"Delivery?"
"What delivery?!"
Lin Yi was stunned for a second, but after quickly thinking it over, he decided to follow the procedure listed on the notice board of the Teaching Building and explained his situation.
After listening to Lin Yi, the peephole on the office door snapped open with a "click," and an eyeball pressed against the peephole to survey Lin Yi's surroundings.
Once she confirmed that it was indeed only Lin Yi, the peephole closed, and then the office door slowly opened, revealing a woman in black professional attire standing in the doorway.
Without taking a detailed look at the woman, Lin Yi's wolf-like gaze immediately shot toward her chest, scanning for the name tag like a radar.
Fortunately, finding a white name tag on a black tailored short blazer was incredibly simple, and Lin Yi zeroed in on the name tag right away.
The name tag resembled a pure white acrylic plate, surrounded by thorn vine patterns seared into the edges, with the middle featuring embossed golden letters: "Class Director-B2-039."
Lin Yi let out a sigh of relief.
The teacher said, "Student, why don't you come in first."
For some reason, Lin Yi felt that the teacher seemed to relax as well after confirming that he wasn't there for delivery.
"Hey, wait... Delivery?" Just as Lin Yi stepped into the office, the image of the security guard leading a group of chefs through the dense fog suddenly flashed through his mind.
Those chefs in blue aprons, one hand clutching a metal chain, the other wasn't it holding a lunchbox?
"Could it be them?"
At that moment, the teacher's cautious voice rang in Lin Yi's ear, "Student? What's wrong?"
He snapped back to his senses and quickly replied, "Oh, I'm fine. Teacher, please proceed with my admission formalities first."
There were too many irregularities, but Lin Yi wasn't willing to waste time pondering anything other than getting his Student ID card at this moment.
The teacher sized up Lin Yi, then closed the door and nodded, "Stand over there and don't move. I'll tell you if there's anything you need."
Lin Yi stood with his back against the office door, his gaze following the teacher as she moved, watching her sit down at the desk and then pull open a drawer.
Lin Yi noticed that the teacher's drawer was messy, but in the corner, there was a neatly placed blue envelope.
She pushed the envelope aside and then pulled out a form and a stack of cards from the bottom.
She shuffled the cards smoothly and then stopped to pull one out, inspecting it front and back before holding it up to compare with Lin Yi.
"Lin Yi... Group B Class 2, Student Number X0230506098..."
As she recited the information on the card, she pasted the card's attachment onto the form and then with a flourish of her pen, "swish, swish, swish," she recorded some information onto the form.
Under normal circumstances, Lin Yi would have taken a few more glances at this female teacher. After all, a young female teacher with a good figure, dressed in a figure-hugging professional suit with a pencil skirt, black stockings, and high heels, was a rare sight.
But he had encountered too many abnormal and inexplicable incidents along the way, leaving him utterly uninterested, just wanting to get the Student ID card quickly.
Moreover, the small office without a window made him feel extremely claustrophobic. Subconsciously, there was also a strong feeling of unease constantly hitting his senses, urging him to leave this place.
So after glancing a few times at the teacher's black stocking-clad legs, Lin Yi diverted his attention and started to observe the office, suppressing the unpleasant feeling in his heart.
It was a private office; the observable space was only about ten square meters. The narrow space lacked even a single window, the minimalist area exuded an oppressive atmosphere, making it hard to breathe.
The office's layout was extremely simple—apart from the teacher's only desk, there was only a bookshelf, a sofa, a few potted plants, and a trash can.
At first glance, the office looked extremely tidy, even the books on the shelf were arranged meticulously. However, the more Lin Yi observed, the stronger the feelings of unease and strangeness became.
He turned to look at the wall.
On the pale white wall hung an old-fashioned pendulum clock, but the pendulum had stopped moving.
The hands on the clock were frozen at 7:39.
He then looked towards other corners and suddenly noticed some shredded paper pieces in the concealed corner under the teacher's desk, and in the shadow of the sofa, he spotted some scrunched-up little paper balls.
These paper balls were not well hidden, like a three-year-old's hidden toys, not easily noticed at first glance, but in the context of the overall tidy office, they became particularly conspicuous to an observant eye.
"But the trash can didn't have many paper balls thrown into it..." Lin Yi mused to himself.
As Lin Yi was staring at the trash can, he suddenly noticed a simple lunchbox at the bottom of it.
From the outside, the lunchbox was identical to the ones held by the chefs in blue aprons he had encountered in the fog, but the tilted edge of the box seemed to be leaking some dark red, unknown viscous substance.
As he focused on the trash can, a mix of unease and discomfort started to intermingle in his heart. A nameless, eerie sensation welled up from the trash can, coming at him in waves, making his heart pound rapidly.
But at the same time, a ridiculously absurd and illogical thought sprouted in his mind—
Go over there!
Go and pick up that lunchbox!