Chapter 19: The Truth Comes to Light
“Mom, what did the police say?” asked Qin Lu.
Li Xin gently patted Qin Lu’s head. “He’s been arrested. He’ll get at least three years.”
“No, I mean about the person who saved me. How did the school handle it? Did they clear things up? He’s being criticized by many people at school because he saved me. I don’t mind if others know about this, but I can’t let him face trouble for no reason. He saved me – how can I repay kindness with harm?”
“Lu Lu, your teacher has already messaged me. They’ll provide an explanation while protecting your privacy. The school will reveal that Liu Xingfa attempted to assault an unnamed female student, and Xu was involved in a fight with Liu Xingfa because he was saving that unnamed student. The school’s official statement is that you were affected because your boyfriend did such things, and combined with Liu Xingfa’s long-term emotional manipulation, the mental pressure became too much.”
Qin Lu murmured, “That’s good, that’s good.” She would have been fine even if the school hadn’t kept things private.
“Lu Lu, Mom knows the pressure was too much. It’s my fault. In a few days, I’ll go to school to process your leave of absence. We can go travel and relax.”
She realized she had placed all her expectations on Qin Lu, pushing her to study without ever asking about her feelings or thoughts. Now she understood that grades weren’t as important as Qin Lu’s happiness.
Qin Lu shook her head. “I’m fine, Mom. I’ll go back to school after some time.”
“Alright, Lu Lu. You can go back when you want to.”
During evening self-study, the school’s announcement quickly reached each class.
Li Jie looked at the students bent over their work and cleared her throat. “Put down your pens for a moment. I have something to announce.”
She held up a paper. “This is a disciplinary notice, and it’s about a very serious incident involving someone from our class.”
School disciplinary notices were common, usually read by homeroom teachers to warn students against similar behavior.
Yao Feng’an and Yu Xiao both knew about this matter and watched her paper with different thoughts.
“Student Liu Xingfa from Class 7 has seriously violated both law and school discipline with attempted rape. Due to the extremely negative impact, school leadership has unanimously decided to expel him.”
The announcement stunned Class 7. The person they had been pitying had done such a terrible thing.
Li Jie continued, “I’ve also heard some false rumors. Some say Qin Lu attempted suicide because of Xu Si, claiming Xu Si bullied students. These are all false. The truth is, if it weren’t for Xu Si and his two friends, that girl would have been ruined. As for Student Qin, her grades were affected because she was dating Liu Xingfa, and the pressure became too much. Plus, when Liu Xingfa did such a terrible thing to someone else, she couldn’t handle it emotionally. While we don’t recommend dating in high school, I must add – girls in our class, please be careful when choosing boyfriends in the future.”
The Class 7 students were restless but couldn’t discuss openly with Li Jie at the podium.
Meanwhile, in Class 17…
Fang Zixin stood at the podium and addressed the class: “I have something to announce.”
The students put down their pens and looked up at him.
After clearing his throat, Fang Zixin began: “A student from Class 7 has committed a serious violation – attempted rape. School leadership has unanimously decided to expel him.”
“What the hell?” “Attempted rape?” “Just days ago he was playing victim, saying our Si-ge bullied him.” “Disgusting.”
The class buzzed with discussion until Fang Zixin tapped the desk. “Let me finish.”
Looking at the expressionless young man sitting in the back, Fang Zixin smiled slightly. “We also want to commend three students – Xu Si, Yang Shikun, and Hao Ming – for their brave intervention. If not for these three, that girl would have been ruined.”
Yang Shikun wanted to rush to Class 7 and throw the disciplinary notice in the faces of those who accused Xu Si of bullying, to show them who the real bully was.
Fang Zixin continued, “But Liu Xingfa didn’t just do this. He was dating his classmate Qin Lu and constantly manipulating her, always putting her down. Then he did this terrible thing, causing Qin severe emotional trauma. You really can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“I knew Si-ge wouldn’t hit him without reason.” “Damn.” “I’m so angry. I argued with some idiot from Class 7 today who said our Si-ge drove that girl to attempt suicide. I wanted to punch them. It was clearly because of that bastard Liu Xingfa. What does it have to do with our Si-ge?” “That poor girl.” “Really want to give each of those barking idiots a slap in the face.”
The last comment came from Yang Shikun, remembering how Liu Xingfa had provoked Xu Si in the cafeteria before playing innocent.
Xu Si remained expressionless, briefly pausing when Fang Zixin mentioned these events, then returned to his work.
Fang Zixin watched the chaotic classroom without trying to maintain order. The news had shocked everyone – it was natural they needed to discuss it. His gaze returned to the casual, cold-faced young man in the back. He seemed indifferent to everything. His features made him look intimidating, and sometimes his face bore injuries that added to his rebellious appearance. But as the previous homeroom teacher had said, he wasn’t a bad person.
Yang Shikun turned to Xu Si: “That idiot Liu Xingfa got away with too much for too long. Finally the truth’s out. I was so angry when people were blindly accusing you these past few days.”
Xu Si replied flatly, “I don’t live in their mouths.”
Yang Shikun knew Xu Si didn’t care, but he still got very angry hearing people talk about Xu Si.
While Xu Si was looking down at his phone, he heard someone softly call his name.
He looked up. “What is it?”
“This isn’t really how the school described it, is it?”
Xu Si looked at her with interest. “What do you mean?”
“How would Qin know what Liu did? It’s strange.”
When Jiang Qiao spoke, her expression was very serious.
Xu Si: “Couldn’t she have accidentally seen it?”
“There are too many holes in the story.”
Jiang Qiao added, “But I know the school did this to protect her.”
Xu Si caught her meaning and smiled slightly. “Pretty clever.”
He had forgotten – the good student used to be one of the school’s top performers.
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