The counterpart is the class teacher, whose authority is greater than hers as a subject teacher.
Now, bringing up "responsibility" as an issue, if she insists on punishing Han Mingyue during class time and the parents really show up, the counterpart would certainly pin the blame on her.
Teacher Shen doesn’t want to get herself involved for her niece, which is not within her consideration.
Her inner balance has already tilted, but she still wants to argue a few more words, "Not knowing to follow classroom discipline during class, what’s the point of such a student attending class?! They should be ’educated’ properly before coming back!"
"But you can’t put it that way!" Teacher Jiang remains unmoved, still sporting the same smile from before.
"The education of students cannot be accomplished overnight. If they always ’misbehave’, and we only educate without teaching, what will the school become?"
Teacher Shen says nothing, and the other teachers in the office quiet down as well, listening with pricked ears.
What Teacher Jiang says next isn’t aggressive, but it’s like a gentle stab, "School is a place for teaching and educating; teaching comes first and then educating, the place that simply educates people is a reformatory."
A gentle male voice chimes in at the right moment, "Well said! We are here to teach and educate, not to discipline students! To teach is to impart knowledge; to nurture is to cultivate! To lead by example and establish virtue — both are indispensable."
Teacher Jiang turns to smile at him and says: "It’s Mr. Fang who has the high literary accomplishments! I can’t compare, oh, I can’t!"
Fang Wen Yuan is Han Mingyue’s Chinese teacher, the one who recommended him to submit to Children’s Literature. He humbly replies: "Not at all, not at all! Everyone has their own expertise."
"People often say ’crude words, solid reasoning’, besides, what Teacher Jiang said was just straightforward, quite incisive."
During this short exchange, the bell for class rings.
Teacher Jiang concludes his brief compliments with Mr. Fang, turns his head to Teacher Shen, and says: "I’ll take Han Mingyue with me, as my class is next. I’ll have him come to see you after class."
Teacher Shen nods expressionlessly.
Zhen Yu sits in the classroom, watching Teacher Qian on the podium, and softly repeating after him sentence by sentence from the textbook.
What comes to mind, however, is Teacher Cao’s sharp eyes. She doesn’t know how he will deal with the situation, whether he will help Han Mingyue.
At the time, she had to follow Teacher Cao out of the humanities office, but couldn’t stop worrying about Han Mingyue left inside.
Although she’s used to keeping a poker face, the moment she looked up and met Teacher Cao’s X-ray-like gaze, Zhen Yu was still afraid he’d see through her.
Luckily, Teacher Cao only stared at her for a few seconds before telling her to return to class.
Zhen Yu wasn’t willing at all.
With a desperate plea, she completely sold out Teacher Shen.
After pondering for a moment, Teacher Cao still repeated the same sentence, "Go back to class!"
"What about Han Mingyue?" Zhen Yu was so anxious at the time she blurted out, "Teacher, I have to save him!"
"Nonsense!" Teacher Cao sternly rebuked her, "I will handle it, now go to class!"
When Teacher Cao repeated himself for the third time, his tone was extremely stern, and it was clear he was starting to lose his temper. Zhen Yu reluctantly walked toward the exit of the teachers’ office building.
Right before she left the building, she couldn’t help but plead one more time, "Teacher, please help him!"
Teacher Cao just glared at her with his somber eyes, and Zhen Yu had no choice but to run off, pouting.
When one’s mind is troubled, time seems to crawl.
Zhen Yu sits on pins and needles, agitatedly waiting for class to end.
Liu Ting leans over quietly while Teacher Qian turns his back, whispering, "Are you in a rush to use the restroom? If not, ask the teacher for a break!"
Firmly shakes her head.
I haven’t even had a sip of water since I came to school this morning, how could I possibly need to go!
Zhen Yu calms herself down, settling into quietness.
Sigh... Being anxious is useless; whatever is going to happen is happening or has already happened. She might as well try to trust Teacher Cao.
The bell signaling the end of class rang to the desperate summoning of Zhen Yu, and as soon as Teacher Qian announced the end of the class, Zhen Yu ’whooshed’ out the door.
Teacher Qian paused while packing up her teaching plan, then pretended nothing happened and continued.
After running out of the classroom, Zhen Yu headed straight for the teachers’ office.
After knocking on the door, she realized that Teacher Cao was not in as he had a class.
Zhen Yu nodded to the only female teacher who stayed in the office and then stepped back outside.
Standing in the hallway, Zhen Yu felt at a loss for where to go.
Where could Han Mingyue be? The school was only so large, yet she had no idea where to look for him.
After being at a loss for a while, Zhen Yu was just about to head back to check the classroom of the second year’s first class, when she looked up and saw Han Mingyue walking in from the entrance of the building.
She immediately called to him softly, "Han Mingyue~"
The young boy looked up at the sound and changed his direction, walking towards her from the left.
"You should go back." Han Mingyue said gently, trying to reassure her. "I’m fine."
Anyway, she already knew about the situation.
With that thought, Han Mingyue decided to speak more directly.
Zhen Yu shook her head, "If it’s nothing, why did you come back again?"
"I," Han Mingyue managed only one word before falling silent.
"Did she say how she wants to punish you?" Zhen Yu knew Han Mingyue didn’t have much time, and hurried to inquire.
"Not yet." Han Mingyue quickly replied, "The decision will be made soon."
Zhen Yu nodded, "Then you better go!"
Watching Han Mingyue knock on the door, enter, and close it behind him.
Zhen Yu sneaked close to the office on the right side of the hallway, but could only hear faint voices, the content of which was unclear.
Before long, Zhen Yu sharply heard the sound of chairs being dragged on the floor, someone had risen from their seat!
She quickly ran to the left, crouched, and stood against the wall in front of Teacher Cao’s office door.
Teacher Shen came out the door and upon turning around, saw Zhen Yu standing against the wall ahead.
Recognizing her own class representative, she did not say anything, wondering why this girl came to look for Cao Yong time and time again today?
What was so troublesome? Surely she hadn’t been punished as well!
As the history class representative, Zhen Yu was neither diligent nor sycophantic; she would stir only when directed by Teacher Shen and never took the initiative to pick up extra tasks.
Given this, the relationship between teacher and student was quite ordinary, and Teacher Shen treated her like any other student.
Teacher Shen brushed off thoughts of Zhen Yu without further concern and directly led Han Mingyue out of the office building.
Han Mingyue naturally also saw Zhen Yu, and his gaze flickered, truly a mix of emotions welled up inside him.
Just as he had entered the office, Teacher Shen announced her decision for his punishment.
She said, "Behavior like yours, disregarding classroom discipline, must be severely punished! To serve as a warning to other students, you will accompany me to every class to make a deep self-reflection."
"To every class?" Han Mingyue frowned, suddenly having a bad feeling.
Teacher Shen nodded, "Yes! You must go to all the classes I teach!"
Han Mingyue responded with silence.
"Don’t worry! It won’t delay your classes. It’s just a matter of a few words, and once the reflection is done, you’ll be sent back to attend your class."