Look at the sticky substance in the lunchbox and see what it is!
Just as he prepared to take the first step toward the trash bin, a gentle voice laced with a hint of chilliness rose beside him.
"That's just some out-of-date food that we didn't get a chance to throw away. Don't worry about it."
Lin Yi turned around and suddenly realized that the female teacher had already stood by his side, her eyes fixed on his face, wearing a faint smile.
"Ah... oh, yes! Understood, Teacher," Lin Yi hurriedly replied.
The female teacher handed Lin Yi a card along with an additional booklet, saying, "Here's your Student ID card. Remember to keep it safe. If you lose it, come find me immediately."
"This booklet is the 'Teaching Building Rules.' You can read it slowly once you get to the classroom."
"Remember, for your own safety, both the student rules and the Teaching Building rules must be followed. At any time, if you encounter two conflicting rules, then you must judge for yourself based on your current identity and the environment."
"Ah, okay, so how should I address you, Teacher?" Lin Yi asked after receiving the Student ID card.
"You don't need to know how to address me, you only need to recognize this badge and uniform," the female teacher pointed to her badge, "From now on, the person wearing the badge marked with 'Homeroom Teacher-B2-039' is your homeroom teacher, not me."
"And you, Lin Yi, you are not my student either. My student is the one holding the Student ID card in your hand."
"So remember what I said, from now on, take good care of your Student ID card. You can talk to others about the Student ID card, but never hand it over to anyone."
"Do you understand?"
The stern look of the female teacher startled Lin Yi.
"Is this part of the 'rules'... Teacher?" Lin Yi subconsciously asked.
The female teacher replied, "This isn't a 'rule,' it's a warning to you! It's the duty of every homeroom teacher to protect the safety of their students as much as possible while they are at school."
Lin Yi nodded, then gestured toward the trash bin and hesitated before saying, "Teacher, about that trash bin..."
The female teacher glanced at the trash bin with a puzzled look, and then her expression changed suddenly as a flash appeared in her pupils, saying, "You should go now! Time to go!"
"Okay, Teacher, then I'll be going," Lin Yi said without daring to ask further, quickly walking towards the back of the office where a curtain hung.
Behind the small office, in the space between the desk and bookshelf, there was a partition covered by the curtain. Observing it, Lin Yi could not discern what was behind.
But since Tian Bufan and the others who came in earlier didn't leave through the front door, they must have left that way.
However, as Lin Yi approached the partition, the female teacher stopped him: "Classmate, the door is that way."
The female teacher pointed towards the office door.
Lin Yi was stunned: "That way? What about the people who came in just before me?"
"The people who came in before you?" The female teacher rubbed her scalp, thought hard for a moment, and then said, "There was one named Wei Liang who came in a bit before you, but he's already left."
"After he left, that's when I opened the door for you. Didn't you run into him?"
"It's normal if you didn't. He should already be in the classroom..."
Lin Yi felt his heart tighten.
"Only Wei Liang came in? And he's already left?"
He suddenly recalled that when Wei Liang knocked on the door, it was also a female voice that responded, while the knocking of Tian Bufan and Wei Shan was met with male voices.
"Could it be that the same door leads to different places on the other side?"
Lin Yi felt that ever since he had entered the campus, his perception was constantly being challenged and put to the test.
The female teacher's voice spoke up again: "Memorize your Student ID card information and copy it down once more before you go."
Lin Yi did as instructed, but while copying down the information, he quickly snatched up a crumpled piece of paper from the corner and tucked it into his pocket while the female teacher wasn't looking.
This slight gesture made use of all the sleight-of-hand techniques Lin Yi had honed over years of cheating.
Fortunately, the teacher indeed hadn't noticed that he had pilfered the paper ball.
"Okay, now open the door and leave. Once outside, don't close the door immediately. Look at the first classroom on the right. If it matches the room number on your Student ID card, then enter."
"If it doesn't, come back, close the door, and try leaving again."
Lin Yi's heart skipped: "Even the location of the classrooms can change?"
But he didn't voice his question, simply nodding his head and preparing to do as the female teacher instructed.
"Wait a second." The female teacher stopped Lin Yi again.
Lin Yi turned around with a puzzled expression.
The female teacher asked, "What time is it now?"
Lin Yi then realized, as he reached for the doorknob, his watch had peeked out from his sleeve and been noticed by the female teacher.
So he looked down at his watch and said, "Seven-thir..."
"The wall clock is broken."
Lin Yi smiled awkwardly, "Eight-oh-five."
The female teacher waved her hand dismissively, "Off you go."
Lin Yi quickly pushed the door open...
The environment outside the door was identical to the one before, but where the staircase had been, now stood the main entrance to a classroom.
The classroom's door was closed, and on the doorplate it read: Group B, Class 2.
"It seems I'm in the right place."
He turned around and closed the door to the office.
"Clang!"
As the door shut, Lin Yi felt a sensation similar to the one Mao Feiyang must have felt when closing the door to the stairwell.
That feeling of the world being cut off.
It seemed that now, even if he knocked on the door again, and even if it could be opened, it would no longer lead to the female teacher's office.
This was truly too strange.
In the office.
Once Lin Yi had left, the female teacher visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, with eyes downcast, she muttered, "Eight-oh-five, huh?"
She looked at the wall clock, which was previously still, and saw that it was now swinging in a highly regular motion, showing the time—accurately—
Eight-oh-five.
A look of confusion appeared in the teacher's eyes.
She rubbed her eyes, and the clock face returned to a motionless seven thirty-nine.
She closed her eyes, then opened them again...
The moving eight-oh-five.
Then the motionless seven thirty-nine... the moving eight-oh-five...
"Crap! This is bad!"
Panic flashed across the teacher's eyes; she rushed to her desk and pulled open a drawer to check inside.
A blue envelope lay amongst a pile of disordered documents in the drawer.
The teacher let out a long breath and slumped back into her chair.
"Phew—"
"Thank goodness, thank goodness..."
...
A night breeze swept through, and Lin Yi suddenly came to a realization that gave him a start.
This realization further confirmed for Lin Yi that Tian Bufan and the others had entered an office entirely different from his own!
"I stayed in the office for a good fifteen minutes before coming out, but Young Master Tian and his group only took half a minute to knock on the door and go in!"
As he pondered this issue, he felt as if he were being watched; turning around to follow the sensation, he saw a lean figure standing in the hallway not far away.
The figure stood there in the shadows where the hallway light did not reach, staring straight at him with eyes that seemed ready to pounce at any moment.
Goosebumps rose on Lin Yi's arms, and he quickly pushed open the door to Classroom B Group 2, stepping inside.
Just as he entered the classroom, someone called out to him.
"Old Lin!"
Lin Yi's eyes brightened as he followed the voice and saw Wei Liang sitting in the classroom signaling to him, his face alight with excitement, reminiscent of unexpectedly finding a close acquaintance in a foreign land.
"Come, come, sit over here!" Wei Liang called out excitedly.
In the classroom, all eyes turned toward Lin Yi; he quickly swept a glance over them and then made his way to Wei Liang's side.
The classroom resembled the large, tiered lecture halls common in universities. Professors or teachers would lecture from a semicircular podium in the center, while students sat in tiered seats that encircled the lecturer, much like the stages of Ancient Greece.
Filled with questions, Lin Yi ignored the gazes of the other students and walked straight to Wei Liang, flipped down a foldable chair, and sat down.
"Old Lin, where's your Student ID card?" Wei Liang asked as soon as Lin Yi sat down.