Chapter 64 - Lies
Chapter 64 - Lies
Just as Ning Fei expected, the Ji family actually had no idea that Ji Xingzhe would not attend English class today, and they had no idea what happened to Ning Fei at school.
Zhu Yueting was also puzzled: "Xiaozhe, didn't you say that you would ask your family to investigate the situation? Your brother doesn't know?"
"I..." Ji Xingzhe was almost unable to hold back his expression when he encountered such a "teammate". Fortunately, his brain could still work, and he quickly said, "I didn't have time to tell my brother."
It sounds barely reasonable, but it is still thrilling to tell this lie in this place and at this moment. I don’t know whether Ji Xingzhe is just very skilled and courageous, or he just can’t think of any other solution.
Ji Yuechi said: "So, Xiaozhe, you don't want to make up lessons?"
As if sensing that Ji Yuechi was about to be led astray by Ning Fei, Zhu Yueting explained before Ning Fei: "Brother Yuechi, Xiaozhe didn't skip class to play! It was this teacher Ning who helped Lin Shengjia cheat in the exam, and Xiaozhe doesn't want him to make up for the lessons!"
Ji Yuechi heard this, walked down the stairs, and looked at Ning Fei seriously: "You helped students cheat?"
"I didn't." Ning Fei looked straight at Ji Yuechi, "It's just that there is an honors student named Lin Shengjia. He was in a bad state at the beginning of this semester and his grades dropped all the way to failing. Recently, his state recovered to just pass the monthly exam. Although I happen to live close to him, does this mean that I helped him cheat?"
Zhu Yueting said from the side: "It's not just that you live close to him, do you dare to say that you didn't help him with his lessons?"
"Of course I helped him with English, but I also gave extra lessons to Ji Xingzhe."
"How can he compare with Ji Xingzhe? His English score is only 28!"
"Lin Shengjia got in with honors, and he got 65 points in the most recent monthly exam. It's not like he will always get 28 points." Ning Fei looked at Zhu Yueting and said earnestly, "Even if Lin Shengjia did get 28 points before, shouldn't you, who are likely to get high scores, and classmate Ji who can get the top three, help him as classmates? Even if you don't help him, you shouldn't laugh at him, and you shouldn't suspect him of cheating when he finally cheers up again. You should know that suppressing other students like this is already considered school bullying!"
In this era, the term "school bullying" is not yet well known to people, but people still understand it when they hear it. Zhu Yueting was blocked by Ning Fei's "righteous argument" and wanted to debate, but the moral high ground had been taken by someone else, and she could no longer maintain her righteous attitude. She muttered, "It sounds nice, but the vice-president still called me in for a talk and punished me..."
"To be precise, I went to cooperate with the investigation, and we agreed not to spread the news before the final results came out." Ning Fei's eyes swept over her and Ji Xingzhe, and said slowly, "But the strange thing is that the investigation was not over yet, and I just came out of the vice-president's office, and classmate Ji said that he didn't want me to come to class anymore. What a coincidence, isn't it?"
Ji Yuechi looked at his brother: "Do you know that he is under investigation?"
Ji Xingzhe didn't want to answer, but he was stared at by three pairs of eyes, so he could only bite the bullet and reply: "Well, everyone saw that Teacher Ning and Lin... student were called to the vice-principal's office."
Ning Fei thought to himself, Zhu Yueting has already let it slip, why are you still hiding it and pretending to be innocent? So Ning Fei said directly: "Student Ji Xingzhe, perhaps you have forgotten what I told you the day before yesterday - I only told you that Lin Shengjia and I lived close to each other. And the evidence presented by the school that I 'helped cheat' is only that Lin Shengjia and I lived close to each other."
Zhu Yueting actually got anxious at this moment and jumped out to question: "I think it was Lin Shengjia who spread the word that you two lived close to each other, so you helped him with his lessons every day!"
Seeing her like this, Ning Fei was basically sure that the whistleblower must be the girl herself, and replied calmly: "Lin Shengjia's grades have been declining since he was assigned to a new class in his second year of high school. The whole class has been isolating him intentionally or unintentionally. He doesn't even have a friend to talk to, who can he talk to? Zhu Yueting, you keep saying that we live close to each other, who did you hear that from?"
"..." Zhu Yueting didn't dare to answer, but her eyes unconsciously wandered towards Ji Xingzhe.
"No matter who the whistleblower is, it is the school's responsibility to verify and handle the matter. It has nothing to do with the whistleblower." Ji Yuechi stepped forward to interrupt, obviously assuming that the "whistleblower" was his brother and his group of kids. He easily changed the subject and said, "If it's really just the fact that you two live close together, then that's not much evidence. Why hasn't the investigation yielded any results yet?"
"Good question. I want to know why too." Ning Fei lowered his eyes and smiled softly. "There is no evidence, but Lin Shengjia and I were still called in for a long talk and had to continue to cooperate with the investigation. It was also agreed that it was a secret investigation and that Lin Shengjia's reputation would not be affected before the results came out. However, we were still slandered in person. Why? Maybe it's because Lin Shengjia's parents are just ordinary workers, and I'm an orphan."
He was talking about Lin Shengjia all the time and heard about Lin Shengjia's life experience. Ji Xingzhe was so frightened that he had no intention of interrupting.
Ji Yuechi narrowed his eyes and said, "Teacher Ning, you don't have to imply that our Ji family is using power to oppress others. We don't know anything about this at all."
"I didn't say that the Ji family did something to me and Lin Shengjia." Ning Fei looked up at him, "I just think it's a pity that Lin Shengjia was suspected of cheating just because he had improved to the point of just passing."
"The innocent are innocent." Ji Yuechi said, "If you really didn't cheat, you shouldn't be afraid of being investigated."
Zhu Yueting also agreed: "That's right."
"'The innocent are innocent', what a ridiculous phrase." Ning Fei glanced at the top of Ji Yuechi's back, gently pushed up his glasses, and sneered, "We didn't do something, but others slandered us as having done it. But others can't produce evidence that we did it, and they insist that we produce evidence that we didn't do it. Do we deserve to fall into this 'self-proof trap'? Nowadays, solving cases emphasizes the presumption of innocence, but in school, we still practice the presumption of guilt. No, it's making something out of nothing. Do we deserve this injustice because we have no money and power? Then what if I say that Ji Xingzhe's high scores are also problematic? Has anyone investigated the truth about him?"
Zhu Yueting retorted: "But Xiaozhe's grades have always been very good!"
Ning Fei looked at him, then stared at Ji Xingzhe: "If it has always been like this, can it be said to be true?"
Ji Xingzhe felt as if he had been seen through, and was so frightened that his whole body stiffened unconsciously. Seeing him like this, Ji Yuechi gradually lost his temper and frowned, "As Xiaozhe's teacher, how can you say such things..."
"Then what should I say?" Ning Fei smiled. "Just because I'm a teacher, I have to swallow my anger no matter what the students say? Just because I'm here, I deserve to be surrounded and denounced by a group of you and treated as a show?"
When he said the last half of his sentence, he looked upstairs again. The other three also turned around and saw two people standing at the stairs - Duan Yunhong and Ji Zhenwei.
Ji Xingzhe's expression became more panicked. He didn't know how long the two men had been listening and what they had heard: "Dad, uncle...!"
"Xiaozhe, is this the real reason why you said there would be no make-up class today?" Ji Zhenwei went downstairs first, "No matter what the reason is, you should tell me the truth."
Ji Xingzhe was prepared for this question, so he replied: "I am a little worried... After all, it was me who suggested that Teacher Ning help me with my lessons."
"You are still young. If you have any ideas or questions, just raise them. Adults will be responsible for verifying and handling them." Ji Zhenwei said, looking at Ning Fei, "Right, Teacher Ning?"
"Yes, very much so." Ning Fei thought to himself that he was a 17-year-old kid, and answered without thinking, "If you have any questions, just ask them clearly, and then wait for the verified answers. Don't make random guesses about the results, and don't spread the wrong answers everywhere, otherwise it would be a lie. It's not good for children to lie, right, Mr. Ji?"
"It seems that such a small matter has caused a great impact on Teacher Ning, and she has come to ask for an explanation." Ji Zhenwei is not a young boy, and he will not fall into Ning Fei's trap. "Then how about this, when the school finds out the results, if you really didn't cheat, then our Ji family will give you some mental compensation, how about it? In turn, Teacher Ning is so easily emotional, so it is really not suitable for her to tutor Xiaozhe. On behalf of the Ji family, I give you this confirmation, from now on you don't have to come to help anymore, okay?"
It sounded as if Ning Fei came here to demand compensation. However, the Ji family always talks about interests, otherwise they would not do such a thing as marginalizing their own son when he fails to do well.
While Ji Zhenwei was speaking in a condescending manner, Duan Yunhong stood behind and listened without saying a word. He was really just watching the show.
Ning Fei never expected that enemy to help, and continued to respond calmly: "Mr. Ji, the one who was hurt the most by the rumors was not me, but Ji Xingzhe's classmate Lin Shengjia. But you are right, this matter should be investigated and handled by the school. After the investigation, it should be the school that should explain it, not the whistleblower who should apologize and compensate. So when I talked to the school, I only said that I asked the school to be fully responsible for this matter."
He paused, and then continued, "I didn't pursue who the informant was, or what I would do to the informant. I'm saying this here because your son and his classmates, just seeing me standing here, accused me of cheating without any explanation. I'm neither deaf nor dumb, so how can I refute it?"
Ji Zhenwei quickly grasped the point: "Then why did you come here today? Xiaozhe asked you not to come, but you came anyway, so of course he would find it strange."
Ning Fei said: "Just passing by."
Ji Xingzhe and Zhu Yueting: "...Huh?"
Ning Fei finally looked at Duan Yunhong: "Mr. Duan, if you don't plan to explain clearly, it seems that I really have to stay away from the Ji family."
Duan Yunhong is now a real member of the Ji family. Being "threatened" by Ning Fei, he finally stood up and said, "Well, actually I brought him here."
Ji Zhenwei looked at him: "You?"
"I took him to do something. He came here to talk to my brother first, so I asked him to wait in the living room." Duan Yunhong said, "I know that he was investigated for cheating by the school. To be honest, it's quite humorous. It's just a small monthly exam. If he really helped that poor and powerless Lin Shengjia to cheat, and he only cheated to barely pass, what's the point?"
Zhu Yueting remembered Qin Ran's words and immediately replied: "If the teachers in our school teach well, there will still be a bright future for us!"
"Ha." Duan Yunhong laughed with some disdain. "He came to me as an interpreter, and one day's pay was equal to his monthly salary. Even so, he was willing to stay in school as a teacher instead of working in my company. And you still say it's for his future?"
Ji Zhenwei narrowed his eyes slightly: "He is your translator? Isn't your English very good? Is it necessary?"
"He was just translating for other people in the group. Besides, he can argue as well as before in English, which saves those foreigners from being annoying." Duan Yunhong said, looking at Ji Xingzhe, "Speaking of which, I have to thank my nephew. If it weren't for your birthday party, I wouldn't have met a talent like Teacher Ning. I even went to pick him up in person on Friday to convince him to help me."
Ji Xingzhe suddenly remembered something.
"That black car...is it yours, uncle?!"
Lin Shengjia also got on the car, and the uncle saw Lin Shengjia!
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