This milk tea shop had been open for nearly fifteen years.

Of course she knew about what Teacher Yu had done back then at Xiangyun Kindergarten.

“Don’t overthink it. I’m just cooperating with the police and answering a few questions. Actually, you know about this too,” Teacher Yu said openly, showing no intention of hiding anything.

He even took the initiative to introduce her to Gu Yezhou and Sang Ning.

“She’s been running this place for fifteen years. She knows everything that happened at the kindergarten back then.”

“Can I get an ice cream cone?” Sang Ning had been staring at the soft-serve cart outside for ages.

As for the conversation between the two of them, she barely paid attention.

The shop assistant immediately brightened.

So they were talking about something from years ago?

Now that was a story she could really get into.

After handing Sang Ning a cone, she gave one to Gu Yezhou too.

Gu Yezhou looked at the freezing thing in his hand, then at Sang Ning’s utterly satisfied expression, and could only resign himself to eating it with her.

What else was he supposed to do? Let it melt?

Sang Ning glanced at the price and immediately scanned the QR code to pay.

The shop assistant froze.

“There’s no need. Consider it my treat.”

Even Teacher Yu had just been about to order milk tea for them when Sang Ning said, “Pack seven drinks for me later. Your store’s best-selling signature drinks.”

Honestly, places near schools really were cheap.

“You’re too polite, Officer,” the shop assistant said with a grin.

And so pretty too.

She liked her even more now.

Sang Ning bit into the ice cream. Seeing that Gu Yezhou still wasn’t speaking, she took the initiative.

“Alright. You can start now.”

Teacher Yu sat across from the two of them, even dragging the shop assistant over to listen as well.

“This is what happened. Ten years ago, I once saw Teacher Chen being scolded by Dong Ruiyang for dressing ‘like a slut.’ Some of the children heading out after school even heard it.”

“I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I argued with him. No matter what, he was just a security guard. Even if Teacher Chen were his sister, he still had no right telling a woman how to dress.”

The shop assistant smacked her forehead.

“Oh! So you’re asking about Teacher Chen? Then who’s Dong Ruiyang?”

The name sounded strangely unfamiliar.

She had never heard it before.

“He’s Teacher Dong’s older brother. He worked security here ten years ago,” Teacher Yu sighed. “Back then, this whole thing caused a huge scene. Dong Ruiyang constantly criticized Teacher Chen’s clothing, but not long after, she got pregnant.”

“At the time, Teacher Chen and I were fairly close. I worried that Dong Ruiyang had bad intentions toward her, so I offered to walk her home.”

“Our houses were nearby anyway. She thought it’d be nice to have company on the way back, so we often left together.”

“But after she got pregnant, someone in the kindergarten started spreading rumors. I don’t know who started it, but people began saying the child was mine because Teacher Chen and I were close.”

“But how was that possible? We were just coworkers. Besides, I had a family. Why would I be involved with Teacher Chen?”

“I guess the rumors grew too loud. The principal called me in and said my conduct was inappropriate, that I was getting older and should look for work elsewhere.”

“I don’t know where Teacher Chen heard about it, but the moment she found out, she stormed straight into the principal’s office and declared the baby wasn’t mine.”

“Honestly, I was shocked too. Teacher Chen dressed well and carried herself properly. She was simply very beautiful. Just like this officer here.”

As he spoke, Teacher Yu gestured toward Sang Ning.

Sang Ning blinked at him while elegantly eating her ice cream, a bit of cream still clinging to the corner of her lips.

She had been listening with complete focus.

How had the topic suddenly shifted to her?

“When beautiful people dress nicely, everything they wear looks good. But to men like that, even showing a little leg becomes seduction.”

The shop assistant looked indignant.

“So the reason you nearly got fired really was because of Teacher Chen? Honestly, that Teacher Chen wasn’t exactly innocent either. Once she got pregnant, she should’ve just said who the father was. Why let everyone misunderstand you for so long?”

“I remember—you were competing for the principal position back then too, right?”

“Your kindergarten wasn’t like the others. As long as you had good conduct, were loved by the children, and managed multiple classes well, you could qualify for the principal evaluation.”

Gu Yezhou frowned.

“That kind of system existed? Then Chen Yuzhu was one of the candidates too?”

Teacher Yu nodded.

“That’s right. At the time, the people competing for the principal position were me, Dong Yunzhou—Dong Ruiyang’s younger brother—and the current principal.”

“So,” Sang Ning said through the last bite of her cone, “the current principal and Teacher Chen were rivals. Smearing your reputation would disqualify you from the competition, and once Teacher Chen’s ‘moral character’ became questionable—whether because of the pregnancy or Dong Ruiyang’s accusations about her clothing—she would’ve been disqualified too.”

“In the end, the only ones left in the running were Dong Yunzhou and the current principal.”

She swallowed the last bite before asking, “What kind of impression did those two leave on you?”

Teacher Yu paused.

“The principal is a good person. Back when Teacher Chen was being questioned, she was the one who spoke up for her.”

Silently, Sang Ning glanced sideways at Gu Yezhou.

The moment he felt her gaze, he understood exactly what she was thinking.

The principal they had just met sounded like a completely different person from the one Teacher Yu was describing.

“Do you… really know your principal?” Sang Ning asked cautiously.

Teacher Yu nodded.

“She’s a very good person. That’s why neither Dong Yunzhou nor I objected when she became principal. Besides, Teacher Chen’s pregnancy had something to do with Dong Yunzhou too.”

The gossip just kept getting messier.

Sang Ning stared at him in shock.

“Wait. So the father wasn’t Dong Ruiyang?”

Her voice nearly cracked.

What she’d heard in the principal’s office and what Teacher Yu was saying were starting to drift in completely opposite directions.

“Of course not.” Teacher Yu looked at her strangely. “Where did you hear that the child belonged to Dong Ruiyang?”

“Dong Yunzhou said it.”

Sang Ning had just opened her mouth to explain when Gu Yezhou answered first.

Even though the one who’d actually said it was the principal.

Why was he deliberately pinning it on Dong Yunzhou?

“That spineless bastard.” Teacher Yu slammed his fist onto the table in fury, making the dessert plates rattle.

“The child was obviously his, yet somehow it became Dong Ruiyang’s? That asshole wasn’t worthy of her.”

Seeing how emotional Teacher Yu had become, Gu Yezhou asked, “So Chen Yuzhu admitted the child belonged to Dong Yunzhou?”

Teacher Yu nodded.

“But Dong Yunzhou, that bastard, refused to admit it. He claimed the baby belonged to Dong Ruiyang. I don’t know the details, but aside from me walking her home after work, the person closest to Teacher Chen was definitely Dong Yunzhou.”

“Back then, if the two of them hadn’t been brothers…”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“Even though they were twins, Dong Ruiyang had a long scar stretching from his neck to behind his ear. He looked terrifying. Originally, he’d wanted to become a teacher too, but his appearance disqualified him, so he became a security guard instead.”

“The brothers were practically inseparable. Other than work hours, Dong Yunzhou was always the one actively seeking Teacher Chen out between classes.”