Lunchtime, Teacher's Office.

  It had been raining heavily all morning, with no sign of stopping or even letting up.

  Zhang Xiaoping stood by the window, gazing at the orderly lines of students heading to the cafeteria, a thoughtful expression on his face.

  "Teacher Xiaoping," a female teacher called from behind him. Seeing no response, she raised her voice, "Teacher Xiaoping!"

  "Huh? Oh!" Zhang Xiaoping finally snapped out of it, turning around with a smile. "Is there something you need, Teacher Li?"

  "What were you doing? I called you several times and you didn't respond," Teacher Li asked curiously.

  Zhang Xiaoping walked over to his desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down, apologizing, "Sorry, I was lost in thought and didn't hear you."

  "You were thinking about your css, weren't you?" Teacher Li ughed, covering her mouth. "I heard your students were causing trouble again. During morning study, one of them barged into another css asking if anyone knew someone named Mao... Mao something?"

  "Mao Houwang," Zhang Xiaoping reminded her.

  "Yes, yes, Mao Houwang," Teacher Li ughed even harder. "I heard they even went to the dean's office and really upset him."

  Zhang Xiaoping felt a bit awkward but could only smile, "You heard about that too, huh?"

  "The whole senior year knows," Teacher Li said, her expression turning serious. "But I hope Teacher Xiaoping can strengthen management. It's senior year, a critical stage in life, and it also affects the school's graduation rate..."

  "So even if Css Ten students don't want to study, they shouldn't disturb others."

  "I understand, Teacher Li. It won't happen again," Zhang Xiaoping nodded, turning his gaze to the computer screen.

  ...

  After a brief silence, Zhang Xiaoping suddenly asked, "Teacher Li, do you think it's possible for living people to just disappear?"

  He held a bck thermos cup in his hand, the steam fogging up his gsses, while the reflection on the lens edge showed a surveilnce video.

  Teacher Li didn't respond for a long time, and when Zhang Xiaoping looked up, he found her staring at him with a hint of pity in her eyes. "Teacher Xiaoping, are you under too much stress tely?"

  Zhang Xiaoping chuckled, "Don't worry about it, I was just asking casually."

  Teacher Li shook her head, "Well, with a css like that, it's impossible not to be stressed. Once they graduate, you should apply to teach more normal students..."

  "Don't say that, Teacher Li," Zhang Xiaoping took a sip of tea, smiling slowly. "To me, students are students, regardless of their grades."

  ...

  School Cafeteria.

  Today's lunch featured five-spice braised chicken legs, a dish considered a special treat in the cafeteria.

  Yet Ye Haoyu, one of the so-called "Four Chicken Leg Kings," had little appetite, eating only five before stopping.

  Other students also silently picked at their food, looking listless.

  "I found it!" Qi Yinhong suddenly shouted, staring at his phone. "I found it, everyone! Have you heard of the Pan Bowen Incident online? It's very simir to Mao Houwang's situation."

  "What's the Pan Bowen Incident, a ghost story?"

  "I think I've heard of it, but never read the original post."

  "Send me the link, I'll check it out," Gao Wenyi said, pulling out his phone.

  Qi Yinhong sent the link to the newly created css group chat.

  Everyone took out their phones to look.

  Only Su Yuan remained still, staring thoughtfully at the soybeans in his lunchbox.

  After a while, Song Xiaoxia leaned over and asked softly, "Su Yuan, have you read about the Pan Bowen Incident?"

  Su Yuan gnced at his younger sister, who seemed a bit jealous, standing beside Song Xiaoxia and waving her fists. He nodded slowly, "I've read it."

  When he first accepted the fact that only he could see his younger sister, he searched online for numerous supernatural incidents, trying to expin it all.

  So naturally, he had read about the Pan Bowen Incident, which had caused a stir online.

  "But I don't think it's simir to our situation," Su Yuan added. "And it should just be a story made up by the blogger."

  "Why?" Song Xiaoxia asked curiously. She had gnced at it earlier and felt the story was detailed and rich, not like something made up.

  "The story describes how the blogger, his friend, and Pan Bowen entered an abandoned dormitory to retrieve a badminton shuttlecock, and when they came out, Pan Bowen had disappeared from the world."

  Su Yuan tried to recall the original post's content, "At the end of the story, the blogger mentioned that he and his friend tried everything to prove Pan Bowen's existence, even at the cost of their studies, but never succeeded."

  "But I think that's quite absurd."

  "Why?" Zhou Yulong, overhearing their conversation, leaned over to ask.

  Su Yuan gnced at him and said, "Because proving someone's existence is actually quite simple."

  "How do you prove it? We can't even prove Mao Houwang existed," Zhou Yulong immediately countered.

  "Let me finish," Su Yuan pced two chopsticks on the table. "First, someone like Mao Houwang, who has a normal family and growth trajectory, must have complex social retionships."

  "He wouldn't just disappear from the world because of erased memories or traces."

  "For the network centered around Mao Houwang, he's like a load-bearing wall. His disappearance would be enough to colpse the entire building."

  Seeing the two still confused, Su Yuan took three soybeans from his lunchbox and pced them on the table.

  "These are [Mao Houwang's parents], [Mao Houwang], and [Teacher Zhang]."

  "Because Mao Houwang studies in this css, his parents know Teacher Zhang."

  Su Yuan picked up the middle soybean and ate it, "Now that Mao Houwang has disappeared, should his parents still know Teacher Zhang?"

  "Right!" Song Xiaoxia blinked, suddenly realizing, "His disappearance would definitely leave many 'bugs' in the world."

  "I have another question," Zhou Yulong said. "What if his parents, like Teacher Zhang, experience memory confusion? For example, they might think they met Teacher Zhang through other means."

  Su Yuan shook his head, "Teacher Zhang's answers were actually quite forced, but with just an empty seat and textbooks, we can't find many logical fws."

  "Mao Houwang didn't leave many traces at school, and since all of us who knew him well remember him, there aren't enough 'bugs.'"

  "If we were at his home, we could definitely find more decisive evidence."

  Song Xiaoxia looked at Su Yuan and blinked, "Are you saying you have an idea?"

  Su Yuan nodded slightly, "I think we shouldn't sit idly by. We should do what we can before nightfall, as every bit of information could help our situation."

  But Su Yuan quickly frowned, "The problem now is that I don't know his home address, and Mao Houwang's name and address have already been removed from the school's roster..."

  "I can take you there."

  Seeing Su Yuan's puzzled look, Song Xiaoxia smiled softly, "You might not know, but I've known Mao Houwang for a long time. We're neighbors, and his mom knows me too."