Chapter 5 — The Truth in the Schoolbag

Hui Zhiyan collapsed, shaking his head. "No! I wrote this myself, I just rehearsed what to say beforehand, I didn't frame him!" I nodded. "Then let me ask you, when you were writing the draft earlier, how did you know for sure that I would be the one to pick up your schoolbag?" He was struck speechless. I continued, "And how did you know the exact missing amount would be thirty thousand?" The blood slowly drained from Hui Zhiyan's face. Hui Yuewei suddenly stepped forward, her voice raised.

"Enough!"

Her eyes were red and swollen, as if she were the one driven to the absolute brink of despair.

"Xia Chen, you've already proven you didn't steal the money, why are you still hounding Zhiyan and refusing to let go?"

I looked straight at her. "Because just now, you two almost made me suffer a severe disciplinary reprimand." She stiffened. I pressed on, "And you were the very first person to step up and demand that the principal question my direct admission eligibility." Hui Yuewei let out a cold laugh. "I was merely seeking justice for my brother."

"What you wanted was never justice."

I stared intently into her eyes.

"What you wanted was the direct admission slot."

Dean Shao immediately pulled out his phone and called the information center.

"Check the login details from last night for the anonymous forum account 'Du Chu', and verify the printer usage history in the student union's office this morning."

Hui Yuewei's lips pressed into a thin, rigid line. Finally, genuine panic began to creep over her. Five minutes later, a teacher from the information center hurried onto the stage, holding two printed sheets of paper.

"The records have been found."

Dean Shao took them, scanning the contents as his expression darkened further.

"The login account for the anonymous post belongs to Hui Yuewei, a senior in Class Ten, and the device used was computer number three in the competition computer lab."

"Furthermore, at 6:52 AM this morning, Hui Yuewei's access card was swiped to print a document in the student union's print room."

"The temporary cache file is still there, and the content..."

He paused for a fraction of a second.

"Is virtually identical to the handwritten draft we just saw."

A collective gasp swept across the school courtyard. Hui Zhiyan's legs turned to jelly, and he nearly collapsed onto his knees. Hui Yuewei's face was as pale as a sheet. Principal Tan looked down at the siblings, his voice dropping to a somber murmur.

"So this entire incident involving the missing money was a premeditated scheme by the two of you?"

No one answered. Silence was the ultimate confession. I gripped the microphone tightly, my palms finally slick with a layer of cold sweat. Not from fear, but from a profound and burning hatred. In my past life, to prove my innocence, I had cried until my voice was completely hoarse. No one checked the forum. No one checked the print room. No one bothered to ask why he had a prepared draft ready to go. They were too busy demanding that I apologize, forcing me to pay the money, and ordering me not to damage the school's reputation. This time, I had laid out all the irrefutable evidence right before their eyes. Let us see if they could still afford to play blind.

Principal Tan immediately halted the flag-raising ceremony. All classes were instructed to remain in place and await further orders. Hui Zhiyan and Hui Yuewei were escorted into the administrative building. I was also invited into the conference room. Invited was a polite term, yet the gazes everyone cast toward me had completely shifted. A moment ago, I was still the "directly admitted student who stole life-saving money." A moment later, I had transformed into the victim who was nearly destroyed by a malicious trap. The rapidity of this transformation was nothing short of farcical. Inside the conference room, Principal Tan sat at the head of the table, while Dean Shao sat beside him taking notes. The grade director was present as well. Her face was fraught with embarrassment, and several times she opened her mouth to speak to me, only to swallow her words back down. Hui Zhiyan sat across from me, weeping so hard his eyes were red and swollen shut. Hui Yuewei kept her head bowed, her fingers gripping the edge of the chair until her knuckles turned white. Principal Tan spoke first, his tone vastly subdued compared to earlier.

"Xia Chen, the temporary disciplinary reprimand proposed this morning has not yet been officially logged into your file."

I looked at him steadily. "Mr. Principal, you announced it to the entire school."

His expression stiffened. "The school will issue a retraction and clarify the situation."

I remained silent. Had I lacked the evidence, that "temporary proposal" would have seamlessly transformed into a permanent disciplinary mark. Had I not relived my life, I wouldn't even have been granted the chance to sit here and question him. Dean Shao cleared his throat and began the questioning.

"Hui Zhiyan, where did the twenty thousand inside your schoolbag come from?"

Hui Zhiyan answered in a small, trembling voice, "Borrowed from relatives."

"Your mother's medical expenses have already been fully covered by a charitable foundation, so why did you announce to the whole school that fifty thousand had to be paid today?"

He stayed silent. Dean Shao pressed further, "You claimed there were originally fifty thousand in the bag, and only twenty thousand remained. Yet the video clearly shows there were only twenty thousand to begin with. How do you explain this?" Hui Zhiyan bowed his head as tears streamed down his face unchecked.

"I was too stressed out and remembered incorrectly."

The grade director couldn't help herself, speaking up in a soft, coaxing tone, "Zhiyan, tell us the truth, stop crying now." Her voice remained exceptionally gentle, a stark contrast to the interrogation she had subjected me to that morning. A bitter sense of irony washed over me. Principal Tan turned his gaze to Hui Yuewei. "Was it you who posted that thread on the forum?" Hui Yuewei remained silent for a long, agonizing moment.

"Yes."

"And the draft was prepared by you as well?"

"Yes."