Chapter 46 Part 2

Unlike the other boys, who showed off in front of girls or even bullied them just for attention.

In that regard, Shen Yuze was truly one of a kind.

Lunch break arrived in a flash. With city traffic still disrupted, Shen Yuze didn’t have his driver deliver food and went to the cafeteria with Lu Ping.

The menu was much the same as yesterday. Lu Ping had Shen Yuze save seats while he fetched the meals—he knew exactly what Shen Yuze could and couldn’t eat.

The line was long. Lu Ping balanced two trays precariously as he squeezed out of it and headed back. To his surprise, from afar, he saw a graceful figure sitting beside Shen Yuze. The girl was talking to him, her long ponytail hanging behind her. Though he couldn’t see her face clearly, her slender, tall figure stood out like a poised peacock.

Lu Ping thought sourly, Fine then. I thought Shen Yuze was aloof and ignored girls, but nope—slap in the face. The moment I turn to get food, he’s chatting with one!

When Lu Ping reached them, he realized the girl was a familiar face.

“Huh? Senior Meng?” Lu Ping was both surprised and delighted. “What a coincidence!”

Meng Xin turned to him, smiling warmly. “Long time no see, Lu Ping. How’s your… your injury healing?”

“Much better. I have a hospital check-up this week,” Lu Ping said as he set down two trays. He handed one to Shen Yuze. He had originally planned to sit across from Shen Yuze, but seeing Meng Xin there, he felt it would be rude to the senior student. So, he pushed his own tray to the spot across from her.

Shen Yuze frowned at it and pulled Lu Ping’s tray back across from himself. The metal tray scraped across the table, producing a somewhat grating sound.

Lu Ping: “…”

Meng Xin: “…”

Shen Yuze calmly ate his meal.

Meng Xin was worthy of being a natural host; she had seen all kinds of storms and waves. The smile on her face didn’t falter in the slightest. “Actually, I’ve already finished eating. I’ll be leaving soon.” The senior year’s lunch break was staggered half an hour earlier than the first and second years’. “I just saw Shen Yuze here and came over to say a few words to him.”

Hearing the senior say this, Lu Ping sat down across from Shen Yuze with peace of mind.

Lu Ping: “Oh, were you talking about the English competition?”

Time flew by; the English competition was next weekend. Lu Ping had full confidence in Shen Yuze. Come on, Shen Yuze was handsome and his English sounded great—who else could win the championship if not him?

Unexpectedly, Meng Xin shook her head. “No, I wanted to ask him about what happened last night.”

“Last night?”

“You don’t know?” Meng Xin glanced around. A shadow of gloom flashed across her beautiful face, as if she were avoiding something. “Last night, didn’t the sophomore girls stay overnight in their classrooms? I heard two girls went to the toilet together and encountered a ghost wall.”

“Ah???”

“The women’s toilet between the fire equipment room and the utility room vanished! They walked back and forth several times but couldn’t find it.”

Of course Lu Ping didn’t believe it. “How is that possible? The women’s toilet didn’t grow wings and fly away.”

“It’s true,” Meng Xin said in a low voice. “Later, those two girls mustered their courage and pushed open the utility room door, only to see a white ghostly shadow floating out from inside!”

Just as Meng Xin’s words fell, a fierce wind howled outside. All the cafeteria windows rattled loudly. With a massive crash, a small tree planted along the path snapped in half and was hurled by the gale against the wall!

Lu Ping shuddered, goosebumps erupting all over his body.

“No no no, that’s impossible…” Lu Ping silently recited the twenty-four-character mantra of prosperity, democracy, civility, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness in his mind. “Th-this is all just rumors getting twisted.”

There were countless campus ghost stories: the skeleton in the biology classroom that could run, the plaster statue in the art room that came alive. Adding a disappearing women’s toilet wasn’t all that strange.

Seeing Lu Ping refuse to believe it no matter what, Meng Xin said no more. “If you don’t believe it, then forget it. But our school used to be a mass grave, and the teaching building is a square-shaped corridor. They say when the school was built, they invited a master to check it, and they deliberately used this corridor design to seal something underground. But think about it—a square enclosing so many people. What character is that?”

“…”

“It’s ‘prison’!” Meng Xin’s pale face was utterly bloodless. The overhead fluorescent light cast shadows on her, making her look especially beautiful—but all the more like a ghost-summoning banshee from a horror movie. “Junior, take care.”

Lu Ping: “………………………….”

How was he supposed to take care now? He couldn’t even stomach lunch!

Meng Xin left, waving goodbye without a trace of cloud.

Lu Ping stared at the white chicken and the red-and-yellow scrambled eggs with tomatoes on his tray. His appetite was completely gone.

He looked pitifully at Shen Yuze across from him. “Aren’t you scared?”

Shen Yuze sneered. “You actually believe it?”

“Uh… Better safe than sorry.” Lu Ping scratched his head. “And didn’t you hear the senior? The school used to be a mass grave! So many people died there!”

Shen Yuze remained utterly calm. “With China’s long history, which patch of land hasn’t seen deaths?”

“You can’t say it like that… Natural deaths and wronged souls of the violent dead are different.”

Seeing the little mouse still steeped in superstition, Shen Yuze set down his chopsticks. “Do you know there’s a place in the Capital called Caishikou?”

“Uh, never heard of it.”

“Caishikou was the old execution ground in the Capital. The ‘beheadings at the Meridian Gate’ in TV dramas meant dragging the criminals out of the palace and chopping their heads off there. If we’re talking wronged souls, that place has more than anywhere else in China.”

Lu Ping still didn’t get it. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying—that place is right next to Chang’an Street, a fifteen-minute walk to Tiananmen Square. Housing prices there are two hundred thousand per square meter now.”

Lu Ping: “………………………….”

Shen Yuze: “Do you still think deaths are a big deal?”

Indeed, in the face of poverty, all feudal superstitions paled.

…

The storm poured down for another full day. Aside from a few hours at noon when a bit of daylight peeked through, the rest of the time remained shrouded in dark clouds. During evening self-study, the classroom atmosphere grew increasingly heavy. The girls had barely drunk any water all day; if they absolutely had to use the toilet, they’d rather trek far with an umbrella to the gymnasium or lab building.

With the natural disaster striking and people panic-stricken, the school had become an isolated island. In such conditions, rumors spread like wildfire. All the sophomore boys had heard about the haunted women’s toilet. Even a few bold ones planned to “explore” it, only to get caught by the grade director and dragged off to write self-criticisms.

When evening self-study ended, the homeroom teacher suddenly entered the classroom.

“Class, hold on—” Wu Yingxia said. “We’ve received notice from the school. Tonight, boys and girls will swap sleeping areas. Girls, all head to the gymnasium to rest. Boys, stay in the classroom to sleep.”

The moment she said this, cheers erupted from the girls. Especially Chen Miaomiao, who had seen the “white-clothed ghost” with her own eyes last night—she hugged her deskmate tightly, tears welling in her eyes.

The boys cracked their knuckles, somewhat looking forward to the night’s “big adventure.”

Only Lu Ping felt nervous about it.

Seeing this, Shen Yuze reminded him: “Two hundred thousand per square meter.”

Lu Ping: “…Thanks, not nervous anymore.”

That rundown two-story house of his family—who knew if it could even sell for two hundred thousand!

The girls quickly cleared out, and in a blink, the classroom was left with just the boys.

The liberal arts class had few boys, fewer than two hands’ worth. They collected mats and blankets, each finding an empty spot to lay them out.

As usual, Lu Ping slept next to Shen Yuze. The classroom was much warmer, with air conditioning too. Lu Ping was confident that tonight, he absolutely wouldn’t roll into Shen Yuze’s arms from the cold while sleeping!

At eleven, the teaching building lights went out on schedule. After the teachers patrolled the classrooms, they returned to the office to rest.

Once the teachers left, the bold boys couldn’t hold back anymore. Faintly, the door to the next class opened and closed. Several boys stepped out and headed toward the women’s toilet.

Ten minutes later, the boys returned.

“What was that?” discussions drifted from the next class. “The women’s toilet is right there, perfectly fine—no disappearance. Those girls are just making a fuss. I bet they were half-asleep and confused.”

“I even got water from the utility room, but the boiler was off at night—water was lukewarm.”

“Checked the men’s too. Nothing.”

“Fire equipment room was locked. Couldn’t get in.”

In the darkness, Shen Yuze turned over and looked at Lu Ping on the mat beside him. Even in the pitch black, Shen Yuze’s eyes gleamed brightly, reassuring.

Shen Yuze: “See, they all went. Nothing happened.”

Lu Ping mumbled stuffily: “That’s because there were a bunch of them…”

“Lu Ping, two hundred thousand.”

“…Sleep, sleep.”

Lu Ping quickly shut his eyes, lying flat like a corpse, limbs splayed, sleeping peacefully and honestly. Shen Yuze, afraid his shoulders would get cold, pulled the blanket up to them, then snuggled right up against him to sleep.

Not long after, Shen Yuze suddenly felt warmth in his arms as a certain timid guy rolled into his blanket.

The scaredy-cat groped for his sleeve, not daring to open his eyes, and whispered in his ear: “Shen Yuze, the rain’s picking up again. It’s so dark—don’t be scared, okay.”

Shen Yuze felt both helpless and amused. He countered: “What if I still am?”

Lu Ping said nothing, just scooted a few more centimeters toward Shen Yuze, practically pressing his whole body against him.

He answered with action—if still scared, then hug tighter.

…

Lu Ping woke to thunder.

He dazedly opened his eyes, momentarily unsure where or when he was. He spaced out in the dark for half a minute before his mind cleared.