Lu Jinshu cocked his head, staring thoughtfully at Shen Fanyun before slowly nodding. "Yeah, I quit a long time ago. My granddaughter won’t let this old man smoke, and since my health is really failing me, I had no choice but to quit."
So, this old chain-smoker actually has some willpower?
Back in the day, Lu Jinshu had not only been affectionately called "the Old Man" at school but also mockingly nicknamed the "Master of White Mist." He’d always had a cigarette in his mouth; it was an absurd habit.
"It was tough to adjust at first, but I later realized quitting wasn’t such a big deal," Lu Jinshu muttered, his mind racing. Who on earth is this Shen Fanyun? How does he know so much about my past, even the nickname my students gave me? Could he be a former student from Hangcheng No.1 Middle School?
As they spoke, the group arrived at the principal’s office.
Han Wenshan, having composed himself, clenched his teeth and slammed his hand on a nearby desk. "Arrest him!"
Lu Jinshu hadn’t expected Han Wenshan to be so crude and forceful. He paused for a moment before speaking. "Let’s first get to the bottom of this."
"What’s there to get to the bottom of?" Han Wenshan shot back, his voice haughty. "This guy dared to hit me, the Director of Guidance, today. Tomorrow, he’ll dare to take a swing at you, the Principal! In my opinion, we should take him down immediately!" He waved his hand with a dramatic, self-important air.
On the way over, Li Ruoshui had already told Shen Fanyun everything—the unfair treatment she had endured and Han Wenshan’s private harassment.
"Young man, I’d like to know why you two got into a conflict," Lu Jinshu asked Shen Fanyun seriously.
Shen Fanyun just gave a faint, knowing smile. The look made Han Wenshan extremely uncomfortable.
Shen Fanyun finally spoke. "Director Han, do you really not understand why you got hit? You’re over fifty, I believe. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for doing something like this? Aren’t you afraid that one day, it will all come out and your reputation will be destroyed?"
Han Wenshan was speechless, his eyes darting unnaturally toward Li Ruoshui. "Hmph! Stop slandering me! My reputation at this school is known to all. Do you really think you can tarnish the noble character of an upstanding man with just a few words?"
When someone is this shameless, they are truly invincible.
Fortunately, Li Ruoshui had been prudent enough to save all the private text messages Han Wenshan had sent her.
"Director Han, I want you to apologize and promise the principal you won’t do this again. Otherwise..." Li Ruoshui took a deep breath. Since things were already out in the open, there was no reason to hold back.
"You shameless whore! What nonsense are you spouting? I don’t understand a word!" Han Wenshan bellowed, rolling up his sleeves as if to charge forward and teach her a lesson.
Without Shen Fanyun, Li Ruoshui would certainly have been intimidated by a man like Han Wenshan. But with him there, she was clearly braver than before.
She gritted her teeth, pulled out her phone, and showed the messages to Shen Fanyun first before handing the device to Lu Jinshu.
At first, Lu Jinshu was confused, unsure of the private grievance between the two. But when he took a closer look, the old principal immediately blurted out, "Shameless! How could you, as an adult, do something so disgraceful?" Lu Jinshu was trembling with rage.
Han Wenshan quickly denied it. "They’re slandering me! I, Han Wenshan, swear on my integrity that I would never do such a thing! The photos were faked by that bitch Li Ruoshui! Please, Principal, see the truth!"
The accusation was true. Han Wenshan had privately sent Li Ruoshui a large number of obscene messages. Besides the usual dirty talk, he had also sent her his own nudes. Of course, the old bastard knew how to use both carrot and stick. He first promised her a bright future, but when that had no effect, he began using her performance reviews to pressure her.
"Director Han," Shen Fanyun said with a smile, "we never revealed the specific content of the phone. How did you know there were photos of you? Oh, allow me to correct myself—*nude* photos."
This fat-headed fool had carelessly exposed himself. It was a clear-cut confession.
Han Wenshan was still scrambling for a reply when Shen Fanyun delivered a truly lethal blow. "With something so small, how did you have the nerve to show it off? I bet you’ve sent it to quite a few people besides Ruoshui, haven’t you?"
Han Wenshan was left speechless.
This was intolerable! Not only were these people brazenly prying into his privacy, but they were also mocking him for being small. That was the one thing a man could never tolerate! Even if it was true, you couldn’t say it out loud. It was a matter of a man’s dignity!
"This is all your fault, you bitch!" Han Wenshan shrieked, his face contorted with rage. "Li Ruoshui, I will never let you get away with this!"
"Enough!" Lu Jinshu bellowed. He truly hadn’t expected Han Wenshan to be capable of such a thing. And now, instead of showing remorse, he was blatantly threatening Li Ruoshui. It wasn’t just Shen Fanyun who was enraged; if Lu Jinshu were ten years younger, he would have stormed over and slapped Han Wenshan across the face himself.
"If you keep spouting filth, the only way you’ll be leaving today is on your back," Shen Fanyun said with a shrug, the smile on his face vanishing in an instant. A bone-deep chill filled the air.
Han Wenshan’s face flushed beet red. At this point, denial was useless. He glanced at Lu Jinshu, then at Shen Fanyun, and a twisted, taunting smile spread across his face. "So what if I did it? I did her a favor by taking an interest in a bitch like Li Ruoshui and wanting to play with her! It’s one thing for her not to comply, but to report me? How interesting. Li Ruoshui, you’ve just destroyed your own future. You remember that!"
BOOM!
Shen Fanyun moved in a blur. Before anyone could react, he was in front of Han Wenshan. He drove a kick into the man, sending him stumbling backward and crashing onto his knees. A spray of blood erupted from his mouth.
"I warned you," Shen Fanyun said, slowly pacing forward. He used the tip of his shoe to tilt up Han Wenshan’s deathly pale face. "Keep that filthy mouth of yours shut, or your end will be miserable."
"You... cough... you..." Han Wenshan’s mouth was full of blood. He could never have imagined that Shen Fanyun would still dare to beat him, not here in the principal’s office, in front of everyone. "Kid, Hangcheng City isn’t some lawless land! You’ll be punished for being so reckless!"
Han Wenshan knelt there, coughing up blood. The pain was immense. That kick had broken several of his ribs.
Shen Fanyun sneered. "Compared to me, shouldn’t you be the one facing the law’s punishment? You don’t actually think the things you did were trivial, do you?"
He crouched in front of Han Wenshan and casually lifted his head, adjusting it to a comfortable angle for the man. Then, he raised his hand high.
SLAP!
A mist of blood filled the air.