Chapter 74: Punishment

Principal Niu immediately sensed something was wrong. One claimed that halfway there, Wen Xiaocheng dragged him to the back hill; another said he waited outside the broadcast room for ages, listening to voices inside, and it was only after Wen Xiaocheng jumped out the window that he left. The timelines simply didn’t match! There could be only one truth—someone was lying!

One person fighting a dozen, then fainting on the ground afterward? Did they think he was Ip Man?

He turned, trying to find the answer in Xiaocheng’s eyes. Xiaocheng stiffened his neck and insisted, “That’s right! It was just me taking on over a dozen of them! I tied Qiu Hui to a post and beat him. The rest of them were cowards, none dared to come at me!”

Principal Niu sneered. Then why did you end up fainting? Did bragging too hard earn you divine retribution?

Xiaocheng, growing more spirited as he spoke, declared, “Principal Niu, just come at me for today’s incident! Qiu Hui claimed to be the boss of No. 2 Middle School—well, I defeated him today! From now on, if any of them don’t behave, you won’t even need to say a word. I’ll help you keep them in line!”

Principal Niu snorted coldly, now fully understanding Xiaocheng’s intentions. The kid figured that since the punishment would be the same either way, he might as well take all the blame himself—solving the problem, gaining some credit, and getting to boast that he beat up Qiu Hui. It was a win-win in terms of reputation.

“So, you’re saying everything was your doing alone?”

“Of course!” Xiaocheng, right in front of the principal, walked straight up to Qiu Hui as before, nose to nose, and provocatively asked, “You admit defeat?”

“I do!” Up on the hill, Qiu Hui’s courage had long since been drained. He didn’t hesitate at all.

“You see that, Principal Niu? I’m the new boss at No. 2 now! If there’s any trouble, come to me. If you have something to say, tell me! Don’t let these small fry get in the way—You all, get the hell out of here!”

The unlucky bunch standing against the wall grumbled inwardly. Wen Xiaocheng really was something else—daring to be so brazen even in front of the principal. If he wasn’t the boss, then who was? They glanced at Principal Niu, whose face shifted through a range of colors, but he still hadn’t exploded.

“Wen Xiaocheng, you intend to shoulder all the blame and take sole responsibility for this?”

“They had nothing to do with it in the first place!” Xiaocheng replied.

“In your dreams!” Principal Niu slammed his desk. “Each of you will write a self-reflection, no fewer than three thousand words. If it isn’t deep enough, rewrite it! I want them on my desk by noon tomorrow! And you, Wen Xiaocheng! You can’t escape a major demerit. Your self-reflection will be five thousand words! Since you love the broadcast so much, tomorrow, during the break, you’ll read your reflection out loud to the entire school!”

Thus, the decision was made. Expulsion was off the table, and the option of persuading them to withdraw wouldn’t work either, so this was the harshest punishment possible. Wen Xiaocheng’s willingness to take all the blame, whatever his motives, was a relief for Principal Niu. If he’d punished everyone equally, it would have been manageable for the second-year students, but the third-years were about to take their high school entrance exams, and it would be disgraceful for the principal if they graduated with a demerit on their records.

The line of unlucky students leaning against the wall felt all sorts of emotions. Even if Wen Xiaocheng wasn’t their friend, he’d handled the situation with integrity, taking all the responsibility and even saying, “Come at me alone.” That alone showed the makings of a leader.

This punishment was, in fact, him taking the fall for everyone else!

The punishment, harsh on paper, landed softly. Wen Xiaocheng bore all the blame, and Principal Niu assumed he was doing it for reputation. Little did he know, Xiaocheng was simply telling the truth.

When the rain stopped, the disciplinary notice was posted. In the morning, the bulletin board had displayed Yang Liusan’s commendation, but now it was replaced with the announcement of Wen Xiaocheng’s punishment. A slanting rainbow arched across the sky, and for some reason, the students reading the notice felt oddly cheerful.

“On Monday at noon, Wen Xiaocheng, a student from Class Eight, Grade Two, publicly provoked Qiu Hui of Class Four, Grade Three over the school broadcast. Later, on the summit behind the school, he assaulted Qiu Hui. Afterwards, Chen Guo of Class Four, Grade Three; Wu Xiaodong and Shi Jianfeng of Class Six, Grade Three; and others joined in, resulting in a melee. Wen Xiaocheng instigated the conflict, attacked more than ten classmates in succession, disregarded school discipline, and caused a severe disturbance! To uphold school order and discipline, and as a warning to others, after thorough deliberation, the school has decided to impose a major demerit on Wen Xiaocheng, the principal instigator of this fight, and require him to deliver a profound public reflection before the entire school.”

Yet, in the eyes of the students, these same words took on a different meaning. Considering what they’d seen and heard, the notice read more like this:

At midday today, a wandering hero, Wen Xiaocheng, issued a challenge to the martial arts alliance chief Qiu Hui live over the airwaves, inviting him to a duel atop the back hill. Chief Qiu, lacking courage, summoned his lieutenants and branch leaders to ambush Hero Wen at the summit. But Wen was prepared—he captured Qiu Hui single-handedly and then fought the assembled foes atop the peak. The skies darkened, thunder rolled! Wen Xiaocheng fought a dozen adversaries without retreat, until the authorities arrived and broke up the fray!

Such is the way of things: what is seen as a disgraceful “five-bar stripe” by the authorities is a badge of honor for some, while the incident officially constitutes a serious offense, but among the students it wins applause. As for the “profound reflection” to be publicly read, it might as well be a top scholar’s three-day parade, a celebratory flourish—it serves only to further Wen’s fame.

The disciplinary notice was, in effect, a certificate appointing Wen Xiaocheng as the new “boss.” Many students now looked at him with a touch of awe. Qiu Hui’s dominance had been easy to understand—he had friends and family money. But Wen Xiaocheng, taking down Qiu Hui’s gang single-handedly, must have something else behind him—even the kids could guess: his father was a murderer! Maybe the kid himself was a desperado. The fierce fear the mad, the mad fear the reckless; he had inherited recklessness as a family trait.

As for Qiu Hui, who’d been beaten, though he’d wet himself in fear at the time, he still felt humiliated afterward. He lacked the courage to go toe-to-toe with Wen Xiaocheng, but that didn’t stop him from seeking revenge by other means. Like all bullied children—and, indeed, all infuriated teachers—he played his trump card: he called his parents.

Qiu Hui’s father was Qiu Zeyang, director of the Primary Education Division of the county’s Bureau of Education.

...

Wen Xiaocheng stood before the disciplinary notice, admiring his handiwork. Many of the phrases used were his own suggestions. The school had not classified the incident as a group fight but had instead portrayed it as a one-sided beating by Wen Xiaocheng. By placing blame on a single individual—the son of a murderer, no less—the school absolved itself of any responsibility. Xiaocheng was quite happy with this outcome. One man taking on ten sounded heroic. More importantly, though the punishment was strict, Principal Niu believed Wen Xiaocheng was just putting on a show, and that the other side bore half the blame. In the end, Xiaocheng lost nothing.

Wen Xiaodao stood beside him, wearing a look of helplessness. “Satisfied now? Got it out of your system?” The implication being, “You’re so childish.”

Xiaocheng paid no mind, murmuring, “We’re smarter than most, so getting what we want is easy. But what should we actually want?”

This was much like the three ultimate philosophical questions: Who are you? Where did you come from? Where are you going?

“Being smooth and diplomatic is one way to live; muddling through is another. Since we see things more clearly than most, we should all the more savor and enjoy every day.”

“Then enjoy writing your self-reflection,” Wen Xiaodao muttered.

“I will.”

—

In Old Dao’s stories, writing a self-reflection is a pleasure—you know what I mean!