Chapter 27: No Reason to Resort to Violence

“Aunt Zhao, what happened? Why would my eldest get into a fight?” Chen Liyang asked hurriedly. He knew his eldest son’s personality; the boy was level-headed, never one to stir up trouble.

Unless he had been pushed too far, he would never hit someone for no reason.

Aunt Zhao stood at the courtyard gate, catching her breath as she replied, “I don’t know either. The call was supposed to go directly to your phone, but your kid didn’t leave your contact info, so they didn’t have your number. It just so happens my son is in the same class as yours, so the teacher called my phone and asked me to tell you to head over to the school right now.”

If it were just a minor squabble between kids, the teacher usually wouldn’t call the parents. Now that the call had even reached Aunt Zhao, it likely wasn’t a simple matter.

He wondered if Zhou Chengdong was hurt, a wave of worry rising in Chen Liyang’s heart.

“Aunt Zhao, I’m really sorry to bother you again, but could you please keep an eye on Wanning for me?”

“What time is it to be standing on ceremony? Go on, hurry! With me around, you don’t have to worry about Wanning!” Aunt Zhao walked over and took Wanning’s hand.

With Aunt Zhao there, Chen Liyang naturally felt at ease. Without delaying any further, he ran out of the urban village, unlocked a shared bicycle on the street, and sped off.

What would normally take over twenty minutes to walk took him only seven or eight minutes of furious pedaling.

Dismounting from the bike, he noticed a flashy Maserati parked near the school entrance.

However, he had no mind to admire luxury cars right now; all he wanted was to find his eldest son as quickly as possible.

Once the security guard at the gate learned he was a parent, he let him right in.

After all, summoning parents during class hours was a frequent occurrence at the school, happening every few days.

On busy days, four or five parents coming in throughout the day wasn’t unheard of.

Take the owner of that Maserati parked outside; they were likely a summoned parent as well. He just didn’t know if their child was the perpetrator or the victim.

If their kid was the victim, then whichever parent raised the bully was in for a rough time.

The school campus was vast, housing both the elementary and middle school divisions. The elementary school occupied the front buildings, while the middle school was located in the rear set of buildings.

In the middle lay a sprawling sports field, where all the students gathered together for morning calisthenics.

According to the original novel, the original host had never set foot in the school. Even when the new term started, the children had always registered on their own.

Thus, this was his first time visiting the campus, and he had no idea which ninth-grade class his eldest was in.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to go to the classroom; he could head straight to the teachers’ office.

He only needed to ask where the ninth-grade teachers’ office was. Since classes were in session, students were all inside their classrooms.

Seeing a few teachers pass by occasionally, Chen Liyang stopped a young female teacher and politely asked for directions to the ninth-grade teachers’ office.

When the female teacher saw the bruises on Chen Liyang’s face and his bleached yellow hair, she started in surprise, momentarily suspecting some criminal had snuck onto school grounds.

Fortunately, despite his rough appearance, Chen Liyang was modest and polite.

Even though she was a bit wary of him, the teacher still pointed him in the right direction.

After thanking her, Chen Liyang didn’t hesitate and headed straight for the middle school building.

The teachers’ office was on the third floor, and Chen Liyang took the stairs all the way up without stopping.

The female teacher had mentioned that the office was the innermost room on the right after turning onto the third floor.

The closer he got to the office, the faster Chen Liyang’s heart pounded.

Back when he was a student himself, his parents had often been called in because he caused trouble.

At the time, he couldn’t appreciate what his parents felt when summoned to the teacher’s office, but now he truly understood it.

It was nothing but sheer nerve-racking tension, even more anxiety-inducing than taking his college entrance exams.

No matter how long the road, one eventually reaches the end, let alone a distance of a mere dozen meters.

Standing before the office door, Chen Liyang took a deep breath. Just as he was about to knock, an aggressive voice rang out from inside.

“Where on earth is this kid’s parent? Why aren’t they here yet? Look at my son! He’s been beaten black and blue!” The speaker was a woman with a sharp, shrewish voice laced with arrogance, clearly not someone to be trifled with.

Immediately after came the soothing voice of a teacher. “Haohao’s mother, please don’t be anxious. I’ve already called to inform them, and they should be arriving soon. Please be patient!”

“Call and rush them again! My son’s injuries definitely need hospital treatment; we can’t delay medical care! Their child did the beating, so they must be held responsible!”

Hearing this, Chen Liyang didn’t hesitate a second longer and knocked on the door. Soon, a teacher’s voice called out, “Come in.”

Chen Liyang opened the door and immediately spotted his eldest son, Zhou Chengdong, standing near the doorway.

There were no visible injuries on his face or body, allowing Chen Liyang to quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhou Chengdong clearly hadn’t expected Chen Liyang to show up, let alone arrive so quickly.

Barely ten minutes had passed since the teacher called, which meant he must have rushed over without a second thought the moment he hung up. Otherwise, he couldn’t have made it here so fast.

He just wondered if the man would still be able to remain this calm in a few moments.

The moment Chen Liyang opened the office door, everyone inside turned their eyes toward him.

Seeing his yellow hair and the bruises on his face, the homeroom teacher frowned. This parent looked completely unreliable. No wonder his son was so wild and uncouth, throwing away years of schooling.

Whenever an issue arose, he still resorted to violence like some ignorant brute from the countryside, foolishly believing that knocking someone down absolved him of responsibility. He had no manners whatsoever.

The opposing parent wrinkled her nose in disgust the moment she laid eyes on Chen Liyang.

She already held a low opinion of the boy who had beaten up her son.

Not only were his clothes shabby, but they were also ill-fitting. One glance was enough to tell that his family was dirt-poor.

Instead of keeping his head down at school, someone like him actually dared to lay a hand on her son and injure him like this.

Just thinking about it made her want to slap him across the face.

Chen Liyang acted as if he hadn’t noticed the strange looks being thrown at him. He focused his gaze on the man sitting behind the desk wearing black-rimmed glasses, guessing with his pinky toe that this was the teacher.

So he took the initiative to greet them. “Hello, Teacher. I’m Zhou Chengdong’s father, Chen Liyang. Although I don’t know exactly what happened, I know my son. He’s never been the type to cause trouble, so I wanted to ask if there might be some misunderstanding here?”

Seeing Chen Liyang immediately try to excuse his son without even asking what happened, clearly intending to play the shameless rogue, the woman flew into a rage and shouted curses. “Are you blind? Can’t you see your son beat my son until he’s covered in blood? You have to take full responsibility for this!”

Only then did Chen Liyang glance at the other boy standing nearby. He had assumed that no matter how bad it was, it would be a black eye at most.

He really hadn’t expected the boy to be covered in blood. It seemed to have dripped from his nose, running from beneath his nostrils down to his chin and all over his clothes, leaving dried bloodstains that were truly alarming.

Just as he was pondering how best to handle the situation, the teacher spoke up again. “Mr. Chen, no matter the reason, Zhou Chengdong has no excuse to hit someone. Is this how you usually raise your child? That’s wrong of you.” The homeroom teacher’s voice was rather cold. Though he didn’t wear his disdain plainly on his face, he clearly didn’t take Chen Liyang seriously.