The counselor, Teacher Ma, knew Xu Junjie’s parents worked for the government. Since his own student, Jiang Sifan, had no parents present, he naturally felt he should speak in Xu Junjie’s defense. He was the first to explain, "Here’s the situation. Your son, Jun Jie, is the deputy head of the Dual Innovation Department, mainly responsible for handling startup applications and related matters. This young man is a freshman in my class. His name is Jiang Sifan, and he’s also trying to start a business recently."

Principal Luo was startled to hear the name Jiang Sifan.

’So this is President Lu’s son!’

’Looking at him now, he really does have a commanding presence!’

’There’s even a slight resemblance in his features.’

He suddenly felt a wave of belated fear. ’Thank goodness I haven’t dealt with this matter yet. Otherwise, if I had handled it unfairly, President Lu would have definitely held me accountable.’

After listening, Mr. Xu nodded in approval. "To be thinking about starting a business as a freshman is quite impressive. So, what are they arguing about?"

"It’s possible that Jun Jie has dealt with many freshmen who recklessly jump into starting businesses, so he didn’t pay much mind to Sifan’s application. That’s why he accidentally knocked the form into the trash can. As for my student here, well, he’s a bit stubborn. He insisted on dragging Jun Jie over to demand an apology. The whole thing escalated from there, and now here we are," Teacher Ma said, forcing a cheerful tone.

Although Teacher Ma’s words were somewhat euphemistic, Mr. Xu immediately understood the real situation.

’His own son had very likely thrown the other person’s application into the trash on purpose.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

So he looked at Xu Junjie and said, "Did you throw his application form into the trash can?"

Xu Junjie stammered, "I... I really did it by accident."

Teacher Zhu hadn’t expected Xu Junjie’s parents to work for the government either, so he also chimed in with a good word. "Jun Jie has been helping me for the past two years. There’s no problem with his abilities or his work ethic. I suspect this time it really was just an accident."

But Jiang Sifan said angrily, "It wasn’t an accident at all! He crumpled my application into a ball. How could that be an accident?"

Xu Junjie explained, "I thought it was a piece of scrap paper. Isn’t that a normal mistake?"

"Regarding this matter alone, Jun Jie, you were in the wrong." Mr. Xu showed no favoritism, speaking directly. "But if you’re going to make a scene and threaten to jump off a building over this, then you’re just being childish!!"

"No, Dad, he’s framing me! He said the door to their startup classroom was open yesterday and papers were blown everywhere. He’s saying I did it," Xu Junjie replied.

Mrs. Xu retorted, "Well, did you do it?"

Xu Junjie shook his head. "I didn’t."

Jiang Sifan interjected, "Besides him, no one else has a key to my classroom."

"Could it be that you accidentally..."

"Impossible."

Before Mr. Xu could even finish his question, Jiang Sifan cut him off. "I check the doors and windows every time before I leave. It’s a habit I’ve had since I was a kid."

"A habit is a habit, but if you’re going to accuse someone based on habit alone, then you’re the one in the wrong. You should know I work in the court system, and the courts value one thing above all: evidence." At that moment, Mr. Xu’s authoritative presence became palpable.

Seeing the tension rise, Principal Luo quickly tried to calm everyone down. "Let’s all just take a moment, please. Settle down."

Seeing that Jiang Sifan only suspected his son of secretly opening the door and had no concrete proof, while Xu Junjie adamantly denied it, Mr. Xu stated bluntly, "As for the matter with the startup application, my son was wrong. I can have him apologize to you for that. But you cannot accuse him of opening the door without cause. There’s a legal principle that says the burden of proof lies with the party making the claim. You are responsible for providing evidence for your own assertions."

"Whoever makes the accusation must provide the proof. You need to present evidence. Otherwise, you’re the one who needs to apologize to Jun Jie." Mr. Xu’s words were calm, but every sentence was devastatingly sharp.

Just then, two people walked in through the doorway.

One of them spoke calmly, "Then if your son did in fact secretly open the door, and there is evidence, shouldn’t you be the one making your son apologize?"

Jiang Sifan looked up and was stunned to see that it was Lu Fan!!