I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

The office door was forced open.

A middle-aged man burst in, his bald head beaded with sweat and his face flushed. He rushed to the desk, braced his hands on the edge, and began to speak, panting heavily.

"Principal! Aren't you going to do anything about that guy surnamed Du?! Do you think he's caused us a huge mess this time? If you don't do something about it, he'll really cause chaos!"

Behind the desk, the fifty-something-year-old principal's eyelids twitched from the shout. He was wearing a faded, worn-out Zhongshan suit, the collar buttons undone, and he was hunched over the desk writing something. Hearing this, he looked up, adjusted his reading glasses, and a helpless, bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Teacher Huang," the principal put down his pen and spread his hands, "what can I do? With his stubborn temper, what can I possibly do?"

"Back then, I voted against transferring him back from the countryside. You wouldn't listen, insisting he was capable and a talented individual. And now? The Ministry of Metallurgical Industry's office is calling the university! The office director is personally questioning me, asking, 'Does your university still have any political considerations?'"

At this point, Teacher Huang became furious. He turned around and walked to the coffee table next to him. He glanced at a glass of cold tea on the table, and without caring whose it was, he picked it up and gulped it down in two gulps. He then slammed the glass down on the table with a loud bang.

Teacher Huang wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "And what do you do? They call, and you push me out to take the blame, making me negotiate! The first thing they ask me is, 'Do you talk politics?' Principal, tell me, what am I supposed to say? Huh?"

The principal forced a fawning smile, pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and offered one to the principal: "Thank you for your hard work. I had no choice, you know. I've never really dealt with the Ministry of Metallurgy or Minister Li's family, unlike you, who even made a special trip to visit their home and is quite familiar with them..."

Teacher Huang glanced at the cigarette offered to her, her brows furrowing into a knot. She slapped it away, saying, "Don't try that!" With that, she plopped down on the sofa, turning half her body away from the principal, giving off a "leave me alone" look.

The principal wasn't annoyed; he just grinned and leaned closer, offering the cigarette to Mr. Huang again. Mr. Huang tried to refuse twice, but finally reluctantly reached out and snatched the cigarette, putting it in his mouth. The principal quickly struck a match and lit it for him.

Teacher Huang took a deep drag, and thick white smoke billowed from his nose.

"What do you suggest we do?" Teacher Huang asked, her voice muffled as she chewed on her cigarette. "The people in the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry's office are waiting for my reply! This guy surnamed Du, if he didn't know about Li's family situation, that would be one thing, but I told him clearly yesterday that Li's father is Minister Li of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry! And yet, he still insists on calling the parents! Who does he think he is? Making Minister Li make a special trip to report to him?"

He took another drag, the smoke he exhaled carrying a hint of anger: "I don't think he was reformed during those years in the countryside! He's so stubborn!"

"Oh dear, Teacher Huang," the principal sat down next to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Xiao Du's abilities are obvious to all, it's just that he has a bit of a temper. You are his senior homeroom teacher, so you have to step in and smooth things over."

Teacher Huang snorted, shifted her position to the side, and distanced herself from the principal.

The principal smiled and moved a little closer: "Calm down, calm down..."

"I cleaned up his mess, and he doesn't even appreciate it?" Teacher Huang turned and glared at the principal. "The first time he called Li Shuo's parents, they didn't come, so he wouldn't let their child into the classroom! I tried to reason with him then, but he wouldn't listen, he was so arrogant! Doesn't he even consider what right he has to stop a student from attending class? He's just a teacher! What kind of environment is this? Our situation hasn't even fundamentally improved yet, who can we afford to offend?"

He grew angrier as he spoke, shoving his cigarette into the ashtray: "Fine, that's it! They say they're not coming, that's fine. They said it's almost holiday time and they're worried their child might be targeted at our school, so they're not coming. We'll see how we handle it from here on out!"

He turned to the principal, staring at him, his voice rising an octave: "I shamelessly went to Minister Li's house again last night! I asked Xiao Du to come with me, but he wouldn't! I went by myself! I'm a scoundrel, I'm a sycophant, but I went! Who did I do it for? I did it for our school!"

The principal quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, you did it for the school, for the school..."

"But I didn't even get close to Minister Li's door!" Teacher Huang slammed her hand on the sofa armrest. "The security guard in the community stopped me. I pleaded and begged, but I couldn't even see him. In the end, he just told me, 'Minister Li's family lives in another province.' What else can you call that but a slap on the wrist? I can't do it! I really can't do it!"

"Hey, don't say that." The principal leaned forward and put his hand on his shoulder. "You're the only one in our school who has dealt with Minister Li's family. If you can't handle it, then nobody can."

"Don't flatter me!" Teacher Huang shrugged, shaking off the principal's hand. "Am I dealing with people? I'm following orders! Do you think it's easy for me? As a homeroom teacher, I'm in the eye of the storm. I have to find out who's a leader of the rebels, who's a member of the Revolutionary Committee, who has a family in the Workers' Propaganda Team—I can't afford to offend anyone!"

As he finished speaking, his voice became hoarse, and he turned away, falling silent.

The principal looked at him and sighed, "I know you've been wronged, but we can't give up on Xiao Du..."

Before he could finish speaking, the door clicked open.

A young man stood in the doorway, wearing a blue cotton jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, his hair somewhat disheveled. He first glanced at the principal, then looked at Teacher Huang on the sofa, and whispered, "Hello, Principal, hello, Brother Huang."

Teacher Huang, who had been sulking with her arms crossed and facing the wall, turned around abruptly upon hearing the greeting, pointed at him, and said, "Don't call me Brother Huang! I can't accept that! You're my brother! You're my boss! Okay?"

After saying that, he turned his face back.

The principal quickly stood up, his face stern, and said to the young man, "Xiao Du! What's wrong with you? Teacher Huang already told you about Li Shuo's family situation, and you still managed to cause such a scene? Teacher Huang has gone to great lengths for you, and you not only don't appreciate it, but how can you face him?"

Xiao Du stood at the door, opened his mouth, and said in a hoarse voice, "Principal, Brother Huang... I'm sorry, I know I did wrong. But I really had no other choice."

He took a step forward, his eyes suddenly reddening: "That Li Shuo, he doesn't study in class, and he won't let others study either. He's always conspiring with classmates to oppose me. Whenever I try to control him, he immediately starts cursing me as a 'stinking intellectual.' I've put up with all of that. In these past few years in the countryside, I haven't learned anything else, but I've truly learned to swallow my pride."

His voice began to tremble: "But he bullied his classmates in the first year of junior high, and it got even worse in the second year! He targeted the girls in our class, harassing this one and that one, and nobody dared to say a word. This semester, a girl from the next class who had just been transferred back from another province came, and he immediately set his sights on her too, pestering her relentlessly, blocking her after school, and when she refused, he threatened to go to her elementary school and ambush her younger brother!"

He sniffed hard, his eyes red: "Brother Huang, Principal, but I can't just watch this happen right under my nose, can I?"

The office fell silent for a moment.

Teacher Huang's previously twisted shoulders had unconsciously returned to normal. He stared at Xiao Du for a while, his anger slowly subsiding.

"You...you all have it tough. But we're caught in the middle. If we intervene, we can't afford to; if we don't, we'll be letting the students down. What do you suggest we do?" the principal sighed helplessly.

"You know how difficult he is. I asked you to go to his house with me to talk to him, but you didn't go. If you had gone, we could have shared some information about the situation, and maybe things would have taken a turn for the better..." Teacher Huang couldn't help but say.

"A turning point?" Xiao Du gave a bitter smile. "Look at what kind of family could raise a child like Li Shuo? Lawless and arrogant!"