23 I Surrender

 

As the headmaster of the city’s most prestigious school, his death was big news. The first thing we did was to inform the vice headmaster and the staff at Yu Cai High School. When they got the news, their reactions were distinctively different. The vice headmaster had elation crossed his eyes for a moment before turning into a blubbering mess. After Headmaster Zhang’s death, he would be the next in line to take his place. Most of the male staff were unaffected by the news, they didn’t care who the next headmaster was. Most of the younger female staff sighed in relief, they were finally free from that monster’s claws.

Wu Jiajia’s reaction was quite interesting. After she got the news, she looked fearful and then worried, like she had a secret to hide. Her reaction was not what I expected. To be honest, when I asked Wu Jiajia yesterday about whether Headmaster Zhang had made advances towards her, I already noticed the evasion in her eyes. However, at the time, I assumed that was because she was too ashamed to admit the truth but now, I had a different impression. Then we departed to inform Gao Rui.

Gao Rui was currently in class. Looking through the window, I found out Gao Rui was a biology teacher. When his class was over and we told him about Headmaster Zhang, Gao Rui’s emotions were quite complicated.

Headmaster Zhang valued Gao Rui a lot when he was alive, that was what the other staff confirmed for us. However, now that we knew that Headmaster Zhang was secretly a stalker and pervert, things took on a more sinister hue regarding Headmaster Zhang’s heavy valuation of Gao Rui. That complication was clear on Gao Rui’s face. It appeared like the man wanted to say something but, in the end, he only shook his head.

“This Gao Rui is definitely suspicious.” I told the group when we returned to the station.

“How is Gao Rui suspicious?” Guan Zhenglin rolled her eyes at me, “You’re just jealous he’s more handsome than you.”

I touched my own face and said, “What I’m missing is a beard. Plus why would I be jealous of that? In any case, Headmaster Zhang’s right hand man is Gao Rui, if anyone is to know Headmaster Zhang’s movement, it would be Gao Rui. Hear me out. Headmaster Zhang has been missing for 3 days already and Gao Rui did not do anything about that? If I remember correctly, it was a female teacher who called in the police and not him, right?”

“Maybe he forgot. Do you have any proof of his suspicion?” Guan Zhenglin asked.

I shrugged. “Nope.”

“Then why did you bring this up!” Guan Zhenglin roared.

“That’s why we need to look deeper into Gao Rui’s recent activity.” I told Guan Zhenglin, “If Gao Rui had been to the headmaster’s office or the abandoned site that night, then many problems can be solved. By the way, do you think it’s possible that the young person Ol’ Zhang saw that night was Gao Rui?”

Gu Chen chimed in, “Well, that’s simple. We’ll just have Ol’ Zhang come to take a look at Gao Rui. Even though he didn’t see the face, he did remember the thief’s general frame and silhouette.”

“Someone is here to surrender.” Xiao Liu pushed the door open and entered the office.

“What?” I was startled.

“Someone is here to surrender.” Xiao Liu repeated. I frowned. We had just told the school about Headmaster Zhang’s death and now we had someone coming to surrender? It had to be someone from the school.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“He said his name is Gao Rui.” Xiao Liu answered.

“What?” I was startled once more.

“He said his name is Gao Rui!” Xiao Liu shouted in repetition. The 3 of us looked at one another as if we couldn’t believe our ears. Even though I had suspicion of Gao Rui, I had no evidence. Furthermore, Gao Rui looked like someone who was mature and steady. Why surrender and why now? I pulled out a cig and said, “I need to clear my thoughts first.” Guan Zhenglin reached for my box. “I need one to calm down too.”

“A girl shouldn’t smoke.” I slapped her hand away.

“You know what, I know you’re a pervert but I never took you as a prude. Give me…” Guan Zhenglin swiped a cig from me.

One cigarette later, we met Gao Rui inside the interrogation room.

“So you’re here to surrender to your crime?” I began carefully. Gao Rui gave a long sigh and told me a story. One night, Headmaster Zhang needed Gao Rui to stay back at the school to work on some documents. When Gao Rui returned to the apartment he shared with Wu Jiajia, he realized he left the documents back at school, therefore, he returned to fetch it. Since it was night time, Gao Rui spotted from afar that the lights at the Headmaster’s Office were on. Gao Rui was confused. Headmaster Zhang would have gone home by then. Soon the lights inside the office went off. When Gao Rui reached the school gate, Headmaster Zhang was walking out. The headmaster was casually dressed and most importantly, he was wearing a cap. It made Headmaster Zhang look several ages younger. Gao Rui smiled at Headmaster Zhang but his heart was actually bleeding.

“Do you know why Headmaster Zhang valued me that much?” Gao Rui asked with a light smile.

“Because you know about his secrets?” I suggested.

Gao Rui glanced at me. “You are very clever.” Gao Rui knew earlier than everyone else about Headmaster Zhang’s perverted activity. Gao Rui knew that Headmaster Zhang would often use his power of authority to rape the new teachers. He knew this because he walked into the crime in action that one time. He intended to expose the man for his sin but the female teacher came to beg him. If he told everyone the truth, then her name would forever be ruined. Gao Rui was sorry for the teacher. She was the victim here but she was the one who had to plead on the rapist’s behalf. Gao Rui came across more and more such incidents but none of the victims was willing to approach the police to expose Headmaster Zhang. Since the victims did nothing, then why should he butt into other people’s business?

And that was how Gao Rui became Headmaster Zhang’s right hand man. Keep your friend close but enemy closer, that was Headmaster Zhang’s plan. Gao Rui silenced his conscience and went along with this arrangement. To be honest, he had taken some advantages with his position too. This continued until a person reappeared in Gao Rui’s life and became his new colleague, that person was naturally Wu Jiajia. Gao Rui and Wu Jiajia came from the same high school, he always treated Wu Jiajia as his own younger sister. With regards to why Headmaster Zhang had hired Wu Jiajia, Gao Rui naturally knew the real reason.

However, this time, Gao Rui drew the line. He warned Headmaster Zhang that if he dared to make a move on Wu Jiajia, he would expose everything that he knew. He would not let Headmaster Zhang harm his little sister. Headmaster Zhang cowered under Gao Rui’s threat.

But then, came the incident of the stalker.

Initially, Gao Rui had no idea the stalker was Headmaster Zhang because he did not think Headmaster Zhang would put his own reputation and future at risk just for a woman. “You know, that night, as I walked from our apartment back to the school,” Gao Rui explained slowly, “I came across a note. I saw that it was addressed to the stalker. I read the message and then placed the note back. I wanted to see for myself too, who was the stalker. I planned to head to the building site to catch the stalker after I grab the documents from school.”

I nodded. “Do you know who Zhang Mingliang is?”

“No.” Gao Rui shook his head.

“It was Zhang Mingliang who left that note for the stalker.” I explained. I considered telling Gao Rui about Zhang Mingliang’s love for him but I ultimately decided against it.

On one hand, Gao Rui despised Headmaster Zhang’s action but on the other hand, he did receive a lot of benefits as Headmaster Zhang’s right hand man. He passed his days in conflict. This time, when he saw Headmaster Zhang leave his office so late at night, Gao Rui lamented the poor fate of another female teacher. However, he soon realized something was off about Headmaster Zhang that night. Headmaster Zhang tried to hide it when he saw Gao Rui but the latter noted that Headmaster Zhang was carrying a knife.

Since Gao Rui was often sent on errands to Headmaster Zhang’s house, he had Headmaster Zhang’s house key and knew his house address. As Headmaster Zhang left the school, Gao Rui stayed at the gates to watch the man’s movement. He knew that Headmaster Gao was not using the road to go back home. Gao Rui decided to follow him. Soon Gao Rui realized Headmaster Zhang was heading towards the abandoned building site, the location where the stalker was supposed to meet with ‘Wu Jiajia’.

“Headmaster Zhang is the stalker!” Realizing that, Gao Rui was overwhelmed by anger. Headmaster Zhang clearly had been lying to him. Headmaster Zhang had scouted out the building site before because once he arrived, he went to grab a paint bucket and hid the knife inside it. “The bucket contains dog’s blood, not paint.” I corrected Gao Rui.

Then Gao Rui saw someone that gave him the shock of his life. That person was Wu Jiajia. But he was certain that Wu Jiajia was still at home, so how could she be there? There was only one possibility, this was someone who looked very much like Wu Jiajia but was not Wu Jiajia. This “Wu Jiajia” hooked her finger and signalled for Headmaster Zhang to follow her. In the night, the pair headed up the stairs. Gao Rui had no idea what the pair was up to but considering everything that he knew, Gao Rui was scared. Gao Rui knew Headmaster Zhang came with a knife, what could a knife possibly be used for?

Gao Rui left the site but halfway through, he felt pricked by his conscience and he returned. It was by then around 10.30 pm. Gao Rui knew the duo had not left so he decided to climb the stairs to check up on them. It was then that he was caught in the trap. He was afraid that he had alerted Headmaster Zhang so he struggled to unwind himself from the snare. Ol’ Zhang arrived about that time. We knew Ol’ Zhang assumed that the young person had left the site but in actuality, Gao Rui did not leave the site, he merely hid in the shadows. He watched the stairs closely. Headmaster Zhang was still up there, with a knife… A knife, meant to kill.

Around 11 pm, an object suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the cushion of abandoned construction sand. It made no sound. It was a body, a headless body. Gao Rui’s breath froze, he knew that Headmaster Zhang had just committed murder.

At around 11.30 pm, the old man left with the pail.

At 12 am, Headmaster Zhang came out from the building. Headmaster Zhang was still holding the long knife, its blade shimmering in the moonlight. Headmaster Zhang walked towards the sand dune and picked up the body. Gao Rui was on the other side of the dune. Gao Rui saw Headmaster Zhang open the lid of an abandoned well at the building site and dropped the body into it. Then the headmaster climbed down the well as well.

“Then when did you decide to kill Headmaster Zhang?” Even though Gao Rui was there to surrender his crime, Guan Zhenglin still had trouble believing he was the killer.

Gao Rui suddenly guffawed before whimpering with tears. “After observing everything, the whole incident became clear to me. The stalker was Headmaster Zhang and he was the one who left the threatening message at Jiajia’s home. He must have mistaken that person for Wu Jiajia and killed her. The body was beheaded and that was exactly what the stalker threatened to do to Jiajia in his letter. Therefore, I came up with a plan.”