Chapter 121 - 121: Reversal of Public Discussion

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

The power of public opinion was enormous.

Being intentionally stirred up behind the scenes, this matter had almost become widely known.

And Nan Yan’s reputation had hit rock bottom.

Countless people took it upon themselves to condemn her, some even crazily wanting to expose her whereabouts, sending her death threats and hate messages.

Unfortunately, An Muyao didn’t know where Nan Yan lived, so no one could disturb her.

The next day, with no response from Nan Yan to the multitude of internet users, they almost went mad, swearing to expose her.

They spontaneously gathered at Zhide High School, with journalists waiting, ready to pressure her into responding.

However, Nan Yan didn’t even come to school today.

In the eyes of the public, this appeared as Nan Yan’s guilty conscience, and she didn’t dare to come to school.

The netizens who felt like righteous crusaders gathered outside Zhide High School, vehemently demanding her expulsion.

Yet, despite shouting outside for a long time, no school officials came out to respond.

This angered the large group of netizens, so they turned their anger towards Zhide High School, accusing it of sheltering morally corrupt students.

Inside Zhide High School:

The principal and a few other school leaders were in the office.

“The impact caused by Nan Yan’s situation is enormous. The school’s reputation has been tarnished by her actions. I suggest that we expel her to quell the public’s anger.”

“For the sake of one student, it’s not worth ruining the school’s reputation. Even if she’s talented, her bad conduct would lead to rejections from reputable universities. Taking on this responsibility carries too much risk.”

“My opinion aligns with that…”

The school leaders provided a unified opinion on Nan Yan’s situation. The principal turned to the headmaster, “Xiao Xu, what’s your perspective?”

“I believe in Nan Yan. She’s not a bad kid,” Headmaster Xu’s attitude was resolute, “She’s a student with great potential, and we need her for the upcoming computer competition.”

“But compared to the potential glory she might bring, the negative news she’s generating for the school is much more significant.”

The school leaders also had to consider the school’s responsibility.

Zhide high school was a prestigious high school, considered one of the best in the country.

Though it hadn’t produced a top scorer in the national college entrance exam, it had once produced a top scholar, which was already a source of pride.

They had more factors to consider.

If the entire school’s reputation was jeopardized due to Nan Yan, the losses would outweigh the gains.

“I understand your concerns, but Nan Yan promised a resolution within three days. She didn’t come to school today because she’s dealing with this matter,” Headmaster Xu explained.

“With just a day left, I hope you can trust Nan Yan and give her another day,” he pleaded, knowing that others were also acting in the school’s best interest. He had to do his best to convince them to spare Nan Yan.

After hearing the headmaster’s defense for Nan Yan, the other school leaders weren’t as resolute as before.

“Principal, what’s your opinion?”

The principal thought for a moment and said, “Since Nan Yan said she’ll provide a resolution within three days and at the latest by tomorrow, let’s give her one more day to see how she handles it.”

“Then we’ll follow the principal’s lead and see what tomorrow brings…”

However, Nan Yan didn’t make them wait until tomorrow.

That evening, two consecutive posts were pinned at the top of the trending list, occupying the first and second positions.

Remember, An Muyao had spent money to buy a trending spot, and it had only reached the eighth position. The first and second positions were far more expensive and not something a middle-class family like her could afford.

Moreover, those issues weren’t deserving of being at the top of the trending list.

While An Muyao couldn’t afford it, Nan Yan had directly hacked into the backend and pinned these two posts. They were locked, and even the staff couldn’t take them down.

The people who had been waiting for Nan Yan’s response on Weibo, rushed in to see what she had said when they saw the two posts she uploaded. After reading the contents of both posts, they fell into silence.

Then followed by the anger of being manipulated and used as a tool.

Because of these two posts, it was fully exposed that someone was deliberately targeting Nan Yan, wanting to ruin her reputation and expose her to public scrutiny, turning her into a pariah.

The first post was a voice interview with people from Nan Hongyang’s village.

Villager A: “What? You’re saying Nan Hongyang treats their daughter well? Let me tell you, in all these years, I’ve never seen such despicable parents! Just because she’s a girl, that child has suffered so much!”

“She was beaten and scolded since childhood, it’s become routine. At such a young age, she had to serve their whole family, cook, do laundry, chores – she wasn’t even allowed to go to school. Eventually, the neighborhood committee intervened and let her attend school.”

“Even though she got to go to school, she suffered even more. She had to wake up before dawn to work, only allowed to go to school after finishing, and when she returned, she had to immediately do household chores and cook. Even in such conditions, Nan Hongyang and Li Shufen would occasionally beat her, using her as an outlet for their anger. She’s so pitiful!”

“Fortunately, they found out later that she had been swapped, taken away by her biological family. Otherwise, she would’ve been abused to death by them!”

Villager B: “Nan Hongyang and his wife, neither of them is any good. One just plays mahjong all day, doesn’t care about anything else, and the other is always drunk. When drunk, he beats people. That’s when Li Shufen would take her son away, leaving the poor girl outside. We could hear the girl’s cries back then; it was heartbreaking, fearing he might beat her to death!”

“The poor girl’s body was often covered in wounds, even in the dead of winter, she didn’t have warm clothes, her shoes were torn, and her hands and feet were red from the cold. She had frostbite, pus, and blood oozing from her wounds, all while having to do so much work, not even having time to eat.”

“You might ask why we didn’t intervene. How could we? It’s their family matter, and we couldn’t just butt in. Otherwise, those awful people would come to us to cause trouble all day, we couldn’t bear the annoyance.”

Villager C: “Don’t even mention it, Nan Hongyang and his wife are just troublemakers. None of them are good people, but that girl, Nan Yan, she’s genuinely kind-hearted. She often helps us elderly folks with tasks, and we feel sorry for her, so we secretly let her stay and have a good meal.”

“Why secretly? Because if we did it openly, Nan Hongyang and his wife wouldn’t just beat the girl, they’d also scold us for meddling!”

Villager D: ‘

Villager N: ‘

If one person revealed that Nan Hongyang and his wife were not good people, it could be dismissed as it was because the two families were not on good terms.

However, almost everyone said that they were horrible people who abused Nan Yan.. That was the truth!