It’s Him – Ch18

Sending You Off

The suicide note was finished.

Li Hao gave the suicide note to Teacher Zhao, asking her to take it to the principal.

Li Hao stood on the rooftop, feeling the wind, like a hero.

He thought to himself that he must scare that crazy woman thoroughly. At the very least, he would only come down once she begged him on her knees.

The entire class hated that crazy woman, and once this incident was over, they would all thank him.

Their class originally had an old teacher who was about to retire. He could have finished teaching them and then retired, but one day, while descending the stairs, his old eyes failed him, and he missed a step, falling and fracturing his bones. So, the class was handed over to the newly arrived teacher, Sun Ning.

The young teacher was ambitious and idealistic. She had previously taught at a district-level high school, where the student body was poor, mostly made up of students who had been rejected by Pingcheng High School. However, this did not affect her class’s excellent English scores.

This success in teaching made her confident in her educational methods.

She was extremely excited when she first arrived. A teacher with dreams and passion, eager to work with intelligent students. Who wouldn’t want to have one or two students from their class make it into Tsinghua or Peking University?

But just a week later, she was faced with reality. The students were not turning in their assignments, and the head of the department caught ten students at an internet café, eight of them from her class.

The department head suggested that they be given a demerit and have their parents called in.

After reviewing their files, Sun Ning found that most of the students came from district-level schools. They were all smart but had parents working in agriculture away from home. If their parents were called to the school, they would punish their children, and at this age, students had a strong sense of pride. If things went poorly, they could really rebel.

“Write an 800-word self-reflection, and then have them run ten laps around the school,” she decided.

She hoped they would reflect on their actions during the run.

Teacher Zhao shared an office with Sun Ning and, having no classes at that time, went to supervise the running.

Teacher Zhao had taught them before and was familiar with the boys. She ran alongside them and spoke on Sun Ning’s behalf.

“Don’t blame Teacher Sun. She just transferred from a district-level school, and the pressure on her is quite high. If you all study well, your grades will improve.”

“She has pressure, so she can treat us like slaves? She manages us like we’re criminals all day long. If she’s so amazing, why didn’t she get into Tsinghua or Peking University?” Some of the boys grew angrier as they ran.

Teacher Zhao sighed. “Let me talk to your teacher about this. Balance is key. You’re all smart and don’t need that kind of high-pressure rote learning method.”

Yes! That crazy woman was stupid herself and could only barely get into a regular university. She thought everyone else should study like her.

Students from Pingcheng High School, especially those who came from district-level schools, all had some pride.

After this incident, the students also understood something. That crazy woman wasn’t capable and lacked proper education. She didn’t care about the students’ well-being, forcing them to memorize everything!

She barely got into a regular university herself, and back in high school, she couldn’t even enter Pingcheng High. How dare someone like her try to control them?

As Sun Ning continued urging them to study, their dislike for her grew. They felt that she wasn’t qualified to teach them.

At this age, they liked to challenge authority, so they taunted her again and again. Finally, Sun Ning couldn’t take it anymore and decided to call their parents.

When the parents arrived, there was a lot of shouting. Although Sun Ning tried to smooth things over, the boys felt that she was a hypocrite.

After the parents left, the students quieted down for a while. Sun Ning’s mood improved.

Li Hao and his friends hated her even more and cursed her behind her back. They even reported her to the education bureau, but it was all in vain. In this teacher-student battle, Sun Ning was still the winner. They were still stuck at school, unable to play games or skip class.

Because she was their teacher, and a teacher who had worse grades than they did!

Their monthly exam results weren’t bad, although Sun Ning kept reminding them that the exam was easy and not to relax, as the real challenge would be in their senior year. The students laughed at her. For this “study slacker,” when was it ever easy?

They compared their scores to past years’ cutoff lines, and the universities they could attend were far better than Sun Ning’s.

“We can mess around and still get good grades. I think she’s just jealous of us. She didn’t do well in school, and had to study hard to get into a mediocre university. Now that we’re breezing through, she’s twisted inside, wishing to destroy us.”

“Teachers should have standards. Only those who did well in school should become teachers. Someone like her, who was a failure in school, should not be allowed to teach.”

During this time, a student from a nearby school was about to jump off a building. The principal and teachers were crying and pleading with him to come down.

One evening, Li Hao and his roommates brought up the topic. One of the roommates said, “That crazy woman is going to drive her own students to death someday.”

Li Hao froze for a moment and then suddenly jumped up.

He had a brilliant idea!

He immediately acted on it.

Li Hao discussed the plan with his roommates, and two of them agreed. The other was a bit hesitant.

“If the school finds out, and we play this kind of prank, they’ll definitely call our parents.”

“If you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, who will know?” Li Hao said. “Don’t you remember how that crazy woman made you meet your parents? If we don’t teach her a lesson, she’ll really think she’s amazing.”

The hesitant roommate thought for a moment and nodded.

Li Hao wrote the suicide note, gave it to a few roommates to take to the principal and the department head, while he himself went to the rooftop.

As the others left, Li Hao suddenly remembered he hadn’t given them the suicide note.

In his plan, the note was supposed to be passed around when everyone was gathered.

He had to expose the crazy woman in front of the school leaders, to show everyone how she had forced students to this point for her own achievements!

The suicide note had to go to a reliable person. He couldn’t take it up to the rooftop himself. If they persuaded him to come down, it wouldn’t make sense to pass the note around then. It had to be logical.

He didn’t actually intend to jump. Only a fool would use their life to punish others.

He was lucky. When he went to find his roommates, he happened to run into Teacher Zhao heading upstairs.

“Your roommates went to find the principal. You guys really think of everything! Aren’t you afraid something might really happen?” Teacher Zhao scolded them, but there was a wry smile on her face, showing no intent to reprimand them.

So loyal! Li Hao felt he hadn’t misjudged Teacher Zhao!

He climbed up to her, as if they were close friends, and said, “I’m just helpless. Teacher Zhao, she keeps pushing us. Sooner or later, something bad will happen. Why not let us vent a little?”

Teacher Zhao, as expected, was loyal. “Alright, you go up, I’ll take the suicide note to the principal.”

Teacher Zhao took the note and said, “Looks like your teacher is really going to learn a lesson this time.”

“Teacher Zhao, you also think she deserves a lesson, right?”

The two continued walking up to the rooftop.

“Yes, just don’t know if she can handle it.”

“Teacher Zhao, what are you doing with me on the rooftop?”

“Sending you off.”

This double entendre made them both laugh. But each had their own reason for laughing.