Chapter 428: Zhao Zixuan's Story
"I live in a small county town in the north, and my alma mater is a high school in the county town."

"Like most schools, there are some strange legends circulating here."

"For example, this place was originally a mass grave. The school was built here to use the students' yang energy to suppress wandering ghosts. Under the foundation of the school, there is an engraved Bagua formation to drive away evil spirits."

"For example, before the school was built, this was a busy street of restaurants. A vicious vendor poisoned the food, resulting in a large number of deaths."

Hearing this, Wu Xian shrugged.

Schools, hospitals, and funeral homes are popular locations for ghost stories.

Zhao Zixuan rubbed his face.

"But I am not interested in these stories. The school was built on the mass grave only because the land was cheap. The legend of poisoning in the restaurant was just a rumor deliberately spread by the school to scare us and prevent us from eating at the snack stands outside the school."

"I'm really tired and don't feel like discussing these trivial matters with my classmates."

"The schedule for senior high school students is very tight. Morning self-study starts at 6 o'clock and evening self-study ends at 10 o'clock. They only have half a day of rest every week."

"I was a day student and rode my bike to and from school every day, which meant I had to get up at five in the morning and go to bed at eleven at night at the earliest. If it was winter, the wind blowing on my face while riding was like shaving with a knife."

“Such a long period of study did not allow me to learn more.”

"With insufficient rest and too much pressure, I was in a terrible state in class. I was groggy all day, half asleep and half awake. The biggest meaning of staying in school was just to extend my attendance time so that others could brag about how hard these students really worked."

"The teacher always had a stern face. Whenever I wanted to take a break, he would show up on time, wake me up and lecture me on the old principles, as if it was a heinous crime for me to just want to take a nap when I couldn't get more than six hours of sleep every day."

"My classmates all had the same expression as me, numb and sleepy, but they were also noisy occasionally, perhaps because there were happy things in their lives."

"My parents were also very busy at work. At first, they were willing to cook for me even though I went out early and came back late. But after a while, when I woke up every morning, I could only see change on the table. I had to eat and drink outside. Sometimes I didn't even see them for a few days. Even if I did, they didn't show much warmth."

"This kind of life is like hell to me."

These words are somewhat depressing to hear.

Xiong Gang kept sighing. The more he listened to Zhao Zixuan's story, the more he regretted that he could not save the child.

Gong Xiujuan could empathize with him, but Fu Jian could not understand his frustration due to the generation gap.

Wu Xian shook his head slightly. The high schools in Fuyuan City were not that competitive. Moreover, he was very good at entertaining himself when he was in school, and was regarded as a thorn in the eyes of his teachers because of this.

Zhao Zixuan changed his tone.

"On days like this, the one that gave me the most warmth was a small restaurant outside the school."

"This small restaurant looks shabby, and there are few customers, mostly elderly people. The owner is a very kind-looking grandmother. Every time I come here, she will prepare meals in advance."

"The food here is cheap and suits my taste. My mother-in-law treats me very well. When there is something in school that requires my parents' cooperation, I usually come to my mother-in-law to solve it. After entering the third year of high school, my mother-in-law is the only person who is gentle to me."

"I don't know how long this numb life lasted."

"Suddenly one day, I passed out due to lack of rest. When I woke up in the hospital, everything changed."

Zhao Zixuan's tone became cheerful. "The teacher never scolded me again. I could lie on the table and rest when I couldn't stand it anymore."

"My classmates are friendlier to me and take the initiative to make friends with me. Although they sometimes look at me strangely, my life at school is finally fun."

"My mother started cooking for me again, and I could eat hot meals every morning and evening. I don't know if it was an illusion, but my mother's cooking skills had improved, and the meals she made every day were very tasty. It was just that due to time constraints, I still seldom saw them."

"After my mood improved, I even felt that my brain became more intelligent, and my academic performance improved steadily."

"The only thing missing from this beautiful day is that the grandma's small restaurant has closed down, but I don't care too much because I no longer need the grandma to provide me with comfort."

"But gradually, I realized that something was wrong in my life."

"Wherever I go, I often see the bodies of small animals, pigeons, cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, all of which have their heads missing."

"The lady in the school cafeteria also complained that some of the food the school bought was lost, including chicken and duck heads and the like."

"My classmates' enthusiasm gradually turned into fear and alienation towards me, and my teacher's concern for me gradually turned into pity. I don't know if it was the sequelae of the last fainting, but I often blacked out and lost my memory for a short period of time."

"What's even stranger is that my home, my clothes started to smell bad, and my bed sheets and quilts haven't been changed in a long time..."

These are abnormal.

This made Zhao Zixuan feel a little uneasy.

But his busy schoolwork took up a lot of his time. He had neither the ability nor the time to investigate the cause of this anomaly and could only muddle through his days.

until one day.

The school will hold a swearing-in ceremony.

Zhao Zixuan and his classmates were going to the school basement to move some of the equipment stored there to the podium.

But the moment he entered the basement, Zhao Zixuan fainted. When he woke up in the hospital, he found that he smelled terrible. When he returned to school, his classmates avoided him as if he was a plague god!
He found the teacher and asked what had happened.

The head teacher patted his shoulder with a sympathetic expression and said, "I know that the death of your parents has dealt a great blow to you, but you can't go on like this. If you need help, you must come to me. My classmates and I will help you."

"Parents passed away?" Zhao Zixuan was struck by lightning. "When did this happen? Why didn't I know about it?"

The head teacher's eyes widened: "Your parents died three months ago. There was an accident in the factory. They both died in the accident. You fainted and were hospitalized..."

Zhao Zixuan could no longer listen to what was said next.

An inexplicable sadness welled up in my heart.

Behind the grief, there is a hint of fear.

If his parents had died long ago, then who had been cooking for him for the past three months?

(End of this chapter)