Chapter 44
Just as The System had said, the Dayuan Photo Studio was not far from No. 16 Middle School, just a few minutes’ walk straight through the back gate. As for why Zhang Xiaochen hadn’t seen the sign on his way over, the reason was simple—the storefront was incredibly small.
Jiang Liu stared at the less-than-ten-square-meter entrance and couldn’t help but double-check the location on her navigation app. This was an old residential complex with only a few scattered buildings. The layout looked dated, and the walls were faded and mottled from years of exposure to the elements, looking completely out of place amidst the nearby commercial street.
The photo studio was on the ground floor of a street-facing building, flanked by several empty storefronts. The doors were plastered with layers of “For Rent” signs, the topmost layer already faded and yellowed, the writing blurry. There seemed to be construction nearby, and the air was thick with dust, making one instinctively cover their nose.
Zhao Ziming walked around the area a couple of times, clicking his tongue in wonder. “This place looks haunted.”
The door was ajar, not completely closed. The lighting was poor, and the inside looked pitch-black, making it impossible to see if anyone was there. Jiang Liu went up and knocked, but there was no response for a long time. Just as she was about to push the door open, an impatient voice came from within. “Who is it now?”
Her eyes flickered. Hearing the sound of shuffling footsteps inside, the door creaked open. The person who opened it was a young man who looked like a student, still clutching his phone, his eyes glued to the game on the screen. “We’re not open today.”
His tone was terrible, clearly annoyed at being disturbed during his game. Jiang Liu’s expression remained unchanged as she stated her purpose. “Sorry to bother you, but the school sent us to get our pictures taken.”
The voice was quite pleasant. The student playing the game paused, taking a moment to look up, and a flash of amazement appeared in his eyes. When he looked down and saw her school uniform, he was even more surprised.
When did No. 16 Middle School get such a pretty junior?
He wondered to himself, unaware that his thoughts were written all over his face. He glanced at the people behind Jiang Liu, then slowly put away his phone and ran a hand through his hair. “From No. 16? Then come on in.”
With that, he turned and walked inside.
In contrast to the dilapidated exterior, the room was spotlessly clean. The walls were adorned with numerous photos, all wiped clean of dust, and the decor was very cozy. The room wasn’t large; a few camera bags sat on a table, the computer was off, and the rest of the space was filled with various photo frames and decorations. It was clear that someone had put a lot of effort into running the place.
Within moments of entering, Jiang Liu had already taken in the layout of the shop. While admiring the photos on the wall, she began to probe for information.
“Are you the person in charge here?”
The young man was rummaging through something on the table. “This is my uncle’s shop,” he said casually. “I’m just here to help watch it.”
Then, as if he had finally found what he was looking for, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to hand a leather-covered notebook to Jiang Liu. “My uncle’s not here. You guys can just register. He’ll contact you when he gets back.”
After saying that, he went back to fiddling with his phone. Jiang Liu took the notebook and, seeing that his attention was elsewhere, slowly began to flip through it.
The notebook was new, likely just recently unwrapped, with only a few pages used. The handwriting on the first page was bold and unrestrained, the strokes chaotic yet orderly, lacking the neat, childish quality of a student’s writing. It was probably written by the young man’s uncle. In a flamboyant script, it read: No. 16 Middle School ID Photo Registration Book.
The following pages detailed the time, class, name, and contact information. Most of the names had a checkmark next to them, with only a few exceptions. Starting from the fifth page, the style of handwriting changed completely. Different scripts were scrawled messily, and no times were recorded.
Xu Meng was standing close to Jiang Liu and noticed the peculiarity of this page at a glance. “Are the first few pages for those who have already had their pictures taken?” she asked curiously.
The young man, engrossed in whatever he was playing, gave a noncommittal grunt without looking up. His attitude made the group frown, unsure how to ask more questions. Unexpectedly, Zhao Ziming sauntered over to his side, glanced at his game, and then casually directed him, “Go over there, check the chest first.”
The young man glanced at him, then followed his advice with some skepticism, only to let out a cry of surprise. “Whoa, good stuff!”
“Turn right, go through the second door.” Zhao Ziming’s instructions didn’t stop. Bolstered by his previous luck, the young man was now completely convinced and quickly maneuvered his character forward.
He had been stuck on this level for a long time, but with Zhao Ziming’s guidance, he cleared it in just three minutes. Seeing the long-awaited victory screen, the young man grinned from ear to ear. He turned and bumped Zhao Ziming’s shoulder. “Not bad, bro. Do you know how to beat the next level?”
His attitude was a complete reversal from before, earning him a thumbs-up from Jiang Liu. Zhao Ziming shot her a proud look and coolly replied, “It’s all a piece of cake. I can help you beat the whole thing, no problem.”
The young man quickly scooted over to make room for him and handed over his phone, eager to watch him play. While the two were engrossed in the game, Jiang Liu carefully examined the list but didn’t find the names of the five students from Grade 3, Class 5.
She cleared her throat discreetly. Zhao Ziming instantly understood. Without stopping his game, he casually struck up a conversation. “When is your uncle coming back? Our teacher is in a hurry.”
The young man had his guard down, especially with a group of his peers in school uniforms. He took a swig of his drink and complained impatiently, “Who knows? He’s been gone since last night.”
It was clear he wasn’t thrilled about wasting his weekend watching the shop. Zhao Ziming let out a frustrated “Ah.” “Then what do we do? Are there any other photo studios nearby?”
The young man scratched his head and thought for a while before shaking his head. “There are no others around here. Why else would the school come to this place?”
He glanced around the small storefront with a hint of disdain. “He finally gets a big business opportunity, and he drops the ball at the critical moment. Serves him right for not making money.”
As they spoke, Zhao Ziming helped him clear another level. The young man’s expression turned to one of delighted surprise, his tone almost worshipful. “Awesome, bro! How did you do that?”
Zhao Ziming chuckled and raised his eyebrows smugly. “Nothing special, just a matter of practice.”
The young man laughed along with him and quickly took a screenshot to show off. While he was busy, Jiang Liu casually asked, “Are you also from No. 16 Middle School?”
The person didn’t look up. “Yeah, I’m a second-year.”
As if he already knew what Jiang Liu was going to ask, he turned off his phone and stretched. “It’s close by, so I got my picture taken early.”
Clearing two levels in one afternoon had clearly put him in an exceptionally good mood. He motioned for Xu Meng to hand him the notebook and pointed to the list to explain. “See, I was the first one.”
Jiang Liu looked down and saw a few large words written on the top line: Grade 2, Class 7, Zhou Yuan. She couldn’t help but laugh, her voice tinged with amusement. “So you’re the ‘Da Yuan’ after all.”
Zhou Yuan clicked his tongue, looking annoyed. “This shop is older than I am. It was already called that. It has nothing to do with me.”
He seemed to have an aversion to the tacky name “Dayuan” and muttered that it should have been changed long ago. Jiang Liu smiled and pointed to the checkmarks on the list. “What do these mean?”
“Those are for the ones who’ve picked up their photos. The rest are people we couldn’t contact. My uncle was planning to deliver them to the school in a couple of days.”
Upon closer inspection, Jiang Liu saw that the names included both boys and girls from all three grades, with no discernible pattern. She could only commit the names to memory for now. Before she knew it, it was already five o’clock. Zhou Yuan glanced at the wall clock and visibly relaxed, as if finally liberated. “Finally, I can leave. Usually, only a few people come in a month. Why is it so busy today?”
He then looked at Zhao Ziming and the others and said thoughtfully, “If he doesn’t come back, the principal and teachers will figure something out. You guys don’t need to worry.”
That made sense. Jiang Liu nodded. “Did anyone else come today?”
She asked casually, and Zhou Yuan, treating it as small talk, complained while packing up his things. “Yeah, and they weren’t even from our school. They insisted on staying in the shop and were really rude. I had to kick them out.”
Just thinking about them made him angry, and he rolled his eyes so far back they nearly disappeared. “I don’t know who my uncle pissed off. One of them had an eye tattoo on his arm. It looked really scary.”
Jiang Liu’s eyes lowered in thought. Just as she was about to ask more, Zhang Xiaochen, who had been silent for a while, suddenly frowned, his eyes fixed on Zhou Yuan. “What kind of tattoo?”
Zhou Yuan was taken aback by the question and stood there for a moment, recalling. “I think it was black with a bit of red in the middle. It covered almost half his arm.”
With every word he spoke, Zhang Xiaochen’s face grew paler. Zhao Ziming noticed something was wrong and shot Jiang Liu a look. He then casually slung an arm around Zhang Xiaochen’s shoulders. “What’s wrong? Scared of a tattoo?”
Normally, Zhang Xiaochen would have retorted, but this time, for some reason, he just gave him a pale look and said nothing. Jiang Liu gave him a probing glance and, sure enough, noticed Zhang Xiaochen avoiding her gaze.
What is this kid hiding from me?
She wanted to ask more, but Zhou Yuan was already preparing to close the shop. She had to temporarily set the matter aside and lead her group out of the photo studio.
It was strange. Even though it was the height of summer, the photo studio was so cool it didn’t even need air conditioning. It wasn’t until Jiang Liu stepped outside and felt the warm breeze that she realized the temperature inside was abnormal.
In her experience, the strange occurrences in instances mostly happened at night. They still had time. But before that—
Jiang Liu stopped and looked directly at Zhang Xiaochen. Her gaze was calm yet held a strange power, as if it could see right through a person’s thoughts, sending a chill down one’s spine. She had noticed something was off with Zhang Xiaochen earlier. He had a wound on his arm, and wrapping it up would make it stuffy. So why was he still wearing his long-sleeved school uniform jacket in this heat? Even when he was sweating profusely, he had no intention of rolling up his sleeves, which was completely out of character for him.
She usually didn’t care about others’ actions, but in an instance, Jiang Liu had to be cautious. An immense pressure emanated from her. Zhang Xiaochen swallowed nervously and, steeling himself, opened his mouth. After some hesitation, he finally chose to confess.
“I know the guy with the tattoo.”