Zijin Villa.
The smoke from burning tobacco swirled under the overhead light, lingering for a long time.
All eyes were focused on the phone screen in the center of the table.
The screen remained lit, displaying the text message sent by "Jian Shen".
The gods do not relieve the suffering of sentient beings, yet evil spirits roam the earth.
A long silence followed.
Zhou Weiguo, deputy director of the Education Department, was the first to break the silence.
He rubbed his temples wearily and put his glasses back on.
"What a wonderful saying, 'Evil spirits roam among men.'"
Jian Shen's comment is even more incisive than the article itself.
He looked at Yan Zheng, who had remained silent:
"Teacher Yan, what do you think?"
Yan Zheng did not answer immediately.
He stared intently at that line of text.
As a senior senior Chinese language teacher in the province, he has always been known for his rigor and orthodoxy.
Throughout his decades-long coaching career,
Literature is meant to convey moral principles and to celebrate truth, goodness, and beauty.
But now, someone told him,
Compassion can also be disguised as evil.
"The scalpel in the doctor's hand, and the butcher's cleaver in the butcher's hand..."
Yan Zheng repeated the message Jian Shen had sent in a low voice, his voice somewhat hoarse.
"There is no difference in essence; the difference lies in the heart of the person wielding the knife."
He slowly closed his eyes.
In the darkness, the images from "The Man Waiting to Die" reappeared.
Under Jiangcheng Bridge
That smelly, homeless man named Crow,
They are using the most vicious language to insult a bankrupt person who wants to commit suicide.
Spit flying everywhere, his face was repulsive.
But it was precisely this devilish face that managed to pull people back from the clutches of death.
In the past, he would have dismissed it as sophistry without hesitation.
But today,
These words came from "Jian Shen".
Jian Shen, the author of "The Miracles of the Namiya General Store," who healed countless people with the gentlest touch of his pen.
Even those who understand goodness best have come to accept this kind of "evil".
He insisted on that zero score.
Is this upholding the bottom line, or is it stifling another form of redemption?
"I……"
Yan Zheng opened his eyes.
His spine, which had been straight all night, seemed to have slumped a bit.
Instead,
It is a deep sense of powerlessness, and the respect hidden behind that powerlessness.
"I retract my previous comment."
Yan Zheng reached out and grabbed the red pen on the table.
The pen tip hovered above the exam paper, trembled for a moment, and then fell heavily.
He drew a circle over that glaring "0" score.
The red circle, like a shackle, locked away his prejudice.
“Professor Jian Shen is right. It was us…it was me who was narrow-minded.”
The stern voice was deep.
"They only saw the ugliness on the surface, but not the compassion in the bones."
This article deserves full marks.
Ma Peiyuan breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face:
call--
Sitting opposite him, Ma Peiyuan let out a long breath.
His tense shoulders relaxed, and a smile spread across his face.
"Now that Teacher Yan has agreed, things will be much easier."
Chairman Gu, Director Zhou, so... is that settled then?
Zhou Weiguo nodded, tapping his fingers lightly on the table:
"It's settled. Not just a perfect score..."
He paused for a moment and looked around the room.
"Since Professor Jian Shen has put it this way..."
If we only give it a perfect score, it would make our education department seem petty.
"So, Director Zhou, what are your thoughts?"
Ma Peiyuan looked at Zhou Weiguo with a puzzled expression.
After a moment's thought, Zhou Weiguo stood up and looked at Ma Peiyuan.
"This child deserves the grand prize!"
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