Chapter 50 Chen Yao

"Her name is Chen Yao," Director Li said, staring at Jiang Cheng after a long silence.

Fatty had just woken up, his mind still foggy. He didn't understand Director Li's meaning right away and subconsciously asked, "Who? Who did you say is named Chen Yao?"

"The missing girl in the file," Director Li said, then paused suddenly. She turned her head, and in a voice that had been suppressed to the extreme, she slowly said, "The one you're looking for… the ghost."

The moment the word "ghost" came out, the expressions in Jiang Cheng's and Fatty's eyes changed.

During missions, some NPCs had indeed noticed the existence of supernatural events, like Feng Lan.

But Director Li was the first to say the word directly to their faces.

Jiang Cheng looked at her and asked, "You know her?"

Based on the current clues, the girl in the file went missing 10 years ago. The woman in front of them was now the Director of Academic Affairs, so she must have worked at this school for quite some time.

They… might have really crossed paths.

Fatty seemed to have thought of this too, and hesitantly asked, "You… have you ever seen her?"

"Or… was she once your student?" Fatty asked, his eyes wide.

Director Li's face was hidden behind sunglasses and a mask, so her expression couldn't be seen, but her voice wavered slightly, indicating that the woman in front of them wasn't as calm as she appeared.

Fatty became even more convinced that his reasoning was reliable.

Director Li raised her head. The sunglasses gave Fatty a feeling he had never experienced before. Looking at the woman was like staring into an abyss.

He couldn't help but shudder.

"I was her classmate," Director Li said, "a classmate in the same class."

Fatty's eyes widened suddenly.

Jiang Cheng hesitated for a moment, but then concealed it very naturally. He looked at the woman in front of him, raised his head slightly, and asked in a normal tone, "Class 2 of the Dance Department, majoring in ballet, class of '09?"

"Yes," Director Li nodded.

"That's not right," Fatty said, coming back to his senses, excitedly. "I remember you weren't in the photos."

Fatty regretted saying that as soon as he finished. Looking at the woman's current attire, even her own mother probably wouldn't recognize her, let alone a stranger she didn't know.

Moreover, the photos were taken a full 10 years ago.

When the woman turned her gaze to Fatty's face, his face paled instantly, but fortunately, Jiang Cheng interjected in time, and the woman's attention was drawn to Jiang Cheng.

"Can you tell us more about it?"

"He's right," the woman said. "I'm not in the album. I transferred in later. My previous major was bel canto, and then I transferred to Class 2 of the Dance Department to major in ballet."

"My detailed file is in the archives," the woman looked at Jiang Cheng and took a small step back, clearing the way to the archives. Behind the dark sunglasses, her eyes were like a pool of stagnant water. "If you don't believe me, you can go take a look."

Jiang Cheng shook his head. "There's no need. I believe you."

After what just happened, Fatty wisely chose to shut his mouth. He perked up his ears and his two small eyes darted around.

"Why did you change your major?" Jiang Cheng continued, his voice starting to fluctuate. "I think… it's probably related to this Chen Yao."

The woman raised her head as if recalling something. Then her face began to tighten, and the skin near the corners of her eyes gradually became contorted. "Chen Yao, she… she's a bitch!" the woman said fiercely.

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng immediately looked around, especially in dark places and corners that sunlight couldn't reach.

Then, he quickly said to his surroundings, "Don't say that. From my point of view, the girl is pretty good. Maybe she had some hidden difficulties!"

"I think Brother Hao Shuai is right," Fatty finally showed some wit. As he said this, he moved in small steps toward a sunny spot and said in a very sincere tone, "I think that girl is quite good-looking. She doesn't seem like an unreasonable person. There must be some misunderstanding."

Seeing that there was no movement around them, Jiang Cheng and Fatty finally felt relieved.

"Misunderstanding?" The woman seemed to be angered by their noncommittal remarks. Her whole body trembled. "That bitch seduced my fiancé, is that a misunderstanding too?"

Jiang Cheng stroked his chin and paused for several seconds before saying, "Your fiancé is Chen Yao's dance teacher."

One man was also missing from the group photo.

Her chest heaved violently. It took the woman a long time to calm her emotions.

It seemed that this incident had been a great blow to her, so much so that she still harbored resentment after 10 years.

She took a deep breath and nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yes."

"What's your fiancé's name?" Fatty interjected and asked.

"Su Yu."

Jiang Cheng frowned, then said, "Is he the old… at the equipment management center…" He paused abruptly, then changed his words a few seconds later. "That male teacher?"

The woman seemed surprised that Jiang Cheng even knew that. She was silent for a while, then slowly nodded. "Yes, he was my fiancé, Su Yu."

From the woman's words, it seemed that the two of them had only reached the engagement stage and had not been able to consummate the marriage.

The culprit, it seemed, was this missing girl—Chen Yao.

The woman's gaze wandered back and forth between the two of them. Her movements were strange. Her neck kept changing angles.

Fatty suddenly had a feeling that this suddenly appearing Director Li… was like a cobra preparing to attack its prey.

This guess startled Fatty himself.

He swallowed and subconsciously hid behind Jiang Cheng.

Unexpectedly…

Jiang Cheng moved even faster. He had already shrunk behind him at some point, only revealing half of his body to communicate with the woman.

While communicating, Jiang Cheng looked for opportunities to size up his surroundings from time to time.

Having been with Jiang Cheng for a long time, Fatty could roughly guess his plan.

This guy was probably thinking of a way to retreat for himself.

Once the negotiations broke down, he would run away.

"How did Chen Yao die?" Jiang Cheng cut to the chase with one sentence.

Hearing this question, Fatty couldn't help but feel nervous. He was very afraid that Director Li would laugh coldly and say that she killed her, and then…

Fatty imagined that when the gangster movies got to this point, the big villains in the films would have similar lines, such as, "You know too much. I only believe that dead people don't leak secrets…" Then they would pull out a gun from their arms and kill them to silence them.

If things really developed to that point, although they were two against one and had the advantage in numbers, since Director Li dared to appear alone, she must have a trump card that could take care of the two of them.

Fatty stared at Director Li in front of him, looking her up and down, his eyes gradually becoming strange.

Indeed, this woman gave him a very strange feeling. Her body movements couldn't be said to be wrong, but they just gave people a very uncoordinated feeling.

Looking at her for a long time, it even felt a little strange.

It was as if… her upper and lower body were temporarily put together, belonging to two different people.