37: Chapter 37 Wen Ruyan's favorability increased

Without turning his head, he said, "Those who stood up just now, add ten derivative problems to tonight's self-study session as a performance fee."

Qian Duoduo: "Brother Fang, are you serious? I stood up to support you, and you're still punishing me?"

Fang Jiming: "You want a bonus instead of punishment? Leaving your seat during class violates classroom discipline."

Qian Duoduo: "..."

Qian Duoduo: ( ꐦ ¬ _ ¬ )

The students returned to their seats one by one, and the classroom resumed its noisy, relaxed daily atmosphere.

But something was different.

It was hard to put into words, just like an invisible thread tying these thirty-some people, who had originally been fighting their own battles, together.

When the bell rang, Fang Jiming packed up his lesson plans, ready to leave.

He slowed his pace as he passed Lu Zihao's desk in the last row.

Lu Zihao sat there with his arms crossed over his chest, the exact same posture as usual, as if the person who had stood up and confronted Brother Long just moments ago wasn't him.

Fang Jiming didn't stop, nor did he turn back.

But after he walked past, a bottle of ice-cold Scream appeared on the corner of Lu Zihao's desk.

The red bottle was covered in a fine layer of condensation, radiating cold air.

Lu Zihao looked down at the drink, then looked up at Fang Jiming's retreating figure as he walked out of the classroom.

He reached out, grabbed it, unscrewed the cap, and took a gulp. His Adam's apple bobbed twice as the ice-cold liquid slid down his throat.

He didn't say thank you.

And Fang Jiming didn't wait for him to say it.

Some things don't need to be spoken aloud.

After leaving the classroom, Fang Jiming didn't return to the office.

He stood by the corridor window and looked down, just in time to see Brother Long and the two blond-haired guys slipping out through the school's side gate.

Uncle Zhang, the security guard, chased after them from the guard room, clutching his enamel mug, tea sloshing out the whole way.

"Hey, how did you three get in? Did you register?"

Brother Long didn't look back, and the skinny blond guy made an obscene gesture at Uncle Zhang before the three of them vanished from sight.

Uncle Zhang almost dropped his enamel mug, tea leaves splashing all over his shoes. His cursing from the side gate could be heard all the way into the teaching building.

Watching the direction they disappeared in, Fang Jiming took out his phone and made two calls.

The first was to the head of the school security team, Old Shen.

"Old Shen, is the security at the school gate just for show? Three outsiders walked straight into the teaching building and kicked my classroom door. Where's your surveillance? Where's the registration?"

Old Shen stammered on the other end of the line.

"Teacher Fang, listen to my explanation. We only have three security guards, two of them are part-time, and the budget isn't enough..."

Fang Jiming didn't let him finish.

"I want to see two more cameras installed at the school gate by tomorrow, and visitors must register their ID cards and state the purpose of their visit."

"That has to go through the approval process..."

"If you can't do it, I'll report it to the Education Bureau and have them check exactly where our school's security budget is being spent."

There was silence on the other end for two seconds.

"I'll talk to the logistics department."

The second call was to the counselor's office to report a campus safety incident, requesting that the school make an official record and report it to the Qiaonan Old Street police station.

The counselor on the other end was clearly bewildered by this procedural approach.

"You're talking about... outsiders breaking in?"

"Yes, three of them, with tattoos and silver chains. They kicked my classroom door. Thirty-some students in my class are all witnesses."

"Alright, alright, I'm noting it down."

"Give me a copy of the police report receipt."

"Alright, I'm noting it down."

"Before I get off work today."

"Alright, I'm noting it down."

Fang Jiming hung up the phone and leaned against the corridor wall, tapping his fingers against the seam of his trousers.

He had heard Brother Long's threat, "Once you step out of the school gate, I'll kill you," crystal clear.

For a local thug from Qiaonan Old Street like him, making threats might just be to boost his own courage, but it didn't rule out the possibility that he might actually wait to ambush them at the school gate.

He could push the school to strengthen security at the gate.

But what about outside the gate?

What about Qiaonan Old Street, with its broken streetlights, street of internet cafes, night market food stalls, and piles of demolition waste lining the roadside?

Fang Jiming took out his phone, opened his notes app, and typed a line.

"Qiaonan Old Street — Brother Long."

He stared at the line for two seconds, locked the screen, and shoved it back into his pocket.

As he walked to the stairs, he happened to run into Teacher Wen Ruyan coming up from the fourth floor.

Teacher Wen Ruyan was holding a stack of printed exam papers; she paused when she saw him.

"Why is your complexion so pale?"

She stepped closer, "What happened?"

Fang Jiming thought for a moment and decided there was no need to hide it from her.

"Just now, three thugs from outside broke into my classroom to take away two students, but Lu Zihao and I confronted them and sent them packing."

The exam papers in Teacher Wen Ruyan's hands nearly fell.

"What?"

Her voice shot up two octaves.

"Broke into the classroom? Is the school security just for show?"

She glanced at Fang Jiming's face and arms, confirming he wasn't injured.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Those guys were just all talk; they wouldn't dare actually make a move."

Fang Jiming waved his hand.

"Lu Zihao was actually quite impressive; he stood up and scared Brother Long off with just one word."

Teacher Wen Ruyan frowned and looked at him for a long time.

"Fang Jiming, listen to me, you can't treat this like child's play."

She lowered her voice, "Those people from Qiaonan Old Street are capable of anything. Did you call the police?"

"I did. I'm making the school go through the official process."

Teacher Wen Ruyan finally let out a sigh of relief, but her brow remained furrowed.

"In the future, if you encounter something like this, call security and the police immediately. Don't try to handle it alone."

She tapped his arm with the exam papers, a bit harder than usual.

"With your build, a gust of wind could knock you over. Why play the hero?"

Seeing her looking so flustered and angry, Fang Jiming suddenly smiled.

"Teacher Wen, you're worried about me."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's expression froze.

"I'm worried that if something happens to you, those students in Class 18 will have no one to manage them, and if their homeroom teacher gets hurt, those kids will be even worse off."

"I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about those students."

Fang Jiming: "Oh, then thank you, Teacher Wen, for worrying about my students."

Teacher Wen Ruyan glared at him fiercely, turned around, and stomped down the stairs in her leather shoes. When she reached the corner, she paused.

"I'll wait for you at the school gate after work tonight, we'll leave together."

She didn't turn back.

"The streetlights on the road to Qiaonan Old Street aren't good. It's safer if two people walk together."

Teacher Wen Ruyan: ( ᗒ ᗩ ᗕ )

Fang Jiming stood at the top of the stairs, watching her figure disappear down the fourth-floor corridor. The curve of his lips was impossible to suppress.

He looked down at the System Panel.

[ Teacher Wen Ruyan's favorability change: 49 → 52 ]

[ Breakthrough of the base favorability line (50) ]

Fang Jiming stared at that 52 for two seconds.

He put his phone away and walked into the office.