Upon hearing that it belonged to a prominent family in Beijing, Qiu Yishi perked up, given its inherent value.
He immediately asked the other students, "Has anyone seen Han's pen?"
The students looked at each other, all seemingly unaware of what had happened.
Qiao Xi knew exactly what was going on, and she was also waiting for this moment.
After asking around without success, Qiu Yishi said to Han Linlin, "Han, look again carefully, maybe you left it somewhere?"
Han Linlin insisted, "I put it on the table before I went to the restroom."
As soon as she finished speaking, a girl sitting next to her raised her hand to the teacher and said, "Class teacher, I just saw Qiao walk past Han."
“I saw it too,” another girl chimed in.
The implication was clear to everyone: Qiao Xi had stolen Han Linlin's pen.
But Qiu Yishi wasn't the type to jump to conclusions. He simply asked Qiao Xi casually, "Qiao, have you seen the pen on Han's desk?"
"No," Qiao Xi replied affirmatively.
Before Qiu Yishi could continue speaking, Han Linlin turned her attention to Qiao Xi, saying, "So many eyes saw it, are you still trying to deny it?"
All eyes in the class turned to Qiao Xi. Who told her to be inferior to everyone else in the class? So even if she was wrongly accused and labeled at this moment, no one would say a word in her defense.
The charge of 'stealing' was thus pinned on Qiao Xi.
Qiao Xi ignored the suspicious and accusing looks from those people and asked calmly, "Did you see me take your pen, or did you pass by your desk?"
Han Linlin said aggressively, "Whether you took it or not, we'll know by searching your bag."
"Without any evidence, why should I let you search?" Qiao Xi retorted without hesitation.
Han Linlin put her hands on her hips and snorted coldly, "If you won't let me search you, you're just feeling guilty."
Qiao Xi readily agreed without resistance, saying, "I can let you search, but what if you can't find anything?"
"What can we do?" Han Linlin said dismissively, "At most, it proves that you didn't take it."
This rude and unreasonable request was not stopped by the other students, who seemed to tacitly agree with what Han Linlin said.
However, Qiu Yishi did not let her act recklessly and advised, "Student Han, it's best not to do this before we have sufficient evidence."
Han Linlin said confidently, "Class teacher, I'm sure she's the one who took it."
Qiu Yishi looked troubled, and Qiao Xi didn't want to put him in a difficult position, so she readily agreed to Han Linlin's request, but also set conditions: "You can check my bag, but if you can't find it, you must apologize to me in person and post an apology letter on the school's bulletin board."
"Why should I?" Han Linlin immediately became unhappy.
"Why should I?!" Qiao Xi raised her voice, her dissatisfaction evident on her face, and retorted aggressively, "An apology letter in exchange for my reputation, do you think you're losing out?"
Han Linlin and everyone else in the classroom had never seen Qiao Xi so assertive before, which was somewhat unexpected.
Qiu Yishi was quite pleased with Qiao Xi's sudden firmness. He went along with Qiao Xi's wishes and said, "Student Han, if you insist on searching Student Qiao's bag, then let's do as Student Qiao requests."
This request was nothing to Han Linlin, because she had seen the pen put into Qiao Xi's bag with her own eyes, and she was sure she could find it by searching her bag.
I just felt inexplicably angry about Qiao Xi's request; she had no right to make such a request at all!
Seeing Qiao Xi's attitude, she had no choice but to compromise, but she also made her own request, "What if I find my pen in her bag?"
"Do as you please," Qiao Xi said decisively.
Han Linlin readily agreed, "Okay, then we'll do it your way."
After saying that, she immediately called to her two followers to search Qiao Xi's schoolbag. Qiao Xi stopped them without hesitation and then gestured to Han Linlin, saying, "Only you can search. I didn't agree to let them search."
Han Linlin then exchanged glances with them and said arrogantly, "I'll search then."
Qiao Xi didn't have much in her bag, but she did bring the pen with her. She never expected Han Linlin to use a fake pen to frame her. This time, she really walked right into the line of fire.
A moment later, Han Linlin took the genuine product out of Qiao Xi's bag. With a triumphant look on her face, she held up the pen and said loudly, "Sure enough, it was you who took it!"
"You all saw it, she stole my pen." She hurriedly showed it to everyone in the class.
In this way, Qiao Xi's crime of being a thief is completely established.
Immediately, some students in the class joined in the jeering, saying, "The younger sister stole someone's boyfriend, and the older sister stole someone's pen. The whole family is shameless."
Someone even suggested to Qiu Yishi, "Class teacher, I suggest calling the police and having her arrested."
"Yes, we absolutely cannot let someone with such a dirty hand stay at Peking University!" The others echoed in agreement.
Seeing this, Han Linlin became even more arrogant, "Qiao Xi, I'll teach you to be stubborn. You just said that if I found my pen in your bag, you could do whatever you wanted with me. Now I want you..."
Before she could finish speaking, Qiao Xi interrupted her, "Wait a minute!"
All eyes immediately turned to Qiao Xi, who calmly gestured to Han Linlin and said, "Take a good look and see if this pen is really yours."
Zhu Wenli, the leader of Han Linlin's followers, did not hesitate to testify for Han Linlin, "I can testify that it was Han's pen."
Now that they have both witnesses and physical evidence, Qiao Xi is completely unable to defend herself.
"Qiao Xi, what else do you have to say?" Han Linlin's face was full of smugness.
Qiao Xi showed no sign of anxiety or panic. She calmly reminded her again, "Take another look."
"The new product launched by Jinghua Shijia this time is a benefit for members during the back-to-school season. There are 99 of these hand-painted fountain pens in total, and each pen has a number on it. Do you remember the number on your fountain pen?"
Upon hearing this, Han Linlin was taken aback. Of course she knew about the numbering, but she didn't expect Qiao Xi to know about it too!
Her pen was fake, and the serial number was fake too. She didn't even check the serial number carefully; she bought it purely to show off because she couldn't get the real thing.
Anyway, as long as she has this pen, no one who sees it will think it's fake, and if she can't even get the genuine one, then probably no one else can.
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