Chapter 73: Ten cases
"Why do we have to stand here as punishment?" The boys from Class Five were deeply indignant. But none dared object to Jiang Zezhong. Even Zhang Xi, Li Ai, and the other usual troublemakers merely lowered their heads and muttered, not daring to confront him outright. Although City First Middle School had plenty of these well-connected kids, and fights occasionally broke out between students, its reputation still carried weight. None of them dared openly defy a teacher.
Especially after the recent incident in which Chen Chong had slashed someone. His family had pulled every string they could, but they still could not save him from expulsion from City First Middle School and a disciplinary entry in his permanent record. That had made the other well-connected kids rein themselves in. The more mischievous ones had all received warnings from their families to varying degrees.
All forty-odd boys in Class Five had been dragged into it and made to stand on the sun-scorched field, while Jiang Zezhong stayed in the shade, watching them with a half-smile. A few knew exactly what was going on. When he had interfered with their soccer game before, they had talked back because they found his remarks obnoxious. Today, he was clearly making an example of them.
The girls from Class Five watched them supportively from beneath the distant camphor trees. The other two classes had escaped punishment, but they felt no gratitude for Jiang Zezhong's "special mercy." No one would laugh at a predicament they might find themselves in next time.
Among the girls, there was a collective verdict on this man who liked staring at girls' thighs and inventing new ways to physically punish students: a pervert.
Some gossipmongers had dug up stories from his own high school days at No.