23: Chapter 23 Since they're not going to follow the rules, let's flip the table first.

Principal Zhou Dehai coughed twice, picked up his teacup printed with the red characters "Serve the People," and took a sip of water.

"Mr. Fang, what is all this? We are all colleagues; harmony brings wealth. Is there anything we can't discuss behind closed doors?"

Principal Zhou Dehai had been in charge of No. 19 Middle School for so many years by relying on this technique of Tai Chi pushing, offending no one.

Fang Jiming certainly didn't buy this lukewarm approach; he cut straight to the point.

"Lu Zihao from my class hasn't even received a disciplinary notice."

"Some people don't even follow the rules and want to expel a student from my class directly. Isn't this just throwing an underage child into society to become a hoodlum?"

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu interrupted from the side, his spit almost spraying out.

"That Lu Zihao is hopeless, like mud that won't stick to a wall. He causes trouble and fights in school every day. Keeping such a student in school will only corrupt the atmosphere of the entire No. 19 Middle School. I expelled him for the sake of the hundreds of students in the school who want to study hard."

Fang Jiming shot him a cold glance.

"Your 'consideration' involves skipping all legal procedures and sneaking a blank piece of paper into the guard room? Your painstaking efforts are truly eye-opening."

Fang Jiming: (╯°Д°)╯︵ ┻━┻

The office fell into a brief and awkward silence.

Principal Zhou Dehai scraped the tea stains on the rim of his teacup with his fingernail, actually feeling some admiration for Fang Jiming in his heart.

It had been many years since No. 19 Middle School had seen such a gutsy young man, which reminded him of the passion he had during his first few years as a teacher.

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu had controlled the school for many years; he couldn't offend Vice Principal Sun Yaozu head-on and could only try to smooth things over with a smile.

"There were indeed some procedural flaws, but Vice Principal Sun is just deeply concerned about the school."

Fang Jiming crossed his arms, no longer giving these two any room to play Tai Chi, and directly threw out his trump card.

"Principal Zhou, I'll just lay it out on the table today."

He held up three fingers to count.

"Don't expel Lu Zihao, and I guarantee he won't cause any trouble at school for a month. Even if he causes the slightest bit of trouble, I will resign and pack my bags."

Principal Zhou Dehai was stunned; this was a heavy military order and the highest level of a teacher protecting their student.

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu sneered, just about to take the opportunity to seal the deal, when the second half of Fang Jiming's sentence slammed down.

"But if you insist on expelling him, I will take all thirty-some students from Class 18 right now, and we will all take leave to go to the Municipal Education Bureau's Logistics Management Department to report some issues."

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu: ( ° △ ° | | | )

Fang Jiming paused, his tone carrying a touch of worldly cynicism.

"I want to report why our great and selfless Vice Principal Sun had to contract the Cafeteria to his unlucky relative who can't even pass a basic health inspection."

"The teachers and students eat boiled cabbage and pork stir-fried with low-quality oil every day. I'll go ask the Director of the Education Bureau whose pocket all that 'oil money' is actually flowing into."

As soon as these words were spoken,

the air in the Principals Office completely stopped moving.

Shen Qingzhi looked at Fang Jiming in horror; she didn't know how a teacher could dare to escalate things to this extent.

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu's face turned from red to white, then from white to green, finally settling on a liver-purple color.

His lips trembled, and the finger he pointed at Fang Jiming shook like a withered branch in the wind.

The contractor for this Cafeteria was his brother-in-law, Zhao Guangming; everyone knew tacitly how much profit was being skimmed off the top.

Fang Jiming actually dared to tear the fig leaf to shreds right in front of him.

Principal Zhou Dehai was covered in sweat, quickly putting down his teacup, his fat hands waving wildly in the air.

"Mr. Fang, Mr. Fang, you're straying too far. The Cafeteria issue is not within the scope of today's discussion. Oh my, this matter..."

Principal Zhou Dehai turned to look at Vice Principal Sun Yaozu, his tone for the first time carrying an indisputable, decisive power.

"Old Sun, since Mr. Fang is willing to vouch for the student Lu Zihao, let's give him another chance. Young people inevitably make mistakes. Putting him on probation is enough. Let's withdraw the expulsion notice for now."

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu understood that Principal Zhou Dehai was protecting him and giving him a ladder to step down.

If the messy accounts of the Cafeteria were really taken to the Education Bureau by this kid, people from the Discipline Inspection Commission could come to No. 19 Middle School to audit the accounts tomorrow.

Vice Principal Sun Yaozu glared fiercely at Fang Jiming, grabbed the file on the table, and stormed out, slamming the door without looking back.

The door frame emitted a violent crashing sound, causing a bit of dust to fall.

Seeing him leave, Fang Jiming turned around and flashed a brilliant, ingratiating smile at Principal Zhou Dehai.

"Thank you, Principal Zhou, for your profound understanding. It is truly a blessing for all the teachers and students of No. 19 Middle School to have a principal as fair and upright as you."

Principal Zhou Dehai was so exhausted by his ability to flip his attitude faster than turning a book page that he just waved his hands.

"Get out of here, kid. My old bones will be the death of me because of you sooner or later."

Fang Jiming: (￣▽￣)

Fang Jiming led Shen Qingzhi out of the Principals Office and helped close the door behind them.

Shen Qingzhi walked all the way outside the teaching building. When the evening breeze blew on her, she felt as if all of this were a dream.

The expulsion crisis that had plagued her for an entire afternoon had been forcefully pushed back by a young homeroom teacher with just a few sentences.

"Teacher Fang, I've really caused you too much trouble. I don't know how to thank you. How about I treat you to a meal?"

"Don't. Keep that money and buy some supplements for Lu Zihao."

Fang Jiming refused without hesitation.

"Just bring him to school tomorrow. Remember, come empty-handed. Don't hit him, don't scold him. Leave it to me to fix him."

Shen Qingzhi bit her lip, tears threatening to well up again. She bowed deeply to Fang Jiming and turned to leave.

Fang Jiming watched her leave, stretched, and prepared to go retrieve his shared bike that beeped whenever he scanned the code.

Just at this moment, a familiar synthesized electronic voice suddenly exploded in his mind.

System: [Ding-dong! Core student detected encountering a critical node.]

Fang Jiming stopped, summoned the semi-transparent panel, and the text on it made his eyelids twitch twice.

[Core Student: Lu Zihao.]

[Hidden Dilemma: Severe lack of security caused by long-term absence of fatherly love; relies on outward violent outbursts to cover up inner fear and longing; urgently needs guidance from a male authority figure who is full of tolerance.]

[Exclusive Transformation Mission Started: Complete the positive transformation of this student's violent outbursts and establish the first bridge of trust.]

[Estimated Reward for Successful Transformation: 30 million RMB bonus, plus 120 Teacher Virtue Points.]

Fang Jiming stood in front of the dilapidated large iron gate of No. 19 Middle School, chewing on a low-quality lollipop he had just bought for three yuan a pack.

This kid was actually worth 30 million, plus 120 Teacher Virtue Points that could be exchanged for high-level items.

This was much more exciting than buying scratch-offs. His eyes darted around, and his brain had already started conceiving a hundred plans on how to fix this bad boy.

Fang Jiming: ($v$)

Having money gives one confidence; having a system means having cheats enabled.

Hehe.