A girl went up the rooftop of the school.
The students and teachers who received the message went out to surround the scene.
The teachers around her kept persuading her to never be impulsive and contact the firefighter to rescue people urgently.
However, when everyone's energy is attracted by the girl on the rooftop, no one knows that in the piano room on the other side of the school, a young life is disappearing...
1
This B&B is located on the hillside of Cuiyun Mountain. I have always heard that their home brewed plum wine is particularly famous. If so, I really want to stop drunk and use alcohol to avoid the troubles of reality. When I drove to that mountain homestay, my phone was ding dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong I have been pestering me recently. It is because of this that I promised Xiao An to go on this one-day and one-night short trip, hoping to change my mood slightly through this method.
When I saw Xiao An, I was really surprised. She changed a lot - but so, I was still a student when I met her. Compared to the gloomy time, she is obviously much sunny now as an adult.
She was wearing a youthful and capable sportswear and a neat ponytail. She greeted me generously, and even the tone of her voice rose, which made me feel much happier.
After she and I put our luggage in the room, we went out for a leisurely walk on the mountain road. The pure oxygen in nature makes me feel relaxed and happy, and I briefly stay away from the real life.
In this process, Xiao An and I talked about the past - it was about her campus life. After careful calculation, it has been a full seven years. Some things have been very different from the past in these seven years, but some things remain the same.
topic at this point, I also asked a straightforward question: "Xiao An, so many years have passed, why did you suddenly think of asking me out to play?"
Xiao An looked at me deeply and suddenly laughed. Her laughter was very crisp, echoing in the leisurely woods like a wind chime.
"Because I started to be nostalgic." Xiao An said, "I remembered some things in the past, so I want to talk to you."
Past things. I closed my eyes slightly, and scenes of the past flashed back in front of my eyes. Although they were a little blurred, they were kept in the most eye-catching position in my memory palace.
That year was really unforgettable.
The cry at that time suddenly echoed in my mind - save someone quickly! Someone committed suicide! Save people quickly!
2
Seven years ago, when I first arrived at this school, I was not very comfortable with the management method here. When I was about to walk out of the classroom after my first morning class, a classmate stopped me and she whispered: "Mobile phone..."
Then I remembered that smartphones must be handed over to unified management during morning class. I quickly thanked the classmate and sighed in my heart that there was a mistake almost on the first day.
After experiencing such an episode, I paid more attention to my behavior, for fear that something went wrong again. I work hard to integrate into this new environment and hope that the classmates and teachers around me can quickly accept me. Therefore, I acted very enthusiastic and very positive. It was under such circumstances that I met Xiao An.
Xiao An sat in the corner of the classroom. She was as quiet as her name was. I don’t answer questions during class, but I just bury my head in reading various novels. Her whole body exudes an aura of inappropriateness, but because of this, I feel curious about her. She is really too different from her classmates.
One day, I was talking about homework with other classmates, and for some reason Xiao An appeared in my mind. I turned the topic to her: "Are you familiar with Xiao An? She doesn't seem to like talking much."
A classmate who was chatting with me was stunned at first, and then a child-like look of humor and innocence appeared on her face. She said, "She is just weird, don't worry about her. "
Another classmate nodded and echoed: "I feel that she is not very sociable. Before, I took the initiative to talk to her and she also ignored her. She only knows how to read books. "
" also swept out a lot of garbage from her during the cleaning. "
" And she always smells..." I also smelled the "smell" they said. It was a strange smell mixed with the damp cleaning utensils in the toilet and the sour smell of leftover rice. Every time I passed by Xiao An, I could smell this smell. I thought it was my illusion. The original source was the quiet girl.
The classmates were discussing each other, and I listened to them one by one. From their description, I saw a dirty freak. In such an atmosphere, even I had the idea of "It's better to stay away from that child."
But later I got along with Xiao An alone. That was the first time I talked to Xiao An after half a month after I came to this school.
During the evening self-study one day, I went to the bathroom. When I passed by the corridor, I saw Xiao An lying on the fence of the corridor. Her eyes stared at the dark sky, not knowing what was going on. I looked around. There was no classroom on this floor, only an office, a piano room and a dance room for art students. Xiao An was surprised that he appeared here.
I took the initiative to come forward and talk, "Why don't you go back to the classroom? You can't run around outside during evening study. "
After a few seconds, Xiao An slowly turned his head to look at me. I noticed that her eyes were a little red, as if she had just cried.
So I stepped forward and asked, "Are you crying?" Is something happening? "
Xiao An shook her head, but I could feel that what she wanted to express was "no need to worry". She turned around and prepared to leave, and I followed her quickly. I hope that such company would make her feel better.
Xiao An walked very slowly. I could see that she was worried, but I felt that she could not ask her what happened. This would only have a counterproductive effect. So in silence, I accompanied her to the door of the classroom. Just when I was about to enter the classroom, Xiao An suddenly turned his head and said to me softly, "Thank you." "
I said this is what it should be.
But Xiao An shook his head and said, "I'm not talking about what's happening now." I want to thank you. Among so many teachers and classmates, you are the only one who did not cover your nose when you passed by me. "
After she said this, she walked into the classroom. From then on, I paid more attention to Xiao An.
3
Our walk lasted until the evening. Seeing the sun set, Xiao An proposed to go back to the homestay for dinner, and after that, she could still taste their famous plum wine.
I happily walked with her. It is not the peak tourist season now. There are only two guests and me in this homestay. The boss is particularly attentive to us. The ingredients for dinner are very fresh.
ht After dinner at ml5, I was invited to Xiao An's room. The spacious guest room was equipped with an antique wooden table, with white porcelain bottles, two small wine glasses, and a plate of snacks for wine. I knew this was the venue for the wine tasting party.
Xiao An invited me to sit on the ground. This leisurely feeling made my nerves relax. In order to pour a glass of wine, the brown drink exuded a faint fragrance of plums. I was about to drink it all, but she stopped me.
"Wait a minute," she said, "If I'm drunk now, it would be boring. "
I reluctantly put down my wine glass. It sounds like she has other plans.
Xiao An continued, "When I was walking today, didn't I just talk halfway? We can now continue the topic that we haven't finished talking about."
She refers to memories of her student days. I looked at her and sighed deeply, "I thought you wouldn't be willing to think about those things, we all know that those things are bad. "
" Many things are profound because of their badness. "Xiao An smiled and revealed a thousand dimples, "We were all immature at that time. "
I lowered my eyes gently and listened quietly to Xiao An's narrative. Following her words, my thoughts gradually returned to the time seven years ago.
4
At that time, Xiao An had a well-known nickname in the class, called Xiao La. The opportunity for me to know this was when a classmate distributed homework book a while ago, shouting "Xiao La, Xiao La". I felt very strange. There was no such person in this class.
I asked a classmate who Xiao La was. The other party explained to me with a smile that Xiao La is Xiao An.
l2 It is not uncommon for students to get nicknames between them. The classmates around me also advised me to call them by nicknames, so I accepted this title. However, considering that I have just been here for a short time, it seems a bit familiar to call them the nicknames, so I still call Xiao An's real name. I actually worry that only I am so unfamiliar will be getting farther and farther away from everyone. Until one physical education class, only Xiao An and I were left in the classroom. She suddenly approached me and asked me why I didn't call her Xiao La like everyone else. I thought about it and decided to use a more stable rhetoric: "I feel that your real name is easier. " Xiao An looked at me, her eyes were deep and meaningful. I was a little furious when she saw it. Just when I was about to turn around and leave, she finally spoke, and her voice was still so light: "Xiaola, it actually means 'little garbage'. " I looked at her in surprise, and she had already run out of the classroom quickly. I was the only one left in the empty classroom. I was a little confused. I walked to Xiao An's seat by chance. She was placed in the corner, very close to the trash can, and it was also inconspicuous. I walked over slowly. Her desk was no different from others, and the class was also placed. Everyone in this article was neat and there was nothing unusual. I was thinking too much. I thought about it this way, and suddenly I smelled a strange smell in my nose, a familiar stench. This place is very close to the trash can. Is the garbage thrown in there broken? I turned to look at it, but it surprised me. The trash can was extremely clean, even a little too clean. There was always some garbage in a class, but obviously there was only one in the trash can. Some waste paper, which is very unreasonable. I followed my breath in confusion and slowly moved to Xiao An's desk. The smell was indeed emitted from her position. I checked around and slowly penetrated into her desk hole. slammed. As I twitched, those packaging bags with juice, food residues, and paper balls that were used for making were all used since Xiao An The table hole rolled out, I stood there in a daze, and it took five seconds to combine the scene in front of me with the previous ones. I had a guess - maybe Xiao An was being bullied. 5 Xiao An took a sip of plum wine, and she said, "Actually, all the classmates around me knew about the bullying, but they didn't realize that this was 'bullying'. In their opinion, such group behavior is reasonable. Just like a ghost catching game, there is always someone who wants to play the role of "ghost" and is isolated by everyone. They think this is just a prank that I also enjoy. " I listened to her narrative and didn't know if I should express my opinion. Xiao An seemed not expecting me to say something, and she continued: "But later this incident was discovered by the teacher, but because the law does not blame the public, not to mention that the students covered each other in order to maintain their relationship, no one took the initiative to admit or accuse others of doing this. In the end, it was left alone.After all, the teacher appeared too late, and this incident has long become a custom in this class. " I remembered the silent class at that time. When asked "Is anyone willing to stand up on their own initiative?", everyone remained silent, and everyone lowered their heads and said nothing. Everyone tacitly maintained the potential rules of this class and excluded adults who tried to interfere. Because there was no progress, that class meeting was just about uniting classmates and treating people with kindness, but I knew that this was of no use. Sure enough, the only change after the class meeting was that even I was alienated by my classmates. Everyone would only have necessary conversations with me, and never had the easy and honest conversation before. Talk. Perhaps, in their eyes, I am just an absolute betrayer. But I worry more about Xiao An than my own situation. I found her and told her that if there is anything in need of help, I can come to me. But Xiao An showed a disappointed expression to me. At that time, the thin one asked me lightly, why do you do this? "Do you think that you who hope to change the situation in front of you is very like a hero? " After Xiao An said this to me, he returned to the state of silence in the past. I looked at her and suddenly realized that the trust between me and her seemed to collapse at this moment. Now I am mature and will no longer do the rash behaviors I used to be. I looked at Xiao An's face illuminated by the orange light and said softly: "I'm sorry. " Xiao An asked: "Why did you suddenly apologize? ” I replied: “Because at that time, it caused harm to you. You should have believed me very much at that time, right? But I didn't handle your business well. " Listening to my words, Xiao An smiled and pushed the snacks in the direction of me. Seeing me chewing food, she said, "You don't need to apologize, after all, fundamentally, this is not your fault. At that time, I was gentle and didn't dare to speak out when I encountered any problems. At first they were just a little prank to me, and then they took the nickname and threw garbage at me... many things are gradually escalating. When I realized it, I had no time to stop it. ” Xiao An’s tone seemed meaningful: “I know you have done a lot for me. At that time, both you and I were very young and needed more tempering. " Her comforting words did not relax me, and I still felt unacceptable. I always felt that she was talking about something, but it was unpredictable. "After that class meeting," Xiao An continued, "they did not target me blatantly. That kind of thing becomes a more concealed but more thorough injury. After all, in their opinion, I was breach of the rules of the game when asking adults for help, so they needed to give me a reply as a courtesy. " From the nickname at the beginning, stuffing garbage into Xiao An's desk, it developed into blocking her in the toilet, throwing her textbooks, etc. In a sense, my intervention was a catalyst for their bad behavior. But in their opinion, everything was just a game. "The most overwhelming thing was that a group of people blocked me in the toilet compartment, then splashed water at me, and took turns pinching my face and my arm. They said that this was deodorizing me... By the way, have you seen it that time? " Xiao An suddenly mentioned me, I pursed my lips and recalled the scene at that time. At that time, I was holding a stack of textbooks. When I heard the movement in the toilet, I walked in to check it out. As a result, I saw Xiao An who was pressed to the ground in a mess, and with those classmates who were laughing and laughing. The time when I appeared was very sudden. They even continued to fight for a while before they realized that there was an extra person in the toilet. This surprised them, and soon the girls dispersed. The chaos and tension made me not see their faces clearly, and my attention was all focused on Xiao An. I didn’t expect that Xiao An still remembers this. I scratched my itchy cheeks awkwardly, but Xiao An looked at me with a smile, and she said, "But after that, I can finally take a breath." Speaking of this, my heart sank slightly. What happened after is almost moving in an irreversible direction, like a frightened horse that has lost its reins, galloping towards the unknown abyss. 6 A few days later, the atrocities committed by the students on Xiao An in the toilet were circulated on the Internet. I don’t know who took their phone to take a photo of their actions that day. The video was filled with harsh laughter. Xiao An, who was surrounded by them, was wet all over. She was pressed down on her head and squatted on the ground in a mess. The classmate next to her suddenly kicked her, looking particularly helpless and pitiful. The whole video is short, but shocking enough. Everyone realized that this was a short video recorded by students in the school to show off their violent behavior. Such arrogant actions stirred the nerves of netizens. Through the school uniforms briefly exposed in a corner of the video, someone soon found the name and positioning of the school. The spread speed of the network is extremely terrible. Within a few hours after the incident fermented, the students who showed their faces in the video were slaughtered out of their personal information and social accounts one by one. The school informed them overnight that they would handle this matter carefully. The mastermind who showed his face in the video did not come to class for the next week. In order to protect her children, her family decided to avoid it and wait for netizens to gradually forget about this. I once heard that one thing has a focus on the Internet for up to two weeks, and even with the development of the fast food era, this cycle will only get shorter and shorter - but I also think that for a minor, two weeks is probably a long time. Schools have also begun to deal with it seriously. It is just to emphasize how bullying is wrong at the class meeting, and to strengthen the inspection efforts of school teachers. Now, during self-study classes, the teachers on duty will patrol each floor, including the piano room and toilet, which may have been ignored, will increase supervision. Actually, I am not satisfied with this way of handling it. In the final analysis, it is just a treatment of symptoms but not the root cause. It is enough to hope that students will maintain stability and peace with a fluke mentality. The education of virtue has become empty talk in words. Everyone is evading their own responsibilities and hopes that unformed students can rely on their own strength to become the right shape. In this bullying, the absent adults are more abominable than children. Recalling this, I took a sip of the plum wine in my glass. The sour smell bloomed among my taste buds, and the mellowness of alcohol made my mind seem to be covered with an invisible gauze. I looked at Xiao An with a bitter tone: "In this matter, the mastermind has not come to school for a whole week. Although the other students attended classes as usual, I could see that each of them was in panic all day long." Xiao An nodded: "The most important thing is that what happened to me has returned to them." As Xiao An said, after the incident was exposed, no one took the initiative to provoke Xiao An, but those students who participated in the bullying were isolated. The most important thing is that they are suspicious of each other, suspecting that the other party secretly took a video with his mobile phone and betrayed them, which led to everything now. But this is ridiculous. When Xiao An was hurt, no one stood up and said, "This is wrong." On the contrary, each of their cover has formed one of the bullying. Now those who are not involved are hanging up and play the role of a messenger of justice to criticize those students who are deeply trapped in the quagmire. Is this the so-called "society"? I rubbed my nose with a bitter smile, and I felt a little tired inexplicably, probably because I felt tired. After that week, the mastermind returned to campus. She always wants to go back to life.But I noticed that her face was pale. In the past, she would rebelliously put on some light makeup on her face, but now she obviously lost that interest. Everyone around her stayed away from her, as if afraid that she would be dragged down by her. I try my best to maintain my past state and hope that everything will be the same as usual, but I also know in my heart that some things are quietly changing. 7 Although the school explicitly prohibits everyone from discussing that matter again, there are still some rumors in private. In such an atmosphere, Xiao An was as quiet as ever. Although she was the client, she acted extremely calm, and it was even hard to tell whether she was the victim. But obviously, her calmness is just a disguise. I've seen her crying, and she's sad. But I don't know how to comfort her. I hope she can get out of the shadow of this matter as soon as possible, but obviously, the idea is naive. She actually kept suppressing her until one day, she completely broke out. It was during a self-study class. Just as everyone was doing their own thing, someone suddenly shouted: "Save people quickly! Someone committed suicide! Save people quickly!" This shout instantly attracted everyone's attention. The teachers rushed out of the classroom, office and conference room. I immediately put down what I had in my hands and ran to her side. I stood not far from Xiao An, but I didn't dare to get close because Xiao An was standing outside the fence on the sixth floor, shaking. I saw it, and Xiao An's face was filled with pain. She was finally no longer as calm as before, and the muscles on her face were twisting and trembling. This was her true emotion. Someone called the police and firefighting phone. Several teachers rushed over. They endured the fear and sent a sincere advice, asking Xiao An to think about his family and her own beautiful life. She is still so young, there is no need to die in vain for some setbacks at present. Xiao An held the fence with both hands, she was trembling. I knew she must be very scared, but the determination and sadness in her heart forced her to do this. was in a stalemate, and almost everyone present held their breath, fearing that this fragile life would fall from a tall building without paying attention. Finally, I made up my mind and called her name: "Xiao An!" She turned her head and looked at me with tears in her eyes. I said, "This is not your fault, don't punish yourself with their mistakes. Not worth it!" Her expression seemed to finally loosen a little. I looked at Xiao An, her lips trembled and repeated my words: "No...worth?" "Yes, not worth it!" I said with certainty, "You will have a better life in the future, don't ruin your own future because of those garbage!" We looked directly at each other, and the people around us didn't say anything. At this moment, we seemed to be in a strange tranquility around us, or maybe it was because my attention had been all focused on Xiao An. She looked at me and didn't say anything for a long time. And at this moment, a firefighter had already approached her silently. When she was distracted, a flying pounce pulled her back from the edge of life and death - the whole process was very fast, and my heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally landed steadily. There were shocking cheers around , but I know that they were not celebrating Xiao An's safety, but lamenting that a thrilling drama ended successfully. Xiao An lay weakly on the cold floor, her forehead was soaked with sweat. I think maybe this is her rebirth? Because of this, the school is in a state of turmoil. The teachers hurriedly drove the students back to the classroom, and the school leaders held an emergency meeting to discuss how to calm the incident and the bad impact it brought. All the rhythm was disrupted, so it was not until the evening self-study that the body in the piano room was discovered. The mastermind who bullied Xiao An was dead. She was hung on the fan of the piano room, and her weak limbs were like a caterpillar. After police investigation, she did commit suicide. The mastermind of the bullying incident chose to settle himself because he could not bear the pressure of online public opinion - everyone knew this unexpected but reasonable result. Accompanied by the sound of regret, the sensational event finally came to an end. 8 Recollections come to an abrupt end here. I haven't seen Xiao An for many years, but I have been in contact with each other intermittently because she said that I am her savior and that I pulled her back from the abyss of despair. But I don’t think I have done anything great. Over the years, I have been questioning myself. Perhaps, I am also an accomplice of this incident? Thinking of this, my mood became extremely heavy. I drank the glass of plum wine in one go, and Xiao An added a glass for me at the right time. She looked at me and showed a faint smile: "I know you have been having a lot of trouble over the years. You must be wondering if the video was correct when putting it online at that time, right?" , she saw through it. But I was not surprised. At that time, as the person involved, it was normal for Xiao An to notice that no one was holding up the camera around him, and those bullies ignored me, probably because they felt that in my capacity, they could not expose their things like this, right? Indeed, as their teachers, even if they are just new intern teachers, they will still maintain minimum respect for me, and are sure that I will protect all students from the standpoint of the school. The mobile phones of students in this school will be handed over to store. However, as a teacher, I, as a teacher, walked into the toilet with my textbook, just need to hold the mobile phone in my hand to successfully record everything in front of me. No one feels strange. At that time, I was really full of energy. After seeing the injustice in front of me, I resolutely took injustice measures to punish those students - but the result was fragmented. One student attempted suicide and the other student left the world forever. I am the most hateful murderer. "No." Xiao An suddenly made a sound. I looked up at her in confusion, but saw that her expression was particularly calm. "The teacher is not the murderer. I have been saying, thank you for everything you did for me." Xiao An's tone was plain, and he couldn't hear the joys and sorrows. "That was the teacher who saved my life." I covered my face in pain and whined: "But... because of me, someone died..." "That's not because of the teacher." Xiao An had no expression on his face, and even couldn't see the glory in his eyes. She continued, "At that time, I actually knew her... I mean, that bully was going to hang himself." Hey? I didn't react a little. Xiao An said: "Since the video was exposed, the bully who was just a giant baby has begun to pay special attention to the voices on the Internet. As long as you agree with her, you can easily open her heart and speak freely with her. I used this opportunity to propose a plan for her to change everyone's attitude towards her from disgust to sympathy - that is, commit suicide in disguise. The death of the girl in Huaji is not the most important thing. Can it arouse public sympathy? " She paused slightly and continued, "Since this bullying scandal broke out, the school has increased patrol efforts in every corner of the campus to check whether there are any students gathering, so she knows that teachers will patrol to the piano room during self-study class. "She just needs to prepare the long rope and stool in advance, and wait for the teacher to open the piano room door, the sound of opening the door is a signal that she kicks over the stool. In this situation, she can use her own strength to last for a few minutes, enough for others to discover it. "Then according to the plan, she will be saved successfully and pass by death. She will attempt suicide and become the most pitiful of all bullying incidents. This plan has been deployed by her and I. She thought I was just an online spectator who sympathized with her, so many details were designed by me. Because I read a lot of novels, my imagination is also rich." I was stunned when I heard it, and I didn't know where to answer the conversation. But soon I realized that the girl's plan was obviously a failure because of an episode - Xiao An's jumping off the building. I quickly realized the problem and cold sweat began to appear on my forehead. A bold guess took shape in my mind: Could it be that attempted suicide was actually a performance? A performance that attracts everyone's attention and prevents the girls in the piano room from being discovered in time? Xiao An's next words seem to become a testimony. She said lightly: "It's almost like you'll really enter the piano room." Yes. It was me who patrolled that day. The moment I heard the shouting, I turned around and saw Xiao An standing outside the fence opposite me. At that moment, I immediately left the piano room where the door had been opened, and turned around and ran towards Xiao An. At that time, there was a struggling life in the piano room. She was quietly passing away and no one noticed her call for help. I collapsed on the ground, and a huge sense of powerlessness enveloped me. A girl died in the piano room of the school. Seven years later, her classmate who graduated told me the truth . What exactly did Xiao An say "thank you" thank me? Thank you for approaching her when she was most helpless? Thank you for exposing the bullying video so that she can stop being hurt? or... Thank me, has it become her tool for killing bullies? I can no longer speak - this is in a physical sense, I can feel my body getting heavier, which is not right, obviously not the effect of alcohol. I realized that Xiao An, who was looking at me with no expression on his face, must have put something in this bottle of wine. The last sound I heard was: Goodbye, teacher. 9 woke up again, it was already morning. I didn't expect that I would sleep for so long, and even when I woke up, my body was at a loss. The medicinal strength of that medicine was too great. Wait for me to wake up completely, Xiao An had long disappeared by my side, and even my luggage was gone. I asked the owner of the homestay and the other party said that the girl had left early in the morning and told them not to wake me up before leaving. Learning about this, I realized that maybe I will never see Xiao An again in the future. This trip may be her farewell to me. But why? I still can't understand the reason why Xiao An did this. Wait for me to return to my room in confusion. I noticed a note of paper was pressed on the wooden table in the room. Obviously, it was something left by Xiao An. I picked it up, and the handwriting on it is very beautiful: "You have matured, don't be the bystander I hate the most in the past. Please change it when it's time to do it." I suddenly understood Xiao An's intention. She seemed to know what I was facing recently - the students who were bullied on campus were unable to bear it and fought with the bully, and were finally sent to the hospital for treatment. The parents of both sides made a big fuss about this matter. As the teacher who was caught in the middle, I was really upset by being entangled. I don’t know when, but I have become a mediocre person. I am no longer as impulsive as I used to, but I seem to blur the boundary between right and wrong. I came seven years ago and did not change everything before everything became irreversible. Now, what do I have to do, this escape journey is over. Thinking of this, I took out my phone. (original title: "Flock of Sheep") This story has been exclusively released by the author: Lu Beiyan , authorized to read the story every day app. Its affiliated account "Late Night Qi Tan" has been legally subauthorized for publication, and infringement will be pursued.