Chapter 244 Dropping Out

Teacher Li frowned. "Sir, please calm down! Gao Huiqin is a formal university student; she's supposed to be studying normally at school. She's also been sending living expenses home every month as promised, fulfilling her responsibilities. Your actions of coming to the school to cause trouble are very negative and won't solve anything..."

The man stammered, "That little bit of money isn't enough... My parents are sick, and the kids need food and clothes..."

"You're the head of the household, so if there's a problem, we can discuss it properly! But you can't force her to give up her studies this way!"

Teacher Li refused to give up and continued to reason with her, saying, "Gao Huiqin studies hard and has a bright future. As her family, you should support her instead of holding her back!"

Upon hearing this, the old lady threw a tantrum: "What future! Once she's married, she's part of our family! She has to listen to us! She's become so wild from studying! No way, she has to come out and come back with us today!"

She cursed even more vehemently, even rolling on the ground and throwing a tantrum, completely disregarding the stares of the many teachers and students around her.

The two children trembled with fear at the escalating scene. The younger one cried so hard he could barely breathe, while the older one cried along, mumbling "Mommy...Mommy..." between sobs.

The crying provoked the old woman, and she even cursed the child as well: "What are you crying for! You jinx! Just like your heartless mother!"

Seeing his mother was angry, and feeling he had lost face in front of everyone, the man vented his anger on his older child, clenching his fists and raining blows on the small, thin boy while cursing, "Serves you right for crying! Serves you right for yelling! I've wasted my time raising you!"

The child staggered from the beating, his cries growing even more piercing. He curled up in a ball, clutching his head, and dared not resist at all.

"Stop! How can you hit a child! Let's talk this out!"

Teacher Li was both shocked and angry, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop them.

When the students around saw the child being beaten, some of the sensitive and soft-hearted female students also teared up.

Nan Zhiyi also felt a tightness in her chest and her eyes sting as she witnessed a young child trembling under his father's fists and feet, yet daring not to resist.

She was filled with grief and indignation, and couldn't help but step forward to see the child.

Just then, Shan Xiaoyan rushed over and pointed at the man, angrily shouting, "Are you even a man?! What kind of man takes his anger out on his own child?! You're struggling financially, and instead of trying to earn a living with your own hands, all you do is pressure your wife and beat your child. You've completely disgraced men!"

When the old woman saw a female student suddenly appear and start cursing at her son, she turned on Shan Xiaoyan, spitting as she yelled, "Where did this little brat come from, meddling in other people's business! It's none of your business to interfere in our family affairs! He's my own grandson, I can hit him or curse him as I please!"

Dan Xiaoyan was not afraid at all and retorted sarcastically: "Oh, you're so powerful, why don't you teach your 'good son' who's in his forties and only knows how to hit children a lesson?"

Seeing that Shan Xiaoyan was emotionally agitated, and fearing that she would be taken advantage of, Teacher Li quickly tried to calm her down: "Shan Xiaoyan! Calm down. Let the school handle this. You should go home first!"

Shan Xiaoyan stubbornly stood her ground and raised her voice:

"Classmates, look at this! Judge for yourselves! Gao Huiqin is a good student in our Chinese Department. She saves her meager monthly allowance by scrimping and saving, even going so far as to not have a sip of hot water, to send the money home! Tell me, in the countryside, how can a family not survive on ten or twenty yuan a month? Why must we force her to drop out of school?"

She pointed again at the man who was shrinking back: "It's obvious that some men are just useless and want to keep their wives tied up at home like cattle and horses! Such behavior is unworthy of being a husband or a father!"

Nan Zhiyi felt a surge of warmth in her heart as Shan Xiaoyan spoke the words she had been holding back!

She loudly echoed, "Xiaoyan is right!"

Nan Zhiyi walked a few steps to Shan Xiaoyan's side and said loudly to the surrounding classmates, "Classmates, this family is not only ungrateful for the wife's allowance, but they also want to force her to drop out of school and ruin her future! Just because this man is afraid that his wife will look down on him if she gets too big for her own good! What kind of logic is this?! How can we just stand by and watch our good classmate be bullied like this!"

These words ignited the anger and resonated with many of the students around, especially the female students.

People had long felt sympathy for Gao Huiqin's plight, and now they were even more outraged:

"This is outrageous!"

"Support Gao Huiqin! She cannot be expelled!"

"Exactly! What kind of skill is it to bully women and children!"

......

The man, humiliated in public by the two women and pointed at by the crowd, turned a deep purplish-red. Overwhelmed with shame and anger, he lost his temper and raised his hand to strike Nan Zhiyi, shouting, "I'll teach you a lesson for talking nonsense!"

Fortunately, the security guards nearby were on guard and immediately stopped him, shouting sternly, "What do you think you're doing! How dare you hit someone in school?!"

Teacher Li broke out in a cold sweat and quickly stepped in front of Nan Zhiyi and Shan Xiaoyan: "Nan Zhiyi, Shan Xiaoyan, it's too dangerous here. You should leave first and let the school handle it!"

Seeing her son being pinned to the ground by several burly men, the old woman let out a piercing scream, slapping her thigh and crying out, "Oh dear! This is outrageous! The school leaders are beating people! They're going to beat my son to death! God, please open your eyes! These damned bastards are going to drive my whole family to our deaths!"

She screamed and banged her head against the security guard next to her.

In the midst of this chaos, Gao Huiqin suddenly squeezed through the crowd from the periphery.

She staggered towards her eldest son, who was still sobbing, and hugged him tightly in her arms to check how badly he was hurt.

When Teacher Li saw her, she was both anxious and helpless: "Gao Huiqin! Why did you come out? Didn't I tell you to stay in the faculty dormitory and not come out for now?"

Gao Huiqin raised her head, her face covered in tears, her lips trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence.

She originally intended to follow the instructions and hide, but after hearing news from her classmates that her mother-in-law and husband had caused a big scene with their child, she felt extremely uneasy in her dormitory.

She sneaked over and hid in the crowd.

Her heart broke the moment she saw her son being beaten.

Seeing Nan Zhiyi, Shan Xiaoyan, and so many other classmates she didn't know speak up for her, she was deeply moved.

However, no one understood the greed and difficulty of this mother and son better than she did.

If she doesn't stand up, this farce will never end; it will only escalate and eventually become uncontrollable, and may even implicate the teachers and classmates who helped her.

With tears in her eyes, she glanced at Shan Xiaoyan and Nan Zhiyi, who had stood up for her, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Finally, her gaze fell on her husband, whose face was contorted in rage.

"...Stop messing around. I...I'm dropping out of school."