Chapter 25: Can’t Bear to Look

His hand had just landed on Lu Qingqiang’s shoulder.

The next second, Lu Qingqiang flipped him over her shoulder and sent him flying.

Lu Jianshen lay on the ground, aching all over: “???”

Who am I? Where am I?

Damn, my whole body hurts. I just want to go home!

If I’d known this would happen, I never would’ve come!

Aaaaaah!

“Second Brother, are you okay?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to just now. It was instinct… cough.”

Lu Qingqiang snapped back to her senses and hurried over, reaching out a hand to help him up.

She really hadn’t meant to throw Lu Jianshen.

These past few days, she’d been secretly practicing the self-defense techniques gifted by the system, and she might have gotten a little too into it.

The moment she saw Lu Jianshen approach, her brain hadn’t even caught up before her body reacted on instinct.

“Mama Lu is amazing! She actually took down a grown man!”

“Yeah, yeah! Mama Lu is awesome, so cool!”

“……”

The Little Radish Heads who witnessed it all started cheering excitedly.

Some even clapped.

Even Yan Fang, who arrived shortly after, looked at Lu Qingqiang with admiration.

Who would’ve thought the director had such good moves?

And such quick reflexes too.

Truly worthy of being the director!

“……” Lu Jianshen, who was now pulling himself up with Lu Qingqiang’s help.

He couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

Ugh, even more annoyed now.

＜(-︿-)＞

“Second Brother, are you really okay? Should I take you to the hospital for a scan?”

“I’m fine. Seeing you unharmed is enough for me,” Lu Jianshen replied coldly.

“Brother Lu, do you want to come with us to release some fish?” Su Zhixing looked at him with hopeful eyes.

“Release fish?”

“Yeah, yeah! Mama Lu said we’re going to raise lots and lots of fish in this big pond.”

“And lots and lots of shrimp in the pond next to it.”

“That way, when the fish and shrimp are fully grown, we can catch them ourselves and eat them!”

“…………” Lu Jianshen’s expression cracked a little.

What kind of decent person raises fish and shrimp to eat in a place that looks like an artificial lake?

The surroundings are so nice, with rock gardens and pavilions. Shouldn’t they be planting lotus flowers or something to make it a scenic spot?

“Lu Qingqiang, you’re really using this kind of environment to raise fish and shrimp?”

“What, are you planning to grow rice and wheat nearby too?” Lu Jianshen scoffed.

“Exactly, Second Brother! You really get me!”

“So? Don’t you think it’s a brilliant idea?”

“…………” Lu Jianshen.

He was just being sarcastic.

And his tone—wasn’t it obviously mocking?

“I’m telling you, aside from this, there’s still a lot of open space in the orphanage that’s perfect for growing vegetables.”

“A few trees and some greenery are enough.”

“All the extra space can be used to grow veggies or flowers.”

“……”

Lu Qingqiang was in the middle of sharing her vision when Lu Jianshen suddenly cut her off.

“Do whatever you want. It’s up to you.”

“I just want to ask—things are getting worse online. How do you plan to handle it?”

“Don’t forget, Mom’s been watching. She’s really worried.”

“Heh, I already gave Hao Xue a chance.”

“If she doesn’t appreciate it and insists on stirring up trouble, then she can’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“Don’t worry, Second Brother. By tomorrow, everything will be settled,” Lu Qingqiang said.

“If you’ve already made up your mind, then I won’t say more.”

“Just remember, if anything happens, call me.”

“I’ll head out now.”

With that, Lu Jianshen turned to leave.

“Wait, Second Brother.”

“Here, this is for you. Consider it a thank-you gift.”

Lu Qingqiang pulled a Zippo lighter from her pocket and handed it to him.

“Ugly!”

“If you don’t like it, fine. Give it back.”

“Lu Qingqiang, since when can you take back a gift once it’s given?”

“I’m leaving. No need to see me off. Go take care of your fish.”

As he strode away, Lu Jianshen raised a hand in a suave farewell gesture.

“See you next time, Little Radish Heads~”

“Bye, Brother Lu!”

******

The next day marked the start of a new week.

News exploded online that Jiang City Loving Heart Orphanage was suspected of child abuse and hiring morally questionable staff.

The name “Yuan Yuan” became a trending topic all on its own.

Clicking into the tag revealed a flood of insults, black-and-white edited photos, and endless posts accusing Yuan Yuan and the Jiang City orphanage of being a cesspool of filth.

Of course, if you scrolled down far enough, not everything was hate.

Some posts hinted that something about the situation felt off.

Unfortunately, those posts were buried under waves of skepticism.

People accused the bloggers of being paid off to whitewash “that bitch Yuan,” and cursed them, saying they hoped their kids would end up in an orphanage and be abused daily.

Seeing this, Lu Qingqiang let out a cold laugh.

This society really is restless.

And people’s hearts? Too filthy to look at directly.

If she didn’t know the truth behind all this, she might have been swayed by the online frenzy too, and assumed that the “Teacher Yuan” in the news was truly a terrible person.

“Teacher Yuan, are you ready?” Lu Qingqiang asked over the phone.

“Ready, Director,” Yuan Yuan’s voice was steady on the other end.

“Then go ahead and post it.”

“Okay, Director.”

After hanging up, Yuan Yuan posted the surveillance footage Lu Qingqiang had sent her on her newly verified personal Weibo account, with the caption: “The innocent have nothing to fear.”

Lu Qingqiang immediately reposted it from the orphanage’s official verified account.

Soon after, her former school, teachers, and friends began to speak out in her defense.

The tide of public opinion shifted instantly.

The woman in the video, Hao Xue, was immediately bombarded with criticism and scorn.

But it didn’t take long for Hao Xue, using her verified Weibo account, to respond.

She posted a video.

It was recorded in a hospital.

In the video, her face was pale, and there was a visible scar on her wrist from a suicide attempt.

Tears streamed down her face as she repented for her mistakes.

Then, suddenly, her tone changed. She began subtly implying that Yuan Yuan had powerful backing.

She suggested that people at the school were only speaking out because they couldn’t afford to offend whoever was behind Yuan Yuan.

On the surface, she was apologizing. But in reality, she was trying to nail Yuan Yuan to the pillar of shame.

She also hoped to use public outrage to unmask Lu Qingqiang, the person protecting Yuan Yuan.

Then the mob could turn on Lu Qingqiang too.

But Lu Qingqiang had already anticipated all of this.

So, when Hao Xue’s pity video went live, she followed up with more evidence.

Hard evidence.

Including, but not limited to, chat logs, videos, photos, and more.

The content detailed everything Yuan Yuan and Hao Xue had done since childhood.

Yuan Yuan had always been a top student, kind and helpful, and had done many good deeds.

She had saved a drowning child, performed CPR on a passerby who went into cardiac arrest, helped a delivery man having an asthma attack find his medicine and rushed him to the hospital.

She often donated her pocket money during emergencies.

There was also plenty of proof of her academic excellence.

Footage of her studying, her exam papers, surveillance from exam rooms—all of it confirmed her integrity.

Hao Xue, on the other hand, had never been a good person.

As a child, jealous of a village girl’s prettier clothes, she deliberately took her through muddy roads.

She tripped the girl on purpose, then pretended to help and comfort her.

In high school, frustrated with her poor grades, she buried herself in studying.

But her results stayed average, so she resorted to writing cheat notes on her thighs to get into the honors class.

Once in, she started stealing classmates’ notes.

She pretended not to care about studying and acted like she only liked to play, while secretly studying under the covers with a flashlight.

And that was just the beginning.

The most outrageous part was that she ignored her friend’s pleas for help, thinking her friend was just being overly dramatic.

In the end, when the friend began to distance herself, she claimed it was because the friend looked down on her family background and didn’t want to associate with her.

Even the so-called incident of “dating three people at once” was actually something she herself had done.

After entering kindergarten, Mingming showed clear dislike for the other children’s crying and accidents like wetting their pants.

She would often scowl.

When she got angry, she would secretly hit the other kids.

But all her misdeeds were done in private.

The surveillance cameras never caught anything.

She left no marks after hitting them.

She even threatened the children, warning them not to tell anyone.

All of her vile behavior was exposed in full.

Some of it had been uncovered by private investigators hired by Lu Jianshen, while some had been provided by the system.

Now, everything had been laid bare online, right in front of the public.

After reading it all, netizens exploded with outrage.

At the same time, the hashtag 【Teacher Yuan Yuan, I’m sorry, I owe you an apology】 quickly shot to the top of the trending list.

Even the Jiang City Loving Heart Orphanage, which had taken Yuan Yuan in and publicly spoken up for her that very morning, was suddenly pushed into the spotlight and became a trending topic.