This incident was quite explosive when you think about it. Many students' parents had strong objections to the school's graveyard.
Business people were especially superstitious, believing that children with weak fortunes would be susceptible to the many "dirty things" near a school adjacent to a graveyard, making them prone to illness.
Parents planning to send their children to Qianpu School abandoned the idea, and a large number of parents whose children were already attending Qianpu School initiated transfer procedures.
As a result, Qianpu School's student enrollment shrank, showing signs of decline.
The school had considered negotiating with Mr. Xu from Xitai Investment to see if the grave could be relocated, with the school willing to pay a hefty sum to buy back the land.
Mr. Xu of Xitai Investment disagreed. He wasn't a competitor to Qianpu School; he simply believed the Back Mountain of Qianpu had good feng shui. Since Song Ying loved studying but couldn't attend Qianpu School while alive, he wanted her to rest eternally near Qianpu after death, as a way to appease her spirit.
The school's representatives explained to Mr. Xu the difficulties the school was facing, hoping he would be understanding.
Although Qianpu School was just a school, its social influence was immeasurable.
Qianpu's students came from powerful families, and many former students had achieved great success in society after leaving Qianpu.
When school officials ventured out, many people in society would show some respect to Qianpu.
Even if you weren't an alumnus of Qianpu, your boss might be, or your boss's children might be.
With this network of relationships, the school approached the negotiation confidently, but unexpectedly, they were rebuffed by Xitai's representative.
Their reasoning was also quite logical: It's just a young girl's grave, what "dirty things" could there be? We're in a new society now, let's not talk about feudal superstitions. Besides, how many schools are built on graveyards? Other students are fine, why is it only your school that can't handle it?
This was clearly an unwillingness to cooperate.
The negotiations failed, and Qianpu School ended up sheepishly changing its location.
Relocating a school is a major project, and even after the school changed its address, the lost students didn't return. Qianpu School suffered a severe blow and was a shadow of its former self.
As an outsider, Shi Li could somewhat understand Mr. Xu's thoughts. After all, he had money. It was his purchased land. What's wrong with burying his daughter where he believed the feng shui was good?
Song Ying and her classmates turned to look at the Back Mountain at the same moment.
Song Ying thought, "So I'm going to be buried here in the future?"
Other students couldn't help but think, "Such a large piece of land just to bury Song Ying alone, isn't that too extravagant?"
The divergent thoughts of the two groups quickly converged on one question: So why bury Song Ying/me on the school's Back Mountain? Does this have anything to do with Song Ying's/my death?
Those who had seen too many news stories thought of the case of a body buried on a school playground, and concluded that there was a 90% chance Song Ying's death was related to Mr. Xu of Xitai Investment.
Perhaps Song Ying discovered some secrets on Xitai's back mountain while at school, so these villains killed the weak, pitiful, and helpless little Song Ying on the school's Back Mountain.
But evil deeds will always be punished, and Mr. Xu's wicked act was discovered by the controversial Police Uncle. A school that should represent sunshine became a burial ground for students, with the student dying in a miserable state. Some people online suspected collusion between the school and Mr. Xu. The school's reputation was severely damaged online, and talented students from ordinary families were afraid to apply. As for the wealthy and powerful, they certainly wouldn't enroll their children either. Song Ying died tragically, surely leaving behind heavy resentment. With the sharp decline in enrollment, that's why Shi Li said the school's decades-old foundation had been shaken.
This person felt their reasoning was quite sound.
Thus, Mr. Xu, who appeared in Shi Li's inner thoughts along with Song Ying, became the sole culprit in Song Ying's incident.
Classmates with wild imaginations were already advising Song Ying to stay away from the Back Mountain and Mr. Xu to avoid danger.
Song Ying also felt her classmates were right, and promised in the group chat: [Don't worry, I value my life very much and will definitely stay away from that Mr. Xu.]
Many people felt disillusioned, as Mr. Xu's public image was that of an elegant gentleman from a good family. Who knew he was actually a cold-blooded killer behind the scenes?
[What's there to be disillusioned about? Wei Yi's dad appears to love his wife dearly on the surface, but that doesn't stop him from having three wives and four concubines and seven illegitimate children behind her back.]
Song Ying, hearing this for the first time, widened her eyes in surprise. Is that really the case? Wei Yi was right there in the chat group. Is it really okay to say such things in front of her?
Everyone had long been accustomed to taking jabs at Wei Yi's father on any occasion. A man who had already been cremated would often be brought out for a verbal flogging.
Wei Yi didn't mind others badmouthing her father, and sometimes even joined in with a few harsh words herself.
After PE class ended, everyone returned to classroom 1 together.
Song Ying sat back in her throne next to the podium and couldn't help but search for information about this Mr. Xu on a search engine.
Shi Li had let her know where she would be buried in the future, but she still needed to delve deeper into who killed her.
Investment companies rarely enter the public eye, so Song Ying had never heard of Xitai Investment before, let alone Mr. Xu of Xitai Investment.
Clicking on the encyclopedia entry, she found a string of impressive credentials.
In simple terms, he was a person of good birth and capability.
Faced with mostly investment-related technical terms, Song Ying, encountering this for the first time, felt a bit overwhelmed.
After briefly looking through his life journey, Song Ying opened a recommended article that popped up.
It was about Mr. Xu's love story.
When people think of Mr. Xu, they often think of his wife who came from a Cinderella-like background.
This article seemed as if the writer had been living under Mr. Xu's bed, describing the details of his and his wife's courtship in great detail.
Although the truthfulness of this story was uncertain, it didn't stop Shi Li from reading it with great interest.
Indeed, compared to the highly professional biography of Mr. Xu, she still preferred reading about celebrities' love stories.
After finishing it, she moved on to the next article.
There were also irresponsible marketing accounts that posted information about Mr. Xu's wife, such as her age, birthday, address, and even a heavily pixelated headshot photo due to its age.
The girl in the photo was at her youngest, with a smile that revealed her face full of collagen.
She wasn't an exceptionally beautiful girl, Shi Li herself was much prettier, but her smile had a kind of infectious charm, extremely tasteful.
Looking at the woman's eyes in the photo, Song Ying felt an extreme sense of familiarity. She thought this Mrs. Xu really had a warm presence.
