Chapter 28 "The hotel study is quieter, I want to..."
Tang Jianwei struggled to his feet, glaring at his opponent and clutching his back, shouting, "This is outrageous! Students are hitting people, and you teachers aren't going to do anything about it?!"
Old Xu snapped out of his shock and quickly pulled Tang Jianwei back by the arm, saying, "We'll take care of it, we definitely will. Please don't get agitated."
Qin Ling wiped away her tears and leaned forward, hugging his other arm and bending down to pat the shoe print on his side.
Tang Jianwei, snorting heavily, his arms held up, only intensified his aura. He clenched his fists and waved them towards Sheng Yu, yelling, "You two ignorant fools, do you even know what it means to respect your parents?!"
Sheng Yu coldly watched him throw a tantrum: "You hit your child at the slightest disagreement, what kind of parent are you?"
Tang Jianwei was so angry he was practically fuming. His chest and arm jerked, and he flung Qin Ling and Lao Xu aside, his fist hurtling straight at Sheng Yu.
Seeing Qin Ling clutching her belly and falling to the ground, Old Xu could no longer stop Tang Jianwei. He used both hands to support Qin Ling's waist and barely managed to steady her.
Sheng Yu didn't dodge; instead, she raised her hand, grabbed Tang Jianwei's wrist, and slammed it onto the desk.
Tang Jianwei, who had been drinking and staying up late for years, was all bark and no bite and was no match for Sheng Yu. He immediately knelt on the floor, groaning in pain.
The head of the grade slammed his hand on the table and shouted in a deep voice, "This is an office, not a gladiatorial arena! Everyone calm down! Sheng Yu! Let go of my hand!"
Sheng Yu had no intention of engaging in a prolonged fight, so he released his grip and subtly shifted his body, completely shielding Tang Ci behind him.
Old Xu helped Qin Ling sit down in a chair, his calm expression masking his suppressed anger. He looked at Tang Jianwei and said, "Mr. Tang, we called you here not to beat the child. Violence solves nothing."
Tang Jianwei wiped his face, panting heavily as he plopped down on a stool, his expression sinister as he surveyed the people in the room.
There was a sudden knock on the office door. Sheng Yu's parents arrived late, but it wasn't Sheng Hong; it was the Sheng family's butler.
The butler had already learned the reason for his visit in detail. Having managed the Sheng family for thirty years, he had long since developed a keen eye for detail. As soon as he entered the door, he fixed his gaze on Tang Jianwei.
After subtly observing Tang Jianwei's clothing and appearance, the butler smiled and shook hands with Old Xu and the director before turning to Tang Jianwei: "You must be Tang Ci's father. Hello, I am the Sheng family's butler."
Tang Jianwei looked at his meticulously ironed cuffs and the gleaming platinum watch on his wrist. He hesitated for two seconds before reaching out to shake his hand. He squinted and said in a strange tone, "Your child hit me as soon as I arrived. You seem like a reasonable person. What do you think we should do to resolve this?"
The butler's smile remained unchanged, and his tone showed no hesitation: "We can discuss compensation after we've resolved the important matters. Is that alright with you?"
Tang Jianwei snorted and turned to look at Qin Ling, his expression one of undisguised smugness.
The grade director breathed a sigh of relief and briefly explained to the parents why they had been called in. Everyone's eyes fell on the cheat sheet on the desk.
Old Xu pushed up his glasses with a complicated expression and added, "Sheng Yu and Tang Ci have become study partners this semester. If Sheng Yu's grades can improve by 200 places in this exam, Tang Ci can get a scholarship. So we need to resolve this matter quickly so as not to affect the two children's exams tomorrow."
“I’d like to see the surveillance footage from last night after school,” Tang Ci, who had been silent, looked at Lao Xu and explained in a gentle and clear tone, “I was the last one to leave the classroom yesterday. My physics notebook was still there then, but I couldn’t find it when I came this morning. I initially thought someone had taken it by mistake, but now it seems it was stolen.”
Tang Ci pointed to the cheat sheet on the table: "This cheat sheet must have been torn from my physics notebook."
As she pondered, her thin lips pressed into a straight line, and her cheeks slightly bulged. Sheng Yu's gaze lingered for a few seconds before shifting away, her lips barely lifting as she snapped her fingers at Old Xu: "You're going to be busy today."
Old Xu glanced at him, then turned to the director for his opinion: "Director, let's check the surveillance footage."
Monitoring room.
The teacher on duty in the monitoring room pulled up frame by frame the surveillance footage of the empty corridor after school last night on the computer.
Tang Ci and Sheng Yu stood on the outermost edge, looking at the screen through Lao Xu and the director.
Although she had already suspected it, Tang Ci's heart still skipped a beat when she saw Zou Qiang's furtive figure on the screen.
Old Xu took a deep breath and stood up from the chair in front of the monitor. "I'll go call Zou Qiang over and ask him."
Tang Ci frowned slightly as she looked at the timeline on the monitor: "Wait a minute, could we take another look at the surveillance footage from noon today?"
Sheng Yu raised the corner of her lips and glanced at her: "The evidence is an English cheat sheet. I just had an English test this afternoon. If it was him, he would have slipped it into my drawer when no one was around at noon."
Old Xu sat back down and said to the monitoring teacher, "Could you please adjust it again?"
When the time was set to noon today, Zou Qiang's figure reappeared on the screen, and everyone's hearts were finally at ease.
Old Xu let out a heavy sigh.
/
Zou Qiang followed Lao Xu into the office with a stiff body, his face pale and trying to appear calm. After watching the two surveillance videos, he immediately relaxed.
The surveillance cameras covered the corridor, but only showed him entering and leaving the classroom; they didn't capture what he actually did.
The director asked in a stern voice, "Did you put this cheat sheet in Sheng Yu's drawer?"
Zou Qiang shook his head, looked away from his phone, and said, word by word, "I don't know what you're talking about."
The director tapped the table: "Didn't you see the whistleblowing incident that's been all over the forum?"
Zou Qiang swallowed hard and shook his head again: "I didn't see it, I've been studying in the classroom the whole time."
Old Xu frowned, tapping the screen with his finger, and said, "Then what were you doing back in the classroom at those two times?"
Zou Qiang avoided Sheng Yu's gaze and looked at Lao Xu, saying, "I forgot my phone in the classroom last night, and this noon... I forgot my meal card..."
As he finished speaking, he began to feel guilty, his eyes lowered as he looked down at the tips of his shoes.
Sheng Yu sneered: "Why bother going to school if you're so forgetful?"
Zou Qiang hadn't done well on the exam, and the pressure was pushing him to the brink of collapse. His nostrils flared a few times, and he glared at Sheng Yu with a defiant look: "Is it a problem to go back and get your things if you forget them?"
“No problem.” Sheng Yu narrowed his eyes: “But you happen to be there at both of the crucial time points, then there’s a problem.”
Zou Qiang gritted his teeth: "Even if I were here, it wouldn't prove that I put the cheat sheet there. This is a false accusation, and I can call the police!"
Tang Ci frowned. Although she had expected Zou Qiang to deny it, she did not expect him to make the false accusation first.
Everyone else fell silent for a moment, as if a lake had frozen over in winter.
Sheng Yu chuckled softly, breaking the silence of the lake.
He tapped his knuckles on the desk and looked at the butler: "Uncle Zong, how long will it take for the police to find the fingerprints?"
The butler understood immediately, glanced at the cheat sheet, and said, "It depends on the specific medium. Fingerprints on paper should be easy to identify quickly."
Sheng Yu raised an eyebrow at Zou Qiang and asked jokingly, "Will you report it or should I?"
Zou Qiang's lips trembled for a long time, but he couldn't say a word. His hands trembled for a few seconds before he covered his face.
Everyone could tell he was lying, and Old Xu, with a complicated expression, led Zou Qiang to another office.
After Lao Xu's patient persuasion, Zou Qiang finally confessed what had happened.
The final punishment was that Zou Qiang received a major demerit for maliciously accusing his classmate of cheating, and was required to publish an apology statement on the school forum.
After dealing with a series of matters, it was almost time for evening self-study to end.
After his scheme was exposed, Zou Qiang had been keeping his head down and his face was pale. His father, who arrived with a complicated expression, took him away.
After the grade head apologized to both sets of parents on behalf of the school, he saw them out.
As soon as Tang Jianwei stepped out of the office, he grabbed the butler's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "You were talking about compensation earlier..."
The butler paused for a moment, gestured towards the stairwell, and took out his wallet as he walked over.
Tang Ci watched Tang Jianwei's hunched back as he followed, then lowered her eyes in embarrassment and said to Sheng Yu, who had been standing next to her, "I'm going to the restroom. You can go back to the classroom first."
"You're not going to cry, are you?"
Tang Ci froze, her nose, which had been normal just moments before, suddenly filled with a soreness.
She shook her head frantically and said, "No."
Taking advantage of his height, Sheng Yu blocked the view of the teachers and parents behind him and brazenly ruffled Tang Ci's hair: "Go and come back quickly."
After Tang Ci washed her hands, she turned around and saw Qin Ling waiting at the bathroom door.
Seeing her come out, Qin Ling warmly handed her a tissue: "Xiao Ci, your dad and I are waiting for you at the school gate. Don't take the subway after school."
Tang Ci didn't answer: "You guys go home first, I still need to do some more homework after school."
Qin Ling rubbed her hands together and asked with a smile, "Are you with that classmate named Sheng Yu? Are you two close friends?"
Tang Ci dug her fingertips into her damp palm, looked directly into her eyes and said, "We're just ordinary classmates."
Qin Ling smiled in surprise and flattery: "He was so protective of you in the office just now, is that normal?"
Tang Ci, tired of her beating around the bush, asked directly, "What exactly do you want to ask?"
Qin Ling glanced at the empty corridor, took Tang Ci's hand, and said meaningfully, "Aunt Qin knows you're busy with your studies right now, but I still have to remind you that there are more important things in life than just studying."
She paused, then softened her voice and said, "We should seize other opportunities as well."
Tang Ci understood Qin Ling's meaning, and a wave of nausea rose in her chest. She shook off Qin Ling's hand and asked softly, "The year my mother passed away, was this how you seized the opportunity to marry my father?"
Qin Ling felt as if she had been slapped hard across the face as she listened to her gentle voice.
Tang Ci looked at her standing there, her face flushed and her belly protruding, and said nothing more, leaving her behind as she returned to the classroom.
/
The widely publicized cheating incident faded into obscurity amidst the tense exams the following day and the impending winter break.
Therefore, it was only on the day the results were announced that Tang Ci learned that Zou Qiang had missed the exam the next day, and then she went through the transfer procedures.
When his classmates mentioned him, some were angry, some disgusted, some understanding, but most felt sorry for him.
Tang Ci secretly felt sad for a moment, then focused all her attention on the tension of her final exam results.
The final exam results would be posted on the bulletin board as a list of the top students in each grade. As soon as school was over, Tang Ci would drag Jiang Chan downstairs to see it.
As Tang Ci approached the bulletin board, seeing the dense crowd and the red list inside, she slowed her pace, too nervous to go forward.
Jiang Chan heard someone mention Tang Ci's name from afar, saying that she had once again won first place in the grade.
"You're still number one!" Jiang Chan excitedly hugged her and comforted her, "Now you can rest assured."
Tang Ci swallowed hard, her throat tightening, and whispered, "I'm not worried about myself."
Jiang Chan understood and patted her shoulder: "I'll go check first. If Sheng Yu's grades aren't good, then you don't need to go."
She had barely finished speaking when the area under the bulletin board erupted in chaos.
"Is this a genuine report? Sheng Yu is ranked ninety-eighth in his grade?!"
"That's incredible! They went from the bottom to the top 100!!"
...
The cacophony of voices, like a hurricane, swept over Tang Ci.
She was stunned for a few seconds before laughing amidst Jiang Chan's cheers.
After finishing their meal and returning to the classroom, Jiang Chan kept talking to Tang Ci about their seating arrangements for the next semester.
"You've got the scholarship, mission accomplished!" Jiang Chan sat in Sheng Yu's seat and excitedly asked Tang Ci, "So, are you going to move to the front next semester?"
Sheng Yu happened to arrive at the door and saw that her seat was occupied, so she took the opportunity to stand in the corridor and talk with a few boys.
Tang Ci glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, nodded, and suppressed the melancholy in her heart: "It should be."
Jiang Chan hugged her arm and said coquettishly, "I wish in advance to be your deskmate."
Jiang Chan peeked at the podium as she spoke: "Speaking of which, it must be tough sitting in the last row looking at the blackboard. Luckily, you'll only be sitting here for the next few months."
Tang Ci didn't find it too tiring, but she still chimed in, "Yes."
Since winter vacation starts tomorrow, the students in the corridor remained chatting after the preparatory bell rang, determined to return to their classrooms as soon as the bell rang.
Sheng Yu arrived at his seat early, a rare occurrence, and drank water from his cup over Tang Ci's shoulder.
Jiang Chan realized she was in the way, stuck out her tongue, and got up to return to her seat.
Sheng Yu sat down, twisting the bottle cap, and glanced at her accusingly: "You think you can just run away after using me?"
Realizing that he had overheard her conversation with Jiang Chan, Tang Ci guiltily rubbed her earlobe: "You can still ask me for tutoring even if we're not seatmates."
Thinking of his friends who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun during their holidays, Tang Ci added, "We can still go to the library during holidays."
Sheng Yu remained noncommittal, his gaze lightly falling on her face: "Is this weekend okay?"
Tang Ci's holidays were always uneventful, so she nodded and said, "That's fine."
Sheng Yu didn't say anything, but took out a card from her pocket and pushed it onto her table.
Tang Ci looked closely and saw that it was a room key for a five-star hotel in the city.
Her mind went blank for a moment. With her neck flushed red, she stammered, feigning ignorance, "What... what is this...?"
Sheng Yu replied calmly, "This is where I live."
The heat on Tang Ci's cheeks subsided a little, and she looked up at him blankly.
“The hotel study is quieter,” he said in a deep, magnetic voice, drawing out the words with a seductive quality. “Want to come?”
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