The May sunset was still dazzling, its rays flaunting their brilliance like a show of strength.
The sports field belonged to the athletic students, who were sweating it out with energy and vigor.
The basketball courts had long been claimed by the boys from the last class of the day.
On the steps sat shy and confused boys and girls, badminton birdies flitted through the air where there was no net, and groups of students jogged or strolled along the track.
The tennis courts, off-limits to students except when cleaning, had become a recreational haven exclusively for teachers.
Most of the activity now centered on club meetings inside the classrooms.
Xia Hua walked slowly through the complex building, chewing on a toothpick.
“Good afternoon, teacher,” she greeted politely as an unfamiliar teacher passed by.
The teacher nodded in return with a smile, offering a polite response.
No one questioned why Xia Hua was in the complex building.
The complex had six floors.
The broadcasting room was on the fourth floor.
Xia Hua needed to get close to it, because unlike a wireless mic, her phone signal only covered about 10 to 20 meters.
Basically, if Bluetooth could reach that far, that’s how far she could stand.
She waited. She saw Teacher Ye Ling heading to the staff meeting room.
The students in the broadcasting room had slacked off the moment Ye Ling left.
They put all the song requests on loop and slipped away.
The farewell party for the graduating seniors was about to begin, and none of the club members had any spare time.
“Hope they don’t come back too soon,” Xia Hua muttered as she arrived in front of the broadcasting room.
She quietly shut the iron door without making a sound, then took the toothpick she’d been chewing and stuck it into the keyhole of the broadcasting room door.
Even if the others returned, unlocking the door wouldn’t be easy.
Of course, Xia Hua wasn’t going to play the recording right in front of the room.
From the fourth floor to the rooftop was only about ten meters.
She made her way to the rooftop, pulled out her phone, and opened a signal simulation app.
Ding-dong~
Device connected.
Please select playback.
“This is so embarrassing…” Xia Hua sighed again.
She opened the audio file she had edited and hit play immediately.
If she had another choice, Xia Hua wouldn’t have wanted to broadcast such a humiliating audio clip.
But for her, this was the quickest, easiest, and most efficient option.
The music that had been playing nonstop since school ended…
Suddenly went silent…
After a brief pause, voices rose—at first faint, then growing clearer, a heated argument unfolding.
“Why are you only punishing me, teacher?” It was a girl’s voice, questioning.
“I’m doing it for your own good.” A middle-aged man’s voice followed, revealing that this was a dispute between a student and a teacher.
“I’ve been the one cleaning the whole semester! Everyone makes mistakes, so why am I the only one being punished? That’s just not fair!” The girl continued to argue.
“If I say you’re wrong, then you are. I could even recommend you for expulsion.”
“If you can’t accept that, then just leave! I can’t teach a student like you.”
“Are you going to admit your mistake or not? Otherwise, I’ll mark you down, say I can’t teach you, and suggest expulsion. If you do admit it, then start cleaning again tomorrow!”
“……”
Slowly, the students listening to the broadcast began to sense something was wrong.
At first, they thought it was a bullying incident.
But as they listened further, they realized it went beyond that— it was bullying led by a teacher.
This was no small matter. It was a serious breach of conduct.
The students still at school were furious.
“Which class is that teacher from? How could they do that?” A girl spoke with fear in her voice.
“A teacher like that has no right to teach,” a boy said bluntly, openly questioning it.
“Judging from the recording alone, it’s obvious that the teacher has been targeting that girl for a while, even leading the class to vote against her. That’s incredibly vile. We don’t know the full truth yet, so let’s hold judgment for now,” said one of the more level-headed students.
But even they couldn’t hide their anger after hearing the audio.
“That’s just too much~~”
“A teacher leading the bullying of a student…”
“If that girl didn’t commit some monstrous crime, then I swear I’m going to curse that teacher out and report them with my real name. People like that are a cancer to the education system.”
If the girl wasn’t some sort of villain, then why would the teacher treat her like that?
And if the girl wasn’t the one in the wrong, then the real wrongdoer had to be the teacher.
Inside the staff meeting room, nearly all the teachers in the school had gathered.
The topic of discussion was exactly this: The bullying incident involving the teacher of Class 2–1.
The audio file Xia Hua sent to the county education bureau had made a huge impact, especially because she added a note: If you don’t take this seriously, I’ll go to the news, post it on Weibo through influencers. If you think you can keep it under wraps, then go ahead and try.
Xia Hua had sent it out a little after noon.
The education bureau resumed work at 2:30, and by around 4:00, they had already contacted the principal of No. 1 High School.
The principal immediately called an emergency meeting with all the teachers.
“We’re not going to wait for the teachers who haven’t made it to school yet. First off, I believe what I’m about to talk about may be the most serious teaching incident in the history of our school.”
“The incident started when…” The balding principal had just begun speaking—
When suddenly, the audio started playing outside.
Even though the meeting room was soundproofed to some extent,
The voices still came through.
The principal stopped speaking right away.
He knew there was no point continuing.
He put away his script and said to Ye Ling, “Quick! You’re in charge of the broadcasting room. Get over there now and shut that thing down!”
Ye Ling responded immediately and left the room.
But as she ran, her steps gradually slowed down.
The contents of the recording stunned her.
This… this kind of outrageous thing actually happened?
In the next moment, Ye Ling realized it was probably better to just let the audio play to the end.
“Judging by the principal’s attitude just now, they were going to settle this quietly after the meeting. In other words, officially, our school has never had a bullying incident, and that Zhou Qing teacher? Most likely wouldn’t face any consequences at all.”
“So why not let the whole recording play?” Ye Ling started walking instead of running.
Especially when she reached the broadcasting room, she nearly laughed out loud.
A toothpick was holding everyone back?
Honestly, they could just break down the door and be done with it.
Compared to a major teaching scandal and an iron door, which mattered more?
Worst-case scenario, no matter how sturdy that iron door was, could it really hold back a few energetic teenage boys?
A whole group of people treating a toothpick like it was some national threat.
They weren’t just stumped by that tiny toothpick—
They were being completely defeated by it.