Chapter 336: Teacher Gao

2022-05-20

Gu Chen’s father let out another heavy sigh and said, “You know, Teacher Gao always looked so proper and respectable. Who would’ve thought he could actually do something like this? You really can’t judge a person by appearances. Gu Hui was mischievous, sure, but I don’t believe she’d jump into a puddle just for fun. I also doubt her death was really just an accident. But I can’t say for sure that Teacher Gao killed her either.”

I just shook my head helplessly and stayed quiet. People see things differently depending on their situation and whose side they’re on. From where I stand, it seems far more likely that Gu Hui’s death was a tragic accident. Even I stepped right into that pit without noticing—so for a five-year-old girl, it wouldn’t be surprising if she did the same by mistake.

We kept walking. After a while, loud shouts and arguing echoed from ahead. Looking up, I spotted a crowd gathered in the distance, brawling in the mud like sumo wrestlers.

“Gao Dafu! If you’re a real man, then admit it! You killed Gu Hui, didn’t you? You did it out of spite!”

A man’s voice rang out, trembling with both fury and tears.

“That’s my brother,” Gu Chen said quickly. “We have to see what’s going on.”

We hurried toward the commotion. As we got closer, the scene came into focus under the moonlight. Several villagers were holding someone back—he was cursing furiously. That was Gu Chen’s cousin, Gu Zhi.

In the mud lay a tall, thin man—clearly Teacher Gao. He was flat on his back, wheezing for breath. Mud and blood were smeared across his face, one eye was swollen shut, and his whole body shook.

“What happened?” Gu Chen called out.

As soon as Gu Chen spoke, everyone turned to look. It was obvious everyone here knew him; in this village, Gu Chen was a big deal. At the sight of him, Gu Zhi broke down in tears again. He sobbed out, “It’s this bastard! He killed Gu Hui! He drove my mom to her grave! Gu Chen, make him pay!”

Gu Chen frowned and quickly said, “You guys, help Gao Dafu up. Brother, calm down—fighting won’t solve anything. Dad, keep an eye on him. Take Gao Dafu inside. My colleagues and I will find out the truth.”

Gu Chen’s words held real weight here. A few villagers did exactly as he said.

In no time, Gao Dafu was brought inside.

Gu Chen faced Gu Zhi and said softly, “Brother, take a breath. Leave Gu Hui’s case to me.”

Gu Zhi nodded hard, bursting into tears again. “Brother, I’ll leave everything to you.”

Gu Chen glanced at me. Together, we followed into Gao Dafu’s house. Inside, Teacher Gao was dabbing at his muddy, bloodied face with a towel.

“We’re—” I had just started speaking when Gao Dafu raised a hand to stop me.

After a moment, Gao Dafu spoke. “I know who you are. Gu Chen and I were classmates back in elementary and junior high. We went to different schools after that, and after Gu Chen left for university, we barely kept in touch. I figured he probably didn’t remember me.”

I frowned. Earlier, Gu Chen only mentioned a teacher named Gao getting fired—he never told me he and this teacher were old classmates. It seemed like Gu Chen was trying to distance himself from both men—his cousin and his old friend.

Gu Chen sat down in a chair and said, “Of course I remember. The three of us used to play together all the time.”

“Yeah,” Gao Dafu sneered. “Your brother once told me we’d be best friends for life.”

I could hear the bitterness in Gao Dafu’s voice. Once life and death are involved, even family can turn against each other—let alone childhood friends.

While he talked with Gu Chen, I quietly observed Teacher Gao. Judging by his looks, he was about twenty-four or twenty-five, around the same age as Gu Chen. He was actually pretty good-looking, no wonder the girls liked him.

Looking around, I noticed he seemed to live here alone.

“You live here by yourself?” I asked slowly.

Teacher Gao nodded, scrubbing the mud from his clothes with the towel. “My parents died young. My dad passed away when I was in high school, and my mom died when I was in college. I didn’t even have money for the funeral—had to borrow from the villagers.”

“If I still had family, I wouldn’t be in this mess now,” he said. “Guess it’s fate. Why did I bother taking that kid to and from school in the first place? If I had family, would she have accused me of such things?”

I tapped the desk and asked, “So you’re saying a seven-year-old girl just made everything up? You didn’t do anything?”

Teacher Gao snorted twice. “How would I know why she said that? If I could guess, do you think I’d ever be alone with her?”

Teacher Gao glanced at me, then went on. “Honestly, I always thought stuff like this only happened abroad. You know how hard they go to protect kids now? Anything you do can be twisted by someone looking for trouble.”

“When did our village become like this?” Teacher Gao asked me.

I answered, “No point in dodging the question. Hu Ningning said you touched her, and Gu Hui backed her up. How do you explain that?”

Teacher Gao replied, “There’s no way to explain, because it’s just nonsense from two little kids. One day, Hu Ningning’s grandparents went out to play cards and locked the door. I was going to drop her off where they play, but she said she wanted to come over to my place instead.”

“So I brought Hu Ningning to my place,” Teacher Gao continued. “We’d barely been there a few minutes when she said her stomach hurt and asked if I could rub it. I didn’t think anything of it, so I did. Suddenly she hugged me and said she wanted to marry me, then kissed me.”

Hearing this come from a grown man unsettled me.

Noticing my expression, Teacher Gao said, “No one believed me before, but that’s the truth. I sent Hu Ningning back right away. After that, except for bringing her to and from school, I never spoke to her again. I know her parents aren’t around, and her grandparents only care about playing cards. They claim they’re watching her, but that’s not what I’d call parenting.”

Teacher Gao shook his head. “She noticed I was keeping my distance, so she started bothering me even more. Where did a seven-year-old kid learn this stuff? She’s just started first grade, but you wouldn’t believe the things she does.”

“So what did you do?” I asked.

Teacher Gao got a little angry. “What could I do? I’m a grown man! I had to avoid her. I told my girlfriend but she just laughed, said it was childhood fantasy and not to worry. Was I supposed to broadcast this everywhere? If the villagers heard any of it, what do you think would happen?”

“They’d probably tear you to pieces,” I said.

“Exactly!” Teacher Gao slammed the table. “That’s just it. Even with how crazy and unbelievable this is, these ignorant villagers would never believe me. They think I’m some criminal, like I have magic tricks up my sleeve to fool them. What tricks could I possibly have?”

As Teacher Gao spoke, he got more and more worked up, voice trembling with rage. He even stammered a bit. “First they stormed my school and got me fired. Ruined my life. And now, a little girl dies, and they pin that on me too. Doesn’t matter what I say—the minute anything happens, everyone blames me, the supposed hypocrite!”

As I listened, I weighed the odds. Could a seven-year-old really act that way? I couldn’t say for sure—maybe Teacher Gao was lying, pretending to be the victim. After all, if everyone believed he was the killer, surely some would pity him too.

Teacher Gao continued, “Go ahead and investigate if you want, but I’ll tell you this: I didn’t kill anyone. I don’t even know what really happened. I must’ve done something terrible in a past life to have everyone turn against me like this. I’ve tried everything to avoid trouble, but somehow it always finds me.”

“You’ve made some good points,” I said quietly. “Have you been out at all lately?”

“No!” Teacher Gao replied. “I’ve been at home the whole time.”

I nodded and asked again, “Then how do you get by? How do you get your meals?”

Teacher Gao said, “I go out to buy food, obviously—but no one in the village will sell to me. I can’t farm, so I have to rely on old coworkers from the school to bring food once a week. I make a little money online drawing comics, maybe a thousand yuan a month.”

“Alright,” I said. “Your answers seem reasonable. But can you explain why there’s a pair of mud-caked rain boots by your wall? Someone told me you haven’t left the house these past few days.”