chapter 8
Three months ago, on that night, Xinglin High School organized a cultural performance open to the public.
Both students from impoverished backgrounds and top students performed for everyone.
The top students performed to showcase Xinglin High School’s high-quality student body.
The impoverished students performed to demonstrate Xinglin High School’s benevolence and compassion.
The group photo on the wall of Teacher Li’s dormitory was taken that night after the performance.
Bai Ruolan and her two friends were all top students, while Shen Wei was truly a girl who had come from the mountains.
After the performance, the four girls originally planned to return to the dormitory together, but Shen Wei suddenly disappeared.
Bai Ruolan went to the backstage dressing room to ask other students, but no one had seen her. Only one girl said she saw Teacher Li call Shen Wei away.
Along with her, five other girls were called away.
They were all recipients of financial aid.
It rained heavily that night. Shen Wei never returned, and calls to her phone went unanswered.
The next day, when there was news again, she had already jumped off a building and committed suicide.
And the only witness-the girl who saw Teacher Li take away the six impoverished students-suddenly transferred schools the next day and disappeared.
So, in fact, Bai Ruolan and the others didn’t know exactly what had happened.
But they suspected that Teacher Li was involved, and that it was something very serious.
The first time I heard this story, I was skeptical.
Because some students said that although Weiwei was their roommate, she was always isolated by the three of them, even blocked in the bathroom.
So perhaps this was just a story they made up to cover up the fact that they bullied their roommate.
Until Bai Ruolan hesitated for a long time, biting her lip as she showed me her phone.
On it was a WeChat message from Teacher Li:
“Bai, if you have time, come to the teacher’s dormitory for a meal.”
Shi Min and Zhong Jingjing had similar messages on their phones.
But they felt something was off and had never gone.