Chapter 270: We Are Civilized People

Inside the Principal’s Office.

Miss Jiang waved her hand in irritation at the wisps of smoke curling in the air, trying to fan them away.

But the smoke seemed to be playing with her, drifting lazily around her fingers no matter how she waved.

After a while, she gave up.

With a faint look of grievance, she turned to the middle-aged woman sitting beside her.

“Auntie… can we talk this out?”

“If you keep smoking like this, I’m going to have to start calling you ‘sister’ instead…”

At that, Ji Ruting chuckled and stubbed out her slim cigarette in the ashtray.

Then she looked at Miss Jiang with a teasing expression.

“You don’t seem worried at all.”

“Worried about what?”

Miss Jiang blinked, genuinely puzzled as she looked at the woman beside her.

“It’s just a minor injury. It’s not like I actually broke his arm.”

As she said that, Jiang Ning looked a little annoyed.

How was she supposed to know the stick outside the mailroom was that brittle?

She’d swung it with full force, and the damn thing snapped before it even landed properly.

The whole thing ended up feeling half-baked and deeply unsatisfying.

However, her irritation didn’t seem to bother Ji Ruting in the slightest. In fact, she looked rather entertained.

“I heard that boy’s family is quite wealthy,” she said. “Aren’t you afraid of causing trouble?”

Trouble?

What a joke.

Miss Jiang glanced toward the inner room of the office.

Even through the door crack, she could hear Old Ma’s furious roars echoing from inside.

She smacked her lips and waved her hand dismissively.

With a bright smile, she said, “Auntie.”

“If I dared to swing that stick, then I’ve already thought through the consequences.”

“So, hehe…”

This wasn’t Jiang Ning bluffing.

The moment she raised that stick, she’d already mapped out the path ahead.

Whether it meant getting hauled into the station, going head-to-head with the Luo family, or dealing with fallout at school—she’d already made her peace with it.

Still, Principal Ma had caught her off guard.

Just thinking about what happened at the school gate earlier made Miss Jiang want to laugh.

She had braced herself for Old Ma to come storming in, ready to scold or curse her out.

Instead, what she got was a smiling face and polite applause.

A drill?

They were calling this a drill?

Oh, right. A drill.

Hehehe…

To be honest, Miss Jiang had to hand it to Old Ma.

After more than ten years as the principal of No. 1 High School, he’d certainly earned his reputation.

Even in a situation like this, he could think on his feet and find a way to keep things under control.

Not long after, the Dean of Students and Old Guo arrived, and in that strange atmosphere, they managed to disperse the crowd that had gathered.

Then, the main parties involved—Jiang Ning, Wang Jianguo, Qi Wen, Luo Chengming, and the butler whose arm had nearly been broken by Miss Jiang—were all brought to the Principal’s Office.

After getting a general understanding of what had happened, Old Ma took Luo Chengming into the inner room and began a furious tirade.

The terrifying shouts and sheer rage coming from that room made Little Wife Qi, sitting beside Jiang Ning, tremble.

She instinctively leaned closer.

Feeling her movement, Miss Jiang cheerfully took Little Qi’s hand and comforted her.

“Don’t be scared. We’re the victims here.”

At those words, the butler—who had been wiping blood from his arm with a tissue—suddenly looked up and shot her a glance.

“Victims, huh?”

As soon as he spoke, Wang Jianguo, who had been idly picking at her nails, slammed her hand on the sofa.

“You old bastard, you got a problem?”

“Want to step outside and go another round?”

Seeing that another fight was about to break out, Old Guo quickly stepped in to mediate.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

“This is a school, not the streets.”

“I’d appreciate it if everyone could leave that kind of behavior outside.”

Hearing this, Miss Jiang waved Wang Jianguo over and calmly turned to look at the butler.

“Sir.”

“I think you know perfectly well who’s right and who’s wrong in what happened today.”

“To be blunt, I could’ve just called the police.”

“Sure, with your family’s money and connections, you might’ve been able to smooth things over.”

“But if this incident gets dragged into the Patrol Bureau or leaks to the public…”

“Do you really think, with Principal Ma’s temper, your young master would still be able to attend this school in peace?”

The butler fell silent.

Just then, the door to the Principal’s Office opened.

Dean Liu Liang walked in, followed by a graceful, elegant woman.

At the sight of her, the butler immediately stood up and stepped forward.

He bowed his head.

“Madam.”

He had barely spoken the word when the woman raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

The sharp crack of the slap drew everyone’s attention in the room.

Yet the butler didn’t utter a word of protest.

He kept his head bowed.

Seeing this, the elegant woman took a deep breath, stared at the butler for a long moment, then turned and swept her gaze across the room.

Little Qi finally stopped beside Jiang Ning.

She stepped forward a couple of steps.

“Hello, Qi Wen.”

“I’m Shang Jie, Luo Chengming’s mother.”

“I’m sorry, what happened today was our fault. I’m here on Chengming’s behalf to apologize to you.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

As she apologized, the butler beside her also bowed his head.

Watching two adults apologize to her, Qi Wen, with her innocent nature, couldn’t take it. She quickly waved her hands and said,

“Ah, it’s fine, really, it’s fine.”

“I also—”

Seeing Little Qi about to go along with it, Miss Jiang cut her off with a sharp tone.

“What’s the point of you apologizing?”

“Let that little brat come and say it himself.”

“And this isn’t something that can be solved with just an apology.”

Hearing that, Shang Jie’s gaze finally settled on Jiang Ning.

To be honest, when Shang Jie received the call from the school at home, her head instantly started pounding.

Especially when she heard that Jiang Ning was on the list of involved students.

That was when Shang Jie realized this wasn’t going to be easy.

“Jiang Ning, how do you want to resolve this?”

“Get Luo Chengming out of the school. I don’t want to see him here again.”

Upon hearing that, Shang Jie fell silent for a moment before shaking her head.

“Sorry.”

The moment her request was rejected, Miss Jiang immediately waved her hand dismissively.

“Then don’t blame me if I beat him up every time I see him at school.”

Such a bold and thuggish statement made even Guo Ming furrow his brow. Ji Ruting, who had lived in Hong Kong City for years, couldn’t help but glance at the beautiful girl beside her.

As if she couldn’t quite believe those words had come out of her mouth.

“Jiang Ning!”

“The boy’s parent came here to make amends. What kind of attitude is that?”

“Do I need to call your mother too?”

Lao Guo’s words instantly made the sharp-tongued Jiang shrink back a little.

Her face was full of displeasure, but there was a hint of helplessness too.

However, that was just Miss Jiang’s outward reaction.

In truth, she had already thought things through.

Even if she had called the police back then and tried to go through official channels via the Patrol Bureau to warn the Luo family, it probably wouldn’t have amounted to much.

The root of the problem was that Hongsheng Group still existed.

As long as that company was around, there was no way she could use legal or official means to get rid of that brat.

Given the current situation, things had already gone beyond what she could influence.

She figured Principal Ma must already have his own plan.

At that thought, Miss Jiang’s eyelids twitched slightly.

In the end, she decided to wait and see what would happen once the people inside came out.

At that moment, she watched as the disciplinary director led Madam Shang and the butler into the inner office.

Ji Ruting, standing nearby, suddenly asked curiously,

“I’m a bit curious.”

“You seem to really dislike that boy.”

“Can you tell me why?”

That question got Miss Jiang fired up.

She immediately launched into a vivid, exaggerated retelling of everything she knew to the wealthy young lady beside her.

Though Lao Guo occasionally interjected with things like “this is all hearsay,” he didn’t really refute much of it.

“Is that so?” Ji Ruting narrowed her eyes slightly.

“He really is a menace.”

…

A short while later.

Luo Chengming followed Madam Shang out from the inner office.

He was brought in front of Qi Wen.

After muttering a half-hearted “sorry,” he stood silently behind Shang Jie.

He didn’t say another word before leaving.

But just before he walked out, he shot Jiang Ning a look that was clearly a warning.

Miss Jiang didn’t back down either.

She responded on the spot with a throat-slitting gesture.

The message was clear.

This wasn’t over.

Half an hour later.

After enduring a long-winded lecture from Old Ma, Miss Jiang finally left the Principal’s Office with Wang Jianguo and Qi Wen.

As they came down the stairs, they saw Luo Shanshan and the others still waiting below.

There was a round of greetings as soon as they met.

While Sun Qian and the others chatted with Qi Wen, Wang Jianguo sidled up to Miss Jiang and muttered in a low voice,

“Boss.”

“Isn’t the school being too lenient with that kid? Just a one-month suspension?”

“Should we… do something about it?”

Jiang Ning glanced at Secretary Wang’s hand gesture, mimicking a slicing motion, and rolled her eyes.

“Do something, my ass!”

“We live in a civilized society!”

“We’re not bandits!”

“And besides, what’s the point of taking out one person?”

“If we’re going to take someone out, might as well take out a whole company!”

Hearing that, Wang Jianguo’s eyes lit up.

“Boss, you mean…?”

(End of this chapter)