Chapter 75: The Cafeteria Riot (04)

  Sitting in the early morning self-study class, Chen Haonan couldn't calm down - his mind was all about Xiao Qiuying's affairs, he hoped to think of a way to help his good brother do something... But the more anxious he became, the more chaotic his heart became.

  Just as Chen Haonan was deep in thought, a classmate behind him suddenly handed over a small note. Dazed for a moment, he involuntarily turned his head to look back and found Ouyang Yiweng waving at him silently. He hastily opened the note:

  Are you thinking about Xiao Qiuyue's matter? Don't think too much, after class go ask the head teacher to think of a solution again: Xiao Qiuyue is a trump card in Wang Ze's hand, he absolutely won't let him be expelled from school! - Yiwen left a message.

  "Ah, why didn't I think of Wang Ze!" Chen Haonan punched his own thigh, and for a moment, he couldn't express the excitement in his heart. However, just after a while, he hesitated again, hastily grabbed a pen, tore off half a piece of paper, wrote a few words, and handed it over:

  You're right, I was thinking of Xiao Qiuyue: his grades are so good, if he really gets expelled, it's such a waste! Your suggestion to go find the class teacher for help is not bad, but I'm not familiar with Wang Ze at all, and Xiao Qiuyue has a very stubborn temper, he absolutely won't go ask Wang Ze for help!

  Before long, Ou Yang Yiweng's note came again:

  Yes, if Xiao Qiuming is expelled, it would be a great loss for our class! I think the head teacher won't give up on Xiao Qiuming easily either, he must also be thinking of ways...

  Chen Haonan took a look at Ouyang Yiweng's note and found that she had not touched on the topic, so he hastily wrote another sentence and handed it over.

  What should we do then? You come up with a solution!

  After a short while, Ou Yang Yiweng's note arrived again:

  Why didn't you think of me? I'm the little red man in Old Wang's eyes, didn't you notice that? After self-study, let's go find Wang Ze together and ask him to think of a solution, how about it?

  Chen Haonan was taken aback, only to realize that he had made such a big mistake, and couldn't help but secretly laugh. Then, he smiled gratefully at Ouyang Yiweng - she also smiled back at him. In an instant, Chen Haonan's heart felt much more at ease!

  However, in a flash of unintended thought, Chen Haonan's mind suddenly flashed with something, but upon careful consideration, it was still so vague and unclear. He couldn't help but sneak another glance at Ouyang Yiweng, and his heart seemed to have a strange feeling. This feeling had seemingly occurred before, sour and numb, seeming to carry a hint of special excitement, yet he ultimately couldn't articulate the reason why. Unable to bear it, Chen Haonan coldly laughed at himself...

  After self-study, Ouyang Yiweng stood at the classroom door, waiting for Chen Haonan. As soon as he walked out of the classroom and saw her, Chen Haonan felt a little embarrassed. Afraid that his words would be misunderstood, he simply said "Let's go!" and walked ahead. However, Ouyang Yiweng didn't notice anything unusual, she just followed closely behind him.

  "Where are we going to find our head teacher?" Chen Haonan asked Ou Yang Yiweng as they walked towards the leisure plaza.

  Who would have thought that Ouyang Yiweng was still far behind at this time! She saw him turn his head, and hurriedly quickened her pace to run up front... "What did you just say?" Ouyang Yiweng asked with a faint smile, looking very lovely.

  Chen Haonan couldn't help but laugh too.

  "What are you laughing at?" Ouyang Yiweng asked again with a smile, her voice sweet.

  "What? Nothing... Where are we going to find Wang Ze?"

  "Now, I reckon Old Wang is not in the office now, he must have gone home for breakfast - let's go to his house directly!"

  "Not good, I think" - Chen Haonan felt somewhat unwell.

  "What's wrong?" said Ouyang Yiweng, pulling Chen Haonan's hand and walking away while shouting, "Think about it, if we don't hurry up to find Wang Ze, what can be done about Xiao Qiuming's matter?!"

  Chen Haonan was a bit embarrassed for a moment, but Ouyang Yiweng grabbed his hand tightly and he had to follow her...

  Wang Ze's home is in the second building, fourth unit, third floor of the teacher's residential building. Although Old Li's family is also in this building, Chen Haonan has been here many times and is quite familiar with the teacher's residential area, but this time when he came to Wang Ze's house for the first time, he felt very strange. He followed behind Ouyang Yiweng, not speaking a word for a long time.

  Finally, Ouyang Yiweng knocked on the door. It was Wang Ze's door, he first saw Ouyang Yiweng and then discovered Chen Haonan... "Oh, it's you two who came!" This was Wang Ze's first sentence.

  Before Ou Yang Yiweng and Chen Haonan could respond, a little boy rushed to the door and hugged Ou Yang Yiweng's leg, shouting in a childish tone: "Sister Wenwen, why haven't you come to see me for so long? I miss you so much..."

  Chen Haonan was puzzled, but Ouyang Yiweng suddenly picked up the little boy and kissed him, saying: "Sister is here, sister misses Xiaohuzi too... Has he been disobedient at home?" It seems that this little devil is indeed Wang Ze's **, very clever and lovely, much more beautiful than Wang Ze! And it seems that Ouyang Yiweng is a frequent visitor to the Wang family, with an extraordinary relationship!

  After a while, Chen Haonan and Ouyang Yiweng both entered the door. Wang Ze seemed to have had a premonition, and he quietly instructed his son to be locked in the bedroom. Turning back, he sat on the sofa again. Wang Ze lit a cigarette, blowing out smoke rings as he asked: "Are you here because of Xiao Qiuyue's matter?"

  "Yes, I want to ask the teacher to put in a good word for Xiao Qiuming and speak on his behalf, so that the school will give him a lighter punishment..." Chen Haonan said somewhat anxiously, at this moment he didn't even care about the tone and language he used when speaking to his teacher.

  "Right, I really hope the teacher can go and explain to the school. Xiao Qiuyue's grades are so good, if he's really expelled, it'll be a huge loss for our school. If things don't go well, it might even ruin his life!"

  "Right, the school probably hasn't figured out what's going on yet! I heard that there were many people causing trouble in the cafeteria that day. Although Xiao Qi Ming has a lot of bad habits, even if he had incredible abilities, it's impossible for him to cause such a big commotion! Chen Hao Nan recognized his own reasoning and kept saying, "I also heard that the student affairs teacher was the one who started the whole thing, at least several hundred people were involved, so why did the school give Xiao Qi Ming such severe punishment? I think there must be other reasons behind this... Teacher, can you please go and plead for him?"

  Wang Ze extinguished his cigarette and lit another one, then glared at Chen Haonan before speaking: "I'm telling you, Chen Haonan, how do you know Xiao Qiuying so well?!... Your family matters, Teacher Li told me about them before. Don't get involved in these things anymore, your task is to focus on reading books, got it?... You haven't been in my class for long, and you don't understand Xiao Qiuying at all. How did you end up hanging out with him?... You're not on the same path as him, why are you pleading for him?"

  Chen Haonan's heart was shocked, he didn't expect Old Li to tell Wang Ze about his family matters. But after careful consideration, he understood Old Li's good intentions, so he didn't think much more and slowly replied: "I know I have to study hard, but the most important thing now is to keep Xiao Qiuyue - I know that kid has a lot of bad habits, but making friends is about being true and sincere. He dares to do things and take responsibility, this point is much stronger than those hypocritical people! So no matter what, I have to fulfill my responsibilities as a friend... As the saying goes, 'A man's knees are worth gold', can't I just kneel down for you? Please help Xiao Qiuyue explain things to the school again!" As he spoke, Chen Haonan knelt down on one knee, his emotions almost getting the better of him, tears welling up in his eyes.

  "What are you doing?!" Wang Ze hastily got up and came over to pull Chen Haonan up. Ouyang Yiweng also hurriedly stretched out her hand to help. However, Chen Haonan refused: "If the teacher doesn't agree, I won't get up..."

  "Get up and talk, I'll agree with you...” Wang Ze said, and then he and Ouyang Yiweng helped Chen Haonan get up and sat him on the sofa. Then, Wang Ze continued to say: "Actually, last night, I went to the principal's office to plead for Xiao Qiuming, but the principal, vice principal, and Director Zhou all disagreed - the canteen incident was too big, the county education bureau was pressing, and the school had no choice but to find someone to take the blame! The most annoying thing is that Xiao Qiuming took all the responsibility on himself... As for the others who were punished, it was just a formality!"

  "How can he be so silly, taking everything on himself?" Upon hearing Wang Ze's words, Ouyang Yiweng couldn't help but complain about Xiao Qiuming.

  It's not entirely his fault, I heard from the principal that it was someone in our class who pointed out Xiao Qiuyue and a few others - if Xiao Qiuyue hadn't taken the fall alone, the other three people in our class would probably have been expelled too...

  "So it seems that someone in our class has been tattling," Chen Haonan hastily interrupted Wang Ze, "Who is that person?"

  "Who is it? ——How can you be so bad!" Ouyang Yiweng also asked while chasing.

  "I don't know either, Principal Peng said it's a secret. If I knew which son of a bitch did this, I wouldn't let him off!" Wang Ze was also somewhat indignant, after all, expelling Xiao Qiuyue made him feel a bit reluctant. Since ancient times, there has been the saying "a general loves his soldiers", Wang Ze knew clearly that he didn't have the talent of a great general, but Xiao Qiuyue was absolutely a good general!

  "Let's not talk about that for now, teacher. You'd better hurry to the principal's office and try to persuade Xiao Qiuming again. Maybe there's still a chance to save the situation!" This time, Ouyang Yiweng grasped the main point.

  "Right, right, right..." Chen Haonan also hastily agreed.

  "Well, I'll go again..." Wang Ze's tone was somewhat lacking in confidence. But then again, he had already hit a big nail the night before and his heart was already feeling empty. Although he was eager to "protect his son", the leaders' cold stares were not pleasant to see either. Despite feeling somewhat disheartened, Wang Ze still "bravely" stepped out of the house and headed towards the principal's office.

  Before long, Wang Ze walked out with a dispirited look. Chen Haonan and Ouyang Yiweng, who were guarding the principal's office door, felt a chill in their hearts as soon as they saw him. Wang Ze didn't say anything, but just let out a deep sigh and walked past them... Things had come to this point, and it was probably too late to turn back now.

  As soon as the fourth class was over, Chen Haonan rushed back to his dormitory, but Xiao Qiuming's bed had already been empty. In his anxiety, he remembered what Xiao Qiuming said that morning...

  Although the school is still on high alert for SARS, with guards stationed at every gate, Chen Han managed to slip out unnoticed through a small side door behind the school's pig farm.

  All the way, Chen Haonan felt very strange, and there was not a single person on the street. Calculating, today is still a day to rush to the market, if it were usual, at this time the street would be crowded with people! It seems that this "SARS" is really scary, making people afraid: damn "SARS"!

  The streets were as quiet as death, with plastic bags and wood shavings blowing everywhere in the wind. The stalls at the entrance of the shops were also overturned - the entire street scene could only be described with two words: "desolate". This scene gave people a feeling as if they had been slaughtered by devils, except that there was less blood and fewer corpses...

  Arrived at "Fuyunju", Chen Haonan indeed saw Xiao Qiuying and several people drinking wine - although he was extremely unwilling in his heart, he still accompanied his good brother to drink several cups.

  Looking at Xiao Qiuyue still chatting and laughing, calm as usual, Chen Haonan felt a bad taste in his heart, especially that sour and painful feeling was really hard to describe... Why is this?