Chapter 03 The mysteriously stolen painting 1
"Ahhh, it's over. I'm going to be late."
I held a steaming Mom-brand love bun in my mouth, my schoolbag in my left hand, a box of hot milk in my right hand, put on my shoes and ran out. While running, I turned around and blew a kiss to my mom.
"Dear mother, please leave the rest of your loving breakfast for my wise and powerful father. I don't have time anymore. Goodbye!"
I rushed to school at the speed of light and looked at my watch. Haha, the time was just right!
As I nimbly moved among the crowd, I lamented in my heart: If I had such speed in the school sports meet, the school's long-distance running championship every year would have been overwhelming!
Hey, wait, what's going on up ahead?
I looked at the crowd gathered in front of the school notice board, and saw many of my classmates among them. I had already rushed through the crowd, but I braked handsomely and turned back to the notice board.
The class was about to start, and this class was the English class taught by the famous "witch teacher" in the school. What earth-shattering news had happened that made everyone forget their fear of "witches"?
As the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and a veteran campus reporter, I seemed to smell a strong scent of gossip instantly.
Ahem, as a professional journalist, how can I miss every major event? So I decided to let the "witch teacher" go to hell.
In fact, the most important thing is that the law does not hold everyone responsible.
"What happened?" I wanted to squeeze into the crowd, but was blocked by the impenetrable wall of people in front of me.
With this attitude, if anyone tells me that nothing major has happened, I will definitely despise him.
With the inquisitive spirit of seeking the truth, I tried my best to jump up and down, but because the enemy's blockade was too strong, I had to return empty-handed every time.
In desperation, I suddenly had an idea and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Oh my! The principal is here!"
This trick really worked. In a flash, the crowd scattered like birds and beasts.
I clapped my hands in satisfaction, and swaggered to the notice board, my eyes quickly passing over the notice that seemed to still have ink on it...
What?
The famous paintings displayed by the school's calligraphy and painting club were stolen last night!
This famous painting is the masterpiece of a well-known master in the country, and was donated to the school by him personally, just because Jinse School was his alma mater.
This matter is of great importance. No wonder the atmosphere in school is so tense so early in the morning.
I touched my chin and was thinking about how to write this news in a more shocking and heart-wrenching way, when the crowd behind me who had been fooled just now gathered again.
"What? Where is the principal?"
"Damn it, who is so bold as to lie to me?"
"Why did that voice just now sound familiar to me?"
Just as the crowd was trying to figure out who the culprit was, a mysterious voice interrupted everyone's speculation.
"I say, don't worry about these insignificant things. You know what?" The person who spoke dragged out his voice, whetting everyone's appetite before slowly saying, "I heard that the theft of the famous painting this time was very strange!"
Tsk, just being mysterious.
I looked at the time and turned to leave.
"Why is it so weird?" Many people in the crowd asked in unison.
"I heard that the door of the calligraphy and painting society's showroom is intact, but the famous paintings are missing!"
What?
My steps forward came to an abrupt halt, my eyelids twitched, and a bad premonition suddenly emerged in my heart.
Sure enough, another voice emerged from the crowd: "What does this mean? Hasn't the key to the calligraphy and painting society's showroom always been kept by Wei Jimo? Could it be..."
The man didn't finish his words, but everyone understood the implication of his words.
"That's impossible. You mean... Wei Jimo committed embezzlement?" someone boldly hypothesized.
"What a lunatic! How could the president of the season-end guild steal from his employer?" There was an uproar in the crowd as if they had heard some huge joke.
"That's right, how could the president at the end of the season be that kind of person?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's nonsense. Be careful or I'll sue you for libel!"
"If the quarter-end president can rob the company, then everyone in the world is a thief!"
"You ugly bastard, are you jealous of our president because he is so handsome? That's why you spread rumors and slander him?"
The power of fans is indeed strong. In just a moment, that person was surrounded by enemies.
"Why are you all attacking me?" Faced with the spit of everyone, the man had no strength to fight back, let alone defend himself.
In desperation, he stretched out his hand and pointed at the crowd, trying to pull out the culprit who had harmed him and divert everyone's attention.
"I, I'm just guessing."
"For the end-of-season president, such speculation is also a sin."
"That's right. Even if you have even a tiny bit of such thoughts, it is a blasphemy to our president!"
The sounds of attacks continued, but someone keenly discovered a fact.
"Eh? You said someone else said that just now. Where is that person? Where is he? Why didn't we see him?"
"Uh... he was clearly here just now." The innocent "cannon fodder" classmate looked into the crowd and found that he could no longer find the mysterious guy at the beginning.
The "cannon fodder" student said that he felt very wronged because he was blamed for no reason and became the target of public criticism.
"I'm really innocent!"
"Who knows if it was you who made up the rumor in the first place?" However, the fans did not buy it and were still angry. "Now that you have caused public outrage, you want to put the blame on others."
"Even if you didn't say that sentence at the beginning, who can guarantee that the person is not your accomplice?"
"Why would I wrongly accuse Wei Jimo? I have no grudges against him in the past or today." The "cannon fodder" classmate held his head and squatted on the ground, looking like he wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Who knows what's in your mind? Maybe you're jealous of us growing up!"
"Yes, maybe you are a dark person and can't stand seeing others do well!"
Seeing that the bilateral conversation had already escalated into a personal attack, the "cannon fodder" student simply gritted his teeth and said, "Since you said it has nothing to do with Wei Jimo, then how do you explain the key issue? I heard that the key to the exhibition room of the calligraphy and painting club has always been kept by Wei Jimo alone, not even the school teachers. Without his key, how could the thief steal the paintings without damaging the door of the exhibition room at all?"
"This..." The noisy crowd suddenly quieted down, and even the excited fans seemed to be stumped by this question.
"Or maybe the president accidentally lost the key?" someone cautiously put forward the hypothesis.
"Lost? That can't be a coincidence, right?" The "cannon fodder" classmate had been cornered just now, and now he finally had a chance to catch his breath, so he immediately launched a desperate counterattack.
"My deskmate is a member of the calligraphy and painting club. According to him, during the lunch break yesterday, Wei Jimo even used his key to open the door of the calligraphy and painting club to find materials for them. I believe there are many students from the calligraphy and painting club here, right? Can you testify whether I lied about this matter?"
"What he said...seems to be true." After a moment's silence, someone in the crowd whispered.
"See, I didn't lie!" Upon hearing this, the "cannon fodder" classmate breathed a sigh of relief and said proudly.
“Even if what you said is true, it doesn’t mean that the painting was stolen by the president at the end of the season.” After all, he is a die-hard fan, and even so, he still has to defend the idol’s reputation and dignity to the end.
"Yes, it is possible that the key was lost between noon and evening."
"Right! In short, it is absolutely impossible that our president stole the painting." Upon hearing this, the fans who were originally shaken began to agree, "The Wei family is wealthy and powerful. Although the famous painting is valuable, it is not priceless. At the end of the season, the president is not short of money, how could he do such a stupid thing?"
"That's right. This matter is unreasonable in every way."
"What if your president has some unknown quirks?" Seeing that everyone's confidence had been shaken, the attitude of the "cannon fodder" gradually became firmer.
Someone in the crowd whispered this.
