Li Hongjuan stood frozen in place, her fingertips trembling slightly, clearly still reeling from the shock of Zhou Qiqi's public attack.
She opened her mouth, her Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times, before stammering out her question.
"You...you...how could you hit a child?"
"What's wrong with hitting them?"
Zhou Qiqi stared straight at her, her eyes reddening as if she were suppressing a raging fire.
"I'm going to beat up these two little brats who have fathers but no mothers to teach them!"
She turned to look at the two boys who were standing there stunned by the slaps, and spoke slowly and deliberately, each word dripping with venom.
"You can live such a carefree life now entirely thanks to unsung heroes like Zhouzhou's parents! They're lying in the hospital, only able to survive on life support! They only have this one child left, and you dare treat their child like this?"
She became more and more emotional as she spoke, and her eyes welled up with tears.
"You locked her in such a small, dark room. Did you ever consider that she can't speak and can't make a sound? If she hadn't climbed out the window herself, she might still be trapped here!"
"What if it gets dark? Will she be scared? Will she be further traumatized?"
"What if something goes wrong?"
Liao Xiaolei covered her flushed cheeks, tears welling in her eyes, and sobbed as she tried to explain.
"We...we didn't mean to!"
Liao Xiaofeng nodded hurriedly, shaking his head like a rattle drum.
"Yeah! We just wanted to scare her and teach her a lesson!"
"A lesson? What lesson? Did Zhouzhou offend you?"
Zhou Qiqi narrowed her eyes, her tone so cold it could freeze.
Liao Xiaolei, his neck stiff and face flushed, shouted.
"No, it's you who made my mother lose face. She cries at home all day. We were so angry that we taught Chen Duzhou a lesson!"
Deng Cuixiang stepped forward with a "whoosh," hands on her hips, looking fierce.
"You, Li Hongjuan, is this how you instigate the kids at home? No wonder you said Zhouzhou hit someone earlier; you were instigated by us. You're just a thief crying 'stop thief!'"
"How can you take advantage of a child to deal with adult matters? Are you using a child to get revenge?"
These were all the words Li Hongjuan had just said, and now they had all turned into boomerangs, piercing her heart.
Her body swayed violently, as if she had been punched in the chest.
His lips trembled, wanting to refute, but his throat felt like it was blocked by a wad of cotton, and he couldn't utter a sound.
Director Li, Teacher Fei, and even Grandpa Huang all looked at her with suspicion and disdain.
She felt incredibly wronged.
She spoke ill of Zhou Qiqi to the children and even said she would take revenge if she had the chance, but she never thought of having the two children do it!
Even if we were to take action, this isn't the way to do it...
Today's events happened so suddenly that she didn't know what had happened at first.
It wasn't until after I arrived that I privately asked the two children and learned that they had actually locked Chen Duzhou in a dark room.
But isn't the child alright?
So she told the two children not to tell anyone.
This is the situation, but I can't say it out loud, because I'm afraid no one would believe me if I did.
At this moment, she was truly speechless and unable to defend herself.
She forced a smile, but her voice was shrill and piercing.
"You...you're making false accusations! How could I do such a thing!"
Deng Cuixiang wasn't afraid of her at all.
"Whether it's slander or not, just ask the two children separately and you'll know."
Li Hongjuan's face turned deathly pale instantly, knowing that there was no point in trying to reason with her now.
Her eyes darted around, and she reached behind her back and dug her nails into Liao Xiaolei's arm.
The child burst into tears and was suddenly unable to say anything.
She quickly pinched herself hard again, her voice trembling with tears.
"I...I'm innocent! I really didn't know! It was all because of these two children, I...I...Oh dear..."
Before she could finish speaking, her eyes rolled back, and she fell straight to the ground, pretending to be dead.
Director Li and Teacher Fei rushed forward to check on her. Two children were crying and calling "Mom" around her, but they couldn't wake her up no matter how they called.
The scene was in complete chaos. Director Li wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at Zhou Qiqi.
"Otherwise, I'll send Comrade Li back first, and we can talk about this in a couple of days."
"Sending her back is fine."
Zhou Qiqi raised an eyebrow, a meaningful smile curving her lips.
Hearing her say that, Li Hongjuan's originally tense lips unconsciously relaxed, but then Zhou Qiqi continued.
"However, this matter must be made clear now."
Li Hongjuan's lips twitched immediately, but Zhou Qiqi suppressed her laughter and continued.
"How about this, Section Chief Liao is almost off work now, we can call him over to handle this."
Director Li pondered for a moment and nodded.
Li Hongjuan's lips twitched uncontrollably a few times, then fell completely still, as if she had fainted from anger.
Deng Cuixiang immediately said.
"I think that's a good idea. Let Xiangyang go and call him; that kid runs fast!"
"receive!"
Before Xiangyang could finish speaking, he gave a standard military salute and disappeared around the corner.
Ten minutes later, Liao Aimin arrived at the school.
When he first saw the two children beaten like that, he was about to get angry, but after hearing Director Li's account of what happened, his face turned ashen.
He kicked the two children hard in the buttocks twice, making them apologize to Zhouzhou and Xiangyang on the spot. He also took out sixty yuan to pay for the children's medical expenses and said...
"Next Monday, I'll have them apologize to Shen Duzhou and Jiang Xiangyang in front of the whole school. If you have any other requests, just let me know."
Zhou Qiqi and Deng Cuixiang exchanged a glance, but neither of them answered. Zhou Qiqi sighed.
"Apologizing in front of the whole school is enough."
Regardless, Zhouzhou and Xiangyang had already beaten the two children before, and she had just slapped each of them hard across the face. That was a severe enough lesson.
I believe they won't dare to bully Zhouzhou anymore, but...
"These two children have problems with their moral education. They are both parents. I would like to remind Section Chief Liao to pay more attention in the future."
She was already being considerate of Liao Aimin.
Liao Aimin nodded heavily. "Okay, I understand."
This complete farce ended with Li Hongjuan fainting and the two children apologizing while covered in injuries.
Liao Aimin didn't want to touch Li Hongjuan, so he called two soldiers from the security department to carry Li Hongjuan back on a stretcher.
Zhou Qiqi had some alcohol and iodine at Teacher Fei's place, so she quickly treated the two children's wounds, gave them a few instructions, and then, seeing that it was getting late, hurried home.
Deng Cuixiang was worried, so she took Jiang Xiangyang's hand and escorted Zhouzhou home.
Just as we turned the corner of the alley, we saw thick black smoke billowing from Zhou Qiqi's chimney!
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