Chapter 51: The Rise and Fall of Branching (08)

  As soon as they walked to the first floor of the teaching building, Wang Ze shouted at Chen Haonan and others like a beast trainer, lining them up in two rows: boys in one row, girls in another. Although it had been a while since the evening self-study session was over, there were still many people coming and going, most of whom were high school students who had added an extra "class". As they walked through the hall, they saw the two rows of people standing neatly, and couldn't help but stop curiously, pointing and whispering to each other.

  At the age of seventeen or eighteen, who doesn't love to save face? When others point fingers at them, everyone involuntarily lowers their heads. However, Wang Ze deliberately raised his voice and shouted loudly: "Are you still ashamed? You were talking loudly during evening self-study, how come you don't know shame now?! When you were talking, each of you was so energetic, now why are you all lowering your heads - like a bear!"

  King Ze shouted loudly, and the passersby were even more curious. Some people even turned their heads back to see what was going on. However, King Ze didn't care about the students' feelings at all, and instead scolded them even more happily. At this time, several girls couldn't help but burst into tears...

  All along, Chen Haonan has been a good student in the teacher's heart. Except for being scolded by a young female teacher when he was in elementary school, he had never received such "treatment" before, and he felt unfair in his heart. Moreover, today he didn't do anything wrong at all, and he was even more angry - his anger rose, and he wanted to reason with Wang Ze. However, just as he was about to speak, Xu Chong, who was standing next to him, took the lead: "Teacher, most of us didn't talk in class, it's just that discipline committee member Hu randomly recorded!"

  Wang Ze didn't expect Xu Chong to interrupt his lecture, and seeing Xu Chong's furious expression, his own anger flared up even more. Probably because he saw that Xu Chong was as strong as an ox, and worried that if they really fought, he wouldn't have the upper hand either, Wang Ze's hand, which had been about to slap him, stopped in mid-air - he just bellowed: "How dare you know that someone else is messing up names? You've done something wrong and still try to talk your way out of it? If you're capable, then don't mix with me in class anymore, I won't bother with you!..."

  Chen Haonan wished he could loudly declare "I'm not going to stay in this crappy class! If I don't stay here, there's somewhere else that will keep me!", and then walk away without looking back. However, Chen Haonan didn't have the guts to do so after all, and was immediately shut down by Wang Ze with a loud shout. The sturdy young man instantly became like an eggplant that had been struck by frost - limp! From then on, Chen Haonan no longer dared to argue with Wang Ze, and everyone else didn't dare to utter another word either.

  "Chen Haonan, come out with me for a moment." Suddenly, Wang Ze called out Chen Haonan's name. Although at this moment, Wang Ze's voice was no longer as fierce as before, but Chen Haonan still jumped violently. Seeing that Wang Ze had already turned around and left the hall, he quickly followed suit.

  At the entrance of the hall, a dozen or so steps away, beside a clump of bamboo, Chen Haonan found Wang Ze smoking. Because he didn't know what Wang Ze was up to, he simply stood there in a daze.

  "Chen Haonan, your name sounds quite loud, but how can you talk nonsense during evening self-study?" Wang Ze suddenly threw the cigarette butt to the ground and stepped on it to extinguish it. Under the dim light of the street lamp, he glanced at Chen Haonan with a sly smile and said.

  "Teacher, I didn't..." Chen Haonan suddenly wanted to vent loudly, but as the excited words reached his lips, he immediately thought of Xu Chong's lesson earlier, causing his tone to drop quickly, "Teacher, I didn't tell a small lie just now..."

  "Haven't you been talking nonsense?" Wang Ze looked at Chen Haonan again and said, "Then why did I hear Teacher Li say that you have an old habit of talking nonsense?"

  "Teacher Li? This is impossible, our class teacher knows my character..." Chen Haonan was getting anxious.

  "He's not your class teacher anymore, you're under my management now." Wang Ze quickly interrupted Chen Haonan's words. Seeing that Chen Haonan didn't speak again, Wang Ze said: "You said you didn't gossip, but then you're saying that the discipline committee member Hu Jing wrongly accused you, but she doesn't even know you and has no grudges against you, why would she frame you?"

  "Teacher, you're right," Chen Haonan quickly regained his composure and said seriously, "I just arrived today, the discipline committee must not know me, but how did he know my name and even remembered it?"

  "Ah, ah..." Chen Haonan's words immediately shut Wang Ze up. But after being a teacher for so many years, Wang Ze had also experienced some situations and quickly came up with something to say: "Maybe it's because you told too many jokes and Hu Jing paid special attention to you?"

  "Did she particularly notice me?" Chen Haonan couldn't believe his ears, he didn't think that a dignified class teacher would say such ridiculous and laughable words. He smiled bitterly and said: "For the time being, it can be said that she particularly noticed me, but it's impossible for her to particularly notice all 21 new classmates we got today, right? Besides, I didn't do anything too out of line - if you count chatting with my deskmate while borrowing a composition book, I only said one sentence!" Chen Haonan was extremely indignant in his heart, but he still tried his best to control his tone and voice.

  "Why didn't you borrow the book during class? You have so much time after school, you could borrow ten or eight books if you want!" Wang Ze was completely caught off guard by Chen Haonan's strong rebuttal and his calm tone, which made it impossible for him to get angry, so he had no choice but to respond with an unrelated and harmless sentence.

  "Since you said so, I will never borrow books during class time again." Chen Haonan said with a sigh. However, he had some words that he couldn't hold back, but was afraid that Wang Ze wouldn't listen, so he asked tentatively: "Teacher, are there some things I shouldn't say?"

  "Go ahead and say it!" Wang Ze said, taking out another cigarette.

  Wang Ze nodded in agreement, and Chen Haonan's heart was filled with joy. Organizing his words in his mind, he immediately said: "Teacher, you also know that if a class is not united, it will be like a plate of loose sand, without any cohesion. Although we 21 classmates have just moved from another class, after all, we are also members of Class 214. However, the discipline committee has memorized our names one by one - of course, if we really talked nonsense and were remembered, we would have nothing to say. But as far as I know, during the entire evening self-study, most of us didn't even say a word... Nevertheless, the discipline committee still memorized their names, plus your scolding just now, everyone's hearts are very contradictory and cautious - if the classmates in a class are always suspicious and cautious of each other, can this class still be united?" Chen Haonan finished speaking in one breath, feeling very relieved.

  Wang Ze nodded in agreement after listening. He suddenly glanced at his watch and exclaimed, "Ah!" Then he said, "The dormitory gate is about to close, hurry back and tell those people to disperse, tell them to be quick and get some rest!" After finishing speaking, Wang Ze patted Chen Haonan's shoulder with a smile. Fortunately, he patted his left shoulder; if he had patted his right shoulder, Chen Haonan would have probably let out another loud cry.

  "Then I'll go, teacher!" Chen Haonan hastily replied. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt that Wang Ze wasn't as hateful as before.

  "Go ahead, be careful!" Wang Ze nodded...