Chapter 18: Mrs. Fang's Melodic Weeping

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In the teachers' office.

The moment Li Tiegun received the report, he immediately called Fang Yifan and He Chen over and also informed the security guards to direct the police here if they arrived.

So when she led three parents over, she saw He Chen and Fang Yifan already standing there, with two officers approaching and questioning them.

Her eyes betrayed undeniable irritation.

No need to mention Fang Yifan—beyond yesterday’s trouble, within less than an hour today, two major incidents had already erupted. First, a scene in front of the entire school’s faculty, students, and parents; now, the police had been called.

But compared to He Chen, her anger towards Fang Yifan was somewhat tempered.

How is it that he’s everywhere!

What?

This time, He Chen was seated in class; the trouble came from outside?

But it takes two to tango. If He Chen hadn’t acted so recklessly and arrogantly before, would such a conflict have arisen?

When he kept a low profile before, why was there no trouble?

His performance was mediocre; now, in his final year of high school, instead of working hard to improve, he suddenly became arrogant and loud. All these escalations were caused by He Chen. If Fang Yifan bears one percent of the responsibility, He Chen accounts for ninety-nine!

After some polite exchanges and with Tong Wenjie signaling repeatedly, Fang Yuan explained to the two officers, “Sorry to trouble you, officers. It was really a mistake by my son. That is not an authentic golden coin turtle; it’s just that in the market, people generally call this type of turtle a golden coin turtle…”

He did not follow his wife’s narrative about being careless or having a visual error.

After all, he studied legal affairs; if he hadn’t realized at first, fine, but now that he did, admitting a mistake would imply that he initially intended to trade a genuine golden coin turtle.

“That’s how it is,” the two officers, skilled at smoothing things over, especially given this was a conflict between two high school students, naturally agreed to reconcile.

But their willingness to settle didn’t mean He Chen agreed. He spoke up directly, “Is that really so? Ha! I don’t believe it!”

“He Chen, what are you trying to do?!” Just as Li Tiegun was breathing a sigh of relief, seeing the matter almost resolved, He Chen’s stubbornness flared up, and Li Tiegun snapped angrily, “Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

“Teacher Li, as usual, you don’t seek the truth and just want to smooth things over. The facts aren’t clear yet!” He Chen retorted. “I confirmed with Fang Yifan several times whether this is an authentic golden coin turtle, and he was very certain it is.

He emphasized that his father constantly plays with birds, flowers, fish, and insects, to the point that their home could hold a small market for these pets.

No one knows more about these than his father!

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Moreover, his father spent a considerable amount of money to specially buy this as a birthday gift for Teacher Li. With so many factors stacked together, are you just going to dismiss it all by saying it was a misunderstanding?

It’s truly neither fake nor real!

I ask the two police officers to take the evidence back and have it officially appraised by experts. Only then will it be convincing!

Honestly, I believe Fang Yifan wouldn’t lie. He isn’t smart enough to realize that his foolishness would backfire on his father… And I also trust his father’s expertise in this area.

Fang Yifan’s father is a top graduate from the University of Political Science and Law, working in legal affairs for years. He wouldn’t say something so careless.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept stressing whether this golden coin turtle is authentic!

So I believe his father’s judgment: this should indeed be a genuine golden coin turtle, a nationally protected second-class species!”

At this point, amid the changing expressions of everyone present, he took out his phone and snapped multiple photos of the turtle from every angle. The message was clear to all.

He didn’t trust the others and feared a switch.

Tong Wenjie and Li Tiegun’s faces turned pale with anger, while Fang Yuan’s round face looked somewhat ashen.

As He Chen said, his father is an expert in birds, flowers, fish, and insects. The gift to the teacher must be the best; otherwise, he wouldn’t have repeatedly reminded his son to inform the teacher that this golden coin turtle is authentic and valuable, fearing the teacher wouldn’t appreciate or cherish it.

Being a legal professional, he would naturally be cautious with his words, unlikely to make such a basic mistake and keep repeating himself.

So, no doubt!

The turtle he gave is truly an authentic golden coin turtle!

And the reason he knowingly broke the law is that while wild specimens are illegal, captive-bred turtles fall into a grey area. Everyone knows there are protection laws, but enforcement is lax; keeping one at home is rarely investigated, a case of “no complaint, no inquiry.”

Out of love for the genuine golden coin turtle, he just went along with the trend and overlooked this issue.

But who expected to encounter such a persistent student who actually called the police and insisted on pursuing it to the end!

This diligent student was right—his son Fang Yifan really did put his father in a deep hole!

“Is this really serious?” Tong Wenjie saw her husband’s face turn pale and felt a pang of dread. Her complexion shifted from angry to worried as she quietly whispered to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan smiled bitterly.

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Serious?

This is a nationally protected second-class species. If confirmed, it’s no small matter. While it wouldn’t result in more than five years’ imprisonment, it could still lead to up to five years in prison; the lightest sentence would be detention.

At least one month!

More importantly, this is criminal law.

Once imprisoned, it leaves a criminal record, and he would lose his job.

Who would hire a middle-aged former prisoner without a lawyer’s license to be the head of a company’s legal department?

However, his silence does not mean He Chen won’t speak.

When He Chen voiced his concerns, the room fell into an uproar.

Li Tiegun hadn’t expected He Chen to be this serious, not only aware of the severe consequences but fully prepared. Alongside her anger, a trace of fear she refused to admit crept in.

Meanwhile, Fang Yifan, realizing he had truly betrayed his father, was furious beyond reason. Without hesitation, he lunged at He Chen, shouting, “He Chen, I’m going to kill you!!!”

Amid Fang Yifan’s mother’s screams, the police officers, anticipating this, promptly intervened.

“To attack someone in front of police and threaten to kill? You’re really brave!” He Chen calmly retorted, staring at Fang Yifan, whose eyes were bloodshot. “You break the law and crime, yet don’t want others to speak up, huh?”

He added, “Officers, I must remind you that Fang Yifan’s father works in legal affairs and should be considered knowingly breaking the law. Please record this.”

“Professor Ruan, please talk to your child!” Tong Wenjie, seeing the situation spiral, could only hold back her anger and beseech Ruan Lu to intervene and calm the outburst.

She truly couldn’t accept such a serious outcome.

Not only would her husband go to jail or lose his job, but her son, in his final year facing college entrance exams, would be severely affected. If her husband were imprisoned, how could her son focus on studying?

Furthermore, detention leaves a criminal record, which would affect her son’s future civil service exams.

Her nephew, a top student from Jing University and Jinghua Academy, was coming tomorrow to prepare for his senior year exams here. If he were affected, how could she face her own sister when she dies?

Thinking of this chain of disastrous consequences, she broke down and wept aloud.