Chapter 145: Settling Accounts

Words : 1308 Updated : Sep 26th, 2025

The wind howled, and the world was cloaked in a cold, white desolation. The once lush branches from months ago were now bare, struggling in the frigid wind, carrying a desolate beauty. Cheng Lie left the Yun Family’s residence and walked forward expressionlessly. His eyes were colder now, his pupils a deep black, seemingly brewing a storm on the verge of breaking loose. He couldn’t lash out in front of Yun Shifei just now. At this moment, he was heading back to school to settle the score. In the office of the Dean of Students. Song Yang, Su Ni, and a few girls were standing inside. At this moment, Song Yang felt particularly irritable. He had just been sent back to class by the dean not long ago, only to be called out again. When he arrived at the office, he discovered that the dean wanted to question him about Yun Shifei’s situation. He instinctively lied, "Teacher, I’m a guy, how could I have entered the girls’ restroom?" "How could you have entered? Someone said it was you!" "Who? Yun Shifei?" Recalling how disheveled Yun Shifei looked earlier—they had seen her soaked, curled up behind Cheng Lie, looking like a pitiful little animal. In such cold weather, she was bound to catch a cold. Song Yang felt inexplicably guilty. Actually, he just wanted to startle Yun Shifei a little, scare her, and had not anticipated Su Ni would go so far. The dean did not reveal who had accused him. He cleared his throat and said, "In any case, I’m ninety-nine percent sure it was you who did it, along with those female students you brought in. Will you confess yourself, or will I have to drag them out one by one?" "Dean, I don’t know anything," Song Yang retorted stubbornly. The dean sneered, turned, and walked out. The number of students at their school wasn’t large, and any student capable of something like this would almost certainly be connected to Song Yang. A brief investigation easily singled out Su Ni. Once Su Ni was found, the rest of her accomplices naturally followed suit. With the dean’s years of experience, a round of "strict interrogations" quickly got Su Ni and her friends to confess. Song Yang was harder to pin down, but Su Ni was much easier to handle. After uncovering the truth, the dean announced, "You’re all to stay here and wait while I call your parents." "Teacher, can we not involve our parents? We know we were wrong," one of them pleaded. Before they could finish, a loud slap echoed through the room. The sound startled Su Ni and the others, while Song Yang merely narrowed his eyes with a veteran’s calmness. "You know you’re wrong? I think you don’t understand your mistakes at all. You’re just regretting that you didn’t plan better and got caught by me, aren’t you?" The dean’s words made Su Ni feel as though he had seen right through her, yet she still tried to argue back: "It’s not like I hit her! All I did was lock her in the restroom. Dean, you don’t have to be so harsh." Like Song Yang, Su Ni had only been able to attend this school because her family was wealthy. Essentially, she was just idling away her time, planning to either attend a technical college or study abroad after graduation. But she hadn’t expected to get into trouble after just one semester. She was already wondering how much money her parents would have to spend to smooth things over this time. In truth, it didn’t matter how much it cost; her family had money. They didn’t care about expenses like this. As such, Su Ni hadn’t grasped the seriousness of what had happened. Song Yang stayed silent, his emotions tangled in knots. Now that they were calling his parents in, he dreaded how his father and mother would react when they found out he had been bullying Yun Shifei. They might even break his legs. Why did things always go so terribly for him whenever he tried to target Yun Shifei? Besides, he felt wronged too. All he had wanted to do was lock Yun Shifei in the restroom to spook her for a few minutes. How was he supposed to know that Su Ni would take it upon herself to douse Yun Shifei with water? Song Yang decided that later, he would have to teach Su Ni a lesson. But first, they had to get through the current situation. Both Song Yang and Su Ni thought this was just a minor incident that would eventually blow over. But when their parents arrived, the dean confronted them with a stern expression and said, "These kids have engaged in collective bullying of a classmate. This behavior is absolutely prohibited by our school rules. After discussing with the principal, we have decided to expel them." The room fell into stunned silence. Song Yang and the others were frozen, and the parents were equally dumbstruck. "Dean, this matter is negotiable. Whatever donation the school needs, just name the amount—it’s only money," one parent suggested. Hearing their dismissive attitude, the dean was incensed. "This isn’t about money! These children’s actions this time are downright unacceptable. They must be expelled!" He nearly shouted the words. In the past, there might have been room for compromise. But this time, they had offended someone they shouldn’t have. The dean had just received a phone call. The person on the other end insisted that, no matter what, these students had to be expelled—not allowed to withdraw voluntarily, but formally expelled by the school. An expulsion wasn’t a trivial matter. It would leave a permanent stain on their records. If the next school saw that these students had been expelled, they would definitely think twice before accepting them. Song Yang’s eyes widened in disbelief. Other schools had bullying incidents too. Just recently, at a neighboring school, a girl had been bullied in the dormitory and even forced to drink urine. Yet the perpetrators there were only given warnings, not expulsions. This wasn’t fair! And this whole mess was because of him. "Dean, it was all me. It has nothing to do with Su Ni or the others. They were just following my orders. If anyone should be expelled, it’s me, not them." Song Yang felt that, in any case, the incident stemmed from his directive to Su Ni to go after Yun Shifei. If he hadn’t said anything, things wouldn’t have come to this point. "It doesn’t matter who the ringleader or accomplices were. All of you bear responsibility," the dean said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "There’s no more room for negotiation. I’m under a lot of pressure too." "Song Yang, was it really you?" Su Ni’s parents turned to him with questioning looks. "How could you corrupt our child like this?" another parent chimed in. They had pulled so many strings and spent so much effort to get their kids into Xinhua Middle School. And now, after less than a semester, their children were being expelled as a group. If Song Yang was responsible, they wouldn’t let him off the hook. Mo Zilan cast a furious glance at Song Yang, wishing she could strangle him. Raising this second son of hers had been nothing but one headache after another. But she had to say, "Yangyang, are you crazy? Stop taking the blame all on yourself. Everyone shares responsibility. How can you say it’s all your fault?" Song Yang wanted to speak, but Mo Zilan pinched him sharply, forcing him to shut up. His mother was signaling him to stay silent. "Song Yang is always like this, overly loyal to his friends. Don’t take this to heart," Mo Zilan said to the other parents with a forced smile.

Chapter 145: Settling Accounts

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