A Clear Conscience Has Nothing to Fear

The buzz-cut boy's mother spoke up with a smile, addressing Lu Xiaoxiao. "Young lady, as you can see, your suspicions haven't been substantiated. I also trust that my child would never do something like this. Now that you've investigated, isn't it your turn to give us an explanation?"

By the end, her tone had grown increasingly aggressive. "You falsely accused someone. Surely you owe him an apology?"

Lu Yubai glanced uneasily at Lu Xiaoxiao, worried for her.

Although he was relieved that they hadn't proven the buzz-cut boy had stolen his belongings, he still felt guilty watching another student's parent interrogate Lu Xiaoxiao because of him.

The smile on Lu Xiaoxiao's face remained unchanged. She was just about to speak when an indignant female voice rang out.

"That's not true! Teacher! I want to report something! Jiang Haoxin did steal Lu Yubai's belongings! I saw it myself!"

Everyone froze at this testimony. Looking toward the back of the classroom, they saw a girl standing with her arms crossed, her expression serious and resolute.

Lu Xiaoxiao studied her for a moment. Both her face and her voice seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen her.

It wasn't until the buzz-cut boy, Jiang Haoxin, slammed his hand on his desk and pointed at the girl, shouting, "Qi Yin, you're lying!" that Lu Xiaoxiao finally remembered.

Oh! Isn't she the girl from Lu Yubai's birthday party?

She was the one who had approached Lu Jiaoyue to ask about Lu Yubai's preferences, only to end up giving her a nasty look.

Today, she was wearing her school uniform without any makeup, which was why Lu Xiaoxiao hadn't recognized her immediately.

Qi Yin stared Jiang Haoxin down with a cold expression, utterly unfazed. His raised voice hadn't intimidated her in the slightest, and she continued her accusation:

"You're the one lying! I was late going downstairs for morning exercises. When I came out of the bathroom, I saw you sneaking toward the wall around the sports field! Then you stuffed something into a gap in the wall!"

Qi Yin's account was only partly true. In fact, she had not only witnessed Jiang Haoxin's furtive actions, but had also secretly taken the item out to inspect it after he left.

She had initially suspected it might be a love letter Lu Yubai had received or something of the sort. To her surprise, it was merely a lottery ticket worth a paltry fifty thousand yuan!

Qi Yin was also a pampered young lady from a wealthy family. Her family's backing had always been the source of her arrogance, and the moment she saw what it was, she lost all interest.

That's it? How boring. It's not even much money. What's the point of hiding it?

Since she remembered Jiang Haoxin as a good friend of Lu Yubai's, Qi Yin hadn't interfered. She had put the Scratch-Off Tickets back exactly as she found them.

The moment Teacher Zhu appeared in the classroom earlier, Qi Yin had begun debating whether to reveal what she had seen. If Lu Yubai already knew about it, she worried that speaking out rashly might ruin his plans and make him dislike her.

But after observing for a while, Qi Yin realized that Lu Yubai had been kept completely in the dark. She immediately grew angry with Jiang Haoxin and blurted out everything she knew.

"Teacher Zhu, if you don't believe me, just go and look! I swear I saw it! I can take you there!"

Lu Xiaoxiao raised her eyebrows in surprise. She offered no objection, merely smiling as she watched the drama unfold.

[Not bad. Looks like Qi Yin really does like Lu Yubai. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so quick to jump to his defense.]

Lu Xiaoxiao hadn't had a particularly good impression of her at the birthday party, but now... she was starting to find Qi Yin rather likable.

Though she had a bad temper and a blunt personality, she was actually rather endearing at a time like this.

The reason Lu Xiaoxiao had singled Jiang Haoxin out so precisely earlier was that she had already exchanged for an omniscient view of the incident through the system. She knew he had hidden the Scratch-Off Tickets beneath a loose brick in the wall.

Without Qi Yin as an eyewitness, it would have taken a little more effort to lead everyone there naturally. But with Qi Yin's timely assist, she had saved herself plenty of trouble! Perfect!

Hearing Qi Yin describe everything in such detail, Jiang Haoxin truly began to panic. "Why should anyone believe you? Everyone in class knows you like Lu Yubai! Of course you'd take his side no matter what!"

He was frantic, yet his mother, who knew nothing of the truth, suddenly became determined to get to the bottom of it. She pressed a hand firmly onto Jiang Haoxin's shoulder and told Qi Yin, "Fine, lead the way. I refuse to believe my son would do something like this!"

"Haoxin, a clear conscience has nothing to fear. Since someone is deliberately trying to slander us, we'll let them investigate however they want."

Jiang Haoxin inwardly groaned. Several times, he wanted to signal his mother with his eyes, but he was afraid the others would notice something amiss. In the end, he was practically dragged to the wall.

Qi Yin went straight to a loose brick in the corner, lifted it, and took out the Scratch-Off Tickets hidden beneath it, holding them out to Lu Yubai.

The girl who had been so fierce and blunt just moments ago suddenly sounded much softer and sweeter in front of the boy she liked. She extended her hand as though presenting a treasure, gazing at Lu Yubai expectantly. "Here, take a look. Is this yours?"

Lu Yubai took them and examined them for a few seconds before confirming excitedly, "Yes! Sis! Teacher Zhu! These are the Scratch-Off Tickets I lost!"

Then he frowned and glanced at Jiang Haoxin beside him, his tone displeased. "I honestly can't believe you're this kind of person."

The facts spoke for themselves. Jiang Haoxin stood there in a daze, his face as pale as paper.

At the sight, his mother seemed to lose the ability to speak. The composed, gracious smile she had maintained collapsed, and her whole face twisted.

Jiang Haoxin spoke timidly. "Mom..."

His voice snapped his mother out of her daze. She immediately turned and slapped him hard across the face. "You little disgrace! I trusted you so much, and this is how you humiliate me?"

After hitting him, her expression changed again at once. She turned back to Teacher Zhu and forced a smile, speaking cautiously. "Teacher, Haoxin was indeed in the wrong here. I'll make sure to discipline him properly when we get home. Could you please consider that he's still just a child..."

Before she could finish her plea, Teacher Zhu cut her off sternly. "Haoxin's mother, from what we can see, your child was the one who started this whole incident. First, he stole a valuable item from Lu Yubai, and then he participated in bullying Fan Chiran. His conduct was extremely reprehensible!"

"Taken together, these two offenses may leave us no choice but to impose a severe disciplinary sanction on your child. He may even be asked to leave the school. I haven't reported this to the principal yet, so the exact punishment will be decided by the principal once I do!"

Hearing that the consequences could be so serious, Jiang Haoxin's mother panicked, her voice growing urgent. "But there haven't been any truly serious consequences! Teacher, the item has already been returned to Lu Yubai! And that student Fan is all right too, isn't he?"

"We're willing to pay his medical expenses! We are! But you can't make Haoxin leave the school! He's about to take his college entrance exams! He only gets one chance in his life!"

As she finished speaking, she spotted Lu Yubai nearby and lunged over to seize his shoulders, pleading, "Yubai, aren't you and Haoxin good friends? He just had a momentary lapse in judgment. Could you tell the teacher you forgive him? Please, I'm begging you!"