Chapter 7: Woman


 

When the dust settled and it was time to eat lunch, Shen Qingcheng stopped everything, stood up, greeted Lu Qi, and said, “It’s time for lunch!”

 

He wanted to eat two small cakes, two tubs of ice cream, two bags of potato chips, and two packs of spicy strips¹!

 

He would just consider it an after-meal snack, hehehe.

 

Lu Qi didn’t expect that he could be called out specifically, since all of the players present had varied relationships.
He paused, then stood up.

 

On his other side, Chen Ge said eagerly, “Shen-ge, I’ll come too!” Then he neatly ran up, pulling into line with the two of them.

 

Lu Qi glanced at him.

 

Chen Ge: ?

 

“Oh, then let’s go together.” Anyway, it had been that child who had wanted to hide their relationship in the first place, and this copy had been revealed to be dangerous.
Shen Qingcheng thought of this and warned, “You should come with us in the afternoon.
Don’t run around by yourself.”

 

Lu Qi eyed Chen Ge again.

 

Chen Ge: ??

 

Why was Lu Qi watching him? His happy mood was dispersed before his inexplicable gaze.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The kindergarten cafeteria was designed to be quite cartoonish and child-friendly.
After finishing a nutritious lunch, Shen Qingcheng ate two small cakes and was now licking an ice cream bar with satisfaction.

 

It was a pity that there were no potato chips or spicy strips, or the day would’ve been perfect.

 

Chen Ge was amazed at his appetite.
How could Shen-ge snack so much even after eating a full meal?

 

As they walked back to the cafeteria doors, Chen Ge took the initiative to ask, “Where are we going this afternoon?”

 

Shen Qingcheng licked the milky melted ice cream at the corners of his mouth, and asked as if it was a matter of course, “Shouldn’t we take a nap after eating?”

 

Chen Ge was speechless.
How typical of Shen-ge…

 

He looked at the other man, who was silent.
“Lu-ge?” He was very skilled at shouting out ge².

 

Chen Ge didn’t really know why–clearly Zhou An’an was the most active rallier of the players, and she hadn’t made any mistakes thus far–but he felt that Lu Qi, who didn’t talk a lot, and Shen Meiren, who didn’t know when to shut up, were more trustworthy.

 

He trusted his intuition, which is why he had so decisively hugged Shen Meiren’s thighs.

 

Lu Qi: “Archive room.”


 

Sure enough, Lu-ge was reliable.
As he left, Chen Ge quickly followed.

 

Shen Qingcheng didn’t react, still licking at his ice cream at the cafeteria entrance.
Lu Qi had walked about 10 meters before he stopped and turned around, not hearing his footsteps.

 

“Let’s go.” He said coldly.

 

Shen Qingcheng began moving sluggishly.
“I want to take a nap.”

Lu Qi: “Sleep at night.”

 

Shen Qingcheng: “It’s too dangerous at night, since it’s not like you’ll come and protect me.”

 

Lu Qi: “Last night.” He was clearly pointing out that he had survived perfectly fine the previous night.

 

Shen Qingcheng: “Last night was last night, and tonight is tonight.”

 

Thinking of how Bai Yi had used her props to escape, he hesitated for a second.

 

Shen Qingcheng noticed this and immediately laughed.
“Are you worried that I’ll also use up my props?”

 

He changed expression instantly and said coldly, “It has nothing to do with me.” Then he stopped talking, turned around, and left.

 

Chen Ge glanced at Lu Qi’s pointedly indifferent back, and asked in a low voice, “Shen-ge, is Lu-ge angry?”

 

“How should I know?” When asked, Shen Qingcheng looked at him strangely, swallowed his last bite of ice cream, and threw the wrapper into a trash can.

 

Chen Ge: I actually feel a little distressed for Lu-ge.

 

In the end, Shen Qingcheng gave up on his nap and followed the other two to the archives.

 

The doors were locked, and none of them had keys or codes.
Chen Ge was unsure how to find Liu Wangyu to open the door for them.
The past few days, Liu Wangyu had taken the initiative to come find them.
They really didn’t know how to contact him.

 

At this time, Lu Qi began looking around, his eyes fixing on something.

 

Chen Ge: “Lu-ge?”

 

Hefting up a fire extinguisher³, he went back to the door of the archives and hit it, hard.
The door immediately splintered, a large hole smashed into it.

 

It turned out that despite its solid appearance, the door was just two wooden boards sandwiched together.

 

Lu Qi’s expression remained calm.
He reached through the hole, turning the knob.
The door opened with a creak.

 

“Wow, amazing!” Shen Qingcheng gave him a quick round of applause, looking almost like a trained seal clapping.

 


“Shut up.” He said.

 

“Nah,” Shen Qingcheng returned.

 

Chen Ge looked to his right, then his left, and chose to remain quiet.

 

The archive room, like the security office, hadn’t been cleaned in months.
A thin layer of dust coated the entire room.

 

Against the left wall was a table with a computer on it, and across from it was a row of locked lockers with neatly arranged, wire-wrapped clips.

 

On the wall were words picked out in white on a blue background, saying things like “distribution map of network management of archives” and “management system of archives”.

 

After glazing over the layout of the room, Lu Qi instructed Chen Ge, “Go find the file of a woman named Qi Mei.” He walked to the table, dusted off the chair by it, and sat down.

 

The computer looked to be in good condition, and Lu Qi turned it on.

 

Shen Qingcheng wiggled behind him, asking “What about me?”

 

Lu Qi didn’t look back.
“Stay there obediently.”

 

His only requirements for Shen Meiren were to not cause trouble and to talk less.

 

But asking Shen Qingcheng not to speak was impossible, and it wasn’t right to ask him not to cause trouble either–he never got into trouble!

 

“Lu-dage takes such good care of me,” Shen Qingcheng sighed, turning and walking up to Chen Ge, who had picked up the heavy object.
He showed off, “You heard that, right? Lu-dage told me to rest and that I didn’t have to do anything.”

 

Chen Ge: I don’t think that was what he meant…

 

“Lu-dage, are you taking care of me?” Shen Qingcheng, who had decided he had shown off enough, wandered back to Lu Qi.
He squatted down, rummaging around the cabinet by the table.

 

The computer had turned on.
Lu Qi logged into the school’s educational administration system using the browser’s saved passwords to find the latest personnel changes.
He skimmed quickly, replying expressionlessly, “No.”

 

There was a black purse and a bag in the cabinet.

 

In the purse was a work card that belonged to a short, chubby woman with small eyes named Zhou Xiaohui.
Zhou Xiaohui was a staff member in the archives.
In addition, there were a few sanitary pads and some cosmetics.

 

Shen Qingcheng didn’t hesitate to take out the sanitary pads and cosmetics and dump them on the ground.
After confirming there was nothing else in the purse, he turned it upside down.

 

He began pawing through the bag without delay.
“I knew Lu-dage didn’t feel bad for me at all.
He’s really a heartless man.”

 

Hearing that, blue veins jumped on Lu Qi’s forehead.

 

The bag contained a stack of photos, big and small, single and group shots.
In the solo photo was a working woman, none other than Zhou Xiaohui, the owner of the bag.

 


It seemed that she took the photos at an event, but forgot to display them after she got the printouts.

 

Shen Qingcheng flipped through the photos one by one, looking at them with relish, until suddenly, he said, “Lu Qi.”

 

“…” No one answered.

 

“Lu-dage.”

 

“…”

 

“I’ll start calling you Lu-gege if you don’t answer.”

 

Chen Ge thought, you already said it…

 

Lu Qi had a headache.
“What.”

 

“I still prefer Lu-gege,” Shen Qingcheng said, handing over the photos before he could get angry.
“Look at this.”

 

Chen Ge leaned over.

 

The photo was a group photo.
The chubby woman on the left was Zhou Xiaohui, the woman on the right was in jeans and a white T-shirt, with a beauty mole between her eyebrows, and a little boy–around 4 or 5 years old–was between them.

 

The boy was looking at the camera, smiling brightly.

 

“Doesn’t this look just like the woman Xue Tong described?” The beauty mole was rather distinctive, and Chen Ge immediately recognised who the woman on the right was, getting goosebumps.

 

He carefully glanced around the room, afraid she would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

 

“This child.” Lu Qi was looking at the little boy in the photo.

 

Shen Qingcheng affirmed his guess.
“The one in the security office.”

 

“Have you seen this kid?” Chen Ge was pleasantly surprised.
“He obviously knows that woman with the beauty mole.
Let’s call him out and ask him what happened.”

 

He thought that was a pretty good idea, but Shen Qingcheng turned his head to regard him and asked, “Do you really want to call him out?”

 

It would be troublesome, but not impossible.

 

Chen Ge: “No, actually.” The woman with the beauty mole was already dead, so that little kid might not be alive either.

 

Lu Qi found the information he wanted.
In the past six months, there had been five personnel changes in Xingxing Kindergarten.
That didn’t seem like a lot, but the people involved were quite significant.
The changes even encompassed the vice principal, the dean of education, and the head teacher.

 

The least significant one was the security guard, Zou Kai.
There were also two ordinary teachers, Zhou Xiaohui and Qi Mei.

 


The reason for the departures of all five people was accidental death.

 

“So many people died in just half a year.” Chen Ge hissed.

 

Lu Qi highlighted the time of departure.
From the dates, it was obvious that Qi Mei, who died six months ago, was the first to die, followed by the vice principal, head teacher, security guard, and then finally, Zhou Xiaohui.

 

These two must be good friends.
I didn’t expect that they’d have so many photos together.” Chen Ge shook his head sympathetically, flipping through the photos.

 

Shen Qingcheng raised his eyebrows at his certainty.
“Who told you that taking photos together means that you’re good friends with someone?”

 

As if to substantiate what he said, Lu Qi logged into the chat software on the computer.
The computer’s owner must’ve thought it was troublesome to memorize their account number and password–now, it was convenient for them⁴.

 

The last chat record was from two months ago, sent from Zhou Xiaohui in the teacher group chat.

 

Zhou Xiaohui: “The security guard is also dead, she must be back! She’s back for revenge!”

 

Someone else said, “Your imagination is too wild.
Zou Kai was electrocuted to death–it has nothing to do with Qi-laoshi.”

 

Zhou Xiaohui: “What do you know? The vice principal and the dean of education are dead, and Zou Kai is also dead.
They were all Qi Mei’s lovers before her death.
There’s no way such a coincidence exists!”

 

Zhou Xiaohui: “It’s Qi Mei! It’s that bitch Qi Mei!”

 

Zhou Xiaohui: “Because of her beauty, she can have fun all day long, seducing this man or that.
She deserves to die on a man’s □□⁵ for so casually harming others!”

 

Zhou Xiaohui: I still have to set up a fucking memorial archway for her! She still acted like she was the pure school flower⁶ from years ago.
Pure my ass! She died well, and it sickens me to even think about her!”

 

Anonymous: “If Qi Mei really came back… You used to scold her behind her back.
Now, aren’t you afraid that she’ll come find you, Zhou-laoshi?”

 

The chat history ended abruptly there.

 

They looked at each other.
The departure information showed that Zhou Xiaohui died two months ago, matching the chat record.

 

 

TLN:

¹ Spicy strips (辣条) are a snack made from wheat flour and seasoned with red peppers.

 

Source

² Because he’s calling Lu Qi “Lu-ge” without being prompted, probably trying to ingratiate himself with him.

³ 消防栓 has been changed from “fire hydrant” to “fire extinguisher” at the advice of a reader.

⁴ In case you missed it, the owner of the computer saved their user/password to the computer so it autofills.

⁵ The blank boxes are also in the raws, but I’m sure you can guess what they mean.

⁶ The school flower (清纯校花) is the most popular female student in school.

 

By the way, the line breaks are there to make scene changes less abrupt.
If anyone would prefer them to be removed in order to be more faithful to the raws, feel free to let me know.
Otherwise, just be aware that you can ignore them if you want.

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