Chapter 275: Chapter 275 Continuous Nightmares_1
Fang Yiyi quickly walked over, unzipped Zhou Zimeng’s backpack and, sure enough, found her own phone inside.
Looking at Zhou Zimeng with disdain, Fang Yiyi coldly said, "You really can’t judge a person by appearance. Our class’s beauty is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing."
Zhou Zimeng’s face turned even paler. She vehemently shook her head and defended herself, "It wasn’t me... I didn’t..."
Fang Yiyi relentlessly retorted, "Caught red-handed, and you still dare to argue?"
Chen Lan was surprised that the phone was found in Zhou Zimeng’s bag. Though Zhou Zimeng wasn’t the most academically outstanding student, she had decent grades, a cheerful personality, and was on good terms with her classmates.
Zhou Zimeng was totally confused and didn’t know how to explain. She just kept shaking her head and saying, "It wasn’t me. It really wasn’t me."
However, the phone was indeed found in her bag. All her classmates saw it, and anything she said seemed futile.
Chen Lan approached Zhou Zimeng and Fang Yiyi and said, "Alright, since the phone has been recovered, you two stay behind. The rest of the students may leave."
Upon hearing Chen Lan’s words, the other students began to pack their bags and slowly filed out of the room.
But everyone cast her a glance as they passed Zhou Zimeng.
Their gazes were filled with contempt, scorn, sympathy, disgust...
Zhou Zimeng watched as nearly all her classmates left the room. By tomorrow, or even tonight, news that she was a thief would spread throughout the whole school. In a few days, her relatives, neighbors, and her parents’ colleagues would likely also know.
Everyone would look at her with those eyes full of contempt and disgust.
As if saying: "Look, that pretty girl is a thief. She actually has sticky fingers!"
Just as all the students were about to leave, the person Zhou Zimeng cared about the most also stood up.
Yang Yihang, the class’s sports representative, the handsomest boy in class, and the crush of many girls.
Just last week, he confessed his feelings to Zhou Zimeng. They both agreed to focus on their studies first, aim to get into the best high school in N city, and then enter the same university.
As Yang Yihang walked past Zhou Zimeng, he paused and looked at her.
Zhou Zimeng had kept her head down all this time, avoiding everyone’s gaze. But when Yang Yihang looked at her, she raised her head and met his eyes.
And then, she regretted it.
His eyes were filled with disappointment and suspicion. It was as if he was saying, "I can’t believe you’re this kind of girl. I must have been terribly mistaken about you!"
After stopping for a few seconds beside Zhou Zimeng, Yang Yihang too turned and walked towards the classroom door.
As Zhou Zimeng watched Yang Yihang’s retreating back, tears involuntarily streamed down her face. It felt as if once Yang Yihang left, he would never look back.
Out of the blue, a crazy thought suddenly burst into Zhou Zimeng’s mind.
She couldn’t accept this treatment from others. She couldn’t bear their scornful and suspicious looks, and she was determined to prove her innocence.
"I didn’t steal anything!" Zhou Zimeng suddenly yelled towards Yang Yihang, who was heading for the door.
The few remaining people in the classroom were startled and stared in shock at Zhou Zimeng.
Chen Lan was about to say something to comfort Zhou Zimeng, to tell her not to panic.
But before she could speak, Zhou Zimeng turned and ran towards the window.
Chen Lan didn’t initially understand what was happening. It wasn’t until Zhou Zimeng stood on the windowsill that she realized something was wrong. Horrified, she shouted, "Zhou Zimeng, come down! Don’t do anything foolish!"
Zhou Zimeng seemed not to hear. She turned towards the evening sky outside the window and yelled, "I didn’t steal anything!"
Then, she jumped.
The classroom was on the fifth floor. Zhou Zimeng died instantly upon hitting the ground, blood pooling around her.
Zhou Zimeng’s homeroom teacher, school administrators, the police, and her family arrived at the scene one after another.
The scene was chaotic. Chen Lan could feel her head buzzing, and she was almost incapable of thinking.
Of course, Zhou Zimeng’s family was not easily pacified. However, after viewing the surveillance footage, it was clear that Chen Lan had not reprimanded or scolded Zhou Zimeng in any way. She had only asked her to stay in the classroom to wait for the homeroom teacher.
Thinking of the bigger picture, the school voluntarily provided Zhou Zimeng’s family with some compensation. They also held Chen Lan responsible for her lack of supervision and docked her pay for three months.
Chen Lan did not think there was anything wrong with her handling of the situation. But indeed, Zhou Zimeng had jumped from the building right under her watch. Out of sympathy for the girl who had cut her own life short and the tragedy of it all, Chen Lan accepted the penalty from the school.
A month later, the commotion caused by the suicide finally settled down.
The family received the compensation and stopped causing trouble for the school. However, the shadow of their child’s departure would probably forever cast a pall over the family.
The classmates were the same as ever: they attended classes, went to school and went home, all intentionally avoiding mentioning the sensitive name. Perhaps, given some time, they would even forget about it.
Even Chen Lan thought, what had passed could not be changed. All she could do was to continue to live her life properly.
However, the nightmares she had every night dragged her back to that brutal, blood-stained dusk time and time again.
After telling her story, Chen Lan let out a long sigh, "Every night, regardless of whether I go to sleep early or late, the nightmare appears. The moment when I wake up in fright, it’s always midnight.
I have tried to sleep after midnight, but I inevitably toss and turn until the scream sounds by my ear, and I jolt awake until dawn."
Chen Lan looked at Qin Sisi pleadingly and asked, "Sisi, can you help me? I’m close to breaking down."
Ye You had confirmed the presence of a ghost, so naturally, Qin Sisi was determined to see this through.
Qin Sisi responded to Chen Lan, "Rest assured, I will do everything in my power."
A sense of relief and gratitude washed over Chen Lan’s pale face. She said softly, "Thank you. Is there anything you need me to do?"
Qin Sisi paused to think and then said, "Not at the moment. I will stay with you tonight to see if you can get a good night’s sleep."
At that moment, Lin Shan’s clear voice rang out, "Ladies, dinner is ready. Let’s continue chatting after eating, ok?"
Qin Sisi and Chen Lan smiled at each other, rose from their seats, and walked into the dining room.
When Lin Shan brought out the four dishes and one soup she had made herself, Qin Sisi exclaimed in surprise, "Shan shan, did you make all these?"
In the past, when Lin Ying was around, Lin Shan didn’t seem to be very good at cooking.
Lin Shan replied proudly, "Of course! How about that? I’m pretty impressive now, right?"
Qin Sisi gave her a thumbs up, saying, "Impressive indeed, it really is true that one should not take a person’s ability for granted after a mere three days."
The three girls gathered around the dining table, discussing topics of interest to girls while eating.
Ye You glanced at Qin Sisi, who seemed to have forgotten about him, and quietly started munching on his bread at the side.
