Chapter One Hundred: "Returning" to Campus

"It's the 'tu' from 'pattern' and the 'e' from 'quota'," Su Feiyong explained, realizing I had misunderstood.

So it's "Tu'e," not "Tu Goose." I was wondering how someone could be named "Goose."

Now that I thought about it, his name sounded familiar, as if I'd heard it somewhere before, but I couldn't recall where for the moment.

Su Feiyong turned to the man and explained, "His name is Wang Luo, the 'Luo' as in 'falling leaves,' but without the grass radical."

The two explanations were worlds apart. Why didn't he just say "Luoyang" or "River Luo"? The way he explained it was as if talking to a primary school student, only missing the step of writing out the character. It seemed Su Feiyong spoke from bitter experience; I had a vague feeling he'd suffered some mishap before.

Sure enough, the next moment my suspicion was confirmed. Tu'e looked at Master Wei and pointed at her sunglasses. "Why are you wearing that black thing? Can you even see where you're going?"

I was utterly astonished. Was this guy so clueless he didn’t even know what sunglasses were?

Su Feiyong patiently explained, "Those are sunglasses—they protect your eyes and don't block your vision."

"Oh, I see. I noticed a few people before wearing those black things, tapping the ground with a stick as they walked. I thought they couldn't see because the glasses covered their eyes."

I nearly burst out laughing. This guy had lumped Master Wei together with blind people.

Master Wei's expression was unchanged, but Su Feiyong gave a helpless smile, clearly all too familiar with situations like this.

Master Wei gestured to Su Feiyong, who said, "Let's head out first; I'll explain everything in detail on the way."

Once we were in the car, perhaps affected by Tu'e's remark, Master Wei took off her sunglasses, which I found quietly amusing.

No one else joined us—just the three of us and Su Feiyong, who was driving. Strangely, today Su Feiyong wasn't in his usual suit, but instead wore a plain blue down jacket, looking completely ordinary.

"Is no one else coming?" I asked, puzzled. There weren't many people before, but neither Xu Guangyi nor Master Wei's bodyguards were present.

"This time is special—too many people would be inconvenient," Su Feiyong replied.

Special circumstances?

Before he could explain further, I asked my biggest question: "How did you find him?"

I meant Tu'e.

Su Feiyong gave a wry smile and told me that after the last incident, Master Wei had people searching all over Hainan for him. They scoured the province and finally found Tu'e on the street—he hadn't eaten for several days by then.

I was even more shocked. How poor were his survival skills that he could go hungry for days on the street? This guy had looks, he had talent—even so, he ended up like that. Still, why was he out on the street? Didn't he have anywhere to stay?

Su Feiyong went on, "We didn’t know where he came from, and he wouldn't say. With nowhere to go, Master Wei brought him back and arranged a place for him."

I looked at Tu'e. He was peering out the window with an expression of wonder, just like the first time I went to the city as a child. I glanced at his hands—his palms were smooth, the skin well cared for, nothing like someone who’d spent years in the mountains away from civilization.

"He's been like this the whole way, just as before," Su Feiyong said helplessly.

I patted Tu'e on the shoulder. "You can look later; let's hear what this is all about first."

Only then did he turn around.

Su Feiyong glanced at Master Wei, then said, "We're headed to a university this time..."

"What's a university?" Tu'e interrupted suddenly.

Once again, my worldview was shattered—he didn't even know that? Had he never gone to school?

Su Feiyong had no choice but to explain patiently, "It's a school, a place for study, from childhood to adulthood—kindergarten, primary school, middle school, high school, university..."

After a thorough explanation, he finally understood.

Su Feiyong continued, saying that over the past month, this particular university had seen several students suddenly fall ill. The day before, or even moments before, they were perfectly fine, but then they abruptly became weak and feverish, with no warning and no clear cause. Since the symptoms—fever, chills, fatigue—were common and the weather was turning cold, no one paid much attention.

Still, the situation was suspicious. None of the students who took sick leave and went to the hospital had returned; their conditions only worsened without any known reason. Master Wei had sent people to check on them—it wasn’t any ordinary illness, but the cause was a mystery. The only certainty was that the secret must be hidden within the university.

Classes were still in session, so the school was full of students. A large, obvious group would attract too much attention, making investigation difficult.

That’s why, when Old Ma handed this job to me, they readily agreed—I kept a low profile.

Only the university president and a few senior officials had been informed. We would pretend to be visiting students from another school, be assigned dorm rooms, and get meal vouchers…

I was dumbfounded. I didn’t know this kind of thing was possible… If it were another province, maybe it wouldn't matter, but this was my home, Guangxi. What if I ran into an old classmate? Wouldn't our cover be blown?

"If you don't mind me asking, Master Wei, why are you coming along this time?" I inquired.

At least last time in Hainan there was the excuse of catching illicit ghosts, but what about now? Wasn't this meddling for no reason?

Su Feiyong glanced at Master Wei as he drove, as if seeking permission. Seeing no objection, he explained, "A son of one of our former companions is at that university. That companion passed away for certain reasons."

So Master Wei wanted to look after a subordinate’s child and keep him from harm? That sounded a bit far-fetched, unless the circumstances of his death were extraordinary.

The car drove farther and farther from the city. Houses and people along the road grew sparse, replaced by vast vegetable fields. We even passed a dilapidated psychiatric hospital.

Just how remote was this school?

As we neared the school gates, we saw a crowd gathered outside. Drawing closer, we realized they weren’t students at all—they all looked like petty criminals, with tattoos on their heads and necks. Two students were surrounded in the middle, with a few more standing far off, watching from a safe distance.

As we got out of the car, we heard a bald man in the crowd, sporting a thick gold chain and a scorpion tattoo on the back of his head, point at one of the cornered students and snarl, "You must have a death wish! You dare lay a finger on my woman?"