Even after crying, Liu Meng still looked timid. Due to long-term difficulty eating, her limbs were weak. As Ye Yuhuan half-supported her towards the bathroom, it felt like holding a stray cat found on the street.
Ye Yuhuan helped Liu Meng wash her hair. When it came time for her to shower, she asked, “Do you need my help with this too?”
Liu Meng shook her head no. So Ye Yuhuan moved a small stool and sat outside the bathroom, looking at the closed door. In the same tone she used to speak to the Barbie-doll version of Si Shan, she said, “Senior, I’ll be waiting for you out here.”
Meanwhile, the other three reluctantly overcame their own mysophobia. They bought masks and gloves at the neighborhood supermarket and began to clean Liu Meng’s room. They sorted the clothes and put them in the washing machine, gathered the scattered dishes and took them to the kitchen, and finally tackled the floor, which was littered with trash—food scraps and torn book pages. Song Zhiqing picked up a page, recognized it as being from a history book, and silently swept it into the dustpan.
The cleanup was a massive undertaking. By the time Liu Meng had finished her shower, they were less than halfway done. Ye Yuhuan stopped Liu Meng, who wanted to help, and had her sit on the living room sofa. After making her a bowl of clear noodle soup, she grabbed a cleaning tool and went into the room herself.
Three of the four of them had barely ever touched a broom. Shen Wei had often done this kind of work in her early years in the small town, but after being acknowledged by the Shangguan family, no matter how difficult her life became, she was still materially well-cared-for. She had been reborn just before being taken in by the Shangguans, so she had long forgotten most of these skills from her past life. As a result, the final outcome was merely passable—clean, but not particularly tidy.
In this situation, the better solution would have been to call a housekeeping service, but they somehow knew that doing so would only make Liu Meng, who had just started to peek out of her shell, retreat back inside.
Liu Meng sat on the sofa, hugging her knees. She had already finished the noodles Ye Yuhuan had made for her. Having not eaten hot food for so many days, her stomach could barely handle the warmth, but Liu Meng still ate it all, bite by bite.
After putting the bowl and chopsticks back in the kitchen, she sat in the living room, watching the four glamorous girls busying themselves in her filthy room.
It seemed her heart couldn’t handle this warmth either. It began to beat violently, insistently.
After the room was cleaned, the four of them stood before Liu Meng, barely able to recognize her as the disheveled girl Ye Yuhuan had carried out of the room earlier.
The person before them, though exceptionally thin, was overall quite pretty. It was a world of difference from before.
Ye Yuhuan handed Liu Meng a glass of warm water. After she finished drinking, Ye Yuhuan offered the suggestion she’d had since first seeing her: “Senior, you need to see a psychologist. And, if you can handle it, you can tell your parents what happened. If you can’t, it’s okay to wait a little longer. I can tell your parents really want to care for you.”
Liu Meng looked up blankly. “Why see a doctor? It wasn’t my fault.”
Ye Yuhuan bent down and stroked her hair, saying softly, “Of course it wasn’t your fault. But you don’t want to keep feeling sad, right?”
“Senior, you need to move on. You still have a long life ahead of you.”
Liu Meng glanced at her but didn’t answer. After a moment, she said, “I won’t tell my parents. And you’re not allowed to tell them either.”
If they found out, they would be heartbroken.
Ye Yuhuan agreed to this request, but she added, “From now on, Senior, please don’t lock yourself in your room, okay? I’ll call you every day to tell you about our progress. You’re not alone anymore.”
Liu Meng buried her face in her arms. After a while, a muffled “mhm” emerged.
“Can I let your aunt and uncle come back now?” Ye Yuhuan asked.
Liu Meng nodded silently.
After Liu Meng’s parents returned, Ye Yuhuan and her group left the apartment. As they departed, they could faintly hear the sound of crying from behind the door.
The four of them descended the stairs in silence. It wasn’t until they were back in the car that they started to feel a little better.
The driver asked them where they were going. Ye Yuhuan replied, “Let’s just go to our respective homes. We all need to clean up after this.”
The other three had no objections. For some reason, they didn’t want to talk about Liu Meng right now. Perhaps only after the villain was punished could they discuss this matter without a heavy heart.
But not now. It was still too heavy.
After briefly explaining the situation to Wang Hao and Cui Xueying, their group chat also fell silent.
A sense of grief more impactful than any movie had struck them.
So things like this really do happen around us. That realization alone was enough to be frightening.
The group chat became lively again in the evening. After an afternoon of reflection, they understood that the most important thing now was to get that wolf in sheep’s clothing to the police station. And there was another question hanging over their heads: Was Chen Guanhua a repeat offender?
If so, what was the situation with the other victims?
Superhero movies are popular worldwide partly because people are thrilled by the grand spectacle of saving the world, and partly because everyone dreams of having the superhero-like ability to effortlessly handle the difficulties of everyday life.
To some extent, this group of second-generation rich kids from Qinglin High also possessed one aspect of a superhero.
In just one evening, they had investigated Chen Guanhua from top to bottom.
Chen Guanhua’s parents were also teachers. He himself had graduated from a famous normal university with a master’s degree and had experience studying abroad, fully meeting Qinglin’s standards for faculty.
He had an excellent teaching record and had published articles in several education journals.
His wife was a university classmate and now a college professor. They had a daughter and were currently separated.
Starting five years ago, the dropout rate for scholarship students under his supervision began to increase. But under the cover of the pressures of the third year of high school, no one paid it any mind. Furthermore, as a teacher at Qinglin, he had some connections with the wealthy and powerful parents of his students. He had once used these connections to suppress a female student’s report. That girl was later forced to withdraw from school and disappeared without a trace.
In the video conference, Song Zhiqing was so angry she had already downed several glasses of water. In her view, Chen Guanhua had been so blatant that the school administration must have had some inkling. Yet, in their initial communications with the school, there was no mention of this. In fact, Chen Guanhua was even a member of the school’s “Care for Lin Qi” monitoring committee.
“Do they think we’re just playing around?” Song Zhiqing slammed her glass on the table, the sound of her gritting teeth clearly audible in her voice.
Shen Wei hung up a call and said coldly, “Not anymore.”
Wang Hao might look simple-minded, but his father worked in the government, and his family was mostly involved in politics, making him a true second-generation official. He said in a low voice, “I’ll have my dad send someone to find out who helped Chen Guanhua cover this up.”
Cui Xueying was well-built, partly due to genetics. Her family was in the security business and had access to all sorts of information. After crushing her third phone, her anger hadn’t diminished in the slightest. “I’ve already asked my parents to find the senior students who withdrew under unusual circumstances in previous years and ask if they’re willing to come forward and testify.”
Song Zhiqing added, “If they have financial difficulties, they can apply for assistance from the ‘Care for Lin Qi’ foundation. If they want to sue, we can also provide legal aid.”
Shangguan Xianxian clenched her fists. “I know a very good lawyer. She specializes in this kind of litigation.”
Ye Yuhuan reminded the impassioned group, “Let’s not alert him too soon. If Chen Guanhua preyed on more than just scholarship students, the parents of some of the other girls might not want us to expose this.”
Everyone present knew, to varying degrees, about the high society habit of valuing face above all else. For some people, admitting their daughter was abused by a lowly high school teacher would be harder than just having another child.
Shen Wei’s expression was scornful. If Shangguan Chong discovered his daughter had encountered something like this, he would probably ship her abroad overnight before dealing with the perpetrator.
Shangguan Xianxian squeezed her hand, soothing the group’s somewhat somber mood. “These bad things didn’t happen because of us. They already existed. We’re just bringing them to light. Don’t let it weigh on you too heavily. The ones who should feel heavy are the criminals.”
Her tone was still cool, but the content was the complete opposite.
Ye Yuhuan thought that Shen Wei, reborn and scarred, had found her paranoia and fear gradually soothed after being with Shangguan Xianxian. More than just her long-held wish being fulfilled, it was likely because Shangguan Xianxian was a warm person by nature.
Song Zhiqing clapped her hands, trying to rally them. “Alright, let’s get moving. It’s time to show those adults at school our resolve.”
The students at Qinglin noticed that the Art Club members were being particularly mysterious this week. Although they acted the same as usual, the website was still operating, and all their activities were continuing.
But strangely, the sections of the school forum that were usually dedicated to the Art Club’s various celebrity-chasing spin-offs suddenly stopped updating this week.
Everyone knew that the Art Club members were all crazy celebrity fans. Their sudden silence didn’t lead people to connect it to “Care for Lin Qi.” Instead, they speculated that the entertainment industry was about to explode, and the Art Club had gotten advance notice and quickly cut ties with their idols.
How big of a scandal would that have to be?
In the Art Club, aside from Gao Yiren who was on a pedestal and universally respected, there were fans of all sorts of celebrities. As a result, fan wars between rival factions within the club had become a staple of the school forum.
All sorts of speculations flew around for a week. A few students whose families had businesses in the entertainment industry even dropped a few minor scandals.
But when the Art Club posted a notice on their website, the students finally understood.
It wasn’t the entertainment industry that was about to explode; it was our school.
The content of the notice was not complicated: After extensive investigation, we have confirmed that Mr. Chen Guanhua, the current history teacher for Grade 12, Class 2, has committed a series of illegal acts involving the molestation of underage girls. The evidence has been submitted to the police, and we will continue to follow up on the subsequent developments. Care for the Lin Qis around you. We are behind you.
Instantly, the website crashed from the sheer volume of traffic. People then posted screenshots on the school forum, and thread after thread of discussion shot up. Fortunately, it was nighttime. If it had been during the day, probably no one would have been able to focus on their classes.
The teachers’ thought was: These kids are serious.
The students’ thought was: Holy crap, they actually did it.
Yes, they really did it.
Ye Yuhuan leaned back in her chair. A week of hard work had once again drained the healthy color she had just managed to regain, leaving her looking exhausted. The others were no better. They had pushed the process forward as fast as the procedures would allow, making countless phone calls this week.
Fortunately, they had done it.
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