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墨書 Inktalez
As Rice helped shield me from the occasional flying debris, he said, "He has been invited for tea again."
"Tea with whom?" I grimaced, worried that my frustration would turn into despair. My wife was in such a dire situation, and he was off having tea.
Rice nodded vigorously. "Every time Daddy goes for tea, I can't find him. Mommy, let's hurry and leave this place." He grabbed my hand, ready to pull me away, but the surroundings slowly began to calm down. The ground still trembled slightly now and then, but overall, it had settled.
I quickly called my mom. Her excited voice came through amidst the chaotic noise. "Wheat, was there an earthquake? All our Butterhead Lettuce just popped out of the ground! Haha! I don't have to pull them up one by one. Hurry and pick them up, over here!"
I felt so exhausted and hung up helplessly. Mom, how big is your heart? Even during an earthquake, you don't care about your daughter's safety?
Sure enough, the connection was soon reestablished. My mom, who had been so cheerful just moments ago, suddenly burst into tears for some reason. "Wheat! Wheat! Are you okay? I heard your school is at the epicenter. Is it serious? I knew your school was part of the Tofu Dregs Project! Boohoo!"
"Okay, Mom, nothing happened. I'm still alive."
"Who knows if you're a ghost or a living person?" My own mother said such a thing! Hearing her daughter call during an earthquake and not being overjoyed but instead questioning if I was really alive was infuriating.
"I am a living person, a very much alive person, okay?" I was about to lose it; I'd never seen a mother like this before. I angrily hung up.
Looking around at the wreckage, I noticed something strange: the building where we had just had class seemed to be the most severely damaged. It had almost completely collapsed. Ambulances and armed police arrived quickly.
However, the building where that unfortunate student had jumped from didn't seem to have suffered much at all; it only had some cracks in the walls and a few tiles that had fallen from the roof.
How unfair it was for that person to die like that; no wonder he fell headfirst—he clearly didn't have any sense!
Though I thought this way in my heart, after all, it was a life lost. In this disaster of moderate scale, he could be considered an innocent victim. Sighing, I asked Rice, "Rice, do you know how to help a Wraith move on?"
"Of course not! I'm not human; only humans can help Wraiths move on."
"But I'm human too! Why can't I do it?"
“Wheat,” a voice suddenly called out to me from a distance, sounding almost like a thief. I focused my gaze and saw it was Chen Siyuan, who had appeared in a hat and mask, likely ensuring no one would recognize her amidst the chaos.
I hurried over. “Siyuan, how did you get here? What about Qiao Lianjiu?”
“There was an earthquake. He was called away by his mother. I was worried about you all, so I came to check. Where are Lele and Xiaonan?”
“They're over there,” I pointed toward the playground. “We're all fine; luckily, our class is on the first floor. But those on the upper floors aren’t so lucky. This situation is quite strange, Siyuan. Have you ever seen an earthquake that only collapses one building?”
“Though it's rare, it can happen. It might be that this building had poor construction quality or inadequate earthquake resistance,” Chen Siyuan said, gradually convincing herself otherwise as she sighed. “It really does seem suspicious.”
Corpses were being carried out of the collapsed teaching building, some fortunate enough to still have a breath left in them. Amidst the busy armed police and firefighters, a striking figure kept flashing in and out of view.
That was Lin Xiuyu, who had just rescued me and was still nursing an injury on his shoulder. Now he rolled up his sleeves and joined the rescue team. The building hadn’t completely collapsed; some areas still had columns supporting them. Lin Xiuyu rushed inside to pull out students who were barely hanging on.
A group of girls was moved to tears by his heroic actions.
I’m not a cold-hearted person, but watching him do this felt somewhat awkward.
Chen Siyuan also watched him and asked in confusion, “Who is that person? He looks unfamiliar.”
“Do you know about Teacher Wang’s stroke a couple of days ago? After she was hospitalized, the school hired him to be our Business English Teacher. His name is Lin Xiuyu.”
“Teacher Wang had a stroke? But she’s so young!”
“She may be young, but she’s almost fifty.”
“No way! I remember overhearing other teachers mention that Teacher Wang was born in '77; she isn’t even forty yet! She has been single since her first love died unexpectedly, which has made her increasingly melancholic and appear older.”
"Not even forty," I swallowed hard. This answer was simply shocking. After all, I had just mentioned nearly fifty as a euphemism. Could it be that my temples had turned gray and the crow's feet at the corners of my eyes could hold ants? Teacher Wang was still not even forty years old.
However, a stroke is considered a typical age-related illness. Although it has been gradually trending younger, it shouldn't strike someone under forty so suddenly.
"Siyuan, I think there's something off about Lin Xiuyu. Can you see anything?" Siyuan, being a ghost, might have a different perspective. Rice might be too young and impulsive, but Siyuan was different. Although she often appeared carefree, she was actually quite perceptive and might notice something.
Before Chen Siyuan could respond, a shocked voice came from behind me: "Siyuan!" Fang Xiaonan and Gao Lele looked pale as they stared at us, disbelief written all over their faces.
Fang Xiaonan rushed over and hugged Chen Siyuan tightly. "Siyuan, is it really you? You're not dead!"
Gao Lele fought back tears and said, "I knew you weren't dead! How could they say you were when we didn't even see the body?"
Chen Siyuan and I exchanged glances, unsure how to explain.
Suddenly, Fang Xiaonan's expression changed slightly as she grabbed Chen Siyuan's hand and anxiously asked, "Siyuan, why is your body so cold? Are you feeling unwell?"
Gao Lele walked over with some confusion and pulled off Chen Siyuan's hat. Chen Siyuan instinctively shielded herself from the afternoon sun, which wasn't too strong, then quickly snatched the hat back to put it on.
"Siyuan, what’s going on? Wheat, you know something about this, right?"
"I..." I gritted my teeth, unsure how to explain. But if Siyuan really married Qiao Lianjiu, she would have to live in this world for a long time. Lele and Xiaonan were our good friends; we couldn't keep this from them forever.
I looked at Chen Siyuan; she seemed to understand my thoughts and nodded at me. Taking a deep breath, I said, "Xiaonan, Lele, do you remember when I mentioned that there are ghosts in this world?"
"Is Siyuan a ghost?" Fang Xiaonan released her grip as if shocked.
A hint of disappointment flashed in Chen Siyuan's eyes. Although she had grown accustomed to her identity as a ghost, being so visibly feared by her closest friends must have been uncomfortable for her.
"Yes, I am a ghost." Seeing my struggle to speak, Chen Siyuan took the initiative to explain. "Lele, Xiaonan, please don't be afraid; I won't harm you. I really am dead. As for why you can see me now, it's a complicated process that I'll explain to you later, okay?"
"There's really a ghost, there are truly ghosts in this world," Fang Xiaonan murmured to herself, struggling to accept it.
Seeing this, Rice rushed in front of her, floating parallel to her, and then hugged Fang Xiaonan's head, shouting into her ear, "Of course there are, you silly!"
"Who is talking?"
"Me! Me! I'm also a ghost!" Rice seemed to enjoy being a ghost, laughing heartily. It reminded me of Su Anrong repeatedly insisting that she was not a ghost but a spirit, which made their contrasting reactions quite amusing.
Gao Lele was so frightened that she couldn't speak for a long time.
I patted their shoulders and said, "Alright, alright, it's been a minute; the shock should have worn off. This is how things are. Anyway, there's nothing to be afraid of with ghosts; what we should fear is when ghosts manipulate human hearts to cause harm."
I couldn't help but glance at Lin Xiuyu, who was busy carrying an injured classmate toward the playground. He looked up just then, and our eyes met.
A question popped into my mind: What kind of person is Lin Xiuyu? What are his intentions? Don't tell me all of this is just coincidence; that would be ridiculous. I wouldn't be foolish enough to believe that.
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