Principal Qin had been teaching for over twenty years, and this was the first time he had encountered such a thorny and embarrassing situation, still in front of a group of teachers and two naughty troublemaking students.
He reacted for two seconds, blinking his small eyes behind his thick glasses.
Then: "Excuse me...is this Xiao Chen?"
Silence for three seconds on the other end.
Yu Na could even imagine his expression at this moment.
Three seconds later, Xiao Chen: "Sorry, who is this?"
"I'm Qiao Rui's class teacher. I called you before, do you remember me?"
Xiao Chen replied calmly: "Oh...I must have dialed the wrong number just now. Sorry about that."
Principal Qin coughed unnaturally, "It's okay."
He quickly got to the point: "I called because I hope you can come to the school. There is something I want to discuss with you and understand the situation."
Xiao Chen immediately sensed something wrong, "...What's wrong with Qiao Rui again?"
"Let's talk more when you get to the school."
"....Okay, I'm on my way now."
Yu Na heaved a long sigh of relief.
That was so awkward!
Song Yan's grandmother arrived at the school first, and Xiao Chen rushed over shortly after.
There were no other teachers in the office, just them.
The door was open, and when Xiao Chen got to the office door, he happened to meet Yu Na's inadvertent glance.
Xiao Chen mouthed to her: "What's wrong with him again?"
Yu Na squeezed her eyes at him, signaling him not to speak out of turn.
After Xiao Chen understood, he nodded and knocked on the office door twice more.
Hearing the knock, Principal Qin looked back and saw Xiao Chen. He got up, "Come in, come in, you must be Qiao Rui's brother?"
Xiao Chen nodded: "Principal."
Qiao Rui didn't dare breathe loudly, obediently standing with Song Yan to the side.
After giving Qiao Rui a murderous look, Xiao Chen also sat down.
"Brother Xiao Chen, Grandma Song, I called you two here for no other reason. I mainly want to understand the situation."
Grandma Song: "Go ahead, Principal."
Xiao Chen sat quietly in his seat, waiting for him to continue.
In the meantime, he sneakily glanced at Yu Na, who also sat silently.
"As you two know, our school's final exams are coming up soon, and the atmosphere has been tense lately. But in the math class just now, while all the students were listening attentively, only Qiao Rui and Song Yan were sleeping in class."
"When I woke them up, Qiao Rui even said—" Principal Qin recalled: "'Get down, hide yourself. If your skills are weak, don't be so high-profile.'"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, as if telling himself, murder is against the law here...against the law!
He slowly looked up, his eyes as sharp as ice, glaring at Qiao Rui.
Qiao Rui pretended not to see it, quickly shifting his gaze elsewhere.
"Brother Xiao Chen, I asked you to come not only to criticize him, but more to understand what this child is doing at home at night?"
Xiao Chen: "..."
How would he know, when all his free time recently was spent accompanying his girlfriend.
Xiao Chen explained calmly, "Sorry Principal, I've been busy recently, often working until late at night. I'm afraid of waking him when I get home, so sometimes I don't go home, neglecting him and causing trouble for you. "
This was seamless, mixing truth with lies.
Qiao Rui held in his laugh, quietly watching his performance.
Yu Na was also listening intently.
Principal Qin naturally had no doubts about his words, echoing: "I understand! You young people are fighting for your careers at this time. But I still want to ask, are Qiao Rui's parents...working elsewhere?"
Xiao Chen: "Yes, his parents are both working out of town, so they asked me to take care of Qiao Rui. In the future if anything comes up, just come to me directly."
"Oh okay, you young people have it hard too. I didn't insist on you coming today, but this child is really hard to manage. Every few days, he causes me trouble. At our school, he's a celebrity, with a group of followers everyday."
"Usually I wouldn't bother you to come for this. But with final exams coming up soon, I still hope that you can find time to supervise his studies. Him saying these dreams in class, tsk tsk—" Principal Qin glared at Qiao Rui indignantly, "most likely from staying up late playing games."
Principal Qin's words enlightened Xiao Chen.
Previously when he returned home, no matter when, Qiao Rui had always been obediently sleeping. The room was quiet.
At the time he was puzzled too, is Qiao Rui really so well-behaved?
But he didn't think too much then, his mind full of his girlfriend, naturally not having the energy to care about him. Now he understood, every time he came home, Qiao Rui had alert ears, listening for any movement. As soon as he heard, he would pretend to sleep.
After the first and second times, Qiao Rui naturally knew Xiao Chen only came home to check on him briefly, not staying the night.
So when Xiao Chen came back, he pretended to sleep while carefully listening for the sound of him leaving. Once the door closed, it meant he had left. Then Qiao Rui would quickly get out of bed to continue gaming.
Hmm.
Xiao Chen slowly said: "Principal, don't worry, when I get home—" He smiled eerily, "I will discipline him properly."
Qiao Rui: "..."
Yu Na had been silent.
Now, she finally spoke up in response: "Brother Xiao Chen, we don't approve of corporal punishment. You only need to make time to pay attention to the child's studies."
Xiao Chen's eyes slanted up, looking at Yu Na, implying: "Okay Teacher Yu, I'll try my best. Mainly these days I'm not only busy with work, but I also have to accompany a very important person, so..."
Yu Na was shocked: "...?"
What is he trying to do!
But speaking of which, it was true Xiao Chen had accompanied her to sleep every night recently.
The time he spent supervising Qiao Rui's studies and sleep, down to the last second, was all given to her. Yu Na felt a little unjustified.
Principal Qin immediately grasped the implication of his words, but did not detect his relationship with Yu Na. He said: "Yes, you young people have relationships to tend to, I understand as well. We've all been through that time before. I believe managing a rebellious high schooler is not easy for you either. But our finals are almost here, and after this semester, it'll be the critical senior year. For students, the winter break and coming back is extremely important. If—"
As he spoke, Principal Qin pondered seriously, stroking his chin twice, "If you are busy with work, you can consider applying for boarding school for the child next semester."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Rui's pupils shook, and Xiao Chen also perked up.
He asked: "Is it really possible to arrange boarding?"
Principal Qin: "It's possible. If you intend for the child to board, apply with Teacher Yu in advance."
