Chapter 35 - 34: The Dove Occupies the Magpie’s Nest, the Young Master’s Mysterious Background
Chapter 35: Chapter 34: The Dove Occupies the Magpie’s Nest, the Young Master’s Mysterious Background
"..."
After a moment of dead silence, an uproar swept through the whole school.
Because the version they had heard was that the Xu family took the wrong child by mistake forty-five years ago, not that the babies were deliberately swapped. Taking the wrong child was just a passive misunderstanding, but a deliberate swap involved subjective intent—it was a downright illegal act!
Meng Shuyan never expected Shi Changying to make this matter public. He almost wanted to rush up and rip her mouth off. But under the watchful eyes of the public, if he really dared to do so, he would be giving others leverage against him and firmly casting himself as the aggressor.
Meng Shuyan stared at Shi Changying dead-on, his fingers opening and clenching, veins bulging on his neck. In his mind, he had already sliced her into a thousand pieces. He wondered how she could dare do such a thing. How could she dare!
Xu Shuyu frowned, looking at Shi Changying with a bit more coldness and displeasure in her eyes. Regardless, this was the Xu family’s private matter. Bringing it out into the open like this was detrimental to others without benefiting herself. She wondered what the point was.
"Forty-five years later, my father finally returned to the home of his biological parents. Unfortunately, the cuckoo has occupied the nest for so long that some people can no longer figure out their proper place," Shi Changying said unhurriedly. "I am speaking out about this today so that if any ’accidents’ happen to me in the future, you all will know who the culprit is."
As her voice fell, SWISH—the eyes of the entire school converged on Meng Shuyan.
It was true. He was already the one with vested interests, yet he still refused to let her off. He tore up her books this time, but what would he do next?
Shaoyuan’s gaze also finally drifted back to the rostrum at these words. A hint of a smile touched his placid eyes. He marveled at what a brilliant open scheme it was. She indeed never failed to surprise him.
Hearing this, Meng Shuyan glared so hard his eyes nearly split open, flushing crimson. He gnashed his teeth, making a loud GRINDING sound. "Shi. Chang. Ying!"
Shi Changying was completely unfazed by the murderous glare directed at her back. She raised her hand and flicked some imaginary dust off the collar of her school uniform, her tone lazy. "I’m done speaking. The assembly is now dismissed."
The Director of Moral Education was speechless. He wondered why it felt like she was the principal. However, this sort of leadership aura didn’t really seem like it belonged to someone who had just transferred from a rural school. Muttering under his breath, he took the microphone back, instructing the restless crowd of students to quiet down and return to their respective classes.
"Shi Changying, how could you disregard our grandparents’ wishes and bring this kind of matter out into the open?" Meng Shuyan’s gaze looked like it could skin her alive. "Remember this: I won’t let you off!"
Shi Changying took her phone out of her pocket and waved it around. "I recorded that."
"You... what else can you do besides recording?" Meng Shuyan almost choked on his own breath. "Do you have persecution paranoia or something? Is that why you need to record everything all the time?"
Shi Changying casually pulled out a chocolate bean and popped it into her mouth. She didn’t have paranoia, but she did like applying what she had learned.
"Meng Shuyan, you still have the nerve to speak!" Lu Mi, who had run over and heard him, was furious. "If it weren’t for your black-hearted biological grandfather, Yingying wouldn’t have had to wait until now to get her very own smartphone. I was the one who taught her how to use it, too!"
Meng Shuyan was fuming. He was just about to curse at them when he realized the surrounding students were all staring at him. Whispers broke out.
"Young Master Meng is being a bit too aggressive. The Xu family is incredibly wealthy; let alone two more people, they could easily support twenty more."
"Could it really be like the forums said? That Mrs. Meng knew something all along?"
"Who knows? But the Xu family is quite interesting. The babies were clearly swapped on purpose, yet they actually told the public they were taken by mistake. Tsk, tsk..."
The gazes prickled his back like thorns, and the voices cut like blades, making Meng Shuyan feel both wretched and humiliated. His reputation at Jianghuai High School was indeed not as good as Xu Shuyu’s; out of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education, he only excelled academically. But this was still his first time being publicly crucified like this.
"If anything really happens to Yingying, you’re definitely the one who did it!" Lu Mi snorted coldly, linking arms with Shi Changying. "Let’s go back to class. Ignore this vile person."
"What era are we in now? How could anyone not even afford a smartphone?" Meng Shuyan gritted his teeth, seething with anger. "Is it fun to play the victim?"
Shaoyuan suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned slightly, the smile in his captivating fox-like eyes having completely vanished.
Meng Shuyan’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he couldn’t help but take a step back.
To say Shaoyuan was a busybody... he did indeed intervene at times. If any student suffered a grievance, going to Shaoyuan, the Student Council President, was far more effective than going to the teachers. But to say he was always aloof and indifferent... he indeed never took anyone or anything to heart. No one knew Shaoyuan’s background, just as no one could truly get close to him. Every time he appeared, he always carried himself with an air of looking down from above.
Shaoyuan didn’t make a physical move. His condescending tone was gentle yet indifferent. "’Let them eat cake.’"
Meng Shuyan felt as if his breath had been snatched away. He swallowed hard, his throat feeling a bit dry. It was only after taking another step back that the air in front of him cleared up enough for him to breathe.
"Young Master, what’s there to say to him?" Song Qingmu said with disdain. "He comes from wealth and has lived in the lap of luxury since childhood. He probably can’t even fathom how someone could not know where their next meal is coming from. Isn’t that exactly a ’let them eat cake’ mentality?"
The students left in twos and threes. Meng Shuyan remained rooted to the spot until Xu Shuyu grabbed his arm. "Class is about to start. What are you still spacing out for?"
"Shuyu, did you see that? I told you, as things stand, we can’t back down," Meng Shuyan said as he snapped out of his daze, full of grievances and feelings of being wronged. "Look at how she relied on being at school today. If she really enters the Jianghuai social circles in the future, who knows how she’ll gossip about us behind our backs."
Having caught the strange, appraising looks from their classmates, Xu Shuyu was also in a rather bad mood. She looked at Meng Shuyan coldly. "If you hadn’t gone looking for trouble, how would things have ended up like this? Can’t you just behave yourself?"
Regarding today’s incident, she was dissatisfied with Shi Changying, but she was even more dissatisfied with Meng Shuyan.
"I’m just not as manipulative as she is!" Meng Shuyan clenched his fists. "Just she wait!"
Xu Shuyu stopped walking, her voice turning even colder. "Meng Shuyan, can’t you just focus your mind on your studies? If you cause any more trouble, I’m going to tell Dad."
"Fine, Shuyu, I was just too angry to hold it in, so I complained a bit." Meng Shuyan immediately admitted his fault. "It is indeed my fault. I just don’t know what will happen when word of today’s incident reaches Mom’s ears. She’ll definitely be heartbroken again."
Xu Shuyu didn’t give him a friendly look. "And isn’t that all caused by you? Mom’s health is poor, yet you’re always making her angry."
Seeing that he was about to get scolded again, Meng Shuyan gave a dry laugh and changed the subject. "Shuyu, your network is wider than mine. Do you know which family Shaoyuan actually belongs to? Among those major families in Mingjing, there isn’t a single one with the surname ’Shao’."