Chapter 22 — The Day the Whole School Went Wild

Whenever you see someone else being bullied in the future, do not wait for the next Shen Nanqiao to stand up first.

Lin Yue nodded firmly.

It will not happen again.

By dusk, the investigation team had issued their preliminary disciplinary notice. Gao Lan was suspected of severe violations of professional teaching ethics, accepting unauthorized bribes from parents, and falsifying student nomination records; she was suspended from her duties pending further investigation. Principal Tran, due to managerial negligence, lax oversight, and official meeting minutes containing discriminatory language, was temporarily suspended from his position within the school to cooperate with the ongoing inquiry. Xu Gia Nghien, Trinh Hao, and other involved students were stripped of their student council and student representative status, and subjected to coordinated educational measures administered by the school, their parents, and juvenile protection agencies. Matters relating to unlawful deprivation of personal liberty, violation of privacy, defamation, and rumor-mongering would be handled separately in accordance with the law. The partnership status for the second phase between the Foundation and High School Affiliated to the Normal University was officially suspended.

As soon as this announcement was released, local social media exploded once again. The trending headlines shifted from "Model Collective Class Derails" to "Nanqiao Development Foundation Temporarily Suspends Partnership with High School Affiliated to the Normal University." Some netizens cheered and celebrated online. Others continued to hurl sarcasm, claiming that my backing must be immensely powerful for the school to handle the situation with such swiftness.

I turned off my phone. Uncle Co drove my mother and me home. The car was dead silent. As we neared our residential complex, he suddenly handed me a kraft paper bag.

This is something your father left behind before he passed away.

I froze.

What is this?

Uncle Co’s voice was slightly hoarse.

Your father instructed me to give this to you only on the day you were finally ready to stand before everyone once more.

I opened the paper bag. Inside lay a letter. On the envelope was my father’s handwriting, bearing the words: *To be personally opened by Nanqiao*. My fingers paused. My mother covered her mouth, tears falling silently. I slowly unfolded the letter. The very first line contained only a few words.

Nanqiao, if anyone ever tells you that you are not worthy of standing beneath the light, do not believe them.

I stared fixedly at those words as tears suddenly spilled down onto the paper. But before I could read any further, Uncle Co’s phone rang. He picked it up, listened for just a few seconds, and his expression changed drastically.

What did you say?

The special subsidy allocated for the Affiliated High School in the charity foundation’s ledger also shows signs of being tampered with?

After Uncle Co hung up, the atmosphere inside the car turned icy. My mother tightly grasped my hand, her fingertips ice-cold.

What does it mean that the special subsidy was tampered with?

Uncle Co did not answer immediately. He glanced at the driver.

Turn the car around. Return to the foundation's office.

I tucked the letter back into the paper bag. A corner of the paper was already soaked with my tears. Uncle Co lowered his voice.

The first phase of the special subsidy from the Nanqiao Development Foundation to the Affiliated High School totaled three hundred thousand yuan.

Among that, two hundred thousand was designated to support the education of underprivileged students, and one hundred thousand was allocated for psychological development projects and campus welfare initiatives.

The finance department just reviewed the records and discovered that several expenditure items in the project completion report submitted by the Affiliated High School do not match up.

My mother’s expression shifted.

What do you mean by not matching up?

Uncle Co stated: The ledgers record the funds as being spent on student psychological counseling, organizing development summer camps, and purchasing learning materials for impoverished students.

Yet the actual invoices include high-end hotel conference fees, luxury gift purchases, and a large transfer made to a third-party educational consulting firm.

I raised my head.

Whose educational consulting firm is that?

Uncle Co glanced at me.

We haven't fully investigated that yet.

But the contact person for that firm has the surname Xu.

Silence filled the interior of the car. My mother slowly turned her head to look out the window. She did not hurl curses at anyone, but her chest heaved violently. On the contrary, I felt utterly calm. It turned out that the missing autumn field trip ticket was merely the tip of the iceberg. They had not only sought to humiliate me; they had also regarded the charitable legacy left by my father as easy prey on their banquet table.

Upon arriving at the foundation's office, the conference room was brightly lit. Director Tong, along with the finance department and legal counsel, was already waiting inside. A thick stack of documents was spread across the table, every single one bearing sticky notes and labels: the first-phase project application from the Affiliated High School, the first-phase project implementation report, the re-evaluation sheets for sponsored students, and the sign-in sheets for psychological welfare project participation.

My eyes immediately caught the name at the very top of the sign-in sheet: Shen Nanqiao. I reached out and picked it up. It recorded that I had attended three group counseling sessions for psychological development support, complete with my signature for every single one. Yet I had never attended a single session.

The second page even featured a group photograph. In the picture, I was squeezed awkwardly into the absolute corner. My face was blurry, as if it had been crudely clipped from a class group photo and pasted on at random. My mother stared at the image, her eyes turning red with fury.

Did they even dare to falsify photographs?

Director Tong said in a deep voice: It isn't just the photographs.