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So that's how it is. Ye Wenyu's face lost all color in that instant. Just like the student affairs leader said, someone resented her, suspected her behind her back, and gossiped about her. So when she wore this dress, someone was dissatisfied and secretly took this photo of her. In the new semester, she became a new student in poverty and received school subsidies. Then someone used this photo to report her.
Life is truly a battlefield; it's either you die or I perish. She's already so pitiful, yet there are still people who resent her, ostracize her, trample on her, and humiliate her.
Ye Wenyu felt as if she were in an ice cellar, with a chill emanating from her entire body.
The student affairs director said to her irritably, "Ye Wenyu, you're wearing a Canada Goose jacket? Haha, I don't even have one. What are you doing applying for a poverty subsidy? This is deceiving the school. You've damaged the school's trust and hurt other genuinely impoverished students who desperately need the school's help!" The student affairs director's hands went numb from clapping.
Ye Wenyu could only stand up painfully. She looked at the student affairs office leader, opened her mouth, but felt utterly speechless. She did indeed own a Canada Goose down jacket, worth tens of thousands of yuan. But that was—
The student affairs leader coldly stated, "From today onwards, the school is revoking your status as a student from a poor family! You will have to cover your own tuition, living expenses, and dormitory accommodation for your sophomore year. Your monthly meal card subsidy will also be gone. You can afford to wear Canada Goose jackets worth tens of thousands of yuan; I'm sure these expenses are a piece of cake for you." The last sentence was full of sarcasm.
After finishing his remarks, the student affairs leader stood up, gesturing to see the guest out. He picked up Ye Wenyu's photo from his desk, glanced at it, snorted coldly, and said to her, "For your behavior, the school will record a demerit on you, issue a school-wide notice of criticism, and you will be permanently barred from applying for financial aid for impoverished students during your four years of university!" With that, he slammed the photo heavily onto the desk.
Ye Wenyu opened her mouth again, her lips now completely devoid of color. She had been stripped of her status as a student from a poor family simply because someone had reported her and because she owned an expensive down jacket.
But more than ever, she needs this financial aid from the school! She still has 50,000 yuan in debt waiting for her at the end of this year!
How could she possibly afford to pay for school tuition, accommodation, living expenses, and even a meal card? She couldn't even afford to eat.
The burden on her shoulders doubled, pressing down on her like Mount Tai, making it hard for her to breathe.
Ye Wenyu's eyes reddened with anxiety. The homeroom teacher sighed and, seeing that she was still standing there like a wooden pillar, gently reminded her, "Let's go."
Ye Wenyu's feet remained firmly planted on the floor, as if nailed to the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes from anxiety. With red eyes, she looked at the leader of the student affairs office, her lips trembling, and mustered her courage to say, "Leader, I really need the school's subsidy!" This was the first time she had asked for help. As the saying goes, climbing to heaven is difficult, but asking for help is even more difficult.
The immense pressure was indescribable; it felt as if two mountains were weighing down on her frail back, threatening to crush her. She almost cried.
The student affairs director coldly told her, "Don't talk nonsense, you don't need it at all. Your clothes cost tens of thousands of yuan each, how could you possibly need them!"
Ye Wenyu's lips trembled, and she managed to utter a faint voice through all her strength. She told the student affairs leader, "I didn't buy that dress; someone gave it to me as a gift."
Because of immense fear and pain, her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible unless you listened carefully. However, to the student affairs leader, it sounded like she was in the wrong and he thought she had realized her mistake.
The student affairs director said to her irritably, "Even if you didn't buy it and someone else gave it to you, it just means you have super rich friends and you don't need the school's subsidies at all. Let's leave it at that and you can go."
Seeing that Ye Wenyu was unwilling to leave, the student affairs office leaders directly ordered her to leave. The class teacher had no choice but to forcibly pull Ye Wenyu out.
Ye Wenyu was forcibly dragged out of the student affairs office, her steps feeling as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
The two walked out of the student affairs office one after the other. Once outside, Ye Wenyu finally couldn't stop her tears from falling. The sky was gloomy, with a few dark clouds floating in the air like tattered cotton.
The homeroom teacher sighed and said slowly to her, "If I had known you had a Canada Goose jacket from the beginning, I would never have agreed to put your name on the application. But Professor Cai, alas, he is still too young! Ye Wenyu, let me tell you, because of this, you have already received a major demerit at school. If you make any more mistakes, I cannot guarantee whether you can graduate smoothly. Because of your deceptive behavior, I'll tell you the truth: no matter how good your grades are in the final exams this year, the first-class scholarship will definitely not be yours."
What? Like a bolt from the blue, it was another devastating blow, leaving Ye Wenyu teetering on the brink of collapse. Before, her face was pale; now, even her lips had lost all color.
She looked up at her homeroom teacher, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls. She murmured repeatedly, "Teacher Zhang, I really need this money, I really need it. The clothes were a gift from someone else, and my dad gave birth last month—"
Before she could finish speaking, the homeroom teacher had already turned around and strode away, his back view extremely cold and ruthless.
Ye Wenyu slowly squatted down, cupped her face in her hands, and cried uncontrollably.
Even if I rejected Lin Tingfeng at the beginning in my past life, I would have eventually walked into his arms after a series of hardships in my life.
Time passed unnoticed. Ye Wenyu covered her face with her hands, silently shedding tears outside the student affairs office, until a pair of feet stood before her, and a familiar, warm voice rang out: "Xiaoyu—"
He knelt down, extending his long, slender hands to support her thin shoulders. Her shoulders trembled violently from crying, and Cai Wenchuan felt a pang of heartache. He realized how thin she had become; his hands felt like bones to the touch. She looked like a paper doll. He said in a hoarse, apologetic voice, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault—"
If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have received a major demerit and a public reprimand from the school; if it weren't for him, she wouldn't have been considered a bad student who deceived others and the school; if it weren't for him, as a top student, she wouldn't have failed to receive a first-class scholarship.
Guilt burned like a raging fire in Cai Wenchuan's heart.
Ye Wenyu looked up through her tear-filled eyes and saw it was Cai Wenchuan. She immediately stepped back, trying to break free from his touch. She whispered to him, "Don't do this. This is the administration building, with cameras and people everywhere. If others see us, they'll say we're in a teacher-student relationship—"
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