Forget It

Jia Shi's escape abroad, while he was alive, rattled everyone further. If the deputy public security director didn't dare keep his own son nearby to protect him, who exactly could he protect?

Back in the mathematics office, Suo Xin had returned from the clinic with Zhu Hua and was already clearing out her desk drawer, removing items one by one and packing them into a box.

"Suo Laoshi — are you leaving?" Hui Nan couldn't help asking.

"Yes. I'll go tell the principal and then I'm resigning. This place is too frightening." Suo Xin looked up as she spoke. Her face was just as pale as Hui Nan's. When the other teachers in the office heard Suo Xin was leaving, they gathered around with questions.

"You're really resigning?"

"Where will you go?"

"Will the principal let you walk out?"

"Whether he agrees or not, I'm going," Suo Xin said with conviction. "I can't stay here any longer. I already booked the ticket — tonight's flight to Yangcheng. I applied to a private school there a while back. Private schools in Yangcheng have strict rules about teachers running outside tutoring, but the students there are all from wealthy families. Their parents are happy to pay for one-on-one home tutoring from school teachers. You can earn more than grinding away running group tutoring sessions here…"

Hui Nan listened to Suo Xin and the other teachers discuss industry income, and thought: she doesn't seem much like a teacher. More like a sharp-nosed businesswoman. And as a businesswoman, no amount of objection from the principal would stop her walking out the door. Another self-study period was added to Class 4's timetable.

Suo Xin left the school, went home to pack a light bag, said a quick word to her relative housemate, and hailed a cab to the airport. She had been busy all day, and only when she reached the security checkpoint did it occur to her that she was about to leave this city where she had lived and worked for years. She looked back one last time. Outside the airport doors, the north wind was gusting, rattling the windows and doors. Tiecheng was still Tiecheng.

One last look, and Suo Xin walked into the security lane. As she passed through, she heard a sound of crying somewhere beyond the wall from the crowd of those seeing people off. Suo Xin couldn't see who was on the other side, but the sound was somehow familiar — she just couldn't place it. Who was it? The question stayed with her as she boarded the plane and found her seat.

"Excuse me, aunty — I'm in the window seat. Can you let me through?" A voice interrupted her thoughts. Standing in front of Suo Xin was a girl with long hair, about fifteen or sixteen, skin very pale — pale as paper, with no color in it.

Suo Xin moved aside to let the girl take the inside seat. Seeing that she too was traveling alone, Suo Xin made conversation.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from Yangcheng."

"What brought you to Tiecheng?"

"Visiting my grandmother."

"What year are you in?"

"Second year of middle school."

"I'm a middle school teacher myself. Oh — I'm Ms. Suo. I haven't asked your name."

"My name is Fang Wang."

"Wang as in prosperous?"

"Wang as in forget."

Suo Xin smiled. "What would you want to forget at your age?"

"I don't know," the girl said. "My mum gave me the name. She even worried I might change it someday…" She lifted her hand and started to brush the hair back from the right side of her head — stopped halfway, as if remembering something, and put her hand down. "Forget it, it doesn't matter."

"What doesn't matter?"

"Nothing. Forget it."

Suo Xin was seated to Fang Wang's left, and from that angle she didn't understand what Fang Wang meant. If she had been on the girl's right side, she would have been frightened. Because Fang Wang's gesture had been about to brush back the hair on the right side of her neck — and on that neck was a tattoo. A single character: 忘. Forget.

Or, depending on how you look at it: 亡. The bottom element of "death."

After the murders of Ma Dahua, the police had notified all teachers to look for a female student with a tattoo of "亡-something" on her neck. That girl was now sitting beside Suo Xin.

Some things: when you're searching for them they elude you; when you're trying to escape them they find you.