To protect his own backside, the Class Teacher made an excuse to refuse, saying, "I'm in the middle of explaining a problem to my students. It's not convenient for me to go over there. Could you please relay a message to Principal Lu for me?"
Upon hearing this, a look of difficulty flashed across the female student's face. The principal had chosen her for this task, showing his trust in her, yet she couldn't bring the Class Teacher over. She felt she had failed Principal Lu's expectations.
The student's attire and demeanor revealed her family background. She was clearly one of those well-behaved students with excellent grades who had been specially recruited.
Sometimes, family background can determine one's inner confidence.
The Class Teacher felt a twinge of sympathy, not wanting to trouble a mere messenger student. He said, "Alright, I'll go see him in a little while. You can go back to class now."
Having received the Class Teacher's promise, the girl politely bid farewell, "Sorry for disturbing you. I'll head back now."
He insisted on finishing the current problem he was explaining, having run out of excuses to delay any further.
Facing over thirty pairs of attentive eyes below the podium, he dusted the chalk off his hands and said, "Principal Lu needs to see me about something. I'll be gone for a few minutes. Try to understand what I've just explained and then look at the next problem. I'll be back soon."
Although all the students were well aware of why Principal Lu had summoned him, he still offered this dignified explanation to everyone.
After leaving the classroom, on his way to the principal's office, the Class Teacher fiddled with his phone, sending a preemptive SOS message to the class monitor's phone.
After putting down his phone, before reaching the office, the Class Teacher had only one thought: the class monitor must see his message. Whether he could protect his backside now depended on them.
The Class Teacher was in luck. With the phone on silent, the class monitor wouldn't know he'd received a message.
It wasn't until he encountered a problem requiring an internet search that he opened his phone.
The first thing he saw was the message from the Class Teacher.
[If I don't come back for a long time, you must come to Principal Lu's office to rescue me!!!!!]
The Class Teacher had used a total of five exclamation marks, revealing his nervous state of mind when sending the message.
The class monitor's mouth twitched upon reading it. Surely it wasn't serious enough to warrant the word "rescue."
After all, Principal Lu was a respectable person, unlikely to forcibly have his way with a male teacher in a busy office.
Besides, if he did try to force himself on the teacher, one shout from the Class Teacher would be heard by students and teachers passing in the corridor.
Moreover, Principal Lu was a middle-aged man in his fifties, while the Class Teacher was a young man in his early thirties. His physical condition was better. If he wanted to, he could easily break free from Principal Lu's grasp.
Of course, all the scenarios the class monitor imagined assumed the Class Teacher would be in his right mind.
If Principal Lu were to use some underhanded methods on the teacher, something that would make him lose consciousness, then neither shouting for help nor breaking free would be possible.
The class monitor thought to himself, "My dear Class Teacher, rest assured that you can entrust this task to me. As your devoted student, I will surely protect your backside."
Well, he definitely wasn't just looking for an opportunity to witness the drama unfold.
Without hesitation, he sent back an "OK" emoji.
Just before entering the office, the Class Teacher finally received the class monitor's reply, which somewhat eased his mind.
All along, he had been worried that the class monitor might be too engrossed in studying to check his phone. He was confident that as long as the class monitor saw the message, he would definitely come to his rescue.
It wasn't that he trusted in the teacher-student bond; he knew all too well the class monitor's penchant for drama.
To protect himself, the Class Teacher didn't close the door after entering the office.
The office door was left wide open, which would help ensure his safety.
But as they say, for every measure, there's a countermeasure.
Principal Lu invited the Class Teacher to sit at the guest tea table. He then casually stood up, went to the small refrigerator in the corner of the office to fetch a box of tea, and naturally closed the door in passing.
"This is some good tea I recently acquired. Let me brew some for you to try."
Hearing the click of the door closing behind him, the Class Teacher's heart sank.
He couldn't be blamed for being overly suspicious. After all, why close the door for no apparent reason?
Of course, if he hadn't heard Shi Li say that Principal Lu liked men and had intimate relationships with most of the male teachers in the school, he would never have suspected the principal of wanting to do anything untoward to him.
But now, as he sat on the sofa, he suddenly felt the seat beside him dip as Principal Lu sat down next to him.
They were extremely close, so close that the Class Teacher seemed to smell the old man's scent emanating from Principal Lu.
Help!
When would the class monitor come to rescue him?
He had only been in the office for a few minutes, and he was already mentally calling for the class monitor to save him.
Principal Lu, like an affable elder, showed no airs when dealing with his subordinate. Noticing the Class Teacher's nervousness, he gently patted the teacher's shoulder with his large hand, saying, "Don't be nervous. As I've said many times, you're about the same age as my son."
The Class Teacher inwardly retorted, "I'm the same age as your son, yet you want to sleep with me? You're really not a decent person!"
"My son has settled abroad. His mother and I rarely get to see him. Every time I see a young man like you, it's as if I'm seeing him."
The Class Teacher continued his internal monologue, "You say seeing me is like seeing him? How can you say that with a straight face? And you still want to sleep with me!"
This was the first time Principal Lu had spoken to the Class Teacher in this manner. Previously, when calling him to the office, he would only make ambiguous remarks.
The Class Teacher was a softhearted person. If he didn't know that Principal Lu had ulterior motives, he might have genuinely felt sorry for this poor old father who couldn't see his son.
He had studied abroad before, spending several years pursuing his master's and doctoral degrees without returning home. He could relate to the situation and would have felt sympathy for Principal Lu, reminded of his own poor father.
The Class Teacher remained unswayed, "With today's advanced transportation, you can quickly reach foreign countries by plane. Principal, if you really miss your son, you and your wife could fly over to see him."
Principal Lu: ...... You're really something else. How come I never thought of that?
No, that wasn't it. He didn't really miss his son; he simply wanted to get closer to the Class Teacher.
Of course he knew he could fly to see his son if he missed him.
"You know how busy I am with work. I really can't find the time to go see him."
Busy? The Class Teacher didn't think so. On the contrary, he felt that Principal Lu had far too much free time. If he were even slightly busier, he wouldn't have affairs with several teachers, nor would he frequently call him to the office for tea.
If you could just use all the time you spend on tea drinking, you could make several trips abroad.
To prevent the Class Teacher from suggesting he could travel during the upcoming winter or summer break, he closed off this last loophole, "As teachers, although we have winter and summer breaks, which give us more time than others, you know we can never truly relax completely."
Yes, indeed, so busy that there's no time to visit a son, yet plenty of time for illicit affairs with male teachers.
