Li Xian closed the distance between himself and Xie Zhi, then held out his phone to her.
She took it and lowered her head, finding an audio recording in the school forum's post editor that had yet to be published.
"This recording is about Deng Hanyu's motive for doing this."
Li Xian's post had already included several recordings of Deng Hanyu threatening him and admitting that he had personally spread the rumors about Xie Zhi. Only this newly recorded explanation of his motive remained unreleased.
"You can decide whether to make it public."
Li Xian left the choice to Xie Zhi.
Without hesitation, Xie Zhi deleted the recording from the editor, then handed the phone back to Li Xian.
Li Xian wasn't surprised by her decision, but he still let out a wistful sigh as he slipped the phone back into his pocket.
"Where's Teacher Shang?"
"He went to discuss this with the school."
Xie Zhi's voice was calm, betraying neither joy nor sorrow, so Li Xian continued.
"What did you tell him?"
At the time, Li Xian had realized that Teacher Shang was Deng Hanyu's true target, but halfway through his explanation, Xie Zhi had suddenly spoken up and led Teacher Shang away.
Li Xian was asking about the conversation they had afterward.
Jiang Qiuyue had already been worried that something might happen with Li Xian standing so close to Xie Zhi. Hearing his blunt question now made her break into a nervous sweat.
Is that really something you can ask...?
Xie Zhi's reaction was unexpectedly calm. She began walking slowly in one direction, and Li Xian followed. After they had walked some distance in silence, Xie Zhi answered.
"I just thanked him for looking after me."
"You didn't... tell him how you felt?"
The sentence Deng Hanyu had