Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 82 We must not let children suffer injustice.
Lin Qin paused for a moment before shaking hands, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, her eyes filled with confusion.

Huang Weixiong introduced himself: "I am Huang Weixiong, a supervisor from the Education Bureau."

The teachers and students were stunned and inexplicably panicked. Had the other parent really brought people from the Education Bureau? It seemed they really did have connections there.

The thought flashed through everyone's minds, and the faces of all the faculty and staff, led by Li Maojie, turned somewhat pale.

It seems this matter really can't be resolved peacefully today.

If only they hadn't been so impulsive as to call the police. If they hadn't called the police, Chen Ruiyu's parents wouldn't have brought in the education bureau. What are we going to do now?
Huang Weixiong ignored the ambiguous expressions on everyone's faces and looked sternly at Li Maojie. "Principal Li, I saw your argument just now. This table is the most direct evidence of bullying."

The Education Bureau appointed you as the principal of Anshan Primary School because they trusted you and recognized your abilities. They never expected such a terrible incident to occur in the school under your jurisdiction! You need to find a way to explain this to the leadership.

Furthermore, the school bears full responsibility for any injury to a child at school. Comrade An Meihua shirked responsibility after the incident and treated the parents rudely; she is truly unfit to be a teacher. I will report these circumstances in detail; you should all reflect on your actions.”

Huang Weixiong was really angry.

When his boss asked him to make this trip, his instinct was that someone with connections had caused trouble at school and he needed to clean up the mess. He had planned how to smooth things over the whole way there, but he didn't expect that the person had actually been treated unfairly, and the situation was quite serious.

The police are here now. This incident at Anshan Primary School has not only embarrassed the school, but also the Education Bureau.

Li Maojie was sweating profusely with anxiety. "Supervisor, Ms. An Meihua is a veteran teacher at the school. She hasn't had any problems with the classes she's taught in the past few years, which is why I felt comfortable letting her be a homeroom teacher. You can't just listen to one side of the story!"

Huang Weixiong's face immediately darkened, and he angrily pointed at the table, "The evidence is irrefutable, what else do I need to hear her say? That as the homeroom teacher, she was completely unaware of the bullying in the class, that she is innocent, and that the two children wronged her?"
Whether it's the table or the injuries on the two children, her failure to address them promptly was wrong! Is Principal Li going to cover for her?

“That’s not what I meant.” Li Maojie shook his head frantically.

Huang Weixiong was deeply disappointed and said earnestly, "Principal Li, if you cannot treat every teacher and student fairly and justly as the head of a school, you might as well not be the head of the school."

Taking advantage of the situation, Lin Qin added fuel to the fire, "Supervisor, the principal just told us that he's going to expel both of my children. After this happened, I don't dare let my children continue studying at this school. What should we do in this situation?"

Huang Weixiong's perception of Li Maojie was once again shattered. "Principal Li! Two children were injured. They did nothing wrong. How dare you expel them so easily? When did the Education Bureau give you this kind of power? You're utterly absurd!"

Huang Weixiong was too lazy to reprimand Li Maojie anymore. He turned to Lin Qin and pondered, "Here's what I'll do. I'll go back and report to the leaders and see what they decide. Things will always be resolved, so don't worry. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

"Thank you, supervisor," Lin Qin said gratefully as she watched Huang Weixiong leave.

Lin Yaonan spoke only after the matter was almost resolved, "Principal Li, we still need to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter of Comrade Lin Qin assaulting Comrade An Meihua. If it is confirmed that Comrade An Meihua struck first, the main responsibility lies with her."

Li Maojie opened his mouth, his face turning pale and then flushed.

Chen Wenjun stepped forward and said, "Officer, I also want to call the police. My two children can't have been beaten for nothing."

In the end, Lin Yaonan took Lin Qin, the two children, An Meihua, and An Yijie to the police station. The school resumed its teaching order, but neither the teachers nor the students were in the mood for classes; they were all discussing what had happened that afternoon.

Several children who had bullied Chen Ruiyu and Chen Xinyue with An Yijie rushed home to hide as soon as school was over; they were all terrified and cried.

Only then did the villagers realize that such a big thing had happened at the school that day.

An Meihua's family was indignant and went to the school to cause trouble.

Li Maojie was already annoyed enough, and seeing that they wouldn't let it go, he immediately got angry. "Teacher An has caused such a big mess for the school, and the school hasn't even held her accountable yet. How dare you come to the school to cause trouble? They're still at the police station. The police will decide who's right and who's wrong. Your fuss won't do any good!"

An Dafei was furious, but he only dared to be arrogant in the village. He wouldn't dare to go to the police station. Besides, he heard what happened from the children in the village. His son bullied the other child first, and An Meihua was beaten because she stood up for An Yijie. Now the other child's parents have called the police. What if they go to the police station and he tries to extort money from them?
An Dafei didn't dare leave the village until evening when An Meihua and An Yijie were brought back by two teachers.

Upon seeing her face, An Meihua's mother fainted.

An Meihua's sister-in-law, Li Juan, was also shocked. "Sister-in-law, what happened to your face? That person was too ruthless! They hit so hard! What did the police say?"

An Meihua was so aggrieved that tears streamed down her face, but she couldn't open her mouth wide enough to speak. She mumbled, "The police told us to settle this privately."

"Why should I?" Li Juan was furious.

An Meihua looked at An Yijie, who remained silent to the side, and said, "They want to pursue the matter of Xiao Jie assaulting someone. I want them to pay compensation, and they want us to pay compensation too. I can only accept my bad luck."

Li Juan and her husband's expressions changed, and their momentum instantly weakened.

An Dafei took a stick and hit An Yijie several times. "I told you to go to school, but you don't study properly and you just cause trouble. Look at your aunt, she wouldn't have been beaten like this if it weren't for you! Now you can't even get compensation because of you. You're just here to collect a debt!"

Li Juan shielded An Yijie behind her, crying and pleading for him, "Xiao Jie didn't expect things to turn out like this. He's still a child, please don't hit him anymore."

Chaos erupted at Anjia's place.

The Chen family's side, on the other hand, was peaceful and harmonious.

After Chen Wenjun and Lin Qin helped the two children vent their anger, they felt much better. The family of four returned to the Nanxi fishing boat in the evening breeze and found Lin Yi carrying tiles onto the boat.

Upon seeing them return, Lin Yi immediately ran off the boat, examined the child closely, and felt extremely distressed. "Why did you take so long?"

Lin Qin briefly recounted what had happened that afternoon.

Lin Yi, who usually prefers to avoid trouble, sided with Lin Qin for the first time and praised her highly, saying, "That's exactly what we should do! Even if we have to give up our studies, we can't let our child suffer this injustice."

(End of this chapter)