The cycle begins to repeat itself today.

"The books in your backpack should have your name on them, right?"

She nodded.

"I will let go of your hands, but I advise you not to try anything funny. You're no match for my strength, understand?"

I didn't care whether I was stronger than her; it was still just a scare tactic. She gave a soft "hmm," and I gently released my left hand, but my right hand didn't move. It wasn't a matter of lust; everything needed to be done as safely as possible. I wouldn't risk completely jeopardizing her safety. I put my released left hand back on her shoulder, then pulled her back two or three steps to where her backpack was. She squatted down, and I was forced to squat down with her. I released both hands from their previous positions and grabbed her wrists, but I didn't restrict her movements; I just kept her under my control. I was glad her body allowed me to do so.

She opened her backpack, reached inside, and my hand brushed against the zipper. She pulled out a book, not too big, but thick—the kind of Chinese textbook I was familiar with. Although the light wasn't very bright, I could see from the cover that, if I remember correctly, it was the fourth volume. Our curriculum here is two years to complete three years' worth of material, followed by a year of intensive practice. Sequentially, this should be the content they start learning at the beginning of the second year. But for seniors in their final year of high school, who are in the training and review phase, it's impossible to start from the middle. The reason she had this textbook in her backpack… is probably because she is indeed a second-year high school student. But who knows? It could be a ruse to mislead others. But could she really have the foresight to know what someone wanted to do to her? Isn't that a bit unlikely?

But whatever the conclusion, she took the book out of her bag, and for me, confirming her name was the most important thing to do right now. She took out the textbook and turned to the first page. The lighting was poor, but I could still make out the blurry outline of the two characters "Lin Yin" by the dim light.

"Can't see clearly? Take a picture with your phone." I wanted to trick her, but such a simple method probably wouldn't work on her. I was just doing it casually, and unsurprisingly, she shook her head.

"I don't have a cell phone."

"Open the book to the first page, then put it on the ground and take another one."

She listened to me, taking one book after another from her bag, opening each one to its first page, and placing them on the ground. My hands never loosened their grip, and she didn't struggle. I saw the name "Lin Yin" on her books again and again, and my doubts about her claimed identity gradually diminished. Until she took everything out, and to convince me, she even shook the bag by the bottom corner, but nothing else fell out. I had been holding her hand the whole time; if she made any sudden movements, I should have felt it. I released one hand and reached into the bag to check, but found nothing unusual.

Did I really mistake someone for someone else? I had this question in my mind.

Chapter 109 The Unusual Sisters

I still have a lot of doubts about this girl's true identity, because before I started over, I clearly remembered that Lin Xue told me that she came to school at this time. The saying "When a person is about to die, his words are good" is actually applicable to people who are about to die. If Lin Xue is so cautious that she is so wary of someone who is about to die, then she may be too scary for me.

I'm inclined to believe that she wasn't that wary of me, so something must have gone wrong on her end. There's a high chance that Lin Yin is an imposter played by Lin Xue, but I didn't find her phone on her, and even her textbooks had Lin Yin's name on them. Did she really need to go to such lengths to fake it?

“You said Lin Xue is your sister, then why isn’t she here? She comes to school at this time every day, I can’t be mistaken.”

"My sister won't be coming this early today; it's the weekend."

Lin Yin explained, and I somewhat realized what was happening. I released Lin Yin's hand and reached into my pocket, taking out my phone to check the time. Today was September 11th, Sunday. There were no classes this morning or afternoon, only evening self-study. On Saturdays, only evening self-study was free; classes were required during the day. This did explain why Lin Xue wasn't here, but there was another problem.

"If it's the weekend, shouldn't you not be coming to school? Why are you here so early?"

"I..." Lin Yin hesitated and didn't speak, which made me doubt her true identity again. I waited impatiently, but she still didn't say anything. I was half-believing and half-doubting her. I wouldn't be careless about something like this. I put my phone back in my pocket and put my hand on Lin Xue's shoulder again. She shrank back uncomfortably.

“Tell me your reasons, or you'll have to bear the consequences. Although it's not Lin Xue herself, you seem to be in a similar situation.”

My intention was merely to scare her. Judging from her previous behavior, she clearly resisted this kind of behavior, which is a very normal reaction for most girls. When Lin Yin realized that what I was doing wasn't directed at her, she would hope to be rescued. If she's smart, she'll pretend to comply and give me information about Lin Xue, then find an opportunity to tell Lin Xue or even call the police. In that case, all my actions would be in vain. I could then use the information she gave me to compare with the information I had found, find discrepancies, and test whether Lin Yin is indeed Lin Xue. If she is, I can continue with my original plan; if not, I can still extract a lot of information from her. If handled properly, I can reap significant rewards from this operation.

However, just as Ye Zi had a huge impact on me, and just as Lin Xue herself had a hidden secret, Lin Yin also did something that surprised me immensely.

"You...you mean, I can take my sister's place?" Although Lin Yin's body was still trembling, she asked me clearly with a kind of joy I recognized: "If I behave, you won't go looking for my sister, right?"

Her way of speaking, with excitement hidden beneath her words, constantly reminded me of Lin Xue, even making me more convinced that she might be Lin Xue herself, yet there was a subtle difference. Like Lin Xue, she was also deliberately concealing some abnormal emotion, but Lin Yin clearly lacked Lin Xue's ability to hide her feelings effectively. If Lin Xue had donned a cloak of disguise, then Lin Yin was more like wearing only a few layers, her thoughts already exposed yet unable to let go of the pretense; she was clinging to her not-so-effective disguise.

"Sister, my sister is a very nice person. Please don't bully her, okay? I'll do whatever you want, and I won't call the police or tell anyone else... Please don't go looking for my sister. I look a lot like her."

Just like how Lin Xue subtly tried to provoke me in the teaching building, hoping I would do something irrational, Lin Yin is doing something similar now. However, she's relatively weaker; it's less of a seduction and more of a plea. Compared to the strong-willed and aggressive Lin Xue, she's far too weak. She's only slightly better than Ye Zi, even her words are similar. But Ye Zi's actions stemmed from fear of my dislike and a desire for my favor; Lin Yin's tone doesn't have such obvious suggestive undertones. She's more innocent. Lin Yin is like a transition between Ye Zi and Lin Xue.

Their family's problems were more serious than I had imagined. I had assumed Lin Xue's family only had one child, because placing all expectations on that child is a very obvious characteristic of single-child families. Although I have a brother and sister, my parents gave up on me early on, so all their hopes were placed on my sister. I feel somewhat apologetic towards her, but I don't want to take on that responsibility, and I can't take on that responsibility now. Although my family has four members, in form, it's no different from a single-child family. On the other hand, Lin Xue's awkward personality made me naturally assume that it was because her parents placed all their expectations on her, leading to her distortion. But since Lin Xue has a younger sister, Lin Yin, then Lin Xue's pressure shouldn't be so great.

However, the current situation is that Lin Xue has developed serious psychological problems, and her younger sister Lin Yin also seems to have problems. She is behaving in a relatively abnormal way. Although this is just my feeling, I think my thoughts are not wrong.

What exactly is their family situation? Why did both sisters end up like this? Investigating this information was indeed very difficult before, because I couldn't hack into her home to search for information like I did with Ye Zi; her parents lived there. But now, things have taken a slight turn for the better. I've found a key to understanding Lin Xue's family—perhaps I can find what I'm looking for in this girl in front of me.

Chapter 110 Methods of Intrusion

Finding the necessary clues from Lin Yin is indeed a viable method, but before that, I need to confirm something crucial—whether her identity is genuine. If she is real, my previous plan could indeed be executed and succeed. But if she is fake, a non-existent person meticulously impersonated by Lin Xue, then all my previous assumptions are meaningless. I must confirm her identity first. I have a method, but it's almost dawn, making it difficult to implement and subject to considerable limitations.

The high school building for the second year is different from the one I'm in. It's a comprehensive building constructed in recent years. It has all the necessary security systems, from surveillance cameras to door locks. It houses classes for the second year, first year, and even some third-year students. It also includes the principal's office and the academic affairs office. You could say it's the core of the school; my building is separate and used independently. Naturally, I couldn't hack into this comprehensive building like I would into the old school building. It has many valuable electronic devices, such as numerous projectors and computers in the computer labs. The surveillance is excellent, and the door locks are secure. Without a key, I could only wander around the corridors.

It was clearly unrealistic to investigate Lin Yin's identity using the same methods as investigating Lin Xue. I was thinking of feasible methods when Lin Yin's shoulder twitched under my hand. I immediately pressed her down, and she didn't resist, but spoke softly.

"Can I pick up all the books first? I won't do anything else."

Lin Xue's words made me pay a little more attention to the books, but checking them one by one under the current conditions was difficult and time-consuming. I hesitated for a moment, then released my grip on her. Judging from her previous behavior, Lin Yin didn't seem capable of resisting me. She wasn't very strong, less so than Lin Xue had appeared. I had been able to subdue Lin Xue even when I was injured, so there was no reason I couldn't control Lin Yin now. Besides, I might need Lin Yin's help with something later, so easing the tension a little wouldn't hurt. As I released her, I noticed something.

"You said it was the weekend, so your sister didn't come. So what are you doing here?"

"Like my sister, I'm a class monitor at school. I often help the teachers with chores. I came today to organize the test papers we need tonight. Because my grades are pretty good, the teachers trust me to do this." This time, Lin Yin explained it to me. The two sisters are alike in terms of excellent grades, but Lin Yin seems to care more about class monitor duties. Given Lin Xue's position, she should receive the same treatment from the teachers. Moreover, Lin Xue's senior year is a year with frequent exams, so this kind of work should be even more frequent. But only Lin Yin came; Lin Xue didn't. This is perhaps proof that Lin Yin cares more about the class monitor position.

But that's not necessarily true. It's also possible that the teacher didn't assign Lin Xue these tasks, so she naturally wouldn't come back. However, Lin Yin is here. Since the teacher was willing to let her come alone on the weekend to organize the test papers, it proves that Lin Yin is considered a rare and excellent student in the teacher's eyes. She should get along well with the other students in the class. After all, the class monitor needs to play this role—a role that allows both the teacher and students to feel at ease and talk freely... I thought of something.

While exams become quite frequent in senior year of high school—so frequent that even students who frequently cheat become too lazy to cheat—and many are used as homework due to time constraints, surprisingly, exam papers are generally kept relatively confidential. Even teachers don't know which papers will be used for tests and which for homework; everything is adjusted according to need. Because of this, exam papers wouldn't be kept in the classroom. Firstly, there isn't enough space, and secondly, teachers wouldn't naively trust the self-control of some students. The purpose of tests is to assess students' levels and identify areas for improvement; teachers naturally wouldn't encourage cheating. Therefore, exam papers are kept in a nearby but relatively safe place, such as… the teachers' office.

Although the class monitor is responsible for bridging students and teachers, the homeroom teacher usually handles most of the tasks. This is because the homeroom teacher often informs the class monitor after receiving the information, allowing the monitor to relay it to the class. Tasks like carrying homework are relatively rare, so the class monitor is generally closer to the homeroom teacher than the teacher. If Lin Yin wants to organize the test papers, she'll inevitably go to the office. This gives me the opportunity to infiltrate the homeroom teacher's classroom. Once inside, I can find the class roster, just like when I searched for Lin Xue's information. If she does exist, I can temporarily accept her existence as real, which will be very beneficial for my subsequent actions.

If Lin Yin didn't exist... then I could directly control her and use the same method as before.

"Who asked you to organize the test papers? Was it your homeroom teacher?"

Lin Yin shook her head with her back to me, still picking up her books: "She's just a subject teacher, but she's in the same office as the homeroom teacher, and she also has to organize the test papers given by the homeroom teacher, so it's pretty much the same."

"Done!" I couldn't help but smile. The rest was simple; all I had to do was have Lin Yin lead me into the office and guide me to the employee roster.

"Turn your head around." I gave Lin Yin the command. She stood up, turned around, and looked at me obediently, just as she had said. The instant she turned her head, I used my right hand to lift her chin, making her look up at me. I'm not very tall, but Lin Yin's height allowed me to do this. This was the first time I'd ever done something like this, and I didn't know if it would work.

"You said you'd do whatever I want, right?" I leaned a little closer and asked softly.

“…Yes.” Lin Yin nodded, her face flushed, pressing my hand down.

Chapter 111 Different Substitutes

While patiently waiting for Lin Yin to pick up the books scattered on the floor, I asked her some minor questions and received a lot of good news that was favorable to me, as well as some bad news that might cause me trouble.

The good news is that she told me she was the only one who took on the task assigned to her by the teachers, and judging from her previous experience working here, there was no one else in the office she needed to go to at this time—neither teachers nor students were there. This meant I would have ample time and a relatively safe environment to explore the information. The bad news is that Lin Yin's office was on the only way to the school library, which is a place in the school specifically for storing books. It's located next to the indoor stadium behind the main building on the first floor, and both are accessed through a passageway inside the main building. Lin Xue's homeroom teacher's office is located next to the entrance of this passageway on the main building side.

This wouldn't normally be a problem, as the main building has its offices on the first floor for convenience of staff and faculty gatherings, and it's usually not frequented by anyone other than teachers. However, today is the weekend, and classrooms in the main building are usually locked at this time of day, including the offices. Many students are staying on campus to study, so the library has become their preferred destination, which isn't surprising. The only issue is that the office is conveniently located at one end of the corridor, which makes things a little tricky.

I've seen the offices in the main building before. Unlike classrooms, they don't need as much soundproofing, so they have windows facing the corridor. People usually call for teachers through these windows. Although only a small number of students from each class actually want to stay at school, the total student population makes up a fairly dangerous group. I have to be mindful of the possibility that these windows could expose my information. Students who might pass by at any time limit my ability to conduct a thorough search. There are ways to avoid this, but I need to confirm the office's condition again.

After Lin Yin finished packing, she put on her backpack, stood up, and turned to look at me: "I...I'm all packed."

"If you're all packed, let's go. Let's hurry."

I nodded at her, but she didn't move. Instead, she looked at me hesitantly, as if she had something to say.

"If you have any other questions, just ask them. I won't be answering them for you later."

I showed a slight hint of impatience, not because I was unwilling to answer the questions, but because I didn't want to waste too much time on this. Although I'd been entangled with Lin Yin for so long, the timeline hadn't changed much; it was only a few minutes past six. If I hurried, I could finish the search before the campus traffic spiked, minimizing the increased exposure risk. Besides, it hadn't even been half an hour since my first encounter with Lin Yin. While I could spend more time getting to know her, I had more important things to do. I needed to confirm Lin Yin's identity before I could continue my investigation; I hadn't forgotten my purpose.

"No, no... I'm just curious what you want to do."

I didn't really want to tell her about this, just like I didn't tell Ye Zi before. If Lin Yin really isn't Lin Xue, then after getting enough information from her, she will no longer be an insider. If possible, I hope to involve as few people as possible. This whole thing is already outrageous. Even though it was only for a few minutes, or maybe ten minutes, what I did to Lin Yin was enough to change her life forever. Taking on such responsibility requires immense strength, and I don't have that strength. The best option is to exclude Lin Yin from this. At this point, it might be better not to involve her any further.

However, I'm unsure if she can go back right now. Although I only came into contact with her because of Lin Xue and my own mistake, she, like Lin Xue, is a highly contradictory individual with similar traits. Like now, even though I've clearly hinted at what will happen, she's still moving in that direction. After what happened with Lin Xue, I don't believe Lin Yin would act so irrationally simply to protect her. Even if her intention was indeed to protect Lin Xue, she would surely have other, better ways than making herself a sacrifice.

If I had to define her current behavior, it's more like she wants to become someone who can replace Lin Xue, even if it's in this way, and in this situation. "Substitute"—she and Lin Xue share a similar concept, but unlike Lin Xue, Lin Yin wants to replace others, while Lin Xue wants others to replace her. Both sisters have significant personality problems. I'm fortunate that at least their problems seem to be solvable with the same method. Although I don't know the specifics of Lin Yin's problem, if I can strip them of their parents' place in their hearts, then I'll have the foundation to change them, and that's enough; it's already very advantageous for me.

I didn't answer her question, but instead asked another one.

"You seem to have a very good relationship with your sister."

Lin Yin, who had been waiting for my answer, stiffened. I looked at her, and she seemed to notice me watching her, stammering and reluctant to speak. I had no intention of answering my question anymore. Judging from her behavior, the relationship between the two sisters probably wasn't good. And I began to doubt her excuse of sacrificing herself to protect her sister. Both she and Lin Xue had issues, yet their contrasting actions showed a closeness towards the same goal. Could it be that even if they weren't close, they were still sisters?

I have a younger sister myself, but we've always had a good relationship. I don't really understand them.

Chapter 112 The Narrow Side Door

When I raised this question, Lin Yin had already stopped paying attention to the matter she had asked me earlier, and I didn't answer her. Intelligence, while not a zero-sum game, does give one an advantage by suppressing others and widening the gap in intelligence. Lin Yin's current state is unclear, and although telling her what I wanted to do wouldn't cause any major problems, I'll leave it for now. If she's still interested in this question after I confirm her identity, I might choose to tell her some details. After all, even if I don't want to get involved now, resolving Lin Xue's problem naturally involves her parents, and also Lin Yin, who is similarly deeply influenced by them.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and patted her gently. "If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it." I urged her, but I seemed to see gratitude in her eyes. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. If doing something like this and to this extent could earn me gratitude, then gratitude would be far too cheap. Maybe I was just imagining things.

She walked ahead, and I followed a step behind. We were both students from the same school, so I didn't need to guide her. Besides, I knew where her office was, so I walked without hesitation to the main gate. The school gates were already open, and the breakfast stalls next door were open too. These were people who did jobs that required them to get up early and work late; if you consciously considered how they spent their time, their days must be longer than others. What kind of job will I have in the future?

Arriving at the main building, the first large building I saw upon entering the school through the main gate was the school's main building. It was somewhat shaped like the Chinese character "工" (gong), but it was inverted, with only one side. Walking from the main gate, I passed through the flagpole, and the school's main entrance faced the flagpole. I noticed the main building's doors were tightly closed. I had assumed Lin Yin would lead me towards the main entrance, but she went in the other direction. Perhaps because I looked at her with confusion, she turned around and explained to me.

“I don’t have the key to the main entrance of the main building. The school security guards keep the keys there. But the side door of the main building has never been closed because many students use the library on this day. So the side door near the student dormitory has never been closed. How do we get in?”

The student dormitories Lin Yin mentioned are right next to my teaching building, on both sides. The boys' dorms are on the right, and the girls' dorms are on the left, located along the main road leading to the old teaching building. My town isn't large, but it's one of the better-quality middle schools in the region, and even in other areas it influences. Many students from rural areas, other towns, and even cities a level above ours specifically send their children to our school. Naturally, they know how strict and demanding our school is, which is probably why they send their children here. School has long been the first battlefield everyone must face.

I followed Lin Xue to the side of the teaching building away from the main gate. After walking with her for a while, I saw the side door she had mentioned. It was an iron gate, unlike the glass door. It wasn't very wide, just wide enough for two people like Lin Yin and me to walk side by side. Two slightly overweight people would feel cramped, but that was enough. We couldn't carry anything too big out anyway, and it would be pointless to bother stealing.

Lin Yin and I went inside. The stairs leading up were nearby, but we didn't need to go up. Lin Xue and I walked straight ahead to the main entrance of the main building we had just seen. I noticed that the doorknob was secured with a U-lock, which Lin Yin hadn't lied about. I turned to look at Lin Yin; she had already taken two steps ahead and was standing in front of a door—that must be her office where she was organizing the exam papers. Just as I remembered, this office was located on the main path to the library, and it had a sliding glass window. In this high-traffic area, I unsurprisingly found security cameras, crisscrossing the area in two corners above the entrance, their lights flashing, indicating they were operational.

"Over here," Lin Yin called to me. I followed her into the office, and she turned on the lights, instantly brightening the space. The office was quite large, about the size of a regular classroom, but more spacious and not cramped at all.

"This is the office for the Chinese and Math teachers. Many of them are also homeroom teachers. Our Chinese teacher is our homeroom teacher, and our Math teacher is also in this office. I come over on weekends to help out and clean the office." Lin Yin walked to one of the tables. The tables here were like those in a corporate office, completely different from our building. Back there, both the offices and classrooms had old-fashioned desks and chairs, with wooden tables and chairs, giving it a very strong sense of the era.

"This is the homeroom teacher's desk." She looked at me, hesitated for a moment, and said, "If you want to see inside the desk, don't rummage around too much. There are security cameras in the office too. They're right above the door."

I frowned, turned around and looked up. There was indeed a camera there. What a nuisance. This way, I can't make any big movements if I want to check, and I have to remember where everything is. As long as nothing goes wrong, even though there's surveillance footage, it will be deleted sooner or later. As long as it's not seen, that's fine.

"I'll go clean up first..."

She seemed to want my opinion on everything she did, which reminded me of Ye Zi. But they weren't the same. I shook my head: "Go ahead."

Lin Yin walked to the corner of the office, where there was a vertical cabinet. I could roughly guess what was inside, so I stopped paying attention and started checking Lin Yin's homeroom teacher's desk instead. It was cluttered and piled high with books and stacks of exam papers—the kind that includes exam papers from various years and regions. It probably contained all the papers for her class. Our class was the same; this was probably what Lin Yin needed to prepare, and it had nothing to do with me. What I needed to see was probably in the cabinet.

Chapter 113 The Missing Key

The desks in this office, although partitioned, had a rather peculiar feature: they had no drawers. The desktop was made of a layer of reinforced board about two centimeters thick, with a completely empty space underneath. Where I expected drawers to be, there was nothing; this desk looked more like a dining table. There was no place to store anything. Instead, there was a row of cabinets along the wall. They didn't look very new, but they weren't in such a dire state as the old school building that renovation was almost pointless. Numbers were labeled on them, representing different teachers' cabinets. I easily found Lin Yin's number on her desk and turned to walk towards her cabinet.

I gently pulled on the door of the cabinet that belonged to Lin Yin, the homeroom teacher, but it wouldn't open. It must have been locked, which was to my surprise. After all, there were many important or personal items inside, so it was only natural that necessary precautions would be taken if they were placed here.

I asked Lin Yin if she had the key to the cabinet, but she shook her head: "The key to this cabinet is with the teacher. It seems that there are some things inside that are not usually used. It seems that this cabinet cannot be opened without the key."

I understood immediately and checked the cabinet again. There were no transparent parts; it was all sheet metal. Besides the number, handle, and keyhole, there was nothing else on it. There were no exposed screws for me to disassemble, so opening it by any means seemed unlikely. I went back to the homeroom teacher's desk and searched it, but found no keys. They must have been taken and not left in the office.

This is a bit tricky. Just in case, I looked through the books and papers on the table again, but I couldn't find the roster. It seems I'll have to find another way.

I wandered around the office. Ultimately, looking at the roster was just a formality; my real purpose was simply to confirm Lin Yin's existence. While the roster might yield additional information, it was better to settle for less when that goal couldn't be achieved, and not pursue that extra information further. However, this was no easy task either. During the day on weekends, all the classrooms were locked. The old teaching building wasn't locked simply because it was difficult to lock, and locking it wouldn't have been of any use anyway.

To get into Lin Yin's classroom, I also need the key; otherwise, even if it's on the second floor, I won't be able to get up there. But unlike the cabinet in the office, I remember the classrooms in the main building have spare keys; this one is only locked on weekends. If I could find a spare key, I could get in, but unfortunately, I haven't seen a single key; there aren't any here.

"Lin Yin, do you have a key to your classroom? I'd like to go check it out."