Chapter 50: Ouyang Qian's Crisis

Returning to his private office, Jiang Yang prepared to begin the day’s work. Now that he was the head of the design department, all client design projects had to go through him.

He wasn’t sure why the company had been so eager to let Supervisor Zhao go, with no face-to-face handover—just digital files. This forced him to spend a great deal of time reviewing all the client information.

Being a responsible person, Jiang Yang examined the client files meticulously and even reorganized the documents himself. He was busy until the lunch break before finally having a moment to breathe.

After staring at the screen all morning, his head felt dizzy. Before eating, he decided to watch some short videos on DouDou to relax his mind.

But when he opened DouDou, the first video shown was footage from a school.

Looking closer, he realized the system had pushed a local breaking news story with a startling headline: "At 9 a.m. this morning, a student at Dongyuan Elementary School jumped from the third floor of the teaching building."

A fourth-grade student had leapt from the third floor, immediately falling unconscious and currently undergoing emergency treatment at the city hospital.

According to the student’s classmates, at the time of the incident, the homeroom teacher, Ouyang, was having a private conversation with the student in the classroom.

Some passing students overheard a dispute between the student and Ouyang, after which the student jumped.

It was reported that Ouyang had been suspended by the school and was under police custody and questioning.

Jiang Yang’s mind went blank. Dongyuan Elementary—that was where Ouyang Qian taught.

There couldn’t be many teachers named Ouyang at the same school, and Ouyang Qian was indeed the homeroom teacher.

That meant the news was about Ouyang Qian.

If it was her, the situation was terrifying. Regardless of the truth, it implied the teacher had driven a student to jump—a devastating social scandal.

Although Ouyang Qian was strict with Feifei, Jiang Yang believed she was not unreasonable.

But nowadays, children were precious to their families; even a mild scolding could lead to parental complaints, let alone a student jumping to their death.

Once such negative news spread, few would believe the teacher was innocent.

He opened the comments section, unsurprisingly filled with accusations against the teacher:

“What did the teacher say to force the child to jump? Such disgrace to the profession!”

“A fourth-grader jumping off a building—teacher, stop playing innocent and come out!”

“Raising a child to ten years old isn’t easy, yet the teacher drove them to this! The school must take full responsibility!”

“Heartless teacher—she should be expelled from education!”

Other comments were even more vicious, filled with personal attacks and inflammatory remarks.

Jiang Yang immediately called Ouyang Qian. After a few rings, she answered, her voice hoarse: “Hello, Jiang Yang.”

“I saw the news. Is it really you?”

“Yes, the child was in my class.”

“What exactly happened? How could this happen?”

“Sigh... I don’t know either. The situation is simple: the child was being bullied by older students. When I found out, I spoke with him to get the details, but he refused to admit anything for fear of worse bullying.”

“I told him that if he didn’t stand up for himself, it would only get worse, and he had to speak out.”

“Unexpectedly, those few words made him feel I was pressuring him, and we argued. In a fit of anger, he jumped.”

“Sigh... how did it come to this? Only the two of us were in the office then. Now, even if I try to explain, it’s impossible to clear my name.”

“Do other students know about this? If the bullying was serious, surely others are aware,” Jiang Yang pressed.

“I’m afraid some do, but they’re scared of retaliation and won’t come forward. The child is still unconscious, and no matter what I say, the parents won’t listen.”

“What can we do? Jiang Yang, I don’t care about myself, but I’m afraid the online abuse will eventually harm Feifei too,” Ouyang Qian began to sob softly.

“Don’t worry. Let me think of a solution,” Jiang Yang comforted her.

“The urgent matter is to get students who know the truth to come forward and inform the school and police that the child was frequently bullied. That way, your account will be corroborated, right?”

“Yes. Though it won’t completely absolve me, at least it will lessen the severity and maybe bring some hope.”

After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Since you’re the homeroom teacher, are there any particularly obedient, trustworthy, and high-achieving students in the class?”

Ouyang Qian stopped crying and asked suspiciously, “Obedient ones?”

“Those who are especially well-behaved and reliable.”

“What are you thinking?”

“It’s hard for you to get the students to testify directly now. We need to rally the student body to create public opinion within the school.”

“The best approach is to have students question their peers and spread the truth. With their support, this matter could turn around quickly.”

Ouyang Qian frowned. “But will the parents of those good students let them get involved? After all, it’s human nature to avoid trouble that doesn’t concern you.”

Jiang Yang smiled slightly. “Tell the parents that if they don’t help expose this, their own children could face the same bullying. The victims will be their own kids.”

“Besides, this is an opportunity to teach their children to stand up for themselves, isn’t it?”

Ouyang Qian suddenly brightened. “I think that could work. Should I talk to the parents about this?”

Jiang Yang was taken aback. “It might not be ideal for you to do it now. The situation is tense, and parents may react negatively to seeing you.”

Ouyang Qian hesitated. “Then maybe I can ask the director of student affairs to speak?”

“That might be better. I suspect other parents wouldn’t want to meet with school staff either.”

“If that’s not possible... then what?”

Jiang Yang hesitated before suggesting, “How about you give me the contact details of a few students? I can visit their homes tonight and try to persuade their parents one by one.”

“Okay, I’ll send them to you soon, but...”

“But what?”

“If they ask what our relationship is, what should I say? We can’t just say we’re unrelated.”

Jiang Yang took a deep breath. “What do you think we should say?”

“Maybe... you could say you’re my partner...” Ouyang Qian’s cheeks flushed a soft pink.