Chapter 16: Police Involvement
Yang Shikun was shocked when he heard from the student in front of him about a suicide attempt. “Which class?” he asked.
The female student replied, “Class 7. I heard she used to be a good student, but her grades have been slipping lately. Maybe the pressure got to her.”
Yang Shikun nudged Xu Si, who was playing with his phone. “Brother Si, a girl from Class 7 attempted suicide.”
Xu Si’s fingers froze on his phone screen, then he turned it off. “Class 7?”
“Yes, Class 7, Brother Si.”
They exchanged glances, and Xu Si confirmed his suspicion – it must be the girl from a few days ago.
The hallway was crowded with people, and an ambulance was parked outside the school. Fang Zixin had also heard about the incident and felt troubled. He saw students standing at the door: “Stop looking, class is starting. Come in quickly.”
The students gradually filed back into the classroom.
“Students, if you have any pressures or troubles, you must talk to your teachers, parents, or friends. Don’t keep things bottled up – it can lead to serious problems.”
Xu Si and his friends knew very well that it wasn’t about academic pressure. It was clearly because of that incident that had caused her psychological trauma, leaving an indelible shadow on her mind.
Qin Lu was saved.
She opened her eyes to see the white hospital room. Li Xin’s eyes were swollen from crying when she saw her daughter wake up. “Why did you suddenly cut your wrist? Are you stupid? Didn’t it hurt?”
The nurse quietly reminded her: “The patient just woke up and might be emotionally unstable. It’s better not to upset her.”
Qin Lu stared blankly at the ceiling, then looked at her bandaged hand. She hadn’t died – she had been saved again.
After some time, she called out “Mom.”
Li Xin held her hand: “Mom’s here. I won’t force you to study anymore. I just wanted you to study well and get into a good school for a better future. I never thought I was putting so much pressure on you.”
Qin Lu shook her head: “It’s not because of that.”
“Then what is it? Tell me, I’m your mother.”
Qin Lu pressed her lips together as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Are you being bullied at school? I can talk to the teachers.”
“No.”
Originally, Xu Si saving her was a good deed, but he ended up bearing false rumors because of her situation. She gathered her courage and spoke: “I need to tell you something. You might get angry and feel I’ve brought shame to you, but I must say it.”
After hearing Qin Lu’s story, Li Xin trembled with tears and hugged her daughter on the hospital bed. “Are you stupid? Why didn’t you tell me when something like this happened? Why didn’t you tell mom?”
Qin Lu replied: “I was going to tell you, but when you insisted I go to school, I changed my mind.”
Li Xin felt so regretful she wanted to strangle herself. The anger in her chest was almost burning her whole being. “I want to tear him apart for daring to do this to my daughter.”
“If those three boys hadn’t come then, I would have been…”
Li Xin’s heart ached terribly, constantly blaming herself for not listening to her daughter that day.
“Mom, do you think I’ve brought shame to you?”
“How could this be your fault? It’s clearly his fault. I’m going to report this to the police. How can that beast still be sitting in class while my daughter is lying in a hospital bed? Why? Why hasn’t he received the punishment he deserves?”
“Mom, won’t you feel ashamed if we go to the police?”
“Silly child, don’t think about that. Get some rest.”
Shortly after the ambulance left, police cars arrived. Police sirens echoed throughout the campus. Everyone was curious about what had happened at school to involve the police.
A man in police uniform suddenly came to Class 17 and asked: “Is Xu Si here?”
Fang Zixin was teaching when he saw the police and was startled. He called out: “Someone’s looking for you outside.”
Xu Si maintained his sleepy appearance as he stood up from his seat and walked out.
Yang Shikun and Hao Ming guessed what was happening and followed Xu Si, telling Fang Zixin: “We’ll go too.”
“Hey…” Fang Zixin called out, then sighed and told the class: “Let’s continue with the lesson.”
The police officer looked at the three young men who walked in and pointed to some chairs: “Sit down.”
Xu Si glanced at Liu Xingfa, then sat down.
“Were you three witnesses at the time?”
Xu Si responded with a “mm.”
“Briefly describe what happened.”
Xu Si spoke in a calm, steady voice: “We were passing by the playground when we heard sounds. Then suddenly someone screamed for help, so we broke down the door.”
He looked at Liu Xingfa and continued: “We saw him trying to assault a female student and he had taken inappropriate photos of her.”
The police officer nodded and wrote down his statement, which matched what the girl’s parent had reported.
Liu Xingfa righteously declared: “Officer, they’re clearly framing me. I never did those things to that girl. We barely interact in class – how could I do something like that? Besides, I spend all my free time studying. I don’t have time for such things.”
The police had heard similar things from Class 7’s homeroom teacher – the two students indeed rarely interacted, and Liu Xingfa was an excellent student. The officer asked him: “Then how do you explain the victim’s report that you tried to assault her and took inappropriate photos?”
Liu Xingfa pointed at Xu Si: “He’s always getting into fights and causing trouble. He clearly threatened Qin Lu, which led to her suicide attempt. Plus, they beat me up – all the injuries on my face were caused by them. This has nothing to do with me.”
Liu Xingfa was expert at playing the good student role. When Xu Si had deleted the photos from his phone earlier, there was no evidence to prove what happened. As long as he denied everything, without evidence, they couldn’t do anything to him.
Yang Shikun laughed at his ability to twist the truth: “Liu Xingfa, why are you acting like such a hypocrite? You know exactly what you did. Now you’re playing the good student role.”
Liu Xingfa pretended to be scared and moved back in his chair: “The police are here, you can’t hurt me.”
Xu Si couldn’t be bothered arguing with him and said calmly: “I have evidence.”
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