Chapter 21: The Disappearance of Principal Zhang

2022-05-20

My mother named me Wu Meng, hoping I’d never dream again in this lifetime. Nightmares aren’t all that scary—unless, of course, you keep seeing another version of yourself in your dreams. In medicine, they call that a sign of schizophrenia, but honestly, I just wish I could stop dreaming altogether.

The next morning, someone called the police.

Principal Zhang of Yucai High School had been missing for three days. When the teachers finally broke down his door, they uncovered his secret.

To be exact, it was the secret of that person.

Which is why we ended up at Principal Zhang’s off-campus apartment.

When the teachers opened his wardrobe, they unveiled secrets that had been buried for years. When you suddenly discover the true face of someone close to you is nothing like what you believed, you start questioning everything about this world. Deep down, everyone wears a human-skin mask, and after a while, the mask becomes who they are.

“That’s quite the collection he’s got,” I sneered, shaking my head.

“I can’t believe Principal Zhang turned out to be this kind of person,” Hu Jiajia said. “He always seemed so polite and cultured.”

“Yeah, you really can’t judge a book by its cover,” someone else chimed in.

Not a single thing in Principal Zhang’s closet belonged to him—instead, every inch was packed with women’s clothing.

Hu Jiajia’s cheeks flushed. She pointed to a few pieces inside and whispered, “That’s… that’s what I lost! I even suspected it was someone I knew, since I’d just moved into a new apartment and soon after things started missing.”

“After school, I always hitch a ride with someone. Only the teachers knew my new address…” Hu Jiajia’s disbelief was written all over her face.

It wasn’t strange that Principal Zhang knew her address, and honestly, Hu Jiajia hadn’t thought much of it.

But looking at a closet full of women’s clothes, you could tell it wasn’t just Hu Jiajia he’d targeted.

“All the male teachers, out. I need a word,” I announced to everyone.

Gao Rui shot me a glance and left with a few other teachers, while Guan Zengbin and Gu Chen stayed behind.

The principal’s incident brought nearly all the female teachers to the scene, but none of them ever imagined Principal Zhang to be this kind of person.

“Have any of you lost anything before?” I asked.

Except for Hu Jiajia, everyone shook their heads. That was odd. There was no way the whole closet was just Hu Jiajia’s stuff—Principal Zhang wouldn’t target just one girl. Even after explaining how important this was for the case, they all kept shaking their heads.

We exchanged uncertain looks, until finally a young intern, Ms. Xiao Hui, hesitantly raised her hand.

After a long pause, she decided to share her story.

She’d come to intern at this school with Hu Jiajia and some others. When she found out Principal Zhang had accepted her, she was really happy—her university wasn’t prestigious, so she saw Zhang as a cultured, witty mentor.

But after a month, she started noticing things.

Every few days, Principal Zhang would call her in to give reports. Every time she handed him documents, he’d find an excuse to touch her hand. At first she thought it was just normal contact, but gradually his behavior escalated.

During her reports, Principal Zhang started sitting right beside her, his hands occasionally brushing against her. Xiao Hui valued her hard-won job, so she just tried to avoid him, never daring to speak up.

But one day, Principal Zhang finally showed his true colors.

His office was on the top floor. Students couldn’t go up there without permission, and even teachers had to make appointments, so Zhang could afford to act bold. Xiao Hui tried to push him away, even shouted, but it was no use. The office had the best soundproofing in the whole school.

She feared it was over for her—somehow, she told herself maybe this was the way to secure a permanent job. It was the only way she could comfort herself.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

Principal Zhang was clearly annoyed, but Xiao Hui was saved.

It wasn’t just anyone—it was Hu Jiajia, coming to apply for off-campus housing. She was new and didn’t know she needed an appointment.

“So that day…” Hu Jiajia murmured.

Xiao Hui nodded.

The other teachers began to share their experiences as well.

It turned out, Principal Zhang abused his position more than once, hinting to or taking advantage of many of the female teachers—especially those as timid as Xiao Hui.

“Alright, you can all go now. Oh, and who has a key to the principal’s office? Have someone get one ready, we’ll investigate there next,” I said to the group.

“I think Gao Rui has one,” offered a teacher in her fifties. “Principal Zhang really trusted that kid, always sending him on errands.”

Once it was just the three of us, Guan Zengbin eyed the colorful wardrobe. “Looks like we’ve got our man. Do we really need to search the office? Principal Zhang’s obviously the perp—he mistook Zhang Mingliang for Hu Jiajia.”

Gu Chen snapped his fingers. “Right, Zhang Mingliang was always with Gao Rui—he must know about Principal Zhang. Didn’t you say before he was sure the other guy would cooperate because Zhang Mingliang might recognize him? Everything adds up.”

“Not quite,” I said, stepping forward. “We still don’t know who fell into Old Zhang’s trap. That young guy’s identity is a mystery.”

“Probably just a thief,” Gu Chen shrugged. “Maybe it’s not even related to the case.”

I took a deep breath, catching a scent. “It’s not that simple,” I replied.

Guan Zengbin rolled his eyes. “Wu Meng, is your mental illness acting up again? Honestly, you’re on your way to becoming the next Principal Zhang.”

“The smell doesn’t match,” I said.

“Are we at a restaurant?” Guan Zengbin scoffed, “What’s this about smells?”

“When it’s all over, I’ll let you know,” I said, grinning as I headed for the door. “For now, let’s go check his office.”

I glanced back. Gu Chen hesitated, like he wanted to sniff around too.

Catching my gaze, Guan Zengbin called out without turning, “Don’t get any weird ideas, Gu Chen!”

Half an hour later, thanks to Gao Rui’s keys, we reached the principal’s office without any trouble.

We handed the computer over to Mary for remote access, but the safe in front of us posed a real challenge.

“Get someone from IT,” I suggested.

“Why bother?” Gu Chen said, hefting the safe—and so began his epic cabinet-demolition adventure.

Mary’s computer search didn’t turn up any useful clues.

Gu Chen, drenched in sweat, finally smashed the safe into a heap of scrap metal.

Inside the safe was some cash, and a USB drive.

The USB contained a huge stash of photos. Most were of Hu Jiajia, with the rest featuring other teachers.

“Do we even need to discuss it? It’s got to be Principal Zhang,” Guan Zengbin said.

I locked eyes with Hu Jiajia. She stared back. Why did Principal Zhang target Hu Jiajia in particular? She was the only one whose belongings had gone missing. Then again, she was the only teacher living alone off-campus while the others stayed in the school’s shared apartments.

Maybe it was because there were too many prying eyes at school—the principal couldn’t risk visiting the teachers’ dorm, so he targeted the one girl who lived alone.

“Did Principal Zhang ever do anything else to you?” I asked Hu Jiajia.

“No,” she answered.

“Are you sure?” I pressed.

Her gaze darted away before she quietly said, “No.”

Right then, Gu Chen appeared with a letter. “Wu Meng, I found some of Principal Zhang’s notes.”

He pointed to several scattered words on the papers: “Do”, “Not”, “Force”, “Me”.

Earlier, someone had scrawled ‘Do not force me’ on Hu Jiajia’s wall. The handwriting was a perfect match for the notes found in Zhang’s letters. No doubt, those words on the wall came from Principal Zhang himself.

Still, I had a nagging feeling I was missing something.

“Looks like you were right about the case—Principal Zhang accidentally killed Zhang Mingliang. All that’s left is to find the principal and the whole thing’s wrapped up. Who knows where he’s run off to,” Gu Chen said, patting me on the shoulder.

“Is that so?” I wondered silently.

“Let’s wait until we actually catch Principal Zhang before drawing any conclusions,” I told everyone.