She blew up on the spot, jumping up from her seat.

"Impossible! How could I not be chosen? This is totally unfair! Someone must have cheated! Did the judges take a bribe? I won’t accept this! I want to appeal!"

Director Wei, who was overseeing the selection, looked grim in an instant.

"Cao Jiajia, you stop right there! This isn’t your living room, and it’s not a place for you to throw a tantrum! I need you to calm down right now! The entire competition was recorded, the scoring criteria are public and transparent, and there were supervising teachers present for every stage. You weren’t good enough, and that’s that. Don’t blame others for your own shortcomings!"

Cao Jiajia’s lip quivered, and her eyes instantly turned red.

Director Wei looked at her, sighed, and then turned to Teacher Zhang, who was standing beside him.

"Teacher Zhang, you need to keep a close eye on this girl. She’s too impulsive and her emotional control is terrible. She loses it at the slightest setback, which could easily lead to trouble. You should get in touch with her parents right away. Tell them not to just focus on scores and rankings; they need to pay more attention to her mental state. Otherwise, something bad is bound to happen sooner or later."

Teacher Zhang nodded quickly.

"Yes, yes, Director Wei, don’t worry. I’ll be sure to pay extra attention. I’ll contact her parents as soon as I get back and have a good talk with them. I absolutely won’t let this slide!"

But inwardly, she was cursing up a storm.

’Why does this kind of crap always land on me?’

’I’m not a school counselor. Why am I always the one left to clean up these messes?’

The students who hadn’t been selected were quickly led away by their teachers.

Only Teacher Zhang and Cao Jiajia remained at the office door.

Teacher Zhang gently pushed the door open, motioned for Cao Jiajia to come in, and then closed the office door behind them.

She didn’t rush to criticize her, just sat down in a chair and let out a soft sigh.

"Jiajia, tell me, do you really think that being pretty and a smooth talker is all that defines a person? Do you think it can guarantee you’ll win every time, no matter the situation?"

The girl had her head down all day, looking meek and well-behaved.

But Teacher Zhang knew perfectly well that the girl wasn’t buying a word of it.

She was quiet on the surface, but in reality, not a single word was sinking in.

Everything she said went in one ear and out the other. The girl wouldn’t even lift her eyelids.

In the end, Teacher Zhang had talked herself hoarse, only to get a soft "mhm" in response.

"Alright, you can go back now. Think carefully about what happened today."

Teacher Zhang wasn’t wrong.

Cao Jiajia was indeed seething with resentment.

She was secretly plotting.

’Tomorrow’s selection showcase requires that white dress. What if...’

’If I secretly cut up the dress Cao Xueshan is supposed to wear tomorrow, wouldn’t she be forced to go on stage in ugly clothes?’

Fortunately, Cao Xueshan was sharp-eyed and observant.

The next morning, when she went to the changing room to get her clothes, she noticed something was wrong right away.

The back of her dress had been slashed open with a pair of scissors.

Shanshan’s brow furrowed. She quickly looked up, her gaze locking onto Cao Jiajia, who was just about to leave.

"Cao Jiajia, what do you think you’re doing?"

"Ah!"

Cao Jiajia flinched, terrified. The scissors in her hand fell to the ground with a CLATTER.

"I... I wasn’t doing anything."

Her face was pale, and her eyes darted away.

Shanshan didn’t say a word. She just picked up the small pair of scissors.

Instead of putting them away immediately, she bent down to carefully inspect the dress.

After checking it, she stuffed the dress into her schoolbag.

"What did you think you were doing."

"You just can’t stand that I’m better than you. You’re jealous, so you thought you’d secretly ruin my dress, right? You wanted me to be humiliated in front of our classmates?"

"I didn’t! That’s a blatant lie! I didn’t even touch your dress! I’m telling the teacher!"

Cao Jiajia snapped her head up.

Shanshan gave a small smile.

"Then go. Go to the office right now and ask the teacher to sort this out. Let’s see who the teacher believes, you or me?"

Cao Jiajia was struck dumb, unable to say a single word.

Of course, she knew if this really got to the teacher, who would be able to argue against Shanshan?

Shanshan’s grades were in the top ten of their year. She was well-behaved and never caused trouble.

And her?

Late for class, spacing out, not handing in homework, and finishing at the bottom of every exam.

Everyone in the class knew that Shanshan was a model student in the teachers’ eyes.

While she, Cao Jiajia, had long been the "problem student" who was holding the class back.

If she really took this to the teacher, she would be the only one getting reprimanded.

"Jiajia, didn’t you always used to say how outstanding you were? That you got a ninety-five in math, won an award at the sports meet, and that you wanted to be class president one day? But look at you now. Stealing things, playing dirty tricks... If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t even give them the time of day. But who are you? You used to be my friend... How... how could you do something like this?"

Cao Jiajia opened her mouth, wanting to say that she was just jealous, that she just didn’t know what to do.

But the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t get a single one out.

She spun around abruptly and ran back to the classroom without a second glance.

Back in the classroom, she grabbed her schoolbag, just wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

The moment the dismissal bell rang, she didn’t even go to the cafeteria for lunch. She just kept her head down and bolted for the school gates.

The next day, before the sun was even up, she was curled up in bed, her eyes squeezed shut, refusing to get up no matter how much her mother called her.

"I’m not going... I’m never going again..."

Liu Yingzi was at her wit’s end. In the end, she had no choice but to leave the child at home and hurry to the school herself to ask for a day of leave.

Teacher Zhang had been worrying about how to find someone to talk to about Cao Jiajia’s recent abnormal behavior.

The moment she saw Liu Yingzi walk into the office, her eyes lit up.

"Cao Jiajia’s mother, have you been paying attention to your daughter lately?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Teacher Zhang sighed.

"At the beginning of the semester, her grades weren’t top-tier, but they were in the lower-middle range, and she could still keep up. But now? She’s been in the bottom few spots for the last three monthly exams, practically last every time. She doesn’t hand in her homework, stares blankly in class, her eyes are just... empty. I’ve reminded her about it several times."

Liu Yingzi’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

The thing she cared about most was what other people thought of her and her family.

"Oh, Teacher Zhang, I’m so sorry... It’s our fault as parents for not managing her well. It’s our mistake."

She lowered her head, unable to look the teacher in the eye.

"Her slipping grades aren’t even the worst part."

"The key issue is that the girl is having psychological problems. Recently, she secretly cut a classmate’s clothes, deliberately isolated others, talked back to teachers in class, and sits alone in a corner during breaks without saying a word. Just yesterday, a classmate saw her secretly throw someone else’s pencil case into the trash can... Did you know about any of this?"

"She really wasn’t like this when she was little. She was always sensible and obedient, never caused any trouble. She would greet her elders, never had to be reminded to do her homework. Even the neighbors used to praise her for being so well-behaved. But now..."

"Sigh, her heart’s just in the wrong place, she’s gone down the wrong path. Maybe she’s been influenced by something negative. But no matter what, if we intervene in time, she can still be brought back. No matter how much a child changes, the girl she used to be is still in there somewhere. As parents, you really need to pay more attention. You can’t just be busy with work and ignore your child’s psychological changes."

"I’ve said what I need to say. The problem is on the table now. As for what to do next, that depends on you, the parents. A teacher can only give reminders and guidance, but I can’t manage a child’s entire life."

If even her own mother was going to pretend she didn’t see the problem, then there was truly nothing more she, as a teacher, could do.

She couldn’t replace her parents in raising her, much less force her way into their family dynamics.

Liu Yingzi’s face was beet red from the teacher’s words.