Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Head Teacher Requests Your Presence

Gu Xueting: "???"

Staring at Ji Feng before her, Gu Xueting wore a look of utter disbelief. One yuan? Three yuan?

The Ji Feng who used to be completely at her beck and call, who was meticulous in his care, whose heart ached at the slightest sign of her anger, and who would panic to death if she ignored him—the Ji Feng who would try his absolute best to grant her every wish—was actually asking her for money?

Money for breakfast?

Gu Xueting pressed down on her rising chest, trying hard not to scream out loud: "Ji Feng, do you even hear yourself?"

Ji Feng curled his lip: "We might be pretty close, but even close brothers settle accounts clearly. People still have to pay when they eat together." "You..." "Ji Feng, come outside for a moment."

Before Gu Xueting could fly into a rage, the head teacher, Huang Jihai, appeared at the door and called Ji Feng out with a cold face. Gu Xueting secretly glanced at Huang Jihai, feeling that Old Huang was right on the verge of exploding.

She immediately clamped her mouth shut, sat back down in her seat, and began making a show of studying for morning reading. It was just that her gaze never once left Ji Feng.

"Coming."

Unflustered, Ji Feng swallowed the half-eaten steamed bun, took a few gulps of egg soup, and only then headed out the door. Head Teacher Huang Jihai's expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and the anger in his eyes was barely contained.

Ji Feng scratched his head with an innocent expression: "What is it, Teacher Huang?" "You know damn well what this is about. Let's go, follow me to the office."

Right, right, right, I know damn well again. Actually, he really wanted to ask if head teachers all loved playing this routine.

Under Ji Feng's gaze, Old Huang took a cold sip of tea before slowly speaking: "Ji Feng, do you know why I called you here?"

Fine, still the same old three tricks. Playing guessing games, intimidation, and tattling. "I don't know." "Tell me, where did you go last night after evening self-study ended?"

Sure enough, someone had snitched. He just didn't know which bastard did it.

With an expression of utter astonishment, Ji Feng puffed out his chest: "I was making up for missed studies last night, studying hard. What's wrong, Teacher Huang?"

Whoever asked today, it would be the same answer. Last night he was studying, and no matter who asked, he was studying.

Hearing Ji Feng claim he was studying, Huang Jihai almost spat out his tea. "Studying? With your grades and your usual behavior, what kind of studying are you doing?" "Does the teacher think poor students don't deserve to study?"

Hearing this, Ji Feng wore a look of aggrieved injustice, tears practically swirling in his eyes. Huang Jihai froze. He genuinely hadn't expected Ji Feng to put on such an attitude. When did this kid learn to act this well overnight?

Seeing that Ji Feng refused to confess, he finally played his trump card: "Stop sitting there making excuses. Someone told me all about it this morning." "Who said it? What did they say?" Ji Feng still wore an innocent look. "Don't ask who said it. Anyway, someone reported that you brought a group of people yesterday, dragged Wunnuan to the construction site on the outskirts of town, bullied her, and even hit her. Is that true?"

Did he hit her? At the time, he was too out of it to remember clearly. Pulling her hair was real, and bullying her was real too. But he could never admit to this.

With the college entrance examination right around the corner, if Old Huang decided to protect an ace student like Wunnuan and slap him with a charge of bullying a classmate, he'd basically be finished.

In his past life, he was a total loser, so he didn't give a damn and just gave up on everything. But it was different now; he wanted to go to a good university too. Universities not only offered a vast network of connections to exploit and a large pool of cheap, time-rich talent, but also a relatively free space. A university was a platform he desperately needed for his early development.

He absolutely could not afford a disciplinary record or the label of a bully.

With a sincere expression, Ji Feng began to argue his case: "Teacher Huang, I am wronged! I did look for classmate Wunnuan yesterday, but I went to discuss our studies with her. I even asked her to help me catch up on my lessons while we were at it. All that talk about bullying is complete nonsense, totally unbelievable."

Hearing Ji Feng bring up studying again, Huang Jihai's expression turned serious: "Still running your mouth. Let me tell you, Ji Feng, I don't care what kind of person you are outside of school; inside this school, you are a student. Since you are a student, you must obey school rules and discipline. There's still room to maneuver on this—confession brings leniency."

Confession brings leniency, right? If he weren't someone who had lived two lives, he might have actually believed that.

Admitting to it was out of the question, but right now, he simply lacked the conditions to make Old Huang trust him. At this very moment, he could only play dumb and act cute: "Does the teacher not believe me? Just because I'm a poor student? Are poor students not allowed to receive fair and impartial treatment? Has the teacher not seen how hard I've been working lately? If you don't believe me, go ask the other classmates how focused I am during evening self-study."

Old Huang looked at him expressionlessly: "I go to evening self-study every night, and I haven't seen you there many times. Did you go downstairs to smoke?"

Ji Feng's expression instantly stiffened. Fine, he was being this sincere, and it still hadn't fooled Old Huang. It seemed his past behavior had been too atrocious to establish any trust.

Okay, he was basically screwed now.

Huang Jihai crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and stared at Ji Feng: "Multiple people reported you for bullying, harassing, and beating a classmate. Make it clear right now: this is definitely landing you a disciplinary record. Go on, keep talking. I'm sitting right here today to see if you can talk a flower into blooming."

Ji Feng's expression was somewhat strained. He muttered under his breath: "Who the hell reported this anyway? Maybe they were lying to you?" "Why do you keep asking who reported it? What? You want to retaliate against your classmates?"

Ji Feng turned his head away: "Nothing like that. Teacher Huang, you've misunderstood me. Maybe what you heard isn't true." "You don't believe them? Fine, then you'd better find someone to prove your innocence. Tell me, who in this class can vouch for you?"

Being targeted by the head teacher felt awful, and Ji Feng felt a bit wronged. Bullying classmates was something he did in his past life, it had nothing to do with him! Ah, he really should have picked a better time to be reborn.

"Can't name anyone? Come on, march down to the disciplinary office with me."

Just as the matter seemed set in stone, a slightly cold voice came from the doorway: "Teacher, I can vouch for him. Yesterday... I really was helping him catch up on his studies."

Staring at the figure by the door who habitually kept her head down and wore the blue school uniform— It wasn't just Huang Jihai who froze; even Ji Feng himself was dumbfounded.

Old Huang assumed Wunnuan had been threatened by Ji Feng or was simply too scared, and hastily said: "Wunnuan? If you've been bullied, just tell the teacher directly. Don't be afraid. The teacher and the school will stand up for you. If anyone is threatening you, you don't need to worry either—it's about time some of the cancer cells in Number One High School were cleaned out."

Hearing Huang Jihai say this, Ji Feng felt rather helpless. A person's stereotypes are very hard to change. He had just been reborn, and changing Old Huang's impression of him would take time.

Wunnuan, standing at the doorway, walked into the office, looked straight at Old Huang, and said seriously: "Thank you, Teacher Huang, but really, no one threatened me and no one bullied me. I really was helping Ji Feng study last night."

Hearing Wunnuan put it this way, Huang Jihai sighed: "Sigh, fine. If anything happens, talk to the teacher. And as for this tutoring business..."

Old Huang glanced sideways at Ji Feng: "This is the sprint stage for the college entrance examination; don't ruin your own studies." "I know what I'm doing, Teacher Huang."