"Name, age, occupation."
"Mou Chunlai, fifty-one years old, principal of the Wufang Vocational Technical School, no, how on earth have I engaged in forced labor? You must give me some clarity."
"And you even called us to cooperate with the investigation, but this resulted in an arrest?"
For Mou Chunlai, this was akin to a nightmare. He had been casually sipping tea and chatting at school when he was suddenly apprehended.
The officer shook his head and said, "The specific circumstances, you'll find out once you get to Jiangguang Province. Right now, we're just making a routine record of the summons."
Mou Chunlai immediately thought of the school internships, but they had been running internships for so many years—how could there be an issue now?
After the routine recording was made, the public security bureaus of both jurisdictions began the handover process, and following the formalities, Mou Chunlai and Huo Ming boarded the train.
So it turned out that it really was the police from Jiangguang Province who made the arrest, meaning there truly was an issue with the internships there!
But what exactly was the problem?
Come evening, the two of them finally settled into the detention center in the Guanning District they had once longed for, while the public security bureau notified the families of the suspects about the criminal detention.
On Saturday morning, Lu Yanzhen felt she hadn't slept well all night. She couldn't understand why her husband had been arrested by the public security bureau from Jiangguang.
Wasn't he just taking the school students there for an internship?
So, early in the morning, Lu Yanzhen set out for the school, determined to get to the bottom of this, to understand how an internship could result in incarceration.
More importantly, why was this year so special when her husband, Liu Jinshi, had taken students for internships every year?
Lu Yanzhen traveled by car to the Wufang Vocational Technical School and began knocking on the door.
The security guard at the entrance, rubbing his eyes, said, "What's this all about, knocking so early in the morning? Do you need something?"
"My husband is a teacher at your school, Liu Jinshi. Last night, the police from Jiangguang informed me that he's suspected of forced labor and has already been criminally detained."
"I want to speak with the school leadership to find out what is going on."
The guard, upon hearing this, shook his head and said, "Then you're too late."
"What do you mean? Have the school leaders already gone to Jiangguang?" Lu Yanzhen asked.
That was the only explanation she could think of, as something had happened there and the school leaders must deal with it.
"No, the public security personnel came yesterday and took away both Principal Mou and Principal Huo."
Ah? Lu Yanzhen was stunned: "They... they've all been arrested?"
In Jingzhou City, Cheng Nanyan had found work in a supermarket. After more than two years at a vocational school, where she learned very little and didn't even receive a diploma,
she found it challenging to get hired at a kindergarten, so she had to find a job to avoid being idle at home.
"I wonder how things are going with Lawyer Tang, sigh." As Cheng Nanyan worked, she couldn't help feeling regretful.
If she had just persisted a little longer, maybe things wouldn't be this problematic.
She wanted to call and ask but was worried about disturbing Lawyer Tang's work.
When break time arrived, Cheng Nanyan went to play with her phone when suddenly she saw an incoming call.
She quickly answered the call: "Hello, Lawyer Tang, how is it going? Is there any progress?"
On the other side of the phone, Old Tang's classic laugh erupted: "Haha, naturally, there's no progress."
Cheng Nanyan: "... With you saying that, I don't know how to respond."
"I had specifically contacted your school before, but there's nothing I can do when they say that without completing the internship, there won't be a diploma." Official source is novel⟡fire.net
"They also mentioned it's in the school handbook, something that's been communicated to all the students, basically saying, you have to return to continue your internship to get it."
Cheng Nanyan immediately felt demoralized. Did this mean even Lawyer Tang couldn't find a way?
Or did it imply that they had to file a lawsuit?
"But, there is some progress elsewhere. Your resident teachers and the school leaders have likely all been arrested."
What? Cheng Nanyan's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered that it was she who had wanted the diploma in the first place. The pricing discrepancies were something Lawyer Tang had brought up.
And now, without any resolution for the money or diploma, the school leaders had been taken away first?
"That is just how I operate, get used to it. You don't have to worry about the rest. The school will probably contact you, offer you the diploma and the owed amount, asking for your forgiveness."
"Whether you choose to forgive them or not is entirely up to you, okay, that's it."
It took a while for Cheng Nanyan to come to terms with the call after hanging up. Lawyer Tang's methods were quite different from what she had expected.
Wasn't the next step supposed to be a lawsuit after the school's refusal?
Never mind, she immediately dialed Cheng Dashan's number: "Hello Dad, great news, the school leaders and those resident teachers have all been locked up!"
In Dongfang City, Old Tang had just ended the call. He didn't have much choice—he was intent on finishing the task as soon as possible to collect the reward.
If he opted for a slow lawsuit, and lengthy discussions with the education department, who knew how long it would take.
He couldn't afford to waste his life on such a tedious task.
Furthermore, it was the school's vice-principal who refused to negotiate, so all he could do was provide them with a change of scenery to ponder their response.
The school reacted swiftly, or rather, Mou Chunlai's wife, Ma Jingying, did!