Chapter 65: Saving the Bullied Top Student (13)

Luo Xun gritted her teeth. She knew this person. He would never let her go. What had she ever done wrong?

Tang Qi grabbed Luo Xun’s hand, comforting her in a low voice. “Calm down. Trust Uncle Xu.”

No one had expected Zhou Chenglong to appear here, let alone as a witness for the defense. The defendant’s lawyer smiled faintly. “Zhou Chenglong, what proof do you have that you two were together? Love letters? Photos?”

Zhou Chenglong suppressed a sliver of unease, telling himself this was no big deal. Luo Xun was blowing things out of proportion. He was just saving his brothers. “Luo Xun was very careful when she was with me. She was afraid of people finding out. I don’t have anything of hers, but I know physical details about her.”

Zhou Chenglong pursed his lips. “She has a red birthmark on her chest, shaped like a water droplet. I saw it when we… you know!”

He didn’t finish, but everyone understood the implication. Many people looked at Luo Xun with sudden realization, shaking their heads as if lamenting how loose young women were these days.

When else could it have been, if not that time?

Boom! Luo Xun felt a surge of blood rush to her head, making it throb. She wanted so badly… so badly to kill this man. She had done nothing, yet she was being slandered.

Slandered by such a disgusting person, no less!

“That was when you were bullying me and you tore a button off my clothes. That’s how you saw it!” Luo Xun shouted, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. “I didn’t do anything. I have no relationship with him.”

She clenched her fists so hard her nails dug deep into her palms. “Zhou Chenglong, you’re a beast! You’re not human!”

The Judge banged her gavel. “Order in the court!”

Tang Qi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The System cursed furiously. “That goddamn moron! What the hell is he? That’s Luoluo’s reincarnation mark!”

That mark was a witness to Luoluo’s love, the unregretful sacrifice of Luo Xue’s first life. It was their promise.

Tang Qi nearly ground her silver teeth to dust. Her rage twisted into a cold smile. She looked at Zhou Chenglong as if he were already a dead man and held Luo Xun’s hand. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be angry.” Sooner or later… one day, she would…

The opposing lawyer asked a few more questions, all centered on the relationship between the two. Zhou Chenglong’s answers were flawless. Suddenly, Xu Yan spoke up. “So, you’re saying you’ve been to Luo Xun’s house multiple times?”

“Yes! Her mother recognizes me, though she just thinks I’m a classmate,” Zhou Chenglong said. “Those six have been there too. We even ate at her place.”

He looked at Luo Xun, his voice sincere. “Luo Xun, let’s not drag others into our business. If you’re angry, take it all out on me.” He felt his meaning was clear to Luo Xun. He thought he was apologizing.

The System couldn’t hold back. “Host, just hack him to death! Kill him!”

Xu Yan smiled faintly and turned to the six defendants. “So, you’re all very familiar with Luo Xun’s house then.”

“Yep, we could find it with our eyes closed,” a teenager said. Xu Yan produced a USB drive. “I request to submit evidence. This is footage from a surveillance camera near Luo Xun’s house.”

The opposing lawyer looked flustered but quickly composed himself. Their visit to Luo Xun’s house had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. He didn’t believe Xu Yan could have anything substantial.

The video played. It had no sound, but the image quality was sharp. The six teenagers could be seen pacing back and forth at an intersection several times before finally stopping an older man. They asked him something, and he responded with gestures.

“I found that pedestrian in the video. He remembers the six clearly. He said they were asking for directions,” Xu Yan announced, his voice suddenly booming. “If you’re so familiar with her house, why did you need directions?”

“Making false statements in court is a crime!” Xu Yan bellowed.

No one had imagined that in an era with scarce surveillance, Xu Yan could find such clear footage, especially in a remote area like Luo Xun’s home.

The six flinched at Xu Yan’s sudden outburst, not daring to speak.

“That’s not all. I have another video,” Xu Yan said. He pulled up a different file. The timestamp in the upper left showed it was the same evening. The sun hadn’t set yet; the six were eating at a barbecue restaurant.

Xu Yan spoke again. “I request permission to call my witnesses.”

The man who had given directions testified first, confirming the six had indeed asked for directions. It was dark, he noted, and they were just kids, which made it memorable.

Next up was a server from the restaurant. Xu Yan asked, “You served their table. Did you overhear their conversation?”

The server nodded. “I heard them say things like, ‘Let’s go pull a job tonight,’ ‘We gotta teach her a lesson, daring to badmouth our Dragon Bro,’ and ‘As long as we don’t beat her to death.'”

“Nonsense! Restaurants are noisy. How could you clearly hear them?” the opposing lawyer immediately fired back. The server bristled. “They came early, the place was practically empty, and kids’ voices carry. I was standing right there. Besides, they should’ve been in class. They were skipping school, so I kept an eye on them.”

Indeed, the video showed him standing barely a meter away. It was perfectly plausible he overheard them.

Xu Yan spoke coldly. “Everything in this court relies on evidence. I also have interview statements from Luo Xun’s classmates. They all attest that she was severely bullied by Zhou Chenglong. As they are minors, I haven’t called them to testify, but I have called their Homeroom Teacher.”

The Homeroom Teacher quickly took the witness stand. Xu Yan asked, “In your professional opinion, how likely is it that those two were in a relationship?”

“Absolutely no chance!” she declared, shaking her head.

“You’re a teacher. It’s normal for students to hide relationships from you,” the opposing lawyer retorted.

The Homeroom Teacher glanced at Luo Xun, and Luo Xun saw guilt in her eyes. “I am a teacher. I know the signs when students are dating. Their interactions were not lovers’ quarrels. I saw Zhou Chenglong puncture Luo Xun’s bicycle tires so many times she had to push it home. If they were together, why not go home together?”

“Once during PE, he locked her in the storage room for an entire afternoon. He stuck chewed gum in her hair and threw cold water on her in winter. Luo Xun always had torn clothes and new wounds. She dodged him constantly. How could she be dating him?”

The Homeroom Teacher sighed. “I want to ask everyone here, do you have daughters? If your daughter was treated this way, would you call it a lovers’ quarrel?”

The opposing lawyer’s expression flickered, as if something had occurred to him. He sat down and said nothing more.

Xu Yan nodded. “You six wanted to escape responsibility, but this is a court of law, a place of solemnity, not a place where you can change reality by throwing mud. Did any of you ever consider the profound harm you’ve caused this girl?”

He looked at Zhou Chenglong. “Did you even stop to think about the damage your testimony would do to Luo Xun? How others would now perceive her?”

People in the gallery began to show expressions of guilt too. They had genuinely been misled at first.

The parents hadn’t anticipated this turn of events and were frantic, not knowing what to do. The Judge called for a thirty-minute recess. The verdict would be delivered in half an hour.

The six were found guilty of home invasion robbery and negligent injury. Being under eighteen, they were sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Zhou Chenglong, for perjury and as a minor, was fined five thousand yuan and given fifteen days of detention.

As the verdicts were read, the parents wailed in despair. The six boys looked around in confusion. They didn’t yet understand the future that now lay ahead of them.

In the Book of the World, Zhou Chenglong had returned home in glory, his bonds with these friends as strong as ever. With his help, they had quit their jobs, started businesses, and climbed the social ladder with ease.

But now, with criminal records at such a young age, what future awaited them?

Zhou Chenglong was led away. As he passed, he stared at Luo Xun, who stared back with pure hatred. Tang Qi stepped between them, blocking his line of sight. “Perjury is one thing, but why did you have to destroy Luoluo’s reputation?”

Zhou Chenglong turned his head away without a word. Tang Qi nodded. “What, still trying to drag others down with you? You’re already in the gutter, and you want to pull Luoluo there too?”

“Don’t talk to him. He makes me sick,” Luo Xun said, pulling Tang Qi’s hand. She spat forcefully at Zhou Chenglong. “Pah!” She had never done something so crude before, but in that moment, it didn’t feel like enough. “I truly regret ever helping you. Why didn’t you just die back then?”

Zhou Chenglong’s eyes widened, but Luo Xun was already dragging Tang Qi away.

Because minors were involved, the case spread quickly. It made the Haishi newspapers and TV programs. Luo Xun and Tang Qi, as victims, had their faces blurred for protection. The others were blurred too, but someone posted their photos in an online forum, and their faces circulated rapidly throughout Haishi.

Public condemnation was fierce. The six had gone too far, trying to slander the victim at the end. In what world was a girl’s reputation not sacred? Shameless scum. The parents faced backlash too. The saying held true: like child, like parent. Their jobs were affected; several even lost them outright.

But all that came later. At the time, Tang Qi and Luo Xun knew nothing of it.

After the trial, to protect Luo Xun, Tang Qi still didn’t go back to school. They studied at home for another half a month. Over ten days later, when everything had settled down, they finally reappeared.

The day after they returned to school, the seniors’ second monthly exam began.

Tang Qi had placed first in the last exam. Luo Xun had ranked in the upper-middle tier. After everything that had happened, no one, not even the teachers, believed they could score well this time.

High school was too intense. Anyone who had effectively been out of class for a month couldn’t possibly get a good score.

The Homeroom Teacher even called Tang Qi in for a chat, telling her that grades weren’t everything. She spoke to Luo Xun too, comforting her not to let things affect her studies and that a poor performance on one test wasn’t the end of the world.

Other students were secretly speculating—would Tang Qi drop out of the top ten?

On the day of the exam, Luo Xun felt rather nervous. She’d studied hard for a month, but what would the outcome be? Tang Qi brought her a water bottle and squeezed her round, bun-topped head. “Little sister, boldly forge ahead.”

Luo Xun burst out laughing. “What kind of song is that?”

“A useful one. If you make it into the top fifty, I’ll treat you to roast lamb leg to celebrate,” Tang Qi said with a grin.

Mother Luo also reassured Luo Xun. “It’s fine. Just do your best.” The recent news reports had made her aware of so much she’d missed. Guilt consumed her; she’d long stopped caring so much about grades.

One day for the monthly exam, then two days to process the results.

On the day the results were posted, Zhou Chenglong was also released. As he walked onto campus, everyone was crowded around the Honor Roll.