一 Silence fell over Classroom 1. Just then, the broadcast crackled to life with the admonishing voice of the duty teacher, “Class 1! What are you all doing? Do you think this is study hall?!”
Under normal circumstances, the duty teacher would have come by long before the bell rang, even before Shen Xingruo had returned to her seat. However, today’s duty teacher was the head teacher of Class 23. He leisurely finished his dinner and returned to the teaching building, but before he could go to the broadcasting room for duty, he was urgently summoned to the office of the grade leader for a head teacher meeting.
It was only now that Wang Youfu dispersed from the meeting. Upon hearing the broadcast singling out Class 1, he initially intended to go to the office but hesitated, then diverted toward Classroom 1.
Shen Xingruo dared to confront even the principal, so she wouldn’t be intimidated by the warning from the duty teacher over the intercom. Thus, when Wang Youfu strode to the classroom door, he found the room in an eerie standoff.
He rapped sharply on the door. “What’s going on in here, a performance?”
Seeing Zhai Jiajing in tears, he furrowed his brows even deeper. “What’s wrong, Zhai Jiajing?”
Zhai Jiajing’s tears silently streamed down her face as she shook her head, refusing to speak.
The atmosphere in the classroom was particularly strange, with no one taking the initiative to explain. Wang Youfu gestured toward the podium, attempting to maintain discipline like a malfunctioning vice monitor.
The vice monitor approached with trepidation, fearing Wang Youfu’s reproach for not managing discipline properly. He recounted the events in a rush, his voice growing smaller and smaller until he finished, “…that’s… that’s it.”
The more Wang Youfu listened, the darker his expression became. As the vice monitor spoke, his heart sank even lower, and when he finished, he hesitated, his voice barely audible. “It’s… it’s just like that.”
Wang Youfu’s face turned grim, almost dripping with seriousness. “Shen Xingruo, Zhai Jiajing, He Siyue, Lu Xingyan! And Shi Qin, all of you, come to the office, now!”
After he finished speaking, he turned around without saying a word and left the classroom, hands behind his back.
In the political group office, five people stood in a row, all with their hands behind their backs and heads lowered. In the corner, Zhai Jiajing sobbed softly.
Shi Qin glanced at her from the corner of his eye, feeling sorry for her. He quietly passed her a tissue.
Zhai Jiajing kept her head down as she accepted it.
Wang Youfu first scolded Shen Xingruo, Lu Xingyan, and He Siyue.
Especially Shen Xingruo—
“Why couldn’t this be discussed after class? Why create a disturbance during evening self-study? Is only your matter important? Aren’t other students’ studies important? Shen Xingruo, you need to change your temper!”
“But, Shen Xingruo—”
“Lu Xingyan, shut your mouth! Am I talking to you right now?!”
Lu Xingyan fell silent.
“I’m sorry, Teacher Wang,” Shen Xingruo admitted fault readily. “It’s my mistake. I shouldn’t have wasted other students’ study time during evening self-study, nor should I have caused trouble during the class evaluation. I’ll find a way to make up for the points deducted tonight during self-study.”
Wang Youfu’s expression softened slightly upon hearing her apology.
But then Shen Xingruo continued, “But please understand, I couldn’t address this during self-study. If I waited until after class, it would have been too late.”
Rumors spread quickly. In the initial stages, she could have confronted each person and traced it back to the source. However, after the next self-study session and a break between classes, it would have been difficult.
Wang Youfu shot her a glare.
She remained unfazed.
Wang Youfu regained his composure and turned to Zhai Jiajing. “Now, you tell me, what happened? Did He Siyue report you? Did you write the report?”
Zhai Jiajing wiped her tears and said softly, “It’s not like that, Teacher Wang.”
The others looked over instinctively.
During the classroom incident, Zhai Jiajing was indeed panicking. Shen Xingruo’s relentless questioning left her with no time to think, and she didn’t know how to address many of the issues. But the intervention of the duty teacher and Wang Youfu provided her with some time to compose herself.
Even now, her voice was still choked with emotion, but she no longer seemed as flustered. “I… Teacher Wang, it’s true that I reported He Siyue. I’m sorry, He Siyue, and I’m sorry, Xingruo.”
Wang Youfu couldn’t bear to see the young girl crying. He handed her a box of tissues and frowned. “Stop crying. There’s no need for tears. Just wipe them away and take your time to explain.”
Zhai Jiajing nodded slightly, composed herself, and choked out, “Actually, this afternoon, I discussed with Xingruo… Shen Xingruo and Shi Qin. I felt that the person who reported might be one of the competitors for the principal’s recommended quota this time.”
“I’ve had some suspicions about the class monitor, so I casually mentioned it while having dinner with Peng Feiyue. I didn’t expect it to spread like this.”
She bit her lip. “I was afraid that Xingruo might misunderstand, so I casually mentioned that I heard it from Zhong Xiaoyou. I only suspected the class monitor, without any evidence. But after it spread, it turned into what it is now. I’m truly sorry…”
“But I didn’t write the report letter. I just assumed that there would be specific addresses in the report letter. After all, without a specific address, I didn’t think the teachers would believe it.”
Zhai Jiajing’s explanation sounded plausible and reasonable. Shi Qin was mostly convinced.
However, He Siyue didn’t believe a word. “Zhai Jiajing, why do you suspect me? You were the one who told me at the beginning of the semester that Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan were dating and living together!”
Zhai Jiajing looked puzzled. “Class monitor, what are you talking about? I never said that to you. I didn’t.”
He Siyue found it unbelievable. “How can you be like this!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why are you accusing me like this? Before this incident came out, I had no idea that Xingruo and Lu Xingyan were living together.”
Zhai Jiajing was very nervous, but she knew that as long as she didn’t admit it, there would be no evidence, and the matter couldn’t be dealt with.
Both of them stuck to their own stories, and in the end, they could only agree to disagree.
—After all, it wasn’t a matter of serious injury or harm.
He Siyue was furious, unable to understand why someone would lie so shamelessly! His usual calm and gentle demeanor flew out the window, but he had no evidence, so all he could do was swear in the office.
Zhai Jiajing pretended to join in with the swearing.
It was obvious that one of them was lying, but both of them had excellent track records and weren’t the type to stir up trouble for no reason.
Wang Youfu didn’t know whom to believe. He rubbed his temples and gestured to stop. “That’s enough! Will you ever stop? This isn’t a market!”
He questioned each of the five individuals separately but didn’t get any conclusive answers.
The second evening self-study was also coming to an end, and it was already quite late. Wang Youfu furrowed his brow. “Forget it, it’s too late now. You all go back first. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
He Siyue became anxious. How could this matter wait until tomorrow to be addressed? He had underestimated Zhai Jiajing. Not only did she empty-handedly implicate him but also attempted to tarnish his reputation.
If this matter were to ferment overnight, He could easily imagine how Zhai Jiajing would play the victim and tell everyone how he, He Siyue, schemed to secure the principal’s recommended quota at any cost. Moreover, his motive for reporting was more justified, especially considering he had escorted Shen Xingruo home.
He Siyue stood there, unwilling to leave, but Zhai Jiajing and Shi Qin were already planning to leave.
At that moment, Shen Xingruo suddenly exclaimed, “Wait a moment.”
She took out her phone and handed a short video clip to Wang Youfu.
Wang Youfu accepted it.
After watching it, Wang Youfu’s expression darkened, and he looked up at Zhai Jiajing.
Zhai Jiajing began to feel uneasy.
Wang Youfu said, “Zhai Jiajing, you stay, the rest of you can leave.”
He Siyue still didn’t know what was happening, standing there unwilling to leave. However, Shen Xingruo patted his shoulder, signaling him to go.
Lu Xingyan felt displeased and pulled Shen Xingruo’s hand off He Siyue’s shoulder. While Wang Youfu was preoccupied, Lu Xingyan boldly held Shen Xingruo’s hand and discreetly slipped it into his school uniform pocket.
Shen Xingruo tried to pull away twice but refrained from causing a scene in the office. She decided to wait until they left the office to reprimand him.
Once outside the office, Lu Xingyan loosened his grip on Shen Xingruo’s hand.
Before Shen Xingruo could vent her frustration, He Siyue impatiently asked, “Shen Xingruo, what did you show Teacher Wang?”
Shen Xingruo gave Lu Xingyan a quick kick before telling He Siyue, “The day before school started, she followed you into Star River Bay, and I got it on video.”
He Siyue and Lu Xingyan were stunned into silence.
Shen Xingruo’s logic was straightforward. If Zhai Jiajing had reported them, she would surely know that Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan were indeed living together. Since no one else knew, and she hadn’t told anyone, Zhai Jiajing must have witnessed them entering the same building or even riding the same elevator to make such an assumption.
That afternoon, after Zhai Jiajing finished expressing her suspicions about He Siyue, Shen Xingruo quickly detected the flaws in Zhai Jiajing’s story.
During the fourth-period geography class, she casually noticed a dark green umbrella hanging next to Zhai Jiajing’s desk. She then asked Lu Xingyan if he had given the umbrella to Zhai Jiajing the day before school started, to which he confirmed. Shen Xingruo immediately messaged Aunt Zhou to check the surveillance footage.
Shen Xingruo seldom firmly trusted anyone, but she had a lot of faith in evidence. Even before He Siyue called her to the rooftop, she had already obtained the surveillance footage, which is why she believed what He Siyue had said.
Early the next morning, Zhai Jiajing didn’t show up for class.
The classmates in the class were abuzz with discussions. During the big break, rumors started circulating that someone had seen Zhai Jiajing and her mother in the office of the grade group leader and that Zhai Jiajing’s mother seemed extremely agitated.
Shen Xingruo recalled that back in the dormitory, Zhai Jiajing, like herself, rarely mentioned her family affairs, unlike Shi Qin, who always talked about her parents.
She had met Zhai Jiajing’s mother once during a parent-teacher meeting, and she was an elegant woman. Shen Xingruo had intended to greet her, but she overheard Zhai Jiajing being scolded by her mother from behind. “Your roommate is ranking first. Why can’t you do the same? Not only can you not get first place, but you can’t even get second. What’s wrong with you, Zhai Jiajing?”
Perhaps there was some underlying paranoia, stemming from somewhere.
Throughout the morning, Zhai Jiajing and her mother remained in the office of the grade group leader.
New updates occasionally surfaced from the office, with one particularly sensational piece of news — a commissioner had been dispatched to conduct secret investigations, revealing that several schools in Xingcheng had exploited loopholes in martial arts competitions to gain extra points for the college entrance exam. Starting from this year’s senior year, martial arts bonus points would be abolished.