And so it grew cold once more.

A fellow player asked Gao Fei, “You really attend junior high? Then hurry up and go to school. Why waste your time here?”

Gao Fei was furious. Not only could he not play, but he'd been laughed at by his friends. He shouted at Zhang Pai in anger, “Not even if it kills me will I take your class.” Grabbing his belongings, he stormed off.

Zhang Pai followed closely, holding up a sign. “I’m not teaching you. I’m your homeroom teacher.”

Gao Fei ignored him and went to hail a cab on the street. Zhang Pai continued to stand nearby with his sign raised.

As the taxi stopped and Gao Fei got in, Zhang Pai climbed in beside him. Gao Fei yelled, “What are you doing?”

“Accompanying you to the ends of the earth.”

“Damn it, aren’t you bored?”

“Not at all. I just found a fun game—it’s tormenting you.”

The driver sensed something was off and glanced back. “What’s going on with you two?”

Zhang Pai thrust his sign forward. “Look.”

“Ninth grader? You’re really immature. Your parents work hard so you can go to school, and you skip class? If you were my son, I’d beat you.” The driver scolded.

“Damn it.” Gao Fei opened the door and got out, pointing at Zhang Pai, “Don’t follow me anymore or I’ll call the police.”

Zhang Pai pulled out his phone. “Need help dialing?”

“I…” Gao Fei was exasperated. He wanted to hit Zhang Pai, but he was a teacher, and besides, he walked with a cane. Frustrated, he got back into the cab. Of course, Zhang Pai followed.

Gao Fei kept silent, heading straight home, but Zhang Pai still followed. When Zhang Pai stood in the living room, Gao Fei called the police.

Zhang Pai was completely unfazed, waiting for the officers to arrive.

Such matters always involve parents. Soon, Gao Fei’s mother came home, got to the bottom of things, apologized to the police, and sent them off with kind words. She also tried to placate Zhang Pai.

The couple knew Gao Fei wasn’t attending school but didn’t care. They were wealthy and planned to send him to America next year. Schooling in China was irrelevant.

Zhang Pai said, “Have you not seen the news? Foreign laws aren’t as lacking as ours. If minors break the law, they’ll be detained all the same. With your son’s attitude, he’ll be a nuisance wherever he goes.”

Gao Fei’s mother’s expression changed. “How can you talk like that?”

“I’m talking exactly as I should. Not just your child, but you—you can’t spoil him too much. So what if you have money? Sending him to America doesn’t guarantee greatness or a future. Nonsense. If Gao Fei keeps messing around, don’t even talk about making money—he might not even know how to spend it.” Zhang Pai continued, “I’m not here for a home visit. I’m not interested in your family. Here’s the deal: I’m his homeroom teacher. If you don’t want him in school, then hurry up and withdraw him. What’s the point of wasting time? Do it quickly.”

“I’ll file a complaint against you!” Gao Fei’s mother shouted.

“What did I say that warrants a complaint?” Zhang Pai smiled. “Anyway, it’s up to you.”

After saying this, he told Gao Fei, “Two choices: withdraw tomorrow or come to school.” With that, he left, paying no mind to Gao Fei’s angry mother.

Gao Fei was angry too, wanting to rush over for a fight. Zhang Pai raised his cane, “Best break me up—then you’ll be supporting me for life.”

Gao Fei’s mother hurried to restrain him, scolding angrily, “The school leadership must be blind, letting a thug like you teach!”

“Ah,” Zhang Pai couldn’t be bothered to retort, and hobbled out.

After leaving, he pondered for a bit and returned to school.

His first order of business was to speak with the principal, “I want to hold a parent meeting.”

“Is that possible?” the principal asked.

Zhang Pai replied, “Honestly, these trash students must give you a headache, right?”

“Yes.”

“Call in the parents. Those who can study, let them stay; those who can’t, let them leave early. The school won’t serve them,” Zhang Pai said.

Principal Qin was taken aback, pausing for a long moment before replying, “The whole point of a school is to educate. The aim is to teach those disobedient, unruly children and help them understand…”

“That’s elementary school you’re talking about. These kids already know too much—more than I do,” Zhang Pai said. “If a ninth grader doesn’t understand, it’s basically developmental delay.”

Principal Qin shook his head. “A parent meeting is fine, but advising withdrawal is not.”

“If that’s the case, I can’t serve them. It’s hard enough to get a few willing students, but they’ll just be led astray and skip again. If they’re going to skip, it’s better they leave early,” Zhang Pai argued.

“My purpose in hiring you was to stop the truants from skipping,” the principal said sternly.

Zhang Pai gave a salute, “Principal, we’re not filming a drama here. No need to scare me with that tone.”

“Can’t you be a bit more serious?” the principal asked.

Zhang Pai grinned, “Understood.” Then added, “I’ll go make some calls; we’ll have the meeting tomorrow.” Not waiting for a response, he interrupted, “If you trust someone, use them; if you doubt them, don’t. Trust me this once—after all, I’m just a temp.”

The principal sighed inwardly, silently granting permission, but reminded him, “Tomorrow’s the weekend.”

Zhang Pai was briefly taken aback, “Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Then told the principal, “Let’s schedule the parent meeting for Monday at one o’clock in the afternoon.”

Principal Qin gave no further comment, and Zhang Pai returned to his class.

Normally, adding a new class means extra teaching hours, but among all the ninth grade teachers, none were willing to teach these students. The schedule never got finalized.

Zhang Pai wasn’t worried; that was the leadership’s headache. He went back to his class to type stories.

Teaching was his side gig; writing was his main job.

The mischievous students behaved fairly well—no fights, mostly glued to their phones, some napping.

Zhang Pai didn’t interfere, and everyone coexisted peacefully until midday dismissal.

When the bell rang, Zhang Pai asked, “Isn’t it interesting being in my class?”

“When’s the next fight?” a student jeered.

Zhang Pai smiled, “Here’s good news—Monday at one in the afternoon, we’re holding a parent meeting. Don’t forget to tell your folks.”

“No way,” some students groaned.

Zhang Pai smiled, “Dismissed.” He kept on typing.

It was Saturday; ninth graders had a half day, with the afternoon and Sunday off.

At dismissal, trouble brewed—someone must have offended someone. Over twenty young men gathered at the school gate, most with tattoos, all posturing and peering inside.

Zhang Pai was unaware of the issue. He dismissed his students and stayed in the classroom to type, pondering, “Why do I work so hard every day? For what?”

He thought of scenes from cartoons—shouldn’t beautiful girls flock to a handsome young teacher? Why was he… Ah, life is always cruel.

As he worked, Yun Zheng rushed in, “Something’s happened.”

Zhang Pai looked at him, “Did you sneak off without being called? Don’t you know your teacher’s lame and needs to be escorted home?”

“You’re kidding me. You’re more agile than I am,” Yun Zheng replied. “There’s trouble outside.”

Zhang Pai grabbed his cane, “Help me shut down the computer and pack it up.” Then hurried out.

Yun Zheng tidied up.

With the gates wide open and twenty or so rowdy youths outside, many students left in groups, running quickly—no one wanted trouble.

But those men didn’t care. If they spotted someone who looked familiar, they’d chase and grab them. If it wasn’t the right person, they’d kick or slap them and tell them to scram.

Zhang Pai quickly looked for the elite students from Class Eighteen, scanning left and right—those kids truly were elite; they hadn’t shown up at all. The vast playground was packed with students, but not a single one from Class Eighteen.

Zhang Pai hobbled out the school gate, standing before the group. “What are you here for?”

“Get lost,” a youth with a gold chain spat.

Zhang Pai smiled and turned to look back; several teachers were nervously watching.

At that moment, someone shouted, “Boss, that’s him!”

He looked over—the face was familiar. But there was no time for details. The leader bellowed, “Get him!” More than twenty men surged toward him.

What a mess—what kind of pace was this? Zhang Pai turned and ran; at that moment, his leg miraculously healed, and he sprinted back into the campus.

As he ran, students scattered in fear, teachers screamed for the police.

Zhang Pai made it to the center of the playground, then stopped. He saw Class Eighteen students, each wielding a baseball bat, charging out from the teaching building. Not only them, but another group—likely their summoned cronies.

What was going on now? Zhang Pai turned and brandished his cane…

What happened next was too bloody to elaborate. The news report read: “A large group of thugs entered City No. 119 High School to stir up trouble, but were subdued by teachers, security staff, and police officers who arrived promptly. No students were injured…”

Want to win people over quickly? The simplest and most direct way is to give them an opponent. United in common cause, everyone fights together—and then, you’re all on the same side.

In this battle, Zhang Pai, as homeroom teacher, led his class of prodigies in a fierce fight against the local gangsters, successfully protecting every student from harm.

After this, the students felt their homeroom teacher wasn’t bad—at least he was gutsy and loyal, far better than before. When the police took away the knocked-down thugs, a student offered Zhang Pai a cigarette, “Teacher, you’ve got some style.”

Zhang Pai was frustrated. “I’m your teacher.”

“Teachers are people too—how about a drink later?”

Zhang Pai thought it over. Strike while the iron is hot—he called all the students back to the classroom, saying it would just take a bit more time.

Three days on the job, twice leading students in group fights—could there be a quicker way to bond?

The students laughed and joked, swaggering back to the classroom, boasting about how tough No. 119 was, and how anyone who came would be crushed; teasing each other for failing to handle a little guy…

No. 119 High School was no stranger to fights, but today’s campus brawl was rare.

Before the fight, Principal Qin had just left; the director of education sought out Zhang Pai for a talk, “You shouldn’t be at the front lines. You’re leading the kids into a fight, and that’s wrong.”

Zhang Pai replied, “Don’t worry. If anything happens, fire me—I’ll take the blame.” He added a word of thanks.

The director sighed, “This job shouldn’t fall to you. Anyone saddled with such a bunch of kids would have headaches. Anyway, be careful in the future.”

“Thank you,” Zhang Pai said, leaning on his cane as he returned to the classroom.

His first question: “Anyone hurt?”

No one answered.

Outnumbering the attackers, and with Zhang Pai as the main fighter, getting hit was inevitable, and pain was certain, but there were no knife wounds, no broken bones.

Zhang Pai said, “Good, as long as you’re all safe. Today you did well. Though fighting isn’t encouraged, your unity is commendable. So, I’m treating you all to barbecue at noon.”

The students exploded in cheers, shouting, “Long live the teacher!”