Free Web NovelChapter 180: Chapter 158: Photo
"The three of them lived close to each other and were the best of friends, with Xia Xiuyan acting as the big sister. Whenever Sun Zhen and Nie Hexiang were bullied, it was she who took up for them."
The so-called Sun Zhen must be Azhen, who not long ago, had taken Nie Hexiang away from that terrifying classroom in front of Yang Xiao.
"Did such an incident actually happen, have you investigated it?" Song Yan asked.
"No, absolutely not," Principal Wu immediately interjected, his face stern, "As soon as I heard such rumors circulating in the school, I immediately found Teacher Wang. Although I trust him deeply, as a principal, I must take responsibility for my students."
"After the investigation by me and the security department, and after questioning the rest of the students in the class, we determined that Teacher Wang had no issues; the students all think highly of him."
"The staff from the security department questioned Xia Xiuyan and the other two girls. They responded by saying that the testimonies of the three children were confused, lacking in detail, and they kept repeating the same few sentences over and over, with very limited vocabulary, merely that Teacher Wang took them back to his dormitory and when no one was around, he reached his hand into their clothes. Interestingly, the testimonies of all three were exactly the same," he added.
"Moreover, when asked about the specific timing, there were even more discrepancies. Sun Zhen insisted that it was the evening before Teacher’s Day when Teacher Wang took her back to the dormitory."
At this point, Principal Wu became emotional, "How could that be possible? That evening, Teacher Wang was in the small auditorium helping rehearse a performance for several teachers, staying busy until after 9 PM before he left. All the teachers present can testify to that."
"Our head of the security department, who used to be a police officer, told me that it was certain that the three children were making things up."
"We were planning on handling this matter seriously, as such things are not to be taken lightly. I intended to call Xia Xiuyan’s parents, who were working elsewhere, to the school for a serious discussion, and if necessary, proceed with expulsion."
"But when we finally got in touch with their parents, their attitude was very dismissive; it seemed like they didn’t care about how the matter was dealt with, whether their children had a school to attend or not, or even... even whether their children were harmed."
Hearing this, another male teacher chimed in to explain, "You young people don’t understand. Our town is secluded, with little contact with the outside world, and many old bad habits linger. The older generation has a strong preference for boys; they consider girls to be a financial burden and boys as precious as gold. If a family doesn’t have a son, they will borrow money to keep having children until they get a boy."
"Heh, if it had been their sons in trouble, those people would have run to us demanding justice long ago," Principal Wu said bitterly. "Teacher Wang is a key talent specially recruited by the town. I was planning to deal with the issue seriously, but after hearing the news, Teacher Wang came to me and pleaded on their behalf, saying that these children were already unfortunate, their parents didn’t want them to study but only wanted to send them out to work and earn money. If I expelled them from school, then the three girls would have no choice but to work."
"At Teacher Wang’s persistent insistence, the school only meted out a punishment of suspending Xia Xiuyan and the others for a week, to reflect at home. We thought that would be the end of it, but... but who would have known that, before the week was up, one evening, that she-devil appeared."
"She came to us, accusing us of shielding a male teacher who harassed students. I explained the entire situation to her and even brought in someone from the security department to testify. But she wouldn’t listen at all, insisting that we were covering for each other."
"We stopped paying attention to her, thinking that someone with a clear conscience needs not fear false accusations. Yet she was relentless, returning the next day, deliberately making a scene at the school gates during student arrival times, causing a great disturbance. No matter how we explained, it was useless, and in the end, we had no choice but to call the police."
"After the police came to the school to investigate, they too concluded that Teacher Wang was innocent. However, she was unrelenting, her behavior becoming more and more extreme, throwing red ink at the school gates, making abusive remarks, and finally, when warnings were ineffective, the police took her away for disturbing public order."
"What we found comforting, however, was that many parents from the school, along with the family members of students from Teacher Wang’s class, grandparents and all, came out one after another to support Teacher Wang, after all, they had witnessed his good character."
"We thought that the police involvement would make her think twice, but to our surprise, when she came out again, her actions intensified. She began printing flyers with fabricated nonsense; she contacted various media outlets, TV stations, and emerging women’s rights organizations. Her behavior became increasingly erratic, and it’s a mystery where she got her information, but she even went so far as to intercept a convoy of foreign investors!" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Despair filled Principal Wu’s eyes, and it was hard to imagine what this weary old man must have been through.
"This move is too ruthless, this woman is too cunning," he said. "She had people arranged in advance to film the whole thing from the best angle, and it’s because of one of those photos that she completely blew up."
Trembling, Principal Wu fished out his mobile phone from his pocket and opened a photo. As he laid his eyes on it, Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat.
The photo was taken on a rainy night, a disheveled woman kneeling in the middle of the road, holding up a piece of white cloth with the word "wronged" written on it in bold.
Even against the blurry background, the blood-red character for "wronged" was strikingly conspicuous, a stark contrast to the darkness behind the woman, with pouring rain above her head.
It was the same photo from the script box. At the time, Yang Xiao had also been shocked by the photo’s background and its implications, but he never expected... the truth to be like this.
On the right side of the photo was another line of small text: "If equality is a lie, then we shall awaken. If today I look on indifferently, tomorrow no one will wave the flag for me."
"At that time, the town was at a critical stage of development. These foreign investors had been hard-won by town leaders, and her actions cast a very negative impression of the town. If this matter were not handled well, all the negotiations that were in place would collapse."
"This woman is very adept at using the power of public opinion to arm herself. She has crafted an image of someone who pleads for the people and is persecuted, garnering widespread societal sympathy," Yang Xiao reflected on the scenes unfolding on social media in real society. Due to the asymmetry of information and perception, incidents driven by trending topics occur repeatedly, resulting in countless tragedies.
Principal Wu nodded in agreement. "I must say, her actions indeed had an impact on the judicial department. The police officers handling the case later came to me, candidly discussing the difficulties they were facing. The case was attracting too much public attention, and it was tough for them too."
"I and several other teachers went to Xia Xiuyan’s three children’s home, hoping to get them to tell the truth and settle the incident, and clear Teacher Wang’s name. But... but we didn’t expect that the three of them would recant their testimony!"
"A few days ago, they had already admitted they were talking nonsense and apologized to Teacher Wang, but now they suddenly retracted that and accused us, claiming that we had coerced them through threats and bribes. They said they lied because they feared secondary harm."
"There was a physical altercation in the midst of the argument because a teacher became agitated, and to our surprise, someone with a hidden agenda recorded the whole thing. Moreover, they called the police, alleging that the school threatened a witness. Now the situation has gotten even harder to explain."
"The police brought us back to the station, and when questioning Xia Xiuyan’s three children, they were unusually eloquent, with answers that fit together too perfectly. But eventually, even the seasoned officers found inconsistencies in their statements."
"When questioned on some very detailed aspects, the three children stopped talking, uniformly starting to cry and evade the questions, talking about this and that. Later we found out they were just dragging out time because they knew the police wouldn’t be able to do much to them as they were just kids."
"The fact that the three of them changed their story at the same time, responding unusually coherently, clearly indicates someone was plotting behind the scenes. It must have been Ms. Shengnan," Yang Xiao spoke out, which wasn’t hard to deduce.
Principal Wu slowly exhaled, his expression growing increasingly grim, "Just as we were anxiously waiting for the investigation to progress, there was a commotion outside the police station, and shortly after, an officer rushed in to report a serious incident."
"What happened?" Song Yan raised an eyebrow.
"That woman... that woman slit her wrists, right outside. She was immediately rushed to the hospital. The cut was shallow and not life-threatening, but this act completely put us in a passive position."
"We all underestimated her."
