After Becoming the Abused Heroine in a Campus Story - Chapter 64: Why Did You Do This?

Chapter 64: Why Did You Do This?

“Why are you like this? Are you just trying to brush us off?” Jiang Xianzhi snapped anxiously.

“What’s wrong? We have procedures here. You can fill out the form or not, but if there’s nothing else, hurry up and leave,” the male police officer replied impatiently. He saw the two girls across from him and thought they couldn’t cause much trouble.

Jiang Xianzhi grew more anxious. She took out her phone and stepped aside to make a call.

Afterward, she and Zhou Yining waited there for a while. During that time, the male police officer repeatedly urged them to leave.

Ten minutes later, the male police officer received a call. His face paled. After hanging up, he hurriedly apologized to Zhou Yining and Jiang Xianzhi.

“Ladies, I’m sorry. Please fill out the form quickly. I’ll have my colleagues check the surveillance at the internet cafes now. If you’re not too tired, you can wait in the lounge later. Rest assured, by this afternoon at the latest, we’ll give you an answer.”

The male police officer stood up quickly. He called a few colleagues in, gave them the addresses and names of the internet cafes, and they immediately got to work.

Zhou Yining had already filled out the form. She handed it over and asked, “Is this okay now?”

“Yes, yes. You two go wait in the lounge. You can’t rest well here,” the male police officer said warmly as he led them to the lounge.

When he left the lounge, the male police officer was sweating heavily. Earlier, a senior leader had called him, asking if he still wanted his job. The leader criticized him for not properly handling the complainants and for acting indifferent.

Recalling the scene of the girl making a phone call, he realized these two girls likely had influential backgrounds. If he didn’t handle this well, he might really lose his job. So, he quickly coordinated actions across departments.

Still uneasy, the male police officer bought two cups of milk tea from a nearby shop and brought them to Zhou Yining and Jiang Xianzhi.

With pressure from above, Zhou Yining’s case was handled quickly. Technicians analyzed the surveillance footage and identified a person appearing in multiple videos. They verified the person’s identity through the police system. The male police officer applied for an arrest warrant, planning to bring Tian Xue back for questioning that afternoon.

At noon, the male police officer ordered lunch boxes for Zhou Yining and Jiang Xianzhi.

After leaving the lounge, Zhou Yining sighed and said, “It’s so hard for ordinary people to get justice. If it weren’t for your phone call today, my case might have dragged on forever.”

Thinking this way, Zhou Yining understood the original self’s helplessness even more. In past incidents, she had been lucky to encounter empathetic female police officers. Otherwise, those cases might not have been resolved so smoothly. Back then, she had many people helping her. But what did the original self have? She only had a toxic family brainwashing her and a so-called friend stabbing her in the back.

Seeing Zhou Yining’s low mood, Jiang Xianzhi hurried over. She grabbed Zhou Yining’s wrist, shook it gently, and said, “Don’t be upset. I’ll always be by your side from now on. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Zhou Yining reached out and pulled Jiang Xianzhi closer. She hugged her tightly.

Zhou Yining genuinely felt exhausted. Since arriving here, she hadn’t had a moment’s rest. The original self faced endless troubles and had to deal with various school matters.

Seeing Zhou Yining hug her, Jiang Xianzhi quickly hugged her back.

Zhou Yining calmed down after a while. She adjusted quickly, thinking it was fortunate she was the one handling these matters.

“I’m okay. Let’s eat first. This afternoon, we’ll see what Tian Xue has to say,” Zhou Yining said calmly, regaining her composure.

“Hmm,” Jiang Xianzhi replied, sitting down with her to eat.

They quickly finished their lunch boxes. Zhou Yining said, “Let’s go outside and check.”

“Okay. It’s past one now. I wonder when Tian Xue will arrive,” Jiang Xianzhi replied.

The two left the lounge together. The male police officer was still working overtime on their case. Seeing them, he stood up quickly, smiled, and said, “My colleagues have gone to pick her up from the address. They’ll be back soon. Do you two need anything else?”

“No, we just want to wait here,” Zhou Yining said.

“Sure, you two can sit here and wait,” the male police officer said. He thoughtfully poured tea for them in disposable cups. His attitude was a stark contrast to that morning.

Around two o’clock, three officers brought Tian Xue back to the station. When Tian Xue saw Zhou Yining, her face darkened terribly, completely unlike her usual self.

Zhou Yining stood up and looked at Tian Xue. Her eyes locked onto Tian Xue’s, and she asked, “Why? Aren’t we friends? Why did you do this?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything,” Tian Xue said, her dark expression fading. She now looked like an innocent victim staring at Zhou Yining.

“Your denial is useless. The videos of you posting in eleven forums have been retrieved. It can’t be that coincidental. Plus, the surveillance from our school’s confession wall shows you too,” Zhou Yining said, staring intently at her.

“So what? I just happened to go to those internet cafes. Is that not allowed?” Tian Xue still refused to admit it.

“Every time you visited an internet cafe, a post about my love letter appeared in a school’s forum. Do you think anyone would believe your excuse? You can lie, but the IP addresses of those posts don’t. And during the posting times, you were the only one who knew me among the people entering and leaving the cafes. The evidence is solid enough to prove you did it,” Zhou Yining said calmly, continuing to look at her.

Tian Xue couldn’t hold back anymore. She shouted, “So what if I posted them? I’m not eighteen yet. I’m a minor. You can’t do anything to me.”

“Citizens over sixteen are already legally responsible. Plus, your defamatory posts have over ten thousand views. You’ll still face punishment,” Zhou Yining said coldly.

“You think you can punish me just because you say so? Who do you think you are? Zhou Yining, you’re really laughable. Do you know what I hate most? It’s this high-and-mighty attitude you have now. Who do you think you are? Why do you get to act superior? Hah, I prefer the old you,” Tian Xue said, laughing.

Zhou Yining looked at her coldly and asked, “Why? Why did you post my love letter on the school’s confession wall? Why did you spread it to other schools’ forums? Aren’t we friends? Why did you do this?”

“No reason. Zhou Yining, I liked you better when you were naive. Back then, we were the same, both ostracized by the class. No one wanted to hang out with us. Posting your love letter on the confession wall—wasn’t I helping you? It made everyone hate you more, and you, the fool, would rely on me, your friend, even more. Besides, didn’t I basically help you confess? If not for me, Zhang Ye wouldn’t even know you liked him. You should thank me,” Tian Xue said, her eyes behind her glasses gleaming with malice.

Zhou Yining shook her head. She took a few deep breaths before speaking. “You’re crazy. Absolutely crazy. I was ostracized, hated by the school, and that made you feel balanced, didn’t it? Did you ever think I might break down or couldn’t handle it? You know my family situation. I was bullied at school before. If I knew you were stabbing me in the back then, I might not have survived. Did you ever consider that?”

“Why would I care about that? All I know is, only when you’re like me—or worse off—can our friendship be solid. Zhou Yining, look at you now. Your grades are good, you have new friends. Do you still care about me as a friend?” Tian Xue asked.

“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have tutored you in math or eaten with you in the cafeteria every day. I can’t understand someone like you. Does it hurt you that much to see others doing well?” Zhou Yining countered.

“Yes, it does hurt. Stop spouting nonsense. I hate this smug face you have now,” Tian Xue said, not feeling guilty at all. Instead, she acted like everyone owed her.

“Tian Xue, right? We need to contact your parents to come here,” the police officer said.

The officer then looked at Zhou Yining and said, “Classmate, this case is tricky. Tian Xue is a minor. Her posts got over ten thousand views online, but it’s not considered widespread dissemination, and it didn’t cause significant harm to your well-being. So, she can’t be sentenced. At most, she’ll get fifteen days of detention. Compensation is mandatory, though. In this case, she’ll need to pay you at least six thousand yuan for emotional distress. Also, we’ll notify your school about this.”

Zhou Yining nodded in understanding. Like Lin Shaohui’s case, she had gotten a medical diagnosis last time, but not this time. Tian Xue’s actions were disgusting, though less severe than the previous incident. Still, if it were the original self, she would’ve been deeply hurt.

Tian Xue was unwilling. “Why call my family? I did this myself. If you want to detain me, just do it,” she said.

“Classmate, don’t interfere with our work. Please provide your family’s contact information,” one officer repeated.

“What if I refuse? What can you do?” Tian Xue challenged.

“All information is online now. We have a big database. Even if you don’t tell us, we can find it. Or we can just call your school,” the officer replied.

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” Tian Xue said through gritted teeth. Her eyes glared venomously at Zhou Yining before she recited a string of numbers.

One of the officers dialed the number, and the call was quickly answered.

“Hello, are you Tian Xue’s father?” the officer asked.

“Yeah, what’s up?” the man replied.

The officer continued, “Your daughter was arrested for leaking someone’s privacy. You need to come here now.”

“She’s dead to me. If you arrested her, just keep her. Don’t bother me,” the man said, about to hang up.

The officer, surprised by this attitude, quickly stopped him. “I must remind you, every citizen has a duty to cooperate with the police. As Tian Xue’s father, you must come now. If you don’t, we’ll have to visit your workplace.”

Hearing this, the man calmed down but kept grumbling. “That useless girl, always causing trouble. Why doesn’t she just die out there? So annoying, so annoying. Fine, tell me, which police station is she at? I’ll go now,” he said.

The officer frowned tightly. “She’s at the police station near Yulin Street. Come now,” he said.

“Got it. So annoying…” the man muttered before hanging up, still cursing. The office was quiet, so his loud voice was audible to most people present.

Tian Xue seemed used to it, unbothered by what her father said. She had calmed down and appeared unafraid of what was coming next.

The police contacted Nanchuan City No. 1 High School. The teacher on duty informed the school leadership, who sent Chen Yitong to handle it.

Chen Yitong hadn’t imagined Tian Xue was behind the love letter on the school’s confession wall. When she arrived at the police station, her mind was still reeling.