Chapter 16 — The Day the Whole School Went Wild

Department Head Shao turned his piercing gaze toward Teacher Gao and demanded, "Parents have always been enthusiastically supporting classroom development, what does that exactly refer to?" Cao Lam’s complexion drained into an alarming shade of ashen gray.

"It simply means... cooperating closely with the daily administrative work of the class."

Trinh Hao's father let out a harsh, mocking laugh.

"Is sliding local specialty products into a teacher's car trunk also considered cooperation?"

Hua’s father finally lost his last shred of patience. He grabbed Mrs. Hua’s arm so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Just what on earth did you end up giving her?"

Mrs. Hua’s eyes darted frantically around the room, unable to settle on anyone. "It was nothing much. Just some shopping vouchers and a little bit of high-end tea."

Cao Lam shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Don't you dare talk nonsense!" Mrs. Hua snapped right back, her own temper flaring.

"Me? Talking nonsense? You were the very first one to eagerly grab whatever was handed to you. You even promised me that Jia Nian's academic evaluation and awards were completely secured under your wing. Now that everything has blown up in our faces, you expect me to shoulder the entire blame alone?"

The faculty office erupted into utter chaos in an instant. The principal’s face shifted from a dark storm cloud to a terrifying, pitch-black abyss. "Enough!"

Unfortunately, it was far too late for anyone to stop the avalanche. Department Head Shao directly instructed the administrative staff to take down every single word in the official record. Hua’s father was shaking with a rage so deep his face had turned purple. Hua Jia Nian stood frozen by the doorway, weeping in a daze. Perhaps this was the very first time he had to witness firsthand how the pristine honors and titles he had always taken such pride in were actually bartered and traded among adults behind closed doors. Yet, he was by no means innocent either; he had greedily basked in the stolen glory, using that very borrowed light to blind everyone else around him, making it impossible for them to even open their eyes.

Lam Duyet had been standing quietly outside in the hallway the entire time. Suddenly, he raised his hand. "There is something else I know."

Every eye in the room turned to look at him. His voice was soft, yet every word rang out with absolute clarity. "Last semester, when the district review committee came to the school for an inspection, Shen Nan Qiao was the one originally designated to participate. Teacher Gao told me to go to the office and find her. When I reached the doorway, I overheard Teacher Gao telling Hua Jia Nian to make sure Shen Nan Qiao never found out about it."

Cao Lam barked fiercely, "Lam Duyet!" The boy flinched visibly, but pressed on regardless.

"And that very same afternoon, Shen Nan Qiao’s cafeteria meal card mysteriously vanished. She spent the entire time searching high and low for it, which was why she ended up missing the evaluation session entirely."

I froze in my tracks. So that afternoon had never been a mere coincidence after all. I vividly remembered that day; waking up from my afternoon nap only to find my meal card gone without a trace. I tore through my desk compartment, my school bag, and even the wastebaskets, finally discovering it hidden out of sight behind the water tank in the girls' restroom. That day, I had arrived late for a self-study period, and Cao Lam had humiliated me in front of the entire class, branding me as scatterbrained and utterly incapable of following school discipline. Back then, I had no inkling of what I had truly missed out on. Now, the bitter truth stood bare before me.

I looked over at Hua Jia Nian. He did not dare to meet my gaze. The answer was already glaringly obvious.

My mother slowly let go of my hand. She stepped forward until she stood right in front of Hua Jia Nian, her voice trembling uncontrollably. "I am asking you a direct question. Was it you who hid the meal card?"

Hua Jia Nian wept and shook his head frantically. But Trinh Hao suddenly collapsed under the weight of his own guilt. "He didn't hide it. I was only standing watch for him!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Hua Jia Nian whipped his head around to stare at him in sheer disbelief. Trinh Hao’s eyes were bloodshot as he screamed back, "Don't you dare look at me like that! Everything was your idea in the first place. You were the one who told me to record the video. You were the one who suggested going to the equipment room, claiming we would just scare her a little bit. Now what gives you the right to make me take the fall for all of it?"

The last trace of color vanished from Hua Jia Nian’s face. He hung his jaw open, but no sound came out.

At that exact moment, the technical staff member retrieved another scanned document from the recovered files. He glanced through it twice, and his expression twisted into something deeply peculiar. "There is another signature confirmation document right here."

Head Teacher Tong took the paper, and her expression darkened instantly. She handed the sheet directly to me. "Nan Qiao, take a look at this."

I lowered my gaze to examine it. It was a voluntary withdrawal form, officially renouncing any claim to the nomination. Right there on the signature line was my own name: Shen Nan Qiao. But that was not my handwriting. I stared at the name for a long, agonizing moment before slowly raising my head.

"This handwriting... It is an exact match for the way Teacher Gao writes on the blackboard."

The air inside the office felt as though it had frozen solid. Cao Lam snapped her head up. "You're talking nonsense!" Her voice reached a shrill, cracking pitch. "Every student's handwriting looks somewhat similar! What makes you dare claim that is my handwriting?"

I did not bother to argue with her. I picked up a class announcement notice lying nearby. On it was Cao Lam’s own personal editorial annotations and approvals. At the tail end of the character for Qiao, the vertical stroke characteristically curved sharply inward at the bottom. The exact same character on the withdrawal form shared the identical flaw.

Head Teacher Tong inspected both sheets, and her face grew colder still. "A professional handwriting appraisal will be conducted by certified institutions. You cannot simply dismiss this by shouting nonsense."

Department Head Shao immediately ordered the original confirmation document to be sealed on the spot. The principal's expression had turned so wretched that he could no longer maintain even an ounce of his dignity as the head of the institution. He looked straight at Cao Lam, his voice heavy with finality.

"Teacher Gao, you had better explain the unvarnished truth right now. Otherwise, the school will no longer be able to protect you."

Upon hearing those words, Cao Lam snapped like a taut wire under too much pressure. A sudden, desolate laugh escaped her lips. "Protect me? Since when has this school ever protected me? Every single year during performance evaluations, you demand achievements; during promotional campaigns, you demand highlights; the parents demand special quotas, and the leadership demands immaculate paperwork. The moment something goes wrong, you dump all the blame squarely onto the shoulders of the head teacher!"

She raised a trembling finger and pointed directly at the principal.