Chapter 762: Investigation at School
According to the child’s grandfather, they were supposed to go to town to sell apples on Sunday morning.
However, the child went out to play on Saturday and never returned.
"How many classmates of Wang Yaowu are there in our village?"
"There are five of them."
"Have you asked all of them?"
"Yes, they said they haven’t seen the child..."
...
Then Lu Chuan continued to ask some other questions, and afterward, the group planned to leave, but they were stopped by Wang Yaowu’s mother.
"Officer... can we still find my child?"
"Could something have happened to him..."
Sob, sob, sob...
The child’s mother finally couldn’t control her emotions and clutched Lu Chuan’s sleeve, crying out loud.
"Don’t worry, we will do our best!"
The others could only try to comfort her.
It took a lot of effort to pull the child’s mother away.
"Alas, the heart of a parent is truly pitiable..."
Chen Jiang sighed and reported the situation to Lu Chuan: "I’ve already informed Zhaokai to check if there’s a student with the nickname ’Big Guy’ in the class..."
Lu Chuan nodded and then turned to look at the village.
The whole village is nestled in a valley, with about a hundred or so households.
Most of them are left-behind inhabitants, with not much active labor force.
"Chen Jiang, call Zhaokai again and do a thorough investigation on the five students from Nanwa Village who go to middle school together."
Nanwa Village is about ten miles away from East Valley Town.
On the afternoon Wang Yaowu went missing, he said he was going out to play with his classmates.
In all likelihood, he should have been in Nanwa Village, rather than returning to East Valley Town.
After all, it’s more than 20 miles round trip, and going back and forth is unlikely.
However, the child’s grandfather just said that the kids in Nanwa Village hadn’t seen Wang Yaowu.
What’s going on?
On the other side, at the school.
"I think this student might have just gone somewhere. I asked around, he’s not doing well in his studies, and he has to turn in homework on Monday. Maybe he hasn’t finished his homework yet."
The principal didn’t seem to care much about the matter.
He knew about it even before school started yesterday afternoon.
The child’s homeroom teacher had called him.
But the principal didn’t think it was a big deal. He thought, at fourteen or fifteen, the kid couldn’t possibly get lost.
Besides, Wang Yaowu’s academic performance was average, unlikely to make it to high school, and wouldn’t have much of a future. He wasn’t a focus student at the school.
"Okay, Principal Sun, let’s have a chat with Wang Yaowu’s homeroom teacher and classmates first."
"Well... it’s not very appropriate; they’re all in class, you..."
Wang Zhaokai furrowed his brow; this principal was very uncooperative.
What did he think this was?
Did he really think a nicer tone meant it was just a suggestion?
"Principal Sun!"
"I think I need to remind you, I’m a criminal police officer, and when a detective is handling a case, it’s a legal requirement for you to cooperate, not a matter of seeking your approval, understand?"
Principal Sun was startled into silence.
He looked at Wang Zhaokai for a long time without speaking.
"Principal Sun?"
"Please arrange for me a meeting room and get Wang Yaowu’s homeroom teacher over here."
Principal Sun finally snapped out of it: "Oh, okay, I’ll go get them right away."
Wang Zhaokai slightly furrowed his brow; it could have been so easy from the start.
"Old Chen, go with them."
Wang Zhaokai couldn’t let the principal go alone, as he might talk to the homeroom teacher on the way, potentially affecting the upcoming investigation.
Soon, Wang Zhaokai met Wang Yaowu’s homeroom teacher, Liu Tao.
"Teacher Liu, we’d like to know a bit about Wang Yaowu’s situation."
Liu Tao was a middle-aged female teacher who taught Chinese.
She didn’t seem very sociable, only nodding in response to Wang Zhaokai.
"Don’t feel pressured; just speak your mind and cooperate with the officers."
Suddenly, Principal Sun spoke up.
Wang Zhaokai frowned: "Old Chen, please accompany Principal Sun next door to let him rest."
"Song, take the notes."
Principal Sun didn’t expect to be sent out, and he glanced at Liu Tao before leaving.
With Principal Sun gone, Teacher Liu Tao seemed to relax a bit.
"Wang Yaowu is an average student academically, but he’s very obedient and sensible."
"He’s one of those rather... average students in the class."
To the teacher, academic performance obviously came first, so Liu Tao instinctively talked about Wang Yaowu’s academic situation.
"Does Wang Yaowu have any particularly good friends in the class, or any conflicts with others?"
"He’s pretty close with Li Chao; they often hang out together during breaks."
"As for conflicts... I wouldn’t exactly call them conflicts, maybe some playful jostling with his deskmate and a few classmates from his village."
"Teacher Liu, is there anyone in our class with the nickname ’Big Guy’?"
"Big Guy?"
Liu Tao shook her head: "I’m not sure about that."
Wang Zhaokai asked some additional questions.
Liu Tao not only served as their homeroom teacher but also managed the dormitory for the class.
However, Liu Tao didn’t provide any particularly valuable clues or information.
"Alright, Teacher Liu, when you get back, bring Li Chao over and some of Wang Yaowu’s classmates as well, so we can understand the situation better."
"Okay."
A few minutes later, a rather shy, skinny male student appeared in front of Wang Zhaokai.
Watching the boy fidget with his fingers, Wang Zhaokai lowered his voice: "Li Chao, no need to be nervous. Uncle just wants to know a bit about Wang Yaowu. I heard from your teacher that you’re good friends with him."
Li Chao nodded, uttering a quiet "Mm," but said nothing more.
"Does Wang Yaowu tell you everything?"
"Sort of..."
"How did you become good friends?"
"Because of Big Guy..."
Hmm?
Wang Zhaokai was surprised: "Big Guy?"
"Yeah, Big Guy, the big shot in our class; he often bullied me and Wang Yaowu..."
Wang Zhaokai had just been thinking of asking Li Chao if he knew who in the class was called Big Guy, not expecting him to mention it outright.
"Li Chao, don’t be nervous. Rest assured, our conversation will remain confidential, and I will protect you."
Upon hearing this, Li Chao appeared to relax a lot.
"Tell Uncle about Big Guy, okay?"
"Okay..."
Li Chao indeed knew quite a bit about Wang Yaowu; they were best friends who shared everything.
Next, Wang Zhaokai asked a few other classmates but didn’t directly question Big Guy.
It was almost certain that this student called Big Guy was the class leader of Ninth Grade Class 3.
All the students had to listen to him.
He bullied whoever he wanted.
Wang Yaowu and Li Chao were the most frequently bullied among them.
Because both of them had average grades, which didn’t attract much attention from the teachers, and they were too timid to tell their families, they had become regular targets for Big Guy and his group.