softly. Compared to the surprise she showed in her words and deeds, Zhou Yu concealed her emotions in time. The little girl was wearing a pink knitted woolen coat. She looked about eight or nine years old, like a primary school student. After she rushed out of the classroom, she ran straight to Zhou Yu, hugged him tightly with both hands, and buried her face in his clothes. That strong feeling of attachment is like meeting your parents who are hours late after school.
Faced with such a situation, Zhou Yu was a little confused and at a loss. He had no particular objection to children, neither liking nor hating them. After mechanically patting the little girl's head twice, he pulled the girl out of his arms with what he thought was a gentle force and asked her, "Do you recognize me?"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he immediately realized his negligence. Sure enough, the little girl tilted her head and looked at him without answering a word. Of course, as a deaf-mute, she could neither hear Zhou Yu's questions nor respond.
Just when Zhou Yu was convinced, the little girl said stiffly: "Zhou, Zhou..."
Her eyes were staring straight at Zhou Yu, obviously calling for a response from her former acquaintance. Although Zhou Yu understood this, he didn't know how to react. He didn't understand sign language or what was going on with the little girl.
"...Who are you two?"
When he was in a dilemma, a middle-aged woman came from the end of the corridor. Her figure is on the plump side, and her round face is not exactly beautiful, but it is easy to give people a friendly impression. The woman who was engrossed in reading the lesson plans passed by the three of them, but suddenly stopped after looking up. She looked at the little girl's face, smiled as if she understood, and said, "Is she the sister Xiao Yao knows?"
A scene that surprised Zhou Yu appeared. The little girl who was supposed to be deaf stared at the woman's lips, nodded silently, and then reached out to grab the hem of Zhou Yu's coat.
The woman pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh, you are acting like a spoiled child again. You can't keep pestering your sister outside, otherwise she will annoy you."
The little girl was silent, still holding Zhou Yu's clothes with her hands. The woman who saw this scene showed a complicated expression, a smile that was mixed with helplessness and pity. She looked up at Zhou Yu and the two of them, nodded as if apologetically, and said, "Who are you two little girls here to see?"
It sounded as if the woman knew they were not here to visit the little girl. Although this was indeed the case, the other party's certainty made Zhou Yu feel uncomfortable. He quickly adjusted his mood and replied: "I want to ask the academic teacher here about something."
"What are you asking for?" the woman still asked in a friendly tone.
"I want to ask about the origin of something." Zhou Yu took out the pendant from his pocket and displayed it in the palm of his hand, "Does this have anything to do with your school?"
The woman lowered her head and looked at the hanging ornaments. To Zhou Yu's disappointment, she didn't show any special expression on her face. She just said with a hint of confusion: "I'm not sure about that."
"So around October this year, did your school hold any charity sales or other activities?"
The woman smiled apologetically and said, "I'm not sure either. I'd better ask Director Zhang."
She led the two of them to the wing of the teaching building, walked through the corridor and came to an empty square hall. There are about a dozen chairs scattered around the edge of the square hall, and various children's paintings are posted on the walls. Most of them are flowers and animals, but there are also some simple landscape paintings.
The only place without paintings is the velvet blackboard hanging at the back of the square hall. The board displays densely packed maple leaf specimens, which are all extremely simple handicrafts held together by two square pieces of plastic film. Each maple leaf specimen has a label on the edge with a different name written on it.
Although these maple leaf specimens are crudely made, their color is still bright and fiery red. Zhou Yu noticed this and looked out the window. As expected, there was a narrow forest around the playground that looked very much like maple trees. But it was winter now, the woods were bare, and the atmosphere was very lonely and monotonous.
While he was watching the scenery outside by the window, a man called "Director Zhang" hurried over. This is a skinny man about fifty years old, with white hair on his temples, wearing slightly skewed black-rimmed glasses, and his skin is wrinkled and red from the sun - given the year-round climate in Migenzhu City, he looks like this. is very rare.
His expression showed a sense of fatigue caused by long-term embarrassment. After a few brief greetings with Zhou Yu, he took the pendant, took a look at it, and said in a certain southern dialect accent: "The enemy is like us. students do it.”
"Can you tell me the production time?"
Teacher Zhang shook his head repeatedly and told them that this was one of the homework assignments in the handicraft class. Using clay to make small hanging ornaments, there will be two or three such activities almost every other month. Students in the primary school are young and often cannot make complicated things, so simple patterns such as hearts, stars, and bows are the most common. Due to the name of the school and the characteristics of the landscape, maple leaves have become the most common theme. The ones with better workmanship will be given as souvenirs to volunteers and donors, or participated in charity sales.
However, due to a previous procurement error, the school purchased a batch of clay with questionable quality. After being left for a few days, it all turned into a rusty reddish-brown color, with some areas turning black. It's weird to make other things, only maple leaves and hearts are suitable. After the finished product dries and hardens, it is easy to crack like dead leaves, which makes it look very inferior, so it is not suitable for charity sales or gifts.
Judging from the texture and color of this pendant owned by Zhou Yu, it was made from the problematic clay. And because of the black spots on it, it is generally impossible to be selected as a gift or product. It can only be given privately by the student who is the producer.
Zhou Yu immediately asked: "Can you confirm which student it is?"
Director Zhang looked embarrassed. Of course, it is possible to ask all students to come out and identify it, but it would be too troublesome to mobilize the entire school just to identify a small pendant. In the end, he just said that teachers in each class could ask students if they had ever given away their handwork homework.
Seeing the distress on his expression, Zhou Yu also understood that this matter was probably hopeless, so after thanking him, he asked: "Did you hold a charity sale or give away handicrafts in bulk in September or October?"
Director Zhang frowned and recalled, and then said that he was on a business trip in September and was not clear about the situation on campus. In the second half of the year, the school did not hold charity sales, nor did it jointly raise funds with other units. As for the hanging ornaments given to volunteers and donors, there is a certain amount every month and there is no traceability at all.
At this point in the conversation, Zhou Yu also felt that it was useless to talk too much. He asked the final question: "Will there be people who look like me coming to school in September or October?"
Director Zhang couldn't answer this. Although volunteers are required to leave personal information, they are not required to provide photos, and they will not disclose them to Zhou Yu casually. In the end, he only suggested that Zhou Yu ask the guard. After more than two months, the doorman may have left an impression on the people who frequently came in and out at that time.
Zhou Yu didn't think it would be useful to ask the guard. When he first entered the school, the guard called out "Xiao Zhou" accurately. If there was a second person with a similar appearance, the guard should not be so sure. In particular, Zhou Yu was wearing trousers and a windbreaker today, which was very different from Zhou Yu's style, but closer to the female rider described by Zhang Mumu.
After saying goodbye to Director Zhang, Zhou Yu asked the guard again before leaving school, and the answer was as expected. The doorman even smiled and said that she had become more lively and cheerful - probably because of her clothes.
At this point, there is no need to stay in this school. The two said goodbye to the doorman and walked to the business district across the road. Zhou Yu looked at the time, it was exactly half past twelve. Seeing her turn on her phone to check the time, Zhang Mumu came over in a natural manner and asked, "Classmate Zhou, do you want to have lunch together?"
"No."
Zhou Yu put the phone back into his pocket and walked three steps away. Then he smiled at Zhang Mumu and said, "Classmate Zhang, let's say goodbye here."
Zhang Mumu looked at him in a daze.
"I don't think I was the one who saved you that night." Zhou Yu said bluntly, "First, I don't have the appropriate transportation and clothing. Second, there are black spots on my pendants caused by quality problems.
"The pendant you saw that night was pure red, right? So it was not me, but a donor who was slightly similar to me. So there is no need to delve deeper into this matter for me."
After saying these words, he nodded instead of saying goodbye, turned around and walked towards the subway station.
Zhang Mumu hurriedly caught up with him and said at a loss: "It doesn't matter even if it's not the case! Classmate Zhou, you...eh?"
She suddenly grabbed Zhou Yu's hand and pulled it hard. Zhou Yu was almost dragged to the ground by her, and just as he was about to turn around to question, Zhang Mumu excitedly waved his hand to the opposite side: "Here! Here!"
Across the road stood a little deaf-mute girl in a pink coat. She somehow slipped out of the campus and stood on the opposite side, staring blankly. Every time Zhou Yu walked forward, she followed suit, but she didn't dare to cross the road.
"She has been following us!"
Zhang Mumu said with surprise and joy, and started to pull Zhou Yu to walk across the road. Being disturbed by this little girl, she had forgotten Zhou Yu's farewell just now. Although Zhou Yu felt helpless, he could not turn a blind eye to the little girl and could only follow Zhang Mumu and walk over. However, as soon as she saw them approaching, the little girl immediately ran away and stopped about ten meters away to continue watching.
"Come here, come here." Zhang Mumu coaxed and waved as if he was kidnapping a small animal. The little girl ran further away when she saw this.
"Send her back to school." Zhou Yu said.
Although she said that, the girl only watched from a distance. Once Zhou Yu tried to get closer, she immediately turned around and ran away. Zhou Yu had to catch up quickly, watching the girl pass by the school gate and run to the other end of the road.
Just as she was about to disappear around the corner, a head of messy yellow hair suddenly appeared at the intersection.
The little girl who was running was turning her head to look at Zhou Yu, unaware that someone was blocking the way in front of her. Before Zhang Mumu could shout out, she was knocked down by Huang Mao.
"You a** don't have eyes!"
The yellow-haired young man seemed to be focusing on playing with his mobile phone. It was not until he collided with the little girl and dropped the mobile phone to the ground that he let out a sharp scolding. He leaned over to pick up the phone and found the cracks on the screen, his expression suddenly twisted.
"Are you looking for death on the road? Where are your parents? Let him come over and make compensation!"
"——Then how much do you want to pay?"
After hearing all the words of the blond young man, Zhou Yu asked coldly after approaching. The other person's arrogant demeanor and fancy and messy clothes all looked like an iconic gangster, which made him feel disgusted unconsciously. Just in case, he reached into his pocket and grasped the switchblade inside.
The yellow-haired young man cursed and turned his head: "Huh? Who the hell are you? It's none of your business -"
The words stopped suddenly, his mouth opened wide, and he stared at Zhou Yu. The stunned look resembled that of a bulging-eyed goldfish.
Then, he screamed in an extremely shrill tone.
