Chapter 18: The Mother Who Cried with Rhythm

Teacher’s office.

When Li Tie received the tip, he immediately called Fang Yifan and He Chen over, and also notified the security guard to bring any police officers who arrived to this location.

So when she led the three parents over, she saw He Chen and Fang Yifan already standing there, and two officers had also arrived, asking questions.

Her eyes betrayed unrestrained anger.

Fang Yifan, needless to say, hadn’t gone an hour today without causing two major incidents—first pulling off that spectacle in front of the entire school, faculty, staff, and parents, and now even drawing police attention.

But compared to He Chen, her anger toward Fang Yifan had to take a backseat.

How does he show up everywhere?!

What?

Is He Chen just sitting in his classroom while trouble comes knocking at the door?

But a single hand can’t clap—if you hadn’t been so flashy and arrogant before, would this trouble and conflict have arisen?

Why didn't you have these problems when you were low-key?

Your grades are average, you’re in your final year of high school, yet you haven’t tried to improve, instead acting unusually flashy and arrogant—these escalating conflicts are all your doing, He Chen. If Fang Yifan bears one point of blame, you bear ninety-nine!

After some polite exchanges, under Tong Wenjie’s frantic eye signals, Fang Yuan explained to the two officers: “Sorry to trouble you, officers. My son made a mistake—it’s not a genuine money turtle, but just what people commonly call this type of turtle a ‘money turtle’…”

He didn’t follow his wife’s script and claim he’d been fooled.

He was studying law—he might have missed it at first, but now that he realized, admitting he’d been fooled would imply he’d originally intended to buy a genuine money turtle.

“Ah, so that’s it.” The two officers were well-versed in smoothing things over, and since this was a conflict between two high schoolers, they naturally preferred reconciliation.

But they wanted to smooth things over—He Chen didn’t. He spoke up directly: “Is that really true? Hmph! I don’t believe it.”

“He Chen, what are you doing?!” Li Tie, who had just sighed in relief, exploded—now that things seemed settled, He Chen was refusing to let it go. “Have you not caused enough trouble?!”

“Teacher Li, you’re still as blind to the truth as ever, always trying to smooth things over without clarifying facts!” He Chen shot back. “I repeatedly confirmed with Fang Yifan whether this was a genuine money turtle—he firmly insisted it was.”

He emphasized that his father spends all day playing with flowers, birds, fish, and turtles—his home has enough of them to run a small pet market.

No one understands flowers, birds, fish, and turtles better than his father!

And this turtle was specifically bought at great expense by his father as a birthday gift for Teacher Li. With all these factors combined, is “mistake” or “misunderstanding” enough to end this?

The real can’t be fake.

The fake can’t be real!

Please, officers, take the evidence back and have professionals issue an official appraisal report—that’s the only way to satisfy everyone.

To be honest, I believe Fang Yifan couldn’t lie—he’s not clever enough to conceive that his own stupidity would backfire on his father… and I believe his father truly understands these creatures.

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

Otherwise, why keep stressing whether this turtle is genuine?

So I trust his father’s judgment—this is definitely a genuine Class II national protected animal, the money turtle!

As he spoke, amid the shifting expressions of everyone present, he pulled out his phone and took several full-angle photos of the turtle—everyone instantly understood his intent.

He clearly didn’t trust anyone, fearing the turtle would be swapped.

Tong Wenjie and Li Tie turned pale with rage; Fang Yuan’s round face grew pale.

As He Chen said, Fang Yuan spends all day with flowers, birds, fish, and turtles—he’s an expert. He’d never give his son’s teacher anything less than the best; that’s why he repeatedly warned his son to emphasize the turtle’s authenticity and high value, fearing the teacher wouldn’t recognize its worth and wouldn’t appreciate the gift.

He’s spent years in legal work—his word choice is always cautious. He wouldn’t make such a basic mistake, let alone repeat it insistently.

So it’s true!

The turtle he gave was indeed a genuine money turtle!

And the reason he broke the law knowingly is that wild ones are illegal, while farmed ones exist in a gray zone—everyone knows there are protection laws, but enforcement is lax; keeping them at home is hard to detect, falling under “no complaint, no investigation.”

Out of love for genuine money turtles, he just went along with the crowd and forgot this detail.

But who knew he’d run into such a rigid student who reported it to the police and insisted on seeing it through?

This rigid student is right—his own son, Fang Yifan, really did screw him over.

“Is this that serious?” Tong Wenjie, seeing her husband turn pale, felt a chill—her anger had shifted to dread. She whispered urgently:

Fang Yuan gave a bitter smile.

Serious?

This is a Class II national protected animal. If proven, even if the case isn’t severe, it won’t exceed five years—but it still carries a prison sentence of under five years, and the lightest penalty is detention.

That’s at least one month!

More critically, this is criminal law!

Once imprisoned, he’ll have a criminal record—he’ll lose his job.

Who would hire a middle-aged man with no lawyer’s license and a prison record as a company’s legal department head?

But he didn’t speak—He Chen did.

When He Chen voiced his concerns, the room erupted.

Li Tie hadn’t expected He Chen to be this serious—not just unaware of the consequences, but fully prepared. Beyond anger, she felt a fear she refused to admit.

Fang Yifan, realizing he’d not just screwed his father—he’d nearly destroyed him—went berserk. Without a word, he lunged at He Chen: “He Chen, I’ll kill you!!!”

Amid his mother’s scream, the officers, prepared for this, swiftly restrained him.

“You try to attack right in front of the officers, threaten to kill someone—you’re truly brave!” He Chen calmly met Fang Yifan’s bloodshot eyes. “You broke the law yourself—now you won’t even let anyone speak?”

He added: “Officers, I must remind you—Fang Yifan’s father works in legal affairs. He’s clearly aware of the law and broke it anyway. Please record this.”

“Professor Ruan, please calm your child!” Tong Wenjie, seeing things spiraling, forced down her rage and pleaded toward Ruan Lu, hoping she’d intervene to restore order.

She simply couldn’t accept such a dire outcome.

Not only would her husband go to prison or lose his job, but their son was in his final year of high school, facing the college entrance exam—if his father went to prison, how would his studies survive?

And detention leaves a criminal record—it would ruin his future civil service exams.

Plus, her nephew arrives tomorrow—he’s also preparing for his final year here, a top scholar destined for Peking or Tsinghua. If he’s affected too, how could she ever face her sister after death?

Thinking of this chain of disasters, she burst into tears.