The incident of this report had become serious due to the involvement of Qin Yuanzheng and Han Wenlin.
After Qin Yuanzheng made his stance clear, he didn’t linger too long at the Education Bureau. The bureau gave him a promise on the spot—they would investigate the report—so he left.
Han Wenlin stayed a bit longer. He said to Director Wu, "Director Wu, I’ve heard before that malicious reports happen often. This time, you need to investigate thoroughly and impose penalties to warn the others. If you can’t handle it, you can come to me. Our Public Security Bureau has some excellent officers who are good at solving cases."
Director Wu looked embarrassed and replied, "Director Han, you’re joking. This isn’t a major case; we can handle the internal investigation. Rest assured, we’ll have results within three days."
Han Wenlin was satisfied with that and left the Education Bureau.
Meanwhile, Wang Lanying arrived at the school in the afternoon. She had planned to enjoy seeing Qiao Lanshu being embarrassed and gossip with other colleagues about Qiao Lanshu’s behavior problems. But before she could approach Qiao Lanshu, she was called to the principal’s office.
In the principal’s office, besides the principal, there were two people from the Education Bureau.
The moment Wang Lanying saw Education Bureau officials present, her heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad feeling.
The principal looked at her sternly without saying a word. The investigator from the Education Bureau nodded at her and said, "Hello, Teacher Wang. Was this report letter submitted by you?"
Wang Lanying looked at that report letter—she had indeed written it and given it to her husband.
Her lips trembled as she hesitated, "Well, I..."
The investigator said, "Deputy Section Chief Li has already confessed. Teacher Wang, don’t think about denying it."
Wang Lanying was speechless.
She tried to calm herself down and said, "I did write it, but so what? Anyone can report things, right? I didn’t break any rules."
The investigator said sternly, "Of course you can report, but you can’t do it out of disregard for facts and without evidence. That’s slander! What’s more, the person you maliciously reported is the family member of a military officer."
Hearing this, Wang Lanying was stunned. She said in surprise, "The one I reported was just an ordinary teacher. How could she be an officer’s family member?"
Now, looking at the expressions of the principal and the investigators, Wang Lanying also realized what was happening.
It turned out that although Qiao Lanshu’s husband rarely appeared in public, his status was not low.
Otherwise, Qiao Lanshu would have been the one under investigation, not Wang Lanying.
Seeing her expression, the investigators became even angrier and said, "What, if you had known she was a military officer’s family member, wouldn’t you have dared to report her? Just because you didn’t know and thought she was an ordinary high school teacher, you went ahead and filed the report?"
The investigator’s face darkened. "Teacher Wang, your ideological awareness is too poor!"
Or rather, she had bad moral character. No matter who the other party was, she shouldn’t have made false reports without any evidence.
Especially for people like them, who are teachers, educating and nurturing future pillars of the nation—they cannot have moral flaws.
Wang Lanying couldn’t help but ask, "Is Qiao Lanshu’s husband a military officer? What rank?"
The principal couldn’t hold back and said, "Teacher Wang, why are you asking about that?"
Wang Lanying replied, "Principal, why can’t I ask? I just wrote a report letter, and now the Education Bureau is investigating me instead. I don’t accept this."
The investigator couldn’t take it anymore and said,
"Teacher Wang, at this point, just calm down. You don’t accept it? What else do you want to do? Director Han from the Public Security Bureau has said they’ll assist in the investigation and even brought up past reports. Anything handled by Deputy Section Chief Li—your husband—will be reopened and reinvestigated. You’d better watch yourself."
Upon hearing this, Wang Lanying’s face turned white.
She panicked. "What? Even the past reports are being looked into? This... this..."
She had never expected that just because she disliked Qiao Lanshu and casually wrote a report, both she and her husband would end up being investigated.
She had done this kind of thing several times before, and every time it went smoothly.
Even when the reports didn’t match the facts, the reporter never faced trouble.
But this time, why did she fall into such a trap?
What Wang Lanying didn’t realize was that the era had changed. It was already the time of reform and openness, and the revolutionary committees had been abolished for years.
Although people were still used to reporting others, this trend needed to be stopped.
Over the years, the Public Security Bureau had received various reports, and some people had no choice but to come and report being maliciously slandered.
Han Wenlin had been busy lately dealing with human traffickers.
He hadn’t had time to handle such cases, but since Wang Lanying had walked right into the line of fire, it was the perfect opportunity to make an example of her and warn the public.
So, the several reports Wang Lanying had filed in the past were all pulled up for investigation. The reason she kept succeeding and being so reckless was that she had a husband who worked as a deputy section chief in the Education Bureau’s logistics department.
Therefore, this time, both husband and wife were suspended from duty for investigation. To cooperate, they had to report to the Public Security Bureau.
...
Qiao Lanshu had initially planned to confront Wang Lanying at work and have it out with her.
But Wang Lanying didn’t show up in the morning, and when she came in the afternoon, she only appeared briefly before disappearing.
On the third day of work, the principal called all staff together for a meeting and announced that Wang Lanying, for maliciously reporting a colleague out of unfair competition and being a repeat offender—over seven years having used similar means to report colleagues and friends, causing two teachers to be suspended and one staff member to be investigated under charges of defamation—had been fired from public office and would never be rehired.
In those days, there was no forced labor, and Wang Lanying’s case wasn’t serious enough for jail time. She was just dismissed from her job and barred from further employment.
Her husband, similarly, for abusing his position to cooperate with his wife in these acts, was also suspended and investigated.
After the meeting, when leaving the conference room, Qiao Lanshu was a bit surprised.
She thought, So Wang Lanying had reported so many people before?
Then it was no injustice this time.
...
On another note, when Han Wenlin was leaving work, he unexpectedly ran into Teacher Qian at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau.
Teacher Qian had been criticized at school, and she didn’t know if she could still make progress in her career.
So, she wanted to try even harder to win over Han Wenlin.
After all, they had met twice and had a meal together. Han Wenlin had had a very good impression of her.
But last time, due to a conflict between two students, when Han Wenlin left the office, he hadn’t even looked at her or spoken to her again.
She felt a bit flustered. Although she didn't want to admit it, she thought that Director Han seemed really reluctant to continue contacting her.
Teacher Qian thought about it all night by herself and decided that she had to make another attempt to meet Han Wenlin.
As soon as Han Wenlin stepped out of the door, he saw her standing beside him.
Han Wenlin paused in his steps, quite surprised. He didn't expect Teacher Qian to come here.
When Teacher Qian saw him, her eyes lit up. She quickly took two steps forward, tidied her hair, and looked at Han Wenlin. "Director Han, are you off work?"
Han Wenlin stopped and looked at her. "Miss Qian, why did you come here?"
Teacher Qian said shyly, "Director Han, after we had dinner together last time, didn't we say that if we had time next time, we could meet and get to know each other better?"
Han Wenlin smiled, with an apologetic look on his face. He said to Teacher Qian, "Miss Qian, I've thought it over carefully and I think we're actually not quite suitable. You're so young and you can have more opportunities to meet other young male comrades. Let's just call it off."
As soon as he said this, Teacher Qian's face turned ugly. She couldn't help taking a step forward. "Director Han, didn't we get along well before?"
Han Wenlin was still quite polite. He said gently, "Before, we were just at the initial stage of getting to know each other. We didn't know much about each other. But after the previous three meetings, I think we're really not suitable. And,"
He paused for a moment and then added politely, "My son doesn't like you."
This was really straightforward.
No matter how thick - skinned Teacher Qian was, she felt extremely embarrassed at this moment.
They had only met formally twice, but Han Wenlin said three meetings. So, the third meeting was the one in the school office last time because of the kids' matters.
Moreover, he said his son didn't like her. His son was Han Ye, that tall and rather arrogant boy who called Qiao Lanshu mom.
Teacher Qian's face burned with shame. How could she have the face to stay?
After saying goodbye to Han Wenlin, she quickly walked away.
There was really no possibility for her and Han Wenlin's match.
After Han Wenlin got home, surprisingly, he saw Han Ye at home.
He remembered that Han Ye had scolded him last night because of Qiao Lanshu's being reported, and his head started to buzz.
He asked, "Why are you back?"
Wasn't Han Ye always fond of staying at Qiao Lanshu's place?
Han Ye was lying on the sofa, reading a martial - arts novel. As soon as he heard Han Wenlin's voice, he immediately bounced up from the sofa and said, "What? Don't you want me to come back?"
Han Wenlin took off his shoes and entered the house. "I didn't say that."
Han Ye snorted. "I'm telling you, I'll stay at home these days and won't go anywhere."
Han Wenlin was really surprised this time. When his son didn't come back, he missed him so much.
But as soon as he came back, he found him so annoying that he felt like his heart disease was about to act up.
He said calmly, "Really not going anywhere?"
Han Ye nodded. "I have to keep an eye on you, in case you marry a snake - hearted woman! Let me tell you, old man, next time when you go on a blind date, you'd better have someone investigate the other person's resume first. Don't find a vicious step - mother."
Han Wenlin: "..."
He picked up a water cup and took a sip of water. "Don't worry. I won't meet Teacher Qian again."
Didn't he know what Han Ye was thinking?
He must be worried that he would marry Teacher Qian.
Without Han Ye's reminder, he also thought that Teacher Qian's character was not good.
Han Ye snorted. "You'd better not meet. If you do, I'll run away from home and never come back."
Han Wenlin: "..."
Although Han Ye said he would stay at home to keep an eye on Han Wenlin, with his personality, he couldn't stay for long.
Three days later, he went to the primary school again and picked up Qin Qiao'an and Qin Qiaoxia and took them back to the military compound.
As it turned out, he had only been away for three days, and Zhou Dingwen, the person he disliked the most, had actually mixed with his younger brother and sister.
Zhou Dingwen was also in junior high school. Since his father was a regiment commander, their family also lived in the military compound.
They lived quite close to Qin Yuanzheng's family.
Regiment Commander Zhou and Qin Yuanzheng had a good relationship and often visited each other.
If it weren't for the feud between Han Ye and Zhou Dingwen since childhood, where they would either quarrel or fight whenever they met, the two brothers of Zhou Dingwen and the siblings of Qin Qiao'an should have had a very good relationship.
Well, Han Ye had only been away for three days, and they were playing together again.
Han Ye was so angry.
He threw his schoolbag on the ground and strode towards the three of them.
Here, Zhou Dingwen was holding two bottles of soda and handing them to Qin Qiao'an and Qin Qiaoxia. He said to them, "Here, I'll treat you to soda."
An'an swallowed his saliva. He wanted to drink but hesitated and didn't take it. He said, "Zhou Dingwen, you treated us to soda yesterday. Are you treating us again today?"
This made Qin Qiao'an a bit embarrassed.
If Han Ye and Zhou Dingwen fought again next time, Qin Qiao'an would feel embarrassed to help Han Ye.
Was this Zhou Dingwen trying to win him over?
Qin Qiao'an was feeling quite sad and indignant in his heart. He couldn't betray his elder brother!
But he really wanted to drink the soda.
While he was struggling here, Xiaxia standing beside him had already reached out her hand and taken the soda.
Xiaxia smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Dingwen."
Qin Qiao'an immediately turned his head and looked at Xiaxia in surprise.
Zhou Dingwen looked at Xiaxia and smiled. "You're welcome."
Zhou Dingwen only had a brother and no sister. He really liked Xiaxia.
Xiaxia was the dream sister of all boys. She had good grades, was obedient and sensible, gentle and well - behaved, and was also very beautiful.
She always smiled before speaking. When she smiled, her eyes curved and two dimples appeared. She was so adorable.
Zhou Dingwen handed the remaining bottle of soda over. "Since Qiao'an doesn't want it, then give it to Xiaxia too."
Qin Qiao'an turned his head again, shocked at Zhou Dingwen.
Wasn't he supposed to win him over?
He had just said no once. Shouldn't Zhou Dingwen have said a few more words like 'It's okay, just take it and drink', 'No, no, I can't drink your soda', 'Come on, it's just a bottle of soda and it's not worth much' and go through a few rounds of pushing and then he would take the soda embarrassedly?
Zhou Dingwen didn't play by the rules!
Zhou Dingwen gave both bottles of soda to Xiaxia and then asked Xiaxia, "Xiaxia, I rode my bike here. Do you want me to take you home?"
Before Xiaxia could say a word, suddenly an angry roar came from behind. "Take your mother home!"
Then, the two bottles of soda in Xiaxia's hands were snatched by Han Ye and thrown forcefully at Zhou Dingwen!
This bastard dared to try to win over his younger brother and sister while he was away. He was asking for death!
