Chapter 285: Separate, Let Us Grow Slowly ④
Seeing Nie Qiu knock and enter the office, Teacher Yang adjusted his mindset, took a deep breath, then relaxed and waved to Nie Qiu.
“Teacher Yang.” Nie Qiu walked forward, though confused, and stood before the desk.
Teacher Yang stood up and moved a chair from another teacher’s desk to in front of his own, then said to Nie Qiu, “Please, have a seat!”
Nie Qiu nodded and sat on the chair Teacher Yang had moved. She looked up at Teacher Yang, who had returned to his own chair behind the desk, and noticed his expression was different from usual, seeming… a bit nervous.
“Nie Qiu, you cannot participate in the Senior High School Entrance Examination… I am very sorry,” Teacher Yang said to Nie Qiu, speaking gently with concern, “Are you feeling better?”
Nie Qiu nodded, “Much better, thank you for your concern, Teacher.” After speaking, she looked at Teacher Yang. However, Teacher Yang had already said this before, and he shouldn’t have specifically called her to the office to say this.
Teacher Yang looked at Nie Qiu, and under her gaze, he couldn’t help but cough. Then, after thinking for a moment, he asked, “Nie Qiu… I heard… Li Kai and the others got into a fight because of you?”
Nie Qiu’s eyes widened in surprise, unable to believe that Teacher Yang would ask such a question.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mean anything else,” Teacher Yang waved his hand. He thought for a moment and said somewhat awkwardly, “There have been rumors at the school since the day before yesterday, saying… that Ye Haifei… did something to you, so Li Kai and the others went to beat up Ye Haifei…”
Did something to her? What did he mean? Teacher Yang didn’t say it out loud, but Nie Qiu knew what he was implying. However, she didn’t offer an explanation, because explaining would be like covering up. It was better to say nothing, and besides… it was always awkward for a female student and a male teacher to discuss such matters.
“I knew from the beginning that you and Li Kai were dating. Teachers were young once too, and I liked a girl in junior high school,” Teacher Yang said to Nie Qiu, his tone gentle. “But as a teacher, I have to prevent such early romance. When I found out you and Li Kai were dating before, I spoke with Li Kai, but he said you weren’t dating, and that you said… you would only agree to his pursuit if he managed to get into a certain rank.”
“Regarding your requirement, I was actually happy. I thought, since the school regulations require us homeroom teachers to manage early romance among students, with the reason being that it affects their studies, then if it doesn’t affect their studies, perhaps we don’t need to manage it.” Teacher Yang picked up his cup from the desk and took a sip of tea. “Thinking this way, I didn’t interfere with your dating. But then, as graduation approached, this happened…”
“You are all graduating, so technically I shouldn’t be managing this anymore. But even in the last second after the exams, when you receive your acceptance letters, I am still your teacher, and for something like this, I must intervene!” Teacher Yang became serious, his entire face tense. “Li Kai, Zhang Haiyang, Luo Xu, Peng Yu Yang… each of them came to school with bruised and swollen faces, limping. Is the principal blind? Is the director blind?”
After listening for a long time, Nie Qiu finally understood something. It seemed that the school administration had put pressure on Teacher Yang to deal with them. The teachers, homeroom teacher, director, then vice principal, principal, layer by layer, just like in officialdom or the workplace. The school administration put pressure on Teacher Yang, so Teacher Yang had to speak to them. She lowered her head, “Sorry…”
