RGL – Chapter 162

When Principal Zhu spoke so seriously, Teacher Zhou couldn’t refute him anymore. As the class advisor, she had already done enough to protect Li Fang and had even been prepared to downplay the incident for Su Min’s sake. But now, Li Fang had truly let her down. With things as they were, she could only follow the rules.

Teacher Zhou hadn’t even left the principal’s office yet when news of Li Fang fleeing out of guilt had already spread throughout the school.

For college students who hadn’t even left campus yet, the words “fleeing out of guilt” were already seen as a very serious offense. Everyone who discussed it was filled with sighs and astonishment.

When Su Min reached the school gate, she didn’t see Xue Mian. After looking around and confirming no one was there, she stood in place for a few minutes before simply hugging her books and heading back to her apartment complex.

At that moment, Xue Mian was driving with Sun Manli, heading to Xue Jun and Li Aiyun’s home.

Sun Manli didn’t say a word, her face expressionless, though she couldn’t help but glance at Xue Mian. She wasn’t sure whether Su Min had told him about the grievances she had suffered at school. But then she thought, even if she had, so what? This had nothing to do with her — it was Li Fang’s doing. Even if Xue Mian wanted to blame someone, he shouldn’t blame her.

Thinking that way, she didn’t feel worried at all.

When Xue Mian arrived at home, his parents were in the middle of a meal.

They had recently applied to transfer back to B City, so they’d been staying here longer. Xue Jun had been allocated housing in the military compound. Normally, their meals were rather quiet affairs, so when they saw Xue Mian come in with Sun Manli following behind, Li Aiyun was immediately overjoyed.

“Mianmian, you and Manli came back to visit us together?”

She spoke while getting up to serve more food.

But Xue Mian’s face was emotionless as he said, “No need for food. I’m just here to say something, then I’m leaving.”

“Mianmian?” Li Aiyun looked at him in surprise.

Xue Mian glanced at Sun Manli standing beside him, then looked at Xue Jun and Li Aiyun. “Mom, Dad, I’m only going to say this once. Back then, you two insisted on marrying for love, and now, I also want to choose freely who I love. So please stop trying to plan out my future.”

“Mianmian, what are you talking about?” Xue Jun stood up, displeased. He could tell his son had something planned in his heart.

“I’m saying what I really feel. You held a grudge against Grandma your whole lives because of how she treated you back then. So why can’t you think about me now? I’m not your pawn. I have my own opinions. So no matter who I pursue or love, I don’t want either of you interfering.”

He then turned to Sun Manli. “Don’t destroy the feelings we had as children. I know exactly what you’ve been doing.”

Originally, he was planning to pick up Su Min. But after overhearing what people were saying about the incident at school, he immediately realized something was wrong.

He didn’t even know Li Fang, so there was no way she would know about him. And Su Min wasn’t the type to go around talking about their relationship.

Thinking back to what Su Min had said earlier, he became certain — this whole thing was orchestrated behind the scenes by Sun Manli.

What he thought had been a petty dispute between girls had escalated to a direct smear on Su Min’s reputation. That, he would never tolerate.

When Sun Manli heard his words, her face had already gone pale. Under Xue Mian’s glare, her fingers trembled from nerves.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mianmian, how can you treat Manli like this?” Li Aiyun disapproved, walking over and taking Sun Manli’s arm.

“Mom, why don’t you ask her why I’m treating her this way? She instigated people at school to ruin Su Min’s reputation, and now you expect me to treat her kindly? She even claimed I was engaged to her and said Su Min was the third party. I’d like to ask her — where does she get the nerve to say such a thing?”

“I didn’t say that!” shouted Sun Manli, unable to stop her tears after being reprimanded like that.

Li Aiyun said, “Even if she did say it, she’s not wrong. I talked about this engagement with her mother back then.”

“Hah.” Xue Mian let out a sarcastic snort. “An arranged marriage. If you’re so supportive of arranged marriages, then why did you insist on marrying Dad back then? As I recall, Grandma had already picked someone suitable for him.”

“Mianmian, that’s going too far,” Xue Jun scolded.

This matter had always been a sore point between him and his wife, and now hearing their son bring it up felt even more bitterly ironic.

Li Aiyun looked both wronged and furious. “How can this be the same? How can Su Min be compared to me? Back then your grandmother said I wasn’t good enough — but what was wrong with me? I had family background, I had an education. What does Su Min have?”

“Even if she has nothing, I’ve set my heart on her. And let me tell you — I’m the one who shamelessly chased after her. She never even liked me.”

As Xue Mian spoke, he felt even more disheartened.

When Su Min had told him she didn’t want to accept him because of his family, he had thought those were small problems that could be resolved after marriage. But now it was clear — this issue was far from simple.

Li Aiyun clutched her chest in anger. “You child, how can you say such things? What’s so good about that Su Min?”

“Mom, did you really marry Dad out of love back then? If you did, you wouldn’t be asking me that question today.”

Xue Mian looked utterly defeated. At this point, he didn’t even dare face Su Min anymore.

Rubbing his face, he sighed. “Don’t bother Su Min anymore. Even if I never marry in this life, I will never let you control me. You had the resolve to hold a grudge against Grandma for so many years — my resolve is even stronger.”

With that, he turned around and strode out the door.

Watching him leave, Li Aiyun swayed on her feet in disbelief.

“Auntie…” Sun Manli quickly supported her.

Xue Jun also wanted to help, but halfway through reaching out, he dropped his hand and sat down heavily at the table. Thinking about his son’s attitude just now, he felt both angry and heartbroken.

Their only son — and their relationship with him had deteriorated to this point.

Now he finally understood how his own mother must have felt back then.

Su Min wasn’t affected by the situation at school at all.

After all, she had already called the police. Whether Li Fang was dealt with or not, the authorities would give her an explanation. Even if there were to be a settlement, she would have to agree to it first. So she wasn’t at all worried that the issue would be brushed aside. The capital’s police wouldn’t just mishandle a case like this.

In fact, she was hoping Li Fang would stay in hiding longer — the longer she hid, the heavier the consequences would be. Yesterday she had deliberately said those things in front of Li Fang to provoke and scare her. And judging by the outcome, it worked quite well.

As for Sun Manli — she was even less concerned about her.

Li Fang had been Sun Manli’s number one enforcer. Now that Li Fang couldn’t stay in class anymore, Sun Manli was like a tiger without teeth. No matter how cunning she was, without someone to carry things out, it meant nothing. And with the way this incident had blown up, everyone would remember it clearly. The same tricks wouldn’t work again.

If Sun Manli still wanted to cause trouble, with that cold, expressionless face of hers, she wouldn’t get very far.

Now that the Li Fang situation was resolved, Su Min felt a weight lifted from her heart and began preparing for her trip to Paris.

After school in the afternoon, she went straight to the shop and told Grandma Zhang that she wanted to learn embroidery.

As soon as Grandma Zhang heard she wanted to learn, she immediately squeezed Su Min’s palm.

“The flesh on your palm is a bit thin, but your bones are quite soft — you can definitely learn,” Grandma Zhang said with great interest. “The only question is whether you have the time.”

Su Min smiled and replied, “I’m not aiming to become some master embroiderer. I just want to learn the basics, so I won’t be embarrassed if someone asks about it when I’m abroad. It’d be too humiliating if I couldn’t say anything.”

“Oh, that’s no problem at all. Two months is more than enough,” Grandma Zhang said confidently about her teaching speed. Then she asked, “When are you planning to start learning? I’ll be heading back to my hometown with Qingqing today. I don’t want to hold up your learning. How about I let my students teach you the basics first?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ll start with the fundamentals, and once I’ve got those down, I’ll learn more in-depth things from you.”

After chatting with Grandma Zhang, Su Min went over to Zhang Qingqing’s office.

Zhang Qingqing’s face looked especially radiant, probably because of her upcoming wedding — she looked truly happy.

Su Min didn’t waste time. She took a red envelope from her pocket and handed it over. “You’re getting married, and I originally wanted to buy something, but I didn’t know what you needed. So everyone decided it’d be better to just give a red envelope.”

This had been Sun Yan’s suggestion earlier. Since Zhang Qingqing was getting married, everyone had to contribute something. But giving too little would look bad, and giving too much wasn’t affordable for everyone. So they decided to pool money together for one nice-looking red envelope.

Knowing how hard it was for everyone to earn money, Su Min had contributed a little extra herself.

Zhang Qingqing saw the red envelope in Su Min’s hand and quickly waved it away. “No way. I can’t accept everyone’s money.”

“Just take it — it’s everyone’s goodwill. When you move here, you’ll have to treat us to a meal anyway. It’s not much money, just a token. If you don’t accept it, everyone will feel awkward.”

Hearing this, Zhang Qingqing reluctantly accepted it, a little embarrassed. “You’re all being too generous.”

Leaning against the desk, Su Min grinned. “Don’t worry. The shop’s full of young girls — you’ll have plenty of chances to return the favor in the future.”

Zhang Qingqing laughed. “Well, I’d be happy to spend more then.” Now that her own life was going well and she had found happiness, she sincerely hoped the other girls in the shop would settle down soon too.

Looking at Su Min in front of her, she couldn’t help wondering to herself what kind of person this girl would end up with. That reminded her of something else. “Oh right, Panpan is dating someone now. She wrote me about it a few days ago.”

Zhang Qingqing couldn’t hide her smile as she said this.

Hearing that Zhang Panpan had started dating, Su Min was surprised. “She didn’t mention that in her last letter. That was fast.” She remembered that Panpan was quite introverted. It was surprising she found someone so soon. But then again, even someone as shy as Zhang Qingqing was about to get married — so it made sense.

She thought back to when they were in school, just a bunch of clueless young girls. And now they were all dating. Judging by how things went in this era, they’d probably be getting married right after graduation.

Zhang Qingqing smiled. “It’s a college classmate. I heard he’s from our county. Since I’m far from home now, she wanted someone closer to home who could help take care of the family. But as long as the boy’s a good person, we’re all fine with it.”

“As long as Panpan likes him, that’s what matters,” Su Min said with a smile, though she couldn’t help feeling a bit wistful. If her soul wasn’t already thirty, but instead twenty like Panpan and the others — would she also be able to open her heart and accept someone freely, to fall in love without pressure in such a youthful, vibrant time?

“She does like him.” Zhang Qingqing’s smile faded slightly and she added worriedly, “But I’m not sure what kind of family the boy comes from. Panpan said they’re all official employees, which makes me worry she might get looked down on.”

Su Min could tell she was worried about a mismatch in family backgrounds. But ultimately, these things depended on the people involved. “As long as Panpan doesn’t feel wronged, that’s what matters. Besides, you don’t even know what his family thinks yet. You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

Zhang Qingqing slapped her forehead and chuckled. “You’re right. I really am overthinking it. If I had this mindset back then, I wouldn’t have ended up marrying William.”

Hearing that, Su Min couldn’t help but ask, “When you were with William, didn’t you worry?”

Zhang Qingqing sighed. “Of course I did. And not just me — my grandma worried a lot too. But I kept thinking, if I didn’t even dare to try, I’d definitely regret it when I got old.”

If you don’t try, you’ll definitely regret it.

Su Min pressed her lips together, silently turning that over in her heart. Right now, she really didn’t have the courage to try.

Li Fang was soon caught — found hiding at a relative’s house.

Because she had fled out of guilt, she was taken directly to the police station.

Technically, this was just a minor civil dispute. But Li Fang had made it more complicated, so once she was brought to the station, even the police felt this was a tricky case. They quickly notified Su Min.

“I’m not going to settle,” Su Min said firmly.

Li Fang’s family had also arrived — a well-dressed middle-aged couple, said to be her second aunt and uncle.

Seeing how resolute Su Min was, they looked a little awkward.

One of the female officers began trying to persuade Su Min. Cases like this were usually resolved through compensation and an apology. But the plaintiff was being firm, which was why this small case still wasn’t closed.

“Comrade, since they’re willing to compensate you, why not agree to a settlement? Otherwise, it’ll just mean detaining her for a few days — which doesn’t benefit anyone, right?”

Su Min sat in her chair, completely unmoved. “I’m not short on money. Why would I need her compensation? If I accept the money now, she’ll go around telling everyone at school that I only did this to extort her. Then I really won’t be able to clear my name.”

“Su Min, take it or leave it. Don’t act all self-righteous after getting a bargain,” Li Fang shouted from the side.

“Shut your mouth!” her second aunt snapped angrily.

Li Fang immediately fell silent.

But her outburst had only proven Su Min’s point — that she would’ve been slandered. Even the female officer who had been trying to mediate now looked displeased. She’d been trying to help settle things, but the defendant just sabotaged it. If she had a choice, she’d probably support Su Min in continuing the case.

Still, Su Min’s goal wasn’t to keep Li Fang locked up — a few days in detention wouldn’t do much. She wouldn’t gain anything from it either.

“I’m willing to settle — but only if I get a public apology.”

Hearing there was hope for a settlement, everyone’s face lit up. Li Fang’s second aunt was about to speak when Su Min added, “I want Li Fang to make a public self-criticism in front of the entire school, clear my name, and explain exactly what she did. I want her to give me back my reputation.”

“A self-criticism in front of the whole school?”

Everyone turned to look at Su Min.

“That’s right,” Su Min said firmly. “Since she humiliated me in front of everyone, then I deserve to receive an apology in front of everyone. Otherwise, people at school will just keep gossiping.”

The female officer, though thinking that this would utterly destroy Li Fang’s reputation, had to admit it was fair. She turned to Li Fang’s relatives and said, “You heard her. This is where things stand now. Since Comrade Su Min has made her terms clear, you need to decide whether to accept them or not. I suggest you do. A few days in detention won’t be pleasant for the girl.”