Meng Zihan's face turned deathly pale, and tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls.

"I...I don't know what you're talking about." She wiped her tears haphazardly with the back of her hand, looking pitifully at Ye Linchen. "Cousin, I know you've misunderstood me, but I really didn't do it. I swear, I'm truly innocent..."

Her pitiful appearance immediately aroused the protective instincts of Gu Yifei and the boys around her, and they all stood up to speak for her.

"What makes you say that Meng Zihan did it? Do you have any evidence?" Gu Yifei questioned in an unfriendly tone.

“That’s right, what happened before is what happened before. Why are you throwing mud at her this time?” Guan Minghao chimed in.

“If you have evidence, produce it. If you don’t, you’re just bullying us!” Li Li protested in a shrill voice.

Shen Yanlin sneered and looked disdainfully at his chattering classmates.

“We have found out that the call was made from a public phone booth outside the dormitory area. Someone saw Meng Zihan making the call there that night.”

"It wasn't me! I didn't!" Meng Zihan could no longer pretend to be weak and shook her head desperately. "I didn't even leave the house that night, how could I have made the call!"

Gu Yifei immediately questioned, "How many classmates don't live in the dormitory area? Why are you so sure it was her who made the call? You said someone saw her make a phone call, so tell me, what was that person's name? Is his statement credible? Could it be a mistake?"

Ye Linchen ignored him and simply stated the facts.

"That noon when I made the call, Meng Zihan falsely accused Shen Yanlin and me of stealing exam papers in the office. That evening, she called Uncle Shen and exaggerated the story." She stared at Meng Zihan. "No one knows about the exam paper theft except you."

"Stealing exam papers? What do you mean by stealing exam papers?" Gu Yifei asked Zihan in confusion.

He knew nothing about it.

The other students didn't know either, and asked each other what was going on.

"It wasn't me, I don't know anything! Maybe others heard about this too, so they..." Meng Zihan stammered in her defense, "You think you can frame me based on this alone? I won't accept it!"

Gu Yifei also came to his senses and continued to chime in.

"That's right, your evidence is completely unfounded! Xiaohan isn't that kind of person; she would never do such a thing!"

Shen Yanlin glanced at Meng Zihan and said contemptuously, "Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely! If you still don't admit it, I'll invite my uncle to come and verify your voice."

“My uncle used to be a reconnaissance soldier. He has very sharp ears and a good memory. As soon as you open your mouth, he can tell if it’s you making the call!”

"If you admit it now, it's not a big deal, just a prank at most. But if my uncle comes and recognizes your voice, you'll really be in trouble!"

Meng Zihan was completely stunned. Her face turned ashen, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Is Uncle Shen coming to recognize her voice?

What if they really get recognized?

How can she stay in school?

How am I supposed to face people after this?!

"I'm doing this for your own good!" Meng Zihan broke down, shouting at Shen Yanlin, "Ye Linchen is of bad character, she steals exam papers and curses her parents. If you spend too much time with her, you'll be influenced by her!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the expressions of everyone around her changed.

"Meng Zihan, you, you, you really did this?" Gu Yifei looked at her in disbelief.

Why did you lie and deny it?

"I didn't... I didn't!"

Seeing Gu Yifei's expression, Meng Zihan panicked completely.

"I didn't have any bad intentions, but Teacher Ma doesn't believe me. I'm afraid Shen Yanlin will make a mistake, so I have no other choice!"

Ye Linchen sneered when she saw that even in this state she still couldn't resist smearing her.

"We both know the truth of the matter. Let me tell you, if you can't produce evidence to prove that I stole the exam paper today, this isn't over!"

Meng Zihan was about to retort when she suddenly remembered asking her to tutor her, so she immediately softened her tone and pleaded in a low voice.

"Cousin, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean any harm. I was just worried that you might do something you shouldn't do just to save face."

"I was wrong about this, I apologize to you, I won't do it again, please forgive me this time."

She then turned to Shen Yanlin and apologized: "Shen Yanlin, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I was just trying to help you."

Shen Yanlin snorted coldly: "You make it sound so easy. Do you know how much damage my dad caused by abandoning his research project to rush back? You think you can just brush it off with a few words?"

"It's not that easy!"

"Unless you apologize in front of the whole class and write a self-criticism."

Meng Zihan paused.

Do I have to make a self-criticism in front of the whole class?

How embarrassing!

Didn't we already say she didn't do it on purpose?

Why are you so fixated on her?

How annoying!

Why are all the people associated with Ye Linchen so vicious?

"I don't want to!" Meng Zihan broke down, covering her face and crying.

Gu Yifei couldn't stand it anymore.

"You should know when to stop! Meng Zihan has already apologized, why are you still harping on it? Do you want her to kneel down?"

Seeing Gu Yifei defending Meng Zihan regardless of the facts, Lin Xiaojuan could no longer bear it and questioned him.

"Gu Yifei, why are you protecting her like this? Don't you have any sense of right and wrong?"

She simply couldn't understand how she could be so blind as to like such a self-righteous, blind, and foolish man.

"She knows she was wrong, she sincerely apologized, what more do you want?" Gu Yifei said confidently.

Ye Linchen showed Meng Zihan no respect whatsoever.

"Has Meng Zihan apologized enough? Ever since I returned to the Ye family, she hasn't stopped apologizing, and that hasn't stopped her from harming people."

"He's apologizing now, but he might be plotting how to harm someone else in his heart."

Meng Zihan shook her head frantically: "No, cousin, believe me, I really know I was wrong this time."

Meng Zihan was crying so hard she could barely breathe, her eyes were as red as a rabbit's, and her nose was also bright red. Gu Yifei felt extremely distressed seeing this.

“I know Xiaohan. She’s not the kind of person you’re talking about. This is definitely just a misunderstanding.”

"Who cares what you think?" Shen Yanlin didn't want to waste words with Gu Yifei, that idiot. He glanced at Meng Zihan and said lazily, "Meng Zihan, I'll give you two choices."

"First, apologize to me and Ye Linchen in class."

"Secondly, notify my uncle to come to the school to identify you."

"If it's you, we'll go to the police station; if it's not you, I'll apologize to you."

“I don’t have much patience. If you don’t reply before class this afternoon, I’ll contact my uncle directly.”

After finishing speaking, Shen Yanlin turned and left with Feng Linlin and Ye Linchen without waiting for Meng Zihan to say anything more.

Meng Zihan's heart trembled as she listened.

With such stringent conditions, how could she possibly choose?

Is this an attempt to drive her to suicide?