Shi Tiexin found it absurd. Meanwhile, in the Academic Affairs Office of Fengming First High School, the renowned Square-headed Fiend, Zheng Kaiming, found it equally absurd and unbelievable.
Several students had come to lodge a complaint with him in the middle of the day.
That was nothing unusual. There were always disputes between students. Even at a prestigious high school like Fengming First High School, all sorts of incidents were unavoidable.
Come to think of it, some top students had even more nitpicky nonsense going on. They were such troublemakers that they made people sick. Though Zheng Kaiming found it endlessly vexing, since he was the Director of Academic Affairs, he still had to do his job properly.
But these students today nearly made Zheng Kaiming's eyes pop out.
"What did you say?" Zheng Kaiming spoke with the same disbelief one might have at seeing a sow climb a tree. "Say that again?"
"T-Teacher Zheng..." The four students stood in a row before him. They were clearly the victims, yet all of them were trembling like quails. They were Teng Chaoguo's four lackeys.
Before coming here, these lackeys had planned things out nicely. But once they reached the entrance to the Academic Affairs Office, they all began to back out.
It could not be helped. Seeing Zheng Kaiming was like a mouse running into a cat. They usually could not avoid him fast enough, yet now they had actually come looking for him themselves. Wasn't that courting death?
The four lingered outside the office for a long time, but none of them had the courage to open the door. Yet just because you did not move forward did not mean fate would not give you a shove. They had not gone in, but the door opened from inside, and a large, perfectly square head emerged on its own.
The moment Zheng Kaiming saw the four of them, his eyes widened. He opened his mouth, ready to lecture them for ten minutes first. But one quick-witted lackey had a flash of inspiration in his panic and immediately let out a dry, wailing howl, choking off Zheng Kaiming's rebuke.
"Teacher, we were beaten up! We were beaten so badly!"
Zheng Kaiming froze. Had the sun risen in the west? These four punks had actually come to complain to him? That was truly a rare sight, so Zheng Kaiming decided to question them properly. Thus came the earlier scene.
"What did you say? Say it again. Explain everything clearly!"
Since the four of them hung around together, they naturally had no lack of reckless spirit. Things had come to this, so they could only lower their heads and charge ahead. One shifty-looking fellow secretly pinched the fat boy's waist, making the fat boy—who looked relatively the most honest among the four—speak.
The fat boy worked the flesh on his face, trying to make himself look less ferocious, then complained mournfully, "Teacher Zheng, we were beaten up. It happened this morning. We were beaten up inside the school!"
The other three promptly chimed in.
"Yeah, yeah, we were beaten terribly!"
"Teacher, look at my teeth! They've all been loosened from the beating!"
"Look at this bruise on my face! My cheek is swollen this high—I really took a huge beating!"
Zheng Kaiming had a fairly good idea of what sort of people these punks were. Judging by their blackened noses and swollen faces, they did seem to have been beaten up.
Fighting on campus was a serious issue. If it was not handled properly, it could become very troublesome. But it did not look as though they had suffered any major injuries, so Zheng Kaiming felt somewhat relieved. Then his curiosity rose again.
"Who beat you into this state?" Zheng Kaiming looked them over, then his expression darkened as he barked, "Speak! Did you get into a gang fight?"
"No, no, no, it wasn't a gang fight. We were all beaten by one person."
"Yeah, yeah, just one person. And we weren't the only victims—Teng Chaoguo was there too. He got beaten even worse!"
One person?
Zheng Kaiming thought for a moment. "Chen Yuanlong did it?"
Chen Yuanlong was a second-year student, a sports specialist at Fengming First High School, and a professional sanda fighter. He had already won a city championship title and qualified for the North Su Province competition.
He was one of the toughest fighters in all of Fengming First High School.
Calling him one of the toughest was not wrong, because there was another third-year student who had won a provincial championship and was even stronger than Chen Yuanlong. But saying he was not one of the toughest would also be correct, because that student, along with every Elite Class student in the third year, had already transferred to another campus.
There, he had cut himself off from everything and studied under fully enclosed, high-intensity conditions, all to make a run at this year's North Su Province top scorer in the college entrance examination—perhaps even Southern Zhili's overall top scorer.
At this campus now, Chen Yuanlong had the highest level of fighting skill.
"No, no." The four exchanged glances. If they wanted to get that guy expelled, this was probably their only chance!
After laying the groundwork for so long, the map had finally been unrolled and the dagger revealed. The four spoke in unison, accusing, "It was Shi Tiexin!"
"Who?!"
Zheng Kaiming's eyes widened.
"Teacher Zheng, you have to stand up for us!"
"Look how badly he beat us!"
"We can't even attend class anymore! We have to go to the hospital. Medical expenses, missed-class compensation—Shi Tiexin has to pay all of it!"
"If I get these injuries examined, they'd count as minor injuries! Intentional assault causing minor injuries is enough for a prison sentence!"
The four chattered and clamored at once, making Zheng Kaiming increasingly irritated. Suddenly, he roared, "Shut up!" The four instantly fell silent.
Zheng Kaiming looked at these four problem students, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"I ask, you answer. No nonsense. Understand?"
The four nodded together, obedient as could be.
"Shi Tiexin beat you?" Zheng Kaiming emphasized it again. "Shi Tiexin from Class 28, First Year?"
"Yes, it was him!"
"When did it happen?"
"This morning, during the break after second period."
"Where?"
"The Black Toilet... no, no, I mean the old restroom behind Building Four."
"How did he beat you?"
The four immediately began talking over one another. One said Shi Tiexin had been unstoppable, taking on five by himself. Another thought that made them sound too humiliating and hurriedly said no, Shi Tiexin had used tricks to lure them in.
The third thought that would not do either. If they made it sound too mild, they might not be able to drive that guy away. They still had to make his crimes sound more severe.
Zheng Kaiming quietly listened to their disjointed testimony, a cold smile curling at his lips.
"One final question—why did he beat you? Or rather, what conflict did you have with him?"
The fat boy blurted out, "Because he brought people to search our—" Smack! Another person slapped the fat boy on the head, cold sweat nearly pouring down his face. The fat boy hurriedly changed his words. "Don't know, don't know. We don't know why either. We were using the restroom, and he suddenly rushed in and beat us up."
"Hiss..." Zheng Kaiming took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and shook his head softly. "This is the first time I've ever encountered students like this..."
"Exactly, Teacher Zheng! This is simply intolerable by heaven and earth. He must be expelled—"
Without raising his head, Zheng Kaiming said, "Get out."
"Exactly, Teacher Zheng, you're absolutely right. He has to get out—"
"I mean you four. Get out. Get out right now!" Zheng Kaiming slammed his hand on the desk, making the four shudder. Even the round patch of hair atop his square head seemed ready to fly up. Zheng Kaiming was beside himself with fury. "Making a mess of things, false accusations and framing others, pestering without end—get out, all of you!"
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