Chapter 192

Chapter 192

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Nan Mu kicked Qiu Ziyu in exasperation.

Qiu Ziyu hopped in circles, clutching his foot. “If that’s not it, then why do you need so much money?”

“Just tell me whether you’re lending it to me.” Nan Mu was losing patience too. “Lend me ten thousand now, and I’ll pay you back a hundred thousand in ten years!”

Nan Mu’s audacity made Qiu Ziyu laugh. “So not only are you borrowing my money, you have no intention of paying me back anytime soon?!”

“No way! I don’t have that kind of money!”

“You really won’t lend it to me?”

“No!”

“Fine. I’ll ask Wang Zheng. He’ll jump at an investment with a ten-to-one return.” Nan Mu turned toward the bathroom door, ready to knock.

“Hey!” Qiu Ziyu immediately grabbed his hand. “Are you stupid? Wang Zheng has the biggest mouth on campus. Tell him you have a girlfriend, and the entire school will know by tomorrow!”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Nan Mu put on an air of reckless surrender. “You won’t lend me the money, so he’s my only option. And if I ask him for it, I’ll have to tell him why!”

“I never said I wouldn’t lend it to you.”

Nan Mu stared at him.

Then Qiu Ziyu’s shamelessness made him laugh. “You’re taking advantage of the fact that I wasn’t recording you, aren’t you? I just asked whether you’d lend me the money, and you said no.”

“When I said no… that wasn’t what I meant.”

Knowing he had lost the argument, Qiu Ziyu hurriedly changed the subject. “I just want to know what you’re doing with all that money. You… you haven’t been scammed, have you?”

“No.”

Nan Mu looked him straight in the eye. “I really do need it urgently, and it’s for a legitimate reason. And I meant what I said. In ten years, I promise I’ll pay you a hundred thousand.”

He paused, then added thoughtfully, “If a hundred thousand isn’t enough, should I add a little more?”

Qiu Ziyu rolled his eyes. “Please don’t. Offering ten times what you borrowed already makes you sound like a con artist. If you raise it any higher, I’ll start wondering whether you plan to drag me off in the middle of the night and sell me…”

Laughing, Nan Mu kicked him. “If I were going to sell someone, I’d sell Wang Zheng before you.”

Qiu Ziyu broke into a grin. He was about to say that, of course, the bond they had shared since childhood ran deeper than Nan Mu’s friendship with a latecomer like Wang Zheng. Then Nan Mu added,

“That whole deep, brooding act of his is popular with girls. He’d fetch a better price.”

Qiu Ziyu was speechless.

He flung his bank card into Nan Mu’s arms. “With a mouth like yours, I have no idea how you ever won that poor girl over.”

Nan Mu did not take offense. Still smiling, he held up the card. “What’s the PIN?”

“My birthday.”

“Okay.” Nan Mu rose briskly and patted Qiu Ziyu on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. I’ll definitely pay you back in ten years.”

For now, he had to hurry and stop Xu Lei from meeting the “second Nan Mu.”

===

308 Biology Research Lab, Chongjing Building.

The moment Nan Mu saw Wen Miao, he grabbed her hand and tried to lead her away.

But while they were talking, a faint click sounded by the door, unnaturally clear in the silent classroom.

Nan Mu’s heart lurched. He rushed to the door to see what had happened, only to discover when he grasped the handle that someone had locked it from the outside.

A powerful sense of unease surged through him. He ran to the back door and found it locked as well.

“What’s going on?” Wen Miao, completely confused, pounded on the door and raised her voice. “Is someone out there? There are people inside. Please open the door!”

She called out several more times, but the hallway remained silent. There was no response at all.

===

October 8, 2022, 10:40 a.m.

The discussion in Xu Lei’s lecture was in full swing when he glanced at the clock at the back of the room.

Lowering his eyes, he straightened the materials on the desk. Then he addressed the students in a calm voice. “All right, the latest materials have been sent to the screens in front of you. You have thirty minutes. Keep your eyes on your own screen, and if you finish early, remain in your seat. Ah Yan, use the computer up front and keep an eye on the room while I step outside for a cigarette.”

“Yes, Teacher Xu.”

Ah Yan sat down at the lectern computer. As it booted up, she saw Teacher Xu smoking just outside the door.
That spot was directly in the path of the airflow, so the smell of tobacco kept drifting into the room. Always sensitive to odors, Ah Yan instinctively rubbed her nose, then covered it as she began working, trying to block out the smell.

Halfway through, she began to feel tired. She looked over the classroom to make sure none of the students were whispering to one another, then glanced toward the door.

Teacher Xu must have moved another step outside. She could no longer see him from where she sat, but she could still smell the smoke drifting in.

Ah Yan paid it no mind and returned to her work.

===

When Xu Lei reached the Biology Research Lab, he found the door closed and a key hanging from the lock.

He tried the handle, but the door would not open.

There seemed to be someone inside. The instant they heard the handle turn, a voice called out, “Is someone out there? The classroom door has been locked. Could you please open it?”

It was a woman’s voice.

Xu Lei’s expression darkened.

He did not know who had locked the door, but he was running out of time…

Xu Lei looked in both directions along the hallway. After confirming no one was nearby, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The sight of a man and a woman in the Biology Research Lab filled him with alarm. But an opportunity this good had been difficult to arrange, and there was no telling when another would come. Meng Ran’s illness could not wait any longer…

He had no choice but to steel himself and close the door.

If he was going to kill one person, then killing two was no different…

For Meng Ran…

As long as Meng Ran survived…

He shut the door. Beneath his lowered lashes, a chilling murderous light entered his eyes.

===

Meng Ran was baffled. Her public lecture had been proceeding normally when a student wearing a mask suddenly arrived and told her the department head wanted to see her.

Still confused, she followed the student out of the classroom, wondering why the department head needed her at that exact moment. Then her phone rang.

The instant she answered, a cold, unnerving voice spoke from the other end.

“Go to 308 Biology Research Lab immediately. Your husband, Xu Lei, is trying to kill someone.”

Xu Lei, killing someone?

Was this person insane? A mild-tempered man like Xu Lei would never kill anyone!

“Who are you? What kind of nonsense is this? Is this a prank?”

Furious, Meng Ran was about to hang up when the caller said, “Meng Ran, you have an incurable brain disease. You don’t have long to live. Isn’t that right?”

Her thumb froze over the button. It felt as though an icy chill had traveled through the signal and into her palm.

She was indeed ill, but almost no one should have known about it.

The person on the phone…

Who were they?

As she wondered, a link and a still image from a video suddenly appeared on her phone.

The image showed Xu Lei with two students in what looked like one of the school’s laboratories.

“I installed a camera in 308 Biology Research Lab. Open the link, and you’ll see what Xu Lei is doing right now.”

The caller appeared to be using a voice changer, so Meng Ran could not tell whether they were a man or a woman.

On the one hand, the claim that Xu Lei was trying to kill someone sounded utterly absurd. On the other, she did not dare end the call. A voice in the back of her mind kept whispering, *But what if it’s true?*

She stared at the link, wavering over whether to open it.

Could this be some new kind of scam?

Frowning, she cautiously asked the caller, “Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know. Go upstairs now, and you’ll see for yourself whether I’m telling the truth.” The caller seemed unwilling to waste time arguing. There was something inscrutable about them, a mysterious menace that could not be ignored. “If you can’t stop this from happening, I’ll have no choice but to send the evidence of his crime to the police.”

“Don’t!” Meng Ran shouted instinctively, then immediately regretted it.

She knew what kind of man Xu Lei was. How could she doubt his character because of one inexplicable phone call?

“Your husband has already drugged his victims unconscious,” the caller warned. “You’re running out of time.”

Meng Ran tried to say more, but the caller had already disconnected. Only the dial tone remained, echoing in her ear.