Chapter 33: The Truth Revealed

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Hua Shier took Xu Miao’s SIM card, pulled ten yuan from his pocket, and handed it to her.

“Go get a replacement card yourself. I’ll let you off cheaply this time. Your two friends won’t get off nearly so easily!”

Xu Miao was unwilling to accept his money and hurriedly waved her hands, but Hua Shier simply forced it into her hands, leaving her no chance to refuse.

As if anyone could forget how he had extorted those three boys who had ganged up on Liu Beishan.

He had frightened Xu Miao by telling her that, strictly speaking, what they had done was not a particularly serious matter. But if someone took another person’s belongings without paying—even if the item was worth only a single yuan—that would count as robbery.

If money changed hands, however, it would be considered forced buying and selling at worst. Therefore, payment was essential.

After giving her the money, Hua Shier quickly left. Once Xu Miao saw him disappear into the distance, she knew she was safe. The tension drained from her, only to be replaced by a fresh wave of lingering fear. Covering her face, she began to sob.

At that moment, she truly regretted what she had done.

What she did not know was that Wei Lai and Luo Ting had already seen the video from her phone circulating through various group chats. By then, they were nearly frantic, repeatedly calling her number. But with the SIM card gone, Xu Miao could not receive their calls, leaving the two wicked girls terrified and helpless.

Meanwhile, the various group chats had exploded as well. Once students and parents saw the videos, the matter began to ferment rapidly, and everything the three girls had done started spreading through every available channel.

Inside the presidential suite, Chen Nian watched the exposed evidence and finally smiled. She had known he would have a way.

Following Hua Shier’s earlier instructions, she took out her phone and called the number Zheng Yi had left behind.

“Hello, is this Officer Zheng? I have something to report. Someone uploaded a video related to Hu Xiaodie in one of the study-center groups. Yes, when you asked me about it last time, I truly didn’t know anything. But everything the police want to know should be in these videos. You can take a look yourself. I hope you can give Hu Xiaodie justice...”

Because Hua Shier had given her instructions beforehand, Chen Nian made no mention of the bullying she herself had suffered. She removed herself from the matter completely, in case Wei Lai became desperate and came after her.

When Hua Shier returned to the hotel and appeared before Chen Nian, the country girl ran toward him barefoot, laughing as she threw herself into his arms. Clinging to his neck like a koala, she cried out:

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“I knew you could do it! I knew you’d pull it off...”

Hua Shier rolled his eyes.

“When have I ever failed? But, girl, your ribs are digging into me...”

That evening, the two of them opened another bottle of wine worth more than seven thousand yuan to celebrate. Laughter and happy voices filled the entire suite. After eating and drinking their fill, they once again, entirely by accident, fell asleep in each other’s arms while drunk.

The next morning, once they had sobered up, they resumed their mutual disdain and said nothing more about it.

As for the video on Xu Miao’s phone, it spread like a virus almost overnight.

By noon the following day, traces of the footage had appeared across major online forums and social-media platforms. The videos were all anyone talked about.

At the same time, people claiming to know the truth began posting in the comment sections, revealing that Hu Xiaodie, the girl in the videos, had jumped from a building and died by suicide. This accelerated the spread of the matter even further.

The study center finally learned the truth and immediately chose to report it.

In less than half a day, the incident had grown into a major scandal. The relevant authorities in Anqiao City issued a statement declaring that an investigation had been opened and that the results would be made public. If the allegations proved true, those responsible would be dealt with severely, without leniency.

Chen Nian had already spoken with Zheng Yi the previous day, so the turmoil did not affect her. When she came across the news online at the study center, she excitedly sent Hua Shier a thumbs-up emoji.

Hua Shier received the message while monitoring the stock market. After reading it, he replied, “Piece of cake,” then set down his phone and smiled faintly.

This was nothing. In later generations, exposing scandals online would become commonplace. There would be no shortage of true and false news. He had not even hired paid posters yet.

The trio of Wei Lai, Luo Ting, and Xu Miao never returned to the study center. Instead, the police took them from their homes for questioning. With the videos as evidence, all three confessed to what they had done.

Wei Lai and Luo Ting, however, acted as though they were utterly unafraid. They even laughed and said they had only been fooling around and could not possibly be sentenced. They argued that Hu Xiaodie had been an adult and that everyone was responsible for their own choices. Her suicide had merely been the result of her narrow-mindedness and psychological problems. What did that have to do with them?

Wei Lai was the worst of all. When Zheng Yi asked whether she felt guilty, she grew agitated and said:

“Would it really have been so bad if Hu Xiaodie had died? If it weren’t for her mother, she wouldn’t have been able to get that much money. Maybe if she had gone to the study center and made a scene, she could have gotten hundreds of thousands. If she hadn’t died, how many years would she have had to spend studying and working before she could give her mother that much money?”

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Those words left Yang, a veteran criminal detective with many years of experience, completely speechless. Zheng Yi, who had only recently begun working, felt as though his entire worldview had been overturned.

He could not believe that such words had come from an educated adult woman. What kind of twisted family could raise a girl like that?

Of the three, only Xu Miao sincerely admitted her mistakes and apologized. Wisely, she made no mention of what had happened the previous day. She merely said that after Hu Xiaodie attempted to take her own life, she had been consumed by guilt and decided to make the truth public. Naturally, no one suspected her explanation.

With that, the truth came to light.

Three days later, the police investigation was complete, and an official notice was posted online.

The notice stated that the videos circulating online were genuine. However, since this type of bullying was not classified as a criminal offense, and the harm the three girls had inflicted on Hu Xiaodie did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution, the police could only detain the three involved parties for fifteen days on charges of disturbing the public order.

The study center sincerely apologized to Hu Xiaodie’s parents and provided financial compensation. The counselor responsible for Hu Xiaodie’s class was suspended, while Wei Lai and the other two girls were expelled from the center.

In other words, the three of them were no longer eligible to sit for this year’s national college entrance examination.

The girls’ parents went to the school and begged the administration to give their daughters another chance so they could still take the examination. Luo Ting’s father even performed a round of what could only be called a Dragon-and-Tiger Wild Dance on his daughter in front of the study-center administrators and students. The administrators immediately chose to call the police.

Just as Hua Shier had told Xu Miao, adults ultimately had to take responsibility for the things they did.

Chen Nian thought the matter was over and that Hu Xiaodie had finally received the justice she had been denied.

But in Hua Shier’s eyes, this was nowhere near enough. A human life was at stake. How could the matter possibly end so cheaply?

For the moment, however, he would take no further action. He would wait until Chen Nian had finished the college entrance examination, until everything had settled, before carrying out the next stage of his plan.

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