Ms. Zhang briefly explained what had happened.
Last weekend, Lu Yu stayed in the dorms instead of going home. When Li Xincheng returned to school, he found his earphones missing. He searched every corner of the dorm but couldn't find them, until he finally discovered the earphone lanyard in the corner of Lu Yu's desk.
These earphones were a gift to Li Xincheng from a female classmate in middle school, and Lu Yu had once written a love letter to this very girl.
Therefore, Li Xincheng reasonably suspected that Lu Yu had stolen his earphones.
Shu Qingqing was amused after hearing this. First of all, she could be absolutely certain that Lu Yu had never written a love letter to any other girl, because from beginning to end, Lu Yu had only ever liked the female lead, and at this point in time, the female lead hadn't even appeared yet.
With this, she was completely sure that Lu Yu was being framed.
But there were no security cameras in the dorm, so how could she prove Lu Yu's innocence?
Just as Shu Qingqing was fretting over this, she heard Ms. Zhang say, "I didn't expect things to turn out like this either. The students in the class said that Lu Yu and Li Xincheng were even classmates in middle school. One was always first place, and the other second. Logically speaking, they should have a pretty good relationship."
Shu Qingqing asked, "Then who was first and who was second?"
Ms. Zhang replied, "Lu Yu should be first, right? Anyway, in these past few exams, Lu Yu has always been in first place. Li Xincheng is always four or five points behind him, ranking second."
Hearing this, an idea suddenly popped into Shu Qingqing's mind.
"Ms. Zhang, it's like this. I believe our Lu Yu would never do something like stealing, but now because of this incident, both kids are very unhappy, which also greatly affects their studies. Look, isn't the purpose of today's parent-teacher meeting to get parents to pay more attention to their children's mental health?"
Ms. Zhang nodded. "Yes, you are absolutely right."
Shu Qingqing smiled. "So, Ms. Zhang, I am personally willing to spend money to buy a new pair of earphones for Li Xincheng. What do you think?"
Ms. Zhang hesitated for a moment.
Shu Qingqing continued, "You just tell him that these are the ones he lost. Wouldn't both kids be happy then?"
Ms. Zhang thought it made sense and agreed to it.
Shu Qingqing changed the subject, "However, I have one small request. When you give the earphones to Li Xincheng, you must do it in front of the whole class. After all, everyone in the class knows about this incident now. This will also clear up the students' misunderstanding of Lu Yu. Also..."
Shu Qingqing paused before continuing, "If Li Xincheng says that these are not his earphones, please be firm and insist that they are. Just tell him that the dorm matron found them and handed them to you personally."
After saying that, Shu Qingqing put on a sad expression. "Ms. Zhang, no parent wants their child to be suspected of being a thief. You don't know, seeing the child looking so depressed at home breaks our adult hearts. If Lu Yu suddenly does something drastic, how could we go on living!"
Ms. Zhang was also afraid of such a thing happening and quickly agreed. It just so happened that there was a photo of the earphones provided by Li Xincheng in the class group chat.
Shu Qingqing acted very quickly; she bought a pair of earphones that very afternoon.
There happened to be a class meeting that afternoon, so she brought the matter up.
However, after she took out the earphones, there was no sign of joy on Li Xincheng's face. Instead, he frowned, "Teacher, these are not my earphones."
Remembering her promise to Shu Qingqing, Ms. Zhang said firmly, "These are your earphones. The dorm matron found them and handed them to me personally."
Li Xincheng's face suddenly turned ugly. "Teacher, I'll say it again, these are not my earphones."
Before Ms. Zhang could speak, a boy in the back row who usually had a good relationship with Lu Yu spoke up, "Hey Li Xincheng, aren't these exactly your earphones? What's wrong with you? Your earphones are found and you're not going to take them? What, do you still want to keep framing Lu Yu?"
After this boy finished speaking, another student spoke up, saying something similar.
But Li Xincheng still stood motionless, insisting that these were not his earphones.
The atmosphere grew a bit stiff for a moment, and the students began to discuss among themselves.
"Aren't these Li Xincheng's earphones? They look exactly like the ones he posted in the class group chat."
"They look the same to me too. Why doesn't Li Xincheng want them?"
"Now that you mention it, I find it weird too. Why doesn't he want them?"
"Liu Yuan, haven't you used Li Xincheng's earphones before? Look, are these the ones?"
"Ah, they do look like it."
"Li Xincheng, just go up and take them. Didn't you say these earphones are very important to you? Why aren't you happy now that they've been found?"
"Yeah, go get them. I knew our God Lu couldn't possibly steal anything."
"Last semester I saw the car that came to pick up Lu Yu seemed to be a Bentley. Is God Lu's family really rich?"
The students chimed in one after another, seeming to have already concluded that these were indeed Li Xincheng's earphones and that Lu Yu had been falsely accused.
Li Xincheng's hands gradually began to tremble violently.
Why was it like this every time? Why did everyone believe Lu Yu? Was it just because he was in first place, because he was handsome?
The resentment that had been building up for a long time erupted in an instant. Li Xincheng marched straight up to the podium and snatched the earphones from Ms. Zhang's hands. "I'll say it one more time, these are not my earphones!"
Ms. Zhang had been teaching for many years and was no fool. Li Xincheng's state was obviously off. She seemed to somewhat understand why Shu Qingqing had insisted she firmly claim that these earphones were Li Xincheng's.
She spoke softly, "Li Xincheng, why are you so firmly convinced that these earphones are not yours? Then where are your earphones?"
Li Xincheng said angrily, "I just know these aren't my earphones, because mine were already..."
Li Xincheng suddenly paused, his expression turning panicked.
Those who could test into No. 1 High School were no fools. They quickly realized there was something wrong with Li Xincheng. Some students who loved a good spectacle chimed in:
"Say it, Li Xincheng, what did you already do to your earphones?"
"Did you hide them?"
"Did you throw them away?"
"So you framed Lu Yu on purpose?"
Ms. Zhang suddenly felt a bit of regret for agreeing to Shu Qingqing's plan. Afraid that things would blow up even more, she quickly stopped the jeering students and took Li Xincheng alone to the office.
Ms. Zhang tried to keep her voice as gentle as possible. "Li Xincheng, can you tell me if your earphones are actually lost or not?"
Li Xincheng's tightly clenched fists opened and closed, then closed and opened again. The office window faced the sports field. There were boys playing basketball on the court; with a beautiful slam dunk, the ball went in, and the girls nearby clapped excitedly.
He was also very good at playing basketball, and his grades were also very good, only a few points behind Lu Yu's. But why could everyone only see Lu Yu? The girl he liked also only had eyes for Lu Yu. His and Lu Yu's physics grades were neck and neck, but why was Lu Yu the only one allowed to participate in the competition?
He had deliberately framed him; he wanted to taint his reputation!
But now, all his efforts had fallen apart at the last minute.
Li Xincheng remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. "I am sorry, sir. It was only when I saw you holding the earphones today that I remembered I had already found mine a while ago. I have just been so busy with my studies lately that it completely slipped my mind. I am truly sorry for causing you trouble, sir."
Li Xincheng bowed deeply.
So what if his plan had failed at the final hurdle? At worst, he would just start all over again. One day, he would surpass Lu Yu.
But he absolutely could not allow his own image to be tarnished.
