567: Chapter 563: Murderer?
567: Chapter 563: Murderer?
Seeing Su Mengchen so enthusiastic, Ye Fan could only smile and said, “Hello, Teacher Su.”
Su Mengchen, seeing Ye Fan smiling back at her, felt inexplicably happy and couldn’t help but giggle twice, her bright eyes and white teeth shining, her smile blooming like a flower.
However, Ye Fan, having seen many extraordinary things in the world, felt nothing about Su Mengchen’s smile and maintained a light smile.
Su Mengchen knew her smile was very attractive, yet to her surprise, Ye Fan seemed unaffected even at such close distance, and she couldn’t help but think more highly of him in her heart.
“Are you living nearby?” asked Su Mengchen with a smile.
“No,” Ye Fan responded.
“I was just wandering around.”
“Oh,” Su Mengchen was slightly disappointed, then she smiled and said, “I teach nearby.
Look, that’s Mingde High School.”
Saying so, she extended her arm gracefully and pointed toward the road south of the crossroads.
Following the direction Su Mengchen pointed, Ye Fan saw a rather imposing school gate.
Looking at the gate, Ye Fan suddenly thought, “Could it be possible that the perpetrator is someone from the school?
Teachers or other staff members would have the liberty and time.”
Considering the characteristic shared among the three victims, who all loved wearing red and were murdered in their rooms without anyone noticing, it was clear the murderer had plenty of time to track his victims.
Coming back to his senses, Su Mengchen had already smiled and said, “Mr.
Ye, you must be from out of town?”
“How did you know?” Ye Fan inquired.
Su Mengchen pursed her lips and chuckled lightly, “Just a guess.
First of all, your Mandarin is too standard, even more so than the language teachers here.
Secondly, your demeanor is different from the locals here, it feels like you come from a big city.
Lastly, you seem to know very little about Mingde High School.
“Heh, indeed I’ve only arrived in Mingde county a few days ago,” Ye Fan nodded and said, “You mentioned you teach at Mingde High School, what do you teach?
“I teach Physics,” Su Mengchen responded with a laugh.
Ye Fan gave a faint smile and said, “It seems my deductive abilities are not as good as yours.
How is Mingde High School?
How’s the environment?”
“The environment is very good.
Mingde High School has a history of sixty or seventy years, and there are several ancient trees that have grown very large,” said Su Mengchen.
“Would you like me to show you around?”
“Would that be convenient?” Ye Fan asked.
“Of course, it’s convenient.
Let’s go,” Su Mengchen replied with a smile.
“Then I shall impose,” Ye Fan replied with a smile, and walked shoulder to shoulder with Su Mengchen toward Mingde High School.
Along the way, Ye Fan casually inquired in a conversational tone, “Does your school have any remarkable personalities?”
As soon as the topic was brought up, Su Mengchen started chattering about the teachers and other staff at Mingde High School.
Since Ye Fan was intentionally leading the conversation, after discussing the notable individuals, Su Mengchen continued to talk about other ordinary teachers and staff members.
Though Su Mengchen was beautiful, she was relatively down-to-earth and displayed a trait common to most women—gossiping.
After walking about a hundred meters, Ye Fan and Su Mengchen finally reached the main gate of Mingde High School.
As the high school had strict management for outsiders, Ye Fan had to fill out a visitor’s registration form.
As Ye Fan filled out the visitor registration form, he distinctly felt hostile gazes from a young security guard, a young teacher on duty, and a middle-aged school leader.
However, he completely ignored them.
After registering, Ye Fan and Su Mengchen continued walking side by side into the campus.
At this time, it was evening self-study period, the campus was brightly lit but very quiet.
Walking about seven or eight meters away, Ye Fan decided to compliment Su Mengchen, “During the registration just now, there were four people beside us, and aside from an old security guard, the other three were glaring at me as if they wanted to eat me.
It seems you are quite popular at school.”
“Hee hee, it’s okay,” Su Mengchen couldn’t help feeling a little proud.
Normally, if someone said this, she wouldn’t feel anything, even finding it a bit annoying.
“Look, those three big trees over there are ancient trees that are eighty or ninety years old,” she said, a bit embarrassedly changing the subject and pointing to the front left.
Following the direction Su Mengchen pointed, Ye Fan indeed saw three very tall trees.
Next, Ye Fan and Su Mengchen walked together towards the ancient trees.
When Su Mengchen wanted to introduce the history of the trees, Ye Fan already said, “You mentioned a history teacher with the last name Hong just now, right?
I think Teacher Hong is quite interesting.”
“Yes, he really is interesting.” Su Mengchen then began gossiping about the teachers and other staff members at Mingde High School.
After viewing the ancient trees, Ye Fan and Su Mengchen continued their stroll around the campus, with Su Mengchen continuing her gossip.
“Across from my dorm, there’s a teacher with the last name Jin who is a bit weird,” Su Mengchen began gossiping about yet another teacher.
Ye Fan became somewhat intrigued, “Oh?
“He’s over forty and has always been a bachelor.
I heard he had a girlfriend before, but somehow they broke up,” Su Mengchen said.
“Actually, he’s quite a catch.
It’s said that even women in their early twenties are willing to be with him, but he just doesn’t want to get married.
A few times, I inadvertently saw him wearing red socks.
I suspect he might be gay.”
At this point, Ye Fan paid more attention and tentatively asked, “Is he somewhat solitary?”
He’s relatively outgoing and humorous.
He’s a literature teacher who likes poetry and prose, and he often recites philosophical-sounding verses,” Su Mengchen said.
Ye Fan was slightly disappointed; if this Teacher Jin were more solitary and introverted, disliking social interactions, he would be a suspect.
Just then, during the break in the evening self-study, students poured out of their classrooms, and the quiet campus suddenly became noisy.
“Hee hee, I got so caught up chatting with you that I almost forgot to invite you to my dorm to sit for a bit and drink some hot tea to warm up,” Su Mengchen said.
She trusted Ye Fan’s character, believing him to be a courageous person who could face danger and yet didn’t bother interacting with her when she approached him.
Of course, the main reason was that she felt an indescribable charm about Ye Fan that attracted her.
Ye Fan intended to decline, but suddenly thought of possibly encountering Su Mengchen’s neighbor, Teacher Jin, and immediately swallowed the words he had been about to say.
Although he had mostly ruled out Teacher Jin, seeing him in person would better confirm whether he was the culprit or not.
So, he nodded and said, “Then I’ll disturb you.”
“Hee hee, it’s no disturbance.
Although I couldn’t invite you to a meal to express my gratitude, I must at least offer you some hot tea while you’re at the school,” Su Mengchen laughed, “This way, please.”
She made a welcoming gesture.
Ye Fan smiled and nodded, following Su Mengchen towards the direction of the faculty dormitory building.