Sweet Kiss - Chapter 14.2

Backstage, Qi Jinyang almost lost it. He had thought Bai would go beat someone up—that would’ve been wild enough. But now, he was taking the boldest step possible—addressing the rumor head-on at a school-wide ceremony.

The teachers backstage panicked and reached to cut his microphone. But suddenly, someone stepped in front of the control panel and blocked them.

It was Qi Jinyang . He held the teacher back and said,
“Since he’s already started, let’s hear him out, okay?”

The school administrators seated in front were experienced and didn’t stop him. In fact, the principal even gave a hand signal, encouraging him to continue.

They were curious to see how this would turn out.

The school forum wasn’t private. Many teachers secretly checked it to keep an eye on students or see complaints about cafeteria food.

But yesterday’s post was tricky.

Li Yansui was a well-known student. If the school didn’t handle things well, they might face public pressure.

The administrators already knew what had happened. But because of the families involved, they had stayed quiet.

Now, since a student volunteered to speak up, they had no reason to stop him.

Bai Tingzhou knew this. That’s why he dared to bring it up during the freshman welcome ceremony. He believed the school leadership wouldn’t punish him. They might even praise him for speaking the truth and helping a classmate.

Meanwhile, Li Yansui, who had just snuck in through the back door, heard his bold words the moment she entered.

She looked up, shocked, and stared at him.

His eyes were filled with disbelief.

Why did I have to go this far?

Bai Tingzhou met Li Yansui’s gaze through the vast sea of people and gave her a small smile, as if to say, It’s okay, I’ll take care of it for you.

Li Yansui looked at his smile, and her heart trembled violently.

This feeling was so familiar.

Just like before, whenever something happened to her, Bai Tingzhou would always come to help her.

And before solving anything, he would always smile at her like this.

As if to say, Don’t worry, I’ve got this.

Seeing the surprise on Li Yansui’s face, Bai Tingzhou’s smile grew even brighter.

He turned and went into the control room, handing a USB stick to the teacher inside and asking him to play its contents. The teacher, while opening the USB, silently gave him a thumbs-up.

Bai Tingzhou rubbed his nose—this was something he had hurriedly compiled just the night before.

He explained the general flow to the teacher, composed his expression, and then walked back out.

The stage lights were bright, making it hard for Bai Tingzhou to see the expressions of the people below. Except for those two scumbags, whose faces were not excited like the others, but shocked and tense.

A trace of coldness flashed through Bai Tingzhou’s eyes. He positioned himself at the right side of the big screen and spoke into the microphone, “Every word I’m about to say…” He paused briefly, then continued, “I am willing to take full legal responsibility for.”

The audience immediately fell silent upon hearing this, all waiting quietly for him to speak.

A strange tension filled the air.

Even though they had done nothing wrong, many people suddenly felt as if their secrets were about to be exposed.

Bai Tingzhou signaled for the lighting technician to turn off the lights, then asked the teacher in the control room to play the surveillance footage of Li Yansui, the group of models, and the designer entering the hotel, along with an accompanying video.

In the video, the person speaking was the very designer from the circulated photo. Holding his partner, he awkwardly apologized in broken Chinese, saying he hadn’t expected his actions to cause so much trouble for Li Yansui. He explained why they had gone to the hotel and, at the end, he and his partner sincerely thanked her and offered her heartfelt praise.

During the video, Bai Tingzhou said very little. After all, with the footage playing, he doubted anyone could pretend not to understand.

Only after the last video ended did he pick up the microphone, ready to pronounce judgment on the two culprits.

He began with, “Now that everyone’s seen the footage, aren’t you curious about who hated Li Yansui so much that they went out of their way to manipulate public opinion against her?”

Everyone held their breath in anticipation.

Even the school administrators looked on with great interest.

Bai Tingzhou stood half in light and half in shadow, making it hard to discern his expression.

His eyes were cold and piercing. The corner of his mouth curled slightly as he pointed to a boy and a girl in the crowd and asked, “You two—how about explaining why you hate Li Yansui so much?”

The boy being pointed at immediately felt the weight of countless eyes on him. He was mortified. Whispers of “So it was him? How disgusting…” echoed around him, pushing him to yell up at the stage in fury, “Are you out of your damn mind? It wasn’t me! Why are you saying it was?”

Bai Tingzhou casually walked up to him and looked down from above. “You’re right. It wasn’t you who did it. But it all started because of you, and you didn’t stop it either, did you?” He turned his eyes to the girl beside him, his eyes filled with disgust. Word by word, he said, “You, the one who slandered another student.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but it was perfectly clear to everyone in the audience.

All eyes were already focused on the pair.

Every word of gossip they had spread now seemed to rebound back at them like boomerangs, hitting them squarely.

The girl’s face turned pale with fear after Bai Tingzhou spoke.

The investigation Bai Tingzhou had asked Qi Jinyang to carry out the night before was merely to confirm what he already suspected.

Early that morning, he had gone to the second-year building to observe the two’s appearances—just to be sure he had the right people.

Now, with their guilt exposed, the girl’s face was ashen, her whole body trembling as she stammered in panic, “I didn’t slander her! Everything I said was true! That b1tch really did those things. I just… I just…”

A deep, inexpressible fear filled her heart.

Bai Tingzhou didn’t bother speaking further to them. He turned and repeated almost word-for-word what Qi Jinyang had told him that morning. As he watched their already pale faces turn ghostly white, a rare sense of satisfaction rose within him.

As he spoke, Bai Tingzhou looked up toward Li Yansui. The only light in the entire auditorium came from the large screen behind him.

He couldn’t see the audience clearly, but he felt with absolute certainty that Li Yansui was standing right there.

The opening ceremony concluded with Bai Tingzhou’s final declaration:

“I believe in Li Yansui and am willing to personally vouch for her. If anyone has any objections, just come to me.”