Chapter 105: Could the Surveillance Be Fake?

Xiao Yang was truly determined this time to confront the misfortune brought by someone in their class, but his classmates hurriedly stopped him.

“Xiao, calm down! Calm down!”

“Yeah, if we make a move now, won’t that just play into their hands?”

Xiao Yang scratched his head. “Then I’ll find someone to take down the trending topic!”

“That won’t help either. The incident has already escalated. Parents online won’t listen to the truth anymore. If you try to remove the trending topic on Weibo, it will only fuel their anger,” Yan Moyu said calmly, pushing up her glasses.

“Besides, this is different from other cases. A large portion of the commenters on Weibo now are parents. They might not be able to directly punish us, but they can pressure the school.”

If the school caves under the parents’ pressure, Gu Ci and Jin Jiejiao’s situation will become even more perilous.

Yan Moyu thought perhaps the influential person who had deleted many offensive comments on Weibo earlier had considered this very point, which was why they hadn’t directly removed the Weibo post itself.

Xiao Yang sat back down in frustration. “This won’t work, that won’t work. Should we just let them quietly insult us and Sister Ci?”

Yan Moyu exhaled deeply. “In any case, we need to clarify what happened in those two videos first. Does anyone have the original footage or recordings from that time?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Who would be so bored as to record videos or audio in such a tense moment...

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Xiao Yang’s mind. “Since they edited the surveillance footage, can’t we just release the full surveillance video?”

He sneered, “And while we’re at it, expose whoever edited and posted that video!”

Yan Moyu rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on at the suggestion.

But Xiao Yang’s reasoning sounded quite reasonable, and the group agreed enthusiastically, voices rising with fervor.

“Xiao’s right. I want to see which bastard is hiding behind the scenes causing trouble!”

“Yes, we must find that person and teach them a lesson!”

---

At that moment, Wen Zixin timidly spoke up, “But... where would you even find that person?”

The passionate crowd fell silent.

Xiao Yang quickly changed the subject. “I’ll get the full surveillance footage first and post it…”

“By the way, what about Sister Ci? Where did the teacher take her?”

---

Meanwhile, on the other side, the school’s teachers had called Gu Ci to the school leadership meeting room.

By now, the room was full, with the school leaders and several board members seated around the table.

Gu Ci’s homeroom teacher, Jin Jiejiao, was also present—standing while everyone else sat.

When Gu Ci first entered, Jin was still arguing with them.

“This matter has nothing to do with my student. If any parents have objections to me as the dean, I will step down without hesitation. But please don’t blame my student for all this—they’ve done nothing wrong and don’t deserve such criticism.”

“Teacher Jin, the damage has been done. Parents are demanding that Gu Ci be removed from the school. We must respond to the public!”

The vice principal sat composed as he spoke, “Teacher Jin, you say this has nothing to do with your students. Do you have any proof? From what I saw in the video, Gu Ci seems quite unruly.”

“No, Vice Principal, please listen. Gu Ci never starts trouble, and her grades are—”

The vice principal cut her off sharply. “Teacher Jin, don’t tell me you’re going to defend her with that one weekly test score? One test doesn’t prove anything. And what good are grades if the student’s character is so flawed?”

Jin Jiejiao wanted to say more but was interrupted by an impatient board member.

“Enough, Teacher Jin. I haven’t even settled with you yet, and now you want to defend your students too? Don’t waste our time!”

---

Gu Ci bypassed the teacher who brought her in, knocked on the door, and entered the meeting room.

“So, what exactly is the school’s position now?”

Everyone in the room was startled to see her.

The vice principal furrowed his brow, scolding, “Which class are you from? Do you even know proper manners? This isn’t the place for you to speak!”

Gu Ci lifted her chin. “I’m Gu Ci, the one involved. Didn’t you send a teacher to call me here?”

The vice principal’s frown deepened as he scrutinized her with dissatisfaction.

“Even so, you’re still just a student and shouldn’t interrupt adults like this. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a discussion? Acting like this—just as Weibo says—shows you have no upbringing at all! I don’t understand why we even admitted a student like you who’s tarnishing the school’s reputation,” a board member bluntly said.

“What if we’re not the ones tarnishing the school? What if the videos are fake?”

The board member scoffed, “The videos are already out. Do you think they’re fabricated?”

Gu Ci took out her phone and tapped a few times. Somehow, a video immediately appeared on the meeting room’s big screen.

It was the complete surveillance footage from the cafeteria that day.

Though slightly blurry, it clearly showed that at first, Gu Ci and Wen Zixin did nothing to Duan Jingyi and the others.

Instead, Duan Jingyi’s group surrounded Gu Ci and Wen Zixin, then proceeded to pack up all the peppered ribs and sweet-and-sour mandarin fish from the window, smugly refusing to let Gu Ci and Wen Zixin eat any.

What followed was exactly what had been shown in the edited surveillance video posted on Weibo...