Orange Storm chapter 57
Calling Parents
“This is too much! Truly outrageous! I’ve been a teacher for over twenty years and have never encountered such an outrageous incident!”
The senior-three grade director, surnamed Gao, also serving as the school’s vice principal, was nearing 50 years old. He was not tall, quite plump, but had an unusually loud voice, especially when disciplining students. His voice could almost penetrate the office, echoing throughout the entire floor.
“The top student in the grade openly assaulting someone, and it’s a classmate! What kind of behavior is this? Leading the challenge against school rules and regulations! Mr. Tang, how do you usually educate your students?”
From the moment they entered until now, the other party had been scolding for almost fifteen minutes. Fang Xing, Xu Hang, Tan Zhuo, and the boy from the morning all stood in a line in the center of the office, and none of them uttered a word.
Tang Yi, standing on the side, was anxious, sweating even in the cold winter. He quickly spoke, “Mr. Gao, why don’t we first understand the situation? Maybe there was a conflict.”
Mr. Gao, probably tired of scolding, sat back at his desk, took a sip of tea from the thermos next to him, and said, “Explain, what exactly happened?”
He looked at the four people in the room and then pointed at Tan Zhuo, saying, “You go first.”
Tan Zhuo hadn’t had the chance to change his clothes. He was still wearing the school uniform with a lingering scent of disinfectant, and he had added a coat on top. The injuries on his face from Fang Xing’s punches had turned purple, and his glasses were also askew, making him look quite miserable.
“I went to the restroom with Liu Jie, just chatting. Suddenly, Fang Xing rushed in. I don’t know why…”
After speaking, Tan Zhuo timidly glanced at Fang Xing, “But he has always had a big issue with me. He has mentioned several times that he wanted to beat me up.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Xu Hang immediately turned and cursed at Tan Zhuo, “Still pretending, huh?”
“What are you doing?!” Mr. Gao slammed the table heavily. “Did I give you permission to speak? Using foul language in front of a teacher, what are you trying to do?!”
Tang Yi immediately whispered to Xu Hang, “Don’t speak for now.” Although Xu Hang looked unwilling, he eventually closed his mouth. Mr. Gao then turned to the boy named Liu Jie.
“You, tell me what happened.”
Liu Jie, as if having formed some kind of tacit understanding with Tan Zhuo, spoke sincerely, “Really, I was just chatting with Tan Zhuo, and Fang Xing suddenly came in and started hitting people. I wanted to intervene but was stopped by Xu Hang.”
This time, Xu Hang held back, looking dissatisfied as he glanced at Fang Xing. Fang Xing, on the other hand, had no reaction and even smiled after hearing their accounts.
After questioning the two “victims,” Mr. Gao turned his gaze to Fang Xing.
“You, explain what happened. Why did you threaten your classmates and resort to violence?”
Before Fang Xing could speak, Tang Yi, anticipating that Fang Xing might stay silent due to his usual indifference, spoke up, “Make it clear.”
Having taught Fang Xing for almost half a semester, Tang Yi, based on Fang Xing’s personality of wanting nothing to do with others, found it hard to believe that he would suddenly resort to violence. However, Fang Xing had a good temper, and Tang Yi was afraid that he might remain silent, which would lead to disciplinary actions.
Fang Xing turned his head slightly, staring directly at Tan Zhuo not far away. “You should ask him.”
The next moment, Tan Zhuo quickly averted his gaze.
In just a few seconds, Tang Yi had seen everything. He frowned and turned to Xu Hang.
“You speak.”
After holding back for a while, Xu Hang, hearing the prompt, immediately spoke up, “Tan Zhuo and Liu Jie were badmouthing Fang Xing behind his back and spreading false rumors. Really, Teacher, if you heard those things, you’d want to hit someone too…”
“Enough, enough.” Tang Yi was afraid that Xu Hang would get agitated again and curse someone in front of the grade director. Then, he asked, “What did they say?”
Tan Zhuo quickly defended himself, “We were just joking, saying that Fang Xing is popular with girls and receives a lot of apples.”
Liu Jie quickly nodded, “Really, we even envied him.”
“Nonsense!” Xu Hang got angry again, “You badmouthed people behind their backs and even spread rumors that Fang Xing is dating!”
“Dating?” The grade director, hearing these words, reacted as if stepping on an electric switch. He stared at Fang Xing and asked, “What dating? Who is he in a relationship with? In senior year, you can’t even spare an extra minute to sleep, and you still have time for dating!”
His ability to pinpoint the crucial points was indeed remarkable. Fang Xing sighed and replied, “I haven’t been dating. I don’t know where these two students heard it from. The school prohibits early relationships, but it doesn’t say you can spread rumors about others dating, right?”
Tan Zhuo’s face immediately turned red. The grade director, somewhat skeptical, glanced at Fang Xing and then turned to look at Tan Zhuo.
“Yeah, dating requires having a partner. How do you know someone is dating?” he asked.
Tan Zhuo pushed his glasses and revealed the injury on his cheekbone, maintaining a submissive tone, “I just felt that their relationship seemed good, it was just a joke.”
“With whom is the relationship good?”
“With—”
The moment Tan Zhuo spoke, Fang Xing turned his head and looked expressionlessly at him. Tan Zhuo immediately remembered the words he heard in the restroom, and Jiang Xinxin’s name was stuck in the middle, but he didn’t dare to say it.
Fang Xing turned his head back to the grade director.
“Since it’s just a rumor, why do you need to know who it is?”
The other party was stunned for a moment, angrily saying, “I called to understand the situation!”
“They two were badmouthing and spreading rumors behind others, and unfortunately, I overheard it. I couldn’t control myself and ended up hitting him—that’s all.”
In just half a class period, the news of Fang Xing hitting someone had already spread throughout the senior year. After all, the top student hitting someone was too sensational; it practically shocked the entire school.
At this time, if Jiang Xinxin were called to the office, and if Tan Zhuo or others couldn’t keep their mouths shut, then it was likely that more than one person would be talked about.
Being talked about throughout the whole school, being the center of attention, being discussed behind your back—this kind of feeling was very uncomfortable.
Fang Xing understood.
“Whether someone is spreading rumors about dating has nothing to do with me. The other party is also completely innocent, and I see no need for understanding the situation,” Fang Xing said.
The grade director stared at Fang Xing, remaining silent for a moment. Tang Yi quickly added, “If it’s just baseless gossip among classmates, the girl is probably not even aware of it. It’s indeed inappropriate to call her over.”
“Fine, let’s deal with today’s matter first.”
After a while, the grade director waved his hand.
“The two of them badmouthing classmates behind their backs, the two of them fighting openly. For now, call all the parents to come.”
Jiang Zhijin answered the phone while at Cloud Seven. On holidays like Christmas Eve, bars were usually packed. He, along with Zhou Hong and Gu Xun, had cleaned the place early in the morning and bought some ribbons and stickers for decoration.
When the call came in, he had just helped Zhou Hong carry a fully-grown Christmas tree into the bar. Upon hearing the ringtone, he casually wiped his hands and took out his phone.
The screen showed Tang Yi’s name.
Jiang Zhijin’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Fang Xing’s parent, if you have time now, please come to the school quickly,” Tang Yi’s voice on the other end carried a strong sense of helplessness.
“Your kid got into a fight at school.”