Chapter 138

In the classroom on a autumn day, the weather had started to turn a bit cold. Especially with Zhang Dongmei standing here, the temperature felt much colder than outside. The classroom, packed with students, fell silent, with only Zhang Dongmei speaking at the podium.

“Our studies are so intense now, yet there are still students who don’t focus on their studies!” Zhang Dongmei stood before the podium, looking down at the dozens of students below, not a single person daring to make a sound.

The students were afraid, trembling, each one lowering their heads, wanting to hide themselves, not knowing who among them would be unfortunate enough to be singled out by Zhang Dongmei today.

“Today, let me broaden your horizons. Can you believe that someone in our class actually wrote this kind of thing?” Zhang Dongmei spoke as she unfolded a pink paper.

Meng Tiantian’s face changed, lowering her head. She recognized that thing—it was the love letter she had gathered the courage to write to Dong Yichen, the athlete in their class.

“Dong Yichen: Do you remember, during our first PE class, when the ball rolled to our side where the girls were, and you, along with the other boys, came to retrieve it? I handed the ball back to you. At that moment, you seemed a bit flustered, and when you took the ball, you accidentally touched my hand. Your hand was warm.”

“That was the first time I noticed you. I finally understood what love at first sight meant. From that day on, I deeply fell in love with you. I couldn’t focus on my studies or sleep without seeing you. Whenever I passed by the playground after class, I couldn’t help but look towards the track, just hoping to catch a glimpse of you. I finally gathered the courage to tell you that I like you…”

After reading the short love letter, Zhang Dongmei tossed the paper onto the podium, sneering, “What? You let a man touch your hand, and you’re ready to give yourself to him? Do you even know what shame is? What self-respect is?”

Then, she turned to the students. “Right, Meng Tiantian? I’ve repeatedly warned against early romance. Yet you, with a face thicker than the city wall, dare to disregard my words. Just because you cut your hair short, you think you can blend in with the boys. You’re just a born slut, feeling uncomfortable unless you’re seducing men every day.”

Zhang Dongmei continued, sneering, “Unfortunately, Dong Yichen saw through your true nature long ago and handed this letter to me. Tell me, isn’t what’s written in this letter laughable?”

At this point, Dong Yichen remained silent, while some students turned their heads to look at Meng Tiantian with a hint of sympathy.

The classroom fell into silence for a moment. Zhang Dongmei snorted again, arms crossed, and questioned the students, “Not funny, huh?”

“Ha ha ha…” All the children showed expressions of fear, forced to open their mouths and squeeze out dry laughter.

In the classroom, the woman dressed in all black with a white face slowly walked by like a black tower. She looked coldly at each student, gritting her teeth, “In this world, there’s no such thing as love at first sight, or even love itself—it doesn’t exist. The person you’re infatuated with doesn’t love you back! If you trust them, they’ll only make you a laughingstock! Remember this!”

“You’re too young. What you need to do now is only study. All other distractions must be cast aside. If I ever see anyone dare to write such shameless things again, I’ll post it on the school bulletin board for all students to see!”

Meng Tiantian kept her head down, feeling her face burning, as if she had been slapped dozens of times in a row and it still wouldn’t hurt as much.

Being read a love letter in class was tantamount to a public execution. Today, Zhang Dongmei seemed to be in a good mood; she didn’t hit her, but Meng Tiantian felt even worse than if she had been beaten.

She felt heartbroken over her crushed feelings, feeling like a knife had been stabbed into her chest, a feeling of betrayal. She kept scratching the notebook with her fingernails.

Dong Yichen could dislike her, could reject her, but why did he hand that love letter to that woman?

“Meng Tiantian, have your mother come to see me tomorrow, let her see the mushy stuff you wrote. Dong Yichen, you did well today; you don’t have to stand. Everyone else, stand up! Remember, it’s all because of Meng Tiantian that you’re standing here in class today… Remember it well,” Zhang Dongmei’s voice continued to echo. “Now, open your math textbook to page 35!”

“Meng Tiantian!” The door of the private room suddenly swung open from outside, making a loud noise.

Meng Tiantian snapped out of her thoughts, stood up, and saw a policeman standing outside, calling her. “It’s your turn.”

The third person called in was Meng Tiantian.

After she entered and sat across from the three people, she slowly took off her mask. There was no need for it anymore here.

She was tall and slender, with a well-proportioned figure. Her arms and waist appeared thinner than those of ordinary girls. This kind of slimness was different from Tan Shan’s frailty. Her face was also attractive, quite petite. Moving the mask up a bit would cover her whole face. There’s a saying, “God gives food to the hungry.” This girl was very photogenic, but she lacked some distinctive features in her appearance. Her nose was also quite high, somewhat resembling the flow of a web celebrity.

After Meng Tiantian came in, she remained calm and asked directly, “Am I the third or fourth? And have you already learned something?”

Song Wen replied, “We found Qian Jiang’s phone. Let’s save time; there’s no need for pleasantries. Qian Jiang also mentioned some things about when you were in school. Teacher Zhang, she’s never been very nice to you students, has she?”

Meng Tiantian didn’t bother with those unproductive lies anymore and said, “More than not very nice… Every time Teacher Zhang looked at me, her eyes were like daggers.”

She still vividly remembered the first day of school when Zhang Dongmei said to them, “You’re not elementary school students anymore; now you’re middle school students. Do you know what middle school means? If you don’t work hard, if you don’t study well, you’ll be eliminated by society. This is your arena, only the outstanding can move on to the prestigious high school next door!”

At that time, Meng Tiantian was a bit incredulous, thinking the teacher was exaggerating. She had stood in front of the blackboard at the back of the classroom for a whole week.

Song Wen’s question brought her back to reality. “Qian Jiang said you were friends with a girl in the class who didn’t do well in her studies, and she was ostracized by Teacher Zhang?”

Meng Tiantian pondered for a moment and said, “There was such a thing, but now, I’ve forgotten what that girl’s name was. Back then, I probably just had too much sympathy.”

Song Wen continued, “Did Teacher Zhang ever hit you because of that?”

Meng Tiantian said, “It’s all ancient history now. Who in our class wasn’t hit by her? At that time, I was probably indignant, but now, that resentment has long dissipated. I’ve learned a very practical lesson from being educated so realistically—I’ve learned not to be friends with people from different social classes.”

After answering this question, Meng Tiantian fell silent for a moment. Why couldn’t she remember? That girl’s name was Wang Lu, and she used to be her desk mate. She was a quiet girl with big eyes. She was good at cross-stitching and various handicrafts. Wang Lu’s mother made a living by stringing beads, and she often helped her mother string bracelets.

Once, Wang Lu gave her a red pomegranate bracelet, and she liked it very much at the time. She immediately wore it on her delicate wrist and couldn’t bear to take it off even when bathing.

During middle school, Meng Tiantian often fought with the boys in the class over Wang Lu’s affairs until Zhang Dongmei found an excuse to punish her.

Wang Lu seemed to realize where the problem lay, and she started avoiding talking to Meng Tiantian. Later, in front of Wang Lu, Meng Tiantian deliberately broke the rope of the red pomegranate bracelet, and the purple beads scattered all over the floor.

At that time, Wang Lu cried for two class periods.

After that, she also started bullying Wang Lu like the other students. Not long after, Wang Lu stopped coming to school.

It seemed like she never had such good friends again…

No boyfriend, no girlfriend.

Her friendships, her love, were all strangled in the cradle by Zhang Dongmei.

She used to be a carefree and happy girl, but Zhang Dongmei told her that if she wanted to stand out, she had to be a loner.

Now she carried an LV bag, wore a pair of GUCCI shoes, and put on a new PRADA coat. She went in and out of glamorous occasions every day, but she was not happy, she was not happy…

Whenever she thought of these things, Meng Tiantian felt like touching the small wounds on her heart. Even though they had healed, they still hurt a little when touched inadvertently.

After listening to Meng Tiantian’s words, Lu Suyu frowned and looked at the woman in front of him. He didn’t think Meng Tiantian was as carefree as her testimony suggested. If Zhang Dongmei was really as harsh as Qian Jiang described, Meng Tiantian must have suffered a lot during middle school. The visible wounds were superficial; the ones that couldn’t be seen sometimes had a greater impact.

Qian Jiang chose to speak out, while Meng Tiantian chose to keep it to herself.

It seemed that a good actor could apply their acting skills to life. To this day, Meng Tiantian wasn’t planning to expose those wounds in front of them.

However, Lu Suyu could sense that although Meng Tiantian’s tone was somewhat regretful and sad, it was clearly not as impassioned as Qian Jiang’s.

Considering this, Meng Tiantian might not have a motive for murder.

Song Wen continued to interrogate, “Why did you hit Teacher Zhang today, and why did you come to this gathering?”

Meng Tiantian looked at the police in front of her, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes. “So, they didn’t tell you everything?”

“What happened?” Song Wen’s eyebrows twitched, indicating that there was more to the story. The implication was that Tan Shan and Qian Jiang were still hiding something. Song Wen furrowed his brow and asked, “What else do you know?”

The conversation had finally reached the crux.

Meng Tiantian hesitated for a moment, seeming to be engaged in a fierce inner struggle. Before she could speak, there was suddenly a commotion outside…