Chapter 91

◎A solution that isn't a solution◎

"It's true, she likes me. She sharpened my pencils, smiled at me, gave me things, and she asked me to come over..." The boy struggled to lift his upper body. "It really was her. It has nothing to do with me. Let me go!"

"Slap!" With a crisp sound, the boy's face was slapped to the side.

"Say it again, who likes you? With your despicable, sleazy behavior, do you think I'm blind?"

This sudden turn of events startled everyone, and the discussions immediately froze.

Zhan Xinyue grabbed his collar, which was so dirty that its original color was almost unrecognizable, and slapped him across the face again: "Have you no shame!"

The boy was stunned by her two inexplicable slaps, staring at her blankly, unable to utter a word for a moment.

Zhan Xinyue looked at the crowd, her eyes red, and said, word by word, "He molested me."

There was another uproar. The eyes that had been glancing at Wang Zhiyi all turned and scanned Zhan Xinyue. Wang Zhiyi and Zhang Chao were also stunned.

Zhang Chao was the first to regain his senses, and pressed the boy's face back to the ground, forbidding him to speak. Wang Zhiyi took a few steps toward Zhan Xinyue, but she blocked him.

“I don’t know this person at all,” Zhan Xinyue continued. “I was lying on the playground sunbathing at noon when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He probably thought I was asleep, and he suddenly came over and touched me, and even tried to kiss me.”

"If it weren't for these two teachers, I really don't know what else he might have done..."

On a bench in the back of the crowd, a little girl had been sitting there, seemingly out of nowhere. She had been lazily watching the scene with a lollipop in her mouth, but upon hearing the sound, she opened her mouth, and the lollipop fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces.

“…Is she crazy?” she murmured, her round eyes wide open.

Outraged voices began to rise from the crowd: "My God, how can there be such a disgusting person in our school? Is he a pervert?"

"What a scumbag! He looks so repulsive. Who is he? Does anyone know him?"

At the other end of the playground, several police officers were walking towards this side.

The boy whose head was being held down suddenly realized what Zhan Xinyue was saying and immediately yelled, "What the hell are you talking about? Are you sick in the head?"

Just as Zhan Xinyue was about to speak, she looked up and suddenly saw Xu Shen's eyes from behind the crowd.

This was the first time she had seen Xu Shen since that day. In just a few days, he seemed to have lost a lot of weight, and his eyes were dull and lifeless.

The words she was about to say caught in her throat, and a tear she had been holding back slid straight down her cheek. Silence spoke volumes, and everyone's anger intensified.

"What a pervert! I'm going to throw up! Get out of school right now!"

"They've no shame at all, doing this in broad daylight."

The boy, feeling humiliated and scolded by everyone, suddenly became enraged, shoved Zhang Chao, who was clearly lost in thought, and charged towards her:

"You filthy bitch, who molested you? How dare you frame me like this? Explain yourself!"

Zhan Xinyue met his bloodshot eyes and instinctively took a step back. Before she could react, a pair of hands suddenly pulled her back several steps from behind.

In that fleeting moment, she could only see Xu Shen's dark eyes glance at her, and then, amidst everyone's gasps, the boy's face was violently turned to the side.

Before the other person could recover from the sudden punch, Xu Shen had already grabbed his school uniform collar and threw another hard punch at him.

...

For the first time in her life, Zhan Xinyue sat in a police car.

Presumably, everyone on this bus felt the same way.

Inside the police car, Zhan Xinyue, Xu Shen, Wang Zhiyi, and Zhang Chao sat facing each other in silence, while the boy with a bruised and swollen face was placed at the front.

Zhan Xinyue hadn't expected things to escalate to this point. Before getting on the bus, the boy had been covering his nose, and blood was flowing all over the ground.

The scene was extremely chaotic. Xu Shen and he were fighting, and Zhang Chao was taking sides and restraining his hands, so he was almost being beaten one-sidedly. Zhan Xinyue also took the opportunity to kick him from behind.

Several students watching from behind were indignant and wanted to rush forward, but the police finally arrived and separated the crowd. In the end, everyone at the scene, including Zhan Xinyue, was taken away in a police car.

The police car had iron bars on several windows, creating a strong sense of oppression inside. No one spoke. Zhan Xinyue looked across the street; Zhang Chao's face was very serious, as if he were deep in thought. Xu Shen, on the other hand, had been silent since getting into the car, leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed, not glancing in their direction even once.

Beside him, Wang Zhiyi had her head down, her hair all over her face, and her body was trembling slightly.

After a long while, Zhang Chaoxian finally spoke. He looked at Xu Shen and said in a stern tone, "Why did you hit him? Do you know you have a disciplinary record?"

Xu Shen didn't open his eyes, and said coldly, "Shouldn't he have been hit?"

"Whether or not he should be hit is not up to you. The police will handle this. Why are you getting involved? And if you're going to hit him, don't hit him so hard. I just saw that his nose is crooked, it looks like it's broken."

"He deserved it." Xu Shen turned his head away, clearly not wanting to talk.

"Stop talking." Wang Zhiyi raised his face. "He was acting bravely and righteously."

Zhang Chao sighed softly, his gaze slowly shifting to Wang Zhiyi's face: "If only it could be considered an act of bravery, but..."

Silence fell over the car again.

Wang Zhiyi wiped away her tears, reached out and held Zhan Xinyue's hand beside her, and asked in a low voice, "Xinyue, why did you say that just now?"

Zhan Xinyue said calmly, "For no particular reason, I just suddenly felt like saying that."

Wang Zhiyi said, "I know you want to protect me, but you really don't have to do this. I'm an adult, I can handle these things, but you're different, you shouldn't have dragged yourself into this."

Zhan Xinyue: "It's true that you're an adult, but it's precisely because you're an adult that things are more difficult at times like this. Do you know how many nasty rumors can spread just by linking the words 'female teacher' and 'student' together? You can't even imagine."

“I can imagine.” A tear suddenly dripped onto the hem of Wang Zhiyi’s clothes. “I know.”

Xu Shen, who had been standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest, appearing detached, slowly clenched his fists and began to tremble uncontrollably.

Zhan Xinyue knew that he had understood the whole story from their conversation, and he did have reason to be angry, perhaps because he had been deceived, or perhaps because he regretted his impulsiveness.

Xu Shen opened his eyes, his eyes red with extreme anger fixed on her, and he hissed, "Zhan Xinyue! Do you know what the consequences will be for your stubbornness? Do you know how terrifying gossip can be? Can you bear the rumors they spread in the future?"

Zhan Xinyue paused, looked at his reddened eyes in silence for a moment, then looked away: "It's none of your business."

After listening, Xu Shen's anger gradually subsided. After a long while, he closed his eyes again, slowly leaned back in his seat, and said in a low voice, "Fine. It's none of my business."

Long after the police car had left, the noise around the playground hadn't completely subsided. Many newcomers, unaware of what was happening, eagerly bombarded those who had just been standing there with questions. Those who had watched for a while enthusiastically repeated these questions.

"I was just saying that I heard people making noise outside the dormitory at noon. I should have gotten up and checked it out."

"Who is that girl who was molested? I feel like I've seen her before."

"That boy must be a senior in high school. Wow, he usually seems pretty serious, how could he be so bold? You can never judge a book by its cover."

"Nobody knows what's going on. Didn't you hear him say that the girl took the initiative? Maybe they had a fight in their relationship."

As everyone chattered amongst themselves, a little girl in the stands above them jumped down from her seat, clicking her tongue. Her pretty little face was tense; it was Shi Qiyue.

"What is she doing?" Shi Qiyue had an indescribable expression on her face. She quickly rolled her eyes impatiently and yelled down, "What's all the noise about? What time is it? Aren't you going to be late for class?"

No one noticed who was above them; they just instinctively glanced at the time and someone immediately exclaimed, "Damn, it's 2:15!" They immediately forgot about gossip and started running towards the classroom.

Everyone has temporarily dispersed for now, but it's clear that this topic will spread even faster once they return to their respective classes.

At the police station, taking statements alone took a long time. At the station, Zhan Xinyue naturally didn't repeat the lies she'd told on the playground, and truthfully recounted everything she'd witnessed. Compared to Wang Zhiyi and Zhang Chao, the two parties involved, Zhan Xinyue's connection to the matter was relatively weak, so she was the first to be allowed to leave.

Zhan Wei and Pang Yun were waiting for her outside. As soon as she came out, they rushed up and pulled her to look at her from all angles.

"What happened? The police suddenly called and told us to come pick you up. At first, we thought it was a scam, but it turned out to be real. Are you alright?"

"It's alright, it has nothing to do with me." Zhan Xinyue briefly explained the situation, "I was just asked a few questions as an eyewitness, it has nothing to do with me, you don't need to worry."

“How could such a thing happen at this school?” Pang Yun said solemnly. “This school has a serious problem with its atmosphere. It seems we really need to seriously consider the transfer you mentioned the other day.”

That night, Zhan Xinyue couldn't sleep. She didn't know if her hasty decision was really stupid, or if it could really help Wang Zhiyi. Perhaps there was a better solution, but it was the only one she could think of at that moment, so she did it.

Although she wasn't entirely sure, she wouldn't regret it now that she had spoken. She just hadn't expected Xu Shen to get involved.

Zhan Xinyue opened her eyes in the darkness and pressed her temples.

The next morning, Zhan Xinyue was surrounded by people as soon as she entered the classroom.

"New Moon, what happened yesterday? I heard the police came."

"Is what everyone is saying true or false? Our school actually has such a pervert. It's terrifying."

The gazes directed at her contained concern as well as curiosity. Zhan Xinyue carefully selected her words and repeated what she had said on the playground yesterday.

"Oh my god, are you alright?"

"This guy is definitely going to get expelled... I heard he's a guy from Class 4 of Senior 3. I heard from his classmates that he was suspected of sneaking into the girls' restroom before."

"Has this person been driven crazy by the college entrance exam?"

The crowd surrounded her, chattering incessantly, when suddenly a cold laugh came from behind the crowd: "What kind of person would run off to the playground and lie down in the middle of the day?"

Zhan Xinyue looked over and saw Xie Wanzhi with her arms crossed, looking at her: "Tell me, what were you doing there? Did you make plans beforehand? And I heard that Xu Shen was involved too, and that he even beat someone up. What are you three up to? Are you playing some kind of love triangle and making a fool of us?"