Teacher Mingde panicked when she learned that it was the assistant to the trustee of a partner school who had taken her student away. She hurried over to negotiate with Lu Yanzhao.
“You’re all adults. Why are you picking on a child? Send our student back immediately. Don’t force me to make a big issue out of this!”
Lu Yanzhao silently took his phone from his pocket and played a recording.
The teacher’s own voice came from the phone.
[It’s just an off-campus practical exercise. Don’t be as strict as you are at school and make the students feel like they can’t breathe.]
The teacher’s face darkened.
This assistant to the school trustee looked so cold and upright. Who would have thought he could be so devious?
He had actually recorded her during a casual conversation!
The teacher continued with a stern expression. “Enough! Stop this nonsense! What you’re doing is completely out of line! You’re going to scare our students!”
Lu Yanzhao played another recording.
[Oh, you’re exaggerating now. Are the students at your school really that mentally fragile?]
“…”
The teacher was at a loss. “Children this age are especially concerned about their dignity. You publicly tricked him like this—how is he supposed to face people in the future?”
Lu Yanzhao still said nothing. He simply played another recording.
[If one of our students got scammed, we certainly wouldn’t hide it like this. We’d have them give a lecture and share their experience as a victim, helping more people avoid the same trap!]
“…”
The teacher had been stabbed by her own words again and again until she was covered in thorns. She was completely out of options.
It was only after Jiang Tinglan heard the recordings Lu Yanzhao played that she realized Assistant Lu had already gone to negotiate with the other side when she was being bullied just now!
It was just that the other party’s attitude had been so awful that communication had gone nowhere, forcing them to come up with this strategy.
Fortunately, he had recorded everything!
A teacher had actually said things like that. Now that the boomerang had come flying back and hit her own student, she finally knew how painful it was!
The teacher certainly knew.
She understood that the things she had said to Lu Yanzhao that morning should never have come out of a teacher’s mouth.
But her original intention had been to secure better treatment for her own students.
She had never expected the people from Shengde to be so unhinged that they would simply abduct a student!
If this really became a major scandal… Shengde would certainly be criticized for frightening students, but her own fence-sitting attitude would also earn her punishment.
Her teaching certificate would melt away like cream.
As for Lu Yanzhao, he had nothing to fear. He could cause as much trouble as he wanted.
After all, he worked in administration and didn’t have a teaching certificate…
After a long internal struggle, the teacher decided it would be better to minimize the matter. She gave an awkward smile and said to Lu Yanzhao, “Assistant Lu, why don’t we discuss this calmly?”
Lu Yanzhao was polite and amicable. “Of course. We have no intention of actually harming the student.”
The other teacher breathed a sigh of relief.
But before she could fully relax, Lu Yanzhao continued, “However, what happened just now has already exposed a problem.”
“He publicly mocked our student for being scammed, but he himself is even more susceptible to scams. He actually believed a complete stranger without question.”
As soon as he said this, the Mingde students who had joined in mocking Jiang Tinglan that morning all lowered their heads.
The Shengde students, on the other hand, raised theirs one after another!
We have someone backing us up too!
You’re not any smarter than we are!
The other teacher had no choice but to compromise. “When Zhao Chengyu comes back, I’ll make sure he apologizes to Jiang in person.”
Lu Yanzhao said indifferently, “Of course he needs to apologize. So do you. The adults could have handled this between themselves from the beginning. It was your inaction that caused the problem to fall back onto the children.”
The teacher glanced at Jiang Tinglan.
She was sitting there, her eyes red, staring at the teacher stubbornly.
It seemed that if she didn’t apologize today, this matter would never end.
Besides, Zhao Chengyu was still in their hands.
She gritted her teeth and finally conceded. “Jiang, the way I handled things this morning was inappropriate. I shouldn’t have described Zhao Chengyu’s humiliation of you as an ordinary minor conflict. I’m sorry. When he comes back, I’ll punish him by deducting points from today’s practical course.”
Jiang Tinglan nodded. “Teacher, I accept your apology. Actually, what I want most is an apology from Zhao Chengyu.”
“Once he comes back, I’ll definitely make him apologize. I’ll also warn him never to speak rudely to you or hurt you again!”
Lu Yanzhao called Yu Zheng. “You can send him back now.”
Yu Xiaxing was still sitting in the corner, watching the entire process.
She hadn’t expected things not to end in an argument or a fight…
There really were too many civilized people in modern society.
Still, things had already gotten this ugly. Shengde had successfully established a reputation for being difficult to deal with. There was no way Qizhi would renew the contract now, right?
They had to be thinking, If we renew it, what if Shengde gets into a conflict with another school next time?
Looks like this mission is definitely going to fail. At least I didn’t come here for nothing!
Yu Xiaxing happily continued playing her game.
—
At the corner of the hallway outside the lounge, Director Shao was crouched down, secretly peeking into the room.
He had personally witnessed Assistant Lu using the recordings to strike back and force the Mingde teacher to apologize in front of everyone…
His heart was pounding.
He had originally planned to make the afternoon arrangements more favorable to Mingde while suppressing Shengde a little. Then, when it came time to discuss renewing the contract, he could impose even more stringent conditions.
They didn’t actually want to lose a partner.
As long as Shengde was willing to agree to their terms—sending only top students in the future and purchasing more services—they would certainly be willing to renew the contract.
After what had happened that morning, he had realized that Shengde was not easy to control…
It was better not to provoke them over such a minor matter. When it came time to negotiate the contract, he would be more courteous.
But Shengde would still have to make concessions and provide more funding.
Otherwise, there would be no deal!
He had just made up his mind when he saw Lu Yanzhao walk out of the lounge.
Director Shao immediately stood up and greeted him with a beaming smile. “Mr. Lu, I’m terribly sorry. It was indeed our mistake to give your students boxed meals for lunch. Don’t worry about dinner—we’ll have you and the Mingde students eat the buffet together in the cafeteria!”
Lu Yanzhao smiled politely. “I’m perfectly familiar with your perfunctory apology. You’ve realized that we’re not to be trifled with, and you’re afraid we’ll make a big issue out of this, so you’re willing to apologize.”
“But you’re merely returning something that already belonged to us. You haven’t factored in the emotional distress suffered by our students at all. Would you like me to explain the proper way to apologize?”
Director Shao froze for a moment. “Huh? Oh, yes, please do.”
Thinking of Yu Xiaxing’s contract-renewal mission, Lu Yanzhao ultimately kept the main objective in mind: reaching an agreement. He had no intention of making things especially difficult for them.
“You need to make our students feel that they’ve been treated fairly. Let our students have the buffet for dinner, and give the Mingde students boxed meals.”
He truly wasn’t doing this just to continue retaliating against Mingde.
Students this age had very strong self-esteem.
They didn’t really want an extravagant buffet. They simply wanted to avoid being treated differently.
The Mingde students had already been treated with respect at lunchtime. If they were given boxed meals for dinner, they wouldn’t feel that they were being singled out.
But the students of Shengde should also have at least one experience on equal footing, enjoying the same privilege as they do. Only then would it be fair.
