161 Discussion Night

After dinner, Li Xiaozhi didn't go back to their room as she wanted to meet her brother. Han Meixiu quietly made her way alone trying to organize her thoughts and plan her next course of action.

She was still thinking of how to ask Mr. Di without the knowledge of the Li siblings. But their set up where Li Xiaozhi would be inside the hut during the session, it would be hard to strike the question she wanted to ask.

If she would sneak out at night, she's worried that she might be caught and interrogated or in worst case scenario, she might even be shot down as her actions would be considered suspicious.

While she was still racking her brain how to create an opportunity to ask Mr. Di, Li Xiaozhi came in the room with excitement written all over her face.

"Meixiu! Listen up! Tomorrow we can use the obstacle course! It's free until 10 in the morning so we could try some! It would be exciting..."

Han Meixiu stared at her for a few seconds before she sighed and answered. "You're the only one who is excited."

"You're not going to do it?"

Looking at Li Xiaozhi sudden disappointment, Han Meixiu tightly closed her eyes.

"Let's do it." She finally said. She knew that even if she would say no, Li Xiaozhi will eventually pester her tomorrow morning to accompany her. Wasn't that always the case in the past?

"Great! We can go to their shooting range after. They have a huge area here. Ah right! You should know how to use a gun first."

"Xiao Xiao, I know how to use a gun."

"Huh? Since when? You enrolled somewhere?"

"Zijian thought me…"

"Oh, I see." There was a hint of sadness on Li Xiaozhi's voice. It wasn't because Han Meixiu knows now how to fire a gun. It was just a feeling that her best friend was getting further away.

Han Meixiu already has someone who would teach and protect her. Unlike before, she was clingy to her. Now, with a mere mention of Liu ZIjian's name, she would lit up.

Of course, Li Xiaozhi's happy. It was just she's feeling a sense of loss. As if losing her position in her life.

"I'll show you tomorrow how much I have learned." Han Meixiu said with a faint smile.

"That's great!" Li Xiaozhi replied while trying to cheer herself up. Since they already started to take their own respective roads, sooner or later their time together would surely become a memory. A good memory.

"You never told me the reason why they suspend you."

Li Xiaozhi grinned before answering Han Meixiu's question.

"An officer caught me lurking around the record area in the middle of the night. It's a prohibited area for someone like me. So…"

"If you know it was off limits, why did you go there?"

Li Xiaozhi sat down uprightly on her bed and faced Han Meixiu with a serious look on her face. She even lowered down her voice when she started to tell her the reason.

"I have a roommate. Our room is similar to this. She's really talkative unlike you. One night, when we came back she was suddenly so quiet. I didn't actually ask why, since I thought she might be only upset with the training we had that day. But when I woke up the next morning, she was gone."

"She didn't leave early? Maybe she left before you woke up."

"That was also what I thought, but her training uniform was still there and all her things. It was like she just disappeared. Since I thought she might have been summoned by some officer, I continued my daily activities. But I never saw her again. I started to worry when she didn't come back that night, too. I even asked my immediate officer. She said, my roommate went back to their town."

"For sure, you didn't believe her. So you went to the record area to find the contact details of her family?"

"Exactly! But what surprised me was, I couldn't find her record at all!"

"Maybe it's in another folder that you haven't check."

Li Xiaozhi shook her head.

"All of our records should be in that file. Why would hers disappeared?"

"Maybe it didn't disappear. Maybe it wasn't there in the first place. Maybe she's special or she has a special circumstance."

Li Xiaozhi stared at her best friend for few seconds. She was having an internal debate if she would tell Han Meixiu.

"What? You thought about it,too. Right?"

"Yeah. So I went back to that area the next night and look for the special students records. But before I could find it, I was discovered."

"Oh, maybe they already suspected that someone came in the night before and they became more diligent in monitoring that area."

"I guess you're right. But I want to know why she suddenly disappeared. Even if she's one of the special students she should at least inform me that she's leaving."

"Is there any other clues that could separate her from an ordinary trainee?"

Li Xiaozhi thought for a while before she shook her head. "Aside from having a boyfriend in the camp, there's none."

"Boyfriend? You're not separated by gender there?"

"We are. But they've been in a relationship even before entering the camp. I also thought of asking her boyfriend about it, but I don't know his name. I never asked her."

"Oh, that's difficult. Have you tried checking her recent calls? You might find some hidden information there."

"I did. The last message she received was dated few months back. It was days before we enter the camp."

"Her family didn't contact her? Not even once?"

"Probably. Unless she deleted their messages. But looking back, I never really saw her checking her phone."

"That's weird. If we're not here I can possibly check her phone records."

"I know. But all we could do is speculate…" Li XIaozhi murmured.

"Do you have some theories?"

"My theories aren't good. I don't dare to blurt them out."

"You're just being pessimistic."

"It's a training camp, Meixiu. There's so many cases of disappearance. Some even had ridiculous reasons." Li Xiaiozhi continued as her complexion started to turn grim.

"Hey, who knows she was just transferred in a different camp. And maybe by now, she's getting her things." Han Meixiu tried to lighten the mood. She was starting to feel uncomfortable as her mind was following Li Xiaozhi's possible thoughts of her missing roommate.

"Let's think that way. By the way, what are the things you remember?"

"A lot. Mostly about Liu Zijian."

'Again?' Li Xiaozhi thought as she slightly shook her head. "How about your parents? I mean, you saw them, right? Your mother was in coma and your father was the one taking good care of her."

"That woman is dead." Han Meixiu softly answered. Her voice was faint. It sounded distant against the quietness of the entire room.

"I'm sorry." Li Xiaozhi quickly apologized. She didn't want to ask how Han Meixiu found out. She probably went to that hospital again or from Liu Zijian.

"It's okay. Let's sleep. It's getting late." She simply said and arranged her bed. She didn't want to tell any more details about her parents to Li Xiaozhi. The less she knew the better.

Li Xiaozhi nodded and turned off the light before lying down.