SYLM Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Evil Has Its Retribution

Gu Wan Jun’s straightforwardness, her candor, her courage – all of these made it impossible for Chen Lu to refuse her.

Before they even parted ways to go home, Gu Wan Jun made Chen Lu promise her that she would absolutely never bring up the topic of avoiding suspicion again.

The more Gu Wan Jun acted like this, the more Chen Lu worried about their future.

If Gu Wan Jun knew her true feelings, would she still treat her the same way she does now?

Could she and Gu Wan Jun even have a future together?

The worries and pain that occupied the bottom of her heart couldn’t be confided to anyone, so she could only write them in her diary.

Warm yellow light, reflections on the window, gripping her pen and leaning over her desk, each and every word that penetrated the paper was Chen Lu’s true feeling.

—

The next day.

Although they had already had a discussion the night before about whether or not to avoid suspicion, and it ended with Chen Lu promising not to bring it up again, Chen Lu still acted more restrained than usual when they met at the entrance this morning.

Her eyes, having slept for less than two hours, were a little sore. Chen Lu was hesitating whether or not to tell Gu Wan Jun that it would be better for them to walk separately, when Gu Wan Jun had already linked her arm with hers as usual. She tilted her head to look at her eyes, her gaze sparkling:

“Let’s go. Remind me to buy a roll of trash bags at the store when we get to the school gate. There aren’t any trash bags in the office.”

“… Okay…”

“What are you thinking about? What’s wrong? What kind of nonsense are you thinking in that little head of yours again? Don’t forget what you promised me last night. You have to keep your word, or I’ll be sad.”

Gu Wan Jun deliberately drew out the end of her sentence, making it sound like she was acting spoiled. As soon as she did this, Chen Lu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, completely giving up on struggling.

Fine, if they’re not going to avoid suspicion, then they’re not going to avoid suspicion.

She could never refuse Gu Wan Jun.

Who could refuse such a brave and passionate older woman?

Especially when it was the person she liked.

—

Rumors spread far and wide, being passed on without fail.

But Gu Wan Jun and Chen Lu interacted the same way they always had.

Their candid demeanor made those who were already skeptical of the rumors couldn’t help but draw a big question mark in their hearts – were these two actually together? Were the rumors true or false?

—

At Ningcheng No. 1 High School, if Tang Ying wanted to investigate something, there was nothing she couldn’t find out. That wasn’t just a saying.

Three days later, the source of the rumors about Gu Wan Jun’s “homosexuality” was uncovered. It was confirmed that Gao Chuan, the new math teacher in the second grade, had been pursuing Gu Wan Jun unsuccessfully. He had repeatedly spread rumors in the office under the guise of casual conversation. He had even used a dozen newly registered accounts on social media platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, TikTok, and Little Red Book to publish rumors with local city tags, and spent some money to attract traffic, so that more people would see and misunderstand Gu Wan Jun.

With solid evidence and the truth revealed, Ningcheng No. 1 High School decided to fire Gao Chuan immediately. At the same time, Tang Ying also found a professional lawyer to pursue Gao Chuan’s criminal liability.

Having lost his job and potentially facing criminal charges, Gao Chuan panicked.

Before leaving the school, Gao Chuan came to the Literature office to apologize to Gu Wan Jun. He stated that he knew he was wrong and that if Gu Wan Jun agreed to settle out of court, he could pay Gu Wan Jun a large sum of money for emotional distress.

“I don’t accept your apology. The lawyer will talk to you about any follow-up issues.”

“Why won’t you accept it?”

Gao Chuan was so anxious that his eyebrows almost flew off his face. He immediately morally blackmailed Gu Wan Jun in front of the other people in the Literature office:

“I’ve already apologized and agreed to compensate you. I’ll pay whatever price you want. We’re all colleagues. Is it really necessary to push people to the brink?”

“Your apology isn’t because you really think you did something wrong, but because you’re afraid of taking responsibility.”

Gu Wan Jun’s expression was calm and her tone was firm: “You should have thought about the consequences when you made up those rumors.”

“I said I could give you money. Just say how much you want. If a thousand isn’t enough, I’ll give you two thousand. If two thousand isn’t enough, I’ll give you three thousand. You-”

“Who cares about your measly little amount of money.”

A cold female voice came from behind her, and everyone in the office immediately turned their eyes to the door.

Tang Ying crossed her arms and glared openly at the man in the checkered shirt. Two security guards followed behind her.

“The security guards searched for a long time and couldn’t find him. So he ran over here. What a toad squatting on someone’s foot, it doesn’t bite but it’s annoying.”

Tang Ying complained as she stepped aside from the doorway. The two security guards directly entered the office and forcibly “invited” Gao Chuan, who was still trying to say something, out.

“Good! So that’s how you want to play it! You have to tear off the facade, don’t you! You just wait, I-”

“What do you want to do?”

Tang Ying glanced at Gao Chuan, who looked like a carp leaping out of the water, so angry and frustrated that his face was red and his neck was thick. She gave a cold laugh, looking at him like trash:

“I remember your parents have about two years before they retire, right?”

“…”

Gao Chuan was stunned, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

“Which school was it again?” Tang Ying tapped her temple with her index finger, deliberately pausing for two seconds before continuing:

“I remember now, Ningcheng Second Elementary School, right? If I remember correctly, you also have an older brother who works at a company in Yunjiang City, right? What’s the name of that company again?”

“…”

Gao Chuan’s face turned pale with fright. Where was the confidence he had when he was morally blackmailing Gu Wan Jun just now? His voice was shaking uncontrollably:

“How did you know? What do you want to do?”

“Why are you shivering? I haven’t done anything yet.”

Tang Ying shrugged her shoulders, looking indifferent as if it had nothing to do with her, and continued in a cold voice:

“You did something wrong, so it’s only right that you pay a price, isn’t it? Are you a grown man, don’t you have that kind of responsibility? Don’t be so cheap.”

Tang Ying looked disgusted. Before the security guards “invited” Gao Chuan out, she didn’t forget to “kindly remind” him:

“Don’t be too idle. Don’t blame me for not reminding you. Before you do anything, weigh yourself to see how much you’re worth. Hurry up and leave, I won’t see you off.”

“…”

…

After Gao Chuan left, Tang Ying turned her head and found that everyone in the Literature office was looking at her. The moment their eyes met, the others hurriedly looked away, burying their heads in their work, looking very busy.

Tang Ying didn’t care about the others. In the whole office, she could only see Gu Wan Jun.

“How are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Gu Wan Jun shook her head with a smile.

Tang Ying twitched the corner of her mouth and immediately changed the subject: “I’ll take your Class 12’s third period self-study this afternoon for politics. There were two big questions on the last weekly test that I didn’t get to go over.”

“The third period self-study is for the math teacher.”

“Then the fourth period is fine too.”

“Teacher Jiang Wen said before that she wants to teach English.”

“Then give me the second period this afternoon.”

“The second period this afternoon…?”

Gu Wan Jun felt that something was wrong. She looked back at the class schedule posted on her desk, and her expression was a little helpless when she turned back:

“Isn’t the second period my Literature class?”

“It’s precisely because it’s your Literature class that I want to take it. You’re the homeroom teacher, you have plenty of opportunities to find time to make up the class. Give me this period.”

“…”

Gu Wan Jun smiled helplessly. Listening to Tang Ying’s slightly hoarse voice, she felt that she could still struggle a little:

“Isn’t your cold still not better? Why don’t I teach this class instead?”

“It’s just a small cold. I’m better already.”

Tang Ying sniffed her still congested nose and said in a cold tone:

“Don’t talk nonsense. I said I’ll teach it, so I’ll teach it. That’s settled. Alright, I’m leaving. I’m going back to prepare the lesson.”

“…”

She came like a clap of thunder, and left like a gust of cold wind. When she left, Tang Ying didn’t forget to close the door of the Literature office behind her.

What to do when your class is taken away?

What can you do?

You can’t win against her. If she wants to teach it, then let her teach it.

Gu Wan Jun shook her head with a smile. After sitting down, she prepared to flip through the class schedule to see where she could find a chance to make up her Literature class. The next second, Teacher Li Bing, who had a good relationship with her, came over to talk to her.

Li Bing first sighed with emotion that the rumors about Gu Wan Jun had finally been cleared up, and then tentatively asked Gu Wan Jun if she was afraid that Tang Ying would be angry if she refused her.

“Angry? Why would she be angry?” Gu Wan Jun was a little puzzled.

“Just now, when she asked you if you had time for the third and fourth period self-study periods this afternoon, you said that you had given them to other teachers. Her face was so cold.”

“She always has that expression.”

“Is that so…”

Li Bing seemed to be convinced, but soon she raised a new question:

“Then in the end, she took your Literature class. Aren’t you angry?”

“What’s there to be angry about? She’s teaching extra classes for my class while she’s sick. As the homeroom teacher, I should be happy, right?”

“Hmm… what you said seems to make sense… but she didn’t even listen to you, she just took the class…”

“That’s her way of speaking, and I was willing. If I had said no at the time, she wouldn’t have forced it.”

“… Uh… really?”

Tang Ying’s cold eyes, which seemed to want to overthrow the whole world, were scary just thinking about them. Li Bing frowned and smacked her lips, with an expression as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.

Not knowing what Li Bing was trying to say after going around in circles for so long, Gu Wan Jun simply asked directly:

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly asking about Tang Ying? Is something wrong?”

“No, no, no, no!”

Li Bing frantically waved her hands, looked around, and then explained in a low voice:

“After these few major events recently, I think Tang Ying – ah, no, Teacher Tang, I think Teacher Tang seems to be a pretty good person, not as hard to get along with as other people say. But sometimes when she opens her mouth to speak or looks at me, I feel… Sigh, Wan Jun, how did you become good friends with her?”

“…”

Gu Wan Jun was a little lost in thought at this question.

Thinking back, the reason why she and Tang Ying were able to become friends last year was actually because Tang Ying proposed it first.

Just thinking about it felt so magical.

How could it not be Gu Wan Jun’s good fortune to have gained such a friend?

—

Time never stops for anyone or anything. This summer was so bright that it seemed to melt the whole world. Every corner of the campus was filled with youthful vitality, and the warm sunlight seemed to herald a bright future for every student.

This year’s summer vacation, like last year’s winter vacation, was spent in heavy tutoring. The difference was that this year’s tutoring was even more tiring than last year’s, because when school starts again, Chen Lu’s second grade class will enter the most critical third grade stage.

Many things happened during the tutoring period, and one of the things that impressed Gu Wan Jun the most was that she received a call from her older sister, Gu Wanrong. Her sister told her in a surprised tone that she was pregnant and was almost two months along.

Her long-awaited little niece “Duoduo” was coming.

Although the child was less than two months old, for some reason, it seemed that there was a feeling in the dark telling Gu Wan Jun that her sister Gu Wanrong’s pregnancy must be a cute girl.