Suspicion (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Section Chief? You suspect this Fang Shuwen?"

"How is that possible?"

"That guy is just a vain, empty-headed piece of trash. Even though he spent half a month at a martial arts gym, he failed six out of seven subjects. How could he possibly beat Liu Mang, let alone Chen Da, who has already achieved the first sound of bone-cracking?"

Xiao Liang, an officer from the Folklore and Antiquities Investigation Division, asked in confusion.

In order to track down that Soaring Snake Counter-Scale copper fragment, the investigation division had already turned Liu Mang and the deceased Chen Da's lives upside down.

Both men's social circles and everyone they had been in contact with recently had been thoroughly investigated.

Naturally, this included Fang Shuwen.

He remembered that when they first looked into this person's file, they even joked about what a fool he was.

Vain, hollow, and unwilling to study properly, he spent all his time sucking up to others.

The only connection between Fang Shuwen and Liu Mang was that they were both lackeys for Guo Ziming.

Furthermore, their relationship was quite tense as they competed for "favor" in front of Guo Ziming.

But a petty conflict like that wasn't enough to drive someone to murder.

Not to mention, Fang Shuwen had no strength to truss a chicken; how could he possibly kill anyone?

"My teacher once said that when you have eliminated all possibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"Take that item tomorrow; we'll go to the Public Middle School to test it. As long as Fang Shuwen has come into contact with the Soaring Snake Counter-Scale, the instrument will react."

Lin Xiu's gaze was deep; the Soaring Snake Counter-Scale was of great importance.

Even if there was the slightest shred of suspicion, he could not let it go.

The next morning, the light was perfect.

Fang Shuwen got up early as usual, finished washing, put on his blue-green school uniform, and tucked his Parker pen into his breast pocket.

Old Fang had already gone to work, leaving hot porridge and pickles on the table.

Beside them was an oil-paper parcel; opening it revealed two griddle cakes, their crusts seared to a golden brown, with the faint scent of scallions wafting from them.

They must have been left for him by Hu Da.

Fang Shuwen finished his breakfast in a few bites, shouldered his cloth satchel, and headed out.

Today was the day the assessment results were posted.

According to the school notice, all students had to arrive before nine in the morning; those who were late would be treated as having forfeited the exam and would be expelled.

Fang Shuwen walked unhurriedly across two streets, and from a distance, he saw a large crowd gathered at the school gate.

Students were squeezed in front of the notice board, craning their necks to look inside, with exclamations or sighs erupting from the crowd from time to time.

"I passed! I passed!"

A boy squeezed out of the crowd, his face flushed red, jumping up and down while clutching his bag straps.

It was a pity he was a bit young; if he were forty years older, he would look quite like Fan Jin.

"How could this be... I clearly ranked thirty-second in the academic subjects..."

Another girl crouched by the notice board, covering her face and sobbing.

She must have been cut directly because her physical education scores didn't meet the standard.

With some rejoicing and others grieving, the square in front of the Public Middle School was in chaos.

Fang Shuwen didn't rush to squeeze into the crowd. He stood on the periphery and scanned the area, his gaze landing on the red papers posted in the upper right corner of the notice board.

Black ink on red paper, written in regular script with a calligraphy brush.

The top line read "Elite Class Admission List," followed by "Ordinary Class Admission List," "Retention List," and "Dismissal List."

Fang Shuwen's gaze skipped over the Elite Class and Ordinary Class lists, scanning the Retention List first, but he didn't see his name.

He shifted his gaze upward, landing on the Ordinary Class Admission List.

His name wasn't there either.

He continued looking up and quickly found his name.

Ninth place in the Elite Class, Fang Shuwen.

The corners of Fang Shuwen's mouth curled up slightly.

He passed.

He hadn't expected to be ninth!

It wasn't a low rank; this would be enough to answer to Old Fang when he got back.

"Fang Shuwen! You actually got into the Elite Class!"

"Is this for real? No way, you didn't cheat, did you!"

A sharp, thin female voice came from the side.

Fang Shuwen turned his head and saw a face flushed bright red.

It was a girl from his class, surnamed Sun; he couldn't remember her given name.

He only remembered that she was close with Cuicui and loved to gossip behind people's backs.

Furthermore, he had just seen this girl's name on the dismissal list.

At this moment, she was staring wide-eyed, pointing at the three characters "Fang Shuwen" on the notice board.

"You failed six out of seven subjects last semester. How could you possibly get into the Elite Class?"

The girl surnamed Sun's voice was sharp and piercing, drawing several nearby students to look their way.

Fang Shuwen couldn't be bothered to waste words on her; he just gave her a faint glance. "The grades are posted there. See for yourself."

He turned and walked away, not even interested in saying another word.

The girl was choked up by his dismissive attitude, her expression turning even uglier.

She wanted to chase after him to say something, but a girl beside her grabbed her sleeve.

"Forget it, forget it. Don't lower yourself to his level. Maybe he pulled some strings..."

"What strings? His dad is just a gatekeeper! What kind of strings could he pull? He definitely cheated!"

"Otherwise, why wouldn't he dare stay and confront us? No, I'm going to find the principal. We can't let someone like that into the Elite Class!"

The girl surnamed Sun sneered, but in the end, she didn't chase after him.

Instead, she rounded up several others who shared her indignation, and they all headed toward the teachers' office together.

Fang Shuwen crossed the playground and headed toward the teaching building.

The Elite Class classroom was at the far east end of the third floor, with south-facing windows and excellent lighting.

It was said that the desks and chairs had all been replaced, and even the blackboard was an enamel piece just shipped in from Shenghai.

When he went upstairs, a crowd had already gathered in the corridor.

They were all Elite Class students, huddled together in twos and threes.

Some were congratulating each other, while others were whispering about the new semester's course schedule.

Fang Shuwen spotted Han Tieshan in the center of the crowd at a glance.

The tall, thin guy who had lifted two hundred jin during the stone lock test.

He was still wearing that washed-out gray school uniform, the cuffs frayed and the pant legs a bit too short, revealing his lower calves.

But at this moment, he was surrounded by three or four people, both boys and girls, all chattering away at him.

Han Tieshan remained his usual wooden, reticent self, occasionally nodding or letting out an "un."

"Han Tieshan, you're amazing! Full marks in physical education! You even ranked fifty-second in academics! You're first in overall score; none of us can compare to you!"

"Exactly, exactly! Two hundred jin on the stone lock—the principal was stunned!"

"From now on, our class is counting on you!"

Han Tieshan stood in the middle of the crowd, not saying much, just nodding occasionally.

If not for his dark, flushed face, one might have truly thought he was naturally cold and unapproachable.

Fang Shuwen didn't pay it any mind and walked straight into the classroom, taking a seat in the third row by the window.

Time slipped by, and another ten-plus minutes passed.

The classroom gradually filled with people.

Those who could make it into the Elite Class were either academic powerhouses with top-tier grades or martial arts prospects with solid physical education scores; naturally, there was no shortage of those who excelled in both.

With forty-some people gathered together, sizing up their new classmates, the atmosphere was warm but carried a hint of subtle competition.

A round-faced boy wearing a white shirt, his hair combed meticulously—clearly using Standard—stood up, pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, and cleared his throat.

"Fellow students, from now on we are all in the same class. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Zhang Mingcheng, second in overall ranking."

"My father is an inspector at the County Education Bureau. If you have any academic problems in the future, feel free to come to me."

Just as Zhang Mingcheng sat down, a girl with braided hair beside him stood up, a reserved smile on her oval face.

"My name is Li Yueru, third in overall ranking. Please take care of me in the future."

With the two of them taking the lead, the boys and girls in the classroom began to introduce themselves one by one.

They basically followed the order on the assessment list.

Soon, it was Fang Shuwen's turn.

He stood up, just about to speak.

At that moment, a boy sitting in the back row stood up.

"Fang Shuwen, you failed six out of seven subjects last semester and barely passed PE—you piece of trash, how did you cheat your way into the Elite Class!!!"