48 Hours a Day - Chapter 658

Chapter 658: Reporter Xiao Song

The security guard allowed Zhang Heng to enter the school without asking any questions.

Zhang Heng walked towards the gymnasium. When he went to the second floor and confirmed no one around him, Zhang Heng jumped into the teaching building through the window.

The school’s students had all gone home a while ago, and not a single soul wandered the silent corridor.

Desks, chairs, blackboard, podium, and the wall could all be seen through the glass.

The news did not mention the children’s names that drowned in the river to protect citizens’ privacy. The reporters only mentioned only their surnames, but fortunately, it wasn’t too hard for Zhang Heng to find their full names. Knowing their ages, it wasn’t too difficult locating their classes either. After he arrived at the right floor, Zhang Heng checked the classrooms one by one through the glass.

Soon, he found an empty immaculate seat, one that had no books on it but a bunch of white lilies.

Zhang Heng looked up at the signboard in front of the door. It showed Grade 5, Class 4. Using his public transport card, he pried the door open and walked in. There was nothing left on the table or the drawer. It seemed that the child’s family had come to take away all its belongings after the tragedy. Later on, the class students bought the white lilies with their class fees, and they had been sitting there a while.

The poster at the back, however, was somewhat helpful to Zhang Heng.

After Lin drowned, her classmates had made a special poster to remember her. Zhang Heng also found out that Lin’s full name was Lin Sisi. Her classmates had said many good things about her in the poster, including how willing she always was to offer a hand to those in need and her impeccable academic performance.

Zhang Heng skipped all the useless information and continued reading the rest. Soon, he found two notable points. The first thing was that Lin Sisi was a hushed girl. Of course, it was a nice way to describe her. In reality, she was timid and rarely interacted with others, where she sat alone most of the time, engaged in her own thoughts. And the second noteworthy point was that she was very interested in astronomy.

The second point surprised Zhang Heng a little. The internet was a widely used commodity in the modern-day, and it offered much entertainment. Finding a child that had an interest in a subject like astronomy was extremely rare. Besides, Lin Sisi was a girl. But having said that, many of those who liked astronomy were likely to be introverts. If they could not mix well with others, they would choose to immerse themselves in astronomy.

Besides, Zhang Heng also noticed that this was related to his main quest.

Where did those aliens come from? When did they come to earth? Or, were they some new lifeform? Zhang Heng had all these questions in his head, which was why he became so sharp when he knew that Lin Sisi was interested in astronomy.

With all these bits and pieces of information, it was not enough to understand those things. After that, Zhang Heng went around the classroom and found no other useful clues. So he closed the door and left, and went to the office area.

Earlier, Zhang Heng saw the name of Lin Sisi’s headteacher in the newspaper. Her name was Li Yan, a Chinese teacher in this school. Zhang Heng managed to locate her seat with ease. The things on the teacher’s desk were quite messy. Teaching books, photocopied documents, notes, and the homework she had finished marking were scattered around. There was a cup with a picture of her daughter, and her husband was printed on it.

Zhang Heng’s interest was triggered when he saw the enrolment form for Quality Young Teacher Course. Her personal information was written down on the form, including her address, teaching experience, contact number, and others. Zhang Heng then took a photo of the application form and checked on the principal’s office.

After that, he took a nap on the sofa for 20 minutes. Seeing that the time was almost up, he went to the toilet to wash his face and sprinkle some water on his back and neck, pretending that he had just finished exercising. Before he left the school, he nodded at the security guard.

Zhang Heng then went to the mall to purchase some formal clothes, bought a voice recorder and a notebook to make himself look like a young reporter. Once everything was done, he called Li Yan to make an appointment with her.

The latter was a little surprised when she received the call. A few days had passed since Lin Sisi’s drowning, and it was no longer the hottest topic that everyone talked about, which was why Li Yan was surprised that a reporter wanted to interview her. Zhang Heng told her that he was from the Evening City News, and he wanted to make a special report on ensuring the children’s safety outside of school. He also told her that he had talked to Headmaster Wu about it. All he needed was twenty minutes from her. To make him sound more convincing, he also mentioned Li Yan’s address in the phone call.

Thankfully, she showed no suspicion, instantly asking Zhang Heng where to meet.

Zhang Heng told her to meet at a small cafe near her house. Not only did he get to know more detailed information about Lin Sisi from Li Yan, but he also managed to extract had Lin Sisi’s home address and the address of two other deceased children.

After the interview was over, Zhang Heng shook her hand and sent her out of the cafe.

Li Yan had just given birth to a baby. There were still a lot of things waiting for her to do at home. So after the interview was over, she hurriedly left the café. After she walked a few steps away from the cafe, she stopped and turned around.

“Reporter Xiao Xiong, do you believe that there are aliens in this world?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I always ask my students to write weekly journals. Sisi’s weekly journal was always the most special journal among all her peers. According to my teaching experience, the more introverted a child is, the richer their inner world… Sorry, that’s out of topic. Now, let’s go back to her weekly journal. One week before Sisi’s accident, she handed me a weekly diary saying that there are aliens in this world. Apparently, they were already here, living around us, and pretending to be us. They also study us and learn from us, waiting for the day to replace us. And their numbers are growing every day. The worst part is we can’t distinguish them from us on the outside. I’m sorry… I don’t know why I would tell you about it. You must also think that her fantasy is kind of creepy.” Li Yan then squeezed a smile on her face.

“Who else has seen her weekly journal?” Zhang Heng asked.

“Hmm?”

“Did anyone read her weekly diary except you?”

“Oh, a lot of students read her journal before. I will usually ask my students to read out their weekly journal if they did an excellent job. After that, I will put up the journal on the notice board. Although disturbing, it was indeed very creative. Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing,” Zhang Heng paused and asked again, “Did you tell anyone about this other than me?”

“No, I was very sad after Sisi was found drowned in the river. Many reporters came to interview me, and I had to take my children to class as well. Everything was so hectic to the point that I forgot to mention the weekly journal. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I mentioned it. I must not have rested well…”

“Yeah, get a good night’s sleep and forget about it,” Zhang Heng said, “The idea of aliens living among us is ridiculous.”