Chapter 20: The Situation Escalates

Actually, what Yan Dongyu felt was not an illusion. Fang Mingyuan, who had experienced decades of life in the future, had seen too many of these crude tricks. He had seen so many that he could predict the ending just from the beginning. He knew that Yan Dongyu had always looked at him with disapproval, and of course, he had also always looked at Yan Dongyu with disapproval. However, for an adult to use such meaningless means to deal with his student was simply going too far. He wanted to see what other tricks Yan Dongyu had up his sleeve.

If, at first, Yan Dongyu's actions could be considered as merely rough teaching methods, which were quite common in 1983, they could still be tolerated. But now, the deliberate provocation was intolerable. Clearly, Yan Dongyu believed that he had already subdued all the students in the class, and now he was turning his attention to him.

Fang Mingyuan looked at Yan Dongyu indifferently, waiting for him to continue.

Yan Dongyu was taken aback, and his gaze involuntarily avoided Fang Mingyuan's. However, he quickly realized what his action meant. A strong sense of humiliation surged in his heart, making his face flush.

"Fang Mingyuan, you only scored 75 points this time, a significant drop in your grades. Call your parents to school tomorrow! Did you hear me?" Yan Dongyu said with a fierce but weak voice. Calling parents was his ultimate weapon, which had always been effective. In the past, the troublemakers at the town middle school had been tamed by this method. He wanted to see if Fang Mingyuan could remain so calm when faced with parents who were furious and scolding him at school.

Fang Mingyuan nodded indifferently and said, "Indeed, scores are the students' lifeline, and exams are the teachers' magic weapon! Mr. Yan, I would like to ask, how did I lose those 25 points on my test?"

Yan Dongyu never expected that Fang Mingyuan would dare to question him face-to-face. Seeing the whole class looking at him in surprise, Yan Dongyu's blood rushed to his head, and he pointed at Fang Mingyuan, shouting, "Out! Stand by the door!"

"Sure, but give me a reason first!" Fang Mingyuan countered without backing down. "Even as a teacher, you have no right to expel a student without cause!"

"Speaking without permission during class!" Yan Dongyu said coldly. "Have you forgotten the rule that you must not speak during class? Copy it twenty times and hand it in tomorrow! If you don't, you don't have to come to class!"

Fang Mingyuan nodded, stood up, took his test paper, and walked towards the door. "If I hadn't spoken up just now, would you have accused me of disrespecting the teacher? How can you not answer when a teacher asks you a question? Indeed, you are an adult, so powerful and intimidating! You can deprive me of my right to attend school with just a word. But I must remind you that the Constitution guarantees children's right to education. Can you override it with just a word? Are you the President of the State? Or the Premier? Or is this factory elementary school your private property?"

Since Yan Dongyu was being unreasonable, Fang Mingyuan naturally wouldn't give him any leeway. His words were particularly stinging.

Yan Dongyu was so angry that he was burning with rage. After teaching for so many years, he had encountered many troublemakers, but Fang Mingyuan was the first to be so "reasonable." Each word stabbed him in the heart, leaving him speechless.

Enraged, Yan Dongyu lunged forward. Fang Mingyuan, who had been prepared for this, dodged and rushed out of the classroom door, shouting, "The teacher is hitting people! The teacher is using violence and being unreasonable! The teacher is behaving like a thug!"

This scream in the quiet hallway was like a firecracker, immediately shaking the entire corridor. Even people on the second floor heard it clearly. Doors of classrooms opened one by one, and teachers poked their heads out to see what was happening.

Yan Dongyu, standing at the door, felt his blood rush to his head. This kid was too despicable, making the situation known to everyone.

"Fang Mingyuan, who hit you?" asked Wang Yan, Fang Mingyuan's Chinese teacher, a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Mr. Yan couldn't argue with me, so he tried to hit me. If I hadn't run fast enough, I would have been hit!" Fang Mingyuan deliberately acted frightened and hid behind Wang Yan.

Wang Yan looked at the angry Yan Dongyu. He had some reservations about Yan Dongyu's teaching methods, but since he wasn't the class teacher, he couldn't say much. However, he liked Fang Mingyuan, who always scored 100 in Chinese, so he believed him to some extent.

"Mr. Yan, I don't know how you manage students at the town middle school, but at this factory elementary school, teachers should not hit students. How old are these children, and how old are you?" Wang Yan didn't say the words "bullying the young," but Yan Dongyu could clearly understand the implication, and his face turned red.

"Mr. Yan, how can you hit people?" another teacher said with dissatisfaction. These teachers, who had taught Fang Mingyuan before, liked him for being smart, studious, and well-behaved. Fang Mingyuan was also well-known among the factory workers, and it was a matter of pride to say that they were his teachers. Seeing Fang Mingyuan's frightened face, they naturally took his side.

"I didn't hit him!" Yan Dongyu roared.

"I think you didn't hit him!" Wang Yan countered. He knew that Fang Mingyuan was usually logical and often had his own "twisted logic," but those "twisted logics" often made sense after some thought. Sometimes, even adults couldn't argue with him. Looking at Yan Dongyu's appearance, it seemed he couldn't argue with the kid and resorted to violence.

"Teachers should persuade with reason! Only bad people hit others!" Fang Mingyuan, hiding behind Wang Yan, added fuel to the fire. He had made up his mind that, at worst, he could change classes. He was familiar with the teachers in all four classes, and he wouldn't be in Yan Dongyu's class anymore. For example, the class where Wang Yan was the class teacher would be a good choice.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Wang Yan patted Fang Mingyuan's head, trying to suppress his laughter. "You're being disrespectful. Don't think everyone is as easy to talk to as me."

"Mr. Wang, it's not my fault. I just asked Mr. Yan why he deducted 25 points from my math test, and he got angry. He made me stand outside, called my parents, made me copy the class rules twenty times, and said I couldn't come to school. Finally, he tried to hit me. What can I do with such an unreasonable teacher?" Fang Mingyuan said with a look of委屈 (wronged).

"Deducted 25 points?" Wang Yan and the other teachers were surprised. Fang Mingyuan might be careless at times, but he always scored 100 in formal exams. How could he lose so many points in math?

"Show me your test paper!" Wang Yan glared at Yan Dongyu. Fang Mingyuan handed him the test paper, and Wang Yan quickly scanned it. Although he wasn't a math teacher, the second-grade curriculum was simple for him. In a few minutes, he calculated that Fang Mingyuan's answers to the last 25 points were correct. Clearly, Yan Dongyu was deliberately making things difficult for Fang Mingyuan.

"What are you all doing here?" a deep male voice came from behind. "Isn't it class time? Go back to your classes. We'll talk about this after class!"

Everyone turned to see the principal, Lu, and they all called out, "Principal Lu!"