Let's go home together tomorrow.
"What, you can't take a joke, so you accuse me? I'm really impressed. You're just saying I posted it without any evidence?" Upon hearing this, Wang Shengli glared angrily at Jiang Jingshu.
"Wang Shengli, don't wait until you're facing death to shed your tears."
A pleasant voice came over, a stark contrast to Wang Shengli's furious voice.
Jiang Jingshu turned her head to look in the direction the sound came from. Xie Zhijin was sitting calmly in his seat, fiddling with something in his hand.
"Why are you everywhere?" Wang Shengli pointed at Xie Zhijin. "Mind your own business. What, were you the one with Jiang Jingshu at the hotel that day?"
Snap—
The sound of a slap rang out, and Xie Zhijin was stunned. An eerie silence fell over the classroom once more.
"You hit me again? Jiang Jingshu, are you a dog? You bite everyone you see." Wang Shengli still looked incredulous.
"You're the one who's everywhere, aren't you?" Xie Zhijin said, then threw the things in his hand at Jiang Jingshu.
Jiang Jingshu quickly caught it; in her hand was a small USB flash drive.
"What is this?" Jiang Jingshu looked at the USB drive in her hand. Xie Zhijin had already walked to Jiang Jingshu's side.
Xie Zhijin replied, "This is the video footage from the hotel's security camera."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jingshu looked up at Xie Zhijin and asked with great curiosity, "How did you get it?"
Xie Zhijin simply made a shushing gesture at her mysteriously.
Jiang Jingshu didn't linger and got up to walk towards her office.
In the office, Zhou Xiao was talking to Jiang Yuan. After Jiang Jingshu and Wang Shengli entered, Zhou Xiao spoke to Wang Shengli first.
"I've already called your dad over; he should be here soon."
"Why did you call my dad here? What proof do you have that it was me?"
Wang Shengli's words and expressions were utterly disgusting to Jiang Jingshu. As if he wouldn't admit it until he was faced with the truth, Jiang Jingshu pulled out a USB drive. "You still won't tell the truth?"
"Why say something you didn't do?" Wang Shengli looked at the USB drive in Jiang Jingshu's hand, a sense of guilt welling up inside him, but he still stubbornly spoke up.
Zhou Xiao quickly stopped the two from arguing, and Jiang Jingshu handed her the USB drive. "Since you insist on denying it, let's take a look at the surveillance footage."
Jiang Yuan sat in his seat, staring at Wang Shengli without saying a word.
The computer screen was showing the day's events.
A boy carrying a backpack walked to the hotel entrance, holding a girl's pink keychain in his hand. He looked around behind the trash can, and when no one was looking, he threw the keychain into the trash can and took out his phone to take many pictures.
Before leaving, he spat into the trash can in disgust.
The boy's face was clearly visible in the surveillance footage.
"The truth is out. I only have one question for you," Jiang Jingshu said, looking at Wang Shengli. "Besides my painting reminding you of your mother, what deep-seated hatred do we have?"
Considering that Jiang Yuan and Zhou Xiao were present, Wang Shengli did not provoke Jiang Jingshu with words as usual.
“You were indeed in the wrong. You should apologize to Jiang Jingshu,” Zhou Xiao said to Wang Shengli, acting as a peacemaker.
Wang Shengli looked at Zhou Xiao with considerable reluctance.
"No need." Seeing Wang Shengli's troubled expression, Jiang Jingshu waved her hand. "I have already preserved all the evidence. His number of reposts and clicks constitutes illegal behavior. Since he is unwilling to apologize, I will not force him."
After Jiang Jingshu finished speaking, she stared at Wang Shengli, seemingly trying to see a hint of remorse in his eyes. Unfortunately, Wang Shengli's eyes only held anger and resentment.
This was the first time Jiang Jingshu felt that the saying "If you blossom, the breeze will come" might be false; even the most outstanding person cannot avoid attracting extremely dark people.
Just then, the office door opened, and an elderly man with white hair walked in.
"Grandpa?" Wang Shengli exclaimed in disbelief, "Why is it you? Where's Dad?"
"You little brat, your dad's busy at work, he doesn't have time to come. What trouble have you gotten me into now? You brat." The old man pretended to be angry and pointed at Wang Shengli, then put on a smiling face and spoke to Zhou Xiao, "Teacher, what trouble has this brat caused you?"
The old man looked to be in poor health, and he walked slowly.
“Shengli, why don’t you talk to your grandfather yourself?” Zhou Xiao said, glancing at Wang Shengli.
Wang Shengli didn't say anything. The old man then walked up to Jiang Jingshu and asked, "Little girl, did my grandson bully you?"
Jiang Jingshu: ...
“Teacher, the reason I asked you to call the other party’s father here today was to discuss how to resolve the matter. Since he didn’t come, I’ll head back now and ask for a leave of absence for Xiaojing. She needs time to adjust after something like this happened.” Jiang Yuan, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up at the right moment. “I’ll leave the rest to you, teacher. This is no small matter, and I hope you can give my daughter a satisfactory explanation.”
The two left the office, and Jiang Jingshu went back to the classroom to pack her things.
When Su Xiaoyue saw Jiang Jingshu return to the classroom, she quickly came over and asked, "Jiang Jiang, how did it go? What did the teacher say?"
"Wang Shengli posted the message, and he also secretly left the items at the hotel entrance." Jiang Jingshu's voice was loud enough for everyone in the class to hear.
"Holy crap, he's actually that kind of person."
"How terrifying, to be classmates with someone like that."
"Jing Shu, I never expected you to be so wronged."
"From now on, I will protect you, Jiang Jingshu. No one will bully you anymore."
Jiang Jingshu couldn't help but sneer inwardly. She even felt that some of her classmates were just like the opportunistic palace servants.
The person who was secretly saying you were "immoral" behind your back just a second ago can act like nothing happened and say "I've always been behind you" the next second...
A burst of snickering suddenly came from behind me.
Jiang Jingshu turned around, and Xie Zhijin was standing behind her.
"Thank you for providing the surveillance footage. How did you get it?" Jiang Jingshu asked him.
"Well..." Xie Zhijin glanced at the time, then looked at Jiang Jingshu and said to her, "Shall we go home together after school?"
"But I have to leave soon."
Hearing Jiang Jingshu's words, Su Xiaoyue immediately deflated. "What! Does that mean I have to eat alone again? Jiang Jiang—" Seeing Su Xiaoyue's pitiful appearance, Jiang Jingshu was secretly pleased. She gently patted Su Xiaoyue's head. "Okay, I'll come tomorrow."
Su Xiaoyue nodded pitifully.
After saying that, Jiang Jingshu looked at Xie Zhijin again, "Then, shall we go home together tomorrow?"
Xie Zhijin waved his hand dismissively, "Then tomorrow."
Let's go home together tomorrow.
—
When Jiang Jingshu returned home, Jiang Yuan poured her a glass of water and gestured for her to sit down. "I'm sorry, Xiao Jing."
Jiang Jingshu looked up in confusion, "Why are you saying sorry?"
“You must have been tormenting yourself for a long time before you finally said it,” Jiang Yuan said, looking out the window at the weather. “It was my fault for not noticing your mistake, and I’m also sorry to your mother.”
It seemed to be the first time she had heard Jiang Yuan mention the word "mother." She looked up, and another sentence settled in her heart.
"I will never travel for such a long time again."
Not wanting to continue with sentimental talk, Jiang Jingshu changed the subject, "Why did you suddenly decide to ask for leave for me?"
"You must have been under a lot of pressure these past few days. It would be good to go home and relax, wouldn't it?"
"It's quite good." Jiang Jingshu quietly took a sip of water.
"Xiao Jing, about what you said about calling the police yesterday..." Jiang Yuan was interrupted by Jiang Jingshu before he could finish speaking.
"I know."
"You know?" Jiang Yuan, who was struggling to find the right words, couldn't help but look at Jiang Jingshu.
"What if I insist on reporting it?"
The girl's eyes were full of determination. A simple "I'm sorry" cannot erase all the harm. If saying "I'm sorry" after killing someone could make everything alright, then what is the point of the saying "a life for a life"?
Even though Jiang Jingshu felt that the elderly people who came to the school were unsteady on their feet and in poor health, this could not cover up the fact that she had been hurt.
Previously, I was bullied and powerless to fight back, but now I clearly have the means to retaliate.
Why not seek justice for yourself?
Even though they were victims themselves.
She thought that Jiang Yuan would reject her suggestion with reasons such as "the other party is still a child, it would be bad if things got too ugly," but Jiang Jingshu didn't expect to hear an unexpected answer.
"Can."
Seemingly incredulous, Jiang Jingshu repeated, "What?"
“As your father, I support all your decisions, especially since you are the victim.” Jiang Yuan stood up. “I can go with you to the police station, but the boy is a minor and he won’t be severely punished. You need to be prepared for that.”
Jiang Jingshu nodded. "I'm not the only girl who's good at drawing. If he can treat me like this, he'll treat others the same way. Only if this incident blows up will he remember this day when he does something like this again. At the very least, he'll remember how worried his frail grandfather was about him."
That afternoon, the two went to the police station to report the case.
Jiang Jingshu handed over all the evidence to the police, including the surveillance footage at the hotel entrance, the poster's account, the comments under the post, and the number of reposts.
The police officer, a man in his forties, looked at Jiang Jingshu when he saw that the perpetrator of the illegal act was a minor male. "Is this poster a minor?"
Jiang Jingshu nodded.
"Do your school teachers know about this?"
Jiang Jingshu nodded again.
"Have you already tried mediation?" the police officer asked Jiang Yuan. "Are you sure you don't want mediation and want to go through legal proceedings?"
“I don’t need to see my father, I’m sure. And I will not accept mediation.”
The police officer looked at Jiang Jingshu and nodded. "Your evidence is very strong. The police have accepted your case and will investigate the situation thoroughly in the next couple of days."
The matter was handled smoothly. After reporting the case, Jiang Yuan took Jiang Jingshu out for a meal.
This was Jiang Jingshu's first time eating out since arriving in the modern world. She ordered a bowl of tomato and egg noodles.
The food outside was indeed not as good as Jiang Yuan's cooking. Jiang Jingshu could tell from the first bite. She said, "This is not as good as yours."
Hearing this, Jiang Yuan felt very happy and ordered another steamer of buns, saying, "I'll have Dad make them for you next time."
While they were eating, Jiang Jingshu suddenly asked, "Dad, how do you think this matter will be resolved in the end?"
"The police will see the boy's attitude. If he has a good attitude, they might ask him if he wants to accept mediation."
"Oh, what if I don't want mediation?" Jiang Jingshu took a bite of her steamed bun and asked Jiang Yuan.
"Then we'll follow the procedures. But he's a minor, so we'll probably just give him a talking-to and have the school give him a disciplinary record or something."
Jiang Jingshu ate quietly.
That's enough, Jiang Jingshu was thinking when her phone rang.
It was a string of unfamiliar numbers.
Jiang Jingshu didn't answer immediately, so Jiang Yuan asked, "Who called?"
Jiang Jingshu didn't have the habit of answering calls from unknown numbers. "Is this a sales call?" she said, and hung up immediately.
A while later, the same phone number dialed again.
This time, Jiang Jingshu did not hesitate and quickly answered the phone.
Who is it?
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