Chapter 26: If I Were the Principal p1
Sun Mulan had never known that being a homeroom teacher could be so thrilling. She stood on the podium. For the first time, the class was so quiet without her having to shout to maintain order.
It was also the first time she had seen so many faces, so many pairs of eyes, all looking at her.
She took a deep breath. “Students, regarding what happened during the lunch break today, the school requires that students are prohibited from discussing and spreading it privately. As for the matter itself, please try not to pay too much attention to it. The school will handle it.”
She then glanced at Zhu Junling, Jiang Yi, and the others in the class and continued, “Later, Director Du from the political and educational affairs office will be asking a few students from the class some questions. I hope you won’t be afraid or nervous. Just answer truthfully what you know. There’s no need to deliberately hide or lie. He might also ask about Zhou Wanfeng’s reputation in the class. Everyone… just speak your mind.”
Ding Gaoming raised his hand and stood up. “Teacher, will the class president be expelled?” he asked, his face full of worry, even glancing at the silent Zhu Junling.
“She’ll probably get a demerit, right? After all, the commotion this time was quite big,” someone in the class discussed.
“Indeed. The whole school is probably in an uproar. It’s hard to say, she might really be expelled.”
“Expelled is just what they say to the public. It’s probably expulsion.”
Sun Mulan’s heart was heavy. She clapped her hands to stop the students from continuing their discussion. “Alright, students, forget what was just said. Don’t discuss it anymore. There’s still some time. You can read or rest.”
Then, she walked over to Zhu Junling and Jiang Yi and called them out.
All the eyes in the class were now fixed on the two of them as they stood up. They all knew they were being called for questioning.
Chen Yisen frowned and muttered, “Oh my, my class president, this is a big mess this time,” his face filled with worry.
Ding Gaoming watched Zhu Junling leave and suddenly shouted at him, “Zhu Junling, don’t you dare turn on her!”
Zhu Junling turned back and gave him the middle finger, cursing, “Damn it, who do you think I am? The class president is so brave, do you think I’d be a coward?”
Ding Gaoming gave him a fist pump of encouragement.
Sun Mulan took the two of them to the political and educational affairs office for questioning.
The content of the verification was what Zhou Wanfeng had said.
Zhu Junling glanced at the stern-faced Du Yong’an and began to talk about how Peng Zhen had intimidated him since the beginning of the school year. “…He said he would protect me at school, and that he had backing outside of school. He wanted me to pay protection fees regularly. He not only took my pocket money, but also wanted me to help him find other targets. If I didn’t agree, he would hit me,” he said, pointing at the silent Jiang Yi next to him.
“I know Jiang Yi’s family lives in South Lake Mansion. But the class president… Zhou Wanfeng found out and told me not to hang out with them. If they asked me to help them find a target again, I should give them her information. Later, they found out that the class was collecting class fees, so they encouraged me to steal them. I was unwilling and was dragged to the restroom and taught a lesson. The five of them were smoking in the restroom and beat and kicked me. It was Zhou Wanfeng who went and brought me back to the classroom, and also told me to completely cut ties with them.”
Zhu Junling looked at Du Yong’an, his hands resting nervously on his knees. “Teacher, what I said is all true, not a single lie. Our class president… Zhou Wanfeng protected me. It’s not… it’s not her who started the trouble. She won’t be expelled, right?” Zhu Junling’s voice was filled with apprehension. The cause of the incident was him, and he was the one who had angered Peng Zhen and his group.
The thought that Zhou Wanfeng might be expelled because of him made the twelve-year-old boy raise his hand and wipe away his tears.
Zhu Junling left crying. Du Yong’an looked at Jiang Yi. “Zhou Wanfeng said you were robbed by Peng Zhen and his group?”
Jiang Yi nodded. “They stopped me on my way home from school. Four of them went through my backpack and pockets. Zhou Wanfeng and I have the same route home. She saw it and wanted to chase after them to get my money back, but I didn’t let her. First, there wasn’t much money in my wallet. I had used it to buy workbooks, so there was only a little left. Second, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, and I was also afraid of them retaliating afterwards, so I didn’t mention it to the teacher or anyone else.”
Du Yong’an made a note in his notebook, then looked up and asked, “Then do you know about Zhou Wanfeng saying that eight people robbed her?”
“There were six of them on the road after school yesterday. Zhou Wanfeng told me to turn around and take another road, but two more people came from behind, so we couldn’t get away. They were smoking, holding sticks, and told Zhou Wanfeng to bark like a dog and crawl between their legs. They said they would let her go if she left her wallet. Zhou Wanfeng didn’t agree, and one of the boys rushed up to hit her…”
Du Yong’an could basically guess the rest. “They were all beaten away by Zhou Wanfeng alone?”
“No, she only knocked down four of them. When they saw that the situation was not right, they ran away in a hurry,” Jiang Yi said with a contorted face. “Zhou Wanfeng didn’t chase after them. She could have actually taken them all down. She thought that after this incident, it should be over, and she didn’t want to take things to the extreme.”
Du Yong’an understood. Zhou Wanfeng had actually shown mercy last night. If Peng Zhen and his group had known when to quit, the matter would have been over. But clearly, they had lost face outside of school and had taken it out on Zhou Wanfeng at school, smashing her desk, soaking her books, and destroying her bicycle. And Zhou Wanfeng could only swallow her anger and not do anything about it?
But no one had expected that Zhou Wanfeng would actually barge into the classroom and beat them up.
Zhu Junling and Jiang Yi went back. Du Yong’an asked Teacher Sun to call a few more students from the class over for questioning.
Sun Mulan also had her own selfish motives. She went back to the classroom and called Ding Gaoming, Chen Yisen, Tang Yuqing, and Zhang Xi over.
“Zhou Wanfeng is good at fighting, and she’s strong and a bit domineering. Does she bully people in the class? Or are the people in the class afraid of her?” Du Yong’an deliberately asked this. He also had to find some of Zhou Wanfeng’s weaknesses to target.
Tang Yuqing immediately shook her head and waved her hands. “No, not at all. Teacher, Zhou Wanfeng is my deskmate. In all the time since school started, the things she’s said to me the most are, ‘Class is starting, don’t talk, listen to the lecture,’ and ‘We’re on this page.’ She’s very serious about studying in class and doesn’t let anyone disturb her. After class, if I want to talk to her, she has to do her homework and says that I’m disturbing her. I’ve never seen anyone who loves studying so much. She raises her hand to answer questions in class, one after another. Even the top student in our elementary school class didn’t study like her. I’m so pitiful to be her deskmate. She doesn’t even talk to me. She’s always studying.”
Zhang Xi was a little shy and afraid to make eye contact with the teacher. She lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers. “The class president… she’s not scary at all. I think she’s very righteous and a good person. In the sixth grade, there were a lot of naughty boys in the class who always bullied the girls and made fun of me for being fat. When we got to junior high, she became the class president and would protect the girls. She’s also very thoughtful. My toilet paper was always being used by my classmates, and I was too embarrassed to refuse. She saw it and spoke up for me. When someone said I was fat, she said it was a blessing to be fat, and that only those who were angry didn’t gain weight. She also said my features were pretty and my skin was fair…”
Chen Yisen and Ding Gaoming were the rising stars of the comedy world.
“When Zhu Junling was dragged into the restroom, the two of us ran back to the class to call for help. The ones who usually called themselves brothers and played well together all lowered their heads and played dead. You understand, teacher? They all heard it, but they all pretended not to. Someone from their own class was being cornered and bullied in the restroom, and no one said a word. It’s heartbreaking.”
“Only the class president stood up and left without a word.”
“The men’s restroom. She went straight in and confronted that group of third years, and brought Zhu Junling out. She said she was the class president of Class Nine, the boss of Class Nine. She would not only discipline us, but also protect us. She said she would keep her word.”
“Teacher, you know Zhao Shenyu, right? The bastard… the classmate who fought with the class president on the first day of school. The class president said that even if he were the one cornered in the restroom, she would go and bring him back.”
“Teacher, this matter is really not our class president’s fault. You know better than us what Peng Zhen’s reputation is in the third grade, right? A hooligan, a gangster. Our class president really wants to study hard. She only became the class president because she had no choice. Our Class Nine is a mess. She has to stand up and set the rules. Without rules, there’s no order. Now, the atmosphere in our class is very good. If you don’t believe me, you can take a look next time you pass by.” Ding Gaoming also knew that the class president had made a big mess this time, and he was really afraid that the school would expel her or something.
“Teacher, our class president is a very good person. She looks our age, but she has a convincing and intimidating presence. The class president loves studying so much, in the future… she might even get into a key high school and bring honor to the school,” Chen Yisen said, painting a grand picture, also with the intention of preventing Zhou Wanfeng from being expelled.
Du Yong’an waved his hand for the students to leave. He looked at the few pieces of information he had recorded in his notebook and started to worry again.
Peng Zhen and his group were indeed incorrigible. They were constantly in trouble, fighting and causing trouble. But usually, the other party was afraid of retaliation and would basically downplay major issues and let minor ones go. And most of the things they did were outside of school, and no student had reported them to the school, so it had always been peaceful.
But this time, they had run into the steel-hard Zhou Wanfeng.
A student who dared to discipline a teacher in class on the first day of school. How many of those were there in the whole school?