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Chapter 114 Watching a Movie [Third Update]

Escaping the building's doors does not equate to escaping the haunted manor.

Several people vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

The clock runs backwards.

Based on the available information, Gu Mian felt that the second hypothesis was more likely.

The fat man was a little confused: "So, Brother Chu might have already left the novel?"

Gu Mian glanced at him: "I was just giving an example. Have you ever seen a novel where the clock runs backwards? We may not be in a novel, we may be in something else."

As he spoke, he rubbed the vertical row of buttons in the middle of his phone: "9:02..."

The fat man, shining a flashlight, said in a guilty voice, "Doctor, why do I have this feeling that you've guessed something?"

Gu Mian looked up: "We still need to prove it in practice. Let's watch the DVD first."

By this time, the group had arrived at the fat man's door.

Because this seems to be the room Zhao Lei used during his middle school years, everything inside is very much in line with the atmosphere of his student days—except for the few clothes in the wardrobe that exude a strong non-mainstream vibe.

"Speaking of which, didn't Zhao Lei say that his dad wouldn't give him a single penny more? Where did he get the money to buy these kinds of clothes..." The fat man looked at the wardrobe.

Putting everything else aside, that leather jacket doesn't look cheap.

Although it's obvious that it's made of inferior artificial leather, buying this garment is still considered a luxury for a family like this.

At this moment, Gu Mian was prying open the CD tray on the host computer.

This crappy computer has no keyboard and I can't find a power plug. It can't pop up the tray when I press a button if it's not plugged in.

Gu Mian had no choice but to pry it open herself. Although the broken computer couldn't be connected to power, she decided to try putting the CD in first.

As he thought about it, he exerted more force with his hand, and the tray was finally pried out by one centimeter. Gu Mian immediately reached out and grabbed it, pulled the entire tray out, put the CD on it, and then slammed the tray back on hard.

All in one go.

The fat man watching from the side said, "Doctor, you must have watched a lot of X-rays before, right?"

"Don't give me that nonsense," Gu Mian glanced at him. "Look at the screen."

The fat man looked at the screen sheepishly, only to see that the computer, which wasn't plugged in, had lit up after a disc was inserted.

This should have been a strange thing, but it doesn't seem so strange in the context of a supernatural scenario.

The disc contained a video recording.

It's more like surveillance than video recording, like the surveillance cameras in schools.

The camera should be on the ceiling, and the scene on the screen is from above. There is a large door in the middle of the screen. Gu Mian often saw this kind of door when she was in school. It is the kind of office door that many teachers share.

The screen glowed faintly in the darkness, and the fat man curiously craned his neck, his large face almost touching the screen.

Gu Mian nudged his head: "Be careful, a hand might reach out from inside and grab you."

Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately took a few steps back in fear.

The video didn't show the time, but Gu Mian guessed it was around dinner time.

Since there was no one coming and going in the corridor and it was getting dark, the students must have gone to the cafeteria or returned to their dormitories.

There was a glass panel on the office door, through which you could see several teachers eating inside, bringing their food out of the cafeteria in plastic bags.

Several teachers brought pots and pans and were gathered around a rice cooker, cooking something.

The scene remained quiet for several minutes until a loud shout broke the silence.

"teacher!"

The fat man almost jumped up when he heard the shout.

He had thought it was a silent movie, but the sudden sound startled him so much that his heart skipped a beat.

"What's going on? There aren't even any speakers..." The fat man clutched his chest.

But he didn't complain much, and then looked at the screen seriously.

"teacher……"

Several students in school uniforms ran up the stairs quickly and rushed into the office without even knocking.

They were inside, and they spoke urgently to a teacher. Immediately afterward, the teacher, as if his pants were on fire, jumped up and rushed out the door, then ran towards the stairs.

Several teachers followed him out of the office, but they didn't seem to be in a hurry. Instead, they gathered at the door and discussed something.

After a while, Gu Mian saw the teacher who had rushed out return, followed by a silent boy in a school uniform. The boy had his head down, but the group recognized him immediately—it was Zhao Lei.

"Holy crap?" The fat man was somewhat surprised. "This plot seems a bit familiar."

Zhao Lei told them that it must have been the time they got into a fight.

In the video, Zhao Lei followed the teacher into the office with his head down. They were talking in hushed tones, and Gu Mian could only hear a few syllables.

"Fighting... parents, principal"

"Drop out of school..."

Zhao Lei seemed to sob a few times, then shook his head desperately.

The teacher sighed, said something to him, and then picked up her phone.

Then Zhao Lei lowered his head, slowly walked out of the office, and stood against the wall next to him, as if he were being punished.

By this time, the students had all finished eating and were gradually returning to their classrooms to prepare for evening self-study.

Zhao Lei stood at the office door with his head bowed.

Students passing by would glance at him with curiosity, and some would whisper among themselves, glancing up at Zhao Lei after a few words, clearly talking about him.

Several boys stood not far away, watching Zhao Lei while huddled together, pointing and whispering.

A few words could be vaguely heard from the people looking at the screen:

"Pay back..."

"I heard his dad is incredibly stingy..."

"Poor bastard"

At this moment, Zhao Lei lowered his head even further.

Several groups of students passed by, and without exception, they all cast either spectatory or disdainful glances at him. Before long, Gu Mian saw a burly man appear on the screen.

The man looked like he had eaten well; his neck was almost as thick as his head. He seemed to have run very fast, panting as he climbed the stairs and then rushed into the office.

The man seemed to have cursed something in the office, then strode out and started yelling at Zhao Lei.

"You're the one who broke my son's nose, you little beast!"

"If anything happens to my son... you just wait and see, ptooey!"

"Who do you think you are!"

The man seemed to want to make a move, but he held back and just stood in front of Zhao Lei cursing.

Several teachers came out and stopped the man. It was Zhao Lei's homeroom teacher who was frantically making phone calls, but no one was answering.

After several more calls, the phone was finally answered.

At this moment, Zhao Lei, who was standing next to him, burst into tears, and the man's cursing subsided a little.

The homeroom teacher said a few words, then hung up the phone, quickly walked over, and pulled Zhao Lei away.

The man, however, wouldn't let go and grabbed Zhao Lei's arm: "Want to leave? Who said you could leave? Huh? Who said you could leave?"

As he spoke, he tried to drag Zhao Lei down the stairs: "You dare to hit my precious son? We're going to the police station today. I'm telling you, if I get you in there today, you won't be getting out!"

Seeing that things were going badly, the teachers quickly and forcefully separated the two people.

The homeroom teacher took the opportunity to quickly leave with Zhao Lei.

The man was surrounded by a group of teachers, who continued to berate him.

His voice only subsided after Zhao Lei's figure completely disappeared from the surveillance footage.

"Just as Zhao Lei said," the fat man sighed. "His dad has given him a good dressing down, and we don't even know where his dad is..."

Just then, Gu Mian noticed a small, thin figure suddenly appear on the stairs.

The small, thin figure darted up the stairs like lightning. He stopped and looked around, then saw the man surrounded by teachers who were cursing him.

The man surrounded clearly recognized the man who had rushed up. He spat and said, "You're that little brat's dad? My son told me he doesn't care about his son and is dirt poor."

“He was born but not raised by his father. No wonder he’s so cowardly. He only dares to bully my son. He doesn’t even dare to look up when I scold him.”

"Fuck your mother!" The skinny man suddenly blurted out a curse, then rushed forward: "How dare you insult my son?"

Finally, an extra chapter! It wasn't easy. I'll definitely be able to finish making up for the extra chapters next month!
Thank you Jinyuncheng, Erdouxiaoya, and zxt for the generous donations. (′‵)I L
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(End of this chapter)