Office.

The gentle Mrs. Zhou had finally coaxed the heartbroken Teacher Xiao Tao out of her funk. Xiao Tao ate cake, and the tears stopped falling.

"Sweet or not?" Mrs. Zhou asked kindly.

Teacher Xiao Tao was very moved. "Sweet."

Mrs. Zhou smiled. "Xiao Tao, I know you put on a movie for the students out of kindness. However you treat the students, that’s how they’ll treat you."

"As teachers, we each have to walk our own path. I’m one kind of path, and Mr. Gao is another kind of path."

Thinking of the smug look on Gao Heshuai’s face when he left, Xiao Tao suddenly asked, "So was Mr. Gao also tricked over there by the students with some ’surprise’?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Gao Heshuai came back to the office with a dark face, dragging along two boys—one was the pale and skinny Shen Xinli, the other the stocky Lu Zhenxin.

Gao Heshuai snapped, "The second I walked into the classroom, I saw the two of them fighting."

Mrs. Zhou said, "Well, that’s very true-to-life."

The more Gao Heshuai thought about it, the angrier he got. "Goddammit!"

He stretched out his hand and—smack smack!—landed two slaps on the students.

He was furious. "I tell you to have self-study in the classroom, and you think it’s a boxing ring?"

He grabbed both of them by the collar and smashed them together. "Fight! Go on, fight! Fight for me right now!"

Both students looked awful.

Gao Heshuai roared, "What, not convinced? Fine, come with me to see the principal and we’ll see if you get expelled!"

The whole office was filled with his bellowing.

Guo Ran was about to turn up the volume on the horror movie. Jiang Ning said, "Watch what movie? Isn’t this way more exciting?"

"True..." Guo Ran hit pause. Teacher and student sat there cracking sunflower seeds, watching the show.

Gao Heshuai demanded, "Why were you fighting? Give me a reason, or I’ll recommend you both to withdraw!"

Lu Zhenxin was a new kid from the countryside. Feeling wronged, he said, "I was just chatting about CPR with my classmate. I saw that Shen Xinli looked very pale, so I suggested that if he ever faints in PE class one day, I’ll find someone to give him CPR. If our class doesn’t know how, I can go get someone from the class next door!"

He was really aggrieved. "Then he suddenly swung at me."

At first listen, nothing sounded wrong.

Gao Heshuai’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper. As the homeroom teacher, he’d heard some rumors—that in full view of everyone, Shen Xinli had once been given mouth-to-mouth by Pang Jiao...

Even though Gao Heshuai was all about "education without discrimination," even he had once ended up compensating Pang Jiao with a lipstick.

Of all the things to bring up, you bring up that?

Gao Heshuai asked, "Shen Xinli, why did you hit him?"

Shen Xinli’s face was blank. He didn’t answer the question. He only said, "Teacher, I want to take a few days off. I need to rest."

Gao Heshuai was in a bind. This kid’s grades were actually pretty good. He tried to comfort him. "Xiao Shen, everyone has a great mountain in their heart. No matter how hard..."

Shen Xinli had a stress reaction, dry-heaving on the spot, in obvious agony.

"Teacher, I want leave, I want leave!" Shen Xinli twisted on the floor.

Gao Heshuai’s heart lurched. "You better not drop dead on me!"

He hurriedly bent down to help Shen Xinli up.

But Gao Heshuai’s massive frame only made it worse for Shen Xinli. The boy started crawling along the floor in a dark, creepy way.

One chased, the other fled.

Mrs. Zhou and Teacher Xiao Tao gaped in shock.

Jiang Ning reached out a hand. "Why make it so complicated? Just call Pang Jiao over for a treatment."

At those words, the illness was cured—Shen Xinli sprang up like a startled toad, "snap!"

Guo Ran was astonished. "He’s cured?"

Shen Xinli glared at Jiang Ning. He would never forget that day. It was because he’d gone to challenge the cloud-ladder parallel bars that he’d paid such a huge price!

Shen Xinli hated him, but was completely helpless!

Jiang Ning, on the other hand, was in a great mood. He knew exactly what kind of person Shen Xinli was. Back then he’d often gang up with other classmates, under the guise of "horsing around," to bully Liang Sheng and the others.

In fact, in Jiang Ning’s previous life, even up till graduation, Shen Xinli had gotten into a pretty good university.

The rural kid Lu Zhenxin glanced at Jiang Ning, baffled. The other boy seemed to be a student too, but he could just hang out in the office, eat sunflower seeds, and watch the drama. Ridiculous.

At this point, even the newly transferred Teacher Xiao Tao had stopped crying and was now full of curiosity.

Shen Xinli said, "Mr. Gao, please approve a week of leave for me!"

Gao Heshuai encouraged him. "Xiao Shen, you have to understand, giving up is just the easiest method."

"Rather than running away, I’d rather you forget."

Shen Xinli gave a bitter laugh. "Like I can forget."

Shen Xinli looked like he had no will to live. "I don’t want to come to school anymore."

Gao Heshuai said, "You’re a student. Coming to school is your primary job."

Shen Xinli said, "You’re a teacher. Do you like coming to work?"

Gao Heshuai: "..."

Teacher Xiao Tao, who had been really upset a moment ago, burst out laughing.

Gao Heshuai approved three days of leave and told Shen Xinli to get lost and go home.

Next up was Lu Zhenxin.

Looking at him, Gao Heshuai said, "Lu Zhenxin, I’ve read your file. You’re a left-behind kid, your family situation is pretty average. This chance to study didn’t come easy. Don’t waste it."

"Yes, Mr. Gao!" Lu Zhenxin was puzzled by how tolerant the teacher had been with Shen Xinli, but seeing that Gao Heshuai had calmed down, he also admitted his mistake sincerely.

"Mm. You don’t have parents like theirs, so don’t be like them, talking during evening self-study."

After hearing this, Lu Zhenxin froze for a second, then bowed deeply, very respectfully.

Now it was Gao Heshuai’s turn to be stunned. Then he patted Lu Zhenxin on the shoulder. "Go back."

Being bowed to by a student, Gao Heshuai instantly felt the aura of a "famous teacher" descend upon him. His ego swelled!

He glanced at Jiang Ning, who was still snacking on seeds, and his tone softened a bit as he said:

"Jiang Ning, your parents are doing very well. All the more reason for you to work hard, to become someone who contributes to the country. Are you really willing to sink like this?"

Guo Ran felt offended. Was that a jab at someone by cursing the mulberry tree?

He decided to help the only disciple of the new school term.