After Mu Jingzhe discovered the reason, she sneered at the dodging woman in the high heels.

  “Is this the example you’re setting for your daughter? Instead of asking her to focus on learning and work hard, you’re teaching her to use vicious methods. Do you have a grudge against your daughter?”

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t see any maternal love in High Heels’ ways.

  This was harming the child.

  “I’m doing this for her own good!” High Heels refused to give in. “Our family is well-off, so why can’t I do that?”

  “Yes, you’re a force to be reckoned with in the county. You’re capable, but there’s always someone better than you. If you encounter someone you can’t deal with in the future, are you going to deal with them like this? Or are you going to just kill them? Aren’t you afraid that your daughter will imitate you and end up like you, stinking inside out and rotting in jail?”

  Mu Jingzhe was destroying her mentality right now.

  High Heels couldn’t retort.

  She wanted to say that she would deal with the obstacle in front of her first and think about it later.

  However, when she saw her daughter’s horrified gaze, she couldn’t bring herself to say that out loud.

  This time, she was completely defeated.

  Utterly shamed. A complete failure.

  The teacher heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Mu Jingzhe, who was speaking her mind for her. A hint of admiration flashed across her eyes as she looked at everyone and spoke solemnly.

  “Did you see what happened today? Shao Bei was framed. I hope this won’t happen again. If this happens again, you will just leave. Our school doesn’t dare keep such students.”

  The parents and students who had helped attack Little Bei previously were embarrassed.

  Not everyone was necessarily snobbish or tried to curry favor with those in power. However, most of the time, they would still follow people with a higher status, or they would not dare go against them and would simply watch from the sidelines to protect themselves.

  The teacher could understand that too, but she added, “You have to put an end to this kind of thing in the future. Otherwise, although the person who was framed today was Shao Bei, your child may be next tomorrow. You don’t want to see this happen, right? In order to avoid such a situation, everyone should actively condemn such incidents to stop them from happening again.”

  Everyone turned solemn.

  That’s right. If someone had deliberately framed the child because the people from the broadcasting station had come today, then the perpetrator would also have the chance to do so in the future. If their child performed well and stood in their way, would their child fall victim to such a plot too?

  The adults who had been on High Heels’ side just a moment ago immediately moved away from her and pulled their children to their side.

  High Heels had swapped places with Little Bei and was now isolated and helpless, criticized by everyone.

  “Apologize to Shao Bei.”

  The teacher voiced her final request.

  How could High Heels be willing to do that? Just as she was about to throw a tantrum, her daughter burst into tears.

  “Mommy…”

  Upon seeing her mother get criticized, the little girl felt afraid.

  One second, she was like the moon surrounded by a myriad of stars, and the next, she was all alone. Unable to take it, she’d immediately burst into tears.

  \r \r \r

  High Heels picked up her daughter and didn’t dare deny it anymore. No matter how unwilling she was, she could only apologize to Little Bei.

  Only then did Little Bei, who had been trembling, calm down.

  The murderous look in the eyes of Shao Dong and his siblings, who had been staring at them and killing them with their gazes, lessened a little.

  Shao Dong, Shao Xi, and Shao Nan looked at Mu Jingzhe with complicated expressions.

  Mu Jingzhe had protected them again. Once more, she had protected their younger sister.

  Xiao Wu only had admiration and relief in his eyes. When he saw the little girl look over, he even waved his tiny fist and bared his teeth in a threatening manner.

  The little girl pouted in grievance.

  But this was nothing.

  While her mother carried her away, she looked at her classmates who were close to her, but none of them looked at her.

  Their mothers repeatedly warned them not to play with her anymore and even scared them.

  “Stay away from her in the future, okay? Otherwise, you’ll become a thief.”

  “Stop playing with her, or you’ll become a thief before you know it. She and her mother will corrupt you.”

  High Heels stiffened when she heard that, whereas her daughter wailed in grievance.

  However, no one came forward to console them.

  Later on, the little girl wouldn’t have any friends when she came to school again. The pocket watch she liked to use to frame others would get smashed in the toilet the next day. No one would know who broke it.

  Due to her mother’s extreme actions, her daughter would face the consequences and be completely isolated at school. This would even have adverse effects on her husband.

  After this, the little girl would never come to the art school again.

  This would all happen in the future.

  After the dispute was settled, the teacher apologized to Mu Jingzhe and said that she hadn’t done a good job.

  Mu Jingzhe didn’t vent her anger on her. Instead, she picked up Little Bei and led the children out of the school.

  When there was no one around, Little Bei, who had held back her tears despite how angry or aggrieved she was because she didn’t want to go against her father’s teachings or be belittled, couldn’t help but cry in Mu Jingzhe’s warm embrace while hearing her comforting voice.

  “Boohoo… I’m so scared… Boohoo…”

  The five-year-old girl had endured this for too long and finally burst into tears.

  Tears rolled down her face.

  However, she still remembered her father’s words, so she didn’t cry out loud and merely sobbed in a restrained manner.

  Compared to wailing, this kind of sobbing was even more heartbreaking.

  With red eyes, Shao Dong and the others clenched their fists tightly. They wanted to comfort her but were clumsy and didn’t know how to go about it. They could only swear that they would grow up and protect their younger sister in the future.

  Mu Jingzhe, who was consoling Little Bei, couldn’t help but tear up as well.

  “Little Bei, stop crying. It’s all my fault. If I had kept an eye on you, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. I’m sorry…”

  “Auntie, don’t cry…” Little Bei was still crying. With teary eyes, she used her little hands to wipe Mu Jingzhe’s tears and comfort her.

  Mu Jingzhe’s heart ached even more.

  The two of them hugged each other and cried.

  Upon seeing them cry, Xiao Wu also started crying.

  Shao Dong bit his lips tightly, and his eyes were red.

  Shao Xi clenched his fist and comforted her stiffly. “Stop crying.”

  Ruthlessness flashed across Shao Nan’s eyes. He pinched himself to stop his tears from falling.

  Ji Buwang, who was late and couldn’t catch up, quickly chased after them when he heard what had happened.

  What he saw made him freeze in place.

  Just a moment ago, he had thought it was a pity that he hadn’t yet gotten to see Mu Jingzhe cry.

  Now that he could see it, he hoped he would never see it again.

  It turned out that crying was a terrible thing.

  He wished he could slap himself.

  Why would he say something like that to her?

  Seeing her cry once was enough.

  He hoped that he wouldn’t have to see this ever again.

  Ji Buwang closed his eyes and didn’t disturb them.

  *****

  After calming down from crying, Mu Jingzhe felt uncomfortable all over and didn’t dare look at the kids.

  This was way too embarrassing.

  How old was she to cry in front of these children?

  How embarrassing.

  It was only because she was so thick-skinned that she didn’t run away.

  She didn’t dare look at them, so she didn’t notice that the way the kids were looking at her had really changed a lot.

  After eating the food she had brought from home and seeing that the rain had stopped, Mu Jingzhe made herself forget the embarrassing crying incident and told the children, “Come on, let’s go buy sandals.”

  She had heard what the students had said previously.

  She had heard them say Little Bei was the poorest in their class, she could not even afford sandals, and she was dirtying their classroom.

  Wasn’t it just a pair of sandals? They would buy one too.

  Mu Jingzhe looked at the damp shoes on their feet and felt very upset.

  She felt that she wasn’t doing enough.

  The ultimate reason behind today’s incident was that Little Bei wasn’t dressed well and had been bullied as a result.

  If she wore better clothes, they would think twice before bullying her.

  In that case, she had to work harder.