Just when everyone thought the Jie Bing incident had passed, his assistant director of the judicial bureau's mother and his district Science and Technology Committee director father suddenly approached the counselor, escalating the matter to the Student Affairs Office (note: they really made a scene).
Soon, several students from Jiangbei University Male Dormitory Room 513 were summoned to the Student Affairs Office. The first batch included Cui Shuigen and Third Sister Hu Ruoyun.
Director Ding Jiaqi personally questioned Cui Shuigen in front of Jie Bing's parents, “Cui Shuigen, tell us what happened in front of the 'Sunny Shop' at the entrance of People's Park on June 5th at noon?”
Wasn't that when a guy from the Physical Education Department was trying to confront Jie Bing? Cui Shuigen thought the Student Affairs Office was going to deal with those troublemakers from the Physical Education Department, so he recounted what had happened at that time.
Director Ding Jiaqi then asked Hu Ruoyun, “Is that how it went?”
Hu Ruoyun nodded, “Yes.”
Meanwhile, Jie Bing's mother pointed at Cui Shuigen and shouted, “Did you ask him if he knows those who attacked my son?”
Director Ding Jiaqi shot her a glance to silence her and turned back to ask Cui Shuigen, “Are you familiar with those boys from the Physical Education Department?”
Cui Shuigen honestly replied, “Two of them often play basketball together.”
Again, Jie Bing's mother yelled, “Listen to that! They often play basketball together! He incited those people to attack my son…”
Cui Shuigen was frozen in shock. How did it come to this? Wasn't he and Brother San trying to help Jie Bing out of trouble? Now he was being portrayed as the instigator?
Anger and injustice welled up inside him, tears filling his eyes as his lips trembled.
Director Ding Jiaqi once again restrained Jie Bing's mother's outburst and asked Hu Ruoyun, “Why don’t you explain?”
Without hesitation, Hu Ruoyun laid everything out clearly. Not only did she recreate the scene, but she also repeated exactly what Jie Bing had said that evening. Finally, she added, “Teacher Ding, you can also call in the other students from our dormitory to verify if that’s how it happened!”
Jie Bing's mother was taken aback. Didn’t her son say that his dorm mates colluded with students from other departments to bully him? How did another girl get involved?
Director Ding Jiaqi then had Zhao Jinpu, Miao Shoujie, and Liu Jiawang brought in. They didn’t need to explain what had happened; they simply recounted what occurred on June 5th at noon. Unsurprisingly, their accounts matched perfectly.
Director Ding asked if they knew about Jie Bing being attacked, and they reiterated what Jie Bing had said.
Finally, Jie Bing was called in, so nervous he could hardly speak.
His parents had come to check on him and noticed his injuries. When they pressed him for details, he didn’t want them to know he had been beaten up over a girl due to jealousy. So he casually fabricated a story about a conflict with a dorm mate involving some students from the Physical Education Department.
His mother was furious and demanded to know who had attacked him. She went through names one by one: “Was it Zhao Jinpu? Was it Miao Shoujie… or that guy with the awkward demeanor, Cui Shuigen?”
In a moment of impulse, Jie Bing admitted it was indeed Cui Shuigen, telling his mother that everything was fine now because Cui Shuigen had already apologized and they had reconciled.
Despite his nonchalant tone, her mother was already consumed by anger: How could anyone bully my son like this? Reconciliation? Not a chance!
She stormed into the office of Teacher Zhou and then to the Student Affairs Office, demanding an explanation and insisting that the school take strict action against the student who had assaulted her son. If the school failed to address the issue properly, she would resort to legal action.
Teacher Zhou and Teacher Ding were both at a loss, feeling tormented by this somewhat self-righteous and neurotic bureaucrat. At this point, Ding Jiaqi had a basic understanding of the situation. He turned to Jie Bing and asked, “Can you explain what happened?”
Jie Bing looked at Cui Shuigen, whose eyes were filled with both grievance and anger, and at the confused expressions of his fellow students. He stammered out an affirmation of his roommates' claims, admitting that his injuries had nothing to do with Cui Shuigen, and recounted the events leading up to the incident.
Jie Bing's mother, having been through similar situations before, quickly dismissed the people around her: “Teacher, I demand that those from the Physical Education Department who harmed my son be held accountable…”
Shouldn't you apologize to your classmate who was wronged before confronting these issues?
Teacher Ding let Zhao Jinpu and the other four leave first. As they exited the Student Affairs Office, they exchanged glances. The usually quiet Lao Si, Liu Jiawang, spat on the ground in frustration: “Let’s go!” He placed a hand on Cui Shuigen's shoulder.
Thus, the five of them left arm in arm for their dormitory, not mentioning Jie Bing again.
Later on, a big guy from the Physical Education Department received a serious reprimand. Since all freshmen took public courses, with some help from his parents, Jie Bing transferred to the journalism program and moved into an unknown dormitory in Building 6 of the Male Dormitory.
On the day Jie Bing moved his things, no one was in the dormitory; it seemed everyone was unaware of what was happening, so there were no goodbyes or offers of help.
Another weekend passed when Hu Ruoyun met Mao Na. They exchanged some trivial gossip. Mao Na mentioned accompanying Lu Meixin to the Electric Hospital's Obstetrics and Gynecology department to terminate her pregnancy and taking a week off for recovery. Now that she was feeling better physically, her mind seemed perpetually foggy; she had become sensitive and irritable, often snapping at her roommates. Initially, everyone sympathized with her and tolerated her behavior, but as time went on, it became excessive. Now she only got along well with Mao Na while her relationships with others had soured. Her studies had also deteriorated significantly as she constantly complained about wanting to confront Zhao Gang again: “If you won’t let me live well, I won’t let you live well either!”
—Who is really making life difficult for whom?
Hu Ruoyun shared Jie Bing’s ingratitude with Mao Na, who was equally baffled: “Isn’t this just a real-life version of Farmer and Snake? If you guys can’t clarify things with Cui Shuigen, he’s the one who’ll end up facing consequences! What’s Jie Bing thinking?”
She continued, “At least Jie Bing has some sense of shame; he transferred to another major and moved to another dormitory. Otherwise, how could he face his classmates?”
If Lu Meixin's issues with Jie Bing and Cui Shuigen were someone else's problems, then a letter from Hu Ruoyun's younger sister Xiao Feng left her speechless.
In her letter, Xiao Feng wrote: The mother of Wu Dezi said on the street that you’re out of money and even borrowed several hundred from their son Wu Mingliang…
Our father said that we have money; he saved what you sent home for building a house last time. If you’re short on cash, just let us know instead of borrowing from others!
—Sister Mona is also in Jiangcheng; make sure to take care of her. If you’re low on funds, don’t put yourself in a difficult position!
That woman really is something else.
Hu Ruoyun believed that even if he asked Wu Mingliang for a loan, Wu Mingliang would never mention it to his mother.
Xiao Feng brought another exciting piece of news: Our Father and Our Second Uncle had set up the Mill, and it was already operational. There were so many people milling flour and grinding corn grits that they were busy until nightfall every day.
The machinery for processing feed had also been delivered and set up. Our Second Uncle said that within a month, they would be able to start working. Our Uncle and Shuangyun's uncle were busy in the courtyard every day. I wasn't sure how much money they would make, but they said that once everything was up and running, it would definitely be better than hauling bricks.
Well, the world has its seasons, the moon has its phases, and in a vast forest, there are all kinds of birds…
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