Chapter 152
Chapter 152
After Teacher Wang slapped her, the colleagues around him were stunned.
The man in front of them… was he still the refined, outstanding teacher everyone knew?
Teacher Wang had always paid close attention to his image.
But this time, after Han Xueping exposed his dirty laundry to his face, he had lost control of his emotions for a moment.
Sensing the gazes of the people around him, Teacher Wang’s expression turned faintly awkward.
After a long silence, Teacher Wang put on the look of someone bitterly disappointed in a student who had failed to live up to expectations. With a sharp smack, he slammed his palm down on the desk.
“Han Xueping! Look at all of us teachers here. We’ve spent so many years painstakingly nurturing you, and now you just make up some excuse and leave whenever you want. How can you face all the effort we’ve put into you?”
Teacher Wang’s face was livid, and his breathing came in rough, uneven gasps.
The teachers in the office exchanged glances, then hurriedly gave Teacher Wang a way to save face.
A female teacher stepped forward, hugged Han Xueping, who had just been slapped, and patted her shoulder comfortingly.
The female teacher advised, “Xueping, you’re in the wrong here.
“Among so many students, your homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, has always cared the most about your studies.
“What could possibly be so unsolvable that you have to drop out?
“Besides, what you said about Teacher Wang’s niece was a little too much.
“Xiaoran is a child all of us teachers watched grow up.
“Usually, Xiaoran blushes if she so much as looks at a teacher for too long. How could she possibly take part in any kind of bullying…”
In the office, every teacher understood the situation perfectly, but they all kept it buried in their hearts and said nothing.
Everyone knew full well about the rotten mess behind Shengde Middle School.
But if they got involved rashly, not only might they lose their jobs, they could even end up blacklisted from the teaching profession.
Rather than bring a whole pile of trouble down on themselves, it was better to turn a blind eye.
In any case, Han Xueping was already in her senior year of high school, and those unruly little brats were about to graduate too.
Once they got through this final stretch, no one would bring up those filthy things from the past again.
Seeing that everyone was siding with him, Teacher Wang somehow gained a bit more confidence.
Remembering that he had to maintain his image as a “good teacher” in public, Teacher Wang decided it would be best to discuss these ugly matters away from his colleagues.
Teacher Wang set his face in a stern expression.
“Han Xueping, come with me to the rooftop. We’ll have a proper talk. Don’t stand here disturbing the other teachers while they’re preparing lessons!”
Teacher Wang let out a muffled “hmph,” then strode out of the office first.
Han Xueping followed him, climbing the stairs from the fifth floor until the two of them reached the rooftop.
The wind on the rooftop was strong, carrying a bone-piercing chill.
Teacher Wang stood ahead of her with his back turned, looking as though his anger had not yet subsided.
Han Xueping stood behind Teacher Wang.
While Teacher Wang wasn’t paying attention, she took out the phone in her pocket that was still livestreaming and propped it up in an inconspicuous corner nearby.
She adjusted the phone’s camera, aiming it at Teacher Wang and herself.
After doing all this, Han Xueping immediately moved lightly and quietly back behind Teacher Wang.
“Xueping, come here,” Teacher Wang said without turning around, merely gazing outside with a melancholy look.
Han Xueping took a step forward and walked to Teacher Wang’s side.
Teacher Wang pointed at the scene below.
Looking down, she saw many students on the school field engaged in sports activities, laughing and playing basketball.
Teacher Wang asked, “Do you know what kind of background that male student playing basketball, the one with dyed hair, actually comes from?”
Han Xueping glanced in that direction and shook her head.
Teacher Wang said, “That student’s surname is Ran. His mother is the deputy director of the Education Bureau, and his father is in the real estate business across half our city.”
Han Xueping lowered her eyes and glanced at the male student on the field.
His laughter was grating.
Class time had already started, but the boy’s unrestrained laughter and the thud, thud of the basketball still had not stopped.
Teacher Wang went on. “In the past few years, he’s dyed his hair, skipped class, gotten into fights. Has anyone ever stepped in to stop him?
“There are many truths a teacher can’t spell out for you. But you’re old enough now. You should learn to understand them on your own.”
In the phone’s Live Streaming Room in the corner, viewers gradually began to pour in.
Han Xueping glanced toward the phone.
If this had been before, the moment Teacher Wang said something like that, her attitude would definitely have softened.
But once she gave up on the idea of dropping out, all that awaited her was one beating after another, each more agonizing than the last.
This time, Han Xueping stood firm. She refused to back down.
Gritting her teeth, she took off her school uniform and padded jacket, revealing the short-sleeved shirt underneath.
Beneath that short-sleeved shirt were layers of old and fresh wounds, a shocking sight.
“Teacher Wang, I don’t care about the Wang Family or the Ran Family.
“All I know is that I’ve told you many times about being bullied. Your niece, Wang Xiaoran, joined forces with…”
Before Han Xueping could finish, Teacher Wang widened his Eyes and glared at her, raised his arm, and slapped her across the face.
Blood spurted from Han Xueping’s nose. She lifted the back of her hand, wiped the blood away, raised her Eyes, and continued.
“Your niece, Wang Xiaoran, relied on you backing her up and ganged up with other students at school to bully me!”
With a sharp smack, Han Xueping was slapped again.
But Han Xueping did not stop speaking.
She wiped away the blood under her nose, clenched her fists, and forced herself to say everything she had kept buried in her heart.
“They locked me in the Toilet and splashed dirty water on me. They ordered everyone in the class to isolate me! They also…”
Teacher Wang grabbed Han Xueping by the hair.
His sore spot had been struck. In a furious panic, he shoved Han Xueping, threw her to the floor, and kicked her again and again.
Han Xueping refused to give in.
Tears rolled down her face in huge drops. She sniffed and went on shouting through her sobs.
“They took naked photos of me! They stripped off my clothes, recorded videos, and posted them online! They forced me to eat garbage and drink dirty water! All of this bullying happened because you indulged them!!”
Listening to Han Xueping talk back, Teacher Wang was so furious the muscles in his face twitched.
He yanked the belt from his waist, gritted his teeth, and lashed Han Xueping with it again and again.
The belt came down. Han Xueping, dressed so thinly, was soon left with torn skin and bloody wounds.
Crying, Han Xueping screamed, “Teacher Wang, you turned a blind eye to bullying! You are unworthy of being a teacher!! You don’t deserve to teach!!”
Teacher Wang was a nice guy on the surface, but rotten to the core behind people’s backs.
He would never show his evil side in front of others.
Just like the blind Old Man who was the guest on the fifth floor, he only ever harmed people in the privacy of a room.
And Teacher Wang’s behavior of being “blind with Eyes wide open” also led to him becoming a true Blind Man many years later, forever trapped on the fifth floor.
Han Xueping was still being beaten.
She hunched over, protecting her head, her entire body curled up on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Live Streaming Room Han Xueping had opened on her phone saw its popularity skyrocket in just a few seconds.
In the corner, the live stream interface was flooded with frantic comments from netizens.
-“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, what is happening?”
-“Is he insane? Is this a teacher assaulting a student?”
-“I recognize him. That’s Teacher Wang from Shengde Middle School, Senior Year Class 25!”
-“This is straight-up bloody violence.”
-“Hurry, hurry, screen-record it! If you don’t, the Live Streaming Room’s going to get shut down!!”
Jiang Li stood outside the wooden door to the rooftop and did not go in.
“Mommy, aren’t you going in to save Big Sister Han? She’s about to be beaten to death,” Red Infant said, cupping his little face, his tone sorrowful.
Jiang Li leaned against the door and shook her head. “No.”