NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28 - The Newspaper
The dormitory was very quiet.
Xiao Ying was curled up in her bed, with the curtains tightly drawn. No one knew what she was doing inside.
He Gu lay on his own bed, organizing the information in his mind while waiting for noon to come.
The morning passed quietly.
At exactly 12 pm, the alarm on He Gu’s phone went off as scheduled.
He Gu’s spirit was invigorated. He immediately jumped down from the top bunk and headed out without saying a word.
A few minutes later, He Gu had arrived at the cafeteria.
As before, the cafeteria was empty, without a single person coming for meals.
Behind the six serving windows, a cafeteria worker stood at each one.
What surprised He Gu was that the workers behind 5 of the windows this time were dressed in red uniforms.
Only behind window #4 stood the fat chef in his white cook’s uniform.
The fat chef’s left arm was in a plaster cast hung in front of his chest. His face was unnaturally pale, and his eyes were full of red veins, as if he had not slept for days.
He Gu looked around cautiously. With no other choice, he walked over to window #4.
Seeing He Gu, the fat chef bared his teeth in a grin that looked somewhat sinister: “You again, student?”
He Gu’s heart quivered as he looked into the chef’s eyes, but he braced himself and forced a smile: “It’s me.”
The fat chef went on, “Too bad, no lamb slaughtered today, so no lamb for you.”
Then the chef suddenly changed his tone: “Eat whatever you want today. Tomorrow there’ll be nothing left.”
Hearing this, He Gu’s heart tightened: “What do you mean?”
The fat chef said lightly: “There’s no one left on campus now except you still coming to the cafeteria. We can’t stay open any longer.”
“Tomorrow we’ll close down. If you don’t leave campus, you’d better stock up on food from the store.”
The fat chef then waved his hand: “Alright, what will you have today? I’ll dish it up.”
He Gu contemplated the chef’s words. Something didn’t seem quite right.
But there was no time to think too much now. He randomly ordered several dishes, meat and vegetables.
The fat chef filled up a tray and handed it to He Gu.
He Gu then tentatively said: “Give me another serving of the same dishes. I want to bring it back for my roommate.”
He Gu noticed that as soon as he said this, the other five cafeteria workers at the windows simultaneously turned their heads to look over.
Those five workers in red had no expression on their faces. They just stared straight at this side, but this time not looking at He Gu, rather fixing their eyes on the fat chef.
The fat chef was silent for a moment before sighing deeply: “Cafeteria rules say no taking out meat dishes.”
“You can only bring your roommate some veggie dishes.”
He Gu sighed helplessly: “Alright, just give me a random veggie plate then.”
The fat chef nodded, took a lunchbox and placed it on the counter, then dished up rice and four veggie dishes into it.
After paying, He Gu carried his tray in one hand and the plastic bag with the lunchbox in the other. He went to the corner and started eating.
Same as last time, while He Gu ate, all the cafeteria workers except the fat chef kept staring straight at him.
Perhaps the portions the fat chef had dished up were too generous this time. He Gu ate rather slowly, taking nearly half an hour.
Finally He Gu finished everything on his tray.
Putting down his chopsticks, He Gu got up and left the cafeteria.
Stepping out of the cafeteria door, He Gu let out a long breath.
That was close!
Pulling tricks under so many watching eyes was as difficult as cheating on an exam!
After walking some distance, He Gu looked back. Making sure no one had come out of the cafeteria, he carefully took out several soybean-sized pieces of braised beef from his sleeve.
The reason his meal took so long was that He Gu had tried to avoid the cafeteria workers’ eyes while sneakily concealing these small chunks of meat in his sleeve.
Taking out a tissue from his pocket, He Gu carefully wrapped the beef and put it in his pocket before heading briskly for the dorm building.
Arriving at the dorm entrance, the dorm caretaker was dozing in his chair, an overcoat draped over his uniform with a newspaper in his hand.
He Gu lightened his footsteps, trying to slip past the caretaker. But just then, the caretaker seemed to have fallen asleep. His hand went slack and the newspaper slipped, landing at He Gu’s feet.
He Gu was wary at this. It seemed like this was the second time today the caretaker had dropped the paper by his feet.
After a moment’s hesitation, He Gu squatted down to pick up the newspaper and handed it to the caretaker.
“Sir, you dropped your paper.”
However, the caretaker showed no reaction at all, leaning back in his chair and seeming to be in deep sleep.
He Gu frowned, about to put the paper on the caretaker’s lap and leave.
Just then, a headline on the newspaper caught He Gu’s attention.
[Kangde Pharmaceutical Factory Shuttle Plunges Off Cliff! 1 Teacher and 6 Students From Our City School Perish!]
…
He Gu read further. The text said a shuttle bus taking interns from a partner school had plunged off a cliff last week. The 6 students and 1 teacher onboard were killed at the scene.
Although the news did not directly state which school the students were from, Kangde Pharmaceutical only had one partner school in this city!
Reading between the lines, He Gu could easily determine that the 6 deceased students mentioned were his 6 roommates!
But Teacher Fang had said 7 students died. Why did the report only mention 6?
And there was also a teacher?
He Gu kept reading and finally found a line in the story: “The deceased teacher, surnamed Fang, was the mentor for the 6 interning students…”
At this, He Gu’s mind buzzed.
It was Teacher Fang!
Teacher Fang had perished in the accident last week!?
But…He Gu had seen her just this morning!
Teacher Fang had even given He Gu the internship notice, telling him to leave tonight…
If Teacher Fang died last week, then who was that this morning!?
At that moment, He Gu felt a chill run down his spine.
Things were not as simple as they seemed!
“I see…”
Thoughts raced through He Gu’s mind. It was as if many things suddenly became clear.
He Gu then gently placed the newspaper back on the caretaker’s lap and headed upstairs swiftly.
Just arriving on the third floor, He Gu encountered Wang Tao coming out with a basketball.
Seeing He Gu, Wang Tao’s expression was strange as he said: “Damn, Gu bro, what happened to you…? Just one night without seeing you and you’ve become like this?”
“I know that girl in your room is a knockout, but you can’t let yourself go like this. Take it easy, or you’ll be drained dry!”
He Gu glared at him: “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Wang Tao clicked his tongue: “That debauched look on your face… Really bro, listen to my advice, take it easy.”
After saying this, Wang Tao patted He Gu’s shoulder meaningfully before leaving with his basketball.
He Gu was confused. He took out his phone and looked in the front camera.
He was stunned by what he saw in the camera.
The He Gu in the picture had dark eye circles like a panda bear, sunken eyes, a lifeless complexion, and overall looked nearly drained…