RGL – Chapter 161

“Su Min, don’t get too smug. I’m telling you, I won’t let you off so easily.”

After Li Fang said that, she dragged Sun Manli out of the classroom angrily.

Su Min watched them leave, then picked up her books and walked out of the classroom as well. She had really had enough of Li Fang. If Li Fang stirred up trouble again, she was going to do something about it.

At the school gate, Xue Mian had already been waiting for a long time. He wanted to go into the classroom to look for her, but he didn’t know which class she was in, so he had no choice but to wait at the gate.

When he finally saw Su Min coming out with her books in her arms, his face lit up with joy. He quickly stepped forward and took the books from her hands.

“Did the teacher hold you back today? Why are you so late?”

“Something came up,” Su Min replied. She was in a foul mood and didn’t feel like talking to Xue Mian. Honestly, this situation wasn’t unrelated to him.

If it hadn’t been for her involvement with Xue Mian, those two wouldn’t have come after her.

But thinking that way felt a bit like blaming him unfairly. Her thoughts twisted together, making her even more irritated.

Xue Mian noticed her furrowed brows and the angry look on her face. He thought someone had bullied her and asked, “Did someone pick on you?”

Su Min looked at him for a while, and as she recalled the expression on Sun Manli’s face, she couldn’t help but ask, “Xue Mian, what exactly is going on between you and Sun Manli? Are you two dating?”

Xue Mian was stunned. He lowered his head to look at her, his eyes full of shock, anger, and then… surprise.

Some people are really good at instigating conflict, but always stay on the sidelines to watch the show.

“What are you so happy about?” Su Min asked, lips pressed tightly together. “What exactly is your relationship with that Sun Manli? Right now she’s treating me like a sworn enemy, and she and her goon have caused me no small amount of trouble.”

She had no intention of enduring this alone. This whole thing started because of Xue Mian. Although blaming him entirely was a bit unfair, he certainly couldn’t be considered unrelated.

At first, Xue Mian was delighted, thinking that if Su Min was asking about his relationship with Sun Manli, it meant she still cared about him. But after hearing what came next, his joy slowly faded. “She’s been giving you trouble?”

“Mhm,” Su Min nodded.

Xue Mian pressed his lips together tightly, deep in thought. After a while, he tugged lightly on Su Min’s sleeve and said, “Let’s eat first. I’ll take care of this.”

“How exactly are you going to take care of it?” Su Min asked as she got into the car.

“I’ll talk to Sun Manli and make things clear. You don’t need to worry about what happens next.” With that, Xue Mian started the car. As the wind howled around them, Su Min lost interest in asking more questions.

Because of the incident with Sun Manli, neither of them was in the mood to talk during lunch. After they ate, Su Min returned to school early. When she reached the design building for her class, she saw a crowd gathered around the bulletin board at the base of the teaching building.

“Su Min, come take a look at this!” Jin Xiaoyun called out, stepping out from the crowd just as Su Min was about to go upstairs. A few other classmates were with her.

Su Min had a bad feeling. She stepped forward to look and saw a photo of herself getting into Xue Mian’s car, accompanied by the text:

“Third-Party Involvement in a Relationship” Below the headline was a write-up accusing her of stealing someone else’s boyfriend.

“Su Min, what’s going on? We just saw this,” Jin Xiaoyun asked, shocked.

“I know who did this,” Su Min said as she pushed forward, took down the materials from the bulletin board, and turned to the crowd. “This is a serious act of slander and defamation. I will get to the bottom of this. If anyone saw who put this up, please speak up. If no one did, I’ll compare the handwriting. I’ll be filing a report with the police.”

With that, she took the ‘evidence’ and walked away.

Seeing that there was nothing left to look at, many people left in disappointment. But once word spread that Su Min planned to report the matter to the police, the gossip mill kicked into full gear, and students rushed back to their departments to spread the news.

“You’re really going to report it?” Jin Xiaoyun and a few other girls caught up with her.

Su Min tucked the materials into her backpack. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? We’re all adults now, and it’s time people started taking legal responsibility for their actions.”

From the moment she saw that bulletin board, she had no intention of letting Li Fang off the hook. Since she loved standing up for others so much, then let her stand up properly this time.

The situation with the bulletin board caused a huge stir—many school officials and professors heard about it.

Before class even started, their homeroom teacher, Ms. Zhou, came looking for Su Min.

Ms. Zhou was a strict-looking middle-aged woman, but she had always treated obedient students like Su Min quite well.

“Su Min, what’s going on here?”

“Ms. Zhou, this is clearly defamation. I’ve already reported it. The police will be coming shortly to investigate.”

“You’ve reported it?” Ms. Zhou looked at her in shock. She had only just received word from the academic office and was planning to investigate herself. She hadn’t expected Su Min to go straight to the police.

Su Min understood that if the matter was handled by the school, it would likely end with a lot of noise but no real consequences. Schools cared about appearances and didn’t want scandals or ‘bad students.’ But Su Min had made up her mind—not this time. So before class, she’d already used the school phone to call the police.

“Ms. Zhou, my personal rights have been violated. I was very distressed by this. As a woman yourself, if someone publicly smeared your name like this, could you remain indifferent?”

Her eyes turned red as she spoke, her voice catching slightly.

Seeing her reaction, Ms. Zhou didn’t know what to say. She had come to investigate and try to calm things down, but now that the police were involved, there wasn’t much she could do.

“How did things between students get so complicated…” Ms. Zhou sighed.

Su Min took a deep breath. “Ms. Zhou, even though I’ve reported it to the police, I also hope the school will stand up for me and help clear my name in front of the whole student body. Otherwise, I’ll be pointed at every time I walk through campus. This is a place for education—I came here to study, but now I’ve been framed in such a disgusting way. I can’t accept this. I hope the school will publicly clear my name once the police confirm the truth.”

“I’ll report this to the school,” Ms. Zhou replied, sounding a bit helpless. What was supposed to be a minor issue had now turned into a major incident.

Before Su Min even made it back to the classroom, two police officers arrived at the school.

They went to Ms. Zhou’s office and happened to run into Su Min there, so they listened as she explained what had happened. Upon hearing that she had a suspect in mind, the officers compared the bulletin board handwriting with Li Fang’s writing on the spot in front of Ms. Zhou.

“This handwriting is very similar. Based on your statement, it’s most likely this student. We’ll take this evidence back for forensic comparison and also call the student in for questioning.”

“Officer, will this have any impact on the students? Can we handle this matter privately?” Teacher Zhou asked worriedly. She still didn’t want this to blow up. It wasn’t easy being a homeroom teacher these days. If anything went wrong in her class, the school would surely blame her.

Upon hearing this, the two police officers looked at Su Min.

“I will not settle this privately. Please, both of you, help investigate this thoroughly and clear my name. We live in a democratic society now—ordinary citizens deserve basic dignity.”

Su Min had elevated the matter to a question of personal dignity, and the officers could tell she was determined to see this through. They nodded in agreement and left with the evidence.

Seeing that Su Min was about to leave, Teacher Zhou tried once more, unwilling to give up. “Su Min, how about this—I’ll have Li Fang apologize to you in person, and the school will also publicly clear your name on the bulletin board.”

Su Min turned to look at her. “Teacher, if it were your daughter who had suffered such harm, would you be able to calmly accept just an apology?”

That question silenced Teacher Zhou. If it were her own daughter, she definitely wouldn’t take it lightly. Not only would she call the police, she would also confront the other child’s parents directly.

No mother could remain calm when her child was hurt.

And for the child who was hurt, staying calm was even more impossible.

Because Su Min had spent time in the office, class was already over by the time she returned to the classroom. Students had already begun discussing the fact that Su Min had reported the bulletin board incident to the police.

Jin Xiaoyun, who usually couldn’t stand Li Fang, deliberately discussed the incident loudly with several other girls near Li Fang, making her face turn pale.

As soon as Su Min returned, Jin Xiaoyun ran over and deliberately asked, “Su Min, how did it go? What did the police say?”

Su Min glanced at Li Fang, who looked completely ashen, and said loudly, “The police took the materials back to compare handwriting and said we’ll have results by tomorrow. And once the culprit is found, it will go on their record. Teacher Zhou also said the school will deal with this matter seriously.”

“That’s great!”

Jin Xiaoyun clapped. “If something like this isn’t handled seriously, we’ll write a complaint letter to the principal ourselves!”

“What’s there to be proud of? The bulletin board was telling the truth. Even if they find out who did it, so what? This is the new society—people can’t even speak the truth anymore? If you’re so afraid of being talked about, then don’t do things worth criticizing!” Li Fang snapped angrily, standing up and shouting.

Su Min sneered coldly. “The police haven’t even identified anyone yet, so why are you in such a hurry to admit it was you?”

“Who said it was me? I just can’t stand the sight of you,” Li Fang retorted, glaring at her.

Su Min replied icily, “I don’t care if you can stand me or not. This is a law-based society. If you broke the law, just wait to be taken in.”

At the mention of being taken in, Li Fang couldn’t help but tremble slightly. Her eyes started to turn red.

Su Min couldn’t be bothered with her. She wasn’t a naive little girl—no point in wasting time bickering with someone like Li Fang.

Defamation might not be a major crime, but it was enough to make Li Fang suffer. Especially once you’re brought in—even without a conviction, the police station would keep a record, and the school’s file would also reflect the incident.

That would be a lifelong lesson for Li Fang.

After Su Min returned to her seat, Li Fang collapsed into hers like a deflated balloon. Her legs under the desk were still shaking.

She hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. She thought Su Min would just get angry or sad after finding out. She figured teachers and students alike wouldn’t like Su Min anymore. Even if the truth came out, at worst she’d get scolded by a teacher or two. All things considered, it would still be Su Min who suffered more.

But reality was nothing like what she’d imagined. Su Min hadn’t even argued with her—she went straight to the police!

“Li Fang didn’t show up to school today!”

By the time the morning classes ended the next day, someone had already noticed that Li Fang, who was always by the cold and aloof school beauty Sun Manli’s side, was missing.

Except for a few days’ absence after she wrongly accused Su Min of plagiarism, she had been attending regularly since.

Why had she suddenly disappeared again?

Not only did the students notice, even the homeroom teacher, Zhou, was aware.

When Teacher Zhou came to the class to look for Li Fang, her face was dark. She hadn’t expected this matter to really be caused by one of her students.

Now the police wanted to bring someone in for questioning. She had pleaded with them not to come directly to the classroom.

And now, after all that, they’d come for nothing.

“Teacher, I don’t know why Li Fang didn’t come,” Sun Manli said expressionlessly, as if it had nothing to do with her.

Teacher Zhou didn’t associate this incident with her and, hearing her say she didn’t know, felt disappointed. Li Fang had always been a difficult student to manage, but she was close to Sun Manli. If even she didn’t know where Li Fang was, then it really was a mystery.

Everyone could see how anxious Teacher Zhou was, and they started speculating about the reason.

Nothing much had happened in class recently—except for the incident with the bulletin board. That seemed to point squarely at Li Fang.

The thought that someone in their class could be so calculating gave many students goosebumps.

“Li Fang is missing?” The officers waiting in the office frowned immediately upon hearing that. It was obvious—Li Fang had fled to avoid punishment.

Technically, defamation wasn’t a big deal. But fleeing made things a lot worse.

What could have been solved with a few days’ detention or a private settlement had now escalated. Since she’d run, they couldn’t just leave it—they would have to send people to search for her.

After finally seeing the two officers off, Principal Zhu from the administration office called.

“Regarding Li Fang, I recommend handling this with caution. This student’s fundamental character and morality are very problematic. She must be given a major demerit.”

Principal Zhu wore a serious expression.

F University was a nationally renowned school. If such matters weren’t dealt with strictly, other students might follow suit, and the school atmosphere would deteriorate.

“Isn’t that a bit too harsh? A major demerit could ruin her future. I still think we should investigate further, including aspects of Su Min’s personal life,” Teacher Zhou suggested hesitantly. She didn’t want to see her student suffer such a heavy consequence. University students were valuable, but once they had a stain on their record, no employer would hire them.

Principal Zhu’s expression was stern. “Teacher Zhou, regardless of whether the story is true, that male staff member is unmarried and free to date whomever he pleases. As for what role Su Min played, it’s not the school’s business. As long as she didn’t destroy a family or break the law, we have no right to interfere. But Li Fang is different. She maliciously damaged another student’s reputation and is under police investigation. And as you just said, she fled. That kind of student—I’m already being lenient by not expelling her. If she still refuses to turn herself in, the school will have no choice but to expel her. We can’t let one rotten apple spoil the whole barrel.”