Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

"Captain Zhang, could you please hand me the enamel mug so I can take a look?"

Having said that, Zhou Wenyao calmly stood up and took the enamel mug. After examining it for a moment, he suddenly smiled, lightly tapping the mug with his fingertip and saying, "Wow! What a beautiful painting of peonies and ladies! Quite flamboyant!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianhu became agitated. He was about to say something when Dong Mingdao, seated at the head of the table, interrupted, "Professor Zhou, whether it's fancy or not isn't important, is it? You're very knowledgeable; why don't you explain to everyone why Qin Yuechuan's name is on the cup?"

Zhou Wenyao's smile deepened. He squinted at Zhang Tianhu and said, "If you bring any other physical evidence, I'm afraid I'll have to verify it with that kid again. But there's no need now. I can tell everyone with certainty that this enamel mug could not possibly belong to Qin Yuechuan!"

These words shocked everyone present, but Teacher Zhou remained calm. He looked around and slowly explained, "Qin is a poor student from Shuangling Mountain. When he first entered the school, he used one of those red plastic bowls to get his food. I couldn't stand it, so I simply bought him a cup, which didn't even have any patterns..."

At this point, Zhang Tianhu suddenly interjected, "You're wrong! Can't he have two serving cups? One for soup, one for vegetables, is that not allowed?"

Students at Yanghe No. 1 High School are all the pride of heaven. To make it easier for them to eat, most families would prepare several kinds of tableware for their children. But Teacher Zhou also said that Qin Yuechuan is a poor student who can barely afford to eat. How could he possibly spend more money to buy a cup?

However, not everyone can understand the suffering of the lower classes. In real life, there are many people who think "Why don't they eat meat porridge?" Zhang Tianhu may not be such a person, but now he has to pretend to be, because he is the one who produced this evidence. If someone questions it, he has to jump out and refute it no matter what.

Seeing the other party's arrogance, Teacher Zhou said firmly, "I'll say it again, this cup is not Qin Yuechuan's! If you ask me why I'm so sure, I can tell you directly that the writing on this cup is problematic; it's not Qin Yuechuan's handwriting at all. Captain Zhang, next time you forge something, please be more careful. At least try to imitate the approximate form first! Hehehe..."

Zhou Wenyao's laughter was the biggest irony for Zhang Tianhu. At that moment, Captain Zhang jumped up from his seat as if someone had stepped on his tail: "Teacher Zhou! I respect your seniority, but you shouldn't make baseless accusations. This is such a serious meeting, and you..."

Before Zhang Tianhu could finish speaking, the female secretary interrupted him. She smiled slightly at Zhou Wenyao and asked, "Teacher Zhou, of course we want to believe you won't speak carelessly. However, everything needs evidence. Tell me, what makes you so sure the handwriting wasn't carved by Qin? What concrete evidence do you have?"

The female secretary didn't raise this question to make things difficult for Zhou Wenyao; she was clearly offering him a "stool." Zhou Wenyao seized the opportunity and said loudly, "Qin Yuechuan has good grades and a high aptitude for mathematics, but his handwriting is a complete mess. Take his own name as an example. The character '川' in '秦岳川' should be long on both sides and short in the middle, but this kid insists on writing it differently, making each of the three vertical lines longer."

As Zhou Wenyao spoke, he gestured in the air with his index finger. Apart from Zhang Tianhu, everyone else in the conference room was a cultured person. The teachers got interested and started writing and drawing on the conference table.

"Teacher Zhou, why does this student Qin write the character '川' like that? Doesn't it look awkward?" A young teacher with a refined appearance and wearing brown glasses suddenly interjected.

Zhou Wenyao's eyes narrowed into crescents as he smiled and said to everyone, "Yes, I also asked him, 'Why do you have to write like this?' This kid usually can't even speak properly, but when it came to this, he actually spoke eloquently."

"Teacher Zhou, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us what the child replied!"

The female Party Secretary took on the role of straight man, successfully engaging everyone's interest.

Seeing everyone staring at him expectantly, the veteran teacher with over forty years of experience cleared his throat and slowly held up three fingers: "This kid said that a semi-divine being from Shuangling Mountain taught him how to write the character '川' (river). That semi-divine being said that these three vertical lines represent three stages in his life, or three steps. Only by writing them higher and higher in sequence can he rise step by step and finally reach the clouds. This is called 'Three Ones Transform into a True Dragon'!"

The meeting room fell silent immediately upon hearing this, but then burst into laughter. No one had expected that a freshman who had broken school rules would be such an interesting kid.

"Wow! This is the first time I've heard of this! Could it be that this student Qin made it up himself?"

The female Party Secretary covered her mouth and giggled, while the young teacher with tinted glasses even clicked his tongue in praise, saying, "Any student who can get into our No. 1 High School based on their own ability is extraordinary. This Qin Yuechuan is quite talented!"

……

The happier the teachers were in their discussion, the uglier Zhang Tianhu's face became. And what about Dong Mingdao, who was sitting at the head of the table? His face went from white to black, and finally turned into an extremely ugly purplish-red. A criticism meeting meant to demonstrate authority had been turned into a farce by Zhou Wenyao, which was bound to infuriate him!

"Teacher Zhou, you need to be responsible for your words! You can't just elevate a child to the heavens just because he has some talent, can you? Our No. 1 High School absolutely will not cultivate morally corrupt students, no matter how good their grades are or how talented they are, we don't want students like that!"

Vice Principal Dong's words carried a hint of coercion, and the atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point.

By this time, Zhou Wenyao had fully grasped Dong Mingdao's attitude. He had originally hoped that Dong would show leniency towards Yue Chuan out of consideration for him, but he hadn't expected them to dare to fabricate evidence. Zhou Wenyao could no longer tolerate it, and he rebuked them mercilessly: "Yes! Yanghe No. 1 High School does not cultivate morally corrupt students, but it will absolutely not allow unworthy people to occupy leadership positions!"

As a senior member of the school, Zhou Wenyao was naturally aware of the collusion between the cafeteria contractor and Zhang Tianhu, who was a confidant of Dong Mingdao. This made Zhou Wenyao suspicious of Dong Mingdao's conduct. He glared at Dong Mingdao and said coldly, "I just don't understand! It's clearly a problem with the quality of the food in the South Campus cafeteria, but instead of trying to solve the problem, you insist on nitpicking a freshman. What kind of logic is that? In my opinion, the root of the problem isn't with the students at all; it's clearly with certain officials!"

These words were incisive and piercing, leaving Dong Mingdao speechless for a moment.

Seeing his master being humiliated, Zhang Tianhu could no longer sit still. He slammed his fist on the table and was about to explode when the sound of the door creaking open interrupted him.