CM - 41

Zhou Shuirong was about to enter her classroom when a faint shriek echoed from the hallway. It wasn’t loud, and people inside the classrooms probably couldn’t hear it, but being outside, she heard it clearly.

She didn’t get involved and went into her class.

A little later, the biology teacher was late for class. Zhou Shuirong suddenly had a bad feeling. She ran out of the classroom, pushed open the stairwell door, and saw the biology teacher lying at the bottom of the stairs. From her posture, it looked like she had tumbled down.

She ran down the stairs and saw a pool of blood on the floor between the teacher’s legs. She immediately called an ambulance, then went back to the classroom to get help.

She handled the entire process in an orderly fashion, unlike the panicked students around her. It was as if she had been forewarned or had dealt with such situations many times before. As a result, when the doctor finished examining the teacher and said she had been pushed down the stairs, some people instinctively looked at Zhou Shuirong with suspicion.

The biology teacher, however, wouldn’t tell the truth. She was vague and even seemed to be trying to shift the blame onto Zhou Shuirong.

Zhou Shuirong felt bewildered, thinking her “lifesaving” effort was a pointless act of meddling.

When the biology teacher’s husband arrived at the hospital, his face was ashen. His eyes, especially after learning that his wife had lost the baby, looked like they could kill. The students nearby were too afraid to speak.

The head of the department was also in an awkward position. Although they weren’t responsible for the incident, the miscarriage happened at school, and they couldn’t just dismiss it.

The husband asked his wife, “What happened?”

The biology teacher glanced at Zhou Shuirong and spoke vaguely, “I couldn’t protect him.”

The husband didn’t want to hear that. “I’m asking you what happened! Why did the doctor say you were pushed? Who did it? What exactly happened?!”

The biology teacher lowered her head and wiped away tears. “Just don’t ask. It’s all my fault.”

The husband turned his head, and although he spoke to everyone, his eyes were fixed on Zhou Shuirong. “My child is gone. I hope whoever knows what happened comes forward. If I find out myself, I promise none of you will live in peace.”

The head of the department tried to smooth things over. “Brother, please don’t be angry. We don’t know the specifics. These children said they saw Teacher Fan already lying at the bottom of the stairs...”

The biology teacher interrupted him. Her face was pale, and her eyes were weak, as if another word would cause her to collapse from a lack of blood. But she had to speak, as if she had been wronged immensely. “Is that what they told you?”

That was indeed what the head of the department had been told, but her question made him suspicious. He looked at Zhou Shuirong. “Is that what happened?”

Zhou Shuirong repeated her account one last time: “When I got to the stairwell, Teacher Fan was already lying at the bottom. I went back to get help, and then we all brought her to the hospital. That was the whole process.”

The biology teacher lowered her head and started crying again. “Why are you lying? Are you afraid the teacher will blame you?”

The husband glared at Zhou Shuirong, his expression terrifying.

The head of the department was also stunned. Could Zhou Shuirong be lying? Did she push the biology teacher down the stairs?

The other students also looked suspicious.

Zhou Shuirong found herself in a situation where she couldn’t defend herself. There were no surveillance cameras in the stairwell and no witnesses. If the biology teacher insisted that Zhou Shuirong was responsible for her miscarriage, there would be no way to save herself.

After crying for a while, the biology teacher looked up, her eyes tearful and her lips trembling. “The baby is already gone. Would blaming you bring him back? I won’t blame you. I just want you to feel a little bit of remorse.”

She was so sad, so sincere, so selfless. She embodied the highest level of nobility and easily won over public opinion.

Her husband’s eyes were red, and he gritted his teeth. “If you can’t give us an explanation, none of you will have a peaceful life!”

The atmosphere became tense. Zhou Shuirong was pushed into the spotlight and became the target of everyone’s scrutiny. The biology teacher’s words implied that she had laid hands on her. Her own classmates and the head of the department were half-convinced. Even if some thought it was far-fetched, their fear of the tense atmosphere kept them from saying a word.

Zhou Shuirong gave a faint smile. “Just because I’m not pitiful, I don’t cry, and I don’t play the victim, what you say must be true? I must be a person of low character and unforgivable?”

The biology teacher seemed a little angry. “How can you say that? I’ve already said I won’t blame you, so why do you still insist on denying it?”

Zhou Shuirong was tired of their theatrics. “I’m a person who never regrets what I’ve done. But honestly, I’m starting to regret bringing you to the hospital. You don’t deserve it.”

She turned and left. The biology teacher’s chest heaved up and down. Her husband was furious, torn between chasing after her to report her to the police and worrying about his emotionally unstable wife. He paced for a moment, then sat down beside the bed and rubbed his wife’s back. “Breathe slowly.”

The head of the department and the students were now completely unsure of the truth.

Mainly, Zhou Shuirong had just been suspended for fighting. The blow she dealt to Ma Zhengli was not held back at all, making her seem like someone with a bad temper. Furthermore, she had the same attitude toward everyone and rarely smiled. The school was full of rumors about her, and none of them seemed fake.

The next day, the news of the biology teacher’s miscarriage spread throughout the school. Zhou Shuirong once again became the subject of gossip. Last time, she at least had a few supporters, but this time, there were almost none.

There were two reasons.

First, she was cold and unfriendly. Since she transferred, many things had happened around her. People believed that “a fly doesn’t land on a sealed egg” and that if so many things were related to her, she must be the problem.

Second, the biology teacher had a good personality. She was always gentle with people around her and never got angry. Almost no students or teachers disliked her.

Because of these two points, they settled on a “truth”: Zhou Shuirong, upset about her poor exam score, was offered tutoring by the biology teacher. She felt embarrassed, so she pushed the teacher down the stairs, then called for help and claimed the teacher fell on her own.