The Truth of the Matter

On the sports field, Li Hui's smile grew more pronounced. Next, the department head would secretly call the principal.

From Li Hui's understanding of the principal, someone who couldn't tolerate any wrongdoing would surely increase the punishment for Zhou En and Wang Rui.

Once Zhou En received a probationary period, he naturally wouldn't be able to represent the school in the kickboxing competition, nor could he become an official team member.

This would be the case even if Zhou En's talent was exceptionally high.

After the department head finished speaking, he handed the microphone to Chubby, signaling him to continue. He himself hurried behind the stands to make a call.

"Hello." A hoarse, powerful voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hello, Principal, it's me, Director Liu," Director Liu said cautiously.

"Director Liu, what is it?" The principal seemed to be in a very good mood today, his tone much brighter. At that moment, the principal was leisurely reclining in his armchair, sipping fragrant tea.

"Uh, Principal, there seems to have been a slight accident during today's flag-raising ceremony."

"What accident?" The principal couldn't be bothered to sip his tea anymore and quickly sat up from his armchair. His eyes became as sharp as an eagle's.

Director Liu recounted the events of the morning. The principal listened, his brow furrowed.

When the principal first took office, the school was an obscure vocational college. After he took the position, he immediately set some strict conditions.

Needless to say, this naturally met with student non-compliance. After all, most vocational schools dared not expel students easily.

However, this principal was exceptionally unconventional. Anyone who didn't comply was severely punished, and quite a few students were expelled.

This also led to widespread discontent within the school.

Amidst the cacophony of opposition, the principal stubbornly stuck to his decision.

Ultimately, he forcefully transformed a vocational college into a regular university, even managing to push some departments into the undergraduate tier.

This undoubtedly dealt a resounding slap in the face to all his opponents.

It also solidified the principal's standing within the school.

After hearing Director Liu's account, the principal's brow furrowed slightly. He walked to the bookshelf, picked up a student handbook, and began to search.

For situations like this, the school had long established a plan for handling them; they just needed to follow the procedure.

For fighting, the minimum punishment was a warning, and the maximum was expulsion.

The principal looked for a while and then said to the person on the other end of the phone, "If their attitude in admitting fault is careless, add one more level of punishment."

"Wang Rui gets a major demerit, and Zhou En gets a probationary period."

"Understood, Principal."

While Director Liu was on the phone, Chubby had also finished reciting the 'self-criticism' he held, intermittently.

Amidst the boos from the crowd, he walked to Zhou En's side.

Zhou En knew it was his turn.

He slowly walked to the microphone and stood ready. A nearby teacher adjusted the microphone to be level with Zhou En.

Zhou En saw the dense crowd below, their gazes fixed on him.

Scorn, pity, anger, sympathy…

Zhou En began.

"Classmates, teachers, good morning! I am Zhou En from the Management Department."

"Today, during this solemn flag-raising ceremony, I will make a self-criticism regarding my actions."

"To be honest, I don't really want to read the self-criticism in my hand, because it's exactly the same as the universal self-criticisms found online."

Hearing this, the teacher responsible for the flag-raising ceremony beside him couldn't help but darken their expression. A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

"The reason I didn't write a self-criticism is because I don't think I did anything wrong."

At this statement, those in the crowd who had been drowsy, quietly studying vocabulary, or looking at news headlines on their phones, all turned their attention to Zhou En.

The teacher beside him felt a flicker of unease in his eyes, sensing that things were about to spiral out of his control.

Li Hui's initially curved lips began to retract as he narrowed his eyes, observing Zhou En on the stage.

And in the crowd, a girl was watching Zhou En on stage with a sense of urgency.

If Zhou En looked again, he would recognize her as the glasses girl from that day.

"Sun Peiyu, that's the guy you met. He doesn't look that great, does he?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

The glasses girl didn't even hear her best friend's words, a vague sense of foreboding growing in her heart.

On the spectator stands, Zhou En continued speaking.

"The teacher said that Wang Rui and I were seen fighting in the small grove, and that's why we're being disciplined."

"But what I want to say is that Wang Rui and I never fought in the school."

As soon as these words were spoken, a general uproar ensued. The surging voices echoed across the field as if a pot had exploded.

Everyone's face showed expressions of shock.

"What the heck is this guy saying?"

"66666, he's actually going against the school in broad daylight."

"This is the most passionate speech I've ever heard."

The teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony at the school could no longer hold back. He stepped forward, intending to snatch the microphone from Zhou En's hand.

However, even though Zhou En hadn't undergone training, he wasn't a mere weak scholar.

He sidestepped, evading the teacher's outstretched hands.

"Wang Rui and I are like brothers; how could we possibly fight over something like that? If we had actually fought in the woods, wouldn't the one who got beaten admit it?"

"Ask Wang Rui if we fought," Zhou En said, pointing at Chubby.

Swish, swish, swish. Numerous gazes snapped to Chubby.

Faced with so many eyes on him, Chubby stood frozen, his mind racing with a single thought.

Zhou En had gone mad.

Zhou En dared to do this in front of the entire school faculty and students; he was definitely going to be expelled. Anyone could figure that out with their eyes closed.

Yet, Chubby subconsciously nodded.

Seeing Chubby nod, Zhou En continued.

"Is Wang Rui an idiot? Beaten and not daring to speak up, and then having to write a self-criticism with me?" Zhou En practically roared these words.

Cold sweat trickled down the forehead of the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony, dripping down his cheeks.

He reached out again, trying to snatch the microphone from Zhou En. He knew that if he didn't stop this, he wouldn't get his bonus this year.

So, disregarding his image, the teacher spread his arms wide, attempting to grab Zhou En and drag him away. But his reaction speed was no match for Zhou En's.

With a single push, Zhou En sent the teacher staggering backward. The poor teacher not only failed to stop Zhou En but also made a complete fool of himself.

This sent waves of laughter through the field.

The teacher shakily pointed a finger at Zhou En.

"Fine, fine, just wait to be expelled by the school!" With that, he turned and left, needing to find Director Liu as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, forget about a scholarship; he might not even keep his job.

Seeing that no one was stopping him anymore, Zhou En raised the microphone and said, "The real story is actually this..."