Chapter 44: Principal Chu's Wisdom

  Anything is like that, when you don't try it, you won't know the fun in it.

  Just like sitting in the front row of a university classroom, you will unconsciously put away your usual small movements and wholeheartedly devote yourself to the teacher's lecture. And when you are immersed in the teacher's thinking and engaged in the pleasure of acquiring knowledge, time flies by quickly.

  Perhaps this was also the fastest class the three of them had ever experienced, completely without the feeling that time was dragging on like years. The three didn't even notice that the college leaders had accompanied the school leaders to stand outside the classroom for at least over three minutes.

  Principal Chu gazed out the window at Chen Chufan for three minutes, of course this gaze wasn't that kind of emotionally rich gaze. If one had to say there was any emotion in Principal Chu's eyes, it could only be curiosity, or perhaps just curiosity. If not for yesterday's absurd afternoon, perhaps Principal Chu would have never noticed that such an ordinary student had ever existed in his own school.

  Three minutes of staying, only solved a part of the doubts in Principal Chu's heart. Because when Principal Chu saw Yang Tao beside Chen Chufan, he roughly judged that the origin of a certain phone call he received was from him. But what about the remaining so many calls? He still didn't know, but he also didn't plan to solve this mystery, since he already knew that this young man was just an ordinary young man, then some things didn't need to be considered too much. The principal is very busy.

  Huaxia is a very magical country. The people living here especially like to hold meetings. Even holding meetings has been integrated into the life of Huaxia people, becoming an indispensable part of life. From primary school, every year at the beginning of school, there will be a mobilization meeting, and each week in class, there will be a class meeting, and each semester, teachers will also hold a parent-teacher conference.

  When you leave school and enter the society, there are even more meetings that make you breathless. In the morning, there is a morning meeting, in the evening, there is a summary meeting, the superior department has issued a document to hold a study meeting, there is a new project and new ideas to hold a research discussion meeting, discussing personnel appointments to hold a secretary meeting, a standing committee meeting, regular meetings that are held at fixed times, called daily meetings, and emergency meetings convened in case of unexpected events. Even every four years, the entire China will hold a grand National People's Congress, commonly known as the Two Sessions.

  But in fact, the problems that can be really solved at the meeting are very few. Most of the important decisions have been settled before the meeting, and some resolutions cannot be decided at the meeting, at least they have to wait until the next meeting. I don't know if this is a kind of irony.

  Leaders go down to the grassroots level for inspections, and meetings are also an indispensable step.

  So in the conference room of the College of Literature, a meeting was being held like wildfire. There were many idle talks, but everyone listened very seriously. Like all meetings, the meeting itself did not have anything substantial, but after the meeting, Principal Chu made a speech and asked Secretary Zhang, Director Wang, and Old Xiao to stay behind.

  Having a one-on-one conversation with the leader is, of course, a rare opportunity. However, people with lower status usually have less time to interact with the leader, so Lao Xiao only received a simple word of encouragement from Principal Chu.

  "Xiao Xiao, you're doing a great job as a counselor, taking care of the students and doing excellent work. The school has taken notice. But don't be proud, keep working hard to improve yourself, so when the school needs you to take on more responsibilities, you'll be able to handle it with ease!" Principal Chu said with kind encouragement.

  "Thank you, Principal Chu, for your praise. I will continue to work hard and improve myself." Old Xiao hastily replied, but his heart was in turmoil. From the principal's tone, could it be that he would be promoted and reused soon?

  "Alright, you're still young, and that's a good thing! Young people should have energy! The future of the school is in your hands! I won't delay your work any longer, go ahead and get busy!" Principal Chu said after hearing Old Xiao's response.

  "That's all, Principal Chu, Secretary Zhang, Director Wang. You guys chat slowly, I'll go to work first!" Old Xiao stood up and nodded to the three people who were still seated, then walked out of the conference room with an excited mood.

  When Old Xiao walked out of the conference room and re-closed the door, Minister Wang began to speak: "Principal Chu, I want to apologize to you!"

  "Oh? Old Wang, what's going on?" Principal Chu looked at Minister Wang with a hint of a smile, who was looking at him with a guilty expression.

  "I, as the Minister of Education, have not done enough meticulous and serious work on student affairs. The educational methods for students are also somewhat simple and crude. Take the recent incident of a student beating someone in history class, for example. I didn't thoroughly investigate the cause and effect of the matter, and made a decision to expel the person involved, which is an error of dogmatism!" Minister Wang said with a heavy tone.

  "Old Wang, this matter indeed deserves criticism. You've been working in the student department for five years now, right? You're also considered a veteran cadre, how can you be so sloppy with things? What is school for? Teaching and educating people! In my opinion, teaching comes second, the key is educating people. When students make mistakes, simply expelling them from school and throwing them into society, this is an irresponsible act of the school, and also an irresponsible act towards society! You say, students make a few mistakes, and you expel them from school, what kind of people will this school cultivate? Isn't that right?" Principal Chu lectured.

  "Yes, yes, Principal Chu is right! He's indeed the principal, considering everything comprehensively. My thinking is still too narrow!" Minister Wang very humbly accepted Principal Chu's criticism verbally.

  "Also, Old Zhang. I heard that this incident involves Lord Gongzi?" Principal Chu turned to ask Zhang Dingguo, who had been silent beside him all along.

  "Yes, Principal!" Zhang Dingguo replied simply.

  "Isn't the child's injury serious?" Principal Chu asked with concern.

  "It's nothing! Don't worry, Principal!" Zhang Dingguo replied.

  "It's all right! Now, about this Chen Chufan's disciplinary report, you can just study it. Try not to leave a stain on the child's future because of this matter. Chairman Mao said that we educators are mainly here to cure and save people! Alright, I won't disturb your work anymore, I'll take my leave first!" With that, Principal Chu stood up and took his leave.

  Zhang Dingguo and Minister Wang also hastily stood up.

  "Principal, let's have lunch before you go! It's almost noon anyway!" Zhang Dingguo hastily spoke up to detain him.

  "Come on, Old Zhang, don't be polite. Look at our school, it's not that big, and you're just here to take a look around, right? It's not like we need to make a big fuss about it! Haha, there are plenty of chances for us to have dinner together, but I've got a lot on my plate right now, so let's just skip it today!" Principal Chu said with a smile.

  Zhang Dingguo naturally did not allow it, after all, there were several rounds of verbal sparring, and in the end, Principal Chu still decided to bid farewell and leave. Zhang Dingguo and Minister Wang could only stand up to see him off, sending him all the way to the bottom of the Literature College building, watching as Principal Chu walked away into the distance before finally giving up.

  "Director Zhang, what do you think about this matter?" After seeing off Principal Chu, Director Wang looked embarrassed and asked for Director Zhang's opinion.

  Originally, the two of them had discussed and decided to withdraw Chen Chufan's expulsion penalty and change it to a warning. After all, the Student Department had made such a big fuss about giving a student a penalty, but in the end, there was no movement at all, which would be too embarrassing. Isn't that just openly admitting that the Student Department had made a serious mistake in this matter?

  Even if the principal speaks for them, the two can still argue reasonably, after all, it's wrong for students to fight. But who knew that Principal Chu would not play by the rules today. Just a few words, he expressed his own meaning and left. Not giving the two a chance to speak at all.

  This made Minister Wang uncomfortable. Especially the last sentence of Principal Chu, "Try not to leave a stain on this child's future because of this matter!" This was very considerate, what is meant by not leaving a stain on the future? In Minister Wang's view, it was certainly a disciplinary action that would not be recorded in the student's file.

  Since it cannot be recorded in the file, of course, no disciplinary action can be taken. However, the most severe punishment that does not involve recording in the file is only a serious warning. From being expelled from school to a serious warning, this difference is too big. Therefore, Minister Wang had to ask Secretary Zhang for instructions.

  Zhang Dingguo's face was also unpredictable, and he clearly understood what Principal Chu meant by being concerned about his son. "What an old fox!" Zhang Dingguo thought to himself. "Let's just follow Principal Chu's requirements for now. As for how to handle it specifically, Director Wang, you can take care of it yourself!" After saying that, Zhang Dingguo ignored the Minister of State Security standing beside him and walked straight back into his own office.