Quite a few teachers saw Yu Xiaxing being taken away by the police.
Everyone had assumed nothing would happen to her, and that she would come back once everything was explained.
But by the afternoon, there was still no word from her.
It was break time, and several teachers had gathered together, chatting.
“Why hasn’t the chairwoman been released yet?”
“Exactly. All she has to do is explain that this was her plan—that she deliberately set up the smoking room to catch those old troublemakers in one sweep—and she’ll be out. Why won’t she say it?”
“It must be because the matter has already reached the police and gotten too big. She doesn’t want to implicate those students, so she’s chosen to take all the blame herself.”
To be honest, many sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds smoked or drank because they were following the crowd or trying to fit in.
A lot of literary works portrayed such self-destructive behavior as decadent and cool, as if members of the opposite sex would be attracted to that sort of thing.
But in reality, hardly anyone liked it.
And students were immature and easily took fiction seriously.
The chairwoman must have wanted to give them a chance to turn over a new leaf.
Just like what happened with Xu Tian’s relationship before.
The chairwoman had given that girl a chance, and Xu Tian’s entire outlook had matured by an entire level. Her study efficiency had improved as well.
Her score in yesterday’s mock exam would have been impressive even at a top high school.
The teachers discussed the matter animatedly, their emotions complicated.
Their impression of Yu Xiaxing was contradictory. At first, they had thought she was willful and reckless, someone who refused to do things by the book. Yet time and again, the results seemed to point in a positive direction.
Now that she had clearly gotten herself into serious trouble, some of the teachers felt that they could not simply stand by and watch. Their consciences would not allow it.
Principal Wang approached with a gloomy expression.
At first, he had been furious. He had thought Yu Xiaxing had completely lost her mind. To curry favor with the students, she had actually set up a smoking room. That was an outright abandonment of the basic principles of education!
He had immediately complained to the Old Master, only to be rebuffed.
It was not until he heard the teachers’ discussion just now that he learned Yu Xiaxing had been conducting an entrapment operation.
Why hadn’t Yu Xiaxing explained herself?
Even after the parents hurled abuse at her, she had not offered a single explanation.
Principal Wang could not understand it.
Could it be that the girl thought he was too old and difficult to communicate with, so even when she did something good, she could not be bothered to explain?
Was she really going to let him misunderstand her and play the villain?
Even now, Principal Wang still disliked Yu Xiaxing intensely.
He hated her for parachuting in and seizing power, hated her for acting recklessly, and hated her for showing no respect for the sanctity of education.
But as a principal, he understood even better how serious Shengde’s problems had been.
He had no choice but to admit that he truly had no way to deal with them.
Instead, Yu Xiaxing’s reckless antics had pushed the school toward change again and again, and each time, the students had become better.
After several hours of internal struggle, Principal Wang decided to help the person he despised.
He immediately printed out an official school document.
The document clearly stated that the smoking room was a student-management measure approved by the school administration. It had been established for the purpose of concentrating and apprehending offenders, not to encourage smoking.
With this document, all of Yu Xiaxing’s actions were procedurally compliant.
He then called several teachers to a meeting.
“There’s no need to wait until tomorrow, as Chairwoman Yu instructed. She’s already been taken to the police station. How are we supposed to keep waiting?”
“Immediately punish the students in your classes according to the severity of their offenses.”
“If it’s obvious that they were being bullied by their classmates, that they would have been ostracized if they refused to smoke, and they’re genuinely remorseful, have them write a self-criticism and leave it at that.”
“If they’re simply addicted, give them a major demerit and place them on probation.”
“If they refuse to obey school rules, issue an expulsion notice directly and have their parents come collect them.”
The teachers all understood what the principal meant.
He was backing the chairwoman.
That way, her actions would no longer look like reckless nonsense. They would become a formal measure officially approved by the school’s entire administration.
She had avoided explaining things at the beginning because she was afraid of alerting the students and putting them on guard.
Now that almost all of them had been caught, they could take them down in one sweep!
The teachers immediately set to work.
—
Six o’clock in the afternoon.
At the filming location for Yu Lingyi’s short drama.
She was somewhat exhausted. Just now, she had once again soothed Shen Zhi and Qiao Tang.
Because they were willing to give her face, the two of them had agreed to make peace for the time being. But their conflict had never truly been resolved, and both of them still harbored resentment toward the other.
They got into an argument every few days.
This was now a critical period, with Task Two approaching its deadline.
She had to keep the two of them stable, so she had just gone through another round of earnest persuasion and comfort.
At last, things had calmed down for the moment.
She checked the time. Only six hours remained before the task deadline.
She reassessed how she had handled the situation this time.
She had achieved a zero-cost solution.
As for speed, she had resolved the issue on the very first day. Shen Zhi had withdrawn her complaint, and everything afterward had merely been about maintaining stability.
Innovation? That was out of the question. But at the very least, her plan had been safe and reliable.
As for the satisfaction of the relevant parties, both Shen Zhi and Qiao Tang had accepted the outcome. They might not have been entirely convinced in their hearts, but at least they had said they were satisfied. Even if the assessment committee investigated afterward, it would not be able to find anything to criticize.
Although Yu Lingyi had only given herself a score of seventy, when she looked at her other brothers and sisters, she felt she still had a very good chance of winning.
Her Eldest Brother had actually sent a lawyer’s letter straight to the customer who had caused the disturbance. People online were now condemning his methods as too harsh.
On local lifestyle forums, many bloggers were warning others to avoid him, calling him “a bully because his business is big” and “a cold-blooded capitalist.”
Fifth Brother had resolved his problem fairly quickly too, but his method was far too improper to ever be presented to the higher-ups.
The other brothers and sisters had all left behind some kind of aftermath as well.
As for Yu Xiaxing—
Yu Lingyi was even a little worried about this particular rival.
It had already been six days since Yu Xiaxing came up with that underhanded scheme. The parents’ group chat had been filled with abuse the entire time, while online, mockery and skepticism had poured in side by side.
Just now, her assistant had quietly told her that Yu Xiaxing had even been taken away by the police.
And with only a few hours left, Yu Xiaxing clearly would not have time to turn things around.
“Lingyi.”
Su Hao’s gentle voice came from behind her.
Yu Lingyi looked up and saw that Su Hao had changed out of his director’s vest. He was now wearing a soft, cream-colored knit sweater, which made his refined and gentle temperament even more striking.
He held out a bottle of water and handed it to her naturally. “Have some warm water. Your throat sounds a little hoarse. You just finished mediating between them? You must be tired.”
His gentleness and thoughtfulness were what Yu Lingyi liked most about him.
She accepted the cup and nodded. “Things are stable for now, anyway. Hopefully, we can get through these last few hours without any trouble.”
A flicker passed through Su Hao’s eyes.
From Yu Lingyi’s attitude, he could tell that Yu Xiaxing had probably not yet told her about the green glove.
Then he had to get ahead of her.
He crouched down in front of Yu Lingyi, still adopting the posture of the subordinate looking up at the superior, and raised his face to meet her gaze.
There was guilt in his eyes, as if he had struggled with his thoughts for a long time before finally making up his mind to speak.
“Lingyi, I… I did something I shouldn’t have done to you…”
Yu Lingyi’s heart gave a sudden lurch.
They were getting married next month, and the invitations had already been sent out. All their relatives and friends knew about it.
What was he about to say?
After several seconds of silence, Yu Lingyi asked nervously, “What did you do?”
