Chapter 105: I Could Tell You Were Bullying Her

Dong Honghao felt as if he were living through years in a single day; the situation had long since spiraled beyond his control. In this dispute, he had become a mere supporting character, as the true struggle had shifted from the students to the confrontation between the elders standing behind them. The school administration was no longer in a position to intervene.

"The rest of you, go back to class," Dong Honghao said impatiently to the other students. Thus, with no one left to pursue the matter of who was at fault, only Zhang Ye, Guo Xiangqing, Li Yifan, and Dong Honghao remained in the office.

Soon, Principal Wang Dapeng arrived. He was a burly, imposing man in a suit, his hair slightly disheveled and standing on end—a clear sign that he had been running hard, ruining his neatly groomed style.

"What exactly is going on?" Dong Honghao greeted him at the door, and as Wang Dapeng approached, he asked in a stern, urgent voice.

Dong Honghao whispered a hurried explanation of the events. He dared not withhold anything now, recounting the sequence of events, though his version differed from Li Yifan’s. He was shrewd; while he might have been biased before, in the current unpredictable climate, his only goal was to pass the buck to someone else and escape the vortex as quickly as possible.

Wang Dapeng frowned and glared at him severely. A situation that could have been settled by scolding both sides had been botched so thoroughly by Dong. If no one had witnessed it, it might have been fine, but countless students had seen everything, stirring up indignation and dragging their respective families into the fray. He couldn't help but inwardly blame Vice Principal Dong Qing for bringing such an incompetent, opportunistic man into the school.

A moment later, there was another knock at the door. The first to arrive was Yuan Yuqing. It made sense; as the deputy director of the Education Bureau, her office was nearby, and she lived close to the No. 1 Middle School, so she had naturally arrived first.

"Who dares to bully my niece?" Yuan Yuqing entered the office, her demeanor a stark contrast to her usual smiling self.

She did not ask about the rights or wrongs of the situation; instead, she flew into a rage, sending a clear, powerful signal: she was here to protect her own.

Guo Xiangqing was a well-behaved girl who always distinguished right from wrong. If she hadn't been bullied, she would never have called for help. Remembering the grievances she had suffered at the police station last time, her anger surged.

"Xiangqing, don't be afraid. Your aunt is here to back you up. Whoever dared to bully you, I’ll make them pay," Yuan Yuqing said, striding in wearing a uniform skirt and carrying a small pink bag. Ignoring everyone else in the room, she spoke directly to Guo Xiangqing.

She saw Zhang Ye as well but gave no sign of recognition, merely glancing at him before turning to Li Yifan. "Did you bully my niece?"

Li Yifan’s face was still red and swollen from Zhang Ye’s punches. Zhang Ye was strong and hit hard, leaving Li’s once fair, delicate face looking quite unsightly.

"N-no... it wasn't..." Yuan Yuqing’s presence was overwhelming, even more intimidating than Zhang Ye’s raw violence. Li Yifan was used to bullying the timid, but faced with such a formidable woman, he crumbled and tried to shake his head in denial.

However, Yuan Yuqing was determined to be shockingly aggressive today. Ignoring his response, she slapped him across the face in front of everyone’s stunned eyes.

"I can see you bullied her," she said, before slapping him again.

"I don't even have the heart to bully her, and you dared to?" A third slap landed on his face.

Yuan Yuqing moved with lightning speed, her strikes precise and ringing. Before anyone could react, and before Li Yifan could dodge, he had already taken the blows.

Li Yifan was stunned. In all his life, he hadn't been slapped as many times as he had today. He was nearly driven mad. Did she think he wouldn't dare hit a woman just because she was one? Li Yifan made a silent vow: if she dared to strike again, he would retaliate with everything he had. So what if she was a woman? He would hit her right back.

But just as his reaction reached a boiling point, Yuan Yuqing suddenly stopped. Seemingly oblivious to his internal rage, she turned neatly and walked over to Guo Xiangqing, soothing her as if she were a small child.

Li Yifan’s face flushed a deep crimson.

"Aunt Yuan," Zhang Ye said, instinctively stepping between Yuan Yuqing and Li Yifan to prevent any sudden retaliation, then offered a greeting.

"Hmm, are you alright?" Yuan Yuqing replied.

"I'm fine. We were in the right from the start, but the director of student affairs seemed to recognize that kid’s background and was heavily biased. Fortunately, Xiangqing stepped in to help me, or I would have been the one to suffer," Zhang Ye explained with a smile.

He had never been one to let himself suffer. Whenever he saw an opening, he never hesitated to make others pay. Dong Honghao’s repeated bias had ignited his anger, and now that he had the chance, he was determined to get his revenge. After all, Yuan Yuqing was in charge of education; if he could subtly plant the seed of dissatisfaction in her mind regarding Dong Honghao, it would be enough to make the man’s life miserable.

"I know you well enough. Would you ever let yourself suffer?" Yuan Yuqing gave Zhang Ye a sidelong glance. She knew that those who had crossed him in the past had often suffered behind the scenes, never even realizing who had sabotaged them. Just like Li Yifan’s brother and uncle, who were still struggling to deal with the fallout of being outmaneuvered by Zhang Ye.

"This is getting complicated," Wang Dapeng thought. He had sensed trouble the moment he saw Yuan Yuqing’s attitude, but her subsequent display of raw power and those ringing slaps left him feeling breathless. It was too intense, too explosive.

Thinking of the scene when Li Gengsheng arrived, he broke into a cold sweat. But since Yuan Yuqing was his direct superior, he could only watch.

About four or five minutes later, Li Gengsheng finally arrived, and only two minutes after that, Guo Haijun showed up. The small office of the student affairs director suddenly became quite crowded.

The situation had turned into a spectacle.

"Who did this?" When Li Gengsheng first arrived, he assumed it was just a typical school fight. He knew his son; the boy had been a troublemaker since childhood, and fighting was commonplace. He assumed the other party had just been stronger this time, which was why his son had called him for help.

But when he entered the school and saw his son’s face, swollen to the point of being unrecognizable, his rage ignited. His son might be a brat, but he was Li Gengsheng’s son—who gave anyone else the right to teach him a lesson?