My family tree hollow connects to the modern era : Chapter 32

Lu Mingyu patrolled the courtyard and discovered that several places where protective charms had been buried had been sabotaged. He repaired the breaches and specifically arranged for two people to stand guard in the yard; with Jiang Lin away, the people in the courtyard were now his responsibility.

Bai Zhizhi did not care who moved into the courtyard. He had only promised Jiang Lin to ensure the safety of the three original residents, and anything else was outside his scope of responsibility. However, these two new guards were quite interesting. One was named Huang Tianli and the other Lu Renjie. Both were members of Lu Mingyu’s team, though Lu Renjie was actually his nephew, despite being not much younger than him. Their nicknames were also quite amusing: one was called “No Justice” and the other “Nobody.”

“No Justice” had a lively personality. He would gravitate toward wherever the action was and felt right at home the moment he arrived at the courtyard. He was constantly busy, either helping Uncle Bi weed the garden or crouching in the yard with Yue Zhihuan to observe the grapes as they grew. Even without knowing sign language, he could carry on a passionate conversation with her. In terms of liveliness, he was on par with Lin Xiaoyang. His habitual catchphrase was “There is truly no justice in this world,” hence the nickname “No Justice.”

Lu Renjie, on the other hand, was truly a “Nobody.” It felt like his superpower was invisibility; even when he was right there, people always managed to overlook his presence. It was quite magical. Bai Zhizhi’s cultivation level was far above anyone else here, and movements within several meters were usually within his perception, yet he had managed to completely and unconsciously ignore Lu Renjie once or twice, which astonished him.

Sensing Bai Zhizhi’s gaze, Lu Renjie, who was leaning against a pillar of the corridor staring at the grapes overhead, turned his head. After meeting Bai Zhizhi’s eyes, he tilted his head slightly, using his gaze to ask what was the matter.

Bai Zhizhi said, “You are very well-suited to be a shadow guard. Your cultivation isn’t high, but you seem to be a natural at hiding yourself.”

Lu Renjie looked away and continued to stare at the grapes. Even though these spiritual fruits, with their dense spiritual energy, would definitely not be given to him to eat even if they matured, this was still the first time he had observed spiritual fruit up close. They looked a bit different from ordinary grapes; these were a translucent purple, very beautiful, like amethysts. He wondered what they tasted like.

Bai Zhizhi said, “If you want to eat them, shouldn’t you be sucking up to me? Just by looking at them like that, do you think they will end up in your mouth? Uncle Gao has counted every single one on the vine, so don’t even think about stealing one.”

As the grapes grew larger, Uncle Gao and Uncle Bi were eager to photograph and archive every single one. Forget about losing a grape; if even a single leaf went missing, they would likely want to track down the culprit vine by vine.

Lu Renjie retracted his gaze. He didn’t try to please him, simply saying calmly, “I won’t steal any.”

Seeing him stop staring at the grapes and walk to the other side of the corridor to sit quietly, Bai Zhizhi followed suit, shifting his direction: “How about I teach you shadow techniques and you become my sidekick?”

Lu Renjie lowered his eyes to watch ants crawling in the dirt: “No thanks.”

Having failed to recruit a sidekick, Bai Zhizhi huffed and turned away, refusing to look at him anymore. Humans who didn’t know a treasure when they saw one.

While the days in the courtyard were peaceful, Lu Mingyu, who was investigating the case, was having a much tougher time. Four people had died: one was a teacher at Mingde High School, and one was a student. The key to the matter clearly lay within Mingde High School.

Mingde High School was a private elite school. To reflect their “elite education,” besides a background check and a high tuition threshold, Mingde also recruited high-scoring students. Students who entered Mingde based on their scores received generous scholarships regardless of their family background, and all fees were waived. The scholarship was so high that it was comparable to the total annual income of an average household, so even though people knew this was a school for the wealthy, those with excellent grades but average family conditions would still choose Mingde.

At Mingde, the divide between backgrounds was on full display. Some students were already leveraging foreign resources and enjoying a happy school life, while others were studying day and night for their semester scholarships. Some could spend several thousand dollars on a single meal in the cafeteria, while others could only eat the free meals provided by the school. Even for free meals, such an elite school was extremely particular about nutritional balance, with all kinds of seafood and meat, but the label of “free meal” seemed to make one feel inherently inferior.

Mingde focused on elite education, so their teaching staff was naturally top-tier. Children from wealthy families didn’t spend their time there idly; the curriculum was very demanding. The wealthy weren’t stupid; if the school didn’t have substance, why would they pay hundreds of thousands a year to send their children there?

As Lu Mingyu walked through the school, he observed carefully. Most of the children in this school were poised and elegant, wearing custom-made uniforms, looking confident and flamboyant.

Pan Xuan, the team member following him, whispered, “Elite schools are really different. The grounds are so big, and the students’ state and temperament are different, too. Each one of them is confident and mature. It feels like everyone here will become a high-level talent. Boss Lu, do you think there might be darkness hidden in a school like this? Like rich kids bullying kids from poor families as they please?”

Lu Mingyu replied, “I wouldn’t rule out that possibility.”

Especially in a school with such polarization. Even in ordinary schools, impoverished students might be bullied; it was even more likely here. Although there were fewer families nowadays who were so poor they couldn’t even afford to eat, and not every high-scoring student was necessarily poor, school bullying could happen in any school.

The two arrived at Class 7 of the third year, the class where the deceased Wan Fang had taught. With more than a month left until the national college entrance exam, Wan Fang’s death didn’t have much of an impact on the students in this class because most of them were not taking the exam; they had already received acceptance letters from foreign universities. Besides a few students walking the path of the national exam, most of the class was already preparing to go abroad.

When Lu Mingyu and his colleague arrived, the Dean of Students was already waiting at the door. The students were still in class, so the Dean took them on a quick tour of the environment: “Little Wan was diligent in her work and had already seen several graduating classes through. The students liked her very much. I don’t know how such a thing could have happened. Sigh.”

The Dean sighed and led them to the door of Class 7 to take a look. As class was in session, it wasn’t convenient to disturb them. The Dean soon led them back to his office: “Little Wan taught Chinese and led an arts class. She was very serious and responsible toward her students. Being a head teacher is very hard, unlike single-subject teachers who can go home once their class is done. Head teachers have to arrive early every day and can only leave after the students finish school.”

Pan Xuan asked, “Director, does your school have requirements for college admission rates?”

The Dean replied, “Of course we do. The school cares a lot about admission rates, but we don’t just want domestic admission rates, we also want foreign ones. You can’t just have money to get into Mingde; there are requirements for coursework as well. For those going abroad, we start preparing them for foreign entrance exams early on. For those taking the national exam, we also push for test scores. You could say that for those graduating from Mingde, we guarantee an admission rate of at least 80 percent to famous foreign universities, and those taking the domestic exam basically all end up in top-tier 985-project universities.”

Lu Mingyu asked, “With such high academic requirements, aren’t the students under a lot of pressure?”

The Dean smiled and said, “We are not an ordinary high school. Those who come in as elites usually have their paths arranged long ago. As for those who come in based on scores, they are the top few students in the city’s middle school exams. They have already undergone a screening process, so there is no need for the school to pressure them. Instead, our teaching philosophy is focused and efficient. We provide targeted teaching for each student, discover what they excel at, and cultivate them into highly specialized talents, rather than relying on general rote learning.”

Pan Xuan felt this Dean was well-suited for the school’s admissions department. These words made even him want to send his children to Mingde, although he didn’t know if practitioners’ children had an advantage in enrollment, even though he didn’t even have a partner yet.

Lu Mingyu asked, “Regarding Miao Sheng, do you have an impression of him?”

Students were not like teachers; there were so many students in a school that the Dean might not know them all. The Dean looked puzzled: “He is a student at our school. His father, Miao Fushan, is a director of the Wanli Group. He was also a very obedient and sensible child. Is there a reason you are asking about him?”

They had just notified Miao Sheng’s parents of his death, and the school did not yet know. When they contacted the school earlier, they wanted to check on Wan Fang’s situation, and at that time, Miao Sheng hadn’t met with his accident yet.

Lu Mingyu didn’t say anything more upon hearing this. In the Dean’s eyes, the students were good children, and the teachers were good teachers. He probably wouldn’t get anything more out of him, so he checked the time: “It’s almost time for the break. We would like to find some students from Wan Fang’s class to ask a few questions.”

The Dean nodded: “That is fine, but they are all still young. I hope you will not be too aggressive in your questioning.”

Pan Xuan smiled: “Rest assured, I will be very gentle and won’t scare the children.”

Lu Mingyu obtained the class list and, trusting his intuition, picked a few names, asking the Dean to bring them over one by one so they could question them privately. When the Dean went to call the students, Pan Xuan sighed: “A head teacher died, and then a student died. The problems in this class must be huge. I wonder if we can sniff anything out from the students.”

If the students knew something but were protecting each other—perhaps the wealthy ones were one group, and the ones who got in on merit and weren’t as wealthy were another—that would be the most troublesome scenario. If it weren’t for the fact that both deaths were clearly the work of evil spirits, this kind of thing should be handled by the police.

The first student brought in was a girl. In this school, there were not many requirements for a student’s personal image. Other than not being able to dye their hair in overly striking colors, how they styled their hair or what accessories they wore was the student’s freedom, as long as it wasn’t too exaggerated.

The girl who entered had long, chestnut-colored wavy hair, with slightly curled ends, the color lustrous and silky. The bracelet on her wrist had a simple design but was incredibly expensive—a single bracelet was worth hundreds of thousands, as it was covered in diamonds. Her appearance was, naturally, not bad; she was pretty and full of poise.

She didn’t show a hint of stage fright after entering the office; she was just a bit surprised to be called in for questioning. On the way over, the Dean had said that someone wanted to ask about their head teacher. Although the news of the teacher’s death had only been out for half a day, it had already spread through the class.

The girl pulled out a chair, sat down in front of the two men, and waited for them to start questioning. Pan Xuan asked the Dean to leave the office. They had already checked earlier; there were no recording devices in the office, ensuring the privacy of the inquiry.

Lu Mingyu said, “I guarantee that no one other than the three of us will know about today’s conversation.”

The girl smiled, her expression calm and indifferent, and her voice carried a touch of coldness: “It wouldn’t matter if others knew. What I know, everyone knows; what others don’t know, I don’t necessarily know, either.”

Lu Mingyu asked, “Regarding your head teacher, what kind of person was she usually?”

The girl was blunt and direct: “Snobbish and money-grubbing.”

Pan Xuan, who was sitting to the side, wrote these words down in his notebook. This was different from what the Dean had said, but it aligned more closely with what Wan Fang’s neighbors had said.

Lu Mingyu continued, “Could you be more specific?”

The girl replied, “How can one be specific about this? You should know about our school. There are the wealthy, the powerful, and the smart ones who are good at taking tests. The money and power bring in funding, while the ones who can take tests bring in scores and fame. Students who get in on merit aren’t necessarily poor, but for those of us who can afford to pay our way in, an ordinary family is no different from being poor. Wan Fang had very obvious differential treatment; anyone with eyes could see it. But what does it matter? She knew how to flatter, and the ones being discriminated against were the ones hoping for scholarships. Who else could stand up for them?”

Lu Mingyu asked, “So your school is heavily clique-based, and you are very unfriendly toward those who got in on their scores?”

The girl shook her head: “It’s not that we are unfriendly; it’s that we can’t play together, so we basically don’t interact. We talk about the local customs of different countries, they are grinding out practice questions. We talk about clothes and brands, they are grinding out practice questions. We talk about future plans, they are grinding out practice questions. We talk about social and economic trends and future development prospects, they are still grinding out practice questions. In their eyes, there is only the scholarship and the way out via the college entrance exam. We are different; we have many paths. We have seen more, our horizons are different, so it’s normal that we can’t find common ground.”

Pan Xuan asked, “Do you look down on them?”

The girl shook her head again: “It’s not looking down on them; it’s that after leaving school, we are destined never to intersect again, so there’s no need to create an intersection now.”

There are few stupid people among the wealthy. There’s no need to waste time maintaining a relationship that is destined to be of no help to one’s future. They are now building the connections that will matter in the future. They are simply not from the same world. Even if they briefly spend time together on a campus, they are destined not to walk the same path. It’s realistic, but that is the reality. As for friendship that crosses class lines, I can’t say it doesn’t exist, but I can say it’s very rare.

Pan Xuan asked, “Has bullying ever happened at your school?”

The girl paused slightly and looked up at the two men across from her: “Does this have anything to do with Wan Fang’s death?”

Lu Mingyu keenly sensed something in her response and asked, “Whether it has a connection or not, we will investigate. Please tell us what you know.”

The girl tilted her head, and it was unclear whether her tone was sarcastic or amused: “Investigate, huh? And what then? What use is it?”

Pan Xuan said, “How can it be useless? After finding the truth, we prosecute accordingly.”

The girl was silent for a long while before saying, “His name was Li Xu. Zhuang Li Xu. He was originally the one in our year most likely to become the top scorer in the province. He committed suicide six months ago.”