A Tragedy

As the minutes ticked by, the inspection team soon reached the door of Dormitory 330.

There were seven or eight of them: the dormitory supervisor, staff from the university's Logistics and Security Departments, female students from the School of Biochemistry's Student Union, and a female teacher from the school's Student Affairs Office.

As they entered, Dormitory 330 abruptly turned solemn and imposing. A moment earlier, it had been a tranquil spring countryside, a gentle stream trickling through the fields; the next, it was a frigid battlefield where heads were taken.

"You've probably heard what happened. To ensure nothing this disgraceful happens again, the school plans to inspect every dorm room in this building. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

The female teacher got straight to the point.

How could they possibly object? Su Yuan and the others put on ingratiating smiles. "Please don't worry, Teacher. We don't want that depraved creep walking free either. Search wherever you like!"

Gao Jun spoke with carefree confidence, almost as if he were delivering a rousing speech. Su Yuan and Ji Yehao quickly chimed in, too. They were so cooperative that no one could find fault with them.

The female teacher nodded at their response. This dorm really was quite good, unlike the others that had made excuses and dragged their feet. If the inspection turned up nothing, she would have to praise them properly and find a chance to give them some kind of award.

The search began at once. The female Student Union members handled the inspection. Starting at the entrance, they first took a look in the bathroom—it was fresh and clean, giving them a good first impression of Dormitory 330. Then they opened the large cabinet and, with help from the Logistics staff, took down a bedding bag. Zzzip! They opened it. Inside was bedding without a cover. Nothing suspicious.

Next, they began checking the shoe cabinets, wardrobes, drawers, and small cabinets.

Su Yuan smiled faintly. When she saw that they hadn't noticed the bedding bag above the wardrobe, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

So far, everything was going smoothly.

The shoe cabinet held shoes.

The drawers were messy, but there was nothing indecent in them.

The small cabinet was empty, except for a router box.

Now came the wardrobe. There shouldn't be anything wrong with it, right? Su Yuan secretly congratulated herself on successfully moving the "evidence." There was absolutely nothing in the wardrobe except clothes, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd forgotten something.

Suddenly, she remembered that the medicine she had bought at the hospital last time was still in there. Her expression stiffened. "Oh no!" She could only hope they didn't recognize the medicine's scientific name.

The female teacher was checking Su Yuan's wardrobe. She glanced inside and saw that the student's clothes were fairly neat. As she moved aside a few garments stacked together, she spotted a plastic bag marked with a red cross. There were several boxes of medicine inside. The situation Su Yuan had dreaded didn't happen; the teacher casually set the bag aside.

"Phew!" She let out a long breath, amused at her own "excessive anxiety."

But the next second, Su Yuan's pupils shrank. What was that? Beside the plastic bag was a white "strap"—part of a white lace bra! If she looked closely, she could even make out a little half-spherical object.

Su Yuan's eyes turned green. She'd moved everything so carefully—how could there still be one left behind? This was going to ruin her!

She could see it from all the way over there. There was no way the teacher wouldn't notice it.

If the search went any deeper, the incriminating item would be exposed in full! She was done for!

The female teacher grabbed the "strap" and pulled. The bra, buried under the pile of clothes, came right out.

At the sight, Su Yuan broke out in a cold sweat. She cursed inwardly, You perverted creep, you shameless degenerate! It wasn't enough to stuff several bags of women's underwear in my wardrobe—you even left a separate time bomb in there!

"Whose wardrobe is this?" The female teacher turned around, her expression neither pleased nor angry. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Everyone nearby turned to scrutinize them. Ji Yehao and Gao Jun had no idea what was going on. They assumed the teacher had found something else in Su Yuan's wardrobe that she could use against her.

Su Yuan was so upset she could have cried. She timidly raised her hand. The female teacher's eyes seemed so sharp, making her feel utterly ashamed.

To Su Yuan's surprise, the female teacher only hummed and didn't announce what she had just found. Instead, she studied Su Yuan for a while and said, "I think I noticed only three bedding bags in your dorm. There should be four people living here, right? One is missing. Is the missing one yours?"

Su Yuan wanted to play dumb, but the female teacher's eyes narrowed, and her sharp gaze made her crumble. The teacher still had her "evidence" in hand!

She nodded.

"Where's your bag?"

"..."

Su Yuan was speechless. She was doomed either way, so she decided to let it go and pointed to where the bedding bag was stored. Fine, let her die. It took only a few seconds for her to steel herself again, as though the end were near and she had prepared to face death with her head held high.

They took down the bag. The student who caught it frowned. "What's inside? It's so heavy!"

Ji Yehao saw that Su Yuan was standing there without moving or answering. Worried for her, he hurriedly said, "Some equipment. The bedding's underneath."

They unzipped the bag. Sure enough, it was crammed with equipment, wires, toolboxes, and bedding. The girl inspecting it exclaimed in surprise, "No wonder it's so heavy. It's a jumble of all sorts of stuff—there's practically everything in here."

Gao Jun spoke up. "Those things are mine. I had nowhere else to put them, and I don't use them much, so I stored them in her bag."

Everyone wore an expression of understanding. There was so much stuff that they didn't look too closely and quickly moved on.

"This dorm is fine. Let's check the next one." The inspection team put a check mark beside Dormitory 330 and went on to inspect the other rooms.

After everyone else had left, the female teacher came over to Su Yuan. She studied her for a few seconds, then said, "Come to the Student Affairs Office at four this afternoon. I have something to discuss with you."

Su Yuan's face darkened. She thought bitterly, Even if I don't end up being the Underwear Thief, I've at least earned myself the title of 'underwear petty thief' or 'mentally unstable.'

Thankfully, the female teacher had spared her some dignity and hadn't announced her "discovery" in front of everyone. Otherwise, she would never have been able to clear her name.

"Su Yuan, why the long face? The inspection team's already gone. You should be happy!" Gao Jun said.

She managed a smile more miserable than a grimace, then took the lace bra out of her wardrobe. "That teacher told me to go see her. She wants to talk to me."

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

Seeing the bra in her hand, Ji Yehao and Gao Jun both widened their eyes, then struggled to hold back their laughter. They didn't need to say it—they both knew Su Yuan was truly in trouble this time. They had thought they'd helped her get through the crisis, but though she'd made it past the major disaster, a smaller one had still landed on her head.

"Su Yuan, think about how you're going to explain this to the teacher."

"At least it turned out okay. She didn't say anything in front of everyone."

"You two, cut it out. I'm already stressed!"

Indeed, Su Yuan was worried about what she would say once she got to the Student Affairs Office.

At four in the afternoon, Su Yuan arrived at the school's Student Affairs Office right on time. She paced back and forth by the stairwell, hesitated for a long while, then finally took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

There were two desks in the Student Affairs Office. Only two teachers were there: the female teacher from that afternoon, Teacher Wang, and Su Yuan's class adviser, Instructor Tan.

When Su Yuan came in, Teacher Wang and Instructor Tan ended their conversation and had her sit in the chair in front of them. Their manner was stern, as if they were about to interrogate and lecture her.