Hongru Academy had cultivated many exceptionally outstanding leaders for numerous countries.
As an increasing number of elites graduated from the same institution and received extensive media coverage, this elite school, once known only within small circles, began to gain worldwide fame.
Countless royal and noble families sought to apply for admission, but all were rejected by the academy.
The senior leadership believed that excessive political interference would alter the school’s essence. To maintain its original purpose of educating and nurturing talent, the academy began refusing to admit foreign nobility.
Despite this, Hongru Academy’s reputation spread far and wide. With the absence of competition from foreign royal families, many affluent households started preparing from the moment their children were born for their future enrollment in this top-tier institution.
Families with greater resources held a significant advantage over students from ordinary backgrounds with limited access to information when it came to understanding Hongru Academy.
This led to the students of Hongru Academy becoming increasingly prestigious with each passing year.
He Ying was, in many years, the most prestigious student aside from foreign royalty.
However, the meeting convened specifically for He Ying was not intended to ensure her comfort at the school. Instead, it was to caution all teachers against granting her any preferential treatment due to her status. Additionally, any unusual behavior from He Ying, especially concerning her relationships with other students, must be reported immediately.
Students at the school came from diverse family backgrounds, some with vast disparities. While teachers could treat them equally within the school, society would not do the same once they left its gates.
Hongru Academy’s teachers were consistently required to consider not only the students’ circumstances within the school but also their situations outside of it.
When conflicts arose between students within the school, judgments could be made based on facts. However, teachers also had to carefully consider whether such judgments might impact a student’s life after graduation and handle matters accordingly.
Over the years, Hongru Academy had developed its own methods for balancing student dynamics.
Some matters required exposure to achieve justice, while others needed to be suppressed to ensure students’ well-being.
In the original timeline, the headmaster discovered that Xia Shuyue was being bullied but did not immediately intervene on her behalf.
He understood that he could only assist Xia Shuyue within the school. Once she left, she would have to rely solely on herself.
Sometimes, avoiding the spotlight, staying hidden, and maneuvering discreetly to preserve dignity and provide exits for all involved was the path to survival.
At other times, the opposite was true.
Students at Hongru Academy could not blatantly violate school regulations.
As long as evidence of a violation was found, regardless of identity or status, the first offense would result in a warning, the second in disciplinary action, and the third in immediate expulsion.
However, the prerequisite for such penalties was evidence.
Without evidence, all school regulations were meaningless.
He Ying was currently the top student at the school, capable of easily erasing all evidence.
Everything about her required constant vigilance.
During the meeting convened for He Ying, all teachers were instructed that if she took actions affecting other students, they must promptly gather relevant evidence and decide whether to escalate the matter based on its severity.
Faced with the He family behind He Ying, if she exhibited abnormal behavior, protecting the students in the school from her would require first deciding whether to suppress the issue or escalate it.
How to ensure students could grow up more securely was the primary concern teachers needed to consider.
The principal’s appearance in He Ying’s class today was not for any other reason but precisely because He Ying’s special attention toward Chi Jingsheng and Shangguan Mingyu over the past two days had been noticed by teachers and reported to him.
Frankly, the principal was quite surprised.
Based on past experience, most spoiled children from wealthy families would choose to bully Special Admission Students, seeking advantage and avoiding harm by targeting the weak.
The school teachers had also been vigilant about He Ying potentially targeting the Special Admission Students in her class.
It turned out He Ying did indeed act, but her direction of action was completely different from what everyone imagined.
She went big, directly bullying Chi Jingsheng and Shangguan Mingyu, who were also from wealthy families.
Thinking about how he had privately contacted Shangguan Mingyu’s parents not long ago, detailing Shangguan Mingyu’s domineering and rude behavior and the trouble it caused for classmates, the principal sighed heavily.
It hadn’t been long since then, and the content of his contact was about to become Shangguan Mingyu being suspected of being bullied by He Ying.
His heart was shattered.
Today, he came for one thing: assessing He Ying’s level of danger.
Based on his initial contact so far, he believed He Ying was extremely dangerous.
But how to handle this matter still required further observation and consideration.
Thinking this, the principal patted He Ying’s shoulder, as if encouraging her.
Afterward, he continued forward, stopping before a male student and continuing to ask questions.
Only this time, he didn’t ask subjective questions anymore but instead asked some ordinary content requiring memorization.
He Ying glanced sideways to observe the principal’s movement trajectory. Seeing that the principal didn’t notice Xia Shuyue at all and simply turned to leave, she widened her eyes slightly.
Oh, righteous principal! Such a big Xia Shuyue there without textbooks—did you not see her? Why didn’t you go over and talk to Xia Shuyue as in the plot…
Actually, regarding the answer, He Ying herself knew.
The only variable in the entire worldline was herself; she had altered some details so the principal couldn’t notice Xia Shuyue.
But He Ying hadn’t expected the butterfly effect in this world to be so pronounced.
In other worlds, even if she made some actions altering development, the worldline would correct itself more or less.
Especially for key plot points affecting the protagonist, she had to exert great effort, involving many causal connections to deviate it from its original course.
Yet the rules she summarized from 100 worlds seemed not applicable here.
Perhaps because this was a corrected world.
Morning reading ended. Just as He Ying got her phone to ask Shangguan the big fool to bring textbooks for Xia Shuyue, she noticed Xia Shuyue had already been surrounded by four or five people and escorted outside the classroom.
There was a 20-minute interval between morning reading and the official start of classes, during which many things could be done.
He Ying inexplicably recalled the scars she saw on Xia Shuyue that day.
Xia Shuyue was an extremely crucial link for her in completing tasks.
All her task advancements were closely tied to Chi Jingsheng, and long-term tasks required being continuously rejected by Chi Jingsheng for seven years.
And Chi Jingsheng’s original motivation stemmed from Xia Shuyue.
In other words, controlling Xia Shuyue meant controlling this world’s mission.
By analyzing the turning points in Xia Shuyue’s behavioral changes and her past experiences, He Ying concluded that controlling Xia Shuyue was simple—she just needed to make her feel secure.
He Ying had successfully completed missions across 100 worlds, not by luck nor by passively following each task step by step.
She was adept at identifying the weaknesses in missions.
The weakness in this world’s mission was undoubtedly Xia Shuyue.
Originally, He Ying planned to take a longer approach, aiming to secure Xia Shuyue completely in one decisive move. However, it now seemed that today presented a perfect opportunity to plant a seed in Xia Shuyue’s heart.
He Ying didn’t message Shangguan Mingyu but followed alone instead.
After walking a few steps, He Ying noticed someone tailing her. Turning around, she spotted a twin-tailed girl blending into the crowd, pretending to be casual.
He Ying pretended not to notice Ying Ying and continued heading in the direction where Xia Shuyue had been taken earlier.
She remembered there was a blind spot for surveillance cameras there, and Xia Shuyue was likely in that area.
He Ying wasn’t mistaken. As she approached, she heard insults.
“Look at yourself—what status do you have? Competing with the young lady for a man? Shameless wretch, kneel and apologize!” The voice was grating, sharply irritating He Ying’s ears.
Rubbing her ear, He Ying thought: This is truly the standard voice of a cannon fodder character.
“Still not kneeling? Hold her down. Today, I’ll teach this cheap thing how to behave properly on behalf of Young Lady He.”
At this moment, He Ying finally realized that the “young lady” the cannon fodder was referring to seemed to be her.