It had been a month since the Night Gang took over the Land Tiger and became their leader, but some of their territories were still taking a hit. On top of that, the attack on West Street had the whole city talking. The Night Gang maintained a front of seclusion. In reality, they had been busy tightening their defenses so they could be the first on the scene to take over the resources once the police pulled out.
During this time, Xu Zihang and the rest did not act together with Song Ye. They left when school hours were over while Song Ye had to stay behind for supplementary classes. Once she was done, she would meet them at the training ground.
For one month, Song Ye had been moving around on her own. Everyone thought she was helpless and alone. Many girls were secretly waiting for her to break down and cry.
However, after one month of waiting, Song Ye’s mood became even better. Not only was she praised by her teachers for answering every question correctly during class, but she even seemed to enjoy her supplementary classes after school. Her behavior puzzled everyone. It also caused her enemies to be extremely frustrated.
Wang Han found the whole situation unbearable. She dialed that telephone number.
“Ms. Wang, how are you?” The man’s voice sounded creepy from the other end of the telephone.
Wang Han frowned. She bit on her lip and asked, “What have you gathered so far?”
“Hehe…” The man’s shrill and awkward laughter sounded from the other end of the receiver. “It’s more than enough to destroy someone’s reputation.” He was full of himself.
“Really?” Wang Han’s heart leaped with joy. She turned around secretly and looked at the girl across the classroom. She saw the rays of sunlight shining on the girl’s face glorifying her features. For a moment, Wang Han’s heart was flooded by waves of jealousy. “Send it out. I want her to disappear completely from my sight.”
She would regain the school belle’s name and Xu Zihang’s attention as long as Song Ye was no longer in the picture.
In fact, Song Ye had long discovered that Wang Han was carrying the latest model and an expensive mobile phone with her. Cloud City was a small place. It already was rare to see a person like Xu Zihang who wanted to seek revenge for his younger[a] sister. What would an arrogant and willful Wang Han do?
Song Ye saw her as a harmless fly. Anyway, the girl had gained nothing from the trouble she created the last time.
Soon, however, Song Ye found out that even a fly could bite.
On the morning of the monthly test, there were no classes for students. Many had waited to show up when it was almost time to take the test. Song Ye arrived late as she had to deal with things regarding West Street.
She carried her pencil case and entered the classroom. Countless pairs of eyes stared at her in unison. The principal, who was standing at the platform, stormed over with a furious look. One knew something bad was coming up.
She scanned the classroom in a rush and saw the gloating expression on Wang Han’s face.
She felt someone grab her arm just when she was about to say something. She turned around and met an anxious-looking Xu Zihang. “Why didn’t you take the usual route via those stairs? Something has happened. You…”
“You must be Song Ye.” Before Xu Zihang could finish, she heard the principal’s voice.
Under the circumstances, Song Ye didn’t panic. Instead, she nodded politely. “Yes, Principal. I am Song Ye.”
Initially, the principal had been fuming. But, when he saw Xu Zihang’s hand on Song Ye’s elbow, his old face became longer than a horse’s. “Hmph! What impression are you trying to give to the others by consorting in public?”
Song Ye was shocked. She never thought she would be scolded so early in the morning. Her expression turned cold. “May I know why you are looking for me?”
Students at this age were usually afraid of their parents or the principal. They would cry after being scolded and would try to appeal for sympathy. The principal made it a point to come today with the sole purpose of looking for her, but he had to wait for a full thirty minutes. He had been furious. When he saw the look of indifference on Song Ye’s face, it became unbearable for him as he choked with anger. He had no outlet to vent his frustration.
As he thought of the things he had received this morning, the way he looked at Song Ye became more hostile. “Come with me to my office. This boy, too. Whoever has any ties to you must come.”
What did he mean by ‘ties’? And it had to do with boys… Song Ye’s heart sank. She could roughly guess the nature of the topic.
True enough—the moment they entered the office, the principal threw all pretenses away as he tossed a stack of photographs in front of Song Ye. Each picture was taken when she had been standing at the entrance of the guest house[b]. Some captured her side profile when she returned to the guest house late at night. There were also some of her about to alight from Zhao Zhen’s car when he had sent her back. From the dates shown on the bottom of all the photographs, they were taken two days before the incident at the bar on Cloud Street.
It proved that her suspicions at that time were correct.
The principal continued to sneer when he saw her deeply-knitted eyebrows, “Hmph. Are you scared now? You students don’t learn good behaviors. Instead, you preferred to fool around all day long. Since this is out in the open now, I suggest it is wiser for you to explain yourself honestly. Otherwise, don’t think about going back to class for the rest of the day.”
He would be retiring next year. All his life, his performance in Third Middle School had been average without any major slip-up. The thought of a safe retirement went out the window with this unforeseen and embarrassing exposé. He would have to resign as principal if someone was to upload this onto the internet.
At this point, Song Ye’s heart sank even further uncontrollably. It wasn’t because of these photographs. She was astonished by her own carelessness. Someone had been taking her pictures secretly for two consecutive days, and yet she had not noticed it. It would be a fatal mistake if this had happened in her previous life.
She smiled sadly. It seemed that the ease of the situation in this life had made her lose her guard.
Nevertheless, the way this old principal had put things too vulgarly. She looked at him in indifference. “Principal, what exactly do you want me to explain?”
“Stop acting dumb!” The old principal’s blood began to boil as he looked at the fearless Song Ye. “Who brought you to the motel? How are you related to the man who had sent you back? Why are you loitering outside every day and not going home? What immoral businesses have you been doing?”
He bombarded her with questions that were cruel and sharp like a knife. He only realized he had forgotten to close his office door when he was done shouting. By then, a crowd had gathered outside his doorway. There was a commotion among students and teachers alike.
Wang Han’s lips curled into a nasty smile which showed on her face as she stood in the crowd. She had intentionally brought everyone over here so they could witness this moment. She wanted them to step on Song Ye as though she was the mud on the ground. She wanted them to remember her disgusting behavior whenever they looked at her pretty face.
The situation was heating up. All this while, Xu Zihang had been silent. Suddenly, he roared, “Bulllsh*t! You have no proof. How can you slander Song Ye with just a few photographs? Is this how an educator like you should be behaving? If what has happened today proved to be false, how are you going to compensate Song Ye for smearing her reputation? Let me tell you: I believe in Song Ye. I won’t allow anyone to humiliate her!”
His last words were resonating and powerful. Everyone stared, in a state of shock.
[a]If it’s older, don’t forget to change this one, too.
[b]I believe the other TLs used hostel for this. Guest house sounds too innocent, hehe.