2: Chapter 2 uncovers two couples.

In the teachers' office, the head teacher, Zhang Qingyun, was grading homework.

He was a middle-aged man in his early forties with slightly thinning hair and a pair of old-fashioned glasses, looking serious and earnest.

Hearing a knock on the door, he looked up and saw a group of students standing at the entrance.

Zhou Yang, who was leading them, had red-rimmed eyes, while Qian Fugui looked indignant.

"Teacher Zhang, I want to check the classroom surveillance footage!"

Zhang Qingyun frowned and said, "What happened? Tell me slowly."

Zhou Yang and Qian Fugui took turns explaining the situation. After listening, Zhang Qingyun swept his gaze over Xu Weidong, Wei Yingying, Wang Ming, and Li Jing, who had followed them in, his brow furrowing even deeper.

"Is it really worth making such a big scene over a hundred yuan?"

Zhang Qingyun put down his red pen and said in a serious tone, "Qian Fugui, look for it carefully again. Did you put it in the wrong place?"

"Teacher, I've already looked everywhere! It must have been stolen!"

Zhou Yang's voice trembled as he said, "Teacher, I don't care about that hundred yuan. What I care about is my innocence."

"If this matter isn't cleared up today, how am I supposed to hold my head high in class in the future?"

Zhang Qingyun was silent for a moment. As the head teacher of the experimental class, he knew the special nature of this class very well.

It contained children from ordinary working-class families, children of provincial and municipal leaders, and children of businessmen like Qian Fugui. Handling such matters required extra caution.

"There is indeed surveillance in the classroom, but retrieving the footage requires a valid reason and approval from the school."

"This is a valid reason!"

Zhou Yang said urgently, "Someone is framing me for stealing money, and I need to prove my innocence!"

"Teacher, I support checking the surveillance!"

Qian Fugui also said, "If it wasn't Zhou Yang who stole it, I will apologize to him in person!"

"And if he did steal it... then we'll deal with it according to school rules!"

Zhang Qingyun looked at Xu Weidong and asked, "Comrade Weidong, what do you think? You were in the classroom at noon, right?"

Xu Weidong answered calmly, "Yes, Teacher."

"Wei Yingying and I were discussing physics problems. Zhou Yang was eating and studying at his seat, and Wang Ming and Li Jing were also in the classroom."

"But I didn't see Zhou Yang steal any money, nor did I notice any money on Qian Fugui's desk."

His answer was very objective; he neither favored anyone nor avoided anything.

Zhang Qingyun then looked at Wang Ming and Li Jing, asking, "What about you two? Do you have anything to say?"

Wang Ming stammered, "Teacher, I think... it might be a misunderstanding."

"Why don't we let Qian Fugui look for it again?"

Li Jing kept her head down and said nothing. Zhang Qingyun sighed, stood up, and said, "Alright, since you all insist, I will go apply to check the surveillance."

"But you need to think clearly. Once the surveillance is retrieved, everything that happened in the classroom at noon will be seen clearly."

As he said this, his gaze lingered specifically between Xu Weidong and Wei Yingying, and then between Wang Ming and Li Jing.

Wang Ming's face turned pale instantly, and Li Jing buried her head even lower.

Zhou Yang said without hesitation, "Teacher, I insist."

"I... I also insist."

Qian Fugui glanced at the others and said, biting the bullet.

"Then wait here; I'm going to the Academic Affairs Office."

Zhang Qingyun picked up the thermos on his desk and walked out of the office.

Only a few students were left in the office, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Qian Fugui found a chair, sat down, crossed his legs, and looked as if he were holding the winning hand.

Zhou Yang leaned against the wall, staring at the floor, his hands clenched into fists.

Wang Ming and Li Jing stood in the corner, whispering to each other, occasionally looking at the door with worry.

Xu Weidong and Wei Yingying stood quietly by the window. Wei Yingying asked in a low voice, "Will everything be okay?"

"The innocent have nothing to fear."

Xu Weidong said simply, but there was a hint of gravity in his eyes.

He wasn't worried about himself, but rather that if the surveillance really captured something it shouldn't have, it might cause trouble for Wei Yingying.

About twenty minutes later, Zhang Qingyun returned, followed by a teacher from the Academic Affairs Office, who was carrying a laptop.

"The surveillance has been retrieved, but I must remind you that we are checking the footage only to clarify the issue regarding the money. Do not pay excessive attention to other unrelated matters. Understand?"

The students nodded. Zhang Qingyun opened the laptop, connected it to the projector, and the classroom surveillance footage appeared on the white wall of the office.

The time was 12:10 PM. Most of the students had already left the classroom for the cafeteria, leaving only five people in the room.

Zhou Yang was sitting in the third row by the window, with books spread out in front of him, taking a lunchbox out of his schoolbag.

Xu Weidong and Wei Yingying were sitting in the second-to-last row, with the same exercise book spread out before them, discussing something.

Wang Ming and Li Jing were sitting in the corner of the back row, huddled very close together.

Qian Fugui's seat was in the middle of the fourth row. It could be seen that when he left the classroom, he did indeed take out his wallet from his desk drawer and pull out a red banknote.

But then, while chatting with someone, he casually placed the money on the desk and hurried out of the classroom.

"Look! I told you I put the money on the desk!"

Qian Fugui pointed at the screen and immediately became excited, as if he had seen the truth.

Zhang Qingyun signaled for him to be quiet and continued playing the video.

In the footage, after Qian Fugui left, Zhou Yang kept eating and reading, occasionally looking up to think about problems, but never left his seat.

Xu Weidong and Wei Yingying kept discussing problems. They were indeed sitting very close, and sometimes they would argue due to different approaches to solving the problems, but it was all normal study interaction.

Wang Ming and Li Jing gradually leaned closer and closer until Li Jing's head rested on Wang Ming's shoulder, and Wang Ming gently put his arm around her shoulder. This was typical behavior of puppy love.

"Fast-forward a bit."

Zhang Qingyun said to the teacher from the Academic Affairs Office; after all, family scandals shouldn't be made public.

The footage fast-forwarded to 12:40 PM. The sanitation commissioner brought the students on duty to start cleaning.

When one of the students on duty was cleaning near Qian Fugui's seat, the broom in their hand hit the desk, and the hundred-yuan banknote fluttered to the floor.

The student on duty didn't notice and kept cleaning, and the banknote was swept to the sanitation corner at the back of the classroom.

Subsequently, another student on duty placed a trash can there, which happened to cover the banknote.

"Stop!"

The footage froze at the moment the hundred-yuan banknote was covered by the trash can. The office fell into silence.

Qian Fugui's face turned from red to white, then from white to red.

Zhou Yang let out a long sigh of relief, but his eyes were already brimming with tears.

Wang Ming and Li Jing's faces were deathly pale, and their bodies were trembling slightly.

Xu Weidong and Wei Yingying exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of worry in each other's eyes.

Although it wasn't puppy love, their interaction at noon had indeed exceeded the boundaries of ordinary classmates.

Zhang Qingyun turned off the projector, turned around, and swept his stern gaze over everyone.

"Now the truth is clear. Qian Fugui, your money wasn't stolen. You lost it yourself through carelessness, and it was accidentally swept into the corner by the students on duty."

"You wrongly accused classmate Zhou Yang."

Qian Fugui opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he just lowered his head.

"Qian Fugui, you need to apologize to classmate Zhou Yang."

Qian Fugui stood up unwillingly and whispered to Zhou Yang, "I'm sorry."

"Louder! Be sincere!"

"I'm sorry, Zhou Yang. I wrongly accused you."

Qian Fugui raised his voice, but his eyes still showed defiance.

Zhou Yang nodded without saying anything.

Zhang Qingyun's gaze turned to Wang Ming and Li Jing, and both of them immediately lowered their heads.

"As for you two, the school strictly prohibits puppy love. You openly engaged in intimate behavior in the classroom, and the impact is extremely negative."

"I must notify your parents!"

"Teacher, we were wrong. We won't dare to do it again..."

Wang Ming immediately began to plead for mercy, and Li Jing had already started sobbing softly.

"You know you were wrong now? It's too late!"

Zhang Qingyun said unmoved, "Go back to the classroom and write a self-reflection first, and bring your parents here tomorrow."

Wang Ming and Li Jing left the office dejectedly. Finally, Zhang Qingyun's gaze fell on Xu Weidong and Wei Yingying.

His expression softened slightly, but he remained serious.

"Comrade Weidong, Wei Yingying, you were indeed discussing studies at noon, but the interaction between the two of you was too intimate."

"Comrade Weidong, I remember your mother, Principal Shen, talked to me before, saying that I should pay attention to your relationship with Wei Yingying."

"Now it seems there is indeed a need to have a proper talk."

Xu Weidong said calmly, "Teacher, we really were just discussing problems."

"I know, but you also need to be mindful of the impact."