20: Chapter 20 Tears at the School Gate, Shen Qingzhi Makes Her Appearance

By the time school ended the next day, the sky had already started to turn gray.

The late September evenings in Nanqiao City arrived quickly.

The sun would dive below the horizon just past five o'clock.

The streetlights hadn't turned on yet, and the entire world was in a gray, intermediate state.

Fang Jiming finished his last class at ten past five.

He packed up his lesson plans and walked out of the classroom, noting that the attendance for the day was thirty-seven students; only Lu Zihao was missing.

Fang Jiming had received news that morning that Lu Zihao had been given a demerit for fighting yesterday and hadn't shown up all day.

He kept this in mind but didn't make a fuss about it.

When he reached the main entrance of the teaching building, he noticed a small group of people gathered near the school gate, where voices and sounds of an argument could be heard.

Fang Jiming quickened his pace.

Only when he got closer did he see what was going on.

A woman was standing on the steps outside the security guard's office.

She was wearing a faded dark blue work jacket with frayed cuffs, and her hair was tied loosely at the back of her head with a black rubber band.

A few stray strands of hair stuck to her forehead, and her temples were dampened with sweat.

She clutched a crumpled piece of paper in one hand, while her other hand kept rubbing against her cuff.

Her fingertips were covered with two yellowed adhesive bandages, and the skin beneath them was inflamed and red.

She was talking to the security guard.

"Sir, I just want to go in and take a look, just one look and I'll come right back out, I'm begging you."

The security guard was an old man in his fifties, wearing a security uniform, leaning against the window of the guard office, holding an enamel mug and drinking water with an indifferent expression.

"I said no, so it's no. Parents aren't allowed in before school ends. It's the rules."

"But I took time off this afternoon to come here. My boss only approved two hours. If I don't go in now, I won't make it in time."

"There's nothing I can do. Those are the rules."

The woman bit her lip, neither continuing to beg nor leaving.

She just stood on the steps outside the guard office, rubbing that crumpled piece of paper with both hands, her eyes slowly turning red.

Fang Jiming's footsteps halted.

He saw the header on that piece of paper.

Nanqiao No. 19 Middle School Student Expulsion Warning Notice.

The name written below was Lu Zihao.

In the issuer section, there was an official stamp from the Academic Affairs Office, along with a signature.

Fang Jiming recognized that flamboyant handwriting.

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu.

Fang Jiming: ( ﾒ _ ﾒ )

He didn't walk over immediately, but stayed where he was for a few more seconds to observe the scene.

Three meters to the left of the security office stood an old locust tree with a trunk so thick that two people couldn't wrap their arms around it.

Its dense branches and leaves allowed a layer of moss to grow in the shadow beneath the tree.

Standing under the tree was a person.

Lu Zihao.

The seventeen-year-old boy leaned against the tree trunk, his hands in his school uniform pockets, his chin slightly raised, his gaze fixed from beginning to end on the direction of the security office where his mother was.

His expression was complex.

His lips were pressed into a tight line, the muscles in his jaw were tense, and his right hand was clenched into a fist inside his pocket, the knuckles still bearing bruises from the fight the day before.

In his eyes, there was anger, impatience, and the restraint of someone wanting to rush over but forcing himself to stay still.

But more than anything, there was something Fang Jiming was very familiar with.

A sense of powerlessness.

That sense of powerlessness, knowing she was being wronged but being unable to do anything, was like an invisible rope binding him under the tree, forcing him to just stand in the shadows and watch.

Fang Jiming paused for a moment.

A message popped up on the system interface to the right of his vision.

[Core student Lu Zihao's tendency to drop out is 82%, an increase of three percentage points from yesterday.]

[Warning: If Lu Zihao drops out, the class dropout rate will approach the critical threshold. Please intervene in time, Host.]

Fang Jiming closed the system notification.

He didn't need the system to tell him what to do.

He lifted his foot and walked over.

When the security guard saw Fang Jiming approaching, his expression changed slightly; recognizing this was the new head teacher who had been causing quite a stir in the school recently, his attitude shifted to subtle wariness.

"Teacher Fang."

"Sir."

Fang Jiming nodded at the security guard, his gaze falling upon the woman.

Up close, she looked even more haggard; her cheeks were so thin that her cheekbones were somewhat prominent, there was a faint bluish tint under her eyes, and her lips were chapped with a thin cut on them.

But her facial features were actually quite good—a straight nose bridge and slender eyes. If she hadn't been worn down by life into her current state, she would have had a very attractive face.

When she saw Fang Jiming walking over, she was stunned for a moment, her gaze landing on the work ID hanging on his chest, where she saw the words "Head Teacher of Class 18, Grade 12."

Her eyes lit up—not with joy, but like a drowning person seeing a piece of driftwood.

"Are you Teacher Fang?"

"I am. Are you Lu Zihao's parent?"

"I'm his mother, Shen Qingzhi."

Her voice trembled as she said this.

Fang Jiming glanced at the expulsion notice that she had crumpled in her hand, and held out his hand.

"Let me see that."

Shen Qingzhi hesitated for a moment before handing over the notice.

Fang Jiming took it, unfolded it, and scanned it once.

The Expulsion Warning Notice stated in the reason section that the student had repeatedly violated school rules and regulations, engaged in fighting, and exceeded the allowed number of absences and tardiness. The suggested disciplinary action was "recommendation for expulsion."

The issue date was 3:00 PM this afternoon.

3:00 PM this afternoon.

When Fang Jiming was still teaching Class 18 in the morning, this document had already been signed in Vice Principal Sun Yaozu's office.

When he tried to talk to him yesterday, he used the food safety regulations; when that didn't work, he switched tactics today.

Instead of going directly after the teacher, he actually went straight for the student in Fang Jiming's class with the highest tendency to drop out—the biggest troublemaker.

Fang Jiming read the notice again; the paper still held the sweat stains and body heat from Shen Qingzhi's palms.

He looked up at Lu Zihao in the distance under the locust tree.

The boy's gaze was fixed on the paper, his body leaning forward by half an inch, ready to pounce out at any moment.

Fang Jiming withdrew his gaze and looked down at Shen Qingzhi.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and water droplets hung on her eyelashes as she stubbornly held back her tears.

Fang Jiming asked,

"Who gave you this notice?"

"The guard at the security office said the school sent it to the guard office and told me to come and get it."

"Did anyone explain it to you in person?"

"Like the head teacher or the Academic Affairs Office?"

Shen Qingzhi shook her head.

"No, they just told me to come and get the notice."

Fang Jiming turned his gaze to the security guard.

The security guard placed his enamel mug on the windowsill and turned his face away, refusing to look at him.

Fang Jiming: ( 눈 _ 눈 )

Good, very good.

They even skipped the basic procedure of delivering the notice in person, just tossing it at the security office for the parent to pick up themselves, like collecting a package from a courier station.

What a great example of "following the rules."

He folded the expulsion notice twice and stuffed it into his pocket.

Shen Qingzhi watched his movements nervously.

"Teacher Fang, that notice..."

"I'll hold onto this paper for now."

Fang Jiming looked into her eyes and spoke, slowing his pace.

"Ms. Shen, you go back first. Go to work as usual; don't let your boss dock your pay."

"Tomorrow, have Lu Zihao come to class on time. He doesn't need to bring anything; he can just come empty-handed."

Shen Qingzhi was stunned.

She opened her mouth as if wanting to ask what would happen about the expulsion, but the words were stuck in her throat, unable to come out.

She stood there looking at Fang Jiming, her expression so complex it was almost unlike a parent looking at a teacher.

In that gaze, there was confusion, the nascent form of gratitude, but mostly disbelief.

She had been taught by life for too long, long enough that she didn't dare to easily trust anyone who reached out a helping hand.

Fang Jiming read her eyes and didn't explain further.

Too much explanation would be useless. For a woman who had been worn down by life into building a defensive shell, actions were ten thousand times more convincing than promises.

He only added one sentence.

"Lu Zihao is my student. I will handle the matter of the expulsion; you don't need to worry about it."

Shen Qingzhi's tears finally fell.

The water that had been held in her eyes for so long finally overflowed and streamed down her cheeks in silence.

She quickly wiped her nose with the back of her hand and sniffled.

"Thank you, Teacher Fang."

Her voice was hoarse.

"Don't thank me, this is my job."

After saying this, Fang Jiming turned around and walked toward the old locust tree.

Shen Qingzhi stood on the steps outside the security office, watching his retreating figure.

The paper she had been clutching empty-handed all afternoon was gone.

She lowered her head to look at her bandaged fingers, then looked up again toward the direction of her son under the locust tree in the distance.

Lu Zihao was staring at Fang Jiming's approaching figure.

Shen Qingzhi's hand trembled slightly at her side.

She didn't know if this young head teacher could fulfill that promise.

But she knew one thing.

This was the first person in nine years who had said, "I will handle the matter of the expulsion."