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Chapter 68: Chu Zining’s Confession

“Teachers, students, please settle down, please settle down.”

“Yesterday our city experienced a serious incident in which criminals used firearms, yet thanks to a Courageous Act Bonus earned by a student of our school, not only were passers-by saved with quick thinking, the criminals were also apprehended and the crisis was quietly resolved.”

“The Public Security Bureau highly praised our school’s fine education and expressed gratitude for our student’s Courageous Act Bonus behavior, and has therefore decided to award that student the Courageous Act Bonus.”

“Next, would the hero who earned the Courageous Act Bonus… Class 1’s Chu Zining… please come to the stage and deliver a speech!”

As soon as the words fell, scattered applause rose, and Chu Zining walked to the center of the platform.

The students on the field looked around in confusion and whispered to each other:

“Weren’t we supposed to criticize someone? How did it turn into an awards ceremony?”

“Are you living under a rock? Two students were involved in yesterday’s case, one got a Courageous Act Bonus and the other endangered public safety. This ceremony is to commend the student who earned the Courageous Act Bonus and then criticize the one who endangered public safety.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is?”

The students suddenly understood, nodded, and said, “No wonder the broadcast called two students up.”

Just then a student in the front row who could see the stage exclaimed, “Huh? The student with the Courageous Act Bonus is a girl? And she’s really pretty!”

A student squeezing forward said, “Let me see, let me see… wow! She really is gorgeous!”

“How come such a beautiful girl never showed up on the confession wall before? Is she really from our school?”

“Of course she is, she’s in Class 1, and I hear she’s a top student who’s always ranked first.”

“That’s amazing, number 1 academically and able to earn a Courageous Act Bonus in combat… what kind of fairy is she? Wow, she’s practically a goddess!”

“Goddess, my goddess! Who would bear to let such a beautiful goddess be in danger?”

“Heh, yet someone did! That boy who endangered public safety ignored the police cordon and almost got a bunch of people killed, and if something had gone wrong this girl wouldn’t have survived either!”

“Seriously? That guy deserves to die!”

“He probably wanted to play hero, huh, save the beauty so the goddess would thank him… ptui, shameless!”

“Who is he exactly? Spill his name, I’m going to dox him online!”

“Isn’t it the guy the announcement just mentioned, from Class 4, surname Lu…”

In an instant, Lu Li felt like the public enemy of every boy in the school.

Lu Li was standing quietly with Class 4 when suddenly many students turned to look their way, and although Class 4 kept standing, they felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles.

They all looked at Lu Li with disdain and rejection.

It was as if Lu Li’s mere presence polluted Class 4’s air.

Zhang Heng happily slung an arm around Shen Tan’s shoulder and said, “See? The kid has angered everyone; he can’t stay in our class anymore.”

Shen Tan finally relaxed as well; it looked like there was no turning point to this matter.

At that moment Chu Zining reached the center of the stage and slowly picked up the microphone.

“I… I, ahem, I’m Chu Zining from Class 4.” Chu Zining’s voice trembled slightly and sounded very nervous.

Beside Principal Ma Xiong stood a female teacher, the homeroom teacher of Class 1.

The female teacher looked at Chu Zining with concern and asked doubtfully, “Principal, Zining is very timid and has never spoken on such a big occasion; is it appropriate to let her give a speech?”

Ma Xiong sighed and said, “There was no other way; I called that boy over at the same time but never saw him, so I didn’t wait. It doesn’t matter; they’re both Courageous Act Bonus people, whoever speaks is still a speech. I already instructed Chu Zining to thank the government for their recognition, thank the school for its nurturing, and thank the teachers for their education; that will do. It’s only a formality anyway.”

“In that case, it really doesn’t matter.” The female teacher nodded.

They then heard Chu Zining continue on stage, “T-to receive this Courageous Act Bonus award this time, I… I feel very honored. I want to thank the government for recognizing me, thank the school for carefully nurturing me, and thank my teachers for educating me…”

At this point Chu Zining took a deep breath and raised her voice, “But the one I should thank the most is… is Lu Li! Lu Li from Class 4!”

The words set the entire field abuzz.

“Huh? What’s going on? Isn’t that Lu Li the jerk who almost got the goddess killed?”

“Exactly, I heard from Zhang Heng in Class 4 that that cringe guy Lu Li almost got the police killed, too.”

“But if that’s true, why would the goddess thank him?”

“Could the earlier rumors be wrong?”

“Shut up, I want to keep listening to the goddess! Her voice is so gentle and nice.”

On stage Chu Zining continued, “Actually, I feel unworthy of this award, because the one who truly earned the Courageous Act Bonus has always been him, Lu Li! Back then a suspect was carrying a bomb, and it was Lu Li who took him down. Another criminal held a pistol to my head and was about to shoot, and again it was Lu Li who ignored the danger and was willing to sacrifice himself to save me. The only thing I did was, when that criminal moved the gun from my head toward Lu Li, I was lucky enough to knock the weapon away. If it hadn’t been for Lu Li, I would have had no idea what to do; without Lu Li I would never have had the chance to act, and without Lu Li that crisis could never have been defused so smoothly! If not for Lu Li, I would definitely be dead right now!”

The field once again erupted into noisy discussion, and the teachers could not silence it no matter what they tried.

“So that’s the truth! Everything we heard before was just rumor!”

The students all looked astonished.

“So Lu Li is actually the one who earned the Courageous Act Bonus?”

“I always said if he’d really obstructed official duties the police would have hauled him to the station already, but you guys wouldn’t listen!”

“Which of you just called him cringe? Have you no shame? The guy’s a real hero!”

“It was all Zhang Heng from Class 4 spreading rumors; that punk is a real scumbag!”

Having finally voiced everything she had bottled up, Chu Zining felt much lighter; her nerves vanished, her words sped up, and her tone grew excited, “So when I heard you say Lu Li endangered public safety, disturbed the peace, and almost got the officers killed, I was unhappy… extremely, extremely unhappy… no! I… I was furious! You don’t understand anything! He was clearly doing a good deed… how dare you punish him, how dare you scold him, how dare you criticize him! He was clearly doing the right thing!”

Chu Zining swallowed hard, “Lu Li, Lu Li, did you hear me? I… I won’t let you be wronged, no matter how they bully you, humiliate you, or accuse you unjustly…”

Chu Zining clutched the microphone tightly, closed her eyes, and shouted, “Y-you will always be a hero, my hero!”

The moment Chu Zining’s impassioned words ended, the field that had been buzzing fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Until a timid voice sounded, “My hero… what does the goddess mean by that? I-is this a confession?”

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