Chapter 3: The Most Humble When I Like You (22)

  Think about it, there's a good chance that several hours have passed and Tang Sugar can't wake up, unless...

  Three girls in the dark looked at each other, feeling that each other's eyes were flashing in the darkness, making them look particularly terrifying. They all involuntarily let out a strange cry and tightly hugged each other together. It wasn't until after a while that they separated, and their rapidly beating little hearts gradually calmed down.

  Azalea only felt her throat tightening, and every word she said seemed extremely difficult. She deliberately pretended to be nonchalant, coldly humming: "How can a person die so easily? Are you pretending?"

  She ordered Yuan Shuang: "You go and kick the fat pig with all your might, see if she has any reaction!"

  "I don't dare! You go yourself!" Although Yuan Shan usually tried her best to curry favor with Du Juan, this time she firmly refused.

  "Go!" Du Juan ordered Jiang Lili again.

  "I... don't dare either!" Jiang Lili said in a tiny voice that was almost as small as a mosquito's, her head hung low.

  Camellia was so angry that she almost died, gritting her teeth and scolding: "You're all cowards!"

  She walked up to Tang Sugar herself and kicked her waist hard twice.

  "Bang! Bang!" Two muffled sounds rang out in the silent environment, making people's hearts jump with fright.

  But Tiantian didn't move at all.

  The three girls' faces were all pale, especially Yuan Shan, who was the most timid among them and almost cried. She trembled with her voice and asked: "What to do?"

  "Get out of here quickly!" Du Juan commanded in a panic.

  "What's she doing?" Jiang Lili hesitated, pointing at the Tang sugar on the ground, fearing to see her yet unable to help but think about it.

  "Don't hesitate anymore! If we hesitate any longer and get discovered, it'll be terrible. They'll take us in as murderers!"

  Du Juan originally wanted to say something more serious to make them hurry up and escape with her, but unexpectedly touched Yuan Shan's inner fear. She immediately cried out "Waaah!" and pointed at Du Juan hysterically, shouting: "It was you who used a brick to smash Tang Su to death! I didn't do anything! I'm not a murderer!"

  Du Juan was so frightened that her soul flew away, afraid of being heard by the tourists in the park, and she hastily covered Yuan Huan's mouth with her hands.

  Yuan Shuang couldn't understand the situation, thinking that Du Juan wanted to kill her, she struggled desperately. Du Juan was a bit overwhelmed and said to Jiang Lili who was standing by: "Come and help!"

  Jiang Lili stood still, looking at Du Juan with a terrified expression and said: "You... want to kill me to silence me!"

  "No!" Du Juan shouted in a low and urgent tone: "Take her away from here!"

  Jiang Lili finally plucked up the courage to walk over and, together with Du Juan, dragged away Yuan Xuan, whose legs had turned to jelly from fright.

  Three girls fled in panic under the cover of night.

  It was already eight o'clock in the evening when he returned home, and although his physics teacher had given him an intense one-and-a-half-hour training session, he didn't feel tired at all. Learning was just a fun intellectual game for him. In fact, many times he couldn't understand why Tang sugar would bite her pen and frown while doing her homework, wondering why the learning that seemed so easy to him was more difficult than climbing to heaven for her.

  As soon as he thought that by entering the top three in a national competition, he could participate in an international physics competition, Xia Ye couldn't remain calm anymore. He was eager to find someone to share his joy with, and that person was Tang Tang. However, after searching every corner of the house, he still couldn't see Tang Tang anywhere.

  It's strange, it's already late at night, why isn't she home?

  "Xīn xīn, jiě jie huí lái le mei yǒu?" Xià yè zhàn zài kè tīng lǐ wèn zài yī páng duī jī mù duī de xiǎo jiā huo, tā xiǎng què rèn yī cì táng táng shì běn zhěng jiù méi yǒu huí lái guò ne, hái shì huí lái guò zài chū qù le.

  "Who knows where that dead girl has gone? So young and yet so promiscuous!" Before Tang Xin could even open his mouth, Xia Ye's mother, with a look of disdain on her face, hastily replied.

  Since the big fight at the casino that summer night, Xia Ye's mother has been much more honest, staying at home for several days without leaving the door, focusing on watching Korean dramas.

  On a summer night, Xia Ye had no interest in his mother's attitude, and he was only worried about Tang Tang. He took out his phone and dialed Tang Tang's number, but all he got was the repeated ringing of the phone, with no one answering. Suddenly, he remembered what happened last time when Tang Tang bought comics and encountered danger. His heart leapt to his throat, and he opened the door and rushed out like a gust of wind, ignoring everything. Behind him, his mother's angry scolding voice echoed: "You stupid boy! Why can't you fall in love with someone decent instead of that pig!"

  On a summer night, I ran to the alley where the sugar shop was located, almost getting into trouble. Although it's already late autumn and early winter, the night isn't very deep, and there are quite a few people walking in the narrow and long alley, which is relatively safe.

  The summer night slowed down its pace, walking slowly while carefully paying attention to every corner of the alley, afraid that he might miss an important clue.

  But everything is normal.

  His heart calmed down a bit, and he made various guesses in his mind: Would it be that the teacher had her stay behind for extra lessons?

  Although the possibility is slim, Xia Ye still wants to hold on to a glimmer of hope and go to school to take a look.

  Where is the truth? Isn't it a situation where everyone gets what they want?

  He kept giving himself confidence in his heart.

  However, before he even arrived at school, he saw that the whole school was in darkness, and his heart sank.

  But he still walked to the school gate and knocked on the iron door of the security room. The security uncle was bored reading a newspaper, opened the door and saw him, curiously asking: "Classmate, what brings you to school so late?"

  "My homework was left at school." Xia Ye said calmly.

  "What's the big deal? Made a special trip?" The security uncle was very vigilant, and it was true that during this time, newspapers had been reporting on schools being attacked by thugs, so he couldn't be too careful.

  "It's not just a normal assignment, it's a set of questions that will represent our school in a competition, and I have to finish it tonight or it'll affect tomorrow's training." Xia Ye continued to fabricate.

  The security uncle looked him up and down carefully, somewhat recognizing him, pointing at him and saying: "Oh~~ you're the legendary academic tyrant, right?"

  The summer night nodded quietly.

  The security uncle finally felt at ease and let him in.

  Xia Ye searched the entire campus, even holding back her shyness and carefully searching the girls' bathroom without finding any trace of Tang Tang, as if she had vanished into thin air.

  The unease that had been hiding deep within his heart on this summer night could no longer be suppressed, slowly poking its head out, tightly grasping his heart, making it ache with a dull pain, making even breathing feel difficult.

  When Xia Ye dragged his two legs, which were as heavy as lead, and slowly walked out of the school gate, the security uncle who had been waiting for him originally wanted to ask why it took so long to find a notebook, but seeing his gloomy face, he immediately shut his mouth and didn't dare say a word.

  On a summer night that felt like there was no way out, he reluctantly dialed Qin teacher's phone number. He tried his best to hold back the helplessness and deep worry in his heart, trying to make his voice sound natural, but it was hard to hold back one or two sobs that slipped out between words, still exposing the teenager's panic: "Teacher Qin, Tang Sugar seems to be gone."

  On the other end of the phone, Teacher Qin was startled by this sudden news and also detected something unusual about Xia Ye's tone. Although she hadn't had much contact with him, she knew he wasn't a child who cried easily. Infected by his emotions, she too became tense and asked: "He's gone missing? What happened? Don't worry, Xia Ye, take your time and tell me slowly!"

  Xia Ye took a deep breath and calmed down slightly before continuing: "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what's going on either. All I know is that Tang Sugar still hasn't returned home."

  "Maybe she went to play at a good friend's house?" Qin teacher guessed.

  "She has no friends." Xia Ye said sadly, feeling sorry for Tang Su.

  "How's your family?"

  Reminded by Teacher Qin, Xia Ye suddenly remembered Tang Sugar's grandmother and hastily replied: "I haven't had a chance to visit my relatives yet, I'll go find them now!"

  "Hmm! Hmm!" Teacher Qin comforted: "Don't be too anxious, we'll split up and act separately. I'll call my students now to see who saw Tang Sugar last and where?"

  "Thank you, teacher! Thank you, teacher!" Xia Ye said gratefully, just about to hang up the phone. Qin teacher hesitated and said on the other end of the line: "Xia Ye, if we still can't find her, you'd better report it to the police quickly! There have been many female college students who got into trouble these days, let alone Tiantian is just a high school student, even more so she has no social experience, and...she's also a bit stupid."

  "Got it!" He hung up the phone, and Xia Ye's mood became even heavier. Even Qin Laoshi was a bit worried that Tang Tang would come to no good.

  He ran to Tang Sugar's grandmother's house like a madman, the small courtyard with a single door was pitch black, and it seemed that the owner had already fallen asleep. In the darkness, only the osmanthus tree in the yard emitted a sweet fragrance, which was refreshing.

  Xia Ye's fists pounded against the courtyard gate with increasing urgency, and finally, the lights inside the house came on. Xia Ye's heart was racing wildly as he wished to see Tang Su running out of the house!

  The door opened a small gap, and a black cat darted out with a whoosh. Xia Ye recognized him as Xiao Hei Zi.

  The little black boy stopped in front of Xia Ye, a pair of bright yellow eyes staring at him in surprise, as if asking: "What's the meaning of you running here to disturb people's dreams in the middle of the night?"

  "Who's there?" came Grandma Tangtang's aged voice from inside the house.

  "Grandma, it's me, on a summer night."

  "Is anything wrong?"

  "Has Sugar gone missing? Is she with you?"

  As soon as Xia Ye's words fell, Xiao Hei shot out like an arrow off the string and disappeared into the vast night in the blink of an eye.