Chapter 407 - 420: Counterattack 3
By the time the principal and a group of university administrators found An Ning, the situation had already spiraled out of control.
The combination of An Ning and Hua Cheng was truly a force to be reckoned with.
On the wide athletic field, An Ning marched at the very front, holding a large flag in one hand. Beside her was Zhou Xiaoshan, who had shown up at some point, holding a megaphone for her.
An Ning waved the flag and shouted, her voice echoing across half the campus.
"Jiang Xia, a freshman in the finance department, has had his identity stolen by an imposter! He is now missing, and we don’t know if he’s alive or dead!"
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
A rhythmic drumbeat immediately followed. In the second row was Hua Cheng, a large drum strapped to his chest, hammering away at it with a desperate intensity.
An Guoping and Yang Jianguo, who had rushed over after hearing the news, and Yin Xuemei, who had been there all along, now had small flagpoles strapped to their backs. They held stacks of paper, handing out flyers to every student they encountered.
The flyers showed Jiang Xia’s photo, his college entrance exam scores, and his ID number.
In large red font were the words "missing" and "fate unknown," creating an ominous and impressive scene.
Yin Xuemei and the other two put their silver tongues to work, persuading students and recruiting them to their cause.
When the principal and his entourage arrived, it was as if they had been transported back decades to an era of mass awakening.
Banners, flyers, megaphones, impassioned speeches—it was all unfolding on the campus of Beijing University.
"My God."
The principal let out a heartfelt sigh. He and his group came face-to-face with the crowd led by An Ning.
"An Ning, we can talk about this. There’s no need for all this."
The principal disapproved of An Ning’s methods. She was dragging Beijing University’s reputation through the mud.
"Then what should I do? Investigate quietly and wait silently to arrange Jiang Xia’s funeral?"
An Ning’s question left the principal speechless. He already knew the reason for her protest, but he truly had known nothing about the incident itself.
The principal’s gaze shifted to the vice principal, who was struggling through the crowd behind him.
"Vice Principal Xiao, could you come over here, please?"
Vice Principal Xiao was panicking, but he had no choice but to brace himself and walk over. He was just praying that the people he was waiting for would arrive soon. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to handle this.
The whole situation had developed too quickly, so fast that he couldn’t even process it.
"Principal, you’re here. I tried to persuade An Ning to resolve this in my office, but not only did she refuse, she orchestrated this whole spectacle. The speed at which she organized this is highly suspicious."
"We’re at this point, and you’re still suspicious? Did your IQ get flushed out with your piss?"
An Ning’s words sent the surrounding students into an uproar of laughter.
The principle that a crowd cannot be punished seemed very applicable here.
"You— You’re not worthy of being a university student."
Vice Principal Xiao loudly condemned An Ning, then turned to the principal with a flustered expression, trying to badmouth her. "Principal, look at this An Ning! She may get good grades, but her character is just..."
An Ning, still holding the large flag, said arrogantly, "It’d be nice if your theatrics were as thin as your hair, Vice Principal Xiao."
A perfect double-entendre—the pinnacle of insults.
"Principal— look—"
"Shut up!"
The principal finally lost his patience, abandoning his scholarly, composed, and easygoing demeanor to reveal the authority befitting his position.
"Where is the person in question?"
As the principal spoke, the fake Jiang Xia was pushed forward to stand under the crowd’s scrutiny.
The principal sized up the boy before him. Without any prejudice, he casually posed a math problem. For someone who ranked third in the entire nation, it should have been no issue at all.
After the principal finished stating the problem, the fake Jiang Xia didn’t say a single word. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his lips were pressed into a tight line, and his eyes had a somewhat dull look.
This reaction made the scales in the principal’s mind begin to tip. And as they tipped, a nameless fury began to rise within him.
’Someone actually dared to impersonate another student? And to steal the spot of the nation’s number-three scorer? Did they get their head caught in a door? Is this something that can just be casually substituted?’
"An Ning, what do you plan to do?"
The principal looked at An Ning. ’This student isn’t just intelligent,’ he thought.
"Principal, I just want the truth. More importantly, I want Jiang Xia to be safe."
An Ning spoke with sincerity. The principal glanced at the profusely sweating Vice Principal Xiao, then nodded at An Ning.
"Go ahead. It’s good to carve out some of the rot."
The principal’s decision was swift, correct, and responsible.
He must have known that an impersonation of this magnitude couldn’t have been accomplished by Vice Principal Xiao alone.
"Thank you, Principal. You will come to see just how wise your decision today was."
The principal paid An Ning’s words no mind.
Vice Principal Xiao, standing to the side, looked at the principal and said meaningfully, "Principal, my surname is Xiao."
’Xiao?’
The principal turned his head, his gaze profound. He pointed at the ground beneath his feet and said, "Vice Principal Xiao, this is Beijing University. Its surname is Beijing."
The principal left with his people, allowing An Ning and her group to continue their protest.
An Ning’s group didn’t leave the campus. They simply paraded through the entire university, and soon, everyone—from freshmen and sophomores to even the seniors about to graduate—knew about Jiang Xia’s impersonation.
Not only that, but An Ning actually called the police.
The reason for the call was Jiang Xia’s disappearance, requesting an investigation as a missing person case.
After calling the police, An Ning continued her march around campus. But three hours later, the police appeared again.
This time, they took An Ning away on the grounds of filing a false report and inciting an unlawful protest.
The march was forced to a halt. Hua Cheng and the others nearly got into a fight with the police, but An Ning was taken away regardless.
Like a hero in a TV drama going off to their doom, An Ning shouted before getting into the police car, "Justice will not be late!"
With An Ning taken away, An Guoping and the others were truly panicked. However, Hua Cheng stopped them, and the group went to Zhou Xiaoshan’s house.
When Hua Cheng laid out the entire plan, An Guoping and the others were still worried, but they all sprang into action.
At the same time, the backup plans Jiang Xia had arranged were also set in motion.
The Beijing night was silent and desolate, but an unseen undercurrent was surging violently, and there was no telling where it would crash.
Meanwhile, An Ning was at the police station, undergoing interrogation.
In the interrogation room, two people sat across from An Ning.
"Comrade An Ning, why do you claim the current Jiang Xia is an imposter?"
"Because he is."
"Do you have any proof?"
"Proof? The current Jiang Xia isn’t my neighbor. Do I need proof for that?"
An Ning showed no nervousness about being in a police station. She leaned back, completely relaxed in her chair, and questioned the officers in return.
"According to our investigation, there is only one Jiang Xia. The Jiang Xia from Shili Gou you mentioned does not exist in the household registration records."
’He doesn’t exist? They were really thorough.’
"So what you’re saying is, my neighbor was a ghost? What I saw wasn’t a person?"
An Ning’s deliberate distortion of their words gradually wore away the officers’ patience.
"What we mean is, please face the facts. There is only one Jiang Xia."
"Oh— You mean that idiot?"