I always feel the exam day is tough before it comes, but when the exam actually starts it seems to go by very quickly.
The day's exams were quickly completed. When the bell rang for the end of the last exam, the whole school was immersed in a celebratory atmosphere of having survived the trial at the beginning of the month and still having another 29 days to survive. Only Class 1 was somewhat silent.
What happened during the first exam in the afternoon refreshed the three perspectives of this group of young children. Most children of this age have clear likes and dislikes. In their eyes, good is good and evil is evil, black and white are clear, and they rarely speculate about others with malice. Before this incident, even if they disliked Zhang Jian, gave him nicknames, and felt that he had many shortcomings, they had never doubted whether he was qualified to be a teacher.
But after this incident, everyone began to have some doubts in their hearts.
Is this the teacher who taught us?
Can a person who would direct and act in a drama just to slander a student he dislikes really be worthy of the title of "teacher"?
Some were filled with righteous indignation, some were in low spirits, and more were quietly looking in Jiang Chen's direction, wanting to say something but stopping themselves, wanting to comfort him but afraid of making him even sadder.
In sharp contrast to Jiang Chen, who was sympathized by all the classmates, was Zhang Zhipeng who was in the last row of group three.
At the end of the first exam, a classmate ran to Jiang Chen's seat to see if there was any test paper in his drawer, to see if Zhang Zhipeng was really driven by Zhang Sanmao to do such an immoral thing.
At that time, Jiang Chen smiled and leaned back in his chair, saying, "I know you care about me, thank you, but forget about looking through the drawers."
"What do you mean?" Chen Xu was the first to disagree. His eyes were almost on fire. He bent down and searched Jiang Chen's desk: "I'll find it! I want to know if there is really someone who is so wicked!"
The other students were all paying attention to this side. Zhang Zhipeng sat in his seat with his body tense and his head lowered, not saying a word.
Jiang Chen stopped laughing, grabbed Shen Xu's hand, and whispered, "I'll tell you after school."
Chen Xu stopped, put down the test paper file bag in his hand, stood up with a stern face, and the second exam happened to start. He returned to his seat and gave Zhang Zhipeng a cold look.
Although no one saw whether there was a test paper in Jiang Chen's drawer, Shen Xu's obvious touch of something just now and his expression when he stood up told them that there might really be something in Jiang Chen's drawer.
But there was an exam right before that and no one had time to be distracted. Now that the exam is over, everyone naturally wants to know the truth.
Jiang Chen seemed not to notice everyone's gaze. He put the file bag into his schoolbag while packing up his things, then called Chen Xu, said a few words to the other students who gathered around him to show their concern, and left the classroom.
Until they walked out of the school gate, Shen Xu had a stern face and didn't even look at Jiang Chen, obviously disapproving of his behavior.
Jiang Chen sighed, he knew that Shen Xu felt sorry for him. In fact, he did not forgive Zhang Zhipeng, otherwise he would not have directly said during the exam that a classmate had put something in his drawer.
Before the exam, most people had no time to pay attention and look around, but Zhang Zhipeng kept circling around Jiang Chen's seat. People who were interested would naturally be able to think of it and catch Zhang Zhipeng at that time, but even so, Jiang Chen would not confirm this matter.
Zhang Zhipeng does deserve punishment, but for him to be framed and slandered and to live in isolation and bullying at such an important time at his age is a bit too much.
Jiang Chen is not a saint. On the contrary, if Zhang Zhipeng really did something unforgivable and really stepped on his bottom line, Jiang Chen would be the first one to crush him. For example, Jiang Chen never showed mercy to Zhang Sanmao.
But Zhang Zhipeng is not.
Moreover, Jiang Chen could basically guess why Zhang Zhipeng did this.
Zhang Zhipeng studies hard and has good grades. He has always been around the top 80 in his grade. If he keeps up the pace, he will definitely be able to pass the first-tier line. However, his family situation is very bad. Both his parents have passed away. He only has a grandmother who is seriously ill and needs medicine to keep her alive, and a grandfather who only receives the lowest pension. Let alone going to college, he may not even be able to afford the living expenses during high school.
At the end of this month, the school will offer special hardship subsidy quotas. Ten candidates of the same age will not only be exempted from all tuition and miscellaneous fees, but will also receive a subsidy of 200 yuan per month. He will remember this because at this time in his first life, Huo Bo got a quota.
This is all Zhang Jian could promise Zhang Zhipeng.
It was wrong for Zhang Zhipeng to frame others for his own benefit, but everyone's suspicion and alienation as well as his own inner uneasiness and guilt have already made him pay the price, and that is enough.
On the way back, Jiang Chen told Shen Xu about Zhang Zhipeng's situation.
Shen Xu was silent for a long time before he pouted and said, "If he wasn't a bad person, how could he do such a thing?"
Jiang Chen paused, looked at Shen Xu, and asked him: "Do you remember how we met Huo Bo?"
Shen Xu was stunned and pursed his lips.
It was a summer a long time ago. He and Jiang Chen made an appointment to go to a bookstore to read. When they passed an alley next to a bookstore, they saw a ragged child holding his head and being beaten and kicked. He and Jiang Chen ran to stop him but found out that he was a thief who had stolen things from drugstores several times. Because he was too young, the police could not do anything about it.
It was also from that time that they realized that while they were carefree, there were grandmothers of their peers who were reluctant to buy medicine for a leg injury, and who had to endure the beatings of adults time and time again just for a box of spray that cost less than two yuan.
Chen Xu snorted and said, "Can Zhang Zhipeng be the same as Huo Bo? Huo Bo did that for his grandmother, and the people in the pharmacy were deliberately trying to cheat him. They knew that the medicine he wanted to buy was cheap, but they deliberately tricked him into buying expensive ones and made him spend all his money. That's why he had to steal. He had no choice!"
"Zhang Zhipeng can't compare with Hobo."
Jiang Chen knew this better than anyone else. Whether in terms of character, perseverance or interpersonal relationships, Zhang Zhipeng could never compare to Huo Bo. Moreover, Jiang Chen believed that if this matter happened to Huo Bo, he would never do this.
"But he has already received the punishment he deserves, and this punishment will accompany him throughout high school, so that's enough."
Chen Xu kicked the electric pole and said, "Alright, let that guy go, but next time he dares to do this evil thing, no one else will bully him, I will bully him myself!"
The teachers at No. 1 Middle School were quite quick in grading the test papers. By Wednesday, the results had already come out one after another.
While students were looking forward to the announcement of their grades, a piece of gossip was quietly circulating among all grades: Zhang Jian, the head teacher of Class 1, Grade 2, in order to discredit a student in his class, sent someone to hide the monthly test papers in that student's drawer. During the exam, he took other teachers to search, but was exposed by the student and left in disgrace.
This matter was originally only circulated among the second year of high school. After all, they were taking an exam at the time and the entire teaching building was quiet. Zhang Jian and a few others passed by the window, and what they said to Class 1 was roughly heard by the students in the two neighboring classes. As soon as the exam was over, they couldn't wait to find their friends in Class 1 to confirm it. After learning the true situation, they couldn't help but scold Zhang Jian for being unfit to be a teacher.
So, as the news spread from one student to another, not only did the entire second year of high school know about it, but the first and third years of high school also heard about it. Some parents even heard their children talk about it and called the school to verify the authenticity of the matter. They also said bluntly that if the school had such a teacher with no professional ethics, they would not feel comfortable with their children studying there.
At first, the teachers in other grade groups who received these calls were a little confused. Later, after confirming with their colleagues and hearing the whole story, they were all very disgusted with Zhang Jian's behavior. The matter became a big deal. Not only did the teachers and students in the whole school know about it, but even the parents who worked in the education channels heard about it and called the principal's office directly, demanding a thorough investigation.
Early Wednesday morning, the principal called together all the teachers of the second grade group for an emergency meeting.
Most of the teachers present were afraid of the vice-principal standing behind Zhang Jian, but there were some who were not afraid of him. Fu Jinyu, the mathematics teacher of Class 1, Grade 2, was one of them. When the principal asked about the whole story, he described it without any embellishment and even with a biased attitude.
After that, he added: "Principal, Jiang Chen is a good seedling that I have my eyes on. I originally planned to enroll him in the competition class at the beginning of the school year, but something happened in his family at that time, so I wanted to give the student some time off and not put pressure on him at this time, so I kept waiting and didn't mention it. Who knew that even though I didn't put pressure on him, Teacher Zhang was afraid that he would be too relaxed, so he made trouble for him in school, and if he failed once, he would do it twice, one after another, and it would never end."
Math teacher Fu Jinyu's words were merciless, and he made his point clear without disguising it: Zhang Jian was a piece of trash who deliberately caused trouble for students and slandered them.
Zhang Jian was sitting less than two seats away from him, his face flushed the color of liver.
Not only Zhang Jian looked unhappy, but Vice President Sun Tengyun also looked unhappy.
Sun Tengyun held his purple clay teapot and said quietly, "Teacher Fu, you are a teacher, it is not good for you to say such biased words."
Fu Jinyu was not afraid at all, and said coldly: "I am a teacher, so I say this."
Sun Tengyun looked at him for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to the principal: "Principal, I think both parties involved should be present in this matter. It is difficult for us to come to a conclusion by holding a meeting here. Why not call the student over and ask him why he thought that Teacher Zhang slandered him at the time, so as to know what the student was thinking."
The principal still had a kind look on his face. He didn't say anything good or bad. Instead, he looked at Zhang Jian and asked, "Teacher Zhang, you are the person involved. Why don't you tell me why you thought a student stole the test paper instead of you being careless and leaving it somewhere else."
Zhang Jianqing's face turned pale. He said, "I was too anxious at the time and didn't think much about it. I was afraid that if some students really stole the test papers, it would undermine the fairness of the exam. I was also afraid that it would encourage this unhealthy trend. So I acted impulsively."
Fu Jinyu blew the tea leaves in his cup and said calmly, "Teacher Zhang, you get hot-headed easily. As far as I know, you didn't just get hot once or twice. If you get hot all the time, you'd better go to the hospital."
Sun Tengyun's face darkened: "Teacher Fu, the principal is asking questions, why are you interrupting?"
The principal smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Teacher Fu is just like that. I understand. It's okay."
Sun Tengyun's face became even uglier. He glared at Fu Jinyu and looked at Zhang Jian with a gloomy expression, which made the already uneasy Zhang Jian even more flustered. He was afraid that the vice-president would not care about him this time.
Fortunately, Sun Tengyun didn't seem to give up. He said, "Since you can't explain it clearly, go find the student in question."
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