On the sports field, the smile at the corner of Li Hui's mouth grew more and more smug. Next, the department director would sneak off to call the principal.
Given Li Hui's understanding of the principal, a man who could not tolerate even the slightest blemish, he would definitely increase the punishment for Zhou En and Wang Rui.
Once Zhou En was placed on probation, he naturally would not be able to represent the school in the free fighting competition, nor could he become an official team member.
Even if Zhou En's talent was exceptional, it would not matter.
After the department director finished speaking, he handed the microphone to Chubby, signaling for him to continue. Then he hurried behind the stands to make a call.
"Hello." An aged yet resonant voice came from the other end of the line.
"Hello, Principal. This is Little Liu," Director Liu said cautiously.
"Little Liu, what is it?" The principal seemed to be in a very good mood today, and even his tone was much brighter. At that moment, he was leisurely reclining in a grand chair, savoring fragrant tea.
"Well, Principal, there seems to have been a little incident during today's flag-raising ceremony."
"What incident?" The principal no longer had the leisure to savor his tea. He quickly sat upright in his chair, his eyes turning as sharp as an eagle's.
Director Liu could only recount what had happened that morning. The principal listened with a deeply furrowed brow.
When the principal had first taken office, the school had still been an obscure vocational college. After assuming the position, he immediately set several harsh rules.
Needless to say, the students had resisted. After all, most vocational colleges did not dare expel students so easily.
Yet this principal had insisted on going his own way. Anyone who refused to comply was severely punished, and quite a few students had naturally been expelled.
This had also caused widespread dissatisfaction within the school.
Amid the waves of opposition, the principal had stubbornly stood by his decisions.
In the end, he had forcibly raised a vocational college into an undergraduate institution, and some departments had even forced their way into the undergraduate ranks.
This undoubtedly dealt the opposition a fierce slap in the face.
It also cemented the principal's position within the school.
After hearing Director Liu's account, the principal's brow creased slightly. He walked over to the bookshelf, took down a student handbook, and began flipping through it.
The school had long established procedures for situations like this. They only needed to follow the process.
For fighting, the lightest punishment was a warning, while the harshest was expulsion.
After reading for a while, the principal said into the phone, "If their attitude in admitting fault is careless, increase the punishment by one level."
"Give Wang Rui a major demerit, and place Zhou En on probation."
"Understood, Principal."
While Director Liu was on the phone, Chubby had also haltingly finished reading the "self-criticism" in his hands.
Amid the crowd's jeers, he walked over to Zhou En.
Zhou En knew it was his turn.
He slowly walked up to the microphone and stood in place. The teacher beside him kindly adjusted the microphone to Zhou En's height.
Zhou En looked at the densely packed crowd below and at the gazes they cast upon him.
Mockery, pity, anger, sympathy...
Zhou En opened his mouth.
"Good morning, teachers and students! I am Zhou En from the Management Department."
"Today, at this solemn flag-raising ceremony, I am here to reflect on my actions."
"To be honest, I do not want to read the self-criticism in my hand right now, because it is exactly the same as the generic self-criticism templates online."
At those words, the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony beside him could not help but darken. Laughter erupted from below the stage.
"Why didn't I write a self-criticism? Because I do not think I was wrong."
Hearing this, those who had been drowsing on the sports field, memorizing vocabulary with their heads lowered, or scrolling through headlines on their phones all turned their attention to Zhou En.
A trace of unease appeared in the eyes of the teacher beside him, as though he sensed that things were about to slip beyond his control.
The curve at the corner of Li Hui's mouth gradually faded as well. He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Zhou En on the stage.
Among the crowd, a girl was anxiously watching Zhou En on the stage.
If Zhou En looked again, he would discover that she was the Glasses girl from that day.
"Sun Peiyu, is that the guy you ran into? He doesn't seem all that handsome."
"Huh? What did you say?"
She had not even heard her best friend's question. Glasses girl had an ominous feeling in her heart.
On the stands, Zhou En continued speaking.
"The teacher said Wang Rui and I were seen fighting in the grove, and that we would be punished for it."
"But what I want to say is that Wang Rui and I never fought at school."
The moment those words came out, the entire crowd erupted. A surging uproar exploded across the sports field.
Everyone wore expressions of shock.
"Holy crap, what did this guy just say?"
"66666, he's actually openly going against the school."
"This is the most passionate speech I've ever heard."
The teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony could no longer stand it. He stepped forward, intending to snatch the microphone from Zhou En's hand.
But although Zhou En had yet to receive any training, he was still not comparable to some frail scholar.
He shifted aside and avoided the teacher's hands.
"Wang Rui and I are as close as brothers. How could we possibly fight over something like this? If we really fought in the grove, wouldn't the person who got beaten admit it?"
"Ask Wang Rui whether we fought." As Zhou En spoke, he pointed at Chubby.
Countless gazes immediately focused on Chubby.
Faced with so many eyes upon him, Chubby stood there blankly, with only one thought in his mind.
Zhou En had gone mad.
Zhou En dared to do this in front of the entire school. He was definitely going to be expelled; anyone could have figured that out.
Yet Chubby still nodded instinctively.
After seeing Chubby nod, Zhou En continued.
"Is Wang Rui an idiot? He got beaten and did not dare say it, yet he still had to write a self-criticism with me." Zhou En practically roared those words.
Cold sweat streamed down the face of the teacher in charge of the flag-raising ceremony.
He reached out again, trying to seize the microphone from Zhou En. He knew that if he did not stop this, he would not see a bonus this year.
So, disregarding his image, the teacher spread his arms and tried to grab Zhou En and drag him away. But how could his reaction speed compare to Zhou En's?
With a single push, Zhou En sent the teacher stumbling backward again and again. The poor teacher had not only failed to stop Zhou En, but had also made a complete fool of himself.
This drew a burst of laughter from the sports field.
The teacher raised a trembling hand and pointed at Zhou En.
"Fine, fine! Just wait to be expelled by the school!" With that, he turned around and left. He had to find Director Liu as soon as possible.
Otherwise, forget the bonus—even his job would be at risk.
Seeing that no one was stopping him anymore, Zhou En picked up the microphone and said,
"The truth of what happened was actually this."
Before you continue