Chapter 48 The Master

  Two classes were spent in a state of extreme chaos, with glances from all corners of the classroom making Wen Qian feel like a thorn in his back. As soon as the bell rang, he rushed out to find Ye Yuting and report to her. When he arrived at the office of the high school English department on the third floor of the administrative building, Wen Qian knocked on the door and walked in. Six or seven teachers were busy with various tasks, and Ye Yuting looked up and saw Wen Qian, beckoning him over with a smile. "Wen Qian, if I'm not mistaken, at the beginning of the semester, I asked you to serve as a statistician and report to me three times a week. It's been almost two months now, how many times have you come to see me?"

  "Wen Cheng suddenly remembered that although he wasn't one of the three class committee members, he was still a public servant. He hung his head in shame: 'Recently I've been so engrossed in studying that I couldn't tear myself away, and I've neglected my duties a bit. I solemnly reflect on this with Teacher Ye, acknowledging my mistake...'"

  Sitting opposite Ye Yuting was Huang Mei, the English teacher of Class 7, a young girl who had just graduated this year. She wasn't particularly pretty, with some freckles on her face, but she had a lively personality and was good at teaching students. According to Ning Xiaoying, she was very popular among the students in Class 7. Upon hearing Wen Chen's words, Huang Mei, who was busy preparing lessons with her head down, couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Hey, Teacher Ye, which student is this? The way they talk is so smooth and fluent, it's amazing!"

  Ye Yuting maintained the dignity of a class teacher, but the smile in her eyes couldn't be hidden. After hearing her joke, she had a somewhat resentful tone: "One unstable element in the class, full of petty cleverness, just not applying it to learning."

  "Wen Qian suddenly called out to Qu: "Teacher Ye, I'm actually the most stable good student in Class 3. I don't talk during class, I don't fight after class..." Then, under Ye Yuting's teasing gaze, his voice grew smaller and smaller, "Of course, recently I was late once or twice, left early two or three times, didn't hand in homework three or four times..."

  Huang Mei burst out laughing and said, "It's strange, many students who are called to the office to be scolded are either scared to death and admit their mistakes obediently, or they're stubborn and refuse to say a word. It's rare to see someone as calm and collected as Wen Cen. She put down her pen and walked over to Wen Cen, ruffling his hair with a familiar gesture, saying: "Little devil, what did you do wrong? Tell me about it, if Huang teacher helps plead for leniency, maybe Ye teacher will give you a lighter punishment?"

  Little ghost? You're pinching my head with your toes, aren't you? Wen Ze rolled her eyes and pointed to the "Teacher's Code of Conduct" on the wall, saying: "Mr. Huang, please mind your manners, you just broke three rules at once, be careful or your salary will be deducted!"

  Huang Mei's face turned cold, Ye Yuting's smile froze, and she stared at Wen Chen: "You're the one who's being weird, aren't you going to apologize to Teacher Huang?"

  Wen Jian immediately put on a flattering smile, nodding and bowing: "Teacher Huang, don't be angry, I was just joking."

  Huang Mei was frightened by the unpredictable changes of Wen Qian, and said to Ye Yuting in a daze: "Teacher Ye, I've long heard that being a class teacher is not easy, but today I know it's really not easy! Alright, I'd better get out of here before things get worse, let me go back to my own classroom."

  With just these few words, Wen Qiang had a very good impression of this Huang Mei teacher. In '95, it was still the era where the authority of teachers was above all else, and coupled with the rough folk customs of Qingzhou, the severity of corporal punishment in each school would be enough to make headlines in the 21st century as "Huang Yi". What's even more unbelievable is that this also gave birth to three major spectacles in the Qingzhou high school scene: the "kick-step parade" of Qing No.1 Middle School, the collective push-ups of Nineteen Middle School, and the stairwell punishment of Twenty-two Middle School - listed in no particular order.

  So a female teacher like Huang Mei, who has not been warped by the abnormally heavy teaching workload, is simply a blessing for university students. Just as I was about to say a few words of praise, a loud "bang" suddenly came from not far away on the left, and a 40-year-old female teacher with a lot of charm slammed her lesson plan book heavily on the table, without looking at Wen Qian, saying in a strange tone: "I really don't know how to be a teacher, flirting with students, what kind of appearance is this? The young people of today are just incompetent and have low standards!"

  Wen Qian was startled by such an obvious sarcasm. The good thing about schools compared to other units is that the interests of ordinary colleagues are less entangled, so the so-called office politics is much lighter. It's not that they have some unresolvable feud, and very few people embarrass others in person.

  Huang Mei stuck out her tongue and didn't dare to respond, picking up the lesson plan and trying to sneak away. However, the female teacher called her over, took her lesson plan book, and launched into a tirade: "How do you prepare your lessons? It's already been seven weeks since school started and you're only now getting to this chapter? Huang Teacher, someone has already come to me to complain that your teaching is lax, your attitude is not serious, and you don't follow the teaching research group's schedule. You even bring students to play some small games..."

  "That's an expansion training, it can improve their sense of English..."

  "Bang!"

  The female teacher slammed Huang Mei's lesson plan to the ground, pointing at her nose and scolding: "Huang Mei, don't think that just because you were assigned to No. 1 Middle School, after three months of probation, if you can't get a handle on teaching, the school will still be able to send you back. Don't even think about what kind of place this is, Qing No. 1 Middle School isn't easy to get into! Be careful or I'll write a bad evaluation for you, and don't come crying to me later!"

  Huang Mei bit her lip and stopped talking, tears welling up in her eyes. Many of her classmates who graduated at the same time had been sent to inferior schools or demoted to lower-ranking positions, and her family had paid a great price to pull strings and get her into No. 1 Middle School. Whatever happened, she couldn't let her parents down. A male teacher next to her hastily intervened: "Teacher Huang, quickly apologize to Director Feng, the leader is criticizing you for your own good, don't be emotional."

  Huang Mei choked with sobs and said: "Director Feng, it was my fault for being young and inexperienced. From now on, I will definitely learn more from Director Feng's experience and do a good job in teaching."

  Ye Yuting stood up, she never wanted to get involved in anything at school, and many things could be tolerated. But this time Huang Mei was obviously implicated by herself, and was humiliated by Feng Yan. Originally, she just wanted to let it go after a few words, there was no need to cause trouble for Huang Mei because of her own anger, but unexpectedly Feng Yan took the opportunity to bully a young girl like that, it's really unreasonable?

  Ye Yuting walked over and pulled Huang Mei behind her, frowning and saying: "Teacher Feng, Huang Mei is still a child. What anger do you have that you're taking out on me? Why are you trying to intimidate her?"

  "Oh my, isn't this Teacher Ye?" Feng Yan exaggeratedly twisted her waist, her pale face full of sarcasm. "How dare I lose my temper with you? Everyone in the school knows that Teacher Ye is beautiful and has connections, how could a small research group leader like me offend you?"

  These words are extremely vicious, what's the point of being beautiful, with someone on top, isn't it mocking Ye Yuting for currying favor with her body? In any era, in any unit, saying such things to a beautiful woman is a deadly weapon.

  It's clear that this rumor has been circulating in the school for a long time. The other two male teachers exchanged a glance, with ambiguous expressions on their faces. However, the male teacher who had just helped Huang Mei out let out a sigh and looked at Ye Yuting with a hint of regret in his eyes.

  Ye Yuting's pretty face turned bright red, just as she was about to speak, but was blocked by Wen Qing's body. Wen Qing walked up, bent down to pick up the lesson plan, brushed off the dust on it, and said: "This big mom has such a great official power, may I ask if you are the principal of No. 1 Middle School or the party secretary? You can drive out excellent university graduates who have been uniformly arranged and assigned by the Municipal Education Bureau and the Personnel Department just by opening your mouth? However, I don't think you look like a leader at all, how is it that the principal's decision still needs to be asked of you?" This remark was a poisonous attack, implicitly mocking her as not being a good person.

  "You, you... Ye Yuting, how dare you talk to a teacher like that! You're too arrogant!"

  "Ah, big sister, no, I mean teacher, if you hadn't said so yourself, I really wouldn't have known you were a teacher! Tsk tsk, my eyes are opened now. Your behavior is rough, your words are vulgar, your character is inferior, and most importantly, you're ugly to boot. Open those dog eyes of yours and take a look at the rules on the wall - there are thirteen in total, and you've broken every single one of them. And yet you still dare to call yourself a teacher?"

  Feng Yan had never been scolded like this face to face since she was a child, and she was so angry that her whole body was trembling. Her still somewhat pretty face was bruised and swollen in one place as she slapped Wen Qian's face.

  With a cold smile, he pinched her wrist and twisted it hard, raising his foot to kick her abdomen. Ye Yuting exclaimed: "Don't hit people!"

  Wen Qian hastily withdrew her foot, but at the same time, she pushed with force, causing Feng Yan to cry out and retreat several steps, heavily colliding with the edge of the table. In this era, it was popular for people to place glass on top of tables to keep them clean and tidy. Feng Yan's waist was struck by the protruding glass, and she instantly let out a mournful cry, covering her waist and squatting on the ground, wailing: "I'm going to die from pain! I'll have you fired! You just wait, I'll have you fired..."

  A male teacher saw the situation was not good, and immediately ran to the teaching office to find Hua Xikui. The other two came forward and held back Wen Qian, fearing he would hit again. Wen Qian raised his hand and smiled: "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, you all saw it, Teacher Feng wanted to hit me, I just defended myself a bit. As for why she bumped into the table? This... everyone is a teacher, naturally knows that the force of an action is mutual, she used how much strength to hit me, and the rebound came back with the same amount, right?"

  It was you, MB. Two male teachers with a black line on their heads almost pressed down Wen Qian to give him a good beating. There weren't no students fighting in No. 1 Middle School, but those who fought the teachers were really rare.

  The loud voice of Hua Xijiao sounded at the door, still so sonorous and soul-stirring: "Which rabbit dare to hit the teacher? You've gone mad! Who?"

  Wen Qian turned around, looking at the majestic and powerful Hua Xikui, with a seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression on his face. "Director Hua, I'm afraid I still need to trouble you to judge who's right..."

  Hua Xi Que's furious expression was frozen on his face. He wasn't particularly afraid of Wen Qing, but rather the left Yu Xi behind Wen Qing had too much power in the education system, making him fearful. Although he had a headache, he couldn't lose face in front of so many teachers, and seriously said: "What's going on? Wen Qing, you speak first!"

  Feng Yan saw Hua Xi came, thought she had a backing, and didn't pretend to be in pain anymore. With her hands on her hips, pointing at Wen Qian's nose, she scolded: "You little thing, wait for your expulsion! I'll make you cry your way out of Qingyi Middle School!"

  "Quality, pay attention to quality!" Wen Ze smiled and said: "Director Hua, you've all seen it, so there's no need for me to say who's right or wrong, is there?"

  Ye Yuting went up and whispered about what had happened, Hua Xijiao nodded repeatedly, then walked in front of Feng Yan, who was frightened by his gaze and took two steps back, saying "Director Hua, you..."

  "Bang!"

  Everyone in the house was startled, Hua Xiaguang's face was cold, her hand patted on the glass, but she cursed in her heart: Damn it, too much force!

  "Teacher Feng, look at yourself now, what's left of you that resembles a teacher? What problem can't be solved properly, and instead you resort to violence and scolding people? Is this the quality of being a teaching research group leader? Is this your ability to solve problems? I think you've become so used to being an official that you've forgotten you're still a teacher, right?"

  The whole school knew that Feng Yan had hooked up with Vice Principal Li, and although Hua Xixiao was the principal's person, in general, she wouldn't usually be so disrespectful to Feng Yan. However, this scolding made everyone, including Ye Yuting, feel much more at ease, as Feng Yan's relationships with people in the English department were really too poor.

  Feng Yan was stunned, and it took her half a day to react. She was about to get angry when she saw Hua Xi Que secretly wink at her. "Teacher Feng, come with me to the administration office, I'll have a good talk with you. Everyone else, do what you need to do, dismiss!"

  As soon as the two left, the office immediately fell into a dead silence. The three male teachers looked at Wen Qian with meaningful glances, especially one of them knew that not long ago, Hua Xuejiu had just scolded Hou Qiang, the son of the district head of Huashan District, in the teaching affairs department. Was Wen Qian's background even more powerful?

  Ye Yuting comforted Huang Mei for a few words, but Xiaojian was still worried about being retaliated against by Feng Yan, and her face looked very bad. Wen Chen said in a low voice: "Don't worry, Teacher Huang, you wait here for a while, that Feng Yan will come back to apologize to you soon."

  He finished speaking and ignored Huang Mei's dull gaze, turning around and leaving. How could Feng Yan have the nerve to come back if he stayed here?

  Just down two flights of stairs, Ye Yuting caught up from behind and pinched Wen Qian's ear, laughing in a low voice: "With a Zuo Yu Xi backing you up, are you so arrogant?"

  You're staring blankly, Left Rain Creek asked me to take care of you, but judging from your tone, it seems like you two don't get along?

  What is going on here?