Meng Shuyan’s voice abruptly cut off, his face suddenly darkening. "What nonsense are you talking about? How could it not be there? Play it again, and look closely!"
The captain of the security team helplessly clicked play again. "Mr. Meng, there really isn’t."
Meng Shuyan’s smile froze. The surveillance footage indeed showed only his figure. He could only see himself entering the restroom with his backpack, then coming out looking utterly disheveled. During this entire time, there was absolutely no sign of a second person.
In disbelief, Meng Shuyan grabbed the computer screen and watched it several more times. "Shi Changying, where are you? Did you turn invisible?"
"Aha, you really are just slandering Yingying!" Lu Mi said loudly. "You wanted to watch the surveillance, and now you have. It’s obvious that you jumped into the latrine pit yourself and tore up your own posters! Now you’re even claiming Yingying can turn invisible. Why don’t you just say she’s a celestial being!"
The security office wasn’t large enough to let over a dozen students inside, but the door was open. They all heard Lu Mi’s words and revealed expressions that said they knew it all along.
"I knew Young Master Meng was slandering the transfer student. How did he even have the nerve to demand to see the security footage?"
"Who knows? Maybe he lied so much he ended up fooling himself."
After watching the footage one more time, Meng Shuyan nearly ground his teeth to dust. "Impossible. She definitely did it!"
But who could explain to him why the camera hadn’t captured Shi Changying?
A voice rang out, piercing through the crowd. "Are you so certain because you did something to her first?"
The students blocking the entrance to the security office suddenly parted, clearing a path. A breeze swept in as a young man slowly walked forward.
"Young Master!" Lu Mi exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Shaoyuan was a truly enigmatic figure at Jianghuai High School. You might have heard his name, seen him in person, or even spoken to him and received his smiles and help, but you would never truly know what kind of person he was. He was always distant from everyone else, and no matter what method you tried, you could never get close to him.
"W-What did I do?" Upon seeing Shaoyuan, Meng Shuyan’s gaze shifted evasively, but he still stubbornly insisted, "I didn’t do anything! I’m the victim here!"
"Is that so?" Shaoyuan leisurely slipped on his school uniform jacket, acting as if there was no one else around. "Then what are you so afraid of?"
Putting on a brave front despite his inner panic, Meng Shuyan retorted, "A living person disappeared from the surveillance footage for no reason! Who wouldn’t be afraid of such a paranormal event?"
Shaoyuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you saying my desk mate is a ghost?"
"I..." Meng Shuyan was at a loss for words, his face turning pale then green. "Fine! I’m just unlucky this time. I’ll take the loss!"
He angrily tried to storm out of the security office, but someone grabbed him by the collar. The grip was so strong that it forced him to stumble backward. He was dragged back several steps before he finally regained his balance.
Completely ignoring the shocked gazes of the spectating students, Shi Changying let go and clapped her hands. "Coming and going as you please? Where in the world is there such a good deal?"
Meng Shuyan flew into a rage out of humiliation. "I decided not to make a fuss with you, and now you’re pushing your luck?"
"Make a fuss? You don’t have the right to make a fuss with me." Shi Changying slowly stretched her back, then reached out and tapped on the desk. "Xiao Mi, you can use a computer to project a video onto a large screen, right?"
Lu Mi didn’t know why she was asking this, but she still answered, "Right!"
As if guessing what she was about to do, Shaoyuan lightly raised an eyebrow.
"I don’t know how to use a computer. Operate it for me." Shi Changying took out a tablet she had prepared beforehand.
"No problem, leave it to me." Lu Mi agreed without hesitation. After uploading the video from the tablet to the computer, she looked troubled by the dozens of Bluetooth device numbers listed. "There are so many screens. Which one should we project it to?"
Behind her, Shaoyuan crossed his arms, nonchalantly glanced at the screen, and said, "SP300."
Out of absolute trust in Shaoyuan, Lu Mi clicked connect without a second thought.
Song Qingmu asked curiously, "Young Master, where is the SP300 screen? The principal’s office?"
Shaoyuan didn’t answer. He turned his head, his lazy gaze passing through the window to land on the sports field.
Following his line of sight, Song Qingmu instantly grew excited. "Young Master, you never disappoint!"
By the time Meng Shuyan realized what was happening, it was already too late. In a place he couldn’t see, his figure appeared on the giant central screen opposite the grandstand on the sports field.
The students currently taking their physical education classes could see it with crystal clarity. They watched him take three yellowed books out of a storage room, smugly tear them apart, and then lead a dog to deliberately trample over the shredded pieces of paper.
"Huh? Young Master Meng is a young master from a prominent family, after all. Why does he have the expression of a petty villain gloating over his success?"
"Young Master Meng’s academic performance isn’t bad, but he really falls far short compared to his cousin and biological sister."
"That actually relates to a wealthy family’s secret I just learned yesterday. My uncle had too much to drink at dinner and blabbed about it. He heard it from his boss."
"Spill it, spill it! Don’t keep us in suspense!"
"This matter has already spread throughout Jianghuai’s upper-class circles. The Xu family took home the wrong baby from the hospital, and they only found out after raising her for over forty years! Coincidentally, the child who was switched at birth is Young Master Meng’s mother."
"What, what, what? So Young Master Meng has no blood relation to the Xu family?"
The students were completely engrossed in the story. Even a few P.E. teachers silently perked up their ears to listen to the gossip. After all, this was a juicy scandal about a wealthy, powerful family.
Back in the security office, the atmosphere had frozen solid.
"Wow, Meng Shuyan. It was clearly you who tore up Yingying’s books first! No wonder you were so certain that Yingying did the same thing to you." Lu Mi was furious. "You despicable hypocrite, crying thief while being the thief yourself!"
Meng Shuyan never expected that Shi Changying would actually bring the Xu family’s surveillance footage to school. He stubbornly refused to admit it. "This is an AI-generated video! It’s fake!"
"Heh."
A soft chuckle fell into the silence.
It carried no hint of mockery, yet it made Meng Shuyan feel a certain kind of profound embarrassment, instantly silencing him. Shaoyuan clearly hadn’t even looked at him, but Meng Shuyan still felt some sort of invisible restriction binding him.
In her effort to integrate into the modern world, Shi Changying never let a single learning opportunity slip by. "What is AI?"
"Artificial Intelligence. AI is very advanced nowadays; sometimes it can pass off the fake as genuine," Song Qingmu whispered. "My grandpa once received a video call from my dad, but he later found out it was generated by AI. As an honors graduate, the old man was nearly scammed. He was so angry that he cursed out today’s scammers as despicable and low-down in our family group chat."
Shi Changying only caught the last three words. Understanding dawned on her as she cast a glance at Meng Shuyan. "Despicable and low-down."
Meng Shuyan’s rage shot straight to his head. "What did you say?"
"Meng Shuyan!" At that moment, a cold voice rang out. It was the principal’s assistant, his gaze icy. "Principal Ning wants you to go to the office."