In the morning, the teachers' office was crowded, making it inconvenient to investigate, so the two patiently waited for an opportunity.
It was noon soon.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang visited the convenience store again.
Having eaten instant noodles twice in a row yesterday, Xiao Lou now has no appetite for them. Yu Hanjiang, on the other hand, calmly picked up a bowl of instant noodles.
The shopkeeper recognized them and asked curiously, "Why do you two teachers always eat instant noodles?"
Xiao Lou said with a wry smile, "We're both single, live too far from home, and don't want to go out to eat, so we'll just make do with instant noodles."
The owner kindly said, "You could also try self-heating hot pot. Can you really eat instant noodles every day?"
Xiao Lou was taken aback: "There's such a thing?"
The owner brought over a bowl and introduced with a smile: "Lazy hot pot. The bottom is made of heat-generating chemical materials. After you pour in water, it will automatically boil. The top layer contains hot pot noodles, vegetables, and beef. It will be cooked in about ten minutes."
Xiao Lou rarely eats fast food and was unaware of the existence of "lazy person's self-cooking hot pot," but after hearing the shop owner mention it, he suddenly became interested and asked, "How much?"
Shop owner: "Two for 1000 gold coins."
Yu Hanjiang turned to look at Xiao Lou, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Xiao Lou touched the 14 gold coins in his pocket and gritted his teeth, saying, "Then let's buy two."
He really didn't want to eat instant noodles for the third time.
They had 17 gold coins, and at a rate of 2 to 3 coins per day, they could only stay in this secret room for 5 days.
It's now the second day, and the secret of the maple forest remains unsolved, nor has the owner of the shoes been found.
They must hurry, otherwise, if the case drags on any longer, they'll have to solve it on an empty stomach.
Not to mention, they had nowhere to shower, and could only make do sleeping in the hard, cold corridor...
The more I think about it, the more heartbroken I get. I'd better stop thinking about it. At least it's better than being thrown into the Nightmare Secret Room as a Challenger.
Xiao Lou bought a hot pot, walked out of the convenience store, and said to Yu Hanjiang with a smile, "I've never had a self-cooking hot pot before. Let's go back to the office building to eat. We can get some hot water and use it as an excuse to take a stroll around the office."
The hot pot has instructions: the bottom layer contains chemical ingredients that will boil when exposed to water, so it's best to add cold water, or even unpurified tap water. The top layer is for cooking food; if you're going to eat it directly from there, you must add boiled hot water or purified water.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang carried the hot pot to the third floor and split up.
At lunchtime, the offices are the least crowded; some offices are even empty and unlocked.
Yu Hanjiang first went to the Chinese language office and found the female teacher who had entered the room that day at her desk to check her schedule. This female teacher's surname was Lin, and she taught Chinese to the senior 4 and 5 classes. She happened to be free during the fourth period yesterday morning.
When Yu Hanjiang went to the biology office, there was a female teacher tidying up homework books. He walked into the office, his eyes quickly scanning the desk, locking onto the desk of the teacher in charge of Class 3, and glancing at the timetable on the desk.
The teacher who remained in the office looked at him with a puzzled expression: "Who are you?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "I'm a high school teacher. Could I borrow some hot water? I need to cook some hot pot."
The other person smiled and said, "Sure, the water dispenser is over there, you can get it yourself!"
Yu Hanjiang thanked him, calmly turned and left while cooking the hot pot.
Xiao Lou was in charge of the physics and English offices. He used the excuse of "borrowing hot water" to sneak in, cooked a hot pot, chatted with the teachers who stayed in the office for a few minutes, and then turned around and left.
The two carried the cooked hot pot to an open space and sat down, exchanging information while the hot pot cooked.
Xiao Lou said, "Neither the physics teacher nor the English teacher had a class in the fourth period yesterday."
Yu Hanjiang said, "The two people I checked didn't have any classes all morning yesterday."
Xiao Lou said, "In other words, during the fourth period yesterday, at the time of the incident, these female teachers were all free and had plenty of time to commit the crime."
The English teacher scolded Ying Xiaoya in the first class and made her stand in the back row as punishment. The physics teacher also scolded Ying Xiaoya, saying that she did very poorly on the combined science test, getting almost all of her physics questions wrong.
The biology teacher had no classes yesterday morning, so she didn't show up directly and didn't have any conflict with Ying Xiaoya. The Chinese teacher from the next class coincidentally entered the Chinese office while the homeroom teacher and Ying Xiaoya were chatting, interrupting their conversation, which also makes her a suspect.
All four had the opportunity to commit the crime, all wore size 37 shoes, and were all young teachers under 30. Furthermore, their teaching abilities must have been exceptional; otherwise, the school wouldn't have readily assigned them to teach senior high school classes.
Xiao Lou frowned and said, "Could these four people be related to the fall case from five years ago?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "If someone can be directly linked to the case of the fall five years ago, then she is very likely the murderer."
Xiao Lou said, "When I was checking the class schedule just now, I found that the physics teacher of Class 3 happens to have the surname Si—her name is Si Qi. Could she be related to Si Han, the girl who fell to her death five years ago?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "The surname Si is indeed uncommon, but we can't judge based on the given name alone."
Xiao Lou agreed: "Yes, we need to look for other evidence."
Just then, steam rose from the hot pot, indicating that it had been cooking for about the right time, so Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's eat first."
The two lifted the lid, took out disposable chopsticks, and started eating their makeshift hot pot.
The spicy hot pot stimulated his taste buds, and Xiao Lou felt his stomach finally come back to life. He lowered his head and ate the rice noodles seriously, slurping them with great relish. Yu Hanjiang glanced at him, his expression softening, and asked in a low voice, "Do you hate instant noodles?"
Xiao Lou nodded without hesitation: "When I was in college, I often took the train home. The smell of braised beef instant noodles in the carriage was really memorable. I didn't want to eat it as soon as I smelled it."
Yu Hanjiang thought back to the two bowls of braised beef noodles he had yesterday... Professor Xiao really felt bad for him.
He sighed softly and said, "When I make more money in the future, I'll treat you to something nice. I still owe you a meal."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Okay, we'll have a seafood feast then."
In this strange world, none of them know when they will be eliminated. Captain Yu treating them to dinner is a kind of promise; if they can survive and earn more money, maybe they can have a big meal in the next escape room?
Let's not have too high expectations. At Heart Room, you can get a full meal and even buy self-cooking hot pot, which is pretty good.
If Spade Secret Room were abandoned in the wild and not fed, things might get even worse!
***
After they finished eating, the two got up and returned to the teaching building.
There were no new leads in the afternoon. After taking Teacher Qin away, the police did not intend to return to the school. It was clear that they were conducting a more detailed interrogation of Teacher Qin at the police station. It seems that new leads may not appear until tomorrow.
After all, this is a C-level secret chamber; if the clues are too dense, Challenger's brain will explode.
On the first day, Ying Xiaoya falls from a building, and the police come to investigate. Challenger needs to make preliminary deductions based on the police's interrogation.
The next day, the police came and took the chemistry teacher away, and told Challenger... Ying Xiaoya was poisoned; the source of the poison was Yu Hui.
Chocolate, this is a lot of information; more time should be allocated for Challenger to analyze and investigate.
Most Challengers only went to the chemistry lab to check after learning of Ying Xiaoya's poisoning the next day, discovering that the door lock had been pried open.
Due to his profession, Xiao Lou noticed Ying Xiaoya's poisoning on the first day. That evening, the two sneaked into the Shuxiang Building to investigate, learning the secret of the laboratory beforehand and immediately ruling out the chemistry teacher as a suspect. They also deduced that the legend of the "curse" was related to a fall from a building five years prior, and while checking the school archives, they learned that the deceased from five years ago was named Si Han.
The two men made full use of their professional advantages, keeping their investigations ahead of the police.
The next day, when the police arrived, Yu Hanjiang had already found the key piece of evidence—the shoes.
Through analysis and deduction of the shoes, they identified four female suspects.
The English, Biology, and Chemistry teachers of Class 3, Grade 12, and the Chinese teacher from the next class who happened to enter the office and interrupted the conversation.
All four women had the opportunity to commit the crime, could wear the size 37 shoes, and as teachers of their own class or the class next door, they could all find a foolproof excuse to take Ying Xiaoya to the rooftop and push her off the building.
They all had the opportunity to obtain Ying Xiaoya's notebook and forge a suicide note by copying it.
Identifying the suspects has greatly helped the case's progress. Now, the remaining task is to find the connection between these four women and the five-year-old suicide case, as well as their connection to Xie Xinghe's book, * The Count of Monte Cristo *.
Yu Hanjiang suggested, "Let's go to their office tonight and search their drawers; we're sure to find something."
In Red Heart 2, the Secret Room holds a crucial clue in the safe in the study. In Red Heart 3, the Escape Room reveals that the suspect's drawers are unlikely to be empty.
Xiao Lou looked at Captain Yu nervously: "Are you trying to pick the lock and get in?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "I know how to pick locks without leaving a trace. All I need is a wire."
Remembering that Yu Hanjiang had unlocked the Shuxianglou door this morning, Xiao Lou immediately felt relieved: "Okay."
However, the teachers' offices are in Xingzhi Building, which happens to be the security guard's duty room and the school's monitoring center. It would be extremely difficult to sneak into the office under the guard's nose.
But the security guards will patrol after dark.
Moreover, there was a problem at Shuxianglou last night, and the security guards will definitely go to check it again tonight.
Yu Hanjiang came up with a brilliant idea—after dark, he quickly slipped into the Shuxianglou building, threw a flashlight on the fifth floor corner, and turned it on.
The security guards quickly noticed a light coming from the Shuxianglou area, and the two guards on duty immediately ran over to investigate.
Luring the tiger away from the mountain.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang then had ample time to sneak into Xingzhi Building.
The two ran to the third floor at top speed and first used a wire to unlock the door to the Chinese language office.
The teacher who happened to barge in and interrupted Ying Xiaoya's conversation with her homeroom teacher was surnamed Lin. There was a photo in her desk drawer that she took when she was teaching the first year of high school. The photo was captioned "A group photo of all the teachers and students of Class 7, Grade 1".
Yu Hanjiang spotted Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe in the photo.
Xiao Lou had obviously noticed as well. Pointing to the two people in the photo, he said in a low voice, "It seems that before the division into arts and sciences classes in the first year of high school, Ying Xiaoya and Class Monitor Xie were classmates, and this teacher happened to be their Chinese teacher. It was only after the class division in the second year of high school that the current homeroom teacher taught Chinese?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "This teacher Lin is highly suspicious. She taught Ying Xiaoya Chinese class and must have Ying Xiaoya's composition book. It would be very easy for her to copy and forge a suicide note. Moreover, when she walked into the office and interrupted Ying Xiaoya's conversation with the homeroom teacher, Ying Xiaoya's face looked very pale, as if she had seen a ghost."
Upon closer reflection, it really was true— Ying Xiaoya was about to explain why her grades had dropped, but as soon as she came in, Ying Xiaoya turned pale and immediately stopped talking. The homeroom teacher didn't press her further and let her go home first.
Moreover, at the time, the homeroom teacher said, "This girl is in a relationship and her grades are dropping," and the female teacher followed up with a few gossips about how "students these days are hard to manage"—she obviously didn't know Ying Xiaoya's family situation, so the loophole of "I'm sorry to my parents" in the forged suicide note is also plausible.
Was it really just a coincidence that she pushed open the office door and interrupted the homeroom teacher's question?
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly searched Teacher Lin's desk—and surprisingly found Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe's composition books in the bottom drawer.
This discovery gave Xiao Lou a jolt: "Logically speaking, Ying Xiaoya and Xie Xinghe were her students two years ago. Why would she keep their composition books? Don't tell me it's for remembrance."
Yu Hanjiang frowned: "The evidence is quite obvious. Let's look again."
Aside from the photographs and composition books, no other findings were made.
The two of them casually searched the desk of the homeroom teacher next door.
The homeroom teacher's drawer was full of students' report cards from every exam, home visit materials, lesson preparation materials, and Chinese language workbooks. There was nothing suspicious about it, which shows that this homeroom teacher is indeed a very responsible teacher.
The two left the Chinese language office and continued searching for biology.
There was nothing unusual about the biology teacher's desk, except for a drawer full of plant specimens.
The physics teacher's surname was Si, and her given name was Si Qi, which happened to be the same surname as Si Han, who fell to her death five years ago. Xiao Lou originally intended to search her desk, but to Xiao Lou's disappointment, her drawers were full of various exercise books and physics test papers, as well as a large pile of lesson preparation books, and nothing else was left.
The two eventually found Ying.
Language Office.
On the English teacher's desk were some cute succulents, a thick English dictionary, and several folders. Inside the desk, one drawer contained English test papers, and another drawer held review materials.
The bottom drawer was locked, but Yu Hanjiang pried it open with a wire.
The two discovered that the locked drawer contained only a very thick book.
This book looks quite old; the pages are yellowed, indicating it has been read many times. The cover says—
Le te de Monte-Cristo.
Author: Alexandre Dumas.
Yu Hanjiang didn't recognize the words. He turned to look at Xiao Lou and found that Xiao Lou's face was very pale.
Before Yu Hanjiang could ask, Xiao Lou said in a trembling voice, " The Count of Monte Cristo, the original French edition!"
Yu Hanjiang's expression suddenly changed: "French books? Right, she's an English teacher. Students in foreign language colleges are required to learn a second language. Perhaps her less commonly taught language is French? So she can read original French books directly?"
— The Count of Monte Cristo describes a story that took place in 19th-century France, written by the famous French author Alexandre Dumas.
As Captain Yu speculated, people who learn English are generally required to learn a second language, and French is one of the most popular choices among second languages. Many English majors choose to study French.
As a world-renowned classic, The Count of Monte Cristo has long been translated into various languages, and Chinese versions are readily available, with several different editions from various publishers for readers to choose from.
However, original French books are not so easy to buy.
People who usually enjoy reading classic literature read translated versions; who would spend a lot of money to buy the original novel?
Only those who truly love a book will buy the original copy to keep as a collection.
Xiao Lou looked at the well-worn classic in his hand and felt like his scalp was about to explode.
In her drawer, there was even a copy of " The Count of Monte Cristo," a precious original French edition, which shows how much she loved the story.
The theme of this book is revenge... Could she be the avenger?!
During the first class, the English teacher scolded Ying Xiaoya in front of the whole class and made her stand in the back row as punishment. Ying Xiaoya was trembling the whole time and kept holding back her tears. She started crying after class, and Yi Ru gave her tissues.
One explanation is that Ying Xiaoya did poorly on her exam and cried because she felt wronged.
Another explanation is... she was terrified of her English teacher, and after being scolded by her, she cried.
It might not be a coincidence that her English teacher asked her and Xie Xinghe to translate "My family is cursed" one after the other.
She was the first person to utter the word "curse".
The words that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang said when their deskmate went to the back row with tissues to comfort Ying Xiaoya flashed through their minds at the same time: "It's okay, Xiaoya. You didn't do well on the test this time, but you can try again next month. Zhang Qing is a fierce woman, and she's not the only one who's fierce to you. A lot of people have been scolded by her, so don't mind her."
Xiao Lou said blankly, " Zhang Qing? It seems we've overlooked something crucial..."
Yu Hanjiang nodded seriously: "That's right—the English teacher's name was actually the first one to appear among all the teachers."
The secret room had already told them that the English teacher was no stranger.
Her name is Zhang Qing.