RGL – Chapter 54

Su Min sighed and said, “Besides this time, something similar also happened on the first day of the semester before. For no reason at all, I was transferred to another class. It was only because Xue Mian insisted on being in the same class as me that I was moved back. Auntie, I don’t know if Uncle Zhao has the authority to handle this matter, but if he can’t, could you at least tell me the proper way to seek justice for myself? We may be young, but I understand how negatively something like this can affect me.”

Hearing the dissatisfaction in her tone, Xue Nian comforted her, “Don’t worry. Your Uncle Zhao doesn’t usually deal with matters like this directly, but if something like this is reported to him, he definitely won’t ignore it. Don’t rush for now—just focus on your studies. I’ll talk to your Uncle Zhao about this, and we’ll definitely get to the bottom of it and give you a proper explanation. This is a new era—we shouldn’t still be seeing such abuses of power for personal gain.”

Relieved to hear that someone was in a position to handle it, Su Min relaxed. She had thought her issue wouldn’t be significant enough for the county magistrate to bother with. She had only come today to knock on some doors and figure out which department was responsible so she wouldn’t have to run around aimlessly like a headless chicken.

That evening, when Magistrate Zhao returned home, Xue Nian told him everything that had happened during the day and also handed him Su Min’s written complaint.

“To target a young girl like this… these people really are something else,” Magistrate Zhao said angrily after reading the letter.

At first glance, the issue might not seem that serious, but upon closer inspection, it was actually very severe.

Just a single sentence from someone could cause school leaders to target an outstanding student. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. It must have occurred many times before for the school leaders to be so afraid of a superior’s casual remarks. That’s the only reason they’d be willing to betray their conscience and commit such despicable acts.

Schools are supposed to be places for teaching and nurturing. How could things have gotten so rotten?

If Su Min hadn’t happened to know someone on their side, she likely would’ve had no choice but to swallow her grievances in silence.

Thinking of this made Magistrate Zhao fume with rage.

Xue Nian added, “Seeing Su Min like that today made me really upset. If someone did this to our Zhao Xue, I’d go fight it out with the school myself. That child is always so reserved when she comes over with Xue Mian. For her to come over and speak up today, she must’ve really mustered a lot of courage. Such a good child, yet these adults have the nerve to treat her like this. Old Zhao, can you get someone to investigate this?”

“Of course we’ll investigate,” Magistrate Zhao replied firmly. “I was just wondering how to catch some fish—turns out they’re jumping into the net themselves. This time, I’ll follow the trail and see how big a fish we can catch.”

He had been busy all day managing county affairs, while those people had nothing better to do than bully a child.

Even though it was the weekend, with one phone call from the magistrate, the relevant people were mobilized.

When the county magistrate gives an order, everyone below moves fast.

And the matter wasn’t difficult to investigate. Following the trail step by step, by Monday, Magistrate Zhao had already received a definitive answer.

And it turned out to be no small matter—the root of the problem was actually at the county’s education bureau.

Su Min hadn’t even finished her first class when a teacher rushed in and hastily transferred her back to her original class.

When Teacher Wu saw Su Min return, his face showed genuine relief.

Thinking of how several higher-ups at the school had been taken in for questioning that day, he also felt emotional. No one could’ve imagined that simply reassigning a student’s class would cause such a stir. This matter probably wouldn’t end so easily—there was a good chance the leadership was going to be reshuffled.

In any case, having the student back was what mattered most. As long as he kept teaching earnestly, all that dirty business had nothing to do with him.

Only Su Wenwen, in the classroom, stared wide-eyed the moment Su Min walked in—nearly standing up in shock.

Seeing Su Min calmly return to her original seat and start organizing her books, Su Wenwen was so furious she nearly crushed hers.

She thought bitterly, Wasn’t she transferred out? How did she come back?

Could it be that the school saw Su Min’s good grades and had only transferred her as a formality to appease her grandfather, and now that they think he’s no longer paying attention, they secretly moved her back?

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Su Wenwen made up her mind—once she got home, she would definitely file a complaint to her grandfather and see if those people still dared to disobey him under the guise of cooperation.

When she got home at noon, she couldn’t wait to report it to her mother, but after searching all over the house, the only one home was her father, Su Changgui, eating lunch.

“Where’s my mom?”

“She went to your grandpa’s house,” Su Changgui said slowly while eating and didn’t bother to look at Su Wenwen.

Su Wenwen’s relationship with Su Changgui had also deteriorated lately, especially after seeing her father kneel to her mother last time. Since then, she felt she didn’t need to be afraid of him anymore. So she didn’t take him seriously either. Seeing him eat alone, she curled her lip in disdain, went into her room, and brought out her own bowl and chopsticks to eat.

As she ate, she asked, “Why did my mom suddenly go to my grandpa’s place?”

Su Changgui had just finished eating and took a sip of tea from the cup at his side. After hearing the question, he replied, “Your grandpa was taken in for questioning. Your grandma got anxious and called your mom to come over.”

“My grandpa got taken in?!” Su Wenwen was so shocked that she dropped her chopsticks.

“Last time, you asked your grandpa to have Minzi transferred to another class. Someone reported this to the higher-ups, and the investigation led to your grandpa.”

After saying this, Su Changgui got up, put on his gray suit jacket, and left the house without even glancing at Su Wenwen.

Su Wenwen sat at the table, hands trembling as she held her bowl.

Grandpa got taken in because of this? How could that be? Impossible!

It was just a class transfer for Su Min. Now she’s been transferred back. It wasn’t a big deal, so how could it result in her grandpa being arrested?

Meanwhile, at the Gao family, Mother Gao was tearfully complaining to Gao Hong.

“I already told them I made the phone call, but they won’t believe me. They insist it was your father. What are we going to do?”

Gao Hong also found it strange. Logically, even if there was an investigation, it should’ve been her mom held responsible. Her dad shouldn’t be this heavily implicated.

The whole situation was now in chaos, and Gao Hong was getting extremely anxious.

She had been a bit muddled before, but now she was fully aware of how serious things were. Her father was due to retire this year. If he retired normally, his post-retirement benefits would be solid, and the workplace would still treat him with respect. But now, with all this drama, if her dad really went down, his retirement benefits would be gone, and he’d lose his position. After that, no one would care about him anymore.

Thinking of the good life she had always enjoyed, fear suddenly gripped Gao Hong’s heart.

Just when Gao Hong and Mother Gao were still holding onto a sliver of hope, the outcome for Gao Long was announced.

After thorough investigation and multiple accusations, it was confirmed that as the head of the county education bureau, Gao Long had repeatedly abused his power for personal gain, with a severely negative impact. He had already been handed over to the Procuratorate for further investigation and formal prosecution.

This result caused a huge stir among those aware of the situation.

No one expected that a simple investigation into a school official targeting a student would end up uncovering such a serious case.

Su Min also heard the rough details of the matter from Wu Yong. The result was somewhat unexpected, but she didn’t feel guilty at all.

People should take responsibility for what they’ve done. When these people did those things, they never considered the feelings of the ones they hurt. So now, no one should expect sympathy from her.

“It’s you! You’re the one who ruined my grandpa!”

Just as Su Min returned from Wu Yong’s office, she was blocked at the doorway by Su Wenwen. She frowned and was about to walk around her when Su Wenwen suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Don’t think about leaving! It’s all your fault! You’re the one who ruined my grandpa!”

Su Wenwen’s eyes were red as she glared at Su Min, as if she wanted to eat her alive.

It was break time, and many students were outside getting some fresh air. When they saw the commotion, they started gathering around.

Su Min’s arm hurt from the grip, and her brow furrowed as she forcefully flung Su Wenwen off her, sending her crashing into the wall to the side.

Everyone was surprised. The normally quiet and reserved Su Min turned out to be pretty fierce when she struck. A few girls couldn’t stand the sight and went over to help Su Wenwen.

With support, Su Wenwen gained confidence and cried loudly, “You’re the one who ruined my grandpa! You framed him, didn’t you?!”

Su Min let out a cold laugh. “I framed your grandpa? Who is he to me? Why would I frame him for no reason? Besides, I’m just a student—how could I possibly do anything to your grandpa?”

The surrounding students were confused by this exchange.

Su Wenwen cried, “It’s because of you that my grandpa got arrested. Now my mom and grandma cry every day at home. It’s all your fault!” Thinking about how the grandpa who loved her dearly had been taken away, and how her once happy mother and grandma were now constantly worried, unable to eat or sleep, her heart ached—and her hatred for Su Min only deepened.

Su Min’s face was cold. “Let me ask you—what exactly did I report about your grandpa?” Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly said in realization, “Oh, you mean the transfer? I almost forgot about that. I’d really like to ask: I was doing just fine in my class, so why did your grandpa get the school leadership to transfer me to Class Seven with just one word? Just because he works at the Education Bureau, does that give him the right to treat students like this? Thankfully, the higher-ups are fair and clear-sighted. Otherwise, I really would’ve been bullied for nothing.

Your grandpa being arrested is what he deserves. He’s being punished by the law for the things he’s done.

Su Wenwen, don’t try to act like I’m the villain here. I don’t even know your grandpa. He wouldn’t have moved me without a reason. It’s clearly because of you. You asked your grandpa to abuse his power. Now that things have come to light, you’re blaming me? What a joke!”

The students nearby, who had been confused before, suddenly understood everything clearly after hearing this.

So all the uproar from before was actually caused by Su Wenwen.

Now that they knew the truth, everyone looked at Su Wenwen with complicated expressions.

Just because she didn’t like a classmate, she went as far as to have her family target that person—this kind of student was truly venomous. If this situation hadn’t been exposed, who knew what could’ve happened to them if they accidentally offended Su Wenwen one day?

Thinking this way, everyone felt that Su Min was right—this was truly a case of getting what she deserved. And Su Wenwen was even trying to play the victim after harming someone. Her behavior was utterly shameless.

More and more people began whispering and pointing fingers. Having just been harshly scolded by Su Min, Su Wenwen’s last bit of courage completely crumbled. Her lips quivered, and then she burst into tears and ran downstairs.

This time, no one followed her.

After class started, the teacher noticed a student was missing and, realizing Su Wenwen had run out, went to the office to call Su Changgui, then returned to continue the lesson.

The incident had caused quite a stir at school, and many teachers learned about what had happened. Naturally, their impression of Su Wenwen—the root of the problem—was very negative. It was one thing for a student to perform poorly academically, but for her character to be this terrible, it was truly hopeless.

After that outburst, Su Wenwen didn’t show up at school for several days. While the students initially talked about her a bit, they gradually returned to focusing on their studies.

Once things settled down, Su Min no longer paid attention to the issue.

Especially since things at the factory had progressed—after some modifications, the first batch of autumn clothing was already on the market. She didn’t have the energy to care about anything else.

Originally, a few of the factory’s leaders couldn’t understand Director Ye’s decision, but once they saw the designs Su Min drew and the sample clothes made by the workers, most of their opposition died down.

After the first batch of clothes was released, Director Li from the sales department kept sending people to the shops to monitor how the clothes were selling.

“I don’t believe they’ll really sell well. Let’s see how much of a joke Ye Yongfu becomes,” Director Li said dismissively.

Su Min, of course, hoped for a good start. So aside from providing the designs, she also offered some modern clothing sales techniques.

For example: hanging signs at the door saying “New Arrival,” raising prices and then offering a discount.

Even though the shops weren’t directly owned by Sanye, they had close ties with the factory—they depended on each other. When Sanye brought over these promotional strategies, the shopkeepers took them seriously. The ideas were solid and persuasive from a customer’s perspective, so everyone worked overtime to prepare what was needed. On the launch day, the signs and pricing tags were put up.

When the new styles launched, all the stores affiliated with Sanye kicked off a promotional campaign for the new arrivals.

These fresh styles and eye-catching discounts quickly drew a lot of attention.

In just a few days, many of the old styles that had been sitting in storage sold out. Several designs were completely out of stock.

By the time the second batch hit the market, the remaining unsold pieces were marked as limited sizes.

By the end of the month, the sales figures stunned everyone at Sanye.

After the meeting, Director Ye decided that once this batch of revised clothes was sold, Su Min’s designs would officially go into production.

At this meeting, no one voiced any opposition.

Only Director Li of the sales department still felt a bit unconvinced. He muttered to himself that it might have just been a lucky break—who knew whether the next batch would sell?

But he was smart enough not to say anything foolish at that moment.

Ye Yongfu didn’t care what others thought. He was in a great mood.

Taking the opportunity of Su Min coming to settle accounts, Ye Yongfu invited her to the office for a serious talk.

“Xiao Su, if you were an adult, I’d definitely want you working full-time at my factory. I wouldn’t shortchange you—the position of department head would be yours without a doubt.”

Su Min smiled and said, “I’m just offering some ideas. When it comes to actual management, I’m still lacking.”

“That can all be learned,” Ye Yongfu said confidently. “I believe in your abilities. If you’re willing to learn, with just a few years of experience, forget department head—even the deputy director position wouldn’t be a problem.”

That was quite a bold claim. Su Min wasn’t sure how to respond.

She had just given this old factory director some sugar last time—and now he was returning the favor.

Sure enough, seeing Su Min fall silent, Ye Yongfu laughed and said, “You’ll be taking your high school entrance exams soon. Once you finish high school and come of age, you can work at our factory. I’m not a rigid person—if you get into university, I’ll even let you work part-time and study. It definitely won’t affect your studies.”

Ye Yongfu had thought it through clearly. Despite her young age, it was obvious from the recent sales results—and even back when she ran her own small business—that the success of these clothing sales wasn’t luck. It was real skill.