After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 54

Chapter 54

The truth was laid bare, and the situation had clearly spiraled beyond the homeroom teacher’s control. The teacher hurriedly summoned the grade director and school leaders, and Shao Niannian didn’t hold back.

“Now that this has reached such a stage, if we want a resolution that satisfies everyone, we should involve the police.”

Shao Niannian reported it directly, and the mobile police units stationed near the school arrived quickly. Once everyone was gathered, the school leadership moved the group from the cramped office to a conference room.

The principal’s face was ashen. He likely hadn’t expected such a mess so close to the college entrance exams. He bit the bullet and dispersed the curious students lingering in the halls, sending them back to their classrooms.

As the door was closing, the principal noticed Jiang Yan and Rong Xi entering last. His thick brows furrowed in confusion. “Is it appropriate for a child to be involved in this?”

Jiang Yan didn’t think these things needed to be hidden from Rong Xi; after all, human society is a complex collective.

Rong Xi, held in Jiang Yan’s arms, blinked and said righteously, “Why can’t I watch? Is what he did even something a human would do?”

“We came with them. If they can go in, why can’t we? Are you discriminating against kids?”

Seeing that Jiang Yan, the accompanying guardian, offered no objection, the principal simply let them in.

The curtains in the conference room were drawn tight. Since the police and school leaders had joined late and didn’t fully understand the situation, the three girls were asked to recount the entire ordeal from the beginning.

Shao Niannian sat next to Li Sui, her brow furrowed and tense. She stared fixedly at the boy sitting opposite them, only to find he showed no remorse whatsoever. He listened to the girls’ accusations with an air of detachment, as if he were an innocent bystander.

Li Sui’s logical reasoning was sharp. She presented the evidence in chronological order: the videos on the phone and the chat logs were ironclad proof, pinning the boy’s actions to a pillar of shame.

The principal’s face shifted from green to black to white. His hands, folded in front of him, were clenched tight. He knew he’d be writing endless self-reflections and reports for an incident this big—not to mention the fact that these students’ families were not to be trifled with.

Others might not know Li Sui’s background, but he did. Li Sui’s father was a notoriously difficult lawyer in the industry; he could make the school lose a layer of skin.

“So, how do you want to resolve this?” The wealthy middle-aged woman’s complexion looked poor, but it didn’t dampen her arrogance. Her gaze toward Li Sui and the others remained one of disdain and annoyance.

“Do you want money? How much?” She pulled a bank card from her bag. “My son giving you five thousand each was indeed a bit low. Tell you what, I’ll compensate each of you 150,000 yuan, and we’ll act as if this never happened. The exams are coming up; don’t let this ruin your mood. Take the money and go to a good university.”

“It was just a few stories a kid made up. You aren’t actually in that ‘profession,’ so the impact on you isn’t that big.”

The woman subtly implied that the matter wasn’t serious—just a childhood scuffle that hadn’t leaked to the public yet, so a private settlement was best. Even a high price was fine.

Upon hearing this, Shao Niannian was so angry she laughed.

“What do you mean ‘not a big impact’? These girls have been bombarded daily with this filth! Your son spread sexual rumors in private circles and called them disgusting, derogatory names! You call that a small impact? This has already ruined their daily lives!” Shao Niannian slammed the table. “Their faces are remembered by people who don’t know the truth; they’ve been slandered and shared. What do you mean it hasn’t reached a ‘social level’? Are the people harassing them not part of society?”

“Isn’t your son spreading rumors on social media?”

Shao Niannian was livid, but all she got was a weak retort from the woman: “I already said the child was being immature. What do you want?”

“If you don’t want money, we can apologize. It’s such a small thing; is there any point in all this arguing?” The woman pushed her son, who was sitting beside her, and barked, “Hurry up and apologize to your three classmates!”

“Can’t win a fight, and can’t even win at playing mind games,” the woman muttered, though it was unclear who she was mocking. “These three played you like a fool, spinning you in circles, and you were happy to go and make peace.”

“She doesn’t want peace. She wants you dead.”

The moment those words left the woman’s mouth, Li Sui didn’t hesitate to grab a water bottle from the table and hurl it at the two of them. Because Sanyun was wealthy, the conference tables were heavy, high-quality mahogany. Had they been lighter, Li Sui might have jumped onto the table to claw the woman’s face.

“Say one more word! Just try saying one more word of nonsense!” Li Sui pointed at the woman. “If you don’t intend to resolve this sincerely, we have plenty of time to waste with you. Go ahead and make a scene until all of the coastal region knows—let’s see if the problem lies with your son or with us!”

Shao Niannian couldn’t hold her back alone; given half a chance, Li Sui wanted to grab anything on the table to throw at the mother and son.

“Wow, so cool,” Rong Xi watched with regret as the water bottle brushed past the boy and hit the woman’s abdomen. “If only she could hit both at once!”

Jiang Yan, watching the chaotic scene, noticed the silence of the other two parents. It was as if none of this had anything to do with them, and it wasn’t their daughters being slandered. A bad premonition rose in Jiang Yan’s heart.

“We understand the situation now. I hope everyone can calm down and not get excited!” The principal waved at Li Sui. “Especially you, Student Li. Calm down first.”

“You just received your preliminary admission notice from the Conservatory of Music. As long as you pass the written exam, you’re in. Don’t talk nonsense here,” the principal said hurriedly. “In this matter, this male student was indeed at fault first. We will actively supervise him to delete those foul things from his phone and have him apologize to the two female students.”

“The school will also give the boy a certain disciplinary action. If you parents have any other requirements, you can raise them. If we can solve them, we certainly will.”

Shao Niannian and Li Sui both knew that if they wanted to sue, only the actual victims could file a case. Li Sui wasn’t the one the boy had targeted with sexual rumors. She was just the “good person” who helped the victims peel back the layers to find the culprit.

The conference room fell so silent that only the hum of the central air conditioning could be heard. Li Sui turned to the classmates sitting beside her, burning with anxiety, signaling them with her eyes to speak up.

“Didn’t we agree to sue him? Don’t be afraid, my dad can help us!”

“But… but…” One girl, her eyes red and swollen, looked past the others toward her mother sitting at the very edge. Her mother’s face was cold, her brow etched with impatience.

Meeting that gaze, the girl flinched. The courage she had gained from Li Sui’s encouragement vanished. She shook her head in defeat. “Maybe… let’s just leave it at this?”

“Let him delete those things from social media and apologize to us…”

“No! But that’s not what you said before!” Li Sui said urgently. “That punishment is way too light for him!”

Li Sui turned to the other girl. “What about you? You don’t want to take the legal route either?”

Before the classmate could respond, a loud ringtone echoed through the room. The “mother” sitting at the edge, acting like an outsider, pulled a phone from her handbag. She muttered a quick apology, took the call, hung up, and called the girl’s name.

“How much longer is this going to go on? Your dad and brother are waiting outside. It’s almost noon; are we eating or not?”

The mother’s phrasing of “this matter” chilled the atmosphere even further.

If her face hadn’t been covered by a mask and hat, Shao Niannian likely wouldn’t have been able to resist grabbing every water bottle on the table and hitting every person there.

Hearing this, the boy’s mother smirked with a mocking smile. She clapped her hands and said, “Since that’s the case, let things be as they should. Apologies, compensation, a demerit—we don’t care. The school can handle the processing.”

“As for the stuff on my son’s phone…” the woman sneered, looking provocatively at Shao Niannian. “If you’re worried, you can watch him delete it along with the police.”

“Oh, and if you two girls feel you can’t stay at this school anymore, I can help you apply to study at another school as a guest. After all, the exams are soon; it’s more important to focus on studying and not be distracted by these things.”

The foulness in her words hit everyone present. The belittled girl stared at her with red eyes, yet didn’t dare speak.

Rong Xi whispered into Jiang Yan’s ear with disgust, “Annoying. This is so annoying.”

“If only I could snap my fingers like Thanos and make all these people disappear. That would be amazing!”

Rong Xi hated the middle-aged woman because her smugness reminded her of that small mountain village—her uneducated biological father had that same disgusting, stubborn way of arguing.

Jiang Yan felt the same way. Sitting at the edge of the conference table as an observer, she could feel the suffocating atmosphere. She couldn’t imagine being the victim, collecting evidence under immense psychological pressure, only to face this pathetic outcome.

“Tsk,” Jiang Yan muttered with irritation. “Why do people who don’t know how to raise children have so many of them? Besides bringing them into the world to suffer and be tortured, they’ve never done a single good thing.”

No matter how angry Li Sui was, the matter seemed to end there. The performative apology, the arrogant transfer of compensation, the two mothers standing by as bystanders—all of it became an embarrassment that Shao Niannian didn’t know how to begin describing.

The girls led away by their mothers still had red eyes. The girl in front was the first to notice her mother’s expression. As they stepped out the door, her mother’s light voice was like gum stuck to skin on a humid day—wet and utterly disgusting.

She said to the girl: “When you first got into this school, your dad said to just drop out since we couldn’t afford the tuition. You sure showed him. That boy tells a few little jokes, and you earn 250,000 back.”

“Not only did you fill the hole for the tuition, but there’s enough left for you to go to college.”

“Next time something like this happens, just hand over my bank card. Why bother making me come? You wasted a whole day of my bridge game time making me wait here with you.”