Chapter 88: Path Winding Through Mountain Ridges
"This student really got on my nerves!" Jin Xisen put in a lot of effort to make sure he looked angrier. "Headmaster Li, you must not stop me today. I am going to expel this student!"
"Student?" Headmaster Li was shocked for a while. "What's the matter? Old Jin, calm down! Talk to me."
"How could I calm down! I am really mad!" Jin Xisen said, "I have been a discipline teacher for so many years, but I have never seen such an arrogant student!"
"What happened? Old Jin, what's the case with the student you mentioned?" Headmaster Li asked.
"This was the case!" Jin Xisen sat on the sofa and said with indignation, "Today, there were Grade 12 Class 7's students fighting in Math class. When I asked them to the discipline room, I never thought that he would dare to actually beat up the student one more time right in front of my face! He really thought that I was transparent! He's now disrespecting the school, which is also challenging your authority in school!"
Jin Xisen set a trap for Headmaster Li.
"Old Jin, the students in Grade 12 have great pressure on them. If there was nothing big just close one eye. Let's not speak of anything emotionally like expelling a student!" Headmaster Li advised.
"Emotional?" Jin Xisen stood up from the sofa shortly. "Headmaster Li, I can be counted as a senior in Song Jiang No. 4 High School. I am going to put things out today. It's either him or me! If I don't expel him today, I, your discipline teacher, am going to take a leave and go back home!"
"Old Jin, what are you doing?" Headmaster Li said, "It was really just a small issue. You are the one who made it big yourself!"
"Headmaster Li, my decision is firm! This is the expulsion request that I wrote for this student. Approve it!" Jin Xisen started to force the decision.
"This... ai! Alright, let me investigate the matter clearly first!" Headmaster Li sighed helplessly. "If the case was actually what you have described, then we will discuss again whether or not to expel this student!"
"Okay!" Jin Xisen nodded his head.
Headmaster Li took the expulsion request passed by Jin Xisen and started to read through it. After he got a brief idea of the situation, Headmaster Li wanted to bring Zhao Ying to verify it!
He remembered Yang Ming. That main character who was courageous in helping others - was this student named Yang Ming in Grade 12, Class 7! However, I don't know what medicine this Old Jin took wrongly to make him want to expel this student!
Fighting this kind of case can be a really big or small case. Therefore, Headmaster Li wanted to ask for Zhao Ying's opinion. Headmaster Li thought for a while. He also gave Grade 12 Class 7's class teacher, Li Huihua, a call for her to come along as well.
After a while, Zhao Ying and Li Huihua both came into the headmaster's room.
"Teacher Zhao Ying, Teacher Jin had said that in one of the lessons this afternoon, Class 7's Yang Ming was fighting with a student named Chen Afu in your class. Was there really such a case?" Headmaster Li asked.
"Fighting? Both of them only had a small conflict and they stopped after a while! I have already scolded them!" Zhao Ying said.
"Teacher Zhao Ying, you just need to answer whether they both fought. There's no need to explain so much! Did they fight?" Jin Xisen interrupted.
"They did!" Since the discipline teacher questioned it, it was Zhao Ying's responsibility to answer.
"It's enough that they did. However, this student named Yang Ming didn't have a single trace of will to change his attitude even after he had arrived at the discipline department. He beat up Chen Afu right in front of my face. Therefore, I have decided to expel Yang Ming!" Jin Xisen said.
"What? Expel Yang Ming? Jin Xisen, you think we would expel him just because you said so? I disagree!" Li Huihua rebutted immediately! Even though Li Huihua also deeply disliked Yang Ming's habit of fighting with others, she was still slightly more protective towards her own students. Especially when Yang Ming had gotten such a good result. Firing Yang Ming was equivalent to taking away a percentage of her prestigious university enrollment rate! She would, of course, disagree with it.
"I have already reported to Headmaster Li. The final decision is made by our headmaster!" Jin Xisen said.
Li Huihua looked at Headmaster Li and said in a serious tone, "Headmaster Li, you must give it a second thought. Yang Ming is the number one student in our class. In the last examination, he got a total mark of 703. If you did expel him, there would be plenty of schools who would be lining up for him!"
"Number one!?" Jin Xisen was stunned for a moment. He was the one responsible for the students' discipline and didn't really care that much about their grades. He just thought that someone like Yang Ming who fought every day and mixed with bad students would be someone with bad grades. Therefore, he naturally assumed that Yang Ming was among the few of the worst students and expelling him wouldn't make any difference! However, he never thought that Yang Ming would be a top student! It seemed like the case was getting out of his hand!
What did the headmaster value the most? The university enrollment rate! The rating of the school - the way it was decided was based on the university enrollment rate! Therefore, a student like Yang Ming can be counted as the school's treasure. They would absolutely want to keep him rather than expel him!
Not bad, this would be Yang Ming's trump card! He was no longer the student with grades at the bottom of the class. He was now the top student! For a student like him, if Song Jiang No. 4 High School expelled him, he could easily take his result slip and find any other school which was stronger than this high school. Any school would take him in!
However, Jin Xisen thought about his nephew, therefore, he said as he bit his lip, "No matter what kind of student he is, we should expel him! Just because he's a good student, can he beat up another person?"
"Teacher Jin, a little bit of quarrel between students is very common. There are so many students who fight every day; you can't be expelling them all can you?" Li Huihua can also be counted as another senior in the school as well as the core teacher of the province. So, she was way firmer in her tone. Even though he was the discipline teacher, she didn't really have to tolerate him!
Actually, she was the same as Yang Ming. There were many schools who would want her as a teacher, therefore, even Headmaster Li respected her tremendously.
"I am not talking about the fight in class. I was talking about how he beat up another student in the discipline department!" Jin Xisen said, "There are two totally different contexts! If a student can still be so arrogant even though he was in the discipline department, not expelling him is the same as tainting our school's reputation!"
"Beating up people in the discipline department? Teacher Jin, you said that he was beating up another student at discipline department? Do you have any evidence?" Li Huihua asked without reservation.
"Evidence, of course. The person who was beaten up by him was Chen Afu. Headmaster Li could call him over to ask!" Jin Xisen said.
"Okay, I will bring him over!" Li Huihua said as she got up to leave.
"Wait!" Jin Xisen thought about something, "Teacher Li, you shouldn't be the one going. I don't really want to see some students being forced to say something beyond their conscience! Headmaster Li, you send someone else instead!"
"You!" Li Huihua looked at Discipline Teacher Jin with a pair of enraged eyes! But she was actually having this thought. Wasn't it just some conflict between students? As long as Li Huihua had a word with Chen Afu and asked him not to say anything in the headmaster's office, she was pretty sure Chen Afu would follow her instructions! However, she never thought Jin Xisen would have seen through it!
"Ai! Old Jin, how could you say something like that? Teacher Li would never do those kinds of things!" Headmaster Li shook his head helplessly as he gave a call to the assistant and got a teacher to bring Chen Afu from Grade 12 Class 7 to the headmaster's room.
A while later, the sound of a door knock sound was heard outside.
"Come in!" Headmaster Li said.
Chen Afu walked in jittering. He was coming to the headmaster's office for the first time and felt a bit nervous.
"Chen Afu, don't be nervous. Tell headmaster how did Yang Ming beat you up in the discipline department?" Jin Xisen said.
"Teacher Jin, your words are obviously misleading. Was it a fight between two parties, or was it a student beating up another student? These two are drastically different things!" Li Huihua was obviously not willing to submit.
Once Chen Afu heard Teacher Li's words, a light bulb came on in his head. It was obvious that Teacher Li wouldn't want to expel Yang Ming. It seemed like his prior decision was correct! If not, he would not only offend Yang Ming, he would also have offended Teacher Li! Since there were only a few more days of Grade 12, Chen Afu didn't want to cause that much trouble anyway.
"Headmaster Li, Yang Ming and I were just having a minor conflict. The two of us did push each other for a while, but none of it could be counted as fighting!" Chen Afu said.
Li Huihua let out a breath. It seemed like Chen Afu was a student who knew how to read the situation around him. But as these words came out, Jin Xisen was astounded!
"You were not saying this before! At the discipline department, didn't you say that you would be the witness in the headmaster's room? How could you swallow your words?" Jin Xisen was both shocked and angered. His whole body was shaking when he pointed at Chen Afu.
"Yes, Teacher Jin. But later on, I thought about it and realized I can't lie to the headmaster and say something against my conscience!" Chen Afu said in an innocent tone.
Since the case had already reached this state, even though Chen Afu didn't say that it was Jin Xisen who forced him to lie, everyone who was present were not idiots. They understood what Chen Afu was saying from his words.
As Chen Afu's just finished off his sentence, Li Huihua gave an icy stare at Jin Xisen. Even Headmaster Li was obviously angry!
The main person who caused this drama, Discipline Teacher Jin Xisen, was dripping with cold sweat because he was put on the spot!
Chapter 89: Guilty of Being a Thief
"Director Jin, you're an elder in school too. Why is your way of doing things so overdone!" Headmaster Li frowned and sighed. Today, Jin Xisen"s joke was really a big deal!
"Chen Afu, don't you lie to me! Tell me. Did Yang Ming give you some benefits?" Jin Xisen shouted with dissatisfaction.
"Director Jin, what benefit can he give me?" Chen Afu shook his head. "We are classmates and we sit in front and behind each other. A little bit of conflict is normal, but it isn't the beating like you mentioned. It was just a few punches!"
"You!" Jin Xisen was pissed off. "You are lying! You dare to fool me?" As Jin Xisen spoke, he was raging like a lion. He nearly slapped Chen Afu's face.
"Old Jin, what are you doing?" Headmaster Li was angry as well. "You're behaving without manners!"
"Headmaster, you see it too. Director Jin, he..." Chen Afu was hesitant but anyone could see that he was trying to say Director Jin was forcing him to frame Yang Ming!
"Alright, student Chen Afu, you can go back now. This conversation is over!" Headmaster Li said.
"Oh, okay. I'll leave then, goodbye, Headmaster Li! Teacher Li, Teacher Zhao, goodbye!" Chen Afu didn't say goodbye to Jin Xisen. Chen Afu wasn't afraid to offend him; he was a month away from graduation. He didn't do anything wrong so what could Jin Xisen do? Besides he was going to work after graduation, so he didn't care much!
After Chen Afu left, Headmaster Li said coldly, "Director Jin, you go back and reflect on yourself. Then, write me a self-critique. Next Monday, we will do a deeper investigation during the meeting of middle-level leaders!"
"Yes." The incident had become so serious. Jin Xisen had lost the opportunity to come back, but it was still ok if he didn't ruin himself. He didn't dare to say anything else! The investigation was the best result he could hope for!
Li Huihua and Zhao Ying didn't have any other questions either, so they left the headmaster's office.
"Teacher Zhao, what is really going on?" Li Huihua only knew briefly about the incident, but not the details.
"It wasn't a big issue. Chen Afu just flipped Yang Ming's desk, and Yang Ming beat him! After that, I had separated both of them!" Zhao Ying was blushing while she talked. Of course, she didn't mention that Chen Afu framed Yang Ming for combating jet!
Chen Afu defected at the last minute for a reason. He was being described as a coward previously. The reason he tried to expose Yang Ming's "crime" in class was because of his impulsivity and eagerness! After the incident, he was afraid. He suddenly thought that Wang Zhitao had lost to Yang Ming numerous times. At last, he couldn't help but reconcile with Yang Ming. What ability did Chen Afu have to fight against Yang Ming? Besides, the incident was a secret. Wang Zhitao wouldn't have told his follower.
So, Chen Afu regretted immediately after he went back to class and calmed down his mind! If Yang Ming was expelled because of him, then it would be tough spending his day! So, Chen Afu was figuring out whether or not he should build a good relationship with Yang Ming. The unexpected scene he saw at the classroom's entrance further strengthened his decision.
In the classroom, Wang Zhitao was standing beside Yang Ming.
"Yang Ming, what's going on?" Although Wang Zhitao hated him, he still had to carry on his act.
"Nothing, Chen Afu was doing some nonsense!" Yang Ming said perfunctorily.
"Yeah, this guy was really not behaving himself! Later, I'll talk to him; we are in the same class after all. We are meeting so frequently so how can we have an inner conflict!" Wang Zhitao said outraged.
Chen Afu heard very clearly what Wang Zhitao was saying! He was thrilled! Wang Zhitao was on Yang Ming's side as well! Since the owner had expressed his attitude, how could a lackey disobey his owner's will?
Therefore, Chen Afu quickly walked toward Yang Ming and said in front of Wang Zhitao, "Yang Ming. Sorry, just now I was being impulsive during class. I apologize for that!"
"En?" Yang Ming looked at Chen Afu who had completely changed his attitude. Did this guy take the wrong medication? No matter what, the person had admitted his fault, so Yang Ming didn't question it anymore. He nodded and said, "It's fine. It was just a misunderstanding."
"Yeah, right! We are classmates after all!" Wang Zhitao noticed the situation and immediately smoothed things over. "That's right, both of you are seated back and front. Why do you guys have to be so tense?"
However, Wang Zhitao was ticked off! This Chen Afu was so f***ed up. Why did you even apologize to Yang Ming?
Wang Zhitao didn't want to tense up publicly with Yang Ming, but it didn't mean he didn't hate him! He was hoping someone would go against Yang Ming!
However, now Wang Zhitao couldn't say much in front of Yang Ming. He had to act delighted. As for Chen Afu, he thought he was praised by Wang Zhitao, so he felt proud.
Then, that was the situation of Chen Afu's temporary defeat, and Jin Xisen getting discredited.
"F***!" Jin Gang punched hard on the wall. He never thought that his uncle wouldn't be able to mess with Yang Ming even though his uncle attended to the matter personally! He too had lost his only chance!
If this thing didn't work the first time, is there really hope for a second time? Despite his uncle's decision to help, Headmaster Li won't allow Jin Xisen to keep messing around!
However, Jin Gang wasn't content with it. Was he fooled by a student for nothing? He was a teacher! Not only that, a most insolent and cruel sports teacher! How could Jin Gang not go crazy from losing to a student?
"Xiao Cao, how is the matter going? Do you find something? Is Yang Ming the person who defeated the whatever chicken?" Jin Gang dialed Cao Liwa's phone.
"Not whatever chicken - it's Ji Shuisheng! This news was controlled so strictly by the authorities! The underworld was only spreading news about the Old Chicken getting defeated by a student, but I couldn't identify the details!" Cao Liwa said.
"Even this Brother De didn't know?" Jin Gang asked.
"Brother De isn't clear as well, but he is really angry. His man lost face in his territory and that is a disrespect towards Brother De. He is ready to deal with the kid himself!" Cao Liwa said.
"Is Brother De capable?" Jin Gang was worried. If Yang Ming was the person who defeated Ji Shuisheng, then Fan Jiulong wasn't even his opponent. So what abilities did Brother De have?
"He, you don't know about this. Brother De is an outstanding person in the underworld of Song Jiang City! His fame was built by his own punch and kick. He is even stronger than Fan Jiulong!" Cao Liwa explained.
"Fine, if it didn't work out then just forget about the money. Let Brother De cripple this Yang Ming until he is hospitalized. The best result is hospitalization for a few months!" Jin Gang had a cruel thought! Aren't you having good results? I'll make you unable to attend the National Higher Education Entrance Examination! Little kid, you're gonna pay for this!
"Alright, I will convey your message to Brother De!" Cao Liwa said.
The phone disconnected. Jin Gang clenched his fists strongly. Yang Ming, you're dead meat! You conned me fifty thousand yuan. Did you think I can earn this easily? I'm just a teacher! Fifty thousand yuan, f***, this is such a big amount!
Jin Gang's father was just a small business owner. He opened a shop for decorative materials. His family was considered to have some money, but they rarely spared money to Jin Gang. His father knew that he had a lot of bad friends. Wouldn't he recklessly waste the money if any was given to him? Therefore, Father Jin only subsidized monthly to Jin Gang one thousand yuan beside his own salary. Jin Gang had saved for more than a year to accumulate this thirty thousand yuan. He never expected it to vanish so suddenly!
Yang Ming didn't know that Jin Gang hadn't stopped pursuing him! But Yang Ming didn't really acknowledge Jin Gang. As an enemy with such a level, his strength was too low. It wasn't even a challenge.
After school, Chen Mengyan quickly packed her bag and left first.
Yang Ming couldn't help but smile. Chen Mengyan's act was like covering one's ear while stealing a bell [1]! If it's under normal circumstances, both of them would walk out of the classroom without hiding. But now, Chen Mengyan seemed like she was dodging something; she didn't want others to see it.
However, Yang Ming was really happy! Because of this, it indicated that Chen Mengyan had an interest in him. Only a thief would be guilty!
As expected, Yang Ming saw Chen Mengyan at a bus station not far from school's entrance.
Chen Mengyan looked at Yang Ming and frowned. Then she said with dissatisfaction, "Why are you so slow?"
Yang Ming shook his head. "It's because of Chen Afu. He messed up all my belongings. I spent a long time to clean it up!"
"Chen Afu? Yeah, what was going on in class today?" Chen Mengyan asked with a doubt. "Why did he say you... did that?"