The class monitor suspected he had misheard, or that his classmates were discussing something else entirely.
But he was certain he had heard the phrase "seducing the teacher's wife," and wondered if he had somehow heard Shi Li's inner thoughts.
He turned to look at the students from other classes, unable to hide the shock on his face.
If only one person had reacted this way, he could have called it a coincidence.
But when students from two different classes all had the same reaction, it was hard to dismiss as mere chance.
The Principal had just been lecturing about the importance of ethics class, and there was no reason for everyone to be shocked by that topic.
So there could only be one explanation!
He quickly shared his theory in the small group chat, and discreetly probed a classmate from Class 2 next to him: "Hey, did you also hear that female voice talking about seducing the teacher's wife just now?"
The other student gave him a "are you stupid?" look and replied, "I'm not deaf, of course I heard it."
Class monitor: [bitter smile emoji]
At this moment, he didn't have time to be shocked about the "seducing the teacher's wife" gossip, and rushed to share this major news with his classmates.
Just then, he saw a message in the group chat that was truly ear-splitting.
Someone said: [Look at the Principal's face, isn't it turning green?]
Class monitor: ???
The Principal had stopped his opening remarks on "why students need to study ethics" as soon as Shi Li's voice had faded.
His eyes seemed to be shooting fire as he glared down at Shuizhi in the audience.
An ominous feeling rose in the class monitor's heart - the Principal's face did seem to have a greenish tint.
Sitting in the front row, Shuizhi felt the teacher's gaze on him. Though he didn't know why the Principal had stopped speaking, he still smiled and nodded respectfully.
The Principal, being a man who had seen his fair share of difficult situations, knew that his cuckolding was now public knowledge. No matter what, he had to maintain his dignity in front of others.
He absolutely couldn't lose his composure; he had to keep it together.
But this kind of thing was hard to endure.
By the end of the class, he was about to turn into a green turtle.
For a moment, there was a beam of light - what was that glowing green?
It was the Principal.
Knowing that the Principal and students from other classes had also heard Shi Li's inner thoughts, some people worried about wild rumors spreading, while a large majority were eagerly watching the Principal's expressions, waiting for more drama to unfold.
As gossip-loving spectators, they couldn't be bothered with much else.
Knowing he had been cuckolded, the Principal frequently mixed up his lines while reading from the PowerPoint slides.
After class, his star pupil Shuizhi rushed to the stage before the secretary could, enthusiastically offering as usual, "Teacher, let me take care of these for you."
The students in the audience thought: Actually, we're not in that much of a hurry to leave, since the next period is self-study anyway.
Ethics class is a very meaningful course that has taught everyone many important principles.
They had never felt ethics class to be so necessary before - morality is such an important quality, and as middle school students, they really needed to study it in depth.
So the students spontaneously stayed behind after class.
Faced with Shuizhi's attitude, the Principal was somewhat confused.
Regardless of whether the rumors were true or false, Shuizhi should have given him some kind of explanation about this incident - either acting guilty, or righteously insisting on his innocence.
Shuizhi had done neither of these things.
Leaving the small auditorium, there were students all around, making it a poor time to discuss private matters.
It wasn't until they returned to the office that he dismissed the secretary who had been following behind them.
Shuizhi was secretly delighted; from the teacher's actions, he could see that his status in the Principal's heart was far above that of the secretary.
It seemed his promotion to a permanent position was just around the corner.
"Xiao Zhi, did you hear anyone talking in the audience during the lecture just now?" the Principal asked.
Of course Shuizhi hadn't heard anything; his ears had been filled with the sound of the Principal's lecture.
He thought the teacher wanted to know about his prestige among the students.
So he flattered him, saying, "Of course not. You're the pillar of our school - how could any student dare to chat during your lecture?"
He didn't hear it?
Logically, sitting in the audience and being younger, he should have heard it more clearly than the Principal himself.
Yet now he was saying he hadn't heard anything.
Was it that he truly didn't hear, or was he pretending not to have heard?
The Principal quickly figured it out - Shuizhi was indeed deeply calculating.
If this was the case, it further proved that he had a guilty conscience.
In a distorted situation, he could deny it.
He didn't deny it, but chose to play dumb instead.
The Principal knew Shuizhi was a clever person, but he hadn't realized just how quick-witted he was.
In such a short time, he had already come up with a strategy to deal with the situation.
He had really underestimated him before.
To be able to get together with his wife right under his nose - how could he be an ordinary person?
