In a high-end residential complex in A-City, Chen Guanhua’s hand trembled as he clicked the mouse, reading the announcement over and over again.
What was going on? How could someone have exposed this?
Hadn’t he dealt with all those people one by one?
He’d paid off the ones who could be bought, and for those who couldn’t, he’d provided proof of mental instability. How could it still have been exposed?
His forehead was covered in a cold sweat, smudging his gold-rimmed glasses into a sorry state.
Chen Guanhua looked younger than his actual age, with the refined and scholarly appearance of an intellectual. It was this deceptive exterior that allowed him to lure scholarship students who couldn’t adapt to the Qinglin environment into his trap, one by one. Of course, there were also two poor souls who weren’t scholarship students, long neglected by their families. But he had always been careful, only breaking his own rules twice.
How could this be? Who was it?
Chen Guanhua’s neck flushed red, filled with a mixture of fear and anger that seemed ready to burst his skull.
No, this wasn’t the time to think about that. He had to run, to go abroad. With his abilities, he could definitely survive overseas. If he stayed in the country, just for the massive stain he’d put on Qinglin’s reputation, the school administration wouldn’t let him off. He could forget about his career as a teacher; it would be a question of whether he could even feed himself for the rest of his life.
Chen Guanhua scrambled to his feet, his limbs trembling, and quickly packed two sets of clothes. Just as he was about to put his valuables in the bag, a knock sounded at the door.
“Open up, food delivery.”
It’s over. He was finished.
Chen Guanhua looked out the window in despair. Some of the girls who had fallen into his hands had jumped from buildings. At the time, he couldn’t understand why they would resort to such an extreme. They hadn’t said no at the beginning, but later they’d acted like they wanted to die. He had always thought it was because they were too young and didn’t know how to weigh their options. They had his money, so why couldn’t they just go on living? Why did they have to make such a scene?
But now, he seemed to understand. Chen Guanhua’s throat went dry as he shuffled, bit by bit, toward the balcony.
His limbs were weak, like a ridiculous stray dog that had lost its home.
When the people outside got no response, they broke the door open with force. By then, Chen Guanhua had only made it halfway.
He turned his head, a miserable smile on his face. “Officer, if I cooperate, can I get a lighter sentence?”
The police officer didn’t answer him. He first restrained him with handcuffs, then replied coldly, “What you should be thinking about now is how to atone to your victims!”
Chen Guanhua hung his head and asked in a low, pleading voice, “If I atone properly, can I get a lighter sentence?”
The officer clicked his tongue. “That’s for the court to decide.”
A hot-tempered officer couldn’t hold back and muttered, “Animal.”
Many people were calling Chen Guanhua an animal, but some were cursing more than just him.
The principal was so angry he swept all the documents off his desk. This group of students had secretly pulled off something so huge without breathing a word to the school administration. What had they agreed to in the beginning? That it would be carried out under the school’s supervision and with its help. Now, even the police were involved. Did they have any respect for the school at all?
Hah, it must be that Ye Yuhuan stirring up trouble. Trying to protect the rights of the scholarship students, is she?
Why doesn’t she stop and think? If it weren’t for Qinglin, they would never have had access to this circle in their entire lives.
The principal made several calls to deal with the increasingly fierce wave of public opinion. His last call was to the dean of students. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Have Ye Yuhuan and her group come see me tomorrow.”
The next day, as soon as Ye Yuhuan entered the school gates, she could feel the whispers surrounding her. Well, what they did yesterday had indeed caused quite a stir. Although the trending topics had been suppressed, their website wasn’t restricted to just school personnel. Yesterday, it had started crashing almost as soon as it was fixed, only stabilizing around three in the morning.
So, when she received the message that the principal wanted to have a talk with them, Ye Yuhuan wasn’t surprised at all.
This was bound to happen sooner or later. They had anticipated this day when they decided to act on their own without informing the school.
Ye Yuhuan straightened her collar and went to the principal’s office with Song Zhiqing.
They ran into the other four on the way, so they would all be getting their lecture together.
The principal’s office was exquisitely decorated. The few antique vases on the mahogany shelves alone were worth more than an entire school building.
After all, most of the visitors received here were people of status.
However, when Qinglin students got into trouble, it was usually resolved internally among the parents. It rarely escalated to the principal’s level. This made the group of them rare visitors to his office.
The principal seemed reasonably amicable. He had the six of them sit on the sofa opposite him and asked in a gentle tone, “What are your thoughts on this matter?”
No one spoke.
After a long silence, Shen Wei finally said, “We believe we were doing the right thing.”
“Oh?” The principal’s expression didn’t change. “Is tarnishing the school’s reputation also considered the right thing to do?”
Song Zhiqing couldn’t listen anymore and retorted sarcastically, “We didn’t spread any rumors. How is that tarnishing the school’s reputation?”
The principal’s eyes turned cold. After seeing who had spoken, his expression softened. “Student Song, you all agreed to cooperate with the school administration, but now you’ve suddenly exposed this on your own. This clear display of distrust in the school is very disappointing to me. We could have had a much better outcome.”
“Such as?”
“For example, the matter wouldn’t have blown up this much. For example, Chen Guanhua could have been punished more quickly. For example, we could have provided more timely comfort to the students.”
Now Song Zhiqing was completely confused. The school was the one that broke the agreement first, so how were they now being guilt-tripped?
At this point, Ye Yuhuan calmly replied, “I recall we discussed with the school that all teachers with suspicious records would be investigated first. But the school failed to do so. Out of necessary suspicion, we did not report our progress to the school immediately.”
The principal asked with a smile, “And what does ‘necessary suspicion’ refer to?”
Ye Yuhuan looked him straight in the eye and said clearly, “The suspicion that the school might cover for the teacher involved.”
The principal took a sip of tea. “Ye Yuhuan, you planned this, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Principal, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘planned’.”
“Don’t play dumb. I know it was you. To put it bluntly, in all of Qinglin, the so-called people who need saving are you, the disadvantaged ones—oh, I mean the scholarship students, right? Using your wealthy classmates to achieve your goals… you truly live up to your title as the city’s top student.”
Ye Yuhuan laughed too. She pressed the corner of her brow, having lost the last shred of respect for this man. “Principal, first of all, you’ve insulted my wealthy classmates here. They weren’t incited by me; they did this voluntarily out of their own kindness. Not everyone, after getting out of the rain, is as dedicated as you are to splashing water on those still caught in it.”
“Secondly, as you said, you’ve always been aware of the difficult situation scholarship students face at Qinglin, yet you’ve never thought to do anything to change it, even though it would have been a trivial effort for you. From that perspective, what we’ve done hasn’t tarnished this school. On the contrary, we are saving it, while you are letting it rot. Qinglin’s motto is ‘Clarify aspirations, act with integrity, embrace virtue, and carry responsibilities.’ I don’t know if you still remember it, but I feel I should remind you.”
The principal stood up, his chest heaving with anger. Did she think he didn’t know? Without Qinglin’s financial aid policy, Ye Yuhuan wouldn’t be living so comfortably. And now she dared to point a finger at him and mock him. Who did she think she was?
Just a clever child from a broken, lower-class family.
“Do you think you can still stay at Qinglin?”
Ye Yuhuan frowned. “Why can’t I? I haven’t broken a single school rule.”
The principal snorted coldly. “Insulting a teacher and tarnishing the school’s reputation. Those two alone are enough to get you expelled.”
Just as Ye Yuhuan was about to retort, Song Zhiqing stood up and said with extreme arrogance, “You’re a fucking idiot.”
Then, even more arrogantly, she added, “There, I’ve broken both rules too. Go ahead and expel me.”
The principal’s finger trembled. “You!”
Wang Hao also stood up. His voice was as loud as ever, audible even to those outside the principal’s office. “You shameless bastard.”
Then he spread his hands and said, “Expel me too.”
Not to be outdone, Cui Xueying quickly stood up. “You son of a bitch!”
“I cursed at you too. Count me in.”
Shen Wei stood up silently. To maintain her persona, she offered a mild insult: “Ugly freak.”
Then she said softly, “I suppose I should be expelled too.”
Shangguan Xianxian had been raised to the standards of a wealthy young lady since childhood, so her vocabulary of insults was limited to begin with. With the others having used up the good ones, she had even fewer to choose from. So she just said two words very coldly: “Scumbag.”
Finally, she concluded with icy finality, “We all need to be expelled.”
The principal pointed at one, then another, and finally clutched his heart and fell backward.
At that moment, Wang Hao’s loud voice proved most useful. He yelled to the people outside the door, “The principal fainted from anger because of us!”
The various school leaders waiting anxiously outside the door rushed the principal to the hospital. The remaining six looked at one another. Cui Xueying had a low laugh threshold; she was the first to burst out laughing. “I think we’re kind of awesome, guys.”
Song Zhiqing nodded. “Or maybe extremely awesome.”
Then she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The others followed suit, collapsing onto the sofa in laughter.
Ye Yuhuan looked around at her laughing companions, a trace of bewilderment appearing on her smiling lips.
Is this what companions are? Ah, this must be what companions are.
The Art Club became famous overnight once again. Along with the ambulance outside the principal’s office came the punishment for the six of them.
It wasn’t expulsion, just a temporary suspension, sending them home to await further notice.
Song Zhiqing was a little disappointed. “I thought they might actually expel me.”
That was always an unlikely outcome. Of the people in that room, the only one the principal could easily crush was Ye Yuhuan, which was why he had targeted her. Song Zhiqing had seen this, and that’s what had sent her into a rage, causing her to retaliate in the most difficult way possible to de-escalate.
When they returned to the classroom to pack their things, it was only the second period. Just as Ye Yuhuan and Song Zhiqing stepped out of the classroom, they heard a voice from inside, followed by many voices, all mixed together, shouting two phrases.
“Song Zhiqing is awesome!”
“Ye Yuhuan is awesome!”
Ye Yuhuan tilted her head toward Song Zhiqing. “Do you think they secretly installed a listening device in the principal’s office?”
Song Zhiqing thought for a moment and replied with mock seriousness, “It’s possible. They’re all pretty rich, after all.”
The two exchanged a smile, waved to their classmates, and then strolled slowly toward the school gate.
The shouts suddenly changed. A girl with a high-pitched voice yelled, “Ye Yuhuan, I want to have your babies!”
Ye Yuhuan stumbled, turning back in disbelief.
What kind of crazy talk was that?
Song Zhiqing whipped around, her sharp gaze searching for the person who had dared to make such a bold declaration and try to steal her strategist.
Seeing Song Zhiqing’s reaction, a deep male voice suddenly piped up, “Ye Yuhuan belongs to Song Zhiqing!”
Song Zhiqing nodded in satisfaction.
Ye Yuhuan was indeed hers.
Then another female voice shouted—Ye Yuhuan could recognize it as Tang Xue’s—“Ye Yuhuan and Song Zhiqing, hurry up and have babies together!”
Song Zhiqing’s face flushed red. She spun around and fled.
What-what kind of nonsense was that!
Really! Utterly ridiculous!
The teacher on the podium watched the shouting high school students with a sense of helplessness, one after another.
But, this was youth, wasn’t it?
The teacher smiled to himself, opened his textbook, and saw a report letter tucked inside that had never been sent.
On it were the three words: Chen Guanhua.
The teacher sighed softly and turned the page.
It really was the young people who could pursue justice without regard for the consequences.
As for him, he would just wait for this bunch of rascals to quiet down.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
