Chapter 345: The Troublemaker in the Classroom

2022-05-20

I nodded and told Sun Qingqing, “Don’t worry, I know how to handle the details. I won’t scare the kids—I’ll just ask if they know where Li Jun and Hu Ningning went. Sometimes, kids understand each other better and know what their friends are really up to.”

Sun Qingqing nodded too. “Good.”

Marching ahead, Sun Qingqing went through the door and called out to the elementary schoolers inside. “Everyone quiet down, please! I mentioned earlier that an uncle would come by to teach us a few useful things. Pay close attention, alright?”

She turned back, met my eyes and quietly whispered, “I’ve spoken with their parents and told them you’re here to talk about safety. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have agreed. You know parents would never say yes for this sort of questioning, right? Understand?”

I nodded, glanced over at Gu Chen and could only shake my head helplessly.

Gu Chen shrugged. “Don’t look at me. This one’s all yours.”

I’d never even stood on a lectern before. For my first time, nerves hit me hard, but I had to tough it out and walk up there. As I walked, I tried to sound cheerful. “So, kids, what number do you call if you’re ever in danger?”

Even I was surprised at how cute my voice sounded. I guess I was trying to connect with the elementary kids.

But none of them bought it. All I got were stone-cold faces. One girl piped up, “Why are you acting all cutesy? It’s gross!”

The rest burst out laughing, and there I stood, completely embarrassed. It was obvious—these kids were a lot more mature than kids in my day. Back then, we never would’ve dared to be so bold or outspoken.

I cleared my throat and tried again. “Ahem, just call me Brother Wu. Who knows what to do if you run into a bad person?”

Suddenly, hands shot up. Some shouted they’d call the police. Others said they’d run. A few even talked about going down together—answers were all over the place. Still, it was clear the kids had strong safety awareness. The mood was lively now, so I started to ask about Li Jun and Hu Ningning.

The kids were fully warmed up, so when I asked, they didn’t hold back at all.

“Does anyone know where Hu Ningning and Li Jun went? What are they usually like?” I asked.

The room buzzed with chatter, but I caught a pattern. A lot of boys thought Li Jun was cool—he dared to talk back to teachers, lead the way to the river to play. Pretty much, if a teacher said don’t do it, he’d be the first to give it a shot. Most girls felt those boys were immature and unreliable. As for Hu Ningning, everyone agreed she was well-behaved and a good student.

Unlike Li Jun, who got mixed reviews, every comment about Hu Ningning was positive—almost suspiciously so. Either she really was that good, or the other kids didn’t dare say anything bad about her.

Just then, a little girl tugged my sleeve and whispered, “Brother, can I tell you something?”

I looked down and saw her wide, watery eyes and little face scrunched with worry—absolutely adorable and a little heartbreaking too.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, gently patting her head.

“I’ll tell you something, but you can’t tell anyone else!” she whispered.

“I promise,” I said.

She hesitated, then spoke. “It’s about Hu Ningning. I don’t think she’s as good as everyone says. One time, Hu Ningning broke the glass in the classroom by accident, but she blamed someone else. There was no one else there that day, she was on duty. I saw her do it.”

She paused, then went on in a tiny voice. “She thought no one noticed, but I saw. But when the teacher asked, she wouldn’t admit it. She even said it might have been Li Jun, that she saw him in the classroom. I got scared and didn’t dare tell the teacher.”

“Why were you afraid to tell the teacher?” I asked.

She answered slowly, “Because Teacher Sun Qingqing really likes Hu Ningning. Every time something happens, she never scolds her—always covers for her. Just because Hu Ningning is a good student, the teacher never says a word against her. And she’s our class monitor, nobody dares mess with her.”

I frowned. “What about Li Jun? Is he scared of her too?”

“No way,” she said. “Nobody dares mess with him.”

I nodded. So it probably wasn’t Li Jun who took Hu Ningning away. From what this girl said, even Li Jun wouldn’t dare go against Hu Ningning. Then what was she up to—just going out to play? The surveillance showed Hu Ningning leaving on her own. Nobody took her.

“How about Li Jun? What kind of person is he?” I pressed.

“Li Jun is so annoying,” she complained. “He’s always bullying people, especially girls. One time I saw him pick on a pregnant lady on the bus.”

“He bullied a pregnant woman?” I echoed, shocked.

She nodded. “It was after school, I was on the bus going home. Then a pregnant auntie got on. I don’t really know what happened, but when it was time to get off, Li Jun suddenly shoved her right off the bus. She landed on her stomach. I saw blood. Li Jun ran right off too!”

I felt a chill run down my spine. For an eight-year-old kid to do something like that… What else might he be capable of?

“You saw it yourself?”

She nodded. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Do you know why he did it?”

“I have no idea what actually happened,” she said. “All I saw was the end.”

She didn’t seem like she was lying—not about something like this. Which meant the story was likely true. Li Jun pushed a pregnant woman off a bus, and there was blood. If the woman was bleeding from her stomach, the baby must’ve been in danger.

“What route was it, do you remember? And when did it happen?”

She screwed up her face trying to remember. “It was Bus Route Ten. I take that bus home every day. I forget the exact date, but it was the day we got our midterm results back.”

“Alright, that helps.”

It’s June now—June third, to be precise, and students everywhere are about to get out for summer break. If it was the day of midterm grades, that would have been back in March, about two months ago. We had the time frame and the route. If this really happened, it shouldn’t be hard to check.

Suddenly, a guess bubbled up inside me.

I patted the girl’s shoulder. “Thank you. That’s really helpful.”

She leaned in and whispered, “Don’t let Teacher Sun Qingqing find out, please.”

I nodded.

Glancing back, I saw the other students crowding around Gu Chen.

I stood up and said to Gu Chen, “Let’s go. I’ve got what I needed.”

Kids were starting to leave for the day. Gu Chen followed me outside and asked, “You said you’ve got what you wanted? What did you find out?”

I looked at Gu Chen and Uncle Chen behind him, then answered, “That’s right. One little girl shared something really interesting. Li Jun is the class’s official troublemaker, and in the teacher’s eyes, Hu Ningning seems sweet and perfect—but to the other kids, she might not be so innocent. She’s not an ordinary girl. I think the key to all of this is her.”

Uncle Chen and Gu Chen hadn’t heard what the girl whispered, so they looked puzzled. Gu Chen asked, “So what do we do next?”

I explained, “Back in the classroom, I learned something new: a girl once saw Li Jun push a pregnant woman off a bus. We don’t know what happened to make him do it. That girl only saw the aftermath. Our job now is to figure out what really happened.”

Uncle Chen scratched his head. “Wait, you’re saying an eight-year-old kid pushed a pregnant woman off a bus? That can’t be right, can it?”

I shook my head. “Which is precisely why we have to investigate.”

“Where do we start?” Uncle Chen asked.

“We know it happened around March, and it was Bus Route Ten. It wasn’t that long ago, so people should remember. A case like this would definitely have a report on file. The question is, who has jurisdiction?”

Uncle Chen thought about it for a moment. “If it was a bus, I can contact someone from the bus company directly and we can ask to investigate.”

With that, Uncle Chen pulled out his phone and made a call.

Half an hour later, Uncle Chen looked at me. “Let’s go, we’re heading to the bus company. The driver from that day is there waiting for us. When I mentioned what happened, he remembered right away. Said it’d been the first time he ever experienced anything like that in his life…”