Qiao Lanshu stood at the classroom door. Both Xiaxia and Han Ye saw her.
Guilt flickered across their faces simultaneously.
Although they knew this incident had blown up and would inevitably involve parents being called in, Han Ye had originally assumed the teacher would contact Han Wenlin. After all, Han Wenlin spoiled his son to no end—as long as Han Ye didn’t commit anything morally unforgivable, Han Wenlin would indulge him without limits.
But the problem was, why had Qiao Lanshu shown up instead?
At that moment, Han Ye still didn’t know that both he and Xiaxia had been summoned with their parents. So not only was Han Wenlin coming, but Qiao Lanshu had also arrived.
The moment Han Ye saw Qiao Lanshu, he quickly pulled his hands out of his pockets and stood up straight.
His cocky expression gradually turned serious.
Xiaxia turned around and exchanged a glance with him. Both could see the panic in each other’s eyes.
Xiaxia sighed inwardly. She had told Han Ye earlier to go back and not follow her here.
Qin Qiao’an had already gotten into a fight, and Xiaxia was on edge because of it. Yet Han Ye had still come, standing in the classroom like a stone sentry. This issue, if taken seriously, was actually quite serious.
After all, he had disrupted someone else’s class. It was lucky the security team hadn’t shown up, or Han Ye would have been hauled away.
Teacher Qian walked into the classroom as well. She stood next to Qiao Lanshu, pointed at Han Ye in the back of the room, and said:
“Teacher Qiao, this is your son, isn’t it? He’s standing here right now—how are we supposed to teach like this? Look, classmate Li Taohua has been scared to tears by him. He must apologize to Li Taohua.”
Teacher Qian had been busy lately with a performance review, and her application had already been submitted to the Education Bureau, so she was feeling anxious.
She kept insisting that Han Ye apologize to Li Taohua.
Qiao Lanshu faced Han Ye’s gaze, her expression unchanged. In front of all the children, she asked Teacher Qian:
“Teacher Qian, shouldn’t we discuss this in the office? Could another teacher take over the class first, so these students don’t miss a whole lesson?”
Hearing this, Teacher Qian suddenly realized the point.
She had completely forgotten to arrange for another teacher to take over. Handling these matters in the classroom like this was indeed inappropriate.
But being reminded by Qiao Lanshu irritated her.
Frowning, she said, “Fine. Qin Qiaoxia, and you—come with me to the office.”
Xiaxia silently stood up and walked to the classroom door with Han Ye.
Qiao Lanshu looked at them, then asked Teacher Qian: “Wasn’t there also a Li Taohua? Have her come along too.”
Teacher Qian stood there: “Teacher Qiao, this is your son’s problem. Why drag another student into this?”
By now, Qiao Lanshu was starting to get angry. She was usually easygoing and rarely lost her temper.
But Teacher Qian’s favoritism was far too obvious.
Standing on the hallway outside the classroom door, with Han Ye and Xiaxia behind her, she said:
“Teacher Qian, before we’ve clarified what happened, please stop insisting that everything is my son’s fault. Jumping to conclusions like this, without asking about the facts or the sequence of events—such eagerness to pin blame makes me seriously wonder if there’s something underhanded going on here.”
Teacher Qian frowned: “Leaving everything else aside, the fact is that a middle school student barged into a first-grade classroom, stood there, and refused to leave, disrupting our lesson—that’s undeniable, isn’t it?”
Qiao Lanshu stood her ground: “That’s just the outcome. Every outcome has a cause, doesn’t it? Why would he cut class and come to a first-grade classroom, deliberately trying to stop you from teaching? What’s the reason? Teacher Qian, I’ll say it again—please ask Li Taohua to come out too. We’ll go to the office and find out exactly what happened.
If this really is our son’s fault, I’ll make sure he apologizes—even in front of the entire school if necessary. But if it’s someone else’s fault, then that person should apologize too. As a homeroom teacher, I trust you can be fair and impartial, right?”
With that, Qiao Lanshu walked to the door and called inside: “Li Taohua, please come out.”
By this point, Li Taohua was already very scared.
She might usually bully Xiaxia without a second thought, but when it came down to it, she was just a child. She realized Teacher Qian couldn’t protect her anymore, and that this matter had blown up bigger than expected.
But then she thought again. Her mother was a high school teacher, and her father was a section chief in the Education Bureau. Many people fawned over their family.
Even Teacher Qian had come to their house with gifts during the New Year.
What did she have to be afraid of?
Li Taohua was used to arrogance. She quickly calmed down and walked slowly to the classroom door.
Teacher Qian was getting annoyed. Her original plan had been to have Qiao Lanshu take Han Ye away and then make him apologize to Li Taohua.
That would have been the end of it.
But instead, Qiao Lanshu had called Li Taohua out, as if deliberately making a big scene.
Teacher Qian looked at Qiao Lanshu: “Teacher Qiao, what exactly are you trying to do? Don’t tell me you’re going to turn this trivial little thing into a full-blown court hearing.”
Qiao Lanshu nodded: “Teacher Qian, something like this might seem small to us. But to these children, it’s a big deal! Since you called me here, then call Li Taohua’s parents over too. Let’s get to the bottom of this together.”
Teacher Qian frowned: “There’s no need for that, is there?”
Then she added, “Forget it, let’s just go to the office first.”
By now, she was already regretting having called Qiao Lanshu in.
Qiao Lanshu was proving to be far too difficult to handle.
And so, Teacher Qian led Qiao Lanshu, along with Han Ye, Qin Qiaoxia, and Li Taohua, into the office.
It was class time, so there weren’t many teachers in the office.
As soon as they entered, before Teacher Qian could speak, Qiao Lanshu took the lead and asked: “Han Ye, tell me—what exactly happened with you today?”
Her eyes were stern as she looked at him. Han Ye could count on one hand the times she had looked at him like that since he was little.
Whenever this happened, Han Ye knew that Qiao Lanshu was truly angry.
But Han Ye didn’t think he had done anything wrong. So he straightened his back and said:
“Mom, I came here today to stand up for Xiaxia. That Li Taohua keeps bullying her. She sits behind Xiaxia and pushes the desk forward to squeeze her. You have no idea—Xiaxia’s seat space is only this wide.”
Han Ye used his thumb and index finger to measure a tiny gap, exaggerating ridiculously.
But it made Qiao Lanshu understand the whole situation.
Han Ye continued: “It’s so narrow, it’s practically crushing Xiaxia into a pancake. The teacher wouldn’t do anything about it, so it was up to me, her brother, to step in.”
Teacher Qian immediately shot back: “Nonsense! I never said I wouldn’t deal with it. And it’s not nearly as bad as you claim. I checked—there’s enough space there. Xiaxia has plenty of room to sit.”
At this point, Teacher Qian still hadn’t realized that she had become more like the accused, while Qiao Lanshu had taken on the role of the judge.
Upon hearing what they said, Qiao Lanshu more or less understood the situation.
She asked Xiaxia, "Xiaxia, was it this classmate Li Taohua who you said teased and mocked you during the labor class before?"
Xiaxia nodded, completely calm and unfazed. "My mom, it was her. She sits behind me and often bumps my desk with hers. She also pokes me in the back with her pencil."
As she spoke, she turned around to show her mother her back. Qiao Lanshu looked closely at the blue school uniform and indeed spotted several light gray pencil tip marks.
