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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Sixty-Four: Bargaining
Zhang Qiu looked at the furious director and helplessly closed his mouth. Informing the teacher? That would just be a joke. Besides, a teacher can help once, but can they help for a lifetime? In the end, everything still relies on oneself.
"You continue," Director Zhao said, exhaling another sentence.
"I was taken away by them. A few classmates from my class were worried about me and chased down the stairs to find me, wanting to call me back. However, there were too many of them; they took all five of us to the garden. It’s a place that hardly anyone goes to, very secluded, and they wanted to beat me there."
"Seeing that things were not looking good, I shouted and ran. We all ran back to the teaching building. Since class was about to end, I thought it would be best if one or two teachers appeared so we would be safe. But we ran all the way to the teaching building and not a single teacher showed up; perhaps they were all in their classrooms being pestered by students with questions. Our Beiluan No. 1 High School students really love studying."
"Seriously!" Director Zhao knocked on the table, feeling that he was almost led astray by this eloquent Zhang Qiu.
"Wang Zhen suddenly cursed my mom. Director, I cannot tolerate anyone touching my family. You know about the incident where some thugs injured my dad; it caused quite a stir. This time Wang Zhen cursed my mom, and I couldn't hold back, so I fought back. I thought he was tough, but unexpectedly, he couldn’t take a hit. How could someone so weak still bring people to beat me?"
"Am I asking you or are you asking me?" Director Zhao appeared somewhat impatient; this Zhang Qiu always seemed to answer questions seriously but would easily veer off into other topics.
"I don’t care who fights whom; as long as there’s a group fight, everyone involved will be punished. That’s our rule," Director Zhao's words were firm and resonant, leaving everyone who heard them feeling a deep sense of despair, as if being thrown into an ice cellar in the cold winter.
Zhang Qiu looked at Director Zhao helplessly and suddenly thought about why Wang Zhen and the others hadn’t been called to the Director's Office as well. Zhang Qiu asked, "Director, how are Wang Zhen and the others being handled?"
"How are they being handled? How do you think? They are still in the hospital; their parents are clamoring for you to pay for medical expenses. I had to firmly stop them," Director Zhao said with annoyance. Since this incident began, he had been troubled; early in the morning, teachers and parents had been calling him about last night’s fight, which had caused quite a serious disturbance. Especially those parents; each one was truly annoying.
"Director, thank you for that. However, this time it was them who came to beat us; I had no choice but to fight back. I can't just stand there and let them hit me. Director, if those parents cause more trouble, I'll call the police and have them arrested."
"Don't take matters into your own hands; the school will handle this," Director Zhao quickly stopped Zhang Qiu. Just hearing about involving the police made his head spin; it was already troublesome enough without adding police involvement. In Senior Year alone, having police come onto campus twice was something he certainly didn’t want.
On one side were aggressive parents, and on the other side was Zhang Qiu who needed to treat the director to a meal. Both parties had their own tactics, making it truly tricky; this guidance director felt utterly powerless in comparison. Director Zhao couldn’t help but sigh; today’s students were so troublesome—back when he was in school, it was quite normal for teachers to give a few hits.
"Alright, Director Zhao," Zhang Qiu said, showing a very reluctant expression.
"What about those people with baseball bats, the Masked Men? Who are they?" Director Zhao, having been a grade director for many years, was adept at pinpointing the key issues amidst students' attempts to evade questions.
Zhang Qiu looked bewildered and replied, "Director, I don't know where those people came from. They scared me so much at the time that I thought Wang Zhen had sent them to beat me up."
"Nonsense!" Director Zhao slammed his hand on the table again, and due to the force, his knuckles turned red. "You don't recognize them? If you don't recognize them, why did they appear so coincidentally? If you don't recognize them, why did you stop there to confront them? If you don't recognize them, how could they be on our campus?"
A series of pointed questions fell heavily, each one aimed directly at Zhang Qiu. Director Zhao believed that the mysterious Masked Men were summoned by Zhang Qiu for help, and Zhang Qiu was already overwhelmed by his own shock.
Zhang Qiu quickly organized his thoughts in his mind, forming what seemed like a reasonable explanation. However, no matter how he explained it, it would pale in comparison to the school rules and regulations; it would be better to just deny it outright.
Zhang Qiu had decided to stick to his lie. He insisted, "Director, I really don’t know those people. I’ve been here in the campus; how could I know them? They clearly don’t look like students."
"Does anyone here know who those people are?" Director Zhao shifted his gaze to Gao Zhi and the others.
"I don’t know," Gao Zhi and the others shook their heads in unison, avoiding eye contact with the director.
"Director, maybe those people were just looking for trouble with Wang Zhen and happened to run into each other downstairs, which led to a fight," Zhang Qiu deflected blame onto Wang Zhen and the others who were still in the hospital.
Director Zhao smiled helplessly and said, "Zhang Qiu, how can you act so well?"
Zhang Qiu was about to explain further when Director Zhao interrupted him. "I don’t care if those Masked Men were called by you or not. If they were, you must never let them come here again; this is a school, not society!"
After a brief pause, Director Zhao continued, "The handling result of this fighting incident has come down. Zhang Qiu will receive a demerit; as for you all, you won’t receive any demerits but will all have to go home and reflect."
Director Zhao took a printed document from the drawer and handed it to Zhang Qiu, saying, "This is the school's decision regarding the matter."
Zhang Qiu received the document, which stated, "Zhang Qiu and Wang Zhen receive a serious reprimand; other participants are to go home for a week of parental re-education." Parental re-education, which is essentially reflection, was something Zhang Qiu never understood why it had to be called that.
Looking at Gao Zhi and the others standing nearby, Zhang Qiu defended them, saying, "Director, these classmates didn't actually fight. Why do they also have to go home for reflection?"
Director Zhao retorted, "Did they not participate in this fight?"
"Director, the students were just being kind. When their classmates were in trouble, they couldn't just stand by and watch. Society is so indifferent nowadays; I think that spirit is quite rare. Can we let them off this time? The main issue lies with me, and I'm willing to accept the punishment."
"Brother Qiu..."
Director Zhao glared, causing Gao Zhi and the others to obediently close their mouths.
"How touching," Director Zhao initially smiled, but his expression quickly changed as he shouted angrily, "What do you think this place is? Let me tell you, this decision was made personally by Principal Wu; I can't protect you."
"Director, is there really no room for negotiation?" Zhang Qiu looked at Director Zhao's forehead, which was bulging with veins, still unwilling to give up. The arrangement from yesterday was meant to avoid implicating these friends. But in the end, it was all in vain; they still faced the fate of punishment.
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