Make a Fortune and Become Well-off [90] - Chapter 146

Wuxia was a serialized magazine, and many of its stories were ongoing serials. If they didn’t follow from the beginning, it was difficult to understand, especially if they just picked up a random chapter without knowing the context.

As a result, the magazines had been sitting ignored on the coffee table for more than half a month.

Officer Wu had read Catcher in the Song Dynasty serial purely by accident. The case was new, and the author’s style was both gripping and impressively detailed. The more he read, the more disturbed he became.

One of his female colleagues mentioned that she had the last two issues of Wuxia at home, but she hadn’t brought them to work yet. She promised to bring them the next day.

Officer Wu waited, but his patience ran out. So, he hurried out of the station, heading for a nearby newsstand. He approached the owner and asked if they had a copy of Wuxia magazine.

The newsstand owner perked up immediately, reaching down to a pile of books at his feet, and handed Officer Wu a copy of the latest issue.

Officer Wu quickly tore open the transparent plastic wrapping, flipping through the pages eagerly. But it wasn’t the issue he was looking for. Frustrated, he asked the owner, “Do you have the previous issue?”

“Sorry, it’s sold out,” the owner replied. “Next time, come earlier. A lot of people like Wuxia. Every time a new issue comes out, it’s gone in no time.” The owner grinned, revealing his yellowing teeth, adding, “You’re trying to find a clue too, huh? Lots of people are. Everyone’s trying to figure out who the murderer is. But don’t worry, it was resolved in the new issue.”

It was clear that the newsstand owner was a long-time reader. He even knew the author’s style and pacing. So far, four cases have been completed, and the current issue marked the start of the fifth.

Officer Wu didn’t get the information he was hoping for from the newsstand owner, so he asked if he remembered the content of the previous issue. The owner vaguely recalled some details, but his account was too general for Officer Wu’s liking, leaving him anxious and unsatisfied.

Frustrated, Officer Wu rushed back to the station and opened the latest issue of Wuxia. As expected, the latest issue contained only the conclusion of the case. In the story, the murderer was eventually caught, brought back to Kaifeng Mansion Prison, and interrogated by the heroine about his motives for slaughtering the farmer and his family. The reason was shocking.

It turned out this wasn’t the murderer’s first crime. He originally hailed from Jiangling, where he had committed a similar murder. After that, he fled to Kaifeng. On the night in question, he had been passing by the farmer’s house, starving and penniless. Desperate for food and money, he decided to steal from the farmer. However, when the farmer woke up and caught him in the act, the killer decided to eliminate him and his entire family.

Because it was a martial arts novel, the narrative naturally included martial arts elements. The murderer, portrayed as a skilled martial artist, recounted his heinous acts with chilling indifference, as though he hadn’t taken human lives but merely butchered five chickens or ducks. In his casual tone, he claimed that had the heroine and her group not captured him so quickly, he would have changed his name and escaped, vanishing into the vast world.

The story provided key details about the murderer’s name, appearance, age, and origin, but it lacked critical information from the previous issue, leaving Officer Wu on edge.

Driven by a sense of urgency, he frantically searched nearby newsstands, asking for the earlier issue. Yet, no one had it. Finally, he stumbled upon a bookstore. He thought there was little chance of finding the magazine there, but to his surprise, it was available.

Officer Wu was overjoyed.

Meanwhile, Teacher Ji, after finishing his corrections for the competition class papers, had already decided to encourage Jiang Ning to participate in academic competitions. He believed that if she focused on this path, she could achieve great results. Winning a provincial award would open doors to top universities, and she might even earn recommendations. Even if she didn’t get into one of the nation’s most prestigious universities, a place at their province’s top 985 university seemed within reach. With this in mind, Teacher Ji sought out Teacher Wang, the head teacher of Class 3, to discuss Jiang Ning’s future plans.

Teacher Wang was skeptical of the idea. How could he allow a bright student from his class to take the competition route, especially one filled with so much uncertainty? He was well aware of No. 1 High School’s competition results in previous years, which were, frankly, underwhelming.

In recent years, No.1 High School practically abandoned competition preparation to focus solely on the college entrance exams. The reason was simple: the school’s student pool, while strong, wasn’t as competitive as Wuzhong High School’s. Yet, No. 1 High School maintained an impressive admission rate to key universities, which was why it had become one of the top two prestigious high schools in Wucheng.

Wuzhong High School, on the other hand, not only excelled in admissions but also dominated in academic competitions. The competition achievements of the entire city of Wucheng largely depended on Wuzhong’s students.

The typical student at No. 1 High School was focused on one goal: getting into a good college. They were already under immense pressure, working tirelessly toward their dream of securing a place at a key university. Few had the time or energy to engage in competitions. Only students with exceptional talent or those with well-established family support ventured down the competitive route. These were often children from affluent families, whose parents were not only financially supportive but also cultivated an environment conducive to specialized training. Such families could afford the extra time, money, and resources required for their children to participate in competitions, be it in physics, chemistry, or mathematics.

To think that a student could master some book knowledge and then go on to compete at the city, provincial, or even national level against the best minds in the country was, in Teacher Wang’s view, unrealistic.

However, Teacher Wang didn’t outright refuse the idea. Instead, he raised a practical concern with Teacher Ji, “If Jiang Ning focuses all her energy on the competition and her grades slip, what happens then? If she doesn’t get the recommendation, who will be responsible? Besides, I’m not her parent. You need to get her parents’ approval first.”

This concern reflected the broader problem in Wucheng: parents were not supportive of the competition route. They valued stability, wanting their children to focus on the sure path to college admission, which seemed more secure than the unpredictable outcomes of academic competitions.

Teacher Ji, who was from the provincial capital and had grown up in a more competitive academic environment, understood this hesitation. If it weren’t for his spouse being assigned to Wucheng, he likely wouldn’t have ended up teaching there. The competition culture in Wucheng was indeed underdeveloped compared to more competitive cities.

Yet, despite the challenges, Teacher Ji remained optimistic. He persisted, saying, “Jiang Ning has genuine talent in this area. If she focuses on the competition, with guidance from both me and Teacher Zhang, I can’t guarantee a national award, but I believe she has a strong chance of winning a provincial one.”

Teacher Wang said, “Let me ask Jiang Ning if she is willing.” Even if Jiang Ning was willing, Teacher Wang was not.