CH 98

Zhou Yuan didn’t come back for four morning classes. Miaomiao was still a little concerned, especially when she called him, only to find his mobile phone inside his desk.

Although she knew that Zhou Yuan wouldn’t get into any trouble, and that he was far more experienced and intelligent than she was, the emotional part of her couldn’t help but worry for his safety.

Zhou Yuan still did not return. Miaomiao was called to the principal’s office.

The principal had a serious expression, and of course, Hua Miaomiao knew in her heart that they wouldn’t dare do anything to her, due to the incident that took place at school. Her mother also took her side and supported her as well.

Hua Miaomiao sat down, “Principal?”

The image of her elementary school principal. That old man looked a little intimidating and pugnacious, but he indulged in conversation and frolicked with elementary school students, and he donned the same black shirt every day. Compared to the principal before her, he was a saint.

The principal mouthed, “Hua Miaomiao. You’re the third-best student in our school. No, you’re the third-best student in the city. You should understand the saying ‘rumors stop at the wise’. Did you post that rumor in the forum?”

A moment of speechlessness overwhelmed Miaomiao. Clearly, they believed that she was spreading malevolent rumors on the forum to damage the school’s reputation due to her behavior in the playground and the fact that she didn’t delete any posts. However, Miaomiao quickly regained her bearings and responded, “Principal. There’s one thing I agree with from today’s speech. We have to solve the problem with swift alacrity. The school should do the same. Don’t look for the person who brought up this issue. I might look like some naive, childish student who doesn’t know the ways of the world but trust me, most people observing this are just like me. They could clearly feel that something is wrong; no, they know that something is wrong.”

Clearly, the school approached her to fix this issue. Although she wasn’t sure why the school wanted her to start spreading some rumors, she assumed that they probably wanted her to spread some rumors that made their school look good.

Even though anger festered in Miaomiao’s heart, she had also experienced many things that told her that getting angry wasn’t a wise decision. 

The principal allowed her to leave. He had a sullen face because her refusal to obey his wishes had angered him.

Miaomiao politely said, “Okay.”

When she traversed out, she noticed some students from ther class awaiting her departure from the principal’s office.

“Class president, you finally came out!”

“Aren’t you aggravated by all of this?”

“We posted on the Internet…”

Miaomiao: “…”

The principal called Miaomiao to his office, and the others rushed over, fearing that something dreadful would happen to her. While they wouldn’t dare break down the door to the office, they still remained outside, awaiting the principal’s judgment.

Miaomiao was touched by her classmates and felt that they were kind of adorable. At most, the principal would lecture her and yell at her, but anything more than this was unlikely. If they lectured her too much and if she decided to jump to her death due to the frequent harassment, it would result in some problems for the school’s image.

When they realized that the principal was talking about their posts on the Internet, they immediately checked their mobile phones.

The netizens were already labeling the school leaders as reactionaries, plutocrats, or authoritarians who cared more about money and reputation than for people.

The school’s official Weibo account posted a message, and instead of likes, there were thousands of angry comments, expletives and obscenities being hurled at the school. 

The classmates also chimed in, “If they call the class president again, we’ll expose their wrongdoings with haste.”

“By the way, that stupid class is so shameless. They’re checking who posted, and they turned their entire dormitory upside down attempting to look for the poster.”

“If I were the poster, I wouldn’t allow myself to be discovered so easily. If they found me and started to pester me, it would probably be far too late anyway.”

She surmised that the school leaders suspected her of posting those messages; therefore, the rest of their aggrieved class might suspect her as well.

Professional backstabbing. But it didn’t matter. She attended a different class from them, so even if they wanted to bully her, they would have little to no success.

The Education Bureau also didn’t stir or make any comment. Miaomiao walked with her classmates back to the classroom. Youth was a passionate time in one’s life. While walking, a classmate saw a message on the Internet stating that the school offered 600,000 yuan in compensation to the victim’s family members, and the family has agreed not to pursue this matter further.

Earlier this morning, everyone was still discussing this matter, but now it had slowly ebbed away.

Miaomiao mouthed, “Let’s go back and read; we can definitely solve this problem.”

Miaomiao had no idea how to solve this problem since she often only dealt with minor problems in class.

As she contemplated this, she thought of Zhou Yuan once again. In contrast, Zhou Yuan had more experience dealing with people. He had experienced more in his life.

But she was incognizant of his whereabouts.

When she returned to the classroom, Zhou Yuan was sitting quietly near the windowsill. He raised his gaze to peer at them. Rain still pattered against the windows. Due to the darkness in the room, they found it hard to see the expression on his face. His gaze slowly roamed about and drifted from the other students before finally landing on Miaomiao.

Miaomiao let out a sigh of relief and walked to her seat. She sat down and said, ” You shocked me. You deserted me without saying a single word. You also didn’t take your phone with you.”

Zhou Yuan took the phone from the desk and said, “I was in a hurry, so I forgot to bring my phone. Next time, I won’t forget to bring it with me.”

They conversed in small talk, but this bit of information surprised Miaomiao. She was a little embarrassed because she received a solemn pledge from him, coupled with an apology.

“Anyways, I’ll bring my phone with me when I head outside in the future.” Miaomiao sat next to him, but she didn’t ask him about where he went, for it was his own private issue.

Zhou Yuan asked, “Are you still worried about that girl?”

Miaomiao hummed in assent. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how to handle this quandary.

“I spoke with the principal today. Apparently, they want to cover this up. Is that boy’s family powerful?” Miaomiao pondered.

Zhou Yuan gave a bottle of yogurt to Miaomiao, “It isn’t about whether his family is powerful or not, but rather the school’s leaders don’t want to admit that they’re wrong. They would rather bribe somebody to fix the problem than confess their errors and face the consequences. They probably think they could cover it up like in the old days when they could cover up an incident such as this one with a few words.”

Miaomiao sighed.

The adults’ problems were so complicated.

He continued, “Don’t fret. Something will probably happen tomorrow.”

His mother worked for the Education Bureau; therefore, he convinced her to look into this matter. School officials had always used the excuse that the victim was under a lot of stress or that they were too fragile to shift the blame elsewhere, which was why she had committed suicide. However, they never elaborated on what they meant.

Normally, the school would report such incidents to the Education Bureau. If they did not report it, some consequences would naturally follow.

Miaomiao thought Zhou Yuan was attempting to comfort her.

The burnishing rufescent glow of the late evening sun eventually darkened into the glorious violet of the night. Their evening self-study session had concluded, and they headed outside. But someone unexpectedly approached and accosted her.

Miaomiao walked out of the campus, and she noticed the other person. She recognized that face, but it was much paler than the one in the photograph. It was Tao Ming, the boy who harassed and bullied the poor girl.

She had seen photos of him on school forums and Weibo posts; therefore, she had some familiarity with him, but his reputation was infamous, and he almost carried a very gruesome and ghastly nimbus that one couldn’t see from the photos.

Miaomiao remained silent, but Zhou Yuan placed himself in front of her, shielding her from any possible threat.

The boy looked at Zhou Yuan; then, he asked, his question directed at both of them, “Did one of you post that rumor? Could we have a private conversation about it?”

Like the vast majority of people, Miaomiao’s first reaction to him was to despise him. She wanted to make the boy suffer the same pain as that girl.

But her curiosity overtook her as she wanted to hear what he had to say, so she agreed to have a private parley with him. Zhou Yuan wouldn’t allow her to go alone, so he accompanied her.

They walked to the back of the school. They walked to the place where the girl had jumped down from the building.

Miaomiao wasn’t afraid. She found it strange. She felt somewhat fearful yesterday, but today she didn’t even feel a trifle of fear. Like Zhou Yuan said – the human fear was far more terrifying than ghosts, gods, and other supernatural phenomena.

“Do you have her mobile phone?” Tao Ming asked.

Actually – Miaomiao didn’t have anything at all. The school officials wanted her to delete the post to keep this incident under wraps, but Miaomiao opposed the teachers and didn’t delete any messages. Because of her defiance, everyone believed that she had posted it.

As she was following him, Miaomiao felt as if this person had a terrible mental state, so she couldn’t help but hold Zhou Yuan’s hand.

“So what if I have it with me!” Miaomiao shrieked, “I won’t give it to you.”

The boy looked a little restless, and he ruffled his hair in vexation, “She did it on purpose, I  confessed my feelings to her …… I really liked her …… I was ready to go to a university with her …… I really like her …… obviously, she likes me too ……”

His words shined a light on something. The post repeated a phrase over and over again. Ji Hao said numerous times that it was enough to last three years of high school. There was only one year left before she could leave.

Miaomiao believed that Tao Ming’s incessant harassment led to Ji Hao’s extreme despondent, which led her to take her own life.

She now knew that that wasn’t the main reason. She endured it for so long because she believed that it was enough to survive those past three years; therefore, she persisted in that way.

But when she heard everyone hurling insults and slanderous statements at her, she just dealt with it. No matter how many execrations and maledictions she had received, she could endure it due to her belief that she would be free when she graduated from this cesspool of a high school and entered university.

A feeling of sorrow swirled in Miaomiao’s heart. She had suffered so much in his hellhole.

If she had survived one more day, she could’ve…

Miaomiao’s hands and feet were a trifle softer, and she couldn’t help but lean on Zhou Yuan. She then looked at the boy who claimed to like Ji Hao, but he kept slandering her, belittling her character. She opened her mouth and said, “No, she doesn’t like you. She’s no longer of this world due to little pricks such as yourself. She just wanted to get through three years of high school, but you and your posse took that away from her.” 

Miaomiao dragged Zhou Yuan away and deserted the boy, ignoring any and all protests from him.

Miaomiao found this situation absurd and grotesque. Miaomiao went onto the forum and posted anonymously, “I’ve got new tidings. Tao Ming is trying to cover up his actions by claiming that he was in love with Ji Hao. He’s also trying to claim that he had no idea how to treat his beloved. Don’t believe him.”

It didn’t matter if he was telling the truth or not. Miaomiao had to promulgate this new piece of information.