But right now, William Yan was stubborn as a mule—totally ignoring Principal Harold Zhu’s attempts to calm him down. He raised his voice and said, “Principal, I really don’t think a bad student like Ian Song deserves to be praised in front of the whole school!”
“William Yan!” Principal Harold Zhu’s tone suddenly shot up several notches, his gaze carrying a clear warning as he looked at William.
Still, William Yan stuck out his neck, his face flushing red. “Principal, please hear me out. Ian Song not only disrespects teachers, he’s always getting into fights, hangs out with delinquents... I could let all that slide, but today he went way too far! He actually put a pile of feces in my lectern drawer. That’s completely out of control—he’s a rotten influence! How could someone like that be held up as a role model?”
Hearing William Yan list off Ian’s supposed crimes, Principal Harold Zhu’s face had already turned dark. He did think the business with the feces in the drawer was pretty outrageous. But Ian was, after all, the nephew of Director Song, so he turned to Ian Song and asked, “Ian, is what Mr. Yan said true?”
Ian Song shook his head and said, “Principal Zhu, everything Mr. Yan said is just his own speculation. First off, both times I got into fights, it was because someone else started trouble with me. The first time, Victor Xue came looking for me—if you don’t believe me, you can investigate. The second time, it was street thugs who picked a fight, and I had no choice but to defend myself. Ms. Hannah Han can vouch for that. Just because of this, Mr. Yan insists I’m mixed up with criminals. His reasoning? Why didn’t the thugs attack anyone else, only me?”
If I’m not mistaken, those thugs were sent by Victor Xue.
As for disrespecting teachers, I really can’t agree with that. The only reason Mr. Yan thinks so is because he misunderstood me, and I tried to explain myself. There’s no school rule or law that says students can’t defend themselves when a teacher makes false accusations, right?
And about the feces in the lectern drawer—I swear it wasn’t me.
But Mr. Yan insists it was me just because I was the last to leave the classroom yesterday. Isn’t that a pretty flimsy reason?
Also, Principal, I’d like to formally complain about Mr. Yan. He’s impulsive and hot-tempered, constantly slanders students, treats top students and struggling students totally differently, and even forces students out into the hallway and uses corporal punishment during class. That’s all I have to say.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ian Song bowed to the principal. "Thank you, Principal, for giving me a chance to explain."
William Yan's face turned dark with anger at Ian's words. "Ian Song, you're just making excuses. You're talking nonsense!"
Ian Song couldn't be bothered to respond to William Yan's accusations.
Judging by William Yan and Ian Song's expressions and attitudes, Principal Harold Zhu could almost tell this was just William making trouble for no reason. Deeply disappointed, he decided to strip William of his homeroom teacher position after this senior class graduated.
"Principal Zhu, may I say a word in fairness?" Harvey Hu suddenly spoke up.
"Go ahead, Deputy Chief Hu." Principal Harold Zhu said quickly.
Harvey Hu straightened his chest. "First, I believe that a student who dares to stand up to criminals, risking his own safety, can't possibly have such poor character. Second, I've listened to Ian Song's account—everything is reasonable and backed by evidence. With my years of experience as a police officer, I don't think he's lying. What strikes me as ridiculous is Mr. Yan's conduct—just because Ian Song was the last to leave the classroom, you insist he put the feces in the drawer. Even our police force needs to investigate from multiple angles before drawing conclusions about a suspect. On what basis do you insist Ian Song is guilty? Did you see it yourself, or did anyone witness it?"
No one did, right?
At this, Harvey Hu let out a cold laugh. "Ian Song is absolutely right—Mr. Yan is far too arbitrary. Fortunately, my own child isn't in his class, or I'd really worry about what kind of teacher he'd turn out to be."
William Yan almost fainted from anger after Harvey Hu's harsh rebuke.
Principal Harold Zhu was a bit surprised—Harvey Hu was actually defending Ian Song so strongly. Could it be that he also knew about Ian's background?
William Yan, I don't think you're suited to be a homeroom teacher anymore. From now on, you'll just be a subject teacher. I'll select someone else for the homeroom position.
Principal, you...?
William Yan never expected Principal Harold Zhu would strip him of his homeroom teacher position.
Get out!" Principal Harold Zhu ordered sternly.
Yes.
William Yan left the office with a miserable look, completely dejected. But as he passed Ian Song, his eyes flashed with venomous resentment. He glared fiercely at Ian, never expecting that he would lose his homeroom post because of a troublemaking student.
Suddenly, the school broadcast came on, with the principal's voice calling all teachers and students to assemble on the athletic field.
Soon, over two thousand teachers and students gathered on the field. The principal took the microphone and stepped onto the podium, his booming voice ringing out: "Teachers, students, I've called you all here to share some great news."
Last Saturday night at ten o'clock, our school's Ian Song...!
When they heard that Ian Song had actually helped the police catch two Class-A fugitives, most people were shocked and amazed.
Now, let's welcome Deputy Chief Harvey Hu from the Campus District Precinct to speak on stage.
Harvey Hu, fully prepared, took the microphone and walked up to the podium. He spoke at length for a full ten minutes before finally announcing, "Now, let's invite Ian Song to come up and receive his cash prize and commendation certificate."
With thousands of students watching, Ian Song stepped onto the podium.
Ian Song, can you tell everyone about how you helped capture the Class-A fugitives?" Harvey Hu asked with a smile.
Sure.
So Ian Song briefly recounted what happened that night. Of course, he left out a few things—like replacing Fiona Xiang with "a girl" when talking about the hostage, and saying he and the police subdued the fugitives together.
In the student crowd, Fiona Xiang stood next to Shelly Song.
Watching Ian Song stand tall on the podium, Shelly Song suddenly felt her cousin wasn't so useless after all—he actually dared to fight fugitives.
Seeing Shelly Song's expression, Fiona Xiang smiled playfully and thought to herself, "Shelly, you're in for even bigger surprises."
Then, Harvey Hu and Mason Meng personally awarded Ian Song 80,000 yuan in cash and a bravery commendation certificate.
After stepping down from the stage, Ian Song couldn't wait to open his system interface, thrilled to discover his Fame Points had suddenly soared to 1,129.
Afterward, the principal gave a closing speech, encouraging everyone to learn from Ian Song's spirit.
Of course, some students admired and praised Ian Song for this, while others were jealous and envious.
Victor Xue was one of them, and so was Zach Zhang. Seeing Ian Song steal the spotlight made them especially uncomfortable.