Chapter 20 Applying Pressure
If Meng Er wasn't the one who caused the trouble, then how did this incident happen?
Several boys, heavily bandaged, insisted that it was Meng Er who attacked them, without a doubt. They had attended the school assembly and could not possibly have mistaken him for someone else.
Besides, she has a student ID!
"Oh! You mean this student ID card?"
Lian Yi smiled and held up the card, gently twirling the rather high-quality card in her hand.
"I found it on the road. I was just about to return it to its owner when I happened to run into them. Maybe that's what they misunderstood."
The grade director in charge of questioning the boys about the situation frowned and said, "According to them, you admitted that you were Meng Er at the time. You need to understand the seriousness of this matter. What exactly happened at the time, and why did you impersonate a student of this school?"
“If you refuse to contact your parents or inform us of the school you attend, then we will have no choice but to call the police. I believe you do not want to face this outcome.”
Representatives from the students' families came to visit; some were parents, while others were secretaries or assistants.
But each of them was more assertive than the last. After all, it was rare for them to be called to the school, especially since it wasn't their own child who had hit someone, but rather someone who had been hit very badly. This gave them a strange sense of pride and satisfaction.
A thorough investigation is necessary!
"I've made myself very clear."
Lian Yi said listlessly, "They somehow started fighting amongst themselves. The two girls were afraid they would get out of control and make the situation worse, so they took coercive measures."
"Hey, you can check the security footage."
The grade head's face darkened. Unfortunately, this was not a student of Jingyun at all, and showed no fear whatsoever that a student should have towards a teacher.
He glanced at the vice principal, who nodded slightly, and then said to Lian Yi, "Okay, I'll go and retrieve the surveillance footage."
The girl's name was Zhen Qiuyue. She was a top student in science. After the grade director came in and gave a general report on the situation to the vice principal, she tried to explain several times, but was always interrupted by the grade director and Lian Yi.
After that, the two engaged in a back-and-forth exchange of questions, with Zhen Qiuyue unable to get a word in edgewise.
She glanced at the vice principal, then couldn't help but walk over to Lian Yi and whisper, "I can testify too, so why did you interrupt me just now?"
Even if Lian Yi goes too far later, she will try her best to explain for Lian Yi, and it is only right to share the consequences.
Lian Yi looked up at her, then chuckled.
"you?"
"If you can still stick to this idea later, then you can be a witness. Say whatever you want."
The vice principal frowned slightly and tapped the table. "This student seems to have a somewhat negative view of our school."
“Vice Principal He is indeed sharp.” Lian Yi smiled. “The bravery and valor of your students has truly broadened my horizons and taught me a lesson: such things can be done even in places where surveillance cameras can see them.”
"Isn't it normal for people to do whatever they want in places where the surveillance cameras can't see?"
She made no attempt to hide her mockery, even when facing the vice principal.
The vice principal stared at her for a while, then said to Zhen Qiuyue, "Zhen, why don't you go out and see the school doctor for some psychological counseling? We'll need you to talk to the teacher about the specifics of what happened later."
Zhen Qiuyue didn't move. Although she usually devoted herself to her books, she vaguely sensed that the vice principal wanted to get rid of her.
Subconsciously, I didn't want to leave Lianyi alone here to face the pressure.
"Go ahead." Vice Principal He's eyes showed a hint of helplessness.
Lian Yi urged impatiently, "Go on, didn't you see your principal is about to say it outright?"
"……oh."
Hearing her nonchalant attitude, which seemed completely unaffected, Zhen Qiuyue felt somewhat relieved.
Wait until the door is closed.
Vice Principal He looked at Lian Yi with a serious expression and said, "I know that you may distrust Jing Yun because of this incident, but I hope you understand—"
“A group is bound to have corrupt elements, and as a school leader, my attitude is that I will never tolerate them.”
"Perhaps you are confident that you can handle and resolve this, but you must understand that if there is no solid evidence to prove that one party is at fault, then the school's handling of the matter can only be to blame both sides equally."
She paused, then spoke almost as if discussing something with an equal: "Whether it's Zhen Qiuyue who just walked out of here, or Meng Er who was implicated by your student card."
"The school will take appropriate action."
Lian Yi squinted as she listened to her finish speaking, and soon she was able to discern the key point from her words, which combined soft and hard tactics.
She smiled indifferently. "Vice Principal He, should I take this as moral blackmail or a threat?"
Vice Principal He shook his head and said, "No, I'm just informing you in advance of the consequences if you continue to treat this matter with this distrust."
"In that case, let's do it your way."
Lian Yi stood up, a smile playing on her lips. "Anyway, I'm just here in Hecheng for a trip. What they do has nothing to do with me. I just hope your school will think carefully before making this decision."
"Hmm... take this as a friendly reminder."
Vice Principal He frowned slightly. "I believe that with your experience, you must understand that what I just said was not a threat. Even so, are you still insisting on this?"
In fact, she was able to guess the whole story as soon as she was notified by the security department and when the surveillance footage was sent over.
Bullying among students is almost impossible to eradicate.
They are able to prevent such practices from becoming widespread, and once discovered, they will be dealt with severely. Jingyun even dares to admit that they are a school that does a good enough job in this regard.
Sometimes, some forms of invisible bullying are simply impossible to stop. More often than not, even the victims dare not speak out, and even when teachers ask them questions, they may even explain the situation to the perpetrators.
They were also helpless.
The biggest problem now is that the surveillance footage at the scene of the incident mysteriously disappeared shortly after the girl appeared.
As a result, the final video showed the girl having a conversation with them that didn't seem to be in any conflict.
What exactly happened after that? Currently, both sides have conflicting accounts, and the school administration and student council members held a meeting, with their main demand being to characterize the incident as a dispute between the students involved.
In order not to affect the 50th anniversary celebration and to avoid trouble from the parents of those boys, they chose to deal with these boys in a less serious manner as a way to appease them.
The question then becomes who will ultimately take the blame.
Or perhaps, it's not really a problem.
Vice Principal He felt an increasing headache as he looked at Lian Yi's sly and nonchalant expression.
-
Zhen Qiuyue was a carefree person. The school doctor asked her several questions with gentle concern, and in the end she answered them almost blankly.
His face was a mask of expressions that said, "I'm fine," "I'm okay," and "What's wrong?"
To put it simply, she's a bit stubborn. Once she's made up her mind about something, she won't easily change it. Just like when she thought Lian Yi would be persecuted in the vice principal's office, when the school doctor dragged her around asking questions, her mind was filled with images of Lian Yi being interrogated by the notoriously cold-faced Vice Principal He.
Finally, the school doctor agreed to let her go, and Zhen Qiuyue jumped up from the chair and dashed out of the temporarily requisitioned office.
As Zhen Qiuyue walked through the Western-style classical corridor, she first heard a very noisy argument.
"Our CEO, Mr. Li, has always respected Jingyun's academic style and teaching attitude, but this incident is really too bad. I don't agree with the conclusion that it is just a dispute between students."
“I’ve never hit my son since he was a child! If your school doesn’t hand over the student who did this, I’m telling you, this isn’t over!”
"Hmph, students these days are getting more and more outrageous. It seems I really need to call my boss in the bureau and see if you've been using the funds allocated to you this year for teaching and nurturing students!"
"If you don't hand over the student who committed the assault, you can see what tomorrow's newspapers will say!"
Zhen Qiuyue turned pale with fright and hopped up a flight of stairs in a few steps.
Before reaching the vice principal's office, we passed a room with its door half-open, from which we could faintly hear the grade director's voice, which was no longer as calm as before.
"...Can the bottom be repaired?"
"Director! Please stop rushing us. The loss of surveillance footage might be a hardware problem."
Zhen Qiuyue crept to the door, adjusted her glasses, and cautiously peered inside.
The grade headmaster, with one hand on his lower back and the other on the table, looked at the screen with some anxiety.
Next to him was a boy sitting on a sofa chair, with a laptop in front of him. The screen was filled with various boxes, displaying lines of characters that made Zhen Qiuyue dizzy.
The boy scratched his head, and he could vaguely feel the traces left by the other person.
Clearly, the man hadn't expected the school to hire such a skilled individual as him to waste his talents restoring the surveillance footage.
I didn't say anything because the grade head next to me was really annoying. He didn't understand anything but kept asking questions, and then pretended to suddenly realize something and said "Oh."
Excitement flashed in the boy's eyes, and he suddenly started typing furiously on the keyboard. He was more interested in catching the person than restoring the surveillance footage.
Just as he was about to press a key to execute a command, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he forcibly rubbed his finger across that key.
The head of the grade, who had been watching closely, asked in confusion, "Why did you stop?"
"No, no, no, no." The boy suddenly shook his head, his previous excitement gone, and reached out to close the computer.
Although the grade head was old, he was quick-witted and sharp-eyed. He could easily see that the boy had stopped just before the kick was finished.
With his keen understanding of students' psychology, he immediately grasped the idea and suddenly reached out and pressed the button that the boy had just pressed.
"ah?"
"ah??"
The boy was stunned.
The head of the grade smiled, pleased with his own keen insight.
He looked at the dumbfounded boy and sighed, "I know that kids your age sometimes have moments of loyalty, but this time the situation is different; the nature of this is far too egregious."
"I'll just pretend I didn't see it this time."
"no……"
The boy stared blankly at the pixelated puppy that had quietly appeared on his screen, swallowed hard, and asked, "Director, do you think... I'm being loyal?"
The head of the grade was taken aback, his gaze falling on the pixelated puppy on his screen, before he chuckled and said, "What's wrong? This little animation is quite cute."
How about we get this kid to make a children's smartwatch for his granddaughter too?
"yes……"
The boy said dejectedly, "Isn't it cute? Now all the computers in this building have this cute little gadget."
Before the head of the grade could react and speak, the pixelated puppy suddenly transformed into a muscular creature, rampaging across the boys' screens, with animations of icons shattering appearing one after another.
Finally, as the pixelated giant dog grinned, revealing its jagged teeth, the screen snapped to show the grade headmaster's weathered face and sparse head.
The boy was still muttering in a daze, "It's all gone...it's all gone..."
-
This was the second time that Vice Principal He had felt helpless and frustrated when facing an eighteen-year-old girl.
She even thought that Meng Er's cold and indifferent manner of speaking and expression was actually quite good.
Unlike this little girl, who sits by the window, looking at the sweet smiles and carefree, peaceful life, but as soon as she opens her mouth, the words that come out of her mouth sound quite different.
But he couldn't stand close scrutiny. Whenever he thought about it even slightly, Vice Principal He felt he was about to lose control of his anger.
If it weren't for her holding her back, this little girl would be facing a group of unreasonable, wolf-like adults right now!
But she could only keep her anger inside.
Vice Principal He gripped his pen tightly as he listened to Lian Yi suddenly laugh and remark that Jingyun was beautiful and well-landscaped, but he wondered if mosquitoes and rodents were also thriving in the shadows.
She tried her best to maintain an imposing expression, but suddenly regretted her decision to send Zhen Qiuyue away.
When Zhen Qiuyue pushed open the door with a heavy heart, Vice Principal He silently breathed a sigh of relief. Before the young girl could even greet him, he gave her an awkward smile.
"You're back. How did it go?"
Zhen Qiuyue paused for a moment, then said, "No problem. Um, Principal He... may I speak with her alone?"
She looked at Vice Principal He somewhat nervously. Seeing this reaction, Vice Principal He, who could see through the girl's thoughts at a glance, finally felt that she was in control of the situation. She did not agree immediately.
"Young man, would you like to hear what she has to say?" Vice Principal He asked, "Or are you planning to meet with those students' parents directly first?"
This was her final choice for Lian Yi.
Although the teachers sent by the school to talk to them, and even those male and female students, all started by saying that the nature of the incident was serious, the school's real intention was to cut the Gordian knot quickly.
This matter must be resolved as quickly as possible with minimal losses. It must not be allowed to escalate, and the school's reputation must not be affected in the slightest.
Vice Principal He didn't look at Zhen Qiuyue; she knew that only now did the girl sitting by the window understand her meaning.
If the other party persists, then she, along with Zhen Qiuyue, will later face the emotional outbursts of students' parents, while simultaneously receiving the final vote from a meeting convened by Jingyun School.
Lian Yi turned her head and looked down at Vice Principal He. Her face, backlit and shrouded in shadow, made her amber pupils seem to shimmer with a dark gold light.
"Of course I'd rather see what kind of person could produce such a scumbag."
She slightly curled the corners of her mouth, and the smile that appeared gave off a mischievous and cunning air, as if a prank was about to succeed.
That's right, things only become interesting when they escalate.
Jingyun wanted to cover Zhen Qiuyue's mouth, and that was fine.
But what if I want her to speak a little quieter?
It's a real shame that they still don't understand her; she's always been one to stir up trouble.
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