“If I heard correctly, you just mentioned Jiang Cheng?”
Wang Ziyue’s gaze sharpened.
The director of teaching affairs instinctively took a step back and nearly bumped into Principal Zhou.
Principal Zhou coughed twice with a furrowed brow, intimidated, and hurriedly moved aside half a step.
“Yes… President Wang, shall we speak privately?”
Wang Ziyue did not answer immediately.
She glanced at the still-shrieking mother of the boy, then stared thoughtfully at the boy himself for a moment.
The originally tall and sturdy young man shrank further and further, hunching his back as he hid behind his mother.
“What are you staring at?! Don’t be scared, son; Mommy’s right here.”
Though his mother felt inexplicably guilty, she still puffed out her chest in a posture that refused to yield.
“Half an hour. Get this settled.”
Wang Ziyue ignored her completely, glanced at her watch; her good mood had been utterly ruined.
Although nobody except Wang Ziyang understood why Wang Ziyue had suddenly appeared, the school reacted swiftly and cleared a conference room on the same floor.
During that time, the principal stepped out several times to speak with the director of teaching affairs and even summoned the head of campus security.
Once everything was ready, both sets of parents and the homeroom teachers filed in grandly.
After the door closed, an eerie silence settled inside the room.
Wang Ziyue sat in the first seat to the principal’s left; directly across from her was the boy’s mother.
The two women sized each other up.
The mother didn’t recognize Wang Ziyue but felt she looked familiar somehow.
As if she had seen her somewhere before.
Wang Ziyue’s lips curved into a faint smile.
She took a sip of the mineral water beside her.
In the time just now, the principal had already gotten a full picture of the incident.
Originally, before Wang Ziyue arrived, he had already decided how to handle it.
Now, with Wang Ziyue sitting right there, he felt even more confident in his approach.
No wonder his daughter at home loved reading overbearing-CEO novels so much; having someone powerful backing you really did feel wonderful.
“Mother of Wu Yi, I’m afraid this matter won’t be easy to resolve.”
He started politely, not immediately placing all the blame on Wu Yi, though inwardly he was somewhat gloating.
“Not easy to resolve? Does having more people on their side mean they can twist the truth? Look at my son’s face—he’s still injured!”
“This isn’t a question of twisting anything, and I’m afraid the truth differs from what you understand… Both sides are indeed responsible for the fight, but for the other matters, Student Wu will probably have to explain himself clearly. Don’t you agree, Student Wu?”
The principal was unusually patient. He glanced at Wu Yi, who immediately lowered his head, too afraid to meet his eyes.
Seeing her son act this way, Wu Yi’s mother felt her guilt intensify, yet she still put on a brave front under the pressure.
No matter what, she could always call her husband to deal with it later.
She glared irritably at her son.
“Then tell me, what exactly is going on here?”
“According to what we learned from the victimized girl, Wu Yi has threatened her on multiple occasions—not just once or twice—with the purpose of forcing her to lure another female classmate from their class outside the school. Today, he even intended to use violence.”
“Violence? Principal, aren’t you exaggerating? How could my son possibly do something like that?”
“Whether he did or not, we will conduct a thorough investigation. I’ve already sent someone to pull the surveillance footage; the cameras there are newly installed.”
Wu Yi’s head snapped up; he stared at the principal in disbelief.
Seeing her son’s panic written all over his face, what else could Mother Wu not understand?
Furious, she twisted his arm hard, then pulled out her phone from her bag to text her husband.
Before she could send it, his call came through.
“What the hell are you making a scene for out there? Have you no shame? I’m going to discipline that brat too; it’s all because you spoiled him!”
President Wu’s voice was lowered, but everyone in the room could still hear it clearly.
She answered meekly a few times, her face ashen, then hung up.
A timely knock sounded at the conference room door.
The head of campus security entered, followed by the moral education director.
The two leaned in close to Principal Zhou.
Principal Zhou glanced at the footage displayed on his phone, first offering it to Wang Ziyue, but she did not take it.
The principal then passed the phone to Mother Wu.
The once-spirited Mother Wu deflated instantly.
The fine lines on her forehead twisted into the shape of the Chinese character “三” as her features contorted; much of her brick-red lipstick had been swallowed, and she looked as if all the blood had drained from her face.
“What a farce.”
Those were the only words Wang Ziyue uttered from beginning to end.
She stood up, and Principal Zhou rose to see her out.
At the door, she suddenly said to the principal, “Regarding the two girls, please handle it properly.”
“Of course, of course. The school will definitely take care of their physical and mental well-being. This matter will also be handled anonymously… Er, the punishment for Student Wang will be considered leniently as well.”
“That boy still needs to learn a lesson.”
Wang Ziyue did not ask about Wu Yi’s punishment; she had more pressing matters right now.
A short while later, Wang Yu came out behind his father.
He had just been scolded again and was planning to hide behind his aunt for protection, only to discover she had already vanished.
“Dad, did Auntie really just drop by?”
“Your aunt is so busy, yet she still made time to deal with your mess. Cause less trouble from now on.”
“Okay, okay, okay… but why do I feel like she wasn’t actually here for me toward the end?”
Wang Yu just had this inexplicable gut feeling.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Wang Ziyang lightly knocked him on the head.
The sight of a 1.8-meter-tall young man clutching his head and whining “Dad” was utterly comical.
“If your aunt wasn’t here for you, then who was she here for…? Don’t think you’ve escaped punishment; just wait till we get home and see how your mother deals with you.”
“Dad, dear Dad, you have to save me~”
“Scram…”
Wang Ziyang pushed his son’s face away, though a shadow of doubt lingered in his heart.
Wang Ziyue had indeed come to the school because of Wang Yu, but her later behavior really seemed as if she cared more about something else.
The black SUV sped toward the Jindi Grand Theater.
The joint performance was being held here, and several buses were already parked in the outdoor plaza.
She drove into the underground garage. While waiting for the elevator, she sent Jiang Cheng a WeChat message.
“Are you there yet?”
There was no immediate reply.
When she stepped out of the elevator, she happened to run into the girl standing in the corridor, her back to Wang Ziyue, smiling as she spoke with another girl.
Wang Ziyue had some impression of her; it was the girl she had seen before in the empty classroom.
That time, this girl had been the one to call Jiang Cheng away.
“You are…?”
Zhou Qingying’s angle allowed her to see Wang Ziyue clearly.
She had only caught a fleeting glimpse before and already felt inferior; now, up close, she realized just how dazzling Wang Ziyue was.
Really… so beautiful.
Jiang Cheng had already turned around; she hadn’t expected Wang Ziyue to arrive so early.
“The performance doesn’t start for another half hour.”
“I wanted to come earlier.”
“Perfect timing then. This is the girl who’ll be the lead on stage soon! Pretty, right?”
Zhou Qingying’s hands clenched; her smile grew a little stiff, making Wang Ziyue slightly puzzled.
She suddenly remembered what Jiang Cheng had mentioned before: one of her friends was quite “afraid” of her.
“Hello, I’m Jiang Cheng’s older sister.”
Wang Ziyue extended her hand, her smile faint yet carrying a gentle, encompassing warmth.
Zhou Qingying lightly shook it in return.
Jiang Cheng frowned slightly upon hearing the self-introduction; Wang Ziyue ignored her displeasure.
“Ah, I need to go prepare.”
Zhou Qingying lifted her skirt, waved at the two of them, and hurried toward backstage.
“Your friend seems a little scared of you~”
“No, she isn’t…”
Jiang Cheng pouted.
“Why did you just call yourself my sister?”
“Am I not?”
“We agreed: in front of others, just use normal address.”
“She’s your friend, isn’t she? It’s fine if she knows… Besides, if you called me President Wang in front of her, wouldn’t that be even stranger?”
The scent of Wang Ziyue’s perfume drifted into Jiang Cheng’s nose.
The dim corridor lights stretched their shadows long, overlapping on the floor.
“You always have a reason.”
“Because I am your sister, after all.”
Wang Ziyue chuckled softly.
“Fine, fine, my sister. Can we go in now? Where’s your seat?”
“Let me check… it should be in the front rows… second row, seat fifteen, I think.”
“Hehe, I’m just a little behind you.”
Jiang Cheng pulled out her own ticket—fifth row, seat fifteen. Not too far, not too close.
“Then I’ll have to turn around to see you.”
“Just watch the performance properly. Why would you look at me?”
Jiang Cheng felt her face burning; Wang Ziyue was being so strange today.
“Because I’ve already seen the most captivating performance…”
She raised an eyebrow and walked ahead into the auditorium.
She’s really, really acting so strange.
Jiang Cheng thought to herself.