He turned to glance at his wife and saw Hu Ruoyun staring fixedly at the screen, unblinking and extraordinarily intent.
He could not help sighing and patting the back of her hand. "Don't worry."
Far from relaxing, Hu Ruoyun only tightened her grip.
Ripples suddenly spread, and four words spun out from the depths of the screen.
At that moment, Hu Ruoyun's body went a little rigid.
The four words grew larger and larger before finally fixing themselves in the center of the screen, striking terror into the heart at first sight!
Li Changjiang's eyes went wide.
Hu Ruoyun even cried out, then immediately raged, "Unfair! This assessment is far too unfair! Why give him an assessment like that? Zuo Xiaoduo didn't do anything wrong, and that family got what they deserved! Why give Xiaoduo this assessment? Is punishing evil and promoting good somehow wrong?!"
Li Changjiang's face twisted further. "Honey, be gen-gen-gentle... that hurts, hurts, hurts..."
In her agitation, Hu Ruoyun had used too much force and even given his wrist a twist, bruising it outright.
Yet the four large words on the screen stood immovable, unchanged by Hu Ruoyun's anger!
Those four words were unmistakably-
"Leftist Path, Demonic Heart!"
There were only those four words-not even a grade!
No A, B, C, or D. Nothing.
"Unfair!" Hu Ruoyun's delicate face flushed crimson as she slapped the table. "I demand a reassessment!"
Li Changjiang sighed helplessly. "This thing... isn't something we have any say over, is it?"
Hu Ruoyun panted, clearly still unsettled.
Li Changjiang sighed and said, "Although this assessment is somewhat biased, ordinary people won't be able to see it. Only when he's crossed the Thorny Road of Life and Death and achieved greater things will it come before the higher-ups... you don't need to worry so much."
Hu Ruoyun flew into a rage. "What do you mean, I don't need to worry? Don't you know that's precisely when positions and jobs are assigned? With an initial assessment like this hanging over him, what good post would be left for Xiaoduo? If he runs into someone prejudiced who sees those four words and sends him straight to the front lines, do you think 'cannon fodder' is just an expression?"
She glared at her husband, somewhat unable to understand him. "Li Changjiang, every child who leaves this school is like one of our own. When did you become so cold-blooded? Have you been principal too long?"
Li Changjiang sighed softly and remained silent for a long while. To him, his wife's excessive agitation had made her impossible to reason with at this moment.
He rubbed between his brows and murmured, "Ruoyun, we've served as observers and seen so much. Don't you know this assessment isn't excessive? Do you really need me to explain it to you in detail?"
Hu Ruoyun snorted and stared at him, clearly waiting for him to continue.
Li Changjiang said helplessly, "Did you really not notice that Zuo Xiaoduo's aim from the very beginning was to bring that family down so thoroughly they could never recover?! Everything he did was laying the groundwork for that ultimate goal!"
"And he set that extreme goal right from the start."
"The way most people would handle it, clearing their own name would have been enough. But Zuo Xiaoduo never intended to do that from the outset. Just as you said earlier, he responded in the most ruthless way possible. He never intended to let this family go on living in peace, even after he finished the trial and left, even though he knew perfectly well that it was only a virtual world and he would never see them again..."
Li Changjiang smiled bitterly. "Yet he still chose the most uncompromising method from the outset. He used the most extreme approach, far beyond any normal bounds, to carry this out, then advanced step by step, leaving his targets no way to survive."
"Although this family behaved despicably, extorting others and acting without conscience, were their crimes truly unforgivable in the end? Ultimately, it was merely the darkness of human nature and their low character. But as public opinion roared, the entire family was exposed for all the world to see, with no way back left to them... ah, methods like these."
Li Changjiang sighed. "Leftist methods, a demonic heart's ruthlessness. This assessment... isn't excessive!"
Hu Ruoyun hesitated for a long time before finally sighing and murmuring, "This child... has just been stifled for too long..."
Elsewhere, just as Zuo Xiaoduo was eagerly preparing to go beat up that family, the trial came to an abrupt end.
Still feeling somewhat unsatisfied, a certain someone stepped out of the Heaven and Earth Tower and immediately saw Hu Ruoyun and Li Changjiang standing before him.
Zuo Xiaoduo instinctively shuddered, promptly stood at attention, and said with an obedient expression, "Hello, Principal. Hello, Teacher Hu."
Hu Ruoyun's gaze was complicated. "Did you pass the trial?"
With a simple, honest expression, Zuo Xiaoduo said, "I passed. It was only my first try, too. There was some difficulty, but not too much."
Hu Ruoyun snorted. "What did you encounter? Even if it wasn't too difficult, there must have been some challenges, right?"
Zuo Xiaoduo said guilelessly, "It really wasn't anything serious. I just ran into an extortion incident, then found a way to clear my name. As long as the outcome was good, a few twists and turns along the way were of no consequence."
He gave a thoroughly honest, sincere smile and even scratched his head. "I also kept your teachings firmly in mind, Teacher, and handled everything with great tolerance. In life, eight or nine things out of ten don't go as you wish. Give the other side's position a little more thought-everyone's heart is made of flesh..."
He stood tall and straight, his face honest and smiling, with even a hint of shyness. He truly looked like a sunny young man, harmless to man and beast.
With that bearing, he really was a model student of the new era.
The corner of Hu Ruoyun's mouth twitched. She glanced sideways at her husband, only to see Li Changjiang's face as black as the bottom of a pot, utterly expressionless. She drew a breath and said, "You... did well."
Zuo Xiaoduo said obediently, "It was all thanks to your teachings, Teacher."
Suppressing a feeling like rivers churning and seas overturning inside her, Hu Ruoyun said, "Get ready. I'll take you to report to the Martial Warrior class."
"Sure thing!"
Zuo Xiaoduo answered, turned, and ran off in a lively, adorable manner, even throwing in a high leap.