The next morning, Lin Mo noticed the atmosphere was off the moment he entered the classroom.
The morning study session was usually noisy, but today, everyone sat in their seats in silence. Yet, none of them actually looked like they were focused on studying.
Lin Mo immediately looked toward Su Ran.
She looked calm, slowly and methodically flipping through a book.
She was still just as elegant as ever.
However, that elegance seemed exceptionally overbearing and unsettling when placed in a crowd of rumor-mongers.
Before Lin Mo even reached his seat, he saw a manila envelope lying on his desk.
Upon opening it, he found printed documents inside.
The first page was a company profile for Zhang Jianguo—Zhang Wei’s father.
The second page contained tax records.
The third page was a detailed breakdown of tax evasion over the past 3 years.
He scanned it quickly; the amounts involved were significant.
Lin Mo swiftly stuffed the documents back into the envelope, his heart racing.
Su Ran’s style of revenge had arrived.
He knew Su Ran had the ability to investigate these things, but he hadn’t expected her to actually do it, let alone so quickly.
From their confrontation yesterday until now, it had been less than 24 hours.
Before the bell rang for the morning study session, Su Ran stood up to throw away some trash. As she passed Lin Mo’s desk, she whispered in a volume only he could hear, “Don’t worry, I didn’t break the law.”
With that, she walked past him. Her slender, upright figure was like a beautiful winter plum blossom, growing stubbornly in a malicious environment.
In particular, her straight, shapely legs in black silk stockings seemed to tread on the hearts of every student in the class with every step. Her footsteps weren’t heavy, yet they could be heard in every corner of the room.
Watching Su Ran’s back, Lin Mo suddenly understood why Chen Yu was afraid of her.
Actually, he should have known better than anyone.
If Su Ran’s abilities were used for the wrong purposes, she was indeed terrifying. In his past life, Su Ran had done such things more than once, and whenever she acted, it was a killing blow.
***
The first period was English, and the teacher handed out the papers from last week’s quiz.
Su Ran still had a perfect score, while Lin Mo had 148; 2 points were deducted from his essay.
The teacher praised the two of them, but no one in the class cheered.
Everyone kept their heads bowed, pretending to correct their mistakes.
Lin Mo was also distracted. He spent the entire period in deep thought. When the bell rang, he took the manila envelope and walked over to Su Ran’s side.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
Su Ran nodded, stood up, and followed Lin Mo out of the classroom to the stairwell landing.
Few people came here, so it was quiet.
Lin Mo already had a general idea of her process, but he asked anyway, “This… what do you plan to do with it?”
He gestured to the envelope in his hand.
“Hand it over to the tax bureau as an anonymous report.”
“Why?”
“Because tax evasion is illegal,” Su Ran said calmly, though she kept watching Lin Mo’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. “Besides, this is the only way to make Zhang Wei stop harassing you. If her family is in trouble, she won’t have the energy for anything else.”
Lin Mo remained silent for a moment.
Seeing that he didn’t speak, Su Ran nervously gripped her skirt and lowered her head. “Are you unhappy?”
Lin Mo shook his head. “I’m not unhappy. It’s just that you didn’t do this well enough.”
Su Ran looked up in surprise, her beautiful eyes shimmering with a look of ‘relief after a disaster,’ mixed with confusion. “What wasn’t good enough?”
She instinctively stepped closer to Lin Mo, her eyes radiating a strong message — *teach me.*
Lin Mo gestured to the envelope again, feeling somewhat helpless. “It’s good that you remembered what I said about reporting anonymously, but for you to bring this out and leave it on my desk… isn’t that just announcing to the world that you’re the one who reported them?”
Su Ran’s gaze flickered, and her fingers twisted together. “Th — they don’t know. They don’t know what’s in the bag.”
Seeing her guilty expression, Lin Mo knew she had done it on purpose.
As for why, the answer was obvious.
She just wanted him to know. She didn’t want him to hate her.
Lin Mo certainly wouldn’t blame her for that, but he had to give her a serious warning. “Silly girl, malicious rumors don’t need evidence, and real crimes don’t need a reason.”
“If something happens to Zhang Wei’s family today, she’ll connect it to your argument and your strange behavior by the day after tomorrow. If you really push her to the edge, she might try to hurt you or even try to take you down with her.”
“You want to destroy her home, and she’ll want your life. Do you think that’s a possibility?”
As Lin Mo began his lecture, Su Ran had already bowed her head.
At first, the sudden “silly girl” made her heart feel so sweet that she felt a bit lost. But the hypothetical scenarios that followed made her eyes sharpen instantly, and she forgot her joy.
Lin Mo was being very blunt, and she wasn’t stupid.
If someone tried to destroy Lin Mo, she would also fight them to the death without hesitation.
“But I…”
Su Ran’s twisted fingers began to exert force, leaving crescent nail marks in her palms. “I… I didn’t want you to hate me. I wanted to ask for your opinion… The teacher can’t handle it, my classmates don’t believe me, and my mother… she would only make me transfer schools. Wh — what else could I do?”
Her voice was trembling, filled with urgency and a sense of powerlessness.
Lin Mo felt as if a hole had been drilled through his heart; a sharp pain flared up suddenly.
At that moment, heavy teardrops splashed onto the floor.
Su Ran choked out, “Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Wang talked to us. Zhang Wei said I was the one who looked at her phone first and that she was just retaliating. Mr. Wang told me to watch my words and told Zhang Wei to stop spreading rumors, but…”
“But you know.”
Su Ran looked up at Lin Mo, her eyes red and full of grievance. “Zhang Wei won’t stop. I’ve already threatened her, but she isn’t afraid at all. She’s even dragging you into this… I won’t have it! I won’t watch her hurt you!”
“As long as she receives a real punishment, she won’t bother you anymore!”
By this point, Su Ran’s emotions were becoming agitated, and her tears were falling rapidly.
Lin Mo looked at the beauty mark under Su Ran’s left eye and found himself unable to argue.
He knew she was actually right.
School bullying was like this. A teacher couldn’t mediate it unless one side completely surrendered.
Moreover, things like tax evasion were ultimately the family’s own doing; he wouldn’t categorize Su Ran’s counterattack as intentional harm. The issue was still that envelope of documents.
If it appeared so openly, an anonymous report would be impossible.
If Zhang Wei’s family was truly ruined, Su Ran really would be in danger.
Lin Mo slowly raised his hand and wiped away Su Ran’s tears, coaxing her in his gentlest voice, “I know you’re doing this for me. I want to do something for you too, okay?”
“Wait one more day. I’ll talk to Zhang Wei. If she’s willing to apologize and stop, we’ll give her one chance.”
Lin Mo’s hand was warm, and Su Ran’s emotions calmed instantly, but she quickly became flustered again.
It wasn’t fear or a sense of loss, but rather a feeling of being at a loss for what to do.
“Wh — what if she won’t?”
“Then we’ll do it your way. I’ll stay by your side.”
***
At noon, Lin Mo found Zhang Wei in the cafeteria.
She was sitting alone in a corner, and the food on her tray was almost untouched.
Seeing Lin Mo, her expression changed, and she immediately lowered her head.
Lin Mo sat across from her. “Can we talk?”
Zhang Wei didn’t speak, her fingers gripping her chopsticks tightly.
“Regarding Su Ran, I know there’s a misunderstanding between you two. It’s time for it to stop.”
“Misunderstanding?” Zhang Wei looked up in disbelief. “She peeked at my phone and threatened me. That’s a misunderstanding?”
Lin Mo frowned. “It was wrong of her to look at your phone. She admitted it and apologized; that matter is already over. But you’ve been spreading malicious rumors and inciting the whole class to isolate her — that happened afterward!”
Within seconds, Zhang Wei’s eyes turned red, making her look like the victim.
Her lips trembled. “I didn’t spread rumors! She’s a stalker, a freak! Her phone is full of photos of you, and her notebook is all about you. If that isn’t being sick, then what is?”
“That’s her business,” Lin Mo said calmly. “She hasn’t hurt anyone, nor has she invaded anyone’s privacy — except for your phone, for which she already apologized. And what are you doing? You’re using lies to destroy someone’s reputation.”
“I didn’t lie!” Zhang Wei’s voice rose hysterically, drawing the attention of students at the surrounding tables. “She is sick! She has psychological problems! It’s written in the school records!”
Lin Mo’s fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. “Zhang Wei, do you know the nature of spreading someone’s private psychological information? That is much more serious than peeking at a phone. If Su Ran wanted to, she could sue you for invasion of privacy.”
Zhang Wei’s face turned several shades paler. “Sh — she wouldn’t dare!”
“You know she would.”
Lin Mo looked at the class beauty before him, finally feeling the difference between maturity and childishness.
With a mental journey of over 40 years from his two lives combined, sitting here negotiating felt a bit like he was bullying an amateur. However, bullying incidents could not be tolerated; the connection had to be cut cleanly.
Ignoring Zhang Wei’s dodging gaze, he continued, “She recorded everything you said in the group chat last night and what you’ve said to classmates privately as evidence. If she gives it to the school, you’ll receive a demerit. If she reports it to the police, you’ll be investigated.”
He wasn’t just scaring her; Su Ran really did have recordings.
Yesterday, without Lin Mo knowing, she had recorded all of Zhang Wei’s statements.
Zhang Wei looked as if she had been struck by lightning. As her tears fell, she slumped into her chair. “You… you two are teaming up to bully me…”
“Don’t twist the truth. You’re the one bullying her,” Lin Mo said without mercy. “Don’t take our classmates for fools. Ever since Su Ran joined this class, you’ve been targeting her. When you harassed me last week, she just told the truth, and you started an outcry to isolate her out of anger. Zhang Wei, that is bullying.”
A while ago, he had mentioned bullying in class without pointing fingers, and the matter had passed. But now, pointing it out directly and forcefully made his words carry a lot of weight.
Zhang Wei instantly broke down. She slammed her head onto the table and began to wail, her shoulders shaking violently.
People around them looked over, but no one dared to speak.
Lin Mo waited until her crying subsided before continuing, “Now you have two choices. Apologize publicly, stop the rumors, and promise not to harass Su Ran again. Or… Su Ran will hand over evidence of your father’s tax evasion to the tax bureau and the evidence of your rumors to the school.”
Zhang Wei snapped her head up, her eyes wide. “My dad?”
Lin Mo didn’t say more, just quietly waited for her to choose.
Zhang Wei’s eyes grew wider, her face turning from white to green, then back to white.
In that instant, she thought of many things. She knew nothing about her family’s affairs; logically, it should have been even more impossible for outsiders to know. But Su Ran could peek at her phone… Su Ran had the ability to investigate.
“I — if I apologize… can you guarantee she won’t report my dad?” Zhang Wei’s voice trembled involuntarily, her eyes filled with a bit of pleading.
“I can guarantee it.”
Lin Mo believed Su Ran wasn’t the kind of person who had to drive people to their deaths, but he also didn’t want Su Ran to be bullied for nothing because of him.
The cold looks, the isolation, and the gossip of the past few days — all of it had to be settled.
He looked into Zhang Wei’s eyes and said, “But there is one condition. You must apologize to her — sincerely — and never cause trouble for her again.”
Zhang Wei remained silent for a long time.
The noise of the cafeteria felt distant and surreal, as if separated by a pane of glass.
After hesitating again and again, she still didn’t dare to gamble with her entire family.
She whispered, “Fine, I’ll apologize.”
“When?”
“This afternoon… during the class meeting… I’ll apologize publicly. Is that sincere enough?”
Lin Mo nodded and stood up. “Remember your promise. If you break it, you know the consequences.”
As he turned to leave, Zhang Wei instinctively called out to him, “Lin Mo.”
Seeing Lin Mo turn back, Zhang Wei quickly wiped her tears and asked weakly, “Do you really like her? A… monster like that?”
Lin Mo looked at her, his brow furrowed, and said word for word, “She isn’t a monster. She’s just more mature than you, more devoted, and she knows what true love is.”
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