The admissions work that year was presided over by the director of teaching affairs; he had always been busy with inter-school exchanges and meetings, rarely overstepping his bounds.
Who would have thought that such an incident would explode into the open today?
He had repeatedly urged that everything must be done according to the rules, forbidding any sort of opportunistic scheming.
Shi Jianjun had thumped his chest in promise, even making a "military order."
Yet somehow, such an incident had occurred with a student.
This student was known to be at the top of the class in terms of grades and exemplified both academic and personal excellence.
How could he not be angry about this?
If such a good student were pushed aside, it would be a loss for the school, a drain of talent.
"Principal Lin, I’ve worked under you for so many years, don’t you trust my work?" Shi Jianjun was feeling somewhat guilty.
"I want to trust you, but I trust my students even more! If nothing of this sort had happened, she wouldn’t invent such a story to frame you," said Principal Lin angrily.
"Principal Lin... listen to my explanation..."
"No need for explanations. I will check the admissions scores and answers from that year right now. If necessary, I’ll take out the sealed exams as well," Principal Lin said before turning and walking out.
"Principal Lin... Principal Lin..." Shi Jianjun was completely panicked, chasing after Principal Lin as he ran outside, leaving behind a mess in the classroom.
Teacher Mu instructed the students to tidy up the classroom briefly.
Then, with the help of a few students, he sent Song Yueqin home to change into clean clothes to prevent a cold, and to wait for further notice from the school.
An Hao refused to go home, insisting on staying at school for the lessons. Finding nothing severely wrong with her, the homeroom teacher, Teacher Mu, let her stay.
In fact, verifying the incident from that year wasn’t difficult; after returning, Principal Lin found the records of the scores from that year.
He discovered several students had been admitted with low scores.
One of them was this Song Yueqin.
Three years had gone by, and with the college entrance examination looming, he could not punish the students for something that happened in the past.
In a fit of rage, Principal Lin stripped Shi Jianjun of his position as the director of teaching affairs and dismissed him outright.
Afterward, Principal Lin called An Hao into his office.
"An Hao, the main responsibility for this incident does indeed lie with Director Xu. I have already criticized and dealt with him. Tomorrow, I will call a general assembly of all teachers and students, where he will apologize to you and perform a self-criticism," he said.
"Thank you, Principal Lin. A school like Changzheng No.1 Middle School will certainly thrive with a principal like you," An Hao thanked him sincerely.
Principal Lin waved his hand, indicating for her to continue listening: "Although the main responsibility lies with him, you also made a mistake. You should not have hit a classmate or a teacher. Therefore, I issue a verbal criticism for your actions. Will you also perform a self-criticism in front of all the teachers and students at the assembly? Are you willing to do that?"
After some thought, An Hao replied, "I am willing to reflect on my actions. I hit a teacher, setting a bad example for the other students."
However, she would definitely not apologize to a person like the director of teaching affairs, Shi Jianjun, who was unworthy of being a teacher.
And she absolutely would not apologize to Song Yueqin, not a single word.
Whether in her past life or this one, she, An Hao, had never done anything to wrong Song Yueqin!
And that included today! She would definitely not apologize for it!
Seeing An Hao willing to apologize for her own actions, Principal Lin nodded his head: "Fighting is not the only way to solve problems!"