However, the event that truly drove the Class Teacher to madness was yet to come. Around midnight that day, Shi Li's parent sent a text message saying that Shi Li had injured her arm and couldn't participate in tomorrow's exam. They requested a day of sick leave for her to rest at home and assess the situation.
Shi Li couldn't possibly tell her family about the fight, as it wasn't something to be proud of.
But some things can't be hidden.
Like the scratch marks from the fight, right on her chin.
During the fight, Shi Li's attention was entirely on her opponent, not noticing the mark on her face.
In the heat of the moment, she didn't even feel the pain.
After leaving the scene, she felt a burning sensation on her face but didn't pay much attention to it.
The wound wasn't actually large, but it couldn't escape her mother's eagle eyes.
As soon as Shi Li entered the house, Huang Jie noticed the injury on her daughter's face.
Immediately concerned, she asked if someone at school had bullied her.
Shi Li certainly couldn't admit to that, so she stubbornly denied it. But Huang Jie had already called for the Nanny to bring the first aid kit, her voice shrill with worry.
Huang Jie carefully disinfected the wound with a cotton swab. Under her mother's stern gaze, Shi Li had no choice but to explain what had happened, of course omitting the part about the group of delinquent girls bullying Song Ying in her previous life, which ultimately led to Song Ying's suicide.
Hearing that her daughter had acted righteously and bravely, Huang Jie didn't express disapproval.
The Nanny, who was handing Huang Jie band-aids, worriedly said, "How can there be such bad children in this world? You should have called the police in that situation. The police are adults and law enforcers; they would certainly be more capable than a group of kids."
Huang Jie asked her, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
Shi Li shook her head, but Huang Jie had already rolled up Shi Li's sleeve to inspect closely.
What she saw was alarming. There were two purple bruises on Shi Li's upper arm, as thick as a stick.
Given Shi Li's fair skin, the bruises looked particularly distressing.
The Nanny couldn't help but gasp, and Huang Jie was heartbroken. Her expression turned very serious, "Is this what you call 'not hurt'?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, really."
Huang Jie skipped dinner and took Shi Li straight to the hospital for a thorough check-up to see if there were any other injuries.
They went to the emergency room, and after a full-body examination, it was almost dawn.
The doctor didn't think it was anything serious, but seeing the parent's grave concern, he cautiously advised rest and observation.
So Huang Jie sent a text message to the Class Teacher at dawn requesting sick leave.
The Class Teacher, who was used to staying up late, was still reading when he received Huang Jie's message. He felt like he wouldn't be able to sleep at all that night.
My top student, her body isn't just her own, it belongs to the entire class.
At a time when she could represent the class in competition, she got injured.
At this point, the Class Teacher didn't know that Shi Li wasn't the only precious student unable to attend the exam due to injury.
The next morning when he woke up, his phone screen was filled with sick leave request messages.
The reasons varied - muscle strain, dislocated arm...
The Class Teacher felt that life was indeed short; you close your eyes once, and a lifetime passes by.
Students collectively taking sick leave was already a deadly situation.
Thankfully, there was no Zi Han's mom in his class.
While students taking sick leave was bad enough, what was even more devastating was that these precious students had taken exams for a day, and today's subject would be a complete zero.
The Class Teacher called each student individually to inquire about their condition.
Although he thought his students were quite capable, able to brawl with delinquent girls and share their battle results in the group chat that same evening, as a teacher, he still needed to show concern for his students' well-being.
After calling everyone, he confirmed that the little troublemakers weren't seriously hurt, but their families were worried and wanted them to rest at home, conveniently unable to participate in today's exam.
Class Teacher: It's over, this is aimed at me.
With students feeling unwell, he couldn't force them to take the exam.
With the top students absent, the Class Teacher's anticipated first turnaround monthly exam ended in what he felt was a cold and dismal situation.
The day after the exam ended, the resilient little darlings returned to school for regular classes.
That morning, an unusual scene unfolded in Class 1-1. The Class Teacher was at the door early, checking students' bags.
This startled students and teachers from other classes, as Qianpu School wasn't an ordinary high school and had never had a tradition of confiscating phones.
If Class 1-1's teacher was confiscating phones, would their classes have to do the same?
Under the watchful eyes of other classes, the Class Teacher confiscated one baseball bat, two baseball bats, three baseball bats, four baseball bats... from the students' bags. The exact number of baseball bats was impossible to count.
Students and teachers from other classes thought: Are your students here to study or to reenact a gangster movie?
The students from Class 1-5, who had recently had a dispute with Class 1-1 over the sports field, were now relieved. They were grateful for staying calm and not getting into a fight with them. If a fight had broken out, how could they, with only books and stationery in their bags, have stood a chance against Class 1-1 students armed with baseball bats?
The Class Teacher confiscated a small mountain of baseball bats, dazzling the eyes of students and teachers from other classes. However, he tried to cover for his students, saying, "My class students have a hobby of playing baseball. They like to play together after class to exercise and cultivate their minds."
It was fortunate that these little troublemakers had baseball bats in their bags and not controlled knives.
Otherwise, he might have had to say that his students were frugal and hardworking, doing part-time jobs cutting fruit at fruit shops after school.
As for whether anyone would believe that rich kids would cut fruit at fruit shops, that wasn't something the Class Teacher needed to worry about.
No matter who heard this excuse, they wouldn't believe it. When Shi Li saw that almost everyone in the class had brought a baseball bat, her first thought was: [Am I being ostracized?]
Hearing Shi Li's inner thoughts, the others panicked.
They all silently blamed the Class Teacher for causing unnecessary trouble. If he hadn't been checking bags at the classroom door, Shi Li wouldn't have discovered that everyone was carrying baseball bats, and wouldn't have thought she was being ostracized by the class.
Letting Shi Li discover she was being ostracized was not a good thing.
Everyone tried to think of ways to divert Shi Li's attention.
At this moment, the class's Little Fatty approached Gu Yuqing with a safety charm, saying, "I heard you guys had a dispute the day before yesterday and got hurt. This is a safety charm my uncle got from a master. Carrying it with you can ensure your safety."
He then walked up to Shi Li and handed her one, repeating the same explanation.
Unexpectedly, the unexpected happened, and Shi Li's inner thoughts rang out.
[I remember Little Fatty's uncle is super superstitious, often inviting masters to perform rituals at home. Eventually, Little Fatty's aunt ran away with a fake monk.]
Little Fatty: ???
Classmates: ???
Little Fatty's uncle: ???
