Chapter 129: A Great Uproar

That afternoon, hashtags such as "College Entrance Exam Top Scorer Subjected to School Bullying" and "National Top Scorer Endures Long-term School Violence" exploded across the internet.

To protect her, the reporters had pixelated her and her family's faces in the videos they posted. Tang Yu registered a Weibo account and uploaded the original audio recording. As the heat continued to rise, comments became filled with righteous indignation, with many tagging the Liangcheng Public Security Bureau to demand an investigation.

Taking advantage of the momentum, former students of Qingyuan High School who had been bullied by Meng Shirui began to publicly expose their own experiences. Meng Shirui had a clique outside of school, which included not only students but also many local thugs who acted as her enforcers. Anyone who displeased her in the slightest would be met with a brutal beating, and she would threaten them to keep them from telling their teachers. Fearing further violence and targeting, they hadn't dared to tell their families or call the police, choosing instead to remain silent.

After Tang Yu stepped forward, more and more people—not just from Qingyuan High School, but even from Beiyuan High School—began to speak out. In an instant, public opinion burst like an overinflated balloon, causing a massive uproar online.

Soon, the Liangcheng Public Security Bureau announced the formation of an investigation team to look into the matter. The county magistrate also issued a statement, solemnly declaring that they would follow the case through to the end to provide an explanation to the public and the victims.

However, the netizens, furious to the extreme, remained unconvinced:

"I hope the police really handle this seriously. There are millions of bullies watching how this is handled! If the bully isn't severely punished, then millions of bullies won't think they've done anything wrong!"

"If Tang Yu hadn't become the top scorer, nobody would have cared about this at all!"

"Meng Shirui's family must have strong connections to be this arrogant. I suggest investigating them from the root!"

"Does anyone from Liangcheng know about this? Is this Meng Shirui really that powerful?"

"I'm from Qingyuan High School. Let's put it this way: the Meng family is the richest in Liangcheng. They are in the construction materials business and are partners in almost every major housing development in the county. Just imagine how rich they are. Meng Shirui has beaten so many people without any consequences, partly because she was a minor, and partly because the Meng family has deep connections."

"When Tang Yu was beaten into the hospital, Meng Shirui had to go on stage to read an apology letter. She had zero sincerity, you couldn't hear a word she said, and in the end, it just faded away."

"@LiangchengPublicSecurity Did the Meng family write the laws?"

"True accountability only comes when the perpetrator receives the punishment they deserve and the victims feel fairness and justice."

"Thank you, Senior Tang Yu, for giving us a chance to speak up. I was beaten by her before. I posted several videos, but after Meng Shirui found out, she threatened to break my hands if I posted again... I hope she gets punished. Those days were the darkest of my life."

"I can't imagine what I would do if I had gone through that..."

"These are just the tip of the iceberg of what she's been through. She walked a very difficult road to get to where she is before us..."

"The Minor Protection Law is not a protective umbrella! Say no to school violence! Investigate school bullying strictly!"

"Besides Meng Shirui, there were other male voices in the recording. Did anyone from Qingyuan High School recognize them?"

"Please release the information of those people immediately. For the first time in my life, I want to cyberbully a regular person (smile)."

The comments and reposts under that recording exceeded one million.

—

Meanwhile, at a certain bar, Meng Shirui had booked the entire venue to celebrate her graduation and lunar birthday with all her friends. She always celebrated two birthdays every year.

She had spent her solar birthday with Zhou Xunwen a few months ago. She had invited him this time as well, but he ignored her. It didn't matter, though; her parents had told her that a marriage between the Zhou and Meng families was inevitable—it was only a matter of time.

Under the colorful lights, Meng Shirui, with her exquisite makeup and wearing a red sequined skirt, swayed her waist on the stage, drawing whistles from the crowd. She picked up a bottle of champagne, shaking it amidst the cheering and frenzy of the crowd before spraying foam, sending the room into a wild high.

"Today is my eighteenth birthday, and from now on, I'm heading to college! Everyone, have fun—it's on me!"

Cheers erupted from below. "Thank you, Sister Rui!" "Happy graduation, Sister Rui!" "Happy birthday, Sister Rui!" "Long live Sister Rui!"

Fireworks exploded from all corners. Amidst the falling glitter, Meng Shirui arched her perfectly lined eyelids in triumph. She stepped off the stage in her high heels and sat down at a booth to rest.

A girl next to her stepped forward to massage her shoulders. "Sister Rui, your fiancé didn't come?"

Meng Shirui sipped her drink. "He had something to do. But I'll go to the Zhou family later. If he won't come to see me, I'll go see him."

The girl quickly added, "When you get married, you must invite me, Sister Rui!"

"Sure, you'll all be there." Meng Shirui loved hearing that.

The girl remembered something. "Sister Rui, today is the day the college entrance exam scores come out, right? Did you check your results? Which university are you going to?"

Meng Shirui scoffed, swirling her glass in the light. "Do I need to check my scores?"

She couldn't score even three hundred points, so she couldn't get into a good university, but—

"My parents spent five million to buy me an undergraduate degree in the Imperial Capital. Brother Xunwen is also going to college in the Imperial Capital. We'll be in the same city from now on."

Meng Shirui took a sip of champagne, looking smug. She had said it all along: she didn't need to work hard to get into a decent university. If it weren't for the fact that Zhou Xunwen had to take the exams for Tsinghua or Peking University, and her English was poor, making studying abroad difficult, her parents would have preferred they both go overseas for further studies.

"Sister Rui, I'm so envious of you. None of us can get into college, let alone one in the Imperial Capital. In the future, you and Brother Zhou will be making a name for yourselves in the capital, so don't forget about us!"

The girl's flattery pleased Meng Shirui. She admired her freshly done manicure and sighed, "I heard the air in the Imperial Capital isn't great. I actually don't really want to go, but since my fiancé likes it, I have no choice but to go with him."

As soon as she finished speaking, her phone rang. Meng Shirui answered, and her father's furious voice erupted from the other end.

"Meng Shirui, get home right now! You've made such a mess of things—where am I supposed to hide my face!"

Meng Shirui was stunned. "Dad, what are you talking about..."

"Check Weibo yourself, and get home immediately! Find a way to cover this up!"

He hung up in a rush to figure out how to get those posts removed. Many business partners had already called to ask if the person on Weibo was his daughter. The Meng family's reputation had been completely trashed.

Meng Shirui hung up and opened Weibo, where the trending topics were endless. There was even a headline dedicated to her—#MengShirui #LiangchengMengFamily.

With a sense of growing dread, she clicked in and scrolled through the comments, all of which were condemning her as deranged. Someone had even dug up her photos... every single one of her photos had 99+ abusive comments underneath.

Meng Shirui widened her eyes in disbelief, her pupils nearly dilating. What was going on? How did she end up on Weibo, and why was everyone cursing her?

Until she clicked on that audio recording—

Every word in it had come out of her own mouth, but now they felt like sharp blades piercing her own body.

Meng Shirui was being cyberbullied. Her photos and her actions had been dug up and thrown onto the internet, where she was being criticized and accused!

All those people she had hurt, beaten, and insulted had all stood up in just one afternoon to testify against her. For the first time, she experienced the feeling of helplessness and terror when faced with violence.