1959Siheyuan, a Turnaround

Chapter 497 Pulling and Tugging

"Teachers, classmates... I, I was wrong..."

Yang Qiming spoke in a trembling voice with a hint of barely perceptible emotion.

The letter of self-criticism in his hand was wrinkled all over. He read it out in a long and drawn-out manner, stumbling over the so-called "self-criticism process". The brows of the people in the audience furrowed more and more as they listened.

Li Weiguo, who was sitting in the front row, shook his head secretly and thought to himself: This is not a deep reflection at all, it's clearly just a perfunctory approach.

It took a full half hour before Yang Qiming finished reading the last word with a sense of relief, and walked off the stage in dejection.

Then, the head teacher Xu Changqing walked onto the stage with heavy steps, his face was haggard, his eyes were full of self-blame: "Everyone, as Yang Qiming's head teacher, I have an obligation to do this. It was because I didn't observe him carefully enough and didn't guide him effectively that he went astray and brought shame to the class and the school. I apologize to you all..."

There was silence in the audience, and the teachers and students felt mixed emotions.

Everyone knows that Yang Qiming made mistakes because of his own narrow-mindedness. How could Teacher Xu easily change that?

He committed such an immoral act as plagiarism, but the root cause lies in himself, so what did Mr. Xu do wrong?

However, at this moment, seeing Teacher Xu apologize so sincerely, everyone respected his responsibility even more, and in comparison, their contempt for Yang Qiming also deepened.

"Teacher Xu, why bother? Yang Qiming brought it upon himself. He is the one who should reflect on himself!" someone in the audience muttered in a low voice.

"That's right. The punishment given by the school is considered light. It's too easy for him to just write a self-criticism for plagiarizing other people's ideas!" another classmate echoed.

But things have come to this point, the school's decision has been made, and even if everyone is dissatisfied, they have no choice but to accept it.

However, ever since Yang Qiming made that lengthy and perfunctory self-criticism in front of all the teachers and students, he has completely become a "rat crossing the street" on campus.

Those classmates who used to be so friendly with him now seemed to have made an agreement to avoid him as if he was carrying a contagious plague.

In class, whenever the teacher organized a group discussion, the students would quickly gather together, leaving him alone sitting in his seat awkwardly, his eyes full of loss and unwillingness.

In the cafeteria, the students gathered in groups of three or five, talking and laughing, but he always huddled in a corner and ate alone.

The sound of plates colliding in the cafeteria sounded like merciless mockery to him, striking at his fragile self-esteem.

However, there is one person in Yang Qiming's heart. He has always hidden a passionate love for Lin Wanqing.

Over the past year or so, he always found various excuses to hang around her. Even if he just looked at her profile silently or listened to her clear voice when she talked about mechanical knowledge, he would feel a little sweet in his heart.

Even though everyone is staying away from him because of plagiarism, as soon as he sees Lin Wanqing, his fighting spirit is rekindled.

Lin Wanqing is sunny and confident by nature, and her eyes pursue the light of knowledge and talent.

After what happened to Yang Qiming, he felt that Lin Wanqing became even more distant from him.

This made Yang Qiming feel a sense of crisis. He could tolerate other people's indifference, but he could not tolerate Lin Wanqing's estrangement from him.

So he kept looking for an opportunity, he wanted to explain everything to Lin Wanqing.

On this day, the sunlight shines through the mottled leaves, casting light and shadows on the ground.

Lin Wanqing was holding a pile of mechanical books and walking lightly on the path back to the dormitory. The breeze ruffled her hair, like a beautiful painting.

And Yang Qiming happened to be walking towards him.

For a moment, he seemed to be under a spell, his steps stopped, and his face turned pale and red.

The moment he saw Lin Wanqing, he had the urge to run over and explain, but the shame that welled up in his heart made him want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

After all, the plagiarism incident had caused a lot of controversy, and he knew very well that his image in Lin Wanqing's eyes had plummeted, so he was embarrassed to see her.

The moment Lin Wanqing saw Yang Qiming, she just paused, then pretended not to see Yang Qiming and walked straight past him.

It’s not that Lin Wanqing is impolite, but that Yang Qiming lowered his head the moment he saw her.

She thought that Yang Qiming must be feeling embarrassed about the plagiarism, so since he was embarrassed, it would be okay for her to just walk away.

They pretended not to see each other so that no one would feel awkward, but Lin Wanqing seemed to be thinking too well.

Just when Lin Wanqing was about to pass by him, the resentment and admiration that had been suppressed for so long in his heart suddenly broke through the dam of reason like a surging tide. For some unknown reason, he reached out and grabbed Lin Wanqing's arm.

"Wanqing..." He stammered, his voice dry and hoarse.

Lin Wanqing was frightened by this sudden action and her book almost fell to the ground. She struggled hard and shouted angrily: "Yang Qiming, what are you doing? Let me go!"

What was Yang Qiming trying to do by holding her back? What was wrong with him?

She swung her arms vigorously, trying to break free from Yang Qiming's hand, and struggled, "Yang Qiming, let me go!"

Yang Qiming seemed to be possessed and clenched his hands even tighter.

His eyes were red, and he said anxiously: "Wanqing, listen to me, I know I was wrong, about the plagiarism... I was obsessed, I wanted to prove myself too much, I wanted to be successful in front of you too much, please don't misunderstand me, okay?"

Lin Wanqing struggled hard, the disgust on her face becoming more and more obvious: "Yang Qiming, let me go quickly, just say what you want to say, don't pull and tug, let me go!"

"Wanqing, please listen to my explanation..."

"Yang Qiming, let me go quickly, or I will call for help!"

However, Yang Qiming was not willing to let Lin Wanqing go. He swore to heaven that he really just wanted to explain the plagiarism to her.

However, what he does now is not the case in the eyes of others.

Lin Wanqing was extremely scared, and she became even more certain that there was something wrong with Yang Qiming.

Otherwise, why would he hold me back in broad daylight?

Just when the two were in a stalemate, they saw Li Weiguo and Wang Yong passing by in the distance.

Lin Wanqing was like seeing a savior: "Li Weiguo, Wang Yong, help! Come and save me!"

When Li Weiguo saw this scene, his brows instantly wrinkled into the shape of a "川" character, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes that he himself did not even notice.

He and Yang Qiming had already fallen out over plagiarism, and now seeing him harassing Lin Wanqing like this, the anger in his heart suddenly rose up.

Wang Yong is a straightforward and righteous man. When he saw Yang Qiming pulling Lin Wanqing, he immediately yelled.

"Yang Qiming, what are you doing? Bullying female classmates is nothing!"

When Yang Qiming heard the roar, his body stiffened and he subconsciously let go of his hand.

When he came to his senses, he realized what he had just done.

Lin Wanqing reacted so strongly, was she scared by him?

But when he turned his head to look at Li Weiguo and Wang Yong, a trace of panic flashed across his face, but was immediately replaced by resentment.

The reason he became what he is now is because of Li Weiguo and his men.

He gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "Wang Yong, stop meddling in other people's business. I am in this situation today because of you!"

The next second, Li Weiguo stepped forward like a cheetah, and without saying a word, he stretched out his right hand, grabbed Yang Qiming's collar, and shouted: "Yang Qiming, you are so brave!"

Then, he exerted force with one arm and lifted Yang Qiming up easily.