CHAPTER 301: CHAPTER 301: CHASED INTO THE REAL WORLD

Looking at the message on the screen that read "You have been blocked by the other party," Wang Meng sighed deeply and turned to look at the desk beside him.

"Director Gao, you yourself said Sang Chuan is a promising talent. Won’t you regret doing this?"

Gao Mingsong’s face was devoid of any excess emotion. He tapped the table with his finger: "No matter how promising he is, so what? Do you think Sang Chuan will have a future under the suppression of the Chu Family?"

Wang Meng felt not only guilt but also began to develop some resistance: "But Sang Ning has helped us a lot. We have so many teachers, if we unite to plead for Sang Chuan, it should work! I refuse to believe the Chu Family’s influence is so strong that they could ignore public pressure and fire so many teachers."

"You’re still too naive!" Gao Mingsong gave Wang Meng a deep glance, "You understand public pressure—if we really defend Sang Chuan, won’t the netizens start questioning whether we’re colluding with the Sang Family? Our task is to protect the school’s reputation, not just some particular student!"

Gao Mingsong’s voice was filled with agitation, his tone carrying the weight of a senior admonishing a junior.

But Wang Meng felt a chill rise in his chest, gradually spreading throughout his body.

Gao Mingsong had changed. He was no longer the righteous Old Gao who once firmly claimed he would defend students’ rights at all costs.

...

Sang Ning felt the situation suddenly becoming tricky—all the teachers had deleted her WeChat.

In the past, she’d relied on mild coercion and threats to help Sang Chuan regain his admission. Now, using the same method definitely wouldn’t work.

The school’s security measures would surely be upgraded; she could no longer enter the campus as easily as before.

The best solution to Sang Chuan’s current problem was to find him another school, but this couldn’t be resolved within just a day or two.

What’s more, with all the Sang Family’s negative trending topics online now, other schools might not even dare to accept him.

Apart from Sang Chuan, Sang Ning was now also worried about Sang Youming and Hu Zhi. After the meal, the two had mentioned they were heading downstairs to buy some things at the supermarket.

But it had already been half an hour, and the two still hadn’t returned.

Sang Youming’s phone was given to Sang Chuan, and Hu Zhi’s phone had been ringing unanswered.

Feeling uneasy, Sang Ning decided to go downstairs herself to see what the two were doing.

Before leaving, she hesitated briefly but decided to put on a mask.

Humans fear fame like pigs fear fattening. This period of her trending black topics had reached even greater coverage than when she’d first transmigrated into the book.

If she went out without a mask, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t be recognized on the street.

Sang Ning dressed in a very low-key way—a casual hooded sweatshirt, her short hair casually tied into a half-bun. Paired with the mask, it was almost impossible to recognize her.

After leaving the house and walking a bit further, the number of pedestrians gradually increased. Even with this highly concealed attire, there were still plenty of passersby who paused and stared, whispering amongst themselves as they observed her.

"Doesn’t she look so much like Sang Ning? Her height and figure are identical."

"I’m not sure. Her figure is undeniably striking, but she’s walking too fast—I didn’t get a good look at her face. Sang Ning’s eyes are so recognizable; the moment I see them, I’d be able to confirm it in an instant."

The passersby didn’t speak loudly, but Sang Ning still captured their words keenly.

After hearing what they’d said, she silently pulled her hood up and lowered the brim slightly to cover her eyes.

Her hoodie was black, and now with the hood pulled up and the mask on, she looked almost like someone ready to rob a bank.

The two small supermarkets closest to Sang Ning’s apartment complex were both checked, but she didn’t see Sang Youming or Hu Zhi anywhere. She continued toward the perimeter of her neighborhood.

Out past the community gates, and walking leftward for another five or six minutes, there was a large commercial store. She thought maybe Sang Youming and Hu Zhi could be there.

The last stop was at the large commercial store, but after circling it twice, she still hadn’t found them. Meanwhile, the shoppers inside occasionally turned their gaze toward her.

Once she left the store, Sang Ning pulled down her mask, took a few deep breaths of fresh air, and then hurriedly pulled the mask back up.

Three supermarkets where Sang Youming and Hu Zhi might have gone had all come up empty. She decided to return home and wait.

On her way back, just as she reached the entrance of her apartment complex, she saw a crowd gathered at the fountain square opposite the main gates.

The group was encircling something, holding vegetable leaves and eggs, hurling insults while tossing them toward the center of the circle.

Sang Ning stood a little far away, unable to hear clearly what they were saying—just that these people seemed very agitated.

She wasn’t the type to watch the commotion, but her sixth sense told her something was wrong. She cautiously approached the crowd, observing their movements.

There were far too many people gathered at the fountain square—at least dozens. Even after getting to the outer perimeter of the group, Sang Ning still couldn’t see what lay at the center of their fury.

It seemed like someone in the middle was calling for help, but their voice was drowned out by the overlapping insults of the mob.

Their vocabulary was also rather single-dimensional; the angry cries were all variations of "Go die, scum!" and "Why don’t you all just drop dead!"

While squeezing into the circle, Sang Ning accidentally bumped into someone’s elbow. That person glanced at her strangely and said, "You’re here for work too? Why didn’t you bring your props?"

"Props?" Sang Ning asked with a puzzled look.

What props? She didn’t understand.

The elderly lady, quite considerate, took out some vegetable leaves from her bamboo basket and handed them to Sang Ning, saying, "Here, take a bit—and hurry up and throw them all so we can finish and go home."

Sang Ning: "..."

She didn’t take the vegetable leaves from the lady but instead pouted in exasperation and continued squeezing deeper into the crowd.

The elderly lady shot her a sideways glare: "Hmph, young people these days—no respect for the elderly or willingness to help out."

"Calm down!"

"Would you all calm down already?"

"Stop throwing! If you don’t stop, I’m going to lose it!"

Finally, as she neared the inner circle, Sang Ning heard the voices of those being attacked.

When the words registered, she stood there dumbfounded—it was none other than Sang Youming and Hu Zhi calling for help!

Sang Ning was livid. It was bad enough the internet was demonizing them as a family, but now it had spilled over into real life? This was absolutely intolerable!

"Stop it, all of you, or don’t blame me for getting nasty with you!" Sang Ning waved her arms, trying to stop the crowd from continuing their barrage of garbage at Sang Youming and Hu Zhi.

But her efforts were fruitless; these people weren’t playing around. They were on a mission.

They wouldn’t stop until every vegetable leaf and rotten egg had been thrown. Only then could they "clock out."

Not only did they ignore her pleas, but they began attacking her indiscriminately as well because she’d stood up for Sang Youming and Hu Zhi.