Chapter 98 An Unexpected Incident

Chapter 98 An Unexpected Incident

After finally getting Xia Li into bed, He Jing suddenly said, "Where’s Li Meiru? Why isn’t she back yet?"

Tang Xiuxiu: "She didn’t go to the dance today, did she? Did she take time off?"

He Jing: "She didn’t mention it to me."

Even if she had gotten permission from the counselor, she should have informed the dorm head because there was a bed check at night. They didn’t know if she had taken time off or just hadn’t come back yet, so how should they answer the bed checker?

It was already past the curfew time, and Li Meiru still hadn’t returned.

In half an hour, the bed checker would be here.

He Jing anxiously asked, "What should we do? Our dorm not only has two drunks but is also missing one person."

Tang Xiuxiu: "We’ll just tell the truth. We don’t know where she is. If Li Meiru gets into trouble outside, we can’t be held responsible."

That was all we could do.

When the bed checker came in before lights-off, she pointed to the empty upper bunk and asked, "What’s the deal with this empty bed?"

He Jing could only answer, "She hasn’t come back yet. We don’t know if she took time off. She didn’t tell us."

The bed checker flipped through her roster, "Name?"

He Jing: "Li Meiru."

"We’ve noted her name. We’ll check with the counselor. If she didn’t get permission and stayed out overnight, she’ll get a mark on her record."

"..."

Everyone in the dorm went to bed feeling uneasy.

The next morning, Xia Li and Wang Jiao, those two unlucky girls, opened their eyes and started moaning about their headaches.

He Jing: "What did you do yesterday? You even drank. Don’t you know how risky that is?"

Xia Li held her head, "We just had dinner. Everyone else was drinking, so we didn’t want to say no."

He Jing: "I’m done talking to you. I need to go see the counselor."

To find out about Li Meiru.

Li Meiru still hadn’t come back to school. What if she got into trouble outside?

Ye Xiaoxiao had morning classes and left early.

After arriving in class, Zhang Kaining came over to talk to her: "Xiao Xiao, I went to the dance last night too."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Really? I didn’t see you."

Zhang Kaining: "I just went to have some fun and check it out. I didn’t get a dance partner or anything. I saw you dancing with a female classmate. Was that your roommate?"

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded: "Yes."

Then Zhang Kaining looked shy.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "What, are you interested in my roommate?"

But she figured Tang Xiuxiu wouldn’t be into a chubby guy.

To her surprise, Zhang Kaining quickly waved his hands, "No, no, I was just curious."

Ye Xiaoxiao gave him a knowing look, "Alright."

When morning classes wrapped up, He Jing was waiting for Ye Xiaoxiao by the classroom door.

"What’s up? Why are you waiting for me here?"

He Jing sighed, "I went to see the counselor this morning. Li Meiru didn’t ask for leave yesterday and still hasn’t come back. Do you think something bad happened to her?"

Ye Xiaoxiao blinked, "What?"

He Jing replied, "Let’s discuss this back in the dorm."

Ye Xiaoxiao asked, "Where does Li Meiru usually hang out? What’s she doing off-campus?"

As they walked, Ye Xiaoxiao and He Jing talked it over, but neither had any leads.

When they got back to the dorm, the others were already there.

With one person missing, everyone had to sit down and figure things out.

Ye Xiaoxiao frowned. In this day and age, finding someone isn’t easy—no surveillance, no phone tracking. If someone disappears, they’re just gone.

Tang Xiuxiu piped up, "Remember the girls next door? They didn’t get along with Li Meiru and had some drama during military training. I just went to ask them about it. They weren’t exactly friendly, but I think they know something."

Wang Jiao chimed in, "I think Li Meiru was looking for a part-time job off-campus. She mentioned it once—probably because she was short on cash."

It’s only been a month into the semester, and the university stipend hasn’t come through yet. Li Meiru probably didn’t have much from her family, so she decided to look for a part-time job off-campus.

He Jing asked, "So, she’s been leaving early and coming back late these days—doing part-time work?"

Wang Jiao nodded, "Shengnan next door mentioned she hooked Li Meiru up with a job."

Xia Li asked, "What kind of job? Do you think Li Meiru’s disappearance has something to do with it?"

Ye Xiaoxiao figured since the girl next door had a beef with Li Meiru, she probably wasn’t being helpful. "Should we just call the cops?"

Tang Xiuxiu checked the time, "If Li Meiru isn’t back by tonight, we’re calling the cops."

Luckily, it didn’t come to that. That evening, Li Meiru showed up, looking exhausted and disheveled.

He Jing immediately grilled her, "Where have you been? We were this close to calling the cops!"

Li Meiru explained, "I went to do a part-time job yesterday, but I messed up because I didn’t know what I was doing, and they detained me."

After He Jing pressed her for details, Li Meiru finally spilled the story.

Yesterday, she went to a textile factory for part-time work—not a big state-owned one, but a small workshop. They paid by the piece, which was perfect for a college student like her.

It was her first day, and she ended up damaging the machine while working, so they held her there.

He Jing asked, "Those machines are pricey, right? Did they make you pay for it?"

Li Meiru nodded reluctantly.

Xia Li said, "Even if they wanted money, they had no right to detain you. That place sounds like a shady operation. You should’ve called the cops right away."

Li Meiru's face was pale, "That machine costs thousands of yuan; how can I possibly afford it?"

He Jing: "So what happened? Why did they let you come back?"

Li Meiru covered her face, tears spilling from her palms, "The factory forced me to sign a labor contract..."

Tang Xiuxiu poured her a glass of water, "That contract is probably illegal. Do you remember what it said?"

He Jing also said, "You’re still in school. Are you really going to give up your dream of becoming a doctor to work in a textile mill?"

Ye Xiaoxiao looked at her shaky appearance and pulled He Jing, "Let her rest first. She’s not in the right frame of mind to deal with this right now."

He Jing: "You’re right. Rest now, and we’ll talk about this when you’re up."

Xia Li: "Have you eaten yet? I can grab something from the canteen for you."

Li Meiru wasn’t hungry. She just shook her head and curled up on the bed.

Ye Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, "This doesn’t add up. It’s way too convenient. Do you think someone set Li Meiru up?"

He Jing turned her head, lowering her voice, "You think the girls from the next dorm wanted to get back at her?"

After all, during military training, those girls got into a fight with Li Meiru and were suspended for a day. The counselor even gave them a demerit, which messed up their training scores.

Tang Xiuxiu: "Even if we confront them now, they’ll just deny it. I think we should focus on the factory first."