Chapter 22

After arriving at the Dean of Students' office, there were three other teachers present, evidently all there because of Song Yi's "cheating" incident.

The Dean frowned at Quan Le and Murong Huan standing behind Song Yi, "Why are you two here?"

Murong Huan couldn't be bothered to respond, merely letting out a cold snort before walking over to sit on the nearby sofa, crossing her arms as she leaned back. Due to her signature pink hair being particularly eye-catching, all the teachers present knew her identity and dared not offend her easily.

Quan Le rubbed his nose and said, "Song Yi is my friend, and Wang Qi is my desk mate. Regardless of who's right or wrong in this matter, I need to understand the situation clearly."

Although this reason wasn't entirely convincing, given Murong Huan and Quan Le's status, the Dean couldn't simply ask them to leave.

So the Dean said, "Since you two are here, you might as well serve as student representatives. This way, no one can say we teachers are being unfair."

Quan Le nodded and sat down next to Murong Huan.

One of the teachers stood up, "Your name is Song Yi, right? The Dean has explained the whole situation to us, and we've already discussed your punishment. If you show a good attitude in admitting your mistake, you'll receive one demerit, give a self-criticism speech in front of the whole school on Monday, and forfeit this semester's scholarship."

The teacher's voice was quite gentle, as if trying to guide Song Yi back to the right path.

Song Yi found this ridiculous, "So teachers, you called me here but have already sentenced me to death?"

The teacher frowned, "We have both witness testimony and physical evidence. What else do you want to argue about?"

Song Yi nodded, "Yes, I do."

The Dean slammed the table, "How dare you speak like that? Where are your manners as a student?"

Song Yi kindly reminded the Dean, "The last person who slammed the table like that is now in the hospital."

The Dean's face stiffened.

Song Yi continued, "I just want to say one thing: I need to see Chen Xue."

Wang Qi suddenly looked up, disbelief in his eyes, but quickly looked away after meeting Song Yi's gaze.

"Chen Xue?" Murong Huan interjected curiously, "What does she have to do with this?"

"Because she's the one who threatened Wang Qi," Song Yi smiled at the Dean, "But I'd like to ask why you seemed so panicked when you heard Chen Xue's name? Do you know something?"

The Dean angrily replied, "Don't talk nonsense. I'll have her come here right now!"

While waiting for Chen Xue, Murong Huan quietly asked Song Yi, "You said Chen Xue was behind this. Are you sure?"

"Yes," Song Yi nodded and explained, "Remember that cheating device I told you about? Only Chen Xue and Lu Qingqing could be suspects in this case, but knowing Lu Qingqing, she's not that stupid. She would never do something like this herself."

Although Murong Huan had confidence in Song Yi, she still felt nervous at this moment, "But we don't have evidence. What if they both deny it?"

Song Yi casually replied, "If she were that tight-lipped, she wouldn't be just a cannon fodder. She'd at least be at your level."

She'd at least be a named antagonist with some significance.

Murong Huan didn't catch it clearly, "What?"

Song Yi shook her head, "Nothing."

Soon after, Chen Xue arrived at the office.

There was obvious nervousness in her eyes, but she tried to maintain a calm demeanor as she asked, "Dean, why did you call for me?"

The Dean got straight to the point, "Student Song Yi suspects that you instructed Wang Qi to falsely accuse her of cheating during the monthly exam."

Chen Xue began her act, putting on an innocent expression, "What? How could that be? I don't even know this student."

"Pfft—"

Murong Huan couldn't help but laugh, knowing Chen Xue well enough to be certain it was her doing.

Only then did Chen Xue notice Murong Huan's presence. Her expression soured, but she still tried to maintain her innocent facade.

"Whether we know each other or not isn't important, because he might just be someone you randomly chose," Song Yi looked at Chen Xue, then pointed to the cheating device on the table and asked, "Doesn't this look familiar?"

Chen Xue continued her performance, looking in the direction Song Yi pointed and asking, "What is that?"

Song Yi pulled out a plastic glove from her pocket, walked to the table to pick up the small black electronic device, and approached Chen Xue, "Take another look?"

Chen Xue still shook her head, "I don't know. I've never seen it before."

At this point, Quan Le's puzzled voice came from behind, "Song Yi, why are you wearing gloves?"

Song Yi replied, "This way we won't compromise the fingerprints."

Chen Xue's expression froze instantly upon hearing Song Yi's words.

The system asked curiously [Host, where did you get the gloves?]

Song Yi: I got them from the fried chicken pizza vendor in the cafeteria.

The system sincerely praised [That's brilliant!]

Although Song Yi had already touched it in the cafeteria, Chen Xue didn't know that. This was just to scare her; there was no need to actually send it for testing.

Song Yi removed the glove, wrapped the device inside it, tied it in a knot, and deliberately waved it in front of Chen Xue.

Chen Xue bit her lower lip hard, clearly becoming frightened.

Her mind was struggling, as she dared not admit what she had done under these circumstances.

Song Yi continued, "There's another thing. Only when Wang Qi found this device on me did I learn it has tracking capabilities. You probably haven't used it for cheating, otherwise you'd know it can track and store movement patterns for three days."

More shock appeared in Chen Xue's eyes as her hands tightly gripped the hem of her clothes.

Song Yi pulled out her phone, searched for the product description page, and showed it to Chen Xue, saying, "Look, it's clearly written here."

Song Yi continued, "We can first check for fingerprint residue, then retrieve its movement patterns from the past two days to see if its 'home' is in certain high-end villa districts."

Without waiting for Chen Xue's reaction, Song Yi turned to Wang Qi, "Wang Qi, I'll ask you one last time: you said I threatened you to cheat, right?"

"Wang... whatever your name is," Murong Huan also stood up, "I think you know who I am. No matter who threatened you or what kind of threats you received, as long as you tell the truth, with Quan Le and me here, no one can bully you or your family."

Quan Le looked sincerely at Wang Qi, adding the final push, "I don't know what deal you made with someone, but think carefully about whether you trust her or me. I can guarantee you'll be able to stay at Saint Slee, and I'll take care of your mother's medical expenses."

The combined pressure from the three of them finally pushed Wang Qi, who was already on the verge of psychological collapse, over the edge.

He burst into tears, "I didn't mean to! We're all top students, and I know everyone here has it tough. I really didn't want to harm Song Yi! Someone forced me... it was... it was Lu..."

Chen Xue immediately interrupted, "It was me! It was me. I was jealous of Song Yi, so I used such methods to frame her!" S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

When Chen Xue said this, her expression clearly showed both resentment and unwillingness.

Song Yi frowned slightly, she had clearly heard that Wang Qi was about to say "Lu..."

Lu Qingqing.

It seemed that Lu Qingqing had contacted Wang Qi, while Chen Xue was responsible for carrying out the plan.

In the current situation... was Chen Xue protecting Lu Qingqing? There could only be two possibilities.

Either Chen Xue wasn't completely foolish and knew that having offended both her and Murong Huan, she needed to rely on Lu Qingqing.

Or... Lu Qingqing had some leverage over Chen Xue, and she didn't dare to offend Lu Qingqing.

Song Yi also knew clearly that as the smartest woman in the original plot, Lu Qingqing wouldn't fall from grace this early. Since Chen Xue wanted to take all the blame now, there was no use in pursuing the matter further.

So Song Yi looked at the Dean, "Teacher, now the result is very clear, isn't it? I'd really like to hear how you plan to handle this."

Murong Huan calmly spoke up, repeating the punishment that the teacher had just given to Song Yi, "If she shows a good attitude in admitting her mistake, then she'll receive one demerit, give a self-criticism speech in front of the whole school on Monday, and only lose this semester's scholarship. We must treat everyone equally, and since Chen Xue acted with malicious intent, shouldn't her punishment be more severe?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Miss Murong is absolutely right." The teacher who had been quoted by Murong Huan was so frightened that cold sweat was forming on their forehead, repeatedly agreeing.

Song Yi once again displayed a dejected expression, "But teacher, because of this incident, many students are discussing my alleged cheating on the forum. This has deeply upset me and seriously affected my mental well-being and daily life."

The teacher was at a loss for words and looked toward the Director of Student Affairs with a pleading expression.

As the person in charge, the Director of Student Affairs had to step forward. He said, "We sincerely apologize, Student Song Yi. We misunderstood you in this matter. Regarding Chen Xue, in addition to the punishments that Student Murong just mentioned, we will make a public announcement about this incident and have her perform one month of campus community service. As for compensation for you, we will add dining credit to your campus card, double your scholarship for this semester, and award you full comprehensive quality points."

Dining credit, doubled scholarship, and full comprehensive quality points.

It was an offer too tempting to refuse.

So Song Yi turned her head away and reluctantly said, "I accept."

That evening after school, on the forum:

[Breaking! School bulletin board! Detailed explanation of Song Yi's monthly exam cheating incident posted! Wait for my pictures!]

1L: Waiting! Can't wait to see this "genius student goddess" get exposed! How can not expelling her justify our tuition?

4L: I checked the school rules, cheating once usually results in disciplinary action + scholarship penalty, not expulsion.

7L: How boring, how much longer do we have to watch this white lotus act?

9L: Speaking honestly, I've always disliked Song Yi... she seems fake and dramatic. Women's intuition is always right.

11L: Agree with above +1, who could possibly surpass Scholar Jiang? Jiang Yiheng is Saint Slee Academy's true star! Scholar Jiang forever!

12L: OP's internet is a bit slow, but here it comes! [Image]

13L: ?

14L: ??

15L: ???

17L: Chen Xue? Huh? Why is she the one getting a demerit? And who's Wang Qi?

23L: Damn, I've read it all, and I can only say I'm confused but completely shocked.

26L: If I understand correctly, Chen Xue threatened Wang Qi to falsely accuse Song Yi of cheating in the monthly exam? Song Yi is innocent?

28L: For those wondering, Wang Qi ranked third in mathematics in the first placement test for our grade. She's also one of the specially admitted outstanding students.

36L: Chen Xue is actually this kind of person? My brain can't process all this drama.

45L: Poor Song Yi...

51L: She's so beautiful and smart. I heard she was supposed to be the cheerleading C-position at the school sports meet, but Chen Xue replaced her only because she injured her leg.

64L: Seems like there's quite a history between these two, watching this drama unfold.

66L: But looking at it now, no matter how bad their relationship is, using such methods to falsely accuse someone is too despicable.

Suddenly, sympathizers for Song Yi emerged, rushing to speak up for her and criticizing Chen Xue.

All the previous posts attacking Song Yi were deleted, and some users who had used particularly harsh language were banned for various durations.

At this moment, Murong Huan took a photo of the bulletin board and posted it on her social media, clearly implying criticism of Chen Xue and showing where she stood.

However, Murong Huan was still somewhat disappointed with the punishment result, "How can they handle it so simply? It's not satisfying enough. But never mind, I'll record her entire self-criticism speech on Monday and play it on loop."

Aliali: 673eb950c4f3f33ac4ee7f08

Song Yi responded helplessly, "Come on, I'm not even angry anymore, so don't dwell on it."

Actually, she had still been a bit angry, but when Song Yi saw the 8,000 dining credit deposited by the school—

She wasn't a saint, but she couldn't help it, they'd given her far too much.

Murong Huan looked at her and asked, "But what if we hadn't been able to prove your innocence today?"

Song Yi pursed her lips and said, "Actually... there was no need to go to such lengths to prove it."

Murong Huan: "What do you mean?"

Song Yi: "When the results come out tomorrow, I can prove them wrong with my actual ability."

Murong Huan was full of admiration for Song Yi at this moment, and the usually proud young lady didn't hold back her praise, "I knew you were the best!"

Song Yi shook her head and looked sincerely at Murong Huan, "What I mean is that I'm really bad at math. When they see that my answers have almost nothing to do with the correct ones, any rumors will naturally fall apart."

Murong Huan: "..."