CHAPTER 9: Backing Her Up

When Yi Yao arrived at the teacher’s office, he saw the medical staff crowding around someone else’s daughter, while his own daughter, hair in disarray, was being completely ignored.

There was a stark divide—two clearly separate sides.

Yi Yao had long since seen the coldness of human nature. He knew people only cared about one’s background. Still, he had sent his daughter to this school because it was a good school, full of students from prominent families. He wanted her to get used to that environment early so she wouldn’t be easily fooled by just any so-called rich person in the future.

“Dad!” Yi Xiaoya’s eyes lit up when she saw him. She immediately began complaining. “They ganged up on me, and the teacher only called you. No one called the other students’ parents. And now the teacher wants you to apologize!”

Yi Xiaoya thought her dad was way too proud to ever apologize to them. If he did, she might as well pretend she didn’t have a father.

“Apologize?” Yi Yao’s face darkened.

The teacher had assumed Yi Xiaoya’s father was just some regular guy, maybe a nouveau riche at most. But as soon as she felt Yi Yao’s commanding presence, she realized something was off.

Yi Xiaoya… Yi… Could she actually be that Yi family’s daughter?

If that were the case, the teacher gasped inwardly.

Before she could speak, the school principal came rushing in.

The Yi family had shares in the school, and Yi Yao didn’t plan to waste time with underlings. Strike where it hurts—if he was going to deal with this, he’d go straight to the top.

When you have money and power, you should use it.

Yi Yao had no intention of humbling himself or forcing his daughter to bow her head just to “build her character.”

Ha. Not a chance.

“Third Master,” the principal greeted Yi Yao at once.

Yi Yao turned his attention to his daughter, carefully checking her over from left to right.

“Dad, you’re not a doctor. You’re only seeing surface-level injuries—what about the ones inside?” Yi Xiaoya turned toward the medical staff. “These people didn’t even examine me, but they were quick to help them.”

“This must be a misunderstanding,” the principal said, glancing toward the teacher.

The teacher truly hadn’t known that Yi Xiaoya belonged to the Yi family. If she had, she never would’ve blamed her. She would’ve made the other students apologize to Yi Xiaoya instead.

Honestly, the teacher had known the other students were at fault, but she thought Yi Xiaoya was easy to bully. She saw her as a troublemaker who didn’t appreciate her efforts to “keep the peace” and smooth things over.

The homeroom teacher still thought that even if Yi Xiaoya’s biological parents showed up, these people would end up apologizing.

They were doomed—they had kicked an iron wall this time!

In the past, whenever students had arguments or made a fuss, the principal never showed up. The homeroom teachers usually handled things on their own. The students themselves didn’t have any stakes between them, but their parents did. Some students were even told by their parents before entering the school who they couldn’t mess with and who they had to suck up to.

“Dad, they threw my books, kicked my desk, and even tried to hit me,” Yi Xiaoya said weakly, “My head hurts… Could it be a concussion? Sob Dad, are you going to have to bury your own daughter?”

“……” Yi Yao looked at his daughter’s obviously fake acting and couldn’t help the slight twitch of his lips. “We’re going to the hospital.”

Yi Yao swept a cold glance at the group without saying a word to them. He simply led his daughter away. The principal could stay and handle the rest. He had already sent someone to retrieve the surveillance footage. Anyone who had bullied his daughter shouldn’t expect to get away with it so easily.

“Yes, she should go to the hospital, definitely,” the principal said quickly.

There was a hospital nearby, a top-tier (Class A Level 3) hospital with excellent service in all aspects.

“Dad, this building looks like it’s about five or six stories tall. If someone jumped from the fifth or sixth floor… would they die?” Yi Xiaoya deliberately asked before leaving.

If her dad didn’t have some power, and if she had been forced to apologize and her dad hadn’t stood up for her—then wouldn’t a student her age possibly develop serious psychological issues?

The more Yi Xiaoya thought about it, the more she felt this homeroom teacher was seriously unqualified. This wasn’t just about trying to smooth things over by scolding both sides—it was worse. Did students from poorer families not deserve to attend good schools? The special admission students hadn’t provoked anyone; they were selected by the school itself.

“But maybe they wouldn’t die… if there were trees down below,” Yi Xiaoya added. “But if someone really wants to die… no one can stop them.”

The principal’s face darkened significantly when he heard that. He couldn’t say anything against Yi Xiaoya, nor could he blame Yi Yao. The one at fault wasn’t Yi Xiaoya—it was the homeroom teacher, and the students who bullied her.

After Yi Yao and Yi Xiaoya left, the homeroom teacher turned to the principal again. This school offered great salaries, full social security contributions, and full retirement benefits—unlike some private schools that paid only the bare minimum.

And that minimum meant a significant loss in income.

The homeroom teacher looked nervously at the principal. Was she going to be the sacrificial example?

“What kind of homeroom teacher are you?” The principal clearly wasn’t going to take the fall. Some of the teachers in their school did, indeed, show favoritism toward students from wealthier families. Usually, as long as nothing major happened, the principal turned a blind eye.

But when a whole group ganged up on one student—how could it possibly be that student’s fault? And they only called in her parent?

What if the girl had actually jumped from the building?

Sure, even if a student jumped, the school would compensate the family, and eventually the matter would be resolved.

But that would still be a life lost!

“Principal, I really didn’t know…”

“You didn’t know who she was, so you thought it was okay to trample a student’s dignity?” the principal said coldly. “Don’t come in tomorrow.”

“Principal, I’ve always done my job well—this is just one mistake.” The teacher couldn’t deny her fault. She couldn’t afford to offend the Yi family, nor the families behind students like Xiao Caiyu. “Can’t you just transfer me to another class? Reassign me, anything, just please don’t fire me.”

“Do you still want to work at another school?” the principal asked.

“…” The homeroom teacher fell silent. If things got too ugly, it would be hard for her to find another teaching job.

Even without making a scene, few schools wanted to hire teachers who had been dismissed.

And if she tried applying to public schools, the competition for civil servant positions was fierce. She might not be able to stay in this city. Even if she passed the exam, she’d never get the kind of benefits she had here.

“Principal, I have a mortgage, I have kids to support, and elderly parents too…”

“There are jobs outside of this school,” the principal replied. “Or are you trying to threaten me? Planning to jump off the building too?”

“N-no, I wouldn’t dare,” the teacher stammered. She was terrified of dying. If she really did something like that, she’d be making powerful enemies. Even if her family got compensation, that money would vanish quickly.

Xiao Caiyu and the others were already dumbfounded. They had seen the principal being so deferential to Yi Xiaoya’s father, and now they were watching him scold the homeroom teacher so harshly. The shock was overwhelming. They had always assumed they could crush Yi Xiaoya.

But now? Yi Xiaoya came from an even better family. Xiao Caiyu’s followers were all stunned.

They looked at each other in disbelief. Their parents had warned them not to offend certain people. They had assumed Yi Xiaoya was just a special admission student from a poor family, and thought she was trying to cling to Xiao Caiyu.

Xiao Caiyu hadn’t said much at first, but just one look from her, and everyone else understood.

And now, Yi Xiaoya had bluntly exposed Xiao Caiyu’s manipulation—so there was no way Xiao Caiyu could completely wash her hands of it. She might’ve wanted to blame it all on her followers, but it was too late now.

The principal looked at the other students. “Copy the video and show it to your parents.”

Whether they actually did or not wasn’t the principal’s concern. He couldn’t force them to apologize to Yi Xiaoya. Yi Yao had already come to the school, and that meant this was no longer just a childish squabble.

The principal understood what these students were up to—those with weaker backgrounds clinging to the ones from more powerful families. That wasn’t the real issue.

The issue was bullying others.

School bullying is absolutely unacceptable.

Even though the principal didn’t directly blame those students, they all sensed the seriousness of the situation. The principal didn’t criticize the doctors who came from the infirmary either—but their fault wasn’t as big as the homeroom teacher’s. At least the teacher was still standing in front to take the heat.

Yi Xiaoya left the school with Yi Yao, who really was planning to take her to the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital entrance, Yi Xiaoya said, “Let’s not go. It’s expensive.”

“Get it checked out,” Yi Yao said. “If you’re going to do something, do it properly. If you only do it halfway, people will just think nothing really happened and that you’re making a fuss over nothing.”

“We are making a fuss over nothing,” Yi Xiaoya muttered.

“Get in there. If the doctor says it’s serious, then it’s serious,” Yi Yao replied.

Yi Yao looked at his daughter. Sure enough, she was a bit dim. How could a daughter like this possibly play the role of a proper villain? She had no scheming ability at all, and she was even reluctant to spend money.

It wasn’t like their family was short on money—so what was there to be afraid of?

“If I’d known, I would’ve just stood on the desk and shouted that my dad is Yi Yao!” Yi Xiaoya sighed.

“They might not even know my name,” Yi Yao said.

“…” Yi Xiaoya tilted her head and looked at her dad. “Dad, this won’t do. You’re not impressive enough.”

On the other side of things, Old Master Yi also found out that Yi Xiaoya had been bullied at school. He was so angry that he smashed his favorite teacup.