031 Adding Fuel to the Fire

The students were burning with righteous indignation. “Old Zhang is the one to blame. He said that the students from our village are uncultured, that we dirty the school and pollute its atmosphere.”

The town mayor’s face turned ashen with fury. He pushed through the crowd and reached the security office door, his voice dark as he said, “Open up. This is Chen Guo’an.”

At the sound of the mayor’s voice, the security office door finally swung open.

As Chen Guo’an stepped inside, he was met with a scene that made cold sweat break out all over him.

Two students were pinned to the ground while four security guards wielded riot control equipment as weapons, showing no sign of letting go.

“Put those down! Release them!” The mayor roared at the four guards, his anger uncontrollable. “Who gave you the right? Who gave you the courage?”

After the students inside were freed, the crowd outside grew even more inflamed.

The mayor had no choice but to stand at the doorway, trying to calm the agitated students.

“Everyone, please stay calm and listen to me. I promise you, I will give you all an explanation. Let’s all restrain ourselves, alright?”

But seeing the two beaten students from the village, no one was willing to listen.

As the situation teetered on the brink of chaos, the leader of the inspection team stepped forward in time.

“Everyone, hold on for a moment and hear me out. I’ve been sent by the county magistrate and party secretary to inspect Que Luo Town. If you have any concerns, you can tell me.”

Hearing that the visitor was from the county, the villagers finally calmed down and stopped surrounding the security office.

The inspection team leader immediately took action. “All security personnel are temporarily detained pending investigation. Bring the principal and the director of studies here.”

“The principal is at a meeting in the county, and the director of studies has gone to the hospital to visit the injured students,” said Teacher Yang Yiqing, one of the school’s most senior and respected teachers, having just arrived, still catching his breath.

“This whole mess is the fault of those thugs from the town. They started it. Last year, they beat me badly—I was hospitalized for over a week!”

Seizing the opportunity, Qu Zhanyi jumped in to complain, pushing the situation into the realm of deep-seated corruption.

The inspection leader, puzzled by the sudden appearance of the girl, found his doubts mysteriously fading when Qu Zhanyi skillfully played the role of a kindred spirit.

He immediately believed her.

“What’s your name? Which class are you in?”

“My name is Xu Xinyou, class 4 of junior middle school. I’m the top student in the whole school,” Qu Zhanyi stressed her top ranking, adding, “The injured students also include the number one student in the first year, and the second-year students have been bullied before as well.”

With her words, the incident transformed from a scuffle involving local thugs into a case of bad students bullying good ones—a problem that had persisted for some time.

The nature of the matter changed instantly.

It was no longer a mere student dispute but a political issue, exposing the local government’s incompetence and the unchecked reign of criminal elements that had incited widespread outrage.

The leader’s face darkened; the mayor’s was even darker. The director of studies, who had rushed back, wore an equally grim expression.

They could already sense that their careers were nearing their end.

Qu Zhanyi had achieved her goal.

Knowing she no longer needed to intervene, she slipped back into the crowd, leisurely watching the commotion.

With the inspection team’s involvement, the matter was swiftly resolved.

The entrenched “forces” in the town were thoroughly cleansed, and the school surroundings saw far fewer troublemakers afterward.

Zhang Ren’s family supermarket closed down, and he himself transferred to another school.

Que Luo Middle School replaced a batch of teachers, and overnight, many shops in town shut their doors.

Some left, and new faces arrived.

The changes in Que Luo Town had little effect on the old farmers in the mountains.

They still rose with the sun and rested at sunset,

dedicating their entire lives to the yellow earth...