The atmosphere in the principal's office was grim.
Jiang Boyan stood against the wall, his school uniform rumpled.
His face was mottled with bruises, and dried blood still crusted the corner of his mouth. He looked utterly battered.
Five or six lavishly dressed women surrounded him, their shrill voices practically lifting the roof:
"He must be expelled. Keeping a school bully like this around will only bring trouble."
"So young, yet so vicious. He's nothing but a thug..."
This was the scene Song Yutang found when she arrived with her parents-in-law.
The principal stood leisurely to one side, showing no intention of stopping them.
Instead, the moment Jiang Guoqiang and Li Xiulan entered, they were met with a torrent of scolding. "Jiang Boyan's parents, why have you only just arrived? You don't care about your child's affairs at all. No wonder he won't behave at school. Not only does he cause trouble all day, he's beaten his classmates up like this."
"We're sorry, we're sorry. We failed to raise our son properly..." Jiang Guoqiang hurriedly bowed in apology.
"Boyan, apologize to the principal... You've caused trouble for the teachers..." Li Xiulan reached out to pull Jiang Boyan over, too.
This elderly couple, with little schooling or worldly experience, had an instinctive reverence for teachers and schools.
Regardless of right or wrong, their child must be at fault.
But Jiang Boyan was right at his rebellious age. He angrily flung her hand away. "Do you even know what happened before you tell me to apologize?"
"The teachers discipline you for your own good," Jiang Guoqiang blurted out from habit.
"That's right. You need to listen properly when your teachers speak..." Li Xiulan urged quietly as well.
Seeing this, a wealthy woman dripping with gold and silver grew even more overbearing. She pushed her son forward. "Look for yourselves! Look what your little thug has done to my son! If anything happens to him, your family will never hear the end of it!"
"A head full of blond hair-you can tell at a glance he's no good."
"So you think you can bully my child at school? Do you know who my husband is...?"
The other women chimed in, each pushing her own son forward.
Song Yutang, who had been quietly watching developments, finally could not help frowning.
Of these six supposed victims, five had only minor scrapes. Even the worst injured had nothing more than a bruise on his face.
Compared with Jiang Boyan's battered face, split lip, and still-bleeding nose, their injuries hardly even counted as minor.
Jiang Guoqiang also noticed something wrong. "Wait... My son's hurt worse than any of them!"
Li Xiulan was bewildered too. "Didn't you say he got into a fight and injured someone? How... Was it six against one?"
The wealthy woman immediately jabbed a finger painted with bright red nail polish in Li Xiulan's face. "Are you blind? He bullied all six of them by himself!"
For once, Jiang Guoqiang stood his ground. "What kind of bullying is one against six? You're being completely unreasonable!"
Just as the argument threatened to escalate, the principal finally interjected. "Jiang Boyan struck first. The other students were merely acting in self-defense."
He looked at Jiang Boyan. "Did you strike first? Did you fight all six of them by yourself?"
Jiang Boyan clenched his jaw and gave a muffled grunt of assent.
The other parents immediately grew more aggressive, bombarding them with threats of compensation, expulsion, and calling the police.
Under the pressure, Jiang Guoqiang took hold of his son and asked quietly, "Boyan, tell me the truth. Why exactly did you hit them? I don't believe you'd attack someone for no reason."
He knew his own son. Since childhood, the boy had been obedient and timid.
Although he had started dyeing his hair and wearing a thick gold chain after transferring to this school, he was still fierce on the outside and fainthearted within. Even seeing chickens or fish being killed frightened him. How could he possibly take the initiative to bully anyone?
A flicker of conflict passed through Jiang Boyan's eyes, but he stubbornly turned his face away and refused to speak.
The principal grew a little impatient. "What other reason could there be? Just look at him. Dyed hair, skipping classes, talking back to teachers-the entire school knows he's a problem student. What's so surprising about him fighting and bullying his classmates?"
Jiang Guoqiang and Li Xiulan were left speechless and could only keep bowing and apologizing.
Song Yutang could no longer bear to watch. She pulled her parents-in-law upright and spoke calmly. "Dad, Mom, why apologize when there's no evidence? Compensation, calling the police, expulsion-all of that is fine, provided they produce solid evidence proving Boyan really bullied his classmates."
One of the wealthy women instantly flew into a towering rage. "My son's been beaten up like this! What more evidence do you need?"
Song Yutang pulled Jiang Boyan in front of her as well and pointed him out to the woman. "If your son's injuries prove Jiang Boyan bullied him at school, do Jiang Boyan's injuries prove the six of them committed attempted murder as a group?"
The woman snorted disdainfully. "Setting the facts aside, are you saying he did nothing wrong? He struck first. We demand an apology, compensation, and expulsion. Not one of those can be left out."
The words were so utterly warped that even the principal could not help coughing.
But the parents clearly considered it perfectly reasonable, and a chorus of agreement rose.
Li Xiulan and her husband were rendered speechless by this aggressive display and could only stand there, at a complete loss.
Seeing that reasoning was useless, Song Yutang could only turn to the principal. "Principal, since the two sides give conflicting accounts, surely there needs to be an investigation? Where did this happen? Were there surveillance cameras at the scene? Or any other eyewitnesses?"
The principal wore a professional smile that never reached his eyes. "Unfortunately, this happened in a rather secluded spot, and there happen to be no surveillance cameras nearby. As for witnesses... only these boys were present."
Seeing that both their parents and the principal were on their side, the boys grew even more brazen, making faces at Jiang Boyan.
One particularly bold boy even gave Song Yutang a flippant, provocative look.
Song Yutang ignored him and looked at Jiang Boyan, asking again, "Boyan, tell me. What exactly happened? Why did you hit them? You don't have to be afraid. Your sister-in-law is here."
Meeting her clear, unwavering gaze, Jiang Boyan moved his lips, but his eyes involuntarily drifted toward the office door, where a figure seemed to flash past.
His gaze shifted evasively. In the end, he lowered his head and gritted his teeth. "...There's nothing to say. I just didn't like the look of them and wanted a fight."
One of the boys followed his gaze, then suddenly gave a flippant whistle. "Well, well, Su Wanqing? What are you doing outside? Sneaking around like that-do you have something to say?"
Song Yutang turned and saw a thin, frail girl hiding timidly outside the door.
Her clothes had been pulled into disarray, her hair was mussed, and two slap marks remained on her face.
Her fingers tightly twisted the hem of her clothes. She dared neither raise her head nor make a sound.
"This has nothing to do with her. Stop looking at her!" Jiang Boyan grew anxious and abruptly stepped forward, using his less-than-broad frame to block the malicious gazes directed at the girl.
At this, the boys burst into laughter, making no effort to conceal the mockery in their eyes:
"Oh, look, Blondie knows how to play the hero saving the beauty!"
"Yeah, have you two got something going on?"
"Su Wanqing, weren't you there too? What are you hiding for? If you have something to say, just say it. You saw how Jiang Boyan bullied us, didn't you?"
Su Wanqing was so frightened that tears welled in her eyes, but she still clenched her fists and mustered her courage. "N-no... That's not... Jiang Boyan wasn't bullying anyone. It... it was you..."