Chapter 12

The atmosphere in the class today was strange.

During the interval between classes, Oreo no longer ran and hid outside of the classroom. There was also no one who dragged him to the bathroom by the hair.

Everyone sat in pairs in class but no one wanted to sit next to Oreo so the seat beside him was left empty. Gu Xin directly sat down next to him.

Oreo quietly solved his math problems while Gu Xin read the《House of Cards》by his side. The rest of the class either sneakily glanced at the two or looked towards Lu Hao as if awaiting his instructions.

It was almost time for math class. Oreo reached out and stole a piece of Oreo from Gu Xin’s pocket and began to munch on it.

When Teacher Xue walked in, as usual, everyone greeted her with a smile then began chatting. They laughed and talked for a couple tens of minutes before deciding whether or not they should have a lesson today.

“Frankly, our class is one big family, and so is the entire grade. We’re all one big family, and a large family must have a capable guardian to resolve any difficulties that may come to pass. If you don’t protect your own ‘children’ and instead air your family’s drama to outsiders, not only will this sort of behavior disappoint your own children, it will also cause your colleague to look down on you.”

“Teacher Xue is the guardian that guards the ‘children’, whereas Director Jiang is the person who helps the outsiders.” Zhang Wenqin chimed in.

“The matter between Lu Hao and Qian Shao could’ve been resolved peacefully but Director Jiang just had to report it to the school committee and apply for disciplinary action. This shows her incompetency, she only knows how to blindly lodge complaints without mending the relationships between the students.” Teacher Xue continued to say while expressing her love for her students.

“Not to mention, everyone knows that Qian Shao is obviously at fault in this matter. He’s full of crap and provoked Lu Hao first. It’s obviously just a small fight between the boys, but they made it sound like Lu Hao was oppressing him one-sidedly. Making a mountain out of a molehill, she’s just making things difficult for the students of our class.” As spoke, Teacher Xue felt more and more wronged for the students of Class Five.

“Pei! What a load of bullshit, Laozi’s head had bled because of that Hao bastard in your class, what’s wrong with a disciplinary action against him? A violent psycho like him should just scram from this school, the sooner the better.”

Everyone turned around to the back door of the classroom. Qian Shao had just happened to pass by and heard Teacher Xue’s words.

Teacher Xue loved to adopt a patronizing attitude and blabber away in front of the students of Class Five, but she rarely used any over-the-top language. However, just now she had said a student was ‘full of crap’ and was even heard by the said student. It was a bit embarrassing, after all, she was still a teacher.

Teacher Xue glanced at Lu Hao who promptly said to Qian Shao: “Get lost.”

“I don’t know what getting lost means, but getting in is possible.” Qian Shao smiled like a hooligan.

“Fine ah, get in and the entire class can beat you together.” Cheng Jun had always taken to heart the ‘class spirit’ that Teacher Xue advocated. He was always ready to unite with his fellow classmates against external forces.

It was only after Qian Shao walked in that the people of Class Five noticed the people of Class Two pouring in behind him.

The entirety of Class Two had gathered.

Two classes standing in the same classroom made the space seem crowded.

“What, scared?” Qian Shao said arrogantly.

Teacher Xue realized the situation was out of hand. In normal times, it was still fine if she turned the students of Class Five collectively against a teacher or had them ostracize a student, but if the two classes got into a fight, she would get into big trouble.

Not to mention, Director Jiang, the homeroom teacher of Class Two, wasn’t present. Teacher Zue couldn’t push the blame off to her. If this fight happened, she would have to assume full responsibility.

“Alright, alright, there’s no need to fight. Qian Shao, if the fight happens and something goes wrong, you’ll have to take responsibility.” Teacher Xue advised.

The entire class stood up, displaying the ‘class unity’ that Teacher Xue would often preach. Only Gu Xin and Oreo remained seated with their heads down—one was doing a workbook while another was reading.

“If something goes wrong I’ll have to take responsibility?” Qian Shao repeated it then sniggered and said:

“Teacher Xue, didn’t you say just a moment ago that a small fight between the boys isn’t anything serious? Didn’t you friggin’ say that hitting other people isn’t considered as campus violence? Don’t you think that so long as anyone had a verbal disagreement with your class’s precious baby, then they deserve to be beaten?”

Qian Shao was a headstrong person. There was no one he didn’t dare to go against in the grade and he never put anyone in his eyes.

This was thanks to the school’s special custom:

If Class Six could make trouble for Oreo because of Zhang Qin’s suicide, and Class Five could run rampant because of Teacher Xue and Lu Hao’s double tyranny, then naturally Class Two could stand up for Qian Shao who was beaten.

To some degree, Oreo admired Qiang Shao.

Back then, when Oreo was surrounded and beaten up for the first time, if he could’ve had Qian Shao’s courage, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up as he was now.

“It seems that the math lesson won’t be happening.” Gu Xin whispered to Oreo. He held the book in his hand and didn’t even look up.

The two of them sat in the corner of the classroom and no one took note of them.

Gu Xin held Oreo by his sleeve and walked towards the back door. The back door was blocked by the people from Class Two.

“What, you want to represent the guys in your class and go first?” Qian Shao looked at Gu Xin and said.

“No, I’m skipping class.” Gu Xin looked back with a level gaze.

Teacher Xue watched without saying a word and Gu Xin left with Oreo.

Anyway, it was the last class of the afternoon. Gu Xin took the half-crippled Oreo and found a place in the sports field to continue doing math problems.

“Teacher Xue really is a strange person.” Gu Xin remarked.

“Yeah.”

In any case of campus violence, teachers usually fulfilled the roles of accomplices, but Teacher Xue always liked to play the role of the mastermind.

Oreo recalled that in his first year, when he first entered school, Teacher Xue had described herself as a caring educator during her first lecture.

Teacher Xue wasn’t a forty or fifty-year-old veteran teacher nor was she a fresh college graduate. She radiated spirit and enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, her enthusiasm wasn’t directed towards the student’s academics.

She involved herself in her students’ lives and conversations. In the eyes of the other teachers and the students of this school with strange customs, she was fully capable of controlling a class.

She had an obsession for intrigue and liked having students revolve around her after class—this way, she felt like she had a lot of face when she walked around in school.

In their first year, there was a rule in class—regardless if you were on the sports field, in the cafeteria, or walking in the corridor, you must greet Teacher Xue loudly if you see her. She painted it beautiful and said it was to show their ‘good upbringing’, but she just loved to hear the students call out her name loudly. If Teacher Xue saw you, but you didn’t greet her, then you would be targeted for the following week.

She thought: Although the kids in our Class Five don’t have good grades and don’t have strong abilities, it’s alright because we’re united ah.

She didn’t want to bring up excellent students, rather, she wanted to bring up an untied class.

Though even she herself had no idea what use was a united class other than to show her ability to win over people’s hearts.

She liked to use the ‘study hard’ mindset of public schools to show off her feeling of superiority: Her students weren’t just exam-taking machines that only knew how to study. They had strong adaptability within a group and would fit better into society.

If a student rejected her way of thinking for the sake of ‘studying’, then she would fly into a rage.

She believed a group needed a common enemy in order to become more united.

Even Oreo’s leadership skills and communicative ability, under the twist of her words, became accusations of being ‘attention seeking’ and ‘self-centered’, earning him the ‘help’ from his classmates to reform.

She believed that by guiding the students to dislike Oreo, she was helping him recognize his own faults so he could improve himself and assimilate better into society.

If there came a day where Oreo realized his faults, he would be able to receive his classmates ‘forgiveness.

She was just an ordinary person who had become embittered with the world. She sought everywhere to suppress those who are so young yet so talented, as if they had been chosen by the heaven.

Who hired this lady