Fang Tai's mother had not yet recovered from the shock her son had given her, and hadn't taken the taunts from her siblings to heart. She now had only one question: Was this true?
Without hesitation, she dialed her son's number. Fang Tai, seeing his family members tagging him in the family group chat, knew why his mother was calling.
Unable to face such an embarrassing situation, Fang Tai couldn't bring himself to talk to his mother and simply hung up the phone.
A mother knows her child best, and Fang Tai's mother instantly realized that the rumors about her son were true.
Fang Tai's mother had a streak of stubbornness in her. When her son didn't answer her call, she repeatedly dialed his number, determined to get answers from him.
As his phone screen lit up again and again, Fang Tai grew increasingly irritated and simply turned off his phone.
When her son wouldn't answer, Fang Tai's mother turned her attention to her daughter-in-law.
She blamed the daughter-in-law for not keeping her husband in check, believing that her once-obedient son would never have strayed if it weren't for her influence.
It must be Hai Jiao's fault, she thought. It's all because of her.
Besides, her son wasn't involved with another woman, but with a man. They couldn't have children together, so was it really necessary for Hai Jiao to share that video in the family group?
A woman should know her place and learn to endure, she reasoned. This daughter-in-law had completely disgraced the Fang family.
Hai Jiao had her phone turned off while teaching, so her controlling mother-in-law naturally couldn't reach her.
Fang Tai and his mother were cut from the same cloth, never reflecting on their own actions but always finding fault in others.
He didn't consider that if he hadn't had an affair with Principal Lu, if he had remained blameless, there would be no cause for gossip and disdain behind his back.
Instead, he resented Mrs. Zhu and Hai Jiao, the true victims in this marriage, thinking that women always made mountains out of molehills.
With Mrs. Zhu surrounded by two burly bodyguards, he dared not approach her.
But Hai Jiao was his wife, and he felt he could take out his frustrations on her.
As the once-model husband, Fang Tai remembered Hai Jiao's class schedule and knew which classroom she was in for this period.
He waited outside the classroom, planning to find an empty office to have a word with Hai Jiao after class.
As the school's newest celebrity, his movements were bound to attract attention, so he chose to move during class time when there were fewer people around.
He had it all planned out – if he could just get Hai Jiao away quickly, they wouldn't draw anyone's notice.
But reality rarely aligns with our plans.
As soon as he appeared, he ran into the large group of first-year students from Class 1 returning to their classroom.
Those who hadn't known him before now recognized him from the video.
Upon seeing him, they all greeted him in unison, "Hello, Teacher Fang!"
Fang Tai thought to himself: Did you all suddenly grow mouths?
The class teacher nodded in satisfaction, thinking how polite his students were, greeting a teacher when they saw one. Could students from other classes do the same?
His voice was so loud that nearby classes in session could hear it.
Hai Jiao, who was teaching, asked her students to read on their own while she stepped out to check on the commotion.
Fang Tai thought he could control his emotions, but when he saw Hai Jiao, he couldn't help but grab her wrist. "How could you..."
Before he could finish, a clear female voice rang out.
"Teacher Fang, don't hit your wife! That's against the law!"
Then the group of students from earlier all surged forward, piling on top of him.
Fang Tai was crushed beneath them, struggling to breathe. He inwardly raged, wondering which blind fool had accused him of hitting his wife. He had barely touched her hand when he was accused of violence. Was there no justice left in the world?
Besides, they were married – what happened between them was their own business. What right did outsiders have to interfere?
Shi Li: [Oh ho!]
[Lucky I came back early enough to catch the second act!]
As they piled on top of Fang Tai, the students secretly got in a few punches. With the strength of young men barely contained, even two hits from each student was enough to make Teacher Fang suffer.
Hai Jiao's students also rushed out when they heard someone shout that Teacher Hai was being bullied.
Fang Tai, crushed beneath the crowd, wondered: Is anyone going to speak up for me?
Clearly, the answer was no.
It wasn't until the security guards arrived that the students stood up, allowing the guards to take Fang Tai away.
Fang Tai kept pleading with Hai Jiao to tell the truth, but she only smiled without saying a word.
For once, he wasn't lying and hadn't bullied Hai Jiao, yet no one would listen to him.
Seeing the righteous army led by the class teacher, the security guards couldn't help but inwardly grumble, wondering why these students were everywhere and if they ever actually attended class.
The class teacher's thoughts: Nothing special, just being helpful.
Teacher Fang was escorted out, and Hai Jiao looked around, saying, "Alright, everyone get back to class. Thank you all for helping me just now."
During the intense final exam week, Principal Lu's scandal caused quite a stir. However, the school didn't make this malicious incident public.
But everyone had eyes, and in the days leading up to the final exams, they saw Principal Lu walking down the hallway, his face covered in bruises. But that wasn't even the worst of his injuries – his right arm was in a sling around his neck.
The source of these injuries was obvious to all but Mrs. Zhu.
It seemed that his attempt to hide from his wife and her bodyguards that morning, pushing Mr. Zhu out to take a beating in his place, had ultimately failed to save him from his fate.
The male teachers involved with Principal Lu all bore injuries of varying degrees on their faces and bodies.
Among them, Fang Tai suffered the worst. After being beaten by the young men, he was locked in the security office. They required a family member to come pick him up, but Hai Jiao certainly wasn't going to do it.
After school, she went straight to her parents' home to tell them about her decision to divorce, determined to go through with it regardless of their attitude.
In the end, it was Fang Tai's mother who came to pick him up.
Three days before the final exams, Principal Lu, with his white bandages, was no longer seen at school.
Along with him, his dear brother-in-law and the other male leads in their little film production also disappeared from the school.
Of course, people hadn't paid much attention to these teachers before, but since they had become the school's newest celebrities, everyone was particularly interested in their whereabouts.
The timing of their disappearance was so coincidental that people had reason to suspect this group of male lovebirds had been fired by the school.
It was a result that brought general satisfaction.
After two days of final exams, the long-awaited summer vacation finally arrived for all the students.
After finishing the last exam and returning to the classroom to rearrange the desks and chairs, the class monitor stood at the podium and announced some good news, "My dad is inviting everyone to the Silver Tears hot springs resort. It'll be our class's first team-building activity this semester. If anyone has special circumstances and can't go, please let me know."
The classroom immediately erupted in a wave of praise for the class monitor's father.
"Let's all say, thank you, dad!"
"Thank you, dad!"
The class monitor pointed to his phone, "I'll send everyone the specific location, and we'll keep in touch about the details."
Shi Li rubbed his chin, deep in thought: [Two days later, January 19th. That date at Silver Tears is worth going to.]
[Regardless of the timing, I'm definitely going. I can go two days early or stay for two extra days.]
Everyone else: Is this the scent of drama?
Class monitor: No problem, I'll change the date right away!
