White Olive Tree

Chapter 31

Chapter 31
Song Ran stayed up all night.
On the desktop of the opened computer was the statement template sent to her by Liu Yufei - admitting that the content of yesterday's article was suspected of being false and fabricated, and awaiting authoritative investigation.
At nine o'clock in the morning, she wanted to get up and drink a glass of water. As soon as she stood up, she felt dizzy and her vision went dark. She held on to the table and held on for a long time before she slowly regained her composure.
Song Ran lay back on the bed. Throughout the night, she tried to regain her composure and reason, and think about the problem from Li Zan's perspective. But to no avail.
When she stood in her position, she saw that her fortress was impregnable - Wang Han's testimony and evidence regarding the time and place of the complaint, the teaching director's revelation, the threats she suffered from many parties...
But what Li Zan said was not unreasonable.
She took out her cell phone, hoping to find a third person to help lead her out of the dilemma, even if it was just an objective glance.
But when she looked through thousands of people's mobile phone address books, none of them allowed her to make that call.
The only one, last night...
She was about to put down her phone when she accidentally saw Luo Zhan's business card.
Song Ran remembered that Li Zan said that he had returned to China and could be contacted now.
When I called, Luo Zhan happened to be free.
Song Ran greeted her a few times at first, but when she hesitated, Luo Zhan already guessed her purpose and said, "Isn't it uncomfortable to stand in the center of the storm?"
"You know everything?"
"Reporter Song is famous across the country now." He was still in the mood to joke.
Song Ran asked directly: "Do you think I did something wrong?"
Luo Zhan thought about it for a moment and said, "I read your conversation. The witness testimony is very clear. The time and place of the incident, including the number of complaints, are very clear. As long as the police are willing to investigate, they will definitely be able to find out the truth. So I think you are Right. However, you only gave one party a chance to speak."
Song Ran said: "But on the other side, they have their own channels to express their opinions."
"Which side does the public believe?" Luo Zhan asked.
Song Ran was speechless.
"Perhaps what you found is part of the truth, but you are a reporter and know better than me the power of mass communication. When the truth from one angle is infinitely amplified, the truth from other angles is likely to be infinitely compressed, because the public has no reason and only emotions. ."
Song Ran remained silent.
Li Zan expressed this meaning yesterday, but she didn't want to listen.
"But then again, everyone can work together to take care of many aspects. How can it be possible with just one person? I personally think you have spoken objectively. The investigation of the truth is a matter for the police, and rational judgment is a matter for netizens. But the credibility is low at the moment. , the Internet is irrational. If they can't do it, they must blame you for not writing the complete answer, which is very unfair."
She said: "At that time, I was afraid that if I didn't speak out, the other party would protect me and the child would be finished."

"Yes. You knew your goal, so you tried your best to get through. But Reporter Song," Luo Zhan suddenly changed the topic, "There is no emotion when pressing the shutter. CANDY's photo is the most objective and true record. . It doesn't matter what your purpose was at that time. You don't have to blame yourself or prove it. Neither Wang Han nor Zhu Yanan were the children who died at that time. You can record it, but you have no responsibility to protect it. When you want to When you want to protect, you have selfish motives and you are no longer an objective person."
Song Ran was stunned.
......
Li Zan didn't sleep well all night.
He drew a picture and combed through all the clues about the incident, and found that the differences between him and Song Ran mainly focused on the student evidence, the director of the Education Bureau's Teaching Office, teacher Zhao Yuanli, and the behavior of the police.
First, the student's testimony showed that Li Zan had no objection to Wang's own experience of violence, and it was easy for the police to verify this.
What he was unsure about were Zhu Yanan's two pieces of evidence, which did not meet the legal standards.
The second is the director of the Complaints and Education Department of the Education Bureau. Song Ran said that she had verified it; but Li Zan had not discovered it yet.
The third is Teacher Zhao Yuanli. Due to limited position, his transcripts and confessions are temporarily unavailable.
The fourth was the police behavior. Song Ran thought it was a threat, but Li Zan could understand that it was a clumsy way of handling things. But in his opinion, just saying hello to the TV station is enough. Even her father was affected, which was too much.
　　
After analysis, the points he could try to explore were the director of the Teaching Office and teacher Zhao Yuanli.
Before going to work, Li Zan visited the director of the Teaching Office again.
But the director's husband said that the director's mother was ill and she rushed back to her hometown in the next province.
Li Zan became suspicious and asked, "Did she tell you that Classmate Wang once reported Teacher Zhao to her?"
The husband waved his hand: "We never talk about work matters, I don't know." He closed the door in a hurry.
When he arrived at the police station, policeman Xiao Jia felt uncomfortable when he saw the heavy dark circles on Li Zan's eyes. He came over and patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's not your fault, it's all the reporter's fault. Don't take it personally. Even that day Even if her photos are deleted, she will still write scrawledly."
Li Zan smiled but did not answer.
During a break from work, he clicked on Song Ran's number and typed: "I didn't advise you yesterday, but I wanted to remind you that the autopsy showed that the deceased did not suffer corporal punishment and violence before his death. I'm afraid that if you do bad things with good intentions, you won't be able to bear it later..."
Before he finished typing, news broke on the mobile news - Zhao Yuanli's students wrote an open letter to prove the teacher's innocence.
Li Zan clicked on it and read it. It was a book signed by hundreds of students. He used many examples to describe how Teacher Zhao Yuanli was a noble teacher and cared for students. At the same time, he quoted comments from international netizens to attack Song Ran. Question the motivation behind CANDY's award-winning photos, and by analogy, question Song Ran's motivation behind writing "Another Voice". Final conclusion: Song Ran is a reporter who uses suffering to gain attention.
Since then, public opinion has begun to reverse wildly.
Li Zan put away his cell phone, stood up and walked out the door.
......
Senior high school students have to make up classes on Sunday, and the sound of teachers lecturing can be heard from time to time in the No. 3 teaching building of the Experimental Middle School.
Zhao Yuanli went to class as usual and did not ask for leave because of recent events.
Li Zan stood in the office waiting with his pockets in his pockets. He moved his eyes away from the outstanding teacher certificates and trophies on the shelf and glanced at the desk in the room.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Zhao Yuanli came back from get out of class.
"Officer Li, I'm sorry for waiting for so long." Zhao Yuanli looked apologetic.
"It's okay, I just came here." Li Zan smiled and said, "The college entrance examination is only a few months away."
"Yes, the classes of the senior year are too important to be delayed. I have several classes with the senior class." Zhao Yuanli just sat down and stood up again, "I'll get you a glass of water."
Li Zan stopped him: "No need."