Chapter 2010 — The Mysterious Phone Call, Part Two

Still, on second thought, this could hardly be called a secret—Bai Weituo had made such a loud fuss posting about it on the campus BBS. Anyone who was a student at Donghai Engineering University would naturally know about it.

Having worked this out, Zhang Duopan subconsciously assumed it was a Donghai Engineering University student who had gotten hold of his phone number and was trying to swindle some money out of him. But the caller's words had interested him far too much, so he held back and did not hang up.

"Heh heh, Student Zhang, why the change of heart? Decided you want to hear me out?" the hoarse, rasping voice asked with a chuckle.

"You have a way to make me win first place? How much money do you want?" Zhang Duopan asked.

"If I wanted money, I'd have come to you in person. Why would I bother calling anonymously?" The rasping voice gave a faint laugh. "I don't want money. I just think you ought to take first place."

"No money? Then why are you helping me? Are you really that kindhearted?" Zhang Duopan asked, quietly on his guard.

"I'll be straight with you—I can't stand that Wei Zhao either. I don't want Wei Zhao's class taking the prize. Now do you understand?" The rasping voice had not expected Zhang Duopan to doubt him, and sounded somewhat exasperated.

"Oh? So you're an enemy of Wei Zhao's too. That's good, then." Hearing this, Zhang Duopan breathed a sigh of relief. "So tell me, what's your plan?"

"Simple. If Xu Shilan has a little mishap during her performance and flubs it, then even if she's a big star, the student council can't possibly give them first place. At most, for the sake of face, they'll throw them a consolation second or third place. But first place is out of the question! Awarding it to them would be blatant favoritism—whether the students would stand for it or not, the school authorities would never agree." The rasping voice rattled this off in one breath.

"What? You mean you want me to go make trouble?" Zhang Duopan more or less grasped the other's meaning. "But if I go make trouble and the school catches me, isn't that just digging a pit for myself? By the time they figure out the reason, sure, their act will have been ruined—but our class's act will be finished too."

"Heh heh, don't worry!" The rasping voice said, "I have my own clever scheme—otherwise I wouldn't have bothered calling you. My method will let you sabotage Xu Shilan's performance without a sound and without any responsibility. The school won't be able to pin the slightest trouble on you!"

"Really?" Zhang Duopan asked quickly. "Then tell me—what exactly do I have to do?"

"Very simple. Halfway through Xu Shilan's performance, you have someone—a girl, ideally—walk slowly across the stage in front of her, hair disheveled, wearing a black trench coat splashed with some red paint or fountain-pen ink to look like fresh blood..." the rasping voice said.

"Huh? What kind of trick is that? Is Xu Shilan supposed to take one look and be scared stiff?" Zhang Duopan was stunned. He didn't see anything special in the other's idea.

"Hmph. If you don't believe me, forget it. Pretend I never said anything." Hearing that Zhang Duopan was still second-guessing him, the rasping voice immediately grew displeased.

"It's not that I don't believe you—I just have to know why, don't I?" Zhang Duopan asked with a bitter smile.

"There is no why. I can't tell you the reason!" the rasping voice said. "All you need to know is that this will affect Xu Shilan!"

"All right, but what if the school starts asking questions?" Zhang Duopan asked, still somewhat worried.

"Are you dense? If they ask, just have the girl say it was her costume!" the rasping voice said impatiently.

"That's true enough." Zhang Duopan nodded, thinking to himself that this was actually a fine idea. That way, even if it didn't work, he bore no responsibility. Dressed like that at a freshman gala, she could perfectly well explain it away as a costume—and even if it proved useless, he lost nothing. A chance was better than no chance! At this thought, Zhang Duopan said, "Good. Many thanks. I'll do as you say!"

"In that case, I'll say no more," the rasping voice said.

"Then... if it works, how should I repay you?" Zhang Duopan asked.

"No need!" With that, the rasping voice hung up outright.

"Strange, truly strange. Could he really be an enemy of Wei Zhao's?" Staring at the disconnected call, Zhang Duopan shook his head in bewilderment. He truly could not see what the point of the other man's actions was—it was pure, one-sided help to him!

"What is it, Brother Zhang?" Fan Ganhe asked hurriedly.

"It's like this—just now a man with a rasping voice called me, saying he could get our act first place at the freshman gala and beat Xu Shilan!" Zhang Duopan then repeated the rasping voice's words to Fan Ganhe.

"That's a good thing, Brother Zhang!" Fan Ganhe said after hearing it out. "Whether it works or not, we've got nothing to lose by giving it a try."

"That's what I thought too. So we have to move fast on this—the freshman gala is almost here. We've got tomorrow daytime, and by tomorrow night it has to be done!" Zhang Duopan said. "Ganhe, I'm leaving this to you. Can you handle it?"

"Don't worry, Brother Zhang. I have a cousin sister at another school. I'll have her come over tomorrow night—nobody here knows her, so it'll be done without anyone the wiser," Fan Ganhe said with a nod.

"Good. If that rasping voice was telling the truth, then this is our big chance!" Zhang Duopan nodded.

The night passed without incident. After a day of rehearsals, the pharmaceutical major's act had become quite polished, and they were full of confidence as they prepared to go compete at the freshman gala.

"Does everyone have confidence that we'll take first place?" After the final rehearsal, Xu Shilan pumped her fist and asked, rallying everyone's spirits.

"Yes!" The answer came back like thunder. With Xu Shilan performing alongside them, if they still failed to win first place, they might as well all go buy a block of tofu and smash their heads against it together.

Although You Panhu, Huang Mao, and Zi Mao had no interest in going onstage to perform, this was, after all, a point of honor for Boss Bai—and if they took first place, Boss Bai would be happy. So You Panhu did not dare cause any trouble.

That evening, the school auditorium entrance was festooned with lights and decorations, a dense crowd milling about. All around were the little stalls set up by the student council—glow sticks, drinks, snacks, and so on. Clearly the student council meant to earn a bit of activity funding from this event.

Although the gala was called a freshman gala, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and even graduate students had all come to take part. The student couples especially had arrived at the auditorium early, bought their glow sticks and snacks, and claimed good seats, ready to spend a romantic evening.