Zeng Hongjie asked, “Her?”

Zeng Hongjie was surprised.

In her impression, Yao Zhenxia was a quiet, kind, and straightforward girl who rarely argued with others and never spoke back sharply.

Whenever Zeng Hongjie saw Yao Zhenxia, she was like this, unlike Yang Lu and Zhu Caiping, who were more obvious in their behavior.

Jiang Lin replied, “Xiaojie, don’t talk to others about this. It’s really not a big deal. I’ll give it a try this afternoon. If it doesn’t work out, I won’t bother with it anymore. Complaining about me won’t make a difference.”

Jiang Lin mainly didn’t want to waste time on this matter, and thought that the proposal and exams were more important.

Zeng Hongjie asked and then said with a smile, “Alright, let the person who knows the most prove it. If the most knowledgeable person can’t prove it, then it’s no big deal.”

Zeng Hongjie asked Jiang Lin to go back to the classroom to review, while she went to the family planning office to find Officer Zhang and prepare as Jiang Lin had requested.

After the first big class in the morning, Zeng Hongjie found Jiang Lin and gave her the proposal and a note.

Jiang Lin went back to the classroom, gave the proposal to Su Xingyun and the other class officials to review.

Once they agreed it was okay, they considered it for their class and asked everyone to sign voluntarily.

All the male students, whether married or not, signed in support.

When it came to Zhu Caiping and Yao Zhenxia, they refused, saying that since they had no children, they didn’t want to get involved.

Jiang Lin didn’t force them.

Yang Lu was actively signing but wasn’t very optimistic.

She thought that Jiang Lin and the others were just doing this for show and didn’t really intend to achieve anything.

She said with a smile, “Jiang Lin, if you’re fine, that’s enough. Why are you bothering with this? It seems like you’re working hard for nothing. If the city committee accepts it, no one will know it was your good deed. If they don’t accept it, you’ll be blamed for causing trouble, and no one will share the burden with you. I’ve seen a lot of this. It’s better to do less than more. Just take care of yourself and don’t worry about others. Even if you do something, people won’t be grateful.”

Jiang Lin: “Am I seeking gratitude from others? What can a tiny fetus be grateful for? I think that if a child was conceived before the policy was introduced, and if the mother doesn’t want to abort, then the child has the right to live.”

If the parents are willing to have an abortion, that’s their choice, and no one can interfere. But if they don’t want to abort, and if it’s possible to advocate for their right, then naturally, it should be pursued.

After all, the child wasn’t originally planned for, and might be used to meet quotas due to a lack of connections, which would be quite unfortunate.

If the municipal committee issues clear regulations, then they can be saved.

Jiang Lin’s logic is simple: if she feels it’s worth doing and wants to do it, that’s enough.

There’s no need for gratitude; this is within her ability to accomplish.

Jiang Lin wrote another version to leave with Jiang Xinglei, Lü Hang, and others, asking them to copy it and sign jointly.

She planned to mobilize her and Zeng Hongjie’s networks, optimistically estimating that they could gather a thousand signatures, which would be very influential.

At noon, Jiang Lin went to the cafeteria to meet Zeng Hongjie, and Tian Ye was also there, so she joined them.

Jiang Lin shared her plan to gather a thousand signatures, “Besides our school, we can also reach out to factory workers. We should be able to get around a thousand signatures. The more people, the greater the impact, and the municipal committee will pay more attention.”

Zeng Hongjie hugged her, “Your baby must be a little angel.”

Jiang Lin touched her belly, “I think so too.”

If she weren’t pregnant and experiencing things more directly, she wouldn’t have suddenly had this idea.

Tian Ye said, “I can have my students make some posters for you. We can also collect signatures from our art college and send them over.”

“Great, thank you, Teacher Tian,” Jiang Lin said with a smile.

Tian Ye replied, “It’s like making a contribution for children who have never seen the light of day. Their parents might not be able to protect them on their own, so we give them a push.”

Zeng Hongjie said, “In the afternoon, after we finish signing, I’ll take it to the office with my classmates. Mailing it would be too slow.”

Zeng Hongjie wasn’t worried about the final exams; she found humanities subjects very easy.

They agreed to meet after dinner to handle it.

In the afternoon, Jiang Lin went back to class to review.

She pulled out a note from her textbook, which read: “Zhu Caiping went to the family planning office yesterday afternoon and reported you. The handwriting is awkward, clearly written with the left hand.”

Yang Lu noticed and asked, “Jiang Lin, what are you looking at?”

Jiang Lin glanced at her and handed her the note. “Take a look.”

Yang Lu read it and said aloud, “Zhu Caiping… reported you. Oh my!” Yang Lu was startled.

When she said this, Zhu Caiping, who was behind them, heard and rushed over to grab the note.

Yang Lu was startled and instinctively tried to get the note back.

Zhu Caiping looked at the note, and her face changed immediately.

She shouted at Jiang Lin, “I didn’t report you! Whoever reported you is out of luck! If I were the one who reported you, I’d choke on cold water or fall into a river and drown!”

“Stop!” Jiang Lin made a stopping gesture. “Don’t get worked up. I didn’t say it was you.”

“Then who is this bastard…” Zhu Caiping suddenly stopped, as if realizing something.

She turned and glared at Yao Zhenxia. “Yao Zhenxia, you reported Jiang Lin and then tried to frame me! How shameless can you be?”

Yao Zhenxia was also flustered. “W-What are you talking about? When did I report Jiang Lin?”

Zhu Caiping asked, “Then what did you go to the family planning office for yesterday?”

Yao Zhenxia’s face turned red, and she anxiously defended herself to Jiang Lin, “Jiang Lin, please don’t misunderstand. I really didn’t report you.”

“What did you go for? You’re not married, not pregnant. What did you go to the family planning office for? Ah, I see!” Zhu Caiping, as if discovering a secret, shouted, “You went to get free condoms! Is that right? You’re so shameless!”

Yao Zhenxia responded, “Y-You’re the shameless one! What nonsense are you talking about!”

“I think you’re the one who reported her. You’re jealous that Jiang Lin wants to join the Party. You want it more than anyone!” Zhu Caiping, trying to clear her own name, vented all her frustration with Yao Zhenxia, including her dissatisfaction with Yao Zhenxia’s interest in her own love interest. “You must have sent an anonymous letter. I know you write with your left hand.”

Yao Zhenxia retorted, “You don’t write with your left hand? You say I sent the letter—go compare the handwriting!”

Zhu Caiping slapped a note on Yao Zhenxia’s desk. “Take a look. Don’t think I’m blind. The handwriting from your left hand looks like this. I remember it well!”

She immediately recounted seeing Yao Zhenxia practicing writing with her left hand while hiding in bed.

Yao Zhenxia naturally denied reporting anyone.

Even if she did use her left hand, it didn’t prove that she was the one who reported Jiang Lin.

Zhu Caiping demanded, “No, just write a few characters. No, just take out something you wrote before and compare.”

Yao Zhenxia trembled with anger. “Zhu Caiping, don’t push it too far. Guo Gang and I are innocent. It’s not like you think. Don’t twist things.”

Zhu Caiping retorted, “Is it me twisting things or you being shameless? Aren’t you ignoring other people’s partners? Always flirting and cozying up to them, you…”

“You’re the one being flirtatious! You’re a married woman with two children. What right do you have to talk about relationships?” Yao Zhenxia was so angry she spoke without thinking, and the classroom fell silent.

Zhu Caiping’s face went from pale to red, and with a final scream, she charged at Yao Zhenxia and started hitting her.

A few boys quickly separated them to stop the fight.

Yao Zhenxia continued angrily, “You’re lazy and deceitful. You married a man from the countryside to avoid work, and when you had kids, you heard you could come back to the city, so you tricked him into giving you all his money and ran off. When your husband came looking for you with the kids, you even denied your own children. Am I lying? I saw you fighting with him in that alley outside school. I thought he was bullying you and wanted to help, but it turns out you abandoned your family. How shameless!”

Zhu Caiping felt like she was being publicly humiliated and went into a frenzied state.

Unable to hit Yao Zhenxia, she remembered Yao Zhenxia’s precious little wooden box, which she always carefully hid and locked.

If she was so cautious about it, it must contain something secret.

With her eyes red with anger, Zhu Caiping screamed and rushed out.

One of the boys said to Yang Lu, “Yang Lu, go check on her quickly. We can’t afford any accidents with exams coming up.”

Jiang Lin glanced at Yao Zhenxia, impressed by her. Though usually reserved, Yao Zhenxia was surprisingly fierce.

Jiang Lin had been testing her because Yao Zhenxia had taken Zhu Caiping’s boyfriend.

Zhu Caipin was very eager to find a classmate boyfriend to marry, and even showed off to Jiang Lin when she found Guo Gang.

So, even without Yang Lu’s gossip, Jiang Lin already knew, but she hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Unexpectedly, in just a few days, Yao Zhenxia had stolen him away.

Compared to Jiang Lin, Yao Zhenxia was younger, with delicate features, and Guo Gang was just an ordinary man, naturally inclined to choose someone like Yao Zhenxia.

Guo Gang flirted with Zhu Caiping but decisively moved on to Yao Zhenxia, showing that neither of them was particularly serious.

Thus, Jiang Lin had no qualms about having Zeng Hongjie get a note with similar handwriting from Officer Zhang.

She only wanted to provoke and test the waters.

She thought that the two women were already on the brink of a showdown, barely holding on for the sake of appearance.

Just a little spark was enough to make them explode.

Sure enough, the explosion was thorough and even uncovered Zhu Caiping’s secret.

As Yang Lu had said, everyone has secrets.

Yao Zhenxia was still crying, claiming she didn’t know who framed her and insisting she hadn’t reported Jiang Lin.

“Jiang Lin, you don’t suspect me, do you? I really didn’t,” Yao Zhenxia said, very aggrieved.

Jiang Lin replied, “I don’t suspect anything. I don’t know anything. Besides, the Party membership application was requested by Teacher Liu, and I haven’t even been accepted yet. I really don’t know.”

Only the one who reported knew for sure.

With Su Xingyun out contacting other student council members, another vice-class monitor maintained order, letting everyone review on their own.

Jiang Lin, meanwhile, leisurely sketched a building structure diagram.

She was very interested in ancient architecture and liked to draw some hand-drawn diagrams.

About half an hour later, Zhu Caiping returned, looking triumphant and full of swagger, holding a test admission ticket.

“Yao Zhenxia, what is this!” she exclaimed.

Yao Zhenxia’s face went pale, and her whole body seemed drained of strength.

She quickly grabbed the edge of the table for support.

“Zhu Caiping, damn you! Did you break into my lock?” Yao Zhenxia picked up a stool and threw it at Zhu Caiping.

The boys immediately intervened, saying, “What are you doing? Let’s talk this out.”

Yang Lu asked, “Zhu Caiping, what are you doing with Yao Zhenxia’s exam admission ticket?”

The deputy class monitor also came over to check, saying, “Yes, that’s Yao Zhenxia’s exam admission ticket.”

Zhu Caiping sneered, “Really? Look closely at this red stamp!” She pulled out another torn one-inch photo from her pocket. “See this?”

Jiang Lin watched Zhu Caiping’s expression, feeling like a miracle was about to happen.

Indeed, the torn photo matched perfectly with the stamp on the admission ticket.

Zhu Caiping laughed triumphantly, “Yao Zhenxia, or should I call you Yu? How did you impersonate someone? You’d better explain yourself!”

Jiang Lin thought, “This scandal is going to blow up the entire class and school.”