Don't underestimate the poor and elderly; I was thrilled to refuse the class beauty's adva

Fu Kai's office is located at the very back of the second floor of the senior high school building; it's not very big.

Fu Kai walked in front, pushed open the office door, kicked his cracked slippers behind the door, and stepped barefoot onto the cool tile floor.

He pulled out the chair behind his desk, but didn't sit down. He just stood there, holding onto the back of the chair, his chest still heaving violently.

He didn't say a word on the way from the alley to the office, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't know where to begin.

His student, who was among the top three in his grade and a promising candidate for Tsinghua and Peking Universities, was surrounded by a dozen thugs wielding batons at the school gate.

But the victim was unharmed, while the perpetrator cowered in the corner, trembling like a leaf.

Peng Kaifei followed the three people through the door.

When he first entered the office, his steps were still a little unsteady, as if he hadn't fully emerged from the shadow of the one-sided crushing defeat in the alley.

But less than ten seconds after he entered the room, he glanced out the window and seemed to be re-inflated. His shoulders slowly relaxed, his limp body straightened, and his chin lifted slightly again.

Zhang Yifan followed his gaze and looked out the window.

In the office across the corridor of the office building, in the office with the lights on, Principal Meng's gold-rimmed glasses reflected the white light of the fluorescent lamp as he looked this way through the window.

His old Beijing cloth shoes trotted across the concrete floor of the corridor as he walked slowly toward Fu Kai's office.

When Peng Kaifei saw Principal Meng walking over, his previous cowardly demeanor vanished instantly.

He casually sat down in the chair opposite Fu Kai's desk, crossed his legs, and pointed the soles of his limited-edition sneakers at the stack of recently graded monthly exam answer sheets on Fu Kai's desk.

He took out his phone, casually tossed it on the table, and his signature "I'm rich, what can you do about it?" smile reappeared on his face.

"Teacher Fu,"

Peng Kaifei drew out his words, his tone completely different from the one who was trembling in the alley.

"What do you want to say by calling us here so late at night? Your slippers are all worn out from running around. I hope your teacher's wife won't make you kneel on a washboard when you get back?"

Fu Kai's knuckles cracked as he gripped the back of the chair, but he suppressed his anger, his voice deep and muffled:

"Peng Kaifei, do you know what you did tonight?"

"What did I do?" Peng Kaifei shrugged. "I went for a walk with my classmate, is that not allowed?"

"Want to go for a walk?"

Fu Kai slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacup lid to spring up, spin twice on the table, and then settle back down.

"You called over a dozen thugs, armed with batons, and blocked my students at the school gate! You call this going out for a walk? This is affray! This is intentional assault! At the very least, it's a serious violation of school rules; at worst, it's enough to warrant detention, do you understand?!"

Peng Kaifei didn't even raise an eyebrow, looking down as he played with his nails, a disdainful sneer on his lips.

"Alright, Mr. Fu, you're not my homeroom teacher, so what right do you have to tell me what to do? Besides, your precious student is fine, isn't he? He beat up more than a dozen people all by himself. It's clear he was the one hitting others, not the other way around."

"You should praise him for his bravery, why are you taking it out on me?"

He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and swung them around, his tone becoming increasingly flippant.

Before he could finish speaking, the office door opened.

Principal Meng walked in.

His gaze swept around the office, lingering for a moment on Peng Kaifei, then on Zhang Yifan's face, and finally landing on Fu Kai.

He remained expressionless throughout, but his imposing aura alone lowered the temperature in the office by several degrees.

"What happened?"

Principal Meng's tone was unusually calm.

Fu Kai straightened up, straightened the teacup lid that had been knocked askew, and tried his best to keep his tone within the restraint expected of a homeroom teacher:

"Principal Meng, this is what happened. Peng Kaifei called more than a dozen young men from the streets and they surrounded Zhang Yifan from my class in the alley near the school gate."

"The other party was carrying a baton, which was extremely malicious. If Zhang Yifan hadn't learned some self-defense techniques, the consequences would have been unimaginable. This is the most serious attempted school violence incident I have seen in my more than 20 years of teaching."

After listening, Principal Meng did not speak immediately.

He turned to look at Peng Kaifei, who immediately sat up straight, put down his crossed legs, and his arrogance subsided slightly, but there was no real fear in his eyes.

He knew what kind of relationship Principal Meng had with his father.

"Kaifei, tell me, what happened?"

"Principal Meng,"

Peng Kaifei stood up, his tone a mixture of grievance and sincerity, with just the right amount of innocence.

"It's just a misunderstanding. Zhang Yifan and I had a little argument today. Young people are impulsive. I was thinking of talking to him after school and clearing up these misunderstandings."

"My friend happened to be waiting for me at the school gate. When he saw us come out, he misunderstood and thought I had been bullied. He acted impulsively and started a fight. I kept shouting for him to stop, really!"

"Principal Meng, you know me well. When have I ever intentionally caused trouble during my years at the school?"

After he finished speaking, he bowed slightly, his expression so sincere that he seemed to be a true victim.

Fu Kai, who was listening nearby, felt a throbbing vein in his temple.

But before he could speak, Principal Meng raised his hand and made a downward pressing motion, signaling him not to speak.

"Teacher Fu,"

Principal Meng turned around, his tone gentle yet leaving no room for argument.

"I understand the situation. The dispute between Peng Kaifei and Zhang Yifan is essentially a conflict between students, but the way they expressed it was not very mature."

"Young people have conflicts, that's normal. Our job as teachers is not to escalate conflicts, but to resolve them. Don't you agree?"

"I think this is how it should be: Peng Kaifei should write a self-criticism and verbally apologize to Zhang Yifan during Monday's flag-raising ceremony. The two of them can shake hands and make peace, and that will be the end of this matter."

"headmaster--"

"Teacher Fu,"

Principal Meng raised his hand to stop Fu Kai from saying what he was about to say. His tone remained gentle, but his words already carried a sharp edge.

"I understand your feelings of protecting your students, but those of us in education need to take a longer-term view."

"Peng Kaifei's performance is not without merit. Last year at the sports meet, he won two first places on behalf of the school. His father's contributions to the school are also evident to all."

"It's such a pity that a student's future was affected by an 'attempted' conflict."

"As I've already said, it was a joke between students that went too far. A written apology and a written reflection are enough."

"Teacher Fu, you're a veteran teacher, you should be aware of this."

Fu Kai stood still, his fingers clenched into fists and braced against the table, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He understood what Principal Meng meant; he understood everything from the moment he said, "I roughly understand."

"Peng Kaifei's father's contributions to the school," the gymnasium, the running track, and the red banner that hangs every year at the sports meet that reads "Thank you for the strong support of the Peng Group."

These contributions are more significant than the batons wielded by a dozen thugs, more significant than his protest as the homeroom teacher, and more significant than the safety of his students.

If he says one more word, he'll be seen as lacking awareness and failing to consider the bigger picture.

But he couldn't do it.