Night School.

After the second class, Jiang Cheng once again handed the teacher a workbook.

Holding the workbook, the teacher thought: Every time I think Jiang Cheng has done something remarkable, this girl always manages to surprise me even more.

The first reaction of the teachers upon receiving Jiang Cheng’s workbook was admiration. The second reaction was—Oh no.

They had to work overtime at home again, preparing lessons. Otherwise, if they got a question wrong and couldn’t explain it properly when students asked, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

Who would have thought that instead of being motivated by their colleagues, they were being pushed forward by a student?

Lately, the kerosene consumption at home had noticeably increased.

To save on kerosene and electricity, several teachers voluntarily stayed in the office… to use the school’s electricity.

When Principal Wang came by and saw several teachers working overtime, he felt immensely proud.

Our teachers are so dedicated!

Feeling gratified, Principal Wang returned to his office. An hour later, he noticed that the lights were still on.

Isn’t this… a bit wasteful?

No, no, how could he think that?

The teachers were working hard for the students—as the principal, how could he be the one dragging his feet?

Shameful!

Successfully convincing himself, Principal Wang restlessly returned to his office. He didn’t even dare to light a candle, let alone turn on the lamp.

An hour later, when the teachers finally turned off the lights and left the office, Principal Wang, who had been squatting in the corner, suddenly stood up.

“Holy crap!”

“Mom, that scared me!”

“Principal Wang, what are you doing here?”

Supporting himself against the wall, Principal Wang stomped his numb feet and ignored the tingling sensation, saying, “You teachers have worked hard. Has the teaching workload increased recently?”

“It’s been a bit heavy.”

“Mainly because if we don’t study, we’ll fall behind.”

“There’s a lot of homework too—I haven’t even finished mine yet.”

Principal Wang was dumbfounded.

Do you hear what you’re saying???

The teachers, eager to get home, said a few words and left.

Still dazed, Principal Wang did a quick check of the school’s utilities before heading home as well.

Meanwhile, the mastermind behind all this, Jiang Cheng, was following a night school classmate to the Food Factory Residential Compound and knocking on Zhu Pengcheng’s door.

“Who is it? It’s so late.”

A slightly plump middle-aged woman impatiently opened the door. She scanned the visitor from head to toe and thought, What a beautiful young girl.

So pretty. If her eyes aren’t blind, she’s definitely not here for my husband.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Hello, my name is Jiang Cheng. Today, I was invited by the principal to give a safety lecture at Zhu Pengcheng’s school. I’m here this late because I need to discuss a serious matter regarding your child’s safety.”

Hearing that the principal had invited her to give a speech, the middle-aged woman immediately assumed Jiang Cheng was someone important.

Without hesitation, she invited Jiang Cheng inside and called out to Zhu Pengcheng’s father. Zhu Pengcheng himself also emerged upon hearing voices.

“You—why are you here?!”

Zhu Pengcheng couldn’t believe it. This woman, who had already scared him several times today, was now in his home.

“Both of you, this is serious—we should get straight to the point.”

The moment Jiang Cheng spoke, the two parents instinctively sat on the couch, waiting for her to continue.

Meanwhile, Zhu Pengcheng was sweating profusely, his fists clenched in fear.

“I was wrong! I won’t bully Shen Xing and Shen Yue anymore!”

Thinking she was here to report him, Zhu Pengcheng quickly admitted his mistakes, hoping that confessing in advance might lighten his punishment.

“Shen Xing and Shen Yue? Who are they?”

“Bullying? Zhu Pengcheng, what have you done?!”

Zhu’s mother was still trying to recall who Shen Xing and Shen Yue were, but Zhu’s father was already furious, searching for a weapon to use.

“Please don’t be alarmed—I’m not here to report anyone. This is genuinely about your child’s safety. I have already filed a record with the Public Security Bureau.”

With just one sentence, Jiang Cheng elevated the situation to a whole new level of seriousness.

She then explained how someone had bribed Zhu Pengcheng to beat up Shen Xing.

“I don’t know what the person behind this is planning, but nothing comes for free. Today, they told your son to hit someone—what if next time they tell him to steal?”

“Zhu Pengcheng, I know you’d say no. But what if they use this incident against you? What if they threaten to expose it to everyone you know? Could you really just ignore that?”

“You’re the ‘leader’ among your friends—would you let your followers mock you?”

After just a few words, Zhu Pengcheng was on the verge of a breakdown.

His parents, on the other hand, were thinking even deeper.

Seeing that the timing was right, Jiang Cheng stood up, walked to the door, and sincerely said,

“If you don’t believe me, you can check my police report. Shen Xing and Shen Yue may be orphans, but we know what should and shouldn’t be done.”

“Even though Shen Xing was badly injured, we still reported the situation rather than taking revenge. We couldn’t just stand by and watch Zhu Pengcheng get hurt.”

“Don’t be too angry—he’s still a child. With proper guidance, he’ll be fine.”

“It’s late, so I’ll take my leave. If I didn’t worry that Zhu Pengcheng was being manipulated, I wouldn’t have come at this hour.”

With that, Jiang Cheng left.

Before she even reached the bottom of the stairs, a loud commotion erupted in the Zhu household.

“You little brat! I’m going to beat you to death!”

“I never expect you to be a top student, but you can’t even be a decent person?! How dare you bully others?!”

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

“Mom—help me!”

Zhu Pengcheng wailed pitifully. Meanwhile, Zhu’s mother, recalling what Jiang Cheng had said, finally remembered who Shen Xing and Shen Yue were.

Weren’t they those two orphans from the textile factory?

The single beating turned into a double beating.

Jiang Cheng walked downstairs with a satisfied smile.

Mission accomplished—without even lifting a finger.

…

The night had fully settled in.

Leaving the food factory, Jiang Cheng pulled a gong from her bag.

Yes, a gong.

A gift from Grandma Shen.

That morning, Jiang Cheng had told Grandma Shen that she would be coming home late. She insisted there was no need to send someone to escort her—she could handle it herself.

But Grandma Shen was still worried and came up with a solution.

She found a copper gong.

“When you walk home at night, carry this. If someone comes too close, hit it as hard as you can. It’s loud! Then just yell ‘FIRE!’ and people will definitely come out.”

Jiang Cheng obediently took it—because it was actually a brilliant idea.

Late at night, a beautiful young woman walked down the street.

Left hand holding a gong.

Right hand holding a mallet.

Swaggering down the road.

The men assigned to protect her were all amused.

Too creative!

Jiang Cheng safely arrived back at the courtyard house.

The moment Grandma Shen saw her, she finally let out a sigh of relief and went into the kitchen to fetch her some food.

Jiang Cheng sweetly thanked her.

A warm bowl of red sugar egg soup melted away her exhaustion, allowing her to truly relax.

The Next Morning

Jiang Cheng shared her flawless, bloodless victory from the previous night with Shen Xing. He was so stunned that he remained in a daze for a long time.

“Grandma Shen, the Zhu family will come today.”

“Alright, I got it.”

Grandma Shen responded calmly.

Shen Xing finally snapped back to reality and asked, “Sister, what if the Zhu family doesn’t come?”

“If they don’t come, we’ll just go to them.”

Jiang Cheng grinned brightly.

Shen Xing, catching on, grinned along with her.

“Then I hope they don’t come.”

That way, Fatty Zhu might get another beating, right?

Jiang Cheng narrowed her eyes with a knowing smile. After finishing breakfast, she prepared to head to work.

Just as she stepped outside, she saw someone running out of the west wing of the main house—the residence of Du Yun from the recycling station.

“What’s going on?”

“She’s going into labor!!”