Chapter 58

Although Bian Xuedao did not yet know the details of what had happened, he knew that Wen Congqian had given his phone number to the police, most likely to have him pay off the other party privately.

Bian Xuedao did not want Wen Congqian to be detained, as that would affect his income.

The money at home was definitely not enough to settle the matter, and he did not want to withdraw a large sum from the school bank. Holding the passbook, he found an opportunity and climbed over the wall to leave the school.

It was only when he arrived at the Public Security Bureau that he learned Wen's senior had been involved in a gang fight. Including the people from the studio and the other side, there were 19 people in total.

The studio's gathering this time was to celebrate the birthday of their best external software developer.

The reason a group of tech geeks fought so fiercely was that Wen's senior had been hit by the other side.

When Boss Wen was beaten, even someone like Wang Wenkai, who tried to stay out of it, had no choice but to roll up his sleeves and join in.

They were already drunk, and it was a group fight. Once blood was drawn, no one could stop it. Moreover, the less experienced fighters were even more reckless, and the studio side not only did not suffer a loss but even gained an advantage.

Both sides had several people with minor injuries, but the other side clearly had some background, so the matter was a bit complicated.

Most of the studio members thought Bian Xuedao was Wen's senior's close friend, but only Wang Wenkai knew that the two had been introduced by him. Moreover, Wang Wenkai had been in constant contact with Wang Deliang and knew that Dongsen University had been sealed off. At this time, for Bian Xuedao to appear at the Public Security Bureau to bail out Wen's senior and the others, he guessed that the relationship between Bian Xuedao and the studio was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Bian Xuedao spent two days and 170,000 yuan to get the studio members out of the bureau.

Seeing that Wen's senior did not look well, Bian Xuedao did not say much. He first took a few people out for a good meal, then went to a bathhouse for a thorough wash. After giving Wen's senior a few instructions, he took a taxi back to the school.

To say that Bian Xuedao did not gain anything from this matter would be a lie.

Officer Hong, who handled the case, was in his early 30s, with a family to support and many expenses. Under Bian Xuedao's financial assault, the two got along quite well, exchanged phone numbers, and established an initial connection.

Bian Xuedao planned to cultivate Officer Hong as his first police partner. Regardless of Officer Hong's current status, he was part of the force. With him, Bian Xuedao could meet more police officers, and if something happened in the future, he would not be at a loss, unable to find anyone to pass on a message or money.

Bian Xuedao deliberately waited until it was dark before climbing over the fence to return to the school, but unfortunately, he was caught by the school's patrolling team as soon as he landed.

Subsequently, the teacher from the Student Affairs Office took him to the school's security office, asked for his department, grade, and name, and sternly warned him that he would be dealt with seriously.

After that, Bian Xuedao was taken to the school's designated isolation building.

The isolation building was an old, six-story blue dormitory in the northeast corner of the campus.

Under the streetlights, one could see two warning lines outside the isolation building's corridor, with a white isolation line in between. The outer warning line was guarded by four security guards who could move around the campus; the inner warning line was guarded by two fixed security guards, who were essentially in isolation as well.

The teacher who escorted Bian Xuedao told him that because he had left the school without permission, it could not be determined whether he was infected. According to regulations, he had to be isolated for observation for a period of time.

Bian Xuedao knew that the school was being overly cautious, and no amount of arguing would change that, so he obediently entered the isolation building.

The school placed Bian Xuedao in room 405 of the isolation building, where he was the only person in the room.

Bian Xuedao felt that this was not isolation but rather solitary confinement.

The school insisted it was isolation and gave Bian Xuedao a thermometer and a form to record his temperature.

This time, he had left the school in a hurry and had been out for two days. The two batteries he had with him were almost dead, with one completely drained and the other with just a bit of charge left.

When the school was first sealed off, students who jumped out and back in had no problems, but the patrol intensity had suddenly increased.

Being caught upon return was beyond Bian Xuedao's expectations. In the isolation room, using the last bit of charge on his phone, Bian Xuedao called Li Yu, told him his situation, and asked Li Yu to find a way to bring his phone charger into the school.

Bian Xuedao also told Li Yu to have Chen Jian and Li Yu deliver the entire box of Isatis Root to the college leadership, teachers, and counselors, especially the college leadership, to give them extra to pass on as favors. He also wanted them to tell the college leadership that Bian Xuedao had left the school to contact the suppliers of the Isatis Root, hoping to avoid this punishment.

The rest, he wanted to share with his classmates and dorm mates.

Being locked up was not the main concern; what worried Bian Xuedao the most was being cut off from his family and the outside world.

Previously, students in the isolation building had used phones to seek help from outside, causing a lot of unnecessary pressure on the school. Therefore, when Bian Xuedao asked the teacher at the security office to have someone bring in a charger, the teacher did not let him wait but instead took him to the isolation building and told him that the charger would be brought in later.

After two days, the charger still had not been delivered.

Before entering, the teacher who escorted him had told him that this building was not just for show. It housed not only students who had left the school without permission but also fourth-year students who had returned from job fairs, internships, and interviews across the country.

Especially, there were over ten students who had returned from Beijing and Guangdong.

Bian Xuedao was a bit worried. Students returning from other places were one thing, but those from Guangdong and Beijing were not very reassuring. Although in his previous life, there were no SARS deaths in Beijiang Province, with Xu Shangxiu already having a boyfriend, what else couldn't change?

Bian Xuedao felt as if he had entered a dangerous island, where he could only move around in a small area and dared not move easily.

The first two days of isolation seemed particularly long, but they were not without entertainment.

Next to Bian Xuedao was a fourth-year male student, and next to him was his girlfriend. The two had been interning at a company in Hangzhou and had already signed job agreements, waiting to return to the school for their thesis defense and graduation, then start working.

They had not expected to encounter such a situation upon returning to school.

They had secretly entered the school but were reported and were thus confined here.

The other students in the building did not dare to visit each other, but the two did not care.

They were about to graduate, had secured jobs, and were even planning to get married. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes at noon, sometimes in the afternoon, and more often at night, Bian Xuedao could hear the creaking of the iron bed, the woman's moans, and the man's low growls from next door.

On the third day, Bian Xuedao counted the moans from next door, from morning to night, and the two had done it four times. The woman's moans started as restrained in the morning, became loud at noon, clear in the afternoon, and weak by night. Bian Xuedao was worried that by the end of the 14-day observation period, either a baby would be conceived or someone would die.

After hanging up the phone, Li Yu took Bian Xuedao's charger and went to the isolation building but was stopped from a distance.

Li Yu asked the security guard to deliver the charger to room 405 in the building and even offered 500 yuan, but the guard told him that even if he gave him two months' salary, he would not enter that building.

Li Yu and Chen Jian spent two days delivering Isatis Root, and they learned that students with blue cards could not enter the isolation building. They also heard that the staff turnover in the isolation building was very high. The school had tried many methods and made many promises, but neither regular employees, temporary workers, nor student leaders were willing to go, and even if they did, they would find an excuse to change positions after a couple of days.

When Li Yu was at a loss, Shan Rao found him.

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