Chapter Sixty-Two: Aftermath

Caiyun Middle School, located in the Caiyun District, is a key school in the city. While it can't quite compare to No. 1 High School of C City in Zhonghua District or Wolong High School in Panlong District, it easily ranks among the top five in the entire municipality—a remarkable feat for such a major city as C City.

The school has always boasted a strong faculty, with teachers required to have graduated from top 211 universities and to hold advanced teaching certificates. Lin Meiru was an exception: though she possessed an advanced certificate, her alma mater was an ordinary second-tier college. She owed her position here mainly to her husband's influence, which had prompted the school leadership to make an exception for her.

Over the years, the school administration had repeatedly tried to promote her to department head, hoping to curry favor with Director Guo through her. But Lin Meiru was content with her current post; she wasn't driven by vanity or ambition. A good job was enough—she much preferred spending her time at home with her child rather than pursuing endless career advancement.

At this moment, she sat before her office computer, her face tense with worry. The chaos in the Yanyu Complex had already made its way online, with videos circulating of hundreds of armed police dispatched from the city center. Even in her grandfather’s generation, before the Federation was established, no one had witnessed such a spectacle. Her husband, as the chief of the Caiyun District precinct, was responsible for law and order in the area and was surely at the front lines. The news left her anxious and on edge.

Why is it taking so long to resolve? Lin Meiru was on pins and needles, each minute dragging by like a year. The boxed lunch a colleague had brought her sat untouched; the oil had already congealed, a clear sign she had no appetite at all.

"Ms. Lin? Your husband hasn't come to pick you up yet? Nothing’s happened, has it?" a colleague asked with a smirk.

Lin Meiru’s brows knitted at the words. The speaker was Xue Li, their department head. In theory, Lin Meiru had relinquished that position to her, but rather than feeling grateful, Xue Li seemed only more resentful of Lin Meiru’s connections. If not for her, Xue Li thought, her own promotion would not have been tainted by whispers of inheriting someone else's leftovers.

Xue Li frequently targeted her with barbed comments, but Lin Meiru’s gentle temperament allowed her to brush off such slights. Still, there were lines she would not allow others to cross—her family was not to be the subject of anyone’s jokes.

"Ms. Xue, mind your words."

"What do you mean by that?" Xue Li shot to her feet, her voice shrill. "A colleague is concerned about you, and that’s your attitude?" She turned to rally support. "Everyone, what do you think of this—?"

At this hour, only the busiest homeroom teachers remained in the office—ambitious types, mostly. Many of them didn’t care for Lin Meiru’s connections, but Xue Li’s behavior was over the top. Few echoed her complaint, and those who did were only trying to smooth things over.

"Let it go, Director Xue. Ms. Lin didn’t mean it like that," one teacher said, trying to mediate.

"Then what did she mean?"

"Enough!" Lin Meiru’s cold interruption cut through Xue Li’s bluster. Startled, Xue Li turned to stare at Lin Meiru, who had never talked back before, her disbelief evident. "What did you say?"

"I said: enough," Lin Meiru replied icily. Gentle by nature, she now exuded a commanding presence. It was only natural—her status spoke for itself. At the precinct, everyone greeted her respectfully as Mrs. Guo; even the legal affairs staff and education officials treated her with deference. Only Xue Li dared to test her patience. Lin Meiru hadn’t wanted to indulge her, but she would not allow herself to be cowed.

"You..." Xue Li, cowed by Lin Meiru’s sudden assertiveness, felt her bravado falter. After all, Lin Meiru’s standing was far above that of an ordinary teacher.

Avoiding Lin Meiru’s gaze, Xue Li glanced around and saw the schadenfreude on her colleagues’ faces. Her cheeks burned with humiliation. Lin Meiru, seeing her opponent deflated, was about to return to her news feed when, in a sudden fit of rage, Xue Li hurled a tempered glass mug at Lin Meiru’s face.

Everyone, Lin Meiru included, was stunned. No one had expected Xue Li to go this far. Even Xue Li herself realized she’d lost her mind; the instant the mug left her hand, she regretted it. She knew exactly what she’d done—striking out physically would see her disciplined by the administration, and Lin Meiru’s husband would not let such an affront to his wife pass unchallenged.

She had crossed a line she could not uncross; losing her job would be the least of her worries if the Guo family decided to retaliate.

Bang! Instinctively, everyone squeezed their eyes shut, unwilling to witness the bloody aftermath. But after a few seconds, no scream followed. Cautiously, they opened their eyes and saw a boy in a white shirt, his features strikingly handsome, holding the mug that had been thrown at Lin Meiru.

"Xiao Lang? When did you get here? Where’s your father?" Lin Meiru gasped with relief and quickly asked.

"Oh, the culprits have been subdued, but with so many casualties, Dad had to go report to his superiors in Zhonghua District. He asked me and Xiaoting to come pick you up," Guo Lang explained, pointing to Xiaoting at the door. The knot in Lin Meiru’s chest finally loosened, and she nearly forgot about Xue Li’s earlier outburst.

But Xue Li, undeterred, snapped, "Who allowed you into the office?"

At her words, everyone frowned. Was Xue Li out of her mind? Did she think the Guo family would tolerate such insolence? Lin Meiru’s face darkened, about to speak, when Guo Lang’s eyes flashed coldly. Without a word, he spun and hurled the mug at Xue Li’s face.

With a thud, the mug didn’t shatter, but Xue Li’s face was instantly a bloody mess as she was knocked backward.

Everything happened so fast that no one reacted at first. Who would have thought this gentle-looking boy had such a violent streak?

Lin Meiru was briefly stunned, finding her son oddly unfamiliar. Before she could speak, Guo Lang was already fuming, slamming the table. "Who does this crazy woman think she is? Throws a mug at my mom—tired of living, is she?"

Yes, he was every inch the privileged son of a high official, everyone thought.

Lin Meiru too was taken aback by her son’s brashness. He’d never acted out like this before—what had gotten into him today?

"What’s going on here?" The commotion had finally drawn people from the hallway—a few security guards and a bespectacled middle-aged man whom Lin Meiru recognized as the school’s vice principal in charge of administration and discipline.

"Vice Principal Pan, you must get justice for me! This woman incited her son to attack me. I’m just a defenseless woman, viciously assaulted in public—has the law ceased to exist?" Xue Li wailed.

Vice Principal Pan frowned at Xue Li’s battered face, then turned to Lin Meiru. When he realized who she was, his tone grew stern. "Ms. Lin, please explain yourself."

Lin Meiru’s expression turned cold. The vice principal was clearly biased, forming a conclusion without even hearing her side. If it weren’t for her status, he might have reprimanded her on the spot. Still, given the scene, Xue Li did appear the weaker party.

"She threw the mug at me first. My son caught it, and in his anger, retaliated. Any teacher here can testify," Lin Meiru replied crisply, clear and composed, not letting emotion cloud her words. She knew her position—by status or by reason, she held the advantage. There was no reason for the others to side with Xue Li.

Sure enough, several colleagues immediately spoke up. "We can vouch for Ms. Lin. That’s exactly what happened..."

But the vice principal cut them off with a wave. "Enough. Even if Xue Li started it, there must have been a reason. It takes two to tango—both sides are responsible. Since Ms. Xue is injured, we’ll have Ms. Lin’s son taken to the police station to give a statement."

Lin Meiru’s frown deepened. Procedurally, the vice principal wasn’t wrong. Xue Li should be sent to the hospital, and Guo Lang, as the one who used force, should give a statement. But his tone was far too partial and unjust. As a teacher, Lin Meiru disliked nothing more than the adage: ‘It takes two to make a quarrel.’ This even-handedness, regardless of right or wrong, only breeds resentment.

Right is right, wrong is wrong—why always split the blame?

As Vice Principal Pan continued his sanctimonious lecture, Guo Lang walked over, picked up the mug from the floor, and with deliberate slowness, hurled it again at Xue Li’s face. With another bang, she was knocked out cold—this time, she didn’t even have a chance to protest.

"What are you doing?" Vice Principal Pan stared at Guo Lang in horror, shocked by the boy’s ruthlessness. The security guards stood frozen, not daring to intervene.

Lin Meiru and her colleagues were equally stunned, momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

"Hm?" Guo Lang tilted his head. "Why ask? You say it takes two to make a quarrel. So if I hit her with a mug, she must be partly to blame, right? Does the reason matter? Both sides are at fault..."

"You—" Vice Principal Pan stammered, finger trembling as he pointed at Guo Lang. "That’s preposterous!"

"Oh? But when I say it, it’s preposterous?" Guo Lang sneered, stepping forward and lowering his voice. "So if I smash your face right now, will the police say both sides are to blame and lock us both up?"

Vice Principal Pan let out a strangled laugh. He thought Guo Lang was using his father’s power to threaten him and retorted coldly, "Do you think the police are—"

"Well," Guo Lang shrugged, "if all cops handled cases like you, that would be a disaster."

A couple of teachers couldn’t help but snicker, and even Lin Meiru almost laughed.

Vice Principal Pan’s face turned livid, but he dared not act rashly. If this brat turned on him like he did Xue Li, he’d be worse off.

"Seems your son isn’t just tall and handsome, he’s got some backbone—like his father in his army days," teased a teacher who was friendly with Lin Meiru.

"Tall, you call that tall?" Lin Meiru joked, then suddenly paused. When did her son get so tall?

"Let’s go, Mom. Dad won’t be home till late tonight, so Xiaoting and I will celebrate your birthday. We got you your favorite blueberry cake!"

"Oh, alright!" Still fuming, Lin Meiru left with her son without even a goodbye, leaving behind a room of gossiping teachers and an awkward vice principal.

Vice Principal Pan opened his mouth as if to stop them, but in the end, dared not. His previous willingness to side with Xue Li stemmed from several reasons: once, he’d tried to ingratiate himself with the Guo family but had been politely rebuffed; Lin Meiru’s usual gentleness meant she’d never wielded her influence to bully anyone, not even the ever-meddlesome Xue Li. But Guo Lang was a different sort—every inch the unruly second-generation official. Faced with someone even more unreasonable, it was wiser to yield. And as for background—well, there was no contest.

Out on the school’s athletic field, the family of three walked together. Watching Guo Lang and Xiaoting horsing around, Lin Meiru’s lips curved in a rare smile. Her son was growing up—impulsive, yes, but finally showing some manly spirit. Just like his father in his youth: reckless, perhaps, but reliable in his own way.