Dong Hui personally brought over three chairs and, after much coaxing, Hou Shilin and his two companions finally sat down.
Leu Xingchao had already stood up, but he was bent over, standing behind Dong Hui, his body still trembling continuously.
"This... this must be a misunderstanding," Dong Hui said awkwardly. "Director Leu doesn't even know the three of you. As the saying goes, 'Ignorance is no crime...'"
"Shut your fucking mouth!" Zhang Gaojian slammed the table as he stood up and cursed at Dong Hui. "What do you mean 'Ignorance is no crime'? Oh, so he doesn't recognize us and that gives him the right to behave ? What if it wasn't the three of us who came? What if it had been three ordinary people? Would it have been right for him to act like that then?"
"Is this how your school is managed? To swear at someone's parents upon seeing them, and to cause trouble without discerning right from wrong? What do you take the students' parents for? Teach, educate—education is not just about teaching, but also about nurturing. With your shitty morals, you want to educate?"
Dong Hui was so tongue-lashed that he was sweating profusely, but he did not even dare to wipe it off; he could only glare fiercely at Leu Xingchao with the corner of his eye. What did this matter have to do with him? It was all Leu Xingchao who had dragged him into this mess.
"Director Zhang is right, Director Zhang is right..." Dong Hui nodded repeatedly. "These issues indeed reflect our shortcomings at work. We will definitely make full corrections in the future and absolutely will not make similar mistakes again!"
Zhang Gaojian scolded him even more fiercely, and the more he did, the more Dong Hui detested Leu Xingchao.
In the end, Leu Xingchao's head was almost touching the ground. He was practically dying of regret now. But there was no such thing as a pill for regret in this world!
"All right, uncle," finally, Hou Shilin stopped Zhang Gaojian. "Let me say a couple of words."
"Please speak, Young Master Hou, please speak," Dong Hui said eagerly. Compared to Zhang Gaojian, Hou Shilin's background was even more intimidating—this was the real deal.
Hou Shilin said, "First off, regarding the quality of your school staff, I find it very poor. My uncle has already mentioned this, so I won't dwell on it. What I want to talk about now is my friend Su Yang. Now, Director Leu, I want to ask you, you only mentioned that Su Yang bullied these people, but why?"
Leu Xingchao was at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond, and Dong Hui chastised him furiously, "Young Master Hou is asking you a question! Are you dead? Can't you answer?!"
Leu Xingchao then put on a mournful face and said, "This... we haven't investigated this yet. We... we will investigate as soon as possible..."
"The investigation, I will handle it, so there's no need for you," Hou Shilin said. "But there's something I can't understand. Su Yang, by himself, beat up so many people?"
"Or rather, did he have a conflict with so many people at once? Director Leu, what do you think—did these students try to gang up on Su Yang but failed to beat him? Or has Su Yang gotten used to bullying others in school and this time, bullied so many at once?"
"This..." Leu Xingchao was flustered again. This matter wouldn't withstand scrutiny. Zhao Tao and the others—weren't they all known for their bad track records?
Seeing Leu Xingchao's reaction, Hou Shilin could guess what was going on. He glanced at Wu Bin and said, "And this man, head of the security department, right?"
"You were beaten by a student too? When the security department is involved, there should certainly be more than just you, right? But why were you the only one beaten? Could it be that you intended to hit Su Yang, but he resisted, and that's what happened?"
Wu Bin looked towards Leu Xingchao, and Leu Xingchao was nearly vomiting blood. Damn it, why the hell are you looking at me right now?
"Oh, it seems this question should be directed at Director Leu!" Hou Shilin looked at Leu Xingchao and said, "I don't know what the management of the school is really like, but aren't the people from the security department supposed to protect the school? How can they lay hands on a student? This incident—are you sure it wasn't the security department's fault from the start?"
Leu Xingchao's upper and lower lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Hou Shilin said, "It seems that Director Leu can't answer my question. In such matters, I believe we shouldn't just listen to one side of the story. Director Leu, how about we wait for Su Yang to arrive and hear what he has to say?"
Leu Xingchao still didn't speak, and Dong Hui finally lost his patience. He kicked him and cursed, "Young Master Hou is asking you, are you deaf? Can't you speak? Why don't you go die!"
It was then that Leu Xingchao snapped back to reality, saying with a quivering voice, "Okay..."
His voice was shaky, as if breaking down the movement, stretching the word "okay" over a long, drawn-out tone.
"Well then, go find Su Yang now," Hou Shilin said leisurely to someone nearby, "Call the police station and have them send someone over to deal with this situation!"
"What?" Dong Hui was taken aback and said anxiously, "Young Master Hou, this... this minor issue, there's no need to call the police, right?"
Hou Shilin looked at Leu Xingchao and said slowly, "Heh, let's call the police after all and handle this matter through legal means!"
Leu Xingchao sat down on the ground again. If the police really came, he was sure to be in deep trouble, and even Wu Bin would suffer. Most crucially, having been in his position for so many years, Leu had a lot to hide. If he ended up in the police station, he probably wouldn't be coming out!
Zhang Gaojian suddenly glared at Dong Hui and said, "What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and bring Su Yang back. I'm telling you, we need to find Su Yang urgently. If there's any delay, I won't let you off the hook!"
Zhang Gaojian was always at work, extremely authoritative in his manner of speaking. However, Zhang was fair in reward and punishment, so his subordinates greatly admired him, which gave him high prestige in the educational field. Even with such authoritarian language, Dong Hui didn't feel anything amiss and hurriedly ran out to arrange the search for Su Yang.
Leu Xingchao slumped on the ground, unattended. The Director of Political Education now seemed utterly helpless and pitiful.
Dong Hui utilized the school's resources, looking for Su Yang around the school, and even went to Su Yang's class to ask his teacher for help in finding him. But they couldn't find him. In desperation, Dong Hui had no choice but to ask Su Yang's classmates one by one about Su Yang, finally pinpointing Zhao Qiupeng.
Seizing Zhao Qiupeng's hand, Dong Hui almost cried out, "Classmate, you're Su Yang's best friend, aren't you? Can you please help bring Su Yang back? Quickly, we... we can't delay this matter..."
Zhao Qiupeng had never been treated so kindly by the principal before, and he was so flustered that he felt like he was floating as he walked.
"Then I'll give it a try!"
Zhao Qiupeng didn't delay, immediately running out of the school on a mission to find someone. Content orıginally comes from novel fire.net
Watching Zhao Qiupeng leave the school, Dong Hui personally stood at the school entrance waiting, sitting on the gatekeeper's small stool making it creak, but he didn't care at all. With his hand shading his eyes, he gazed into the distance like the mighty Sun Wukong, almost turning into a stone statue of longing.
Finally, Zhao Qiupeng came running back, waving from a distance, "Principal, Principal, we've found him, he's on his way back..."
Dong Hui fell with a plop to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust. He had meant to stand up, but having sat on that little stool for too long, and with his own heft, his legs had gone numb. He failed to get up and fell to the ground instead. But he didn't try to get up, his eyes brimming with tears, he said, "That's great, that's wonderful!"