The mother and daughter arrived at the police station, but to their surprise, not a single officer blamed them.
Instead, they comforted them. “Being scammed isn’t always about greed. Many victims simply can’t see a way out. They’re in pain, anxious, or struggling to handle their intimate relationships…”
“There are plenty of people who get scammed because they’re suffering from painful parent-child relationships, and even more because of troubled marriages…”
There were countless scam programs claiming to repair marital relationships. They charged tens of thousands of yuan, then taught obscene material in those classes.
They claimed that learning those things would help people win back their partners.
But in reality, it was completely useless.
They never addressed the emotional problems in the relationship. How could physical intimacy repair what was broken emotionally? And even if it worked, how long could it last?
Whenever the police’s vice squad conducted a raid, they caught people every time.
Yet many still fell for the scams because they were in too much pain and wanted desperately to salvage their relationships.
They couldn’t understand why. How could the person who was supposed to be their closest companion in the world no longer love them? What had they done wrong for things to reach the point where they hated each other?
But that wasn’t something suitable to explain to a student.
The police continued asking a few more questions.
Once they had gathered all the available information, the police said, “At the moment, we still don’t have enough to go on. The account you transferred the money to is overseas as well, so it will probably be difficult to recover the funds.”
As soon as the officer finished speaking, Chen Yuru suddenly received a message.
She lowered her head to look at it, then said excitedly, “We have evidence!”
Before long, Shengde’s head of legal affairs arrived.
“Hello. Our chairwoman asked me to come and help preserve the evidence.”
“These are the account network related to Po Jian that we’ve compiled so far, the entities behind some of the receiving accounts, records of complaints filed with various platforms, and several samples of scripts suspected of inducing minors to leave their guardians and converting them into customers for expensive courses.”
As he spoke, he handed a file to the police.
“We preserved all this information in full as soon as we obtained it. Even if they delete or rename their accounts, it can still be traced.”
The officer sighed with admiration. “Your school is truly responsible. This is the first time I’ve seen a school step forward to support a student who was scammed.”
To this day, Jiang Tinglan still didn’t know what the chairwoman looked like. She had wanted to speak with the chairwoman, but had never managed to meet her.
She had assumed that the chairwoman couldn’t be bothered to get involved in her affairs. She never expected that the woman had already been making arrangements behind the scenes and had investigated everything.
After going through the materials provided by Shengde’s legal representative, the officer’s expression turned serious.
“With the school’s assistance, the information is much more specific.”
“Especially since this involves psychological manipulation of minors. With this evidence, we can immediately shut down their accounts and arrest the people operating them!”
“Once the money trail and the chain of individuals involved line up, you should be able to get your money back.”
Chen Yuru said solemnly, “Thank you, Officer.”
Jiang Tinglan quickly stood up as well and bowed gratefully. “Thank you.”
Nearby, Shengde’s head of legal affairs continued cross-checking several pieces of evidence with the police. After confirming everything, he agreed that the school would assist with submitting additional evidence later, then left with the mother and daughter.
When they reached the entrance of the police station, Chen Yuru and Jiang Tinglan thanked the legal director again.
“Thank you for coming all this way to help us.”
The director smiled. “There’s no need to thank me. We were simply carrying out Board Director Yu’s instructions. You’re a Shengde student and parent. If one of her students is bullied by outsiders, of course she’ll have the school stand up for you.”
After saying that, he glanced at his watch. “It’s time for me to get off work. I’m heading home. Board Director Yu doesn’t allow us to work overtime.”
With that, he hurried away.
Watching his retreating figure, Chen Yuru said to her daughter, “Board Director Yu is just like that. She’s low-key and doesn’t like drawing attention to herself, but she’s actually done so, so much.”
Jiang Tinglan nodded silently.
Board Director Yu was just like her mother—someone who did the work without talking about it.
Now she understood.
Chen Yuru asked again, “Lanlan, do you want to rest for a few days before going back to school? I can ask for leave for you.”
Jiang Tinglan shook her head. “No. I want to go back to school tomorrow. I’ve only been away for two days, and first I was deceived by a female classmate, then I was tricked by Po Jian… I can’t even tell who the bad people are. That’s why I have to go back to school. Even if my classmates and Director Gao mock me, I won’t back down!”
Chen Yuru could tell that her daughter still didn’t know that the female classmate who had deceived her was actually Board Director Yu.
For now, she decided not to tell her. She didn’t know whether Board Director Yu had made other plans after concealing her identity, and saying too much might disrupt them.
Chen Yuru said, “Knowing not to let other people’s opinions affect you means you’re learning to establish your own sense of self. This setback wasn’t for nothing. You must remember how good Board Director Yu has been to you.”
Jiang Tinglan nodded firmly. “Mm-hm!”
Chen Yuru reached out and gently put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Let’s go home.”
…
The car slowly made its way through the city streets under the cover of night.
Jiang Tinglan leaned against the passenger-side window, watching the city lights drift past outside. She remained silent the entire time.
As Chen Yuru drove, she glanced at her daughter’s profile several times from the corner of her eye.
After a moment, she took the initiative to break the silence. “Are you still upset about the thirty thousand yuan? The police said there’s a good chance we’ll get it back. And even if we don’t, it’s only about a week of your mother’s wages. If it means paying for this lesson and helping you grow, it’s worth it.”
Jiang Tinglan sniffed and said quietly, “It’s not that… I was just thinking about when I was little. You used to ride your bicycle and take me to school. One day, my shoe got caught in the wheel and damaged the bike.”
“You squatted by the roadside for ages trying to fix it, but you couldn’t. In the end, you had no choice but to push it along.”
“I was still sitting on the back, watching you walk ahead while crying. I didn’t dare say a word.”
“At the time, I thought you were crying because I’d made you angry—that you thought I was too stupid and blamed me for breaking the bike. So I never dared bring it up.”
“But I always remembered… You walking ahead, pushing the bike, your shoulders trembling with every step. I was sitting behind you, watching your back, and feeling so, so awful…”
Now that she was talking about it, tears began to fall again.
The car fell silent for a long while.
When Chen Yuru spoke again, her voice was choked with emotion.
“Lanlan, I wasn’t crying that day because you broke the bike.”
“Your father had just lost his job. He’d lost his position, and our savings were almost gone. We were nearly unable to afford food.”
“But you still had to go to school, so I racked my brain trying to cut expenses. I gritted my teeth and spent three hundred yuan on that bicycle. I calculated that the money we’d save on bus fares each month would cover the cost.”
“But it broke after only a few days.”
“As I pushed it down the road, I blamed myself. I’d bought the bicycle because I wanted to save money, but why had it ended up wasting even more?”
“I was in so much pain. Why, even after I’d tried so hard, wouldn’t life let us off the hook?”
“I was lost, too. The thing I was most lost about was… Would my daughter have to live through hard times with me from then on?”
She took a breath and continued, “I’m sorry, Lanlan. You were so young, yet you still had to bear your parents’ negative emotions. You were only a little girl. The hard life your father and I were living wasn’t your fault, but you still had to endure the pain and pressure along with us…”
“It’s all right, Mom.” Jiang Tinglan’s throat felt raw, yet her heart had never felt so warm.
Back then, one of them had sobbed as she pushed the bike from the front, while the other sat fearfully on the back seat. Both had secretly blamed themselves, but neither knew how to put their feelings into words.
They had been caught in the same storm, each believing she was a burden to the other.
Thankfully, they finally understood that the tears they had shed back then were never words of blame, but tears of love and guilt.
