Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 84 Lu Lei
Wang Bo returned to his office carrying a thermos.

Because of what Yang Jian had said earlier, he began to gradually recall some details from back then.

I don't remember which year it was, but I vaguely remember that there were less than five months left before the college entrance examination.

Wang Bo recalled that he was walking in the corridor outside the senior class when he saw his cousin Wang Liang standing in front of the blackboard through the window, with a tall and thin boy next to him.

The boy was writing and drawing on the blackboard with chalk. He could tell at a glance that his cousin was tutoring students on how to draw on the blackboard again.

Wang Bo shook his head. He had never understood why his cousin always spent his time on these "useless tasks." As a math teacher, he knew that the top students in the math competition class needed guidance more, not this—he squinted at the boy—this academic failure whose school uniform was so worn out from washing.

"Whether it's algebra or geometry, you must remember to learn how to draw diagrams, especially auxiliary lines... Mathematics and art are connected in some ways; for example, paintings from the European Renaissance period all use mathematics in their composition," Wang Liang's voice came through. "For English listening comprehension, you must listen to tapes a lot and memorize more vocabulary. You can practice listening with headphones during get out of class breaks. As for Chinese, composition is your strongest point, so I don't recommend that you look at the collection of model essays for the college entrance examination, but rather carefully hone your own essay writing skills."

If you didn't know, how could you tell which subject your cousin taught?
When Wang Bo pushed open the door and entered, the two people in the classroom turned around at the same time.

The boy still held half a piece of chalk in his hand; the blackboard was already mostly filled with drawings: a boy and a girl in school uniforms sat under an old locust tree on the playground, the boy writing something with his head down, while the girl held a flashlight to illuminate his path. In the background was the No. 7 Middle School's teaching building, the windows drawn with exceptional detail, so much so that the light inside each window was clearly visible.

"Teacher Wang." The boy stood up straight, looking reserved.

Wang Bo suddenly noticed that the boy's eyes were very special—not in color or shape, but in the focused expression, as if he could see through the blackboard and directly into another world.

"He's made great progress lately," Wang Liang patted the boy on the shoulder. "His math score has improved from 40 to 65, and he's passing English too."

Wang Bo gave a noncommittal hum and walked closer to the blackboard.

The details in the painting surprised him: dust particles floated in the beam of the girl's flashlight, and the words "My Ideal" were faintly visible on the boy's notebook.

He suddenly felt that the girl's face looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

He noticed that there was an exercise book on the table next to the boy, on which was written "My Ideal".

"Your artistic skills seem pretty good. Why don't you apply to an art academy?"

The boy's finger trembled involuntarily, and the chalk fell to the ground and broke in two.

“It’s not easy to succeed in art,” my cousin said. “We should take a more stable path first, and then pursue further studies in art when we have more room for maneuver. This kid has a lot of drive; as long as he studies hard, he’ll definitely achieve something.”

"Then don't let him waste time drawing the blackboard bulletin board, okay?"

“A balance between work and rest is essential. Students need to stay relaxed at all times to maximize their learning effectiveness. Cramming will only lead to less efficient learning. Parents these days are too impatient and don’t understand this principle.” Then my cousin added, “Besides, the blackboard bulletin isn’t entirely unrelated to learning. Drawing lines can help him develop a feel for geometric shapes. There’s also an English corner on the blackboard, where I’ll have him write his own English compositions. He’ll also write the text in the center of the picture himself.”

"You're not going to tell me that he drew this blackboard bulletin all by himself?"

"How could that be? Someone else did the layout design."

"Hmm, Teacher Wang just said your composition was good. So, what score did you get on your composition in this month's Chinese exam?"

"Fifty-eight." The boy looked down at his sneakers; the toes were already coming unglued.

Fifty-eight? Wang Bo was secretly surprised.

An essay with a perfect score of 60?
……

"Teacher Tang, do you remember? My cousin had a student he was tutoring. He seemed really eager to help that kid. But strangely, in the senior year of high school, he even spent time having him create the blackboard newspaper."

"The one who draws the blackboard bulletins?" Teacher Tang looked up. "Is his surname Chen? I remember your cousin often kept him after school for extra lessons."

"No, no, no, you're talking about something that happened three years ago, but what I'm talking about... seems to be something that happened ten years ago."

"Is his surname Zhang?" Teacher Tang recalled for a moment, then said, "I think he was the 3,000-meter champion at the sports meet one year. Your cousin seemed to have a high opinion of that kid back then."

"No, absolutely not. That child apparently committed suicide after failing the college entrance exam."

"Huh? No way? Why do this?!"

Wang Bo became agitated. He could vaguely remember the boy's face, his faded school uniform, and even a scar on the web of his right hand—but he just couldn't recall his name.

"Are you sure it's because you failed the college entrance exam? Or something else? Like dating in school, fighting, or brawling?"

Hearing what Teacher Tang said, a flash of light appeared in Wang Bo's memory, and he remembered some things...

then……

"You're being too sensitive," Wang Liang said, grading papers without looking up. "It's just a student drawing a blackboard bulletin." Wang Bo slammed his thermos on the table. "That boy and girl in the blackboard bulletin—the boy is obviously him! I even think their clothes are similar. And the girl... I feel like I've seen her before; she's definitely from our school! Early romance is no small matter, especially in senior year! If something goes wrong, the parents will definitely come to the school to see you! This is a crucial time for your evaluation; don't be foolish! Talk to that kid more!"

"Hahahaha... You're overthinking it. That's not true. I know this kid. He promised me that he would get into university, and then he would come to me with his acceptance letter and treat me to a big meal."

"Stop laughing!" Wang Bo exclaimed, exasperated. "I just don't understand. You're a math teacher, why don't you tutor the top math students, but instead worry about the English and Chinese grades of a student with such poor academic performance?"

“Wang Bo.” Wang Liang’s expression turned serious. “We are educators, not corporate interviewers! What does it mean to be an educator? It means to teach and nurture, to guide children onto the right path, not to engage in merit-based admissions or survival of the fittest. The worse the students’ grades are, the more effort and care we need to put into teaching them! When they enter society, they will face the daily struggles of currying favor with the powerful and bullying the weak. Do we want them to learn this before they even step into society? If so, do we deserve to be called teachers who educate and nurture?”

Wang Bo still remembers those words clearly, and he constantly reminds himself of his cousin's words. The thought of his cousin's passing brings a pang of heartache.

At the time, however, he didn't quite grasp the meaning of his cousin's words, and instead said, "No matter what, puppy love is absolutely unacceptable! Are you so sure that kid isn't in a puppy love relationship?"

“That’s the child’s imagination.” Wang Liang finally raised his head, his eyes behind his glasses were frighteningly calm. “That’s just how the child is. Whether he’s drawing or writing an essay, he can describe things he’s never seen before in a vivid way. When his Chinese teacher asked them to write an essay called ‘My Future Self,’ he could write about his life for the next fifteen years, and he did it quite well.”

He then continued, "This kid is actually quite insecure deep down, and he felt that getting into university was too difficult, so he simply gave up on himself." "He's just throwing caution to the wind, why are you helping him?"

“At this time, children’s self-esteem is at its strongest, so we can’t just criticize them; we also need to guide them.” Wang Liang continued, “This child is very persistent in his studies. At first, I had him draw blackboard newspapers to build up his self-esteem.”

"Cousin, you've gone to such great lengths!"

“Good students need to be taught, but bad students need to be taught even more. That kid actually has a pretty good foundation in art, which can be translated into an understanding of geometry. That kid is really determined now, saying he must get into university to repay me. Most people in the class don’t believe he can get into university, saying he might not even get into a junior college. The key is that the kid has a very high opinion of himself. Since others don’t think he can succeed, he’s determined to prove them wrong.”

"That, that girl..."

"It definitely won't be a girl from school. You can trust me."

That's strange...

Why does he/she look so familiar?

He had contacted his cousin's wife about the child, but she also had no recollection of him.

Just then, my phone rang.

Unexpectedly, it was my cousin's wife who called.

"Hey, sister-in-law," he said, his voice unconsciously softening, "how have you been lately?"

A tired voice came from my cousin's wife on the other end of the phone: "I'm alright. It's just that I can't sleep well at night. I keep dreaming that your cousin is standing in front of the blackboard lecturing."

Wang Bo's Adam's apple bobbed. He recalled how his cousin's wife had nearly fainted from crying at his cousin Wang Liang's funeral.
"Sister-in-law, please accept my condolences..."

“Wang Bo, didn’t you call me last time to ask about that student your cousin had taken special care of? I said I didn’t remember last time because I was a little depressed at the time and didn’t want to talk to you much. But actually… I remember.”

"Really?"

"I remember that child's name was Lu Lei."

My cousin's sister-in-law's voice suddenly became somewhat ethereal: "Last time you suddenly asked about that child, was it related to your cousin's death?"

Wang Bo's heart suddenly started racing.

Lu Lei!

Wang Bo swallowed hard. "Did that kid really... commit suicide after the college entrance exam?"

The sound of a cup being set down came from the other end of the phone. The cousin's wife seemed to be organizing her thoughts: "Yes, I remember your cousin was sad for a long time back then."

"Because you failed the college entrance exam?"

"On the day he returned to school to fill out his college application after the college entrance exam," her voice began to tremble, "that student completely changed the blackboard bulletin board he had drawn before the exam."

Wang Bo unconsciously gripped the phone tightly.

"How did you change it?" Wang Bo pressed.

"He drew the flagpole fall down and smash it directly onto the couple on the blackboard," my cousin's wife suddenly burst into tears. "He also drew a lot of blood. Your cousin was terrified because some of the blood was drawn with Lu Lei's own blood."

"what?"

My cousin's wife spoke faster and faster, "Then there was the flashlight under the locust tree. He didn't know if he used red chalk or his own blood to paint it red. And the pregnant woman on the blackboard was also covered in blood; the whole picture was..."

Wang Bo's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

"And then what? Lu Lei..."

My cousin's wife sobbed, "Your cousin took him to the infirmary. After that, the child never showed up again. A few days later, he jumped off a building outside the school."

"This kid!"

That kid wasn't well-regarded by his classmates back then.
A voice suddenly came through the phone.

"But the key thing is that a few things happened later."

"What's wrong?" Upon hearing this, Wang Bo immediately became nervous.

"First of all, that blackboard, no matter how we tried to erase it, we couldn't get it clean, especially the blood on it, which terrified everyone..."

"And what else?"

"Furthermore, the child was supposedly buried in his rural hometown, but the grave was dug up on the seventh day after his death! What kind of heartless family is that!"

"what?"

"When you asked me that, I was heartbroken and didn't want to say much, so I told you I didn't remember. This... is it related to your cousin's death?"

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(End of this chapter)