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墨書 Inktalez
Old Shao could sense the principal's helplessness in his tone, so he asked, "What's going on? Is there something more to this?"
"How should I put it?" The principal nodded and began, "Although Zhang Shan hasn't been with us for long and is only in her twenties, the children in her class absolutely adore their teacher."
"They like her?" Yuan Jun, who was spinning in his chair, interjected. "This Zhang Shan mistreats the kids in her class, yet they still like her? That sounds so insincere."
"It's true that she has been harsh, but the kids genuinely like her; those two facts aren't contradictory," the principal explained. "The incident caused quite a stir, but Zhang Shan is a good person. Nowadays, many teachers adopt a 'just get through the day' mentality. As long as the children aren't in any life-threatening danger, they don't care if the kids are mischievous or not studying properly—after all, they're not their own children."
Old Shao nodded in agreement. "That's right; more and more teachers are like that now, not just in kindergartens but also in elementary and middle schools."
The principal seemed to resonate with this sentiment. "Before I became the principal of this kindergarten, I spent decades as a teacher myself. I've watched our teaching community evolve into what it is today. More and more teachers have lost sight of our mission to educate and nurture. But is this really just a problem among teachers?"
"When I was young and teaching, I would discipline my students—sometimes with a slap or a scolding—because I believed that a good teacher must balance kindness with authority. If they behaved well, you treated them well; if they misbehaved, you had to use some methods to steer them back on track. While there are certainly some twisted individuals who intentionally abuse children, the overall atmosphere was much healthier."
Old Shao nodded again.
The principal grew more animated as he spoke. "But now? If you so much as touch a student, their parents will skin you alive! Teachers are now bound by their hands and feet; they can't scold or hit students anymore. If students disrupt class, teachers can only turn a blind eye because no matter whose fault it is, once things escalate, it's always the teacher who suffers."
"I've made my point clear; now let me tell you about Teacher Zhang Shan."
The principal's tone turned somber. "Zhang Shan is a young teacher who still holds onto her ideals of educating and nurturing children. In our class, there's a little boy named Zhang Zixuan who is quite domineering; he loves to snatch toys from other kids but never plays with them himself—he just moves on to take someone else's toy."
"In other words, this child doesn't understand sharing and is too self-centered. This clearly stems from his parents' overindulgence. Whenever Zhang Zixuan feels even slightly dissatisfied, he pulls on other children's ears. Many times, those little ears have turned red and hurt. Teacher Zhang Shan has reported this to Zhang Zixuan's parents multiple times, but they dismiss it and continue to spoil him."
"If Teacher Zhang Shan were an idealess teacher, she could simply separate the kids every time. But she knows that this isn't good for either side; she wants to help Zhang Zixuan correct his bad behavior. However, despite repeated attempts at teaching him, he remains unrepentant. Teacher Zhang Shan realized that the best way to teach him empathy was to give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Whenever Zhang Zixuan bullied another child, Teacher Zhang Shan would do the same to him using his own tactics so he could experience firsthand what it felt like. Unfortunately, when Zhang Zixuan went home and told his mother about it, she exploded."
"Zhang Zixuan's mother completely ignored the context of the situation and insisted that her child was being abused. Even though we have cameras in the classroom that clearly recorded everything that happened, she spread screenshots from the video everywhere claiming that Teacher Zhang Shan regularly mistreated children—a completely baseless accusation."
The principal sighed heavily. "I've said it before: regardless of whose fault it is, once things blow up, it's always the teacher who gets blamed. Now that Zhang Zixuan's mother comes in every day causing a scene, how can our kindergarten continue operating? Who would dare send their children here? To appease the parents' emotions, we had no choice but to let Teacher Zhang Shan go."
As he spoke, tears welled up in the principal's eyes. "You see? It's these extreme parents who push out excellent teachers while leaving behind those who don't care about anything—teachers who practically let children run wild—and then they complain that there are too few good teachers nowadays. Isn't that just ridiculous?"
After hearing this story, Old Shao felt quite helpless. He knew very well that the current situation was a result of mutual actions, but this was a problem he could not solve, and it was likely that he wouldn't be able to resolve it in the future either. The only issue Old Shao could address right now was to find Zhang Shan and ensure she came to no harm.
"Is there a video?" Old Shao asked.
"There is," the principal replied. "You can see the whole sequence of events clearly."
Old Shao requested the video, and after the three of them watched it, they confirmed that what the principal said was true. At the beginning of the video, it was indeed Zhang Zixuan who bullied another child first, grabbing another child's ear tightly before Zhang Shan started to grab Zhang Zixuan's ear.
In the image posted on the Judgment Assembly platform, it was evident that it was a still taken from this video. The child whose face was blurred was clearly Zhang Zixuan. If one only looked at that image, seeing Zhang Shan's furious expression and her hand gripping that child's ear tightly, along with the accompanying text, anyone would conclude that Zhang Shan was not a good person.
Old Shao asked, "Do you know where Zhang Shan went?"
The principal shook his head and said, "Ever since Zhang Shan left, I haven't been able to contact her. As for where she went, I have no idea."
As they exited Garden Kindergarten, Yuan Jun asked Old Shao, "Although we found Zhang Shan's phone number, it's already out of service. No one can reach her now. Could it be that Zhang Shan has been captured by the Criminal Consultant?"
Old Shao nodded. "That's very possible. We need to go to Zhang Shan's house and see where she might have gone."
As Yuan Jun drove the three of them toward Zhang Shan's home, Xu Yiman had already stopped the car. Just as Jiang He had said, this place had become a deserted village. Standing at the village entrance and looking inside, it was pitch black; the streetlights on either side of the entrance were no longer functioning, and weeds had overgrown the Village Path.
Xu Yiman shone a flashlight into the darkness and said, "Number 72 must be deep in the village. I hope there are no traps."
Jiang He pointed at the weeds in the middle of the Village Path and replied, "If you observe closely, you'll see that the weeds have clear signs of being broken. This is obviously caused by external force. It's easy to deduce that we are not the first group to come here. There's no need to be afraid; if there were any traps, we wouldn't encounter them."
The three of them walked deeper into the northern part of the village. The houses on both sides were dilapidated; some had collapsed while others were falling apart, clearly abandoned for many years. The house numbers made from iron sheets were covered in dust, and many of them had spider webs.
They continued walking toward the so-called Number 72 Guardhouse. Along the way, they could hear animals moving in the bushes, causing them to sway from side to side. If an ordinary person came here alone, they would indeed feel frightened.
However, Jiang He showed no signs of fear; he led the way confidently. Using his phone's weak flashlight, they finally arrived at the door of Number 72.
From what they could see at this house's entrance, the wooden door had been eaten by insects and was covered in spider webs. Jiang He carefully observed the ground; there were numerous footprints at the entrance, indicating that many people had passed through here.
Jiang He slightly turned his body and stepped into the yard of the house. As soon as he entered, he saw a coffin lying in the yard—a dark coffin that appeared to have been placed there not long ago. The doors to other rooms were locked with rusty locks; it seemed this coffin was exactly what the Criminal Consultant wanted people to see.
Guan Deng was a big man, and the door only opened a small crack, preventing him from entering. He pushed against the door with all his might, and it creaked loudly, startling several crows perched on the roof, which took flight in a flurry.
"Is this really the place? Did we come here in the dead of night just to see this coffin?" Xu Yiman asked.
"Let's open the coffin and see what's inside," Jiang He replied.
Together with Guan Deng, Jiang He exerted their strength to push the coffin lid open. They all leaned in to look inside, but there was nothing at all.
"A coffin?" Xu Yiman said. "Could the password be 'coffin'?"
"Let's give it a try," Jiang He suggested.
However, when Guan Deng entered the word "coffin," nothing happened; it meant that this key was incorrect.
Jiang He frowned, carefully examining the inside of the coffin with his phone. Indeed, there was nothing within.
At that moment, Jiang He suddenly recalled the special requirement from the Criminal Consultant: they had to come at night.
Why did it have to be at night?
Jiang He understood; he turned off his flashlight.
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