The only gossip that everyone would engage so enthusiastically in at this point in time was none other than the sensational story about Sang Yu and Shen Peichuan.
Putting one hand in his pocket, Su Zhan greeted the students walking towards him. “Hey, do you guys know where the first years’ form teacher’s office is?”
One helpful student pointed at a building nearby. “Over there on the third floor. You’ll be able to find it when you get there. There’s a sign by the entrance.”
“Oh, thanks,” Su Zhan replied with a smile, “By the way, I couldn’t help but overhear what you guys were talking about. Were you guys talking about the rumor regarding a student and an officer?”
“Yes, that’s right. You’ve heard of it as well, haven’t you?” a short-haired girl replied. Her eyes began gleaming once Su Zhan mentioned the rumor. “The story has spread like wildfire throughout the school and it’s received quite a bit of backlash. For all we know, the student in the story might be expelled.”
“The whole school knows about this?” Su Zhan asked with a smile on his face, “And this has become fodder for your entertainment, hasn’t it?”
Although Su Zhan was rather subtle, the students still managed to read between the lines and the smiles gradually slipped off their faces.
Lifting his head, Su Zhan glanced at the towering buildings and the elegant environment he was standing in before he sneered, “Seems to me this school is nothing special. The students that this school produces are quite useless, seeing that not only did they fail to protect the school’s honor and reputation, but they were actually the ones that are trampling all over it. How ridiculous.”
Once he had finished, Su Zhan marched off in the general office’s direction.
Those students, on the other hand, were so embarrassed that their faces had turned beet red. Like what Su Zhan said, they were indeed from this school, and yet, here they were making light of the situation. From a certain point of view, they were removing themselves from the situation.
The short-haired girl retorted, “Even if we did want to protect and defend our school, there are bound to be several bad apples that will spoil the whole barrel. In my opinion, the school should make an example out of these students and expel them. That way, no one would ever dare taint our school’s reputation again.”
Some people agreed with her, while others thought that her view was relatively myopic. After all, there was only a picture. For all they knew, there might be more than met the eye.
“Come on. Let’s go.” Afraid that things would escalate, one of the students hastily rounded up the rest of them and left the school.
Soon, Su Zhan found the first years’ form teacher’s office. After knocking on the door, a voice rang from the inside, “Come on in.”
Su Zhan pushed open the door and entered the office. There were several desks inside the room, but only the one furthest inside the room was occupied. Sitting at the table was a bespectacled middle-aged man. Even though he was seated, one could see that he wasn’t very tall. At that moment, Sang Yu was standing in front of the table with her head hung low while the man stared at her sternly.
As Su Zhan walked in, Sang Yu’s form teacher turned to look at him and asked, “Who are you?”
Su Zhan pointed at Sang Yu. “I’m looking for her.”
Hearing his voice, Sang Yu raised her head. Her lifeless eyes began gleaming once she realized that it was Su Zhan. She had wanted to contact Shen Peichuan to find out how he was doing. However, she had been lectured all morning after getting called into her form teacher’s office.
Su Zhan is Shen Peichuan’s friend, he would definitely know how Shen Peichuan is doing.
As the brows of Sang Yu’s form teacher furrowed, the expression on his face soured and he asked Sang Yu, “I thought you didn’t have any relatives here? Who on earth is he?”
“I’m a distant relative of hers,” Su Zhan explained as he walked to Sang Yu’s side, “How does the school intend to resolve this issue?”
Pushing his glasses upwards, the form teacher replied, “We’ll need to hold a meeting to discuss how we’ll solve this issue. But I personally have very high hopes for Sang Yu. She’s always had stellar grades and performed well in various other aspects. I must say that this incident has left me very surprised and very disappointed.”
Sang Yu lowered her head, not because she had done something wrong, but rather because she felt like she had let her teacher down. Her teacher had always taken very good care of her. Furthermore, he had been the one who helped her apply for her scholarship.
Now that something like this had happened, all hopes for the scholarship had probably gone down the drain.
Although all these might seem very trivial now, she knew full well the consequences of not having any academic credentials. If that were to happen, it would be really hard for her to find a good job. Without a good job and the handsome salary that came along with it, it would be immensely difficult for her to survive in this city. Thus, she didn’t want to be expelled.
“You have to believe me, sir. I really didn’t do all those messed-up stuff outside school. It was my classmates who forced me. I only succumbed in a moment of rashness,” Sang Yu explained with her head hung low.
Her teacher’s expression hardened. “A moment of rashness? Well, that shouldn’t have happened either! You’re still a first-year university student. How could you lead such a promiscuous lifestyle outside of school? Don’t you know that that would affect your future?”
Biting her lower lip, Sang Yu knew that she wouldn’t be able to explain herself out of this mess.
Left with no choice, she could only plead, “Sir, please, you can’t expel me. I put in a lot of effort to make it into this school. Could you put in a good word for me?”
“Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions. I have to see how the higher-ups feel about this incident as well,” her teacher sighed, “I really didn’t expect such a thing to happen to you. Many students from smaller cities put in a lot of effort to get into our school. It’s the first time they’re in such a big and flourishing city. Thus, they are easily enticed by the fascinating life outside of school and carry on to make some bad decisions that cannot be salvaged. It’s such a pity. Sigh, if this can be resolved quickly such that the impact can be minimized to as small as possible, I will put in a good word for you with the higher-ups.”
“How about this?” Su Zhan suggested, “I hope that the school can investigate what happened that day. I noticed that there were many other students in the picture. I believe setting up an investigation wouldn’t be too difficult. We have to get a clear picture of what really happened so that we can better resolve this incident, don’t you think so?”
Nodding his head, the teacher agreed, “You’re right, I was so caught up in my emotions that I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ll get in touch with the principal right away and set up an investigation for this matter.”
The further they delayed their response, the more unpredictable the situation would become.
“In the meantime, we’ll do our best to resolve the situation outside school. Now, can I leave with her?” Su Zhan asked.
After glancing at Sang Yu once more, the teacher’s gaze eventually landed on Su Zhan.
Su Zhan’s stern expression looked rather reassuring.
“Fine. But I must be able to get in touch with you two at any time.” It would be quite troublesome if the school encountered any problems requiring their assistance and they were unreachable.
“Why don’t I leave you my number? If you can’t reach Sang Yu, you can give me a call,” Su Zhan offered.
“That works as well.” Sang Yu’s teacher then handed him a pen and a piece of paper. After Su Zhan scribbled down his number, the teacher continued, “Since you’re her relative, I would advise you to pay more attention to her. Even though university students are adults, they sorely lack life experience and are very gullible.”
“I will.” In that brief moment, Su Zhan had completely transformed into a parental figure. “Thank you for your concern.”
Waving his hand, the teacher replied, “Oh, it’s our duty to do so.”
“Could I give you a suggestion?” Su Zhan said after handing the piece of paper with his number to the teacher, “On my way here just now, I heard several students in this school discussing this incident. In my opinion, before stopping this incident from spreading amongst outsiders, the school should first start with controlling its own students. If even students from this school are making light of the situation, how is the school supposed to stop others?”
A look of admiration flashed across the teacher’s eyes. He makes so much sense. He certainly sounds like someone who can be counted on.
“I’ll report this to the higher-ups immediately so that the students will stop discussing this incident.”
Upon hearing this, Su Zhan nodded his head and proceeded to leave the office with Sang Yu. Once they were outside, Sang Yu asked anxiously, “How is he? Did it cause him any trouble?”
“How do you still have the time and energy to concern yourself with him? Have you not thought about how you’re going to solve your own problems?” Even though that was what Su Zhan said, inwardly, he felt that Sang Yu’s question had improved his impression of her significantly.
