My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

Su Qing listened to both sentences without expression.

She glanced down at her watch screen; Jiang Ran's heart rate was still rising.

The system frantically popped up alarm windows in her mind, one red exclamation mark after another, its tone urgent as if someone were slamming their fist on the table: [Host, your adrenaline and cortisol levels are rising sharply, your sympathetic nervous system activation is abnormal, and your heart rate has exceeded 120 beats per minute!]

[Based on a modeling prediction of past behavioral data, you are about to engage in irrational behavior. It is strongly recommended that you immediately take deep breaths to calm yourself down.]

Su Qing mentally muted the system volume.

She didn't look at the homeroom teacher or the woman, but instead squatted down again and gently held Jiang Ran's shoulders with both hands.

Her voice was very soft, so soft that only the two of them could hear it: "Xiao Ran, tell your sister the truth, what happened today?"

Jiang Ran's lips trembled, and the hand that had been clenching tightly suddenly reached out and grabbed Su Qing's index finger, holding it very tightly, as if it were something that would disappear if it let go.

Her tears finally rolled down her cheeks, but she didn't cry out loud or throw herself into Su Qing's arms. Instead, she looked up at Su Qing and began to speak in a voice that was trembling with sobs but clear and distinct.

She remembered her sister teaching her to always tell the truth, no matter what happens.

She had promised her sister.

"I got first place in the grade in this monthly exam."

Jiang Ran's voice was still trembling slightly, but when she mentioned "first in the grade," her chin instinctively lifted slightly, as if it were a conditioned reflex she had learned from her older sister.

  

Then her eyes reddened again. "Jiang Yi got second place in the exam. After class, she ran to my seat and tore up my test paper in front of many classmates. I asked her why she tore up my test paper, and she said... she said..."

The little guy suddenly stopped talking, his fingers gripping Su Qing's index finger until they turned white, and tears rolled down his eyelashes and dripped onto the collar of his school uniform, leaving a small dark dot.

She sniffed and forced out the last sentence: "She said I'm a wild girl who has no parents and lives with a... shameless older sister, yet I dare to do better than her in exams. She said her aunt said our family is..."

"alright."

Su Qing gently interrupted her, wiping away the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand, her movements very light, as if she were wiping something that would break at the slightest touch.

She didn't let the little guy finish what he was saying; even a fool could guess how that "aunt" usually talked about them at home.

Her tone remained steady, so steady that Jiang Ran finally loosened her grip on her fingers a little. "And then?"

"Then I got very angry. She could talk about me, but not about my sister." Jiang Ran said this very clearly, without trembling or hesitation.

"Xiaoyu heard it too and came over to help me reason with her. Then Jiang Yi ran out and came back a few minutes later with the two of them. Xiaoyu stood in front of me and fought with the two of them by herself. The two of them were two years older than Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu lost the fight, and I was also pushed down by them, and my knee hit the ground."

Su Qing glanced at Cheng Xiaoyu.

The chubby boy subconsciously puffed out his chest, but the bruise on his cheekbone was pulled, causing him to hiss in pain. He quickly pursed his lips and pretended that nothing was wrong.

Su Qing turned her gaze back to Jiang Ran and looked into her eyes.

After recounting everything, those tear-filled eyes suddenly brightened, becoming a few shades brighter than before.

Jiang Ran released her grip on Su Qing's index finger, pressed twice on the watch crown, and an audio file icon popped up on the dial. She held up her wrist for Su Qing to see, her voice still hoarse, but with a deliberately calm and earnest tone: "Sister, I remember what you taught me. I've been recording from the very beginning."

The office fell silent instantly.

Teacher Wang's expression froze for a moment, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

She opened her mouth, her gaze lingering for a moment on the watch with its lit screen on Jiang Ran's wrist, before quickly looking away.

The little girl named Jiang Yi suddenly looked up, a hint of panic flashing across her delicate face, and her hand gripping the woman's clothes tightened unconsciously.

The woman's smile vanished for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure, though her eyes turned cold as she stared at the pink watch on Jiang Ran's wrist, as if looking at something that shouldn't be in the office.

Su Qing didn't look at them. She simply gently squeezed Jiang Ran's wrist, which was holding the watch, and soothingly stroked the side of her wrist with her thumb.

Teacher Wang was the first to react.

She pushed up her glasses, her tone carrying a hint of displeasure at being offended, but her wording was noticeably softer than before: "Even if Jiang Yi was in the wrong at the beginning, Jiang Ran and Cheng Xiaoyu also took action."

"Both sides are at fault in this matter, Ms. Su. I think it would be better for both sides to compromise. After all, they are classmates and will be in the same class in the future. Making things too tense will not be good for anyone. Jiang Yi's grades have always been very stable. Being pushed down this time was an impulsive act, and it's just that he is a child and doesn't know any better."

She paused here, her tone carrying a light, almost dismissive tone, as if she were both advising reconciliation and reminding Su Qing, "Ultimately, your Jiang Ran just transferred here and hasn't settled in yet. Building good relationships with her classmates is more important than anything else, don't you think?"

The woman then took over the conversation, patted her niece on the back of the head, and spoke in a gentle tone as if she were comforting a naive child: "Our Xiaoyi has always had good grades, so it was a bit of a surprise that she was pushed down this time. But she's just a kid, tearing up a test paper in a moment of impulse isn't a big deal."

"It's surprising that Jiang Ran has learned to record at such a young age. Her intentions are... Miss Su, we are all parents. You understand what I'm saying. Making a big fuss about this today won't benefit anyone. After all, our family knows quite a few people around here."

The woman's words were clearly threatening.

Su Qing stood up, turned around, and faced Teacher Wang.

She didn't hear what Teacher Wang said next; she only saw his mouth still moving, and the words he spoke seemed to float over vaguely through a layer of water.

She took a step forward.

Teacher Wang was still talking, a hint of impatience and perfunctory curvature on the corner of his mouth. Su Qing had seen that kind of curvature on many people's faces before: the foreman who used to nitpick at her on the construction site, the administrator who cut corners on her meals at the welfare home, and the two beasts in Liu Decheng's face who abused the children he had adopted and then went to the police station to bite him back.

They all felt entitled to boss others around because they held a tiny, insignificant amount of power, and because the person standing opposite them seemed powerless to fight back.

Su Qing raised her hand, her gaze sharpened, and slapped him across the face.

Snapped! ! !

The sharp crack echoed in the quiet office, like a ruler being snapped in two.

Teacher Wang tumbled to the side, chair and all, his glasses flying to the tiled floor two tables away. The lenses bounced twice on the ground before sliding into a corner and remaining still.

Everyone in the office was stunned.

The male teacher who had been leaning against the corner watching the commotion almost dropped his thermos.

Jiang Yi's aunt subconsciously took a step back, her high heels making two sharp, rapid sounds on the floor.

Jiang Yi shrank behind the woman, the smugness on his face finally vanishing completely, replaced by undisguised terror.

The two third-grade boys, their faces bruised and swollen, exchanged a glance and simultaneously moved half an inch towards the corner of the wall.

Su Qing looked down at Teacher Wang, who was lying on the ground, covering her face, her expression full of disbelief.

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear in the quiet office: "Oh? Since the teacher has said that, you should also reflect on why I hit you and not someone else."