AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 307 - 142 Middle-Aged Experience Student_2

Chapter 307: Chapter 142 Middle-Aged Experience Student_2

The middle-aged uncle squinted his eyes, took out a notebook with a leather cover from the compartment of his backpack, opened it to the latest page along the bookmark, and wrote down two strings of numbers:

"X02305081536, X02305081505."

After that, he carefully placed the leather-bound notebook back into the compartment and left the classroom with his backpack.

...

May 8, 2023, 15:46.

Lin Yi and his two companions encountered Wei Shan on the cobblestone path leading to the Cafeteria area, exchanged greetings, and then walked together.

"Wei Shan," Lin Yi suddenly spoke as they walked.

"What is it?"

"Wei Shan, did you go to the restroom after 1 PM?"

Wei Shan paused slightly, then seemed to remember something and nodded: "I did."

"Oh..."

"What’s up?"

"Nothing," Lin Yi shook his head.

A few minutes later, they entered the cafeteria area and came to a notice board.

Lin Yi looked into the distance and saw the lush mountains above the sea of clouds, the sun still radiating endless brilliance but already showing signs of slowly setting.

Dusk was approaching.

Lin Yi frowned slightly and slowly exhaled.

Li Huiyuan looked at the sun hanging amidst the sea of clouds, closed her eyes to feel the warmth, the golden glow shining on her face, which made her serene expression almost evoke a sense of pity, as if after the sunset, her life would also reach its endpoint.

"Don’t be pessimistic," Lin Yi said aloud.

"Me?" Li Huiyuan’s eyelashes, seemingly dyed golden by the sun, trembled slightly when she heard Lin Yi’s words, then she slowly opened her eyes.

Lin Yi nodded.

Li Huiyuan shook her head with a self-deprecating smile, "The ancients said, ’At fifty, one understands the decree of Heaven.’ I didn’t expect to have this feeling now..."

Lin Yi was about to say something more, but Wei Liang’s voice suddenly rang out.

"That means you have an older mental age," Wei Liang crossed his arms, his words instantly shattered the somewhat sad atmosphere.

It was like on a sunny beach, a dying girl saying, it’s such a pity I haven’t had the chance to see the wider world, a boy beside her stays silent, about to say something, when suddenly a wave crashes onto the shore, a winter-swimming weirdo climbs onto the beach, cackling, "The vast world is mine to roam—oh—powerful!"

Please, what the hell isn’t right about this painting? Could crafty tricks even be used here to flip the mood?

But Wei Liang’s destruction of the mood apparently didn’t end there, and he himself was completely unaware of it as he turned to Li Huiyuan and said:

"Have you read ’Martial World’s Scandalous History’? The people there, at fifty, can sit and attract soil, single-handedly combat groups and still be at ease. Now look at you, so young, how..."

"How can you be so relaxed about yourself?!" He suddenly raised his tone, almost as if scolding the younger generation.

"I picked those books for you with deep meaning; are you really so shallow, only seeing those flirtatious and lengthy scenes? Outrageous!"

"Liangzi..." Lin Yi covered his face and interrupted, thinking to himself, enough is enough.

"Um... cough, I mean, you should not just see those superficial things but learn to see the deeper, more profound things... understand?" Wei Liang continued to educate, completely unbothered.

Lin Yi had a face full of black lines: "To be able to derive such insights from adult comics, Liangzi, you really are..."

Wei Liang pouted, showing a surprised expression: "Old Lin, didn’t you realize something?"

He immediately clutched his chest, making a pained gesture: "I thought you and I were equally gifted, true geniuses with full comprehension! Damn it, I actually overestimated you!"

"Alright, alright, no more overestimating." Lin Yi noticed the time was almost up, hurriedly grabbed a few Cafeteria rules books from the shelves in front of the notice board and handed them to Wei Liang and Wei Shan.

But when he was about to hand one to Li Huiyuan, he suddenly hesitated...

"Cafeteria rules... do they still apply to you?" he suddenly asked Li Huiyuan.

Li Huiyuan’s expression darkened as she took the cafeteria rules. "Maybe... At least I haven’t turned into a nocturnal species yet, so I try to follow the rules as much as possible..."

"Hmm," Lin Yi nodded, then looked down at his watch.

15:56.

There were still 4 minutes until the cafeteria opened.

Meanwhile, their surroundings had already gathered quite a few people, both regular sports students and the not-so-normal experience students.

He took a deep breath and looked far off toward the external wall of the cafeteria, his gaze searching across it.

"What are you looking for?" Wei Liang asked.

"The convenience store."

Wei Liang’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked, "What do you need that for?"

"Oh, do you know where it is?" Lin Yi countered.

Wei Liang immediately shook his head like a rattle, his saliva nearly flying out.

Lin Yi widened his eyes. "Then why did you tell me before that you could buy a few days’ worth of food at once from the convenience store and then just hang out in the classrooms or dorms?"

"Well, wasn’t that theoretically possible?" Wei Liang hurriedly explained, "Xu Shunkang and the others did just that, didn’t they?"

"Did you go to the convenience store the last time you were here?" Lin Yi asked.

Wei Liang suddenly clammed up, hesitated for a while, then stammered, "Sort of... went there."

"What do you mean ’sort of’! Either you went or you didn’t!" Lin Yi said exasperatedly.

Wei Liang shrugged. "Because I can’t quite remember, probably on the last two days."

Wei Liang seemed to have found a shield, always pulling out the "muddled last two days" whenever he was unsure, comparable to Tian Bufan’s tactic of "I can’t tell you now but will eventually explain."

"Alright, alright, you win," Lin Yi said through gritted teeth, then continued searching for the location of the convenience store.

In theory, the convenience store was located on the ground floor of the cafeteria and could also serve a similar purpose to the Student Passage during a chase by the green-pocketed chefs, which meant that it should indeed be accessible from outside the cafeteria as well, hence Lin Yi felt it could be found from the outside.

But he ultimately did not find it.

"Could the convenience store be on another layer? In a state similar to the Teaching Building’s basement? Like a platform that could serve as a transfer station for people to move through?" Lin Yi speculated.

This meant, however, that entry to the convenience store had prerequisites.

"Li Huiyuan, have you spotted a place that looks like a convenience store?" Lin Yi looked at Li Huiyuan.

Li Huiyuan shook her head.

"It seems we can only figure it out once we go in," Lin Yi sighed, "but at least one thing is certain, the convenience store is located somewhere on the first floor of the student cafeteria. We’ll find a chance to look around, and we should be able to find it."

"You’re not seriously thinking of looking for the convenience store, are you, Old Lin?" Wei Liang exclaimed, his mouth agape. "That doesn’t sound like a wise move!"

Lin Yi said, "I’ve thought it over, it shouldn’t be hard to find, and I might not even need to enter the convenience store."

Wei Liang looked puzzled, as did Li Huiyuan.

Lin Yi calmly explained, "When we get into the cafeteria, you guys should sit down after we get food. I’ll walk around the student cafeteria pretending to look for a seat with my tray. First, I’ll look for the location of the convenience store and second, I can also find Xu Shunkang and the others."

Wei Liang’s eyes brightened, instantly understanding, "You mean, if you can’t find the convenience store, you’ll have Xu Shunkang and the others take Li Huiyuan to the convenience store?"

Lin Yi nodded. "Exactly, they bought cookies there, so they definitely know more about where it is and how to get there than we do."

He knew only a limited number of sports students, basically only able to seek help from Xu Shunkang and Xie Huayang. However, the student cafeteria was indeed quite large and had a second floor, which meant he couldn’t be sure he would run into Xu Shunkang and the others.

But at least they had a lead now.