Fan Daoyi seemed to have only just remembered the money he had left inside his desk.
During the break between classes, he pulled the books out of his desk one by one, flipping through their pages with his fingertips, looking bewildered and confused.
He piled all the books on his desktop, drawing the attention of the classmates around him.
Although they had barely spoken to this loner, they still couldn't suppress their curiosity and asked him.
"Are you looking for something?"
The thief was still slumped over his desk, a fine sweat breaking out on his hands.
He was afraid.
A thousand yuan was no small sum, and he feared that what he had done would be discovered.
"My money seems to be gone." He kept searching, moving faster as he grew anxious. "It was no small sum."
The classmates around him didn't really want to get involved, but they still offered a perfunctory suggestion.
"Ah, why don't you ask a teacher to check the surveillance footage?"
Fan Daoyi nodded and walked toward the back door, passing right by the thief.
The feedback from the fear during this time had considerably improved his spirits.
The surveillance system was broken, and this time it wasn't an excuse.
Since He Piaojian knew about it, he even kindly offered to go with Fan Daoyi to check.
How could he allow the money he had given away to be stolen by someone else?
If he had known this would happen, he would have spent it himself. A loss, a huge loss!
The surveillance footage from several days ago could be viewed normally, but the footage from the past few days was nothing but black screens.
Anyone with eyes could see that someone had deliberately damaged it.
Fan Daoyi stared intently at the many different surveillance feeds, searching for the thief.
After watching for a long while and making sure he hadn't missed anything, he let out a breath.
The director glanced at He Piaojian.
He Piaojian stared at the surveillance footage, his mind racing.
"Would a thief really be this meticulous?"
He considered many things and no longer regarded this as a simple theft.
Fan Daoyi had destroyed the surveillance system himself. He couldn't let anyone interfere with his subsequent harvesting plan, so he had to dispel He Piaojian's suspicions.
"I didn't keep a close enough eye on my money. I'll just count myself unlucky. Let's leave it at that." His face took on a more troubled look, as though he were blaming himself.
He Piaojian's imagination filled in many gaps. Perhaps because of his own cunning, he concluded that this was a plot against Fan Daoyi.
For the time being, he kept his suspicions from Fan Daoyi. "It's all right. The money will be found."
For a moment, that sincere gaze gave Fan Daoyi an illusion.
It was as though he wasn't the one who had lost the money—He Piaojian was.
"Then sorry for the trouble, everyone." Fan Daoyi's darkened gaze brightened, and hope appeared in his eyes.
He had stayed long enough. Now that he had finished going through the motions, it was time to go provoke the thief and keep the fear flowing.
After Fan Daoyi left, He Piaojian picked up his phone, made a call, and went wild.
"I gave him a thousand yuan, and he didn't spend it, so it was stolen and lost. If I hadn't given him that thousand yuan, I would have spent it and gained a sum of money."
"Rounding it up, I lost two thousand yuan." He ranted into the phone, throwing a shameless tantrum. "Two thousand yuan, two thousand yuan! Hurry up and send someone to fix the surveillance system. I want to see who stole my two thousand yuan."
In the classroom, the thief glanced at the empty seat, his unease growing.
Although he usually stopped at nothing, this was his first time stealing.
He couldn't fall asleep no matter how tightly he shut his eyes. His heart pounded, and cold sweat kept breaking out on the back of his neck.
When Fan Daoyi returned, his gaze followed him.
Fan Daoyi stopped and looked back in his direction. Their eyes met, and he awkwardly averted his gaze.
When he secretly raised his head and opened his eyes, Fan Daoyi was looking at him with a grave expression.
Then he saw Fan Daoyi smile at him.
He... he found out! But, but why isn't he saying anything?
That was the thief's first thought.
For the rest of the time, he nervously bit his lower lip countless times.
He tried to fall asleep and stop thinking about those questions.
But as soon as he closed his eyes, he seemed to hear Fan Daoyi's voice.
Where did you say my money was?
A high school student's mental defenses were fragile, especially during an important time like the college entrance exam.
A few small tricks could make one collapse.
He went to the restroom and lit a cigarette, repeatedly going over how he had stolen the money.
There shouldn't have been any flaws. The surveillance cameras—weren't the school's lousy cameras supposed to be just for show!?
Whenever he bullied classmates and extorted their money and belongings, didn't those cameras often malfunction? Why this theft, this theft...
He flushed the cigarette butt down the toilet and splashed cold water on himself, intending to calm down and quiet his restless, uneasy heart.
After washing his face, he looked up at the mirror. To his horror, he saw Fan Daoyi's back reflected in it.
Fan Daoyi turned his head 180 degrees and asked him with a smile.
Where did you say my money was?
"Fuck!" He jolted in fright, cried out, and staggered back several steps.
The students around him looked at him in confusion, but all silently agreed to say nothing.
It was eerily quiet.
The thief turned and hurried out of the restroom, muttering, "Have I run into something evil? It was only a thousand yuan. Why am I so uneasy..."
That night, in the dormitory, he tossed and turned in bed.
The money he had stolen and not spent was still hidden beneath his mattress.
His roommates were somewhat annoyed by the noise, but they didn't dare say much. They could only ask timidly in a low voice, "It's getting late. Can we get some rest?"
It's getting late...
Fourteen hours had passed since Fan Daoyi went to check the surveillance footage, and nothing had happened in those fourteen hours. Did that mean there wasn't enough evidence at all?
He hypnotized himself into believing it had never happened and gradually fell asleep.
But his dream had no intention of letting him go.
It was Fan Daoyi again. Fan Daoyi was sitting in a chair with his back to him, holding a phone that was playing some kind of video.
He walked over, step by step, and saw what was on the screen.
The entire process of each of his thefts could be seen clearly in the video.
This was evidence of his thefts!
His face turned pale with fright. Just then, Fan Daoyi turned to look at him and waved the phone in his hand.
"Look, this is all evidence."
The lightly spoken words reached the thief's ears.
The thief hardened his heart, gritted his teeth, and reached out to snatch it.
Furious with shame, he grabbed the phone, smashed it to pieces, and stomped on it several times. "Bullshit! What fucking evidence!"
"Heh heh, hahaha..." Fan Daoyi's figure vanished, and his ghostly voice echoed without end.
Mirrors rose all around the thief, each one playing footage of his theft.
He smashed the mirrors, trying to cover it up.
"I didn't. I didn't steal the money. This money was mine to begin with." He was deceiving himself.
"The evidence is right in front of you, and you're still trying to argue?" Fan Daoyi's face appeared on every shard of broken mirror, wearing a mocking smile. "If you don't return the money, can I demand compensation from you? How much will you pay me?"
He ran, fleeing from the center of the ring of mirrors.
The ground behind him collapsed, chasing after him, threatening to swallow him whole.
He looked back and saw boundless darkness.
"That was the money I needed to save my life..."
His fear deepened, and he kept sprinting.
"I didn't, I didn't..." He repeatedly hypnotized himself, trying to break free of the dream.
In the end, he couldn't escape the abyss and fell into it.
"Ah—!" He sprang up in bed, his chest heaving.
His back was soaked with sweat, and he kept gasping for breath.
He pressed a hand to his forehead and looked down, catching sight of something strange beside the bed.
The paper money that had been hidden beneath his bed was now clutched in his hand, covered in wrinkles. He didn't know when he had taken hold of it.
At that moment, he seemed to hear the voice in his head again.
Where did you say my money was?