"You have no idea of the grievances between me and Liang Xinyi, yet you're willing to help her to do something that is seriously wrong. Are you naive or just plain brainless?"
"What do you mean by saying I'm brainless?"
Having been insulted by Yun Xi so directly, Yang Lu's entire face got dark with rage.
Compared to Yang Lu's enraged countenance, Yun Xi's calm and composed attitude made her appear much more impressive.
Yun Xi raised her head and looked at Teacher Xu. "Teacher Xu, Liang Xinyi gave Yang Lu the bracelet, and Yang Lu put the bracelet inside the storeroom to frame me."
Just as Teacher Xu was about to answer, Yang Lu's mother, who had come to the parent meeting, suddenly stood up.
"How dare you slander my daughter! You stole the exam paper yourself and refuse to admit it. And now you're shamelessly making my daughter a scapegoat. You've gone way too far."
Seeing her daughter getting slandered, Yang Lu's mother had at first reprimanded Yun Xi, and then she started lambasting Liang Xiuqin.
"As a mother, how do you discipline your children to have such an ill-behaved daughter? She's only in her junior year of high school, but is already stealing exam papers. Who knows what she'll be doing when she grows up. And she's slandering my daughter as well, how shameless."
Teacher Xu couldn't stand this anymore and said, "Please let's control this conversation."
"What are you talking about? Anyone with eyes can see what's going on. What do you all think?"
All the other parents thought Yang Lu's mother's words were a little harsh.
Before the facts were clear, these parents were unwilling to add salt to the wounds of someone who was down on their luck.
However, with the approval of several other parents, Yang Lu's mother continued making angry comments, and her eyes were full of contempt and loathing for Yun Xi.
Disregarding what the other parents thought, Teacher Xu asked, "Yun Xi, you said Yang Lu threw the bracelet into the storage room. Do you have any evidence?"
"I wouldn't be accusing a brainless person like Yang Lu without evidence."
With that said, Yun Xi turned her head and retrieved a sapphire blue piece of wool from the iron frame of the glass window.
"Yang Lu is wearing a sapphire blue sweater today, the newest product of a certain name brand. She is the only one in the school to have worn it. This kind of clothing looks beautiful, but it has a big disadvantage. That is...it is especially easy to get caught on windows, walls, nails, etc."
Yang Lu paled when she saw the piece of woolen thread that Yun Xi was holding.
"Why do you say that that wool came from my sweater? With so many students in the school, who knows whose clothes got caught on the window ledge?"
"Yang Lu, do you need me to show everyone where your sweater got hooked?"
Yun Xi quickly stretched out her right arm and turned Yang Lu's arm over with a flip of her wrist.
There was indeed a long string of threads on the back of her sleeve, which was behind her arm so she hadn't even noticed it.
"The evidence is on your arm. Yang Lu, what do you want to say for yourself?"
Yang Lu glanced at it, then in a panic she raised her head anxiously with her eyes flickering.
All the parents who were standing around looked at the run in the sweater and then at the wool in Teacher Xu's hand. They seemed to understand something immediately, and suddenly they all started buzzing.
"How shocking, she threw the bracelet inside the storage room to frame her!"
"Obviously, this has all been a false accusation saying that Yun Xi stole the exam paper."
"Framing and slandering her classmate...who knows what she'll grow up to be since she's already so calculating at such a young age!"
"..."
The parents all started buzzing and talking about the situation, and Yang Lu's mother, who had been overbearing before, suddenly became anxious.
"What nonsense are you all blabbering about? How could my daughter do such a thing?"
Yang Lu also shouted in an aggrieved manner, "It wasn't me! I must have accidentally caught my sleeve on the window when I walked over here."
Someone in the group of parents couldn't take this any longer and sneered, "When you walked over just now, you weren't anywhere near the window!"
"Moreover, if you hadn't raised your hand to open the window and close the window, the wool wouldn't have been hooked like it was."
"Everyone has eyes and can see what's going on. You might be blind, but that doesn't mean that other people are also blind."
"..."
Yun Xi glanced at Yang Lu's astonished expression and smirked.
"Yang Lu, it seems that you really have no brains. Liang Xinyi used you as a pawn to help her deal with me. Once I was charged with stealing the exam papers, I would definitely have been punished. Then she would have a valid reason to tell my mother to drive me back to the countryside, and she could replace me in the Yun family. However, if you were caught trying to frame me, the person who would be punished would not be her, but you, because you threw the bracelet in the storeroom to frame me. She would be able to wipe herself clean of the matter, while you would become the scapegoat. She didn't have to do anything, but she would get all the benefits. What about you? What would you get?"
Teacher Xu helped add salt to the wound. "You slandered and framed Yun Xi. The rumors about stealing exam papers had an extremely detrimental effect on her. Yang Lu, you not only have to apologize to Yun Xi, but you also have to accept the school's disciplinary actions. Getting disciplinary actions in your third year of high school will directly affect your admission to university."
"No! Teacher Xu, it had nothing to do with me! Liang Xinyi did it all!"
As soon as she heard that it would affect her admission to university, Yang Lu immediately panicked and tried to absolve herself of the matter.
"Teacher Xu, it was Liang Xinyi who gave me the bracelet and made me frame Yun Xi! It was her. It was her idea. It had nothing to do with me."
"She told you to frame her, so you framed her? Do you have any grievances against Yun Xi? If I remember correctly, she never did anything to offend you."
"Yes...I admit. I was intolerant and despised her when school started. Later, when she got first place in the class, all the other classmates made fun of me, saying that I'm narrow-minded."
"You really are narrow-minded." Teacher Xu snorted coldly and turned to look at Liang Xinyi, who was hiding behind Liang Xiuqin.
"Liang Xinyi, as Yun Xi's cousin, you slandered and framed your cousin. How immoral! I will report this matter to the principal, and there will be severe school disciplinary action."
When Liang Xiuqin heard that there would be severe school disciplinary action, she became worried that Liang Xinyi would be driven away by Yun Yuanfeng.
If she left, she would lose her pawn against Yun Xi, so she walked over in a hurry.
"Mr. Xu, there must be some mistake! How could Xinyi frame her cousin? This..."
Liang Xiuqin's last-ditch effort made Yun Yuanfeng feel that this despicable woman was truly petty.
"Shut up!" Before Liang Xiuqin could finish her words, Yun Yuanfeng interrupted her furiously.
His face flushed with anger as he glared at Liang Xiuqin, as if he wished he could burn a hole through her.
"Liang Xiuqin, you'd better remember that Yun Xi is your daughter! Helping other people's daughters frame your own daughter? You might not be ashamed, but I am beyond humiliated."
"Husband, I..."
Being reprimanded by her husband in front of so many parents and getting publicly humiliated because of Yun Xi, that wretched girl, she felt that she was truly suffering because of this scourge.
Being chewed out like this made Liang Xiuqin feel embarrassed and humiliated. She wanted to dig a hole to hide in.
"Don't think that this girl can bring you anything. With the second-to-last grades in the class, this immoral behavior framing her cousin, thoughts of nothing but stirring up drama in her head, and completely without any intention of focusing on her studies, she will only bring you down."
Yun Yuanfeng snorted coldly. If he hadn't come to the parents' meeting today, he wouldn't have ever heard about how these others had planned on framing Yun Xi.
"Teacher Xu, please carry out school disciplinary action according to protocol for today's affairs. Our Yun Xi has an upright character and top-notch grades. We can't let her be wronged for nothing."
Yun Xi was the daughter who brought him pride and glory. Liang Xinyi was nothing.
"Mr. Yun, rest assured. We won't let Yun Xi be wronged for nothing."
"Also, Liang Xinyi, I order you to apologize to Yun Xi immediately. Next time you do something like this, you will be sent back to your village."
"Uncle..." Liang Xinyi bit her lip, and her expression was full of aggrieved resentment.
In order to stay in Jingdu, she had to humble herself and apologize to Yun Xi.
"Yun Xi, I'm sorry, I was wrong..."
Yun Xi smirked coldly. "Liang Xinyi, first you push me off a cliff, and now you have slandered and framed me. I don't accept your apology."
"You!" Liang Xinyi hadn't expected Yun Xi to be so unforgiving.
Wretched girl! That ungrateful thing!
Now that she had the upper hand, she wasn't going to show any mercy.
Yun Xi glanced at Liang Xinyi's venomous countenance and smirked mockingly.
In the future, Liang Xinyi would still try to throw her under the bus. Also, Yang Lu, who had been dragged down into the depths, would never forgive her.
Although Li Sinuo was not directly involved, what had happened today was enough to send her a warning.
Yun Xi wasn't going to show any mercy toward those who offended her.
Yun Xi turned her head to look for Li Sinuo in the crowd, and her piercing gaze made Li Sinuo feel chills down her back.
Changing the expression in her eyes, Yun Xi said to her homeroom teacher, "Mr. Xu, we have delayed this parent meeting for too long. Let's all go back to the classroom and continue."
Teacher Xu nodded and spoke to the parents. Everyone turned around and went downstairs.
Just as Teacher Xu was about to leave, Yang Lu's mother suddenly pulled him aside.
"Mr. Xu, my daughter was being manipulated, so please don't punish her. It won't be easy for her to get into university with her grades. If she is disciplined again, whether she can even be admitted will be a problem. She's your student, so you have to help her."
"Excuse me, Madame, Yun Xi is also my student and someone else's daughter. Why didn't you think about that just now when you were talking so viciously?"
Now that her own daughter had been exposed as the culprit, she seemed to have forgotten that she'd been mocking others for bad behavior moments before. How could she shamelessly come begging for mercy now?
"I did go a little overboard earlier, but my daughter has also been manipulated. Teacher Xu, you are her homeroom teacher. You must help her!"
"It's useless for you to apologize to me. It is Yun Xi who was framed, not me."
Yang Lu's mother turned her head to look at Yun Xi, who appeared impassive. She had been contemptuous toward her moments before, but now she had to forsake her pride and apologize.
"Yun Xi, you and Yang Lu are classmates. This time, she was in the wrong. She was also manipulated by your cousin. She didn't mean to slander you. Please plead with Teacher Xu to let Yang Lu off the hook this time. She promises that she will never act so shamelessly again."
"Ma'am, the person who has the obligation to handle this matter is not me. I believe that Teacher Xu will handle it impartially. I won't hold a grudge against Yang Lu for framing me. After all, I'm her classmate. As for what should be done, Teacher Xu knows. The responsibility is not on Yang Lu, do you understand?"
Yang Lu's mother nodded at her ambivalently, then turned to look at Teacher Xu who was also nodding at her. Suddenly she understood.
She was indirectly pleading for Liang Xinyi.
"Thank you. Thank you. I spoke too harshly just now. Please don't hold a grudge."
Yang Lu's mother hurriedly pulled Yang Lu over and asked her to apologize to Yun Xi.
Liang Xiuqin saw that Yun Xi was helping someone else's daughter, but didn't help her cousin, so she rushed forward and yanked at Yun Xi's sleeve.
"You wretched girl, you're helping outsiders. Helping others instead of helping your cousin. Are you so vindictive that you want to see her being punished?"
Liang Xinyi's grades were poor, so coupled with this punishment, she probably couldn't be admitted to a good university. That meant she wouldn't be able to climb the social ladder for the rest of her life.
What use would she have for her then?
Liang Xiuqin shamelessly forgot who had been the one who'd caused this ruckus in the first place.
Yun Xi frowned and turned her head. Her cold eyes fell on the arm her mother was tightly pinching.
Reaching out her hand, she clenched her fist and slammed hard at the acupuncture points on her mother's arm. Liang Xiuqin suddenly felt her wrist go numb and let go.
"Liang Xinyi will receive school disciplinary action because she asked for it. If I interceded for her, I would have no self-respect. Mom, I am not like you. I don't like to do shameless things."
"You...you wretched girl!"
Liang Xiuqin was about to reach out and slap Yun Xi in the face, but Yun Yuanfeng had already rushed forward and pulled her aside aggressively.
"What a shame! Get out!"
Yun Yuanfeng dragged Liang Xiuqin downstairs, for fear that she would stir up more trouble.
"Teacher Xu, we won't be participating in today's parent meeting. I really can't afford to suffer any more embarrassment. I will have to leave the responsibility of handling Yun Xi's affairs to you."
"Don't worry, I will handle them properly and will not let my student suffer any injustice."
Walking up the stairs quickly, Yun Yuanfeng held onto Liang Xiuqin firmly, dragging her away with a furious expression on his face.
All the parents who passed them looked at them with contempt on their faces.
Someone who knew Yun Yuanfeng asked pointedly, "Vice President Yun, she is Yun Xi's stepmother, right?"
"Only a stepmother could be so vicious to someone else's daughter."
"No matter how vicious she is, it doesn't make sense to be nice to someone else's daughter, but treat your own daughter so terribly."
"If my daughter got first place in the class, I would be willing to pamper her like a princess!"
"..."
All the parents on their way downstairs talked loudly in front of Liang Xiuqin.
Yun Yuanfeng already felt shamed enough, but he was caught off guard that some of them actually knew who he was.
They were making fun of this scandal, and, for him, the degree of humiliation was equivalent to that of being stripped naked in front of everyone.
He felt humiliated to the core of his bones, not to mention his face.
Shame, shattered self-esteem, and anger suddenly turned into a prairie fire of rage!
Yun Yuanfeng frowned. He had always been proud. As a vice president, he was used to being treated obsequiously by various bosses and investors. He had always been in a position of glory and high status.
Today, because of this idiot Liang Xiuqin, he had suffered such awkwardness and humiliation.
Even though he had planned to make a speech today concerning his experiences, he was way too embarrassed to step onto the podium now.
Liang Xiuqin fumed with rage as she listened to the sarcastic remarks from the other parents, but just as she was about to say something, she flinched as she saw Yun Yuanfeng's murderous glare.
Throughout their many years of marriage, she had never seen Yun Yuanfeng as angry as he was today.
He was so angry that he wanted to kill her.
She got frightened and hurried up the stairs.
What she wasn't looking forward to was that she knew that she would have to endure Yun Yuanfeng's boiling rage when she returned home.
It was all because of that wretched girl that she had been so embarrassed and humiliated today!
She was going to deal with Yun Xi when she got home from school.
...
At the door of the storage room, Yang Lu gave Liang Xinyi a vicious warning and told her to wait.
Turning her head and glancing at Yun Xi gratefully, she let go of her grudge against her.
Moments before, she'd slandered and framed Yun Xi. But not only did Yun Xi not take the opportunity to make her suffer, she'd also pleaded with the homeroom teacher for mercy toward her.
She would remember this favor.
After everyone had left, Yun Xi looked at Liang Xinyi, who was standing by the railing, and walked forward slowly.
"Liang Xinyi, if you hadn't dug your own grave, none of this would have happened. I warned you before. You've committed a crime against me again this time. Do you think I will hold back toward you now?"
Liang Xinyi gritted her teeth and glared at her, then spat out, "Wretched girl! You just wait for me."
"I'm waiting! Next time, don't use such amateur tactics. If you want to frame me, you have to make sure you don't get implicated yourself. Silent but deadly is the most brilliant method of all."
"Don't be so smug!"
"I won this time. The winner is king, and the loser an outlaw, so why can't I be smug?"
Yun Xi smirked coldly, then stared at Liang Xinyi's sheepish and resentful expression.
"Liang Xinyi, do you still think that as long as my mother sees you as a lucky star, you can securely stay in the Yun family?"
Liang Xinyi was stunned for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
With the farce that had happened today, she was so embarrassed that she wasn't sure whether Liang Xiuqin would allow her to stay at the Yun family's house.
Now, she could only lessen her guilt by pinning all the blame on Yun Xi.
"I'm not afraid to tell you that in terms of whether or not you can stay in the Yun family's house, I have the final say. I can easily send you to eternal damnation. Plus, even if I don't do anything, my dad or my mother will make you go back to the countryside very soon. Don't think that my mother supporting you is everything, because my mother still has to listen to my dad. And my dad, in the end, has to ask me for favors. In order not to make me feel aggrieved, he will make you go back to the countryside. Do you think that he won't actually do so?"
"You! Yun Xi, don't go too far."
Yun Xi sneered and patted Liang Xinyi's face. "It's best you keep a low profile before the college entrance examination. Otherwise, I will make you go back the same way you came."
Liang Xinyi had naively assumed that her aunt would continue to support her, but unfortunately she was nothing but a chess piece who was still useful at the moment.
Once she lost her value, she would be abandoned.
Standing on the stairs, Yun Xi watched Liang Xinyi going downstairs. The more enraged she was at this moment, the more happy Yun Xi felt.
Clap, clap. Applause sounded from the left.
Yun Xi turned her head and saw Zhao Yumo, who appeared to have nothing better to do than watch the goings-on.
"What a wonderful farce!"
Zhao Yumo came over and stood beside Yun Xi with a cynical expression on her face as she leaned against the railing lazily.
"How unexpected that you, who seemed like a gentle little white rabbit, have such a tough side. It seems true that even rabbits will bite people when they are pushed over the edge."
"You're a little white rabbit!"
Yun Xi gave her a sulky look. Zhao Yumo must have heard her threatening Liang Xinyi just now, so she didn't bother continuing to pretend.
Perhaps it was because she believed from the bottom of her heart that Zhao Yumo would not become her enemy that she let down her guard and showed her true colors.
"If I'm a little white rabbit, then you are a sly little fox!" Zhao Yumo turned her head and stared at Yun Xi with awe.
"You overestimate me!"
"No, Yun Xi, your potential is limitless. You are witty enough, and you have the means as well as the courage. I am very fortunate not to be your enemy."
Liang Xinyi had been trying to sabotage her without getting her own hands dirty, but she'd seem through her entire scheme.
She'd even gotten rid of Yang Lu as Liang Xinyi's pawn first, and, by using her own pawn against her, she'd let Liang Xinyi dig her own grave.
With this farce, she'd refurbished her reputation and won everyone's sympathy.
They not only hadn't taken advantage of her, but they'd also suffered public humiliation, and they'd have to accept the school's punishment.
Her father, her scumbag mother, and Liang Xinyi were all chess pieces in her hands.
She'd used Liang Xinyi, made her father deal with her mother, and also won over Yang Lu, a classmate who had been resentful of her.
She had been aware of what was going on the entire time and calmly stayed in control of the entire situation. She had the composure of a natural-born strategist.
Zhao Yumo doubted that she would have known how to deal with this matter so well.
Yet all Yun Xi had done was use a piece of wool to settle the matter handsomely.
Yun Xi smiled at her. "I'm also very glad that you aren't my enemy."
Zhao Yumo had a straightforward disposition that she liked.
There were too many drama queens around her, and she didn't want people she cared about to be catty toward her. That sort of life was too exhausting.
"If we can't be enemies, perhaps we can be friends?" Zhao Yumo smiled brightly and reached out to her to shake hands. "Zhao Yumo, the second place incumbent."
"Yun Xi, the second place incumbent who shall succeed you."
At the moment Zhao Yumo never imagined that one day in the future, when the Zhao family fell apart due to internal conflict, Yun Xi would actually help her secure her position as the Zhao family's heiress.
...
On Friday morning, after waking up, old Madame Chen suddenly found that she had regained feeling in her legs!
She was even able get up from the bed and get into the wheelchair without someone supporting her.
Upon seeing that her legs were working, Mrs. Chen was so excited that she shouted, "Chen Chen! Wan Yun! Come here!"
Jiang Wanyun and her husband, who had just gotten up, heard her voice, and, thinking that something was wrong, they hurried over.
"Mom, what happened?"
As soon as Chen Ziliang opened the door, he saw his mother standing up. He was completely stunned.
"Mom, you can stand up now!" Chen Ziliang turned to look at his wife excitedly.
Jiang Wanyun was also startled and came forward to help.
Old Madame Chen interrupted her, took a few cautious steps, then sat back on the bed happily after making sure that her legs could indeed move.
She raised her head to look at her son and daughter-in-law with a joyful smile. "I'm cured! That girl Yun Xi really cured my illness!"