Chapter 84: Unraveling the Threads

Sitting on a chair in the hospital corridor, Zhou Xuan sighed as he contemplated the doctor’s words. To think he had almost been done in by a malicious trap today. It turned out that his water bottle had been coated with a potent laxative; once he poured hot water into it, the powder dissolved, and he fell right into the snare.

Fortunately, because the substance had been applied to the inside of the cup beforehand, the dosage was relatively small, which kept his symptoms from becoming critical. Thanks to his robust constitution, it took nearly two hours for the laxative to take effect after he drank the water. By now, the medication had mostly alleviated the discomfort, though his legs and backside were still sore from the frequent trips to the toilet.

"Who on earth would go to such lengths to sabotage me?" Zhou Xuan pondered, desperate to identify the culprit.

"First, the motive. By coating my cup with a laxative to incapacitate me during the exam, the clear intent was to ruin my middle school entrance exam results and prevent me from getting into First High. Not only would that keep me out of the school, but it would also strip away my reputation. They might even use my sudden drop in performance to discredit everything I’ve achieved. Since they chose this over something lethal like poison, it’s unlikely to be someone like Fatty Luo from the county or Liu Ze from the provincial capital. The most likely suspects are my current classmates, such as Wei Xinyu."

"Second, the method. My original cup went missing two days ago, which now seems clearly intentional. They stole and discarded my old cup, knowing I would have to buy a new one. That gave them the opportunity to purchase an identical cup, coat the interior with laxatives, and swap it with my new one. My old cup had been used for a year, so it would have been difficult to tamper with. Based on these points, the culprit must be a student at my school."

"Who could it be? Wei Xinyu from Class Six? Hai Chen from Class One? Vice Principal Li or Director Tian?"

These were the only people in the county with whom he had any history, and Zhou Xuan figured they were the only ones capable of such a move.

"Vice Principal Li and Director Tian are unlikely to stoop to this. Besides, the initial conflict was instigated by Wei Xinyu, and they were caught off guard by Principal Gu’s intervention. Furthermore, as my reputation has grown, they have no reason to target me, especially since I’ll be leaving Second High for First High soon anyway."

With those two ruled out, only Wei Xinyu and Hai Chen remained.

Between the two, Zhou Xuan suspected Wei Xinyu the most. Their history was the deepest, and Hai Chen lacked the cunning required to orchestrate such a devious scheme.

"Wei Xinyu, if it really is you, I will make you regret this." Zhou Xuan’s blood boiled at the memory of his ten trips to the restroom, his burning backside, and his aching legs. Regardless of who it was, he was determined to settle the score.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Xuan took his cup and hailed a motorized rickshaw to his uncle’s supermarket.

Upon arrival, his uncle noticed Zhou Xuan’s pale complexion. "Zhou Xuan, aren't you supposed to be taking your exams? Why are you here? You look terrible—are you coming down with something?"

Zhou Xuan didn’t want to worry his uncle, so he offered a faint smile. "I don't know what I ate, but I’ve had a bad stomach today. I’ve been back and forth to the restroom so many times, I’m exhausted."

"Oh no! What about your exam? Did it disrupt your testing?" his uncle asked, clearly concerned.

"Don't worry, Uncle," Zhou Xuan reassured him. "I’d already finished most of the questions by the time the stomach trouble started. I went to the hospital at noon for some medicine, and I’m feeling much better now."

"That’s a relief, that’s a relief. But why come here? You should be home resting."

"I needed to use the computer for something. You go ahead and take care of the customers, I’ll just head into the back." Seeing someone waiting at the register, Zhou Xuan walked toward the back room.

The back room housed a computer linked to the store’s surveillance and point-of-sale systems. Zhou Xuan entered the password, opened the sales records, and navigated to the transaction for the water bottle he had bought a few days prior. Even though his uncle hadn't charged him, the transaction had been logged in the system.

He pulled out the cup and compared its barcode to the one on the screen. It was clear: the cup in his hand was not the one he had originally purchased.

Recalling that the cup cost over two hundred yuan—a rare item in this county—he searched the system to see if the store had sold an identical one recently.

"Damn! What a coincidence! It really was sold right here at my uncle’s store. You son of a bitch, let’s see how you run now!" Zhou Xuan nearly shouted with excitement.

Checking the timestamp, he saw the cup had been sold yesterday afternoon. He opened the surveillance software, pulled up the footage from that time, and hit play.

The camera was perfectly positioned to cover the checkout counter. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for.

"Damn it, it really was that bitch Wei Xinyu!" Even though the person in the video wasn't Wei Xinyu herself, it was Jiang Xiaopang, a student from her class. How could he not recognize him?

Zhou Xuan suddenly recalled a day last semester when Wei Xinyu had shot him a meaningful, cryptic smile during a study hall. At the time, he had been wary of a potential trap, but when nothing happened, he let his guard down, assuming she had given up as his status in the school rose.

Only now did he realize how deep her resentment ran and how well she had hidden her intentions. Her entire plan had been to ruin his entrance exam and destroy his reputation.

"Heh, too bad for you, Wei Xinyu. You were unlucky enough to have me uncover your scheme. Anyone else might have been finished, but it didn't really affect me. Since you’ve provoked me, don't blame me for what happens next." Thinking of her repeated provocations, he knew he couldn't let this slide.

He declined his uncle’s offer of dinner and spent the entire ride home plotting exactly how to deal with Wei Xinyu.