Fan Jian emerged from the crowd and jumped in front of Chu Bai.

“What are you doing? You’re just a poor student, a piece of trash. Isn’t everyone right about you? Are you trying to hit someone with that look? If you have the guts, try it. Your grandpa here is standing right in front of you, daring you to hit me. I bet you, this grandson, won’t dare to touch me!”

Fan Jian’s face was still bruised and swollen in places, and combined with his arrogant words, he looked like he was asking for a beating.

Chu Bai clenched his fists.

“Grandson, I’m letting you hit me. Why don’t you dare? Come on, hit me! Come on, come on…”

Fan Jian continued to provoke, sticking his face out for a beating, his expression was so infuriatingly smug.

Finally, Chu Bai, with his fiery temper, couldn’t hold back any longer and slapped Fan Jian.

The slap was immensely satisfying.

However, Chu Bai felt a bit regretful afterward.

Fan Jian’s behavior was clearly intended to provoke him.

Sure enough, after taking the slap, Fan Jian immediately turned around, ready to report the incident.

But just as Fan Jian stepped out of the classroom, he turned back.

Accompanying Fan Jian was an elderly man.

It was the Old Principal.

Seeing this, Chu Bai’s worry turned to joy, and he immediately greeted the Old Principal.

Many students around didn’t recognize the principal, but upon hearing Chu Bai’s greeting, they immediately understood the old man’s identity.

The students, following Chu Bai’s lead, politely greeted the principal.

The Old Principal nodded with a smile at the students, then turned his gaze to Chu Bai and Fan Jian.

“I heard what happened just now from outside the classroom. You two are classmates, and being able to come together is fate. Classmates should understand and care for each other…”

The Old Principal launched into a long lecture, continuously trying to instill his values.

The surrounding students listened in a daze, nodding occasionally, feeling that the Old Principal made sense.

Wang Haoran, however, saw through it all.

He knew the Old Principal was trying to resolve the issue for Chu Bai.

As Wang Haoran had guessed, the Old Principal said a lot but only lightly criticized Chu Bai without giving him any punishment.

The slap Fan Jian received was essentially a freebie for Chu Bai.

Wang Haoran fully understood that this Old Principal was likely an important supporting character in the protagonist’s camp.

Moreover, he was the kind of supporting character who greatly helped the protagonist.

In many online novels, such supporting characters are very disadvantageous to the antagonists.

They often turn the tide, allowing the protagonist to make a comeback and putting the antagonist in a difficult situation.

“It seems I need to find a way to deal with this important supporting character. I can’t let him keep helping Chu Bai,” Wang Haoran thought to himself.

After resolving the conflict, the Old Principal took advantage of the break to have a private conversation with Chu Bai.

On the playground, the Old Principal and Chu Bai walked and talked.

“The mock exams are over. It’s okay if you didn’t perform well. The most important thing is the college entrance exam. That’s when the real test comes.”

“Principal is right,” Chu Bai nodded heavily, feeling a bit better.

Although he failed the mock exam, he still had a chance.

As long as he performed well in the college entrance exam, it would be fine.

After all, during the college entrance exam, he wouldn’t encounter someone like Xin Liangcai.

The invigilators for the college entrance exam are from other schools or brought in from other places.

During the college entrance exam, the candidates and invigilators don’t know each other, to prevent cheating.

Even if he did encounter such a situation, Chu Bai wasn’t afraid.

The nature of the college entrance exam is different; it determines the future prospects of the candidates. If an invigilator were to sit next to him and stare at him, Chu Bai could protest to the exam supervisor, claiming that the invigilator was affecting his exam.

In this way, Chu Bai could perform very well.

Getting into a first-tier university should be a sure thing, and even a top-tier university was very possible.

“You seem to be fine now. Go back to class,” the Old Principal said to Chu Bai.

“Principal, I have a small request. I hope you can agree.”

“Go ahead,” the Principal said with a smile.

“Last night, when I was having dinner at your house, you mentioned that you were going to a friend’s place to play with gambling stones this afternoon.”

“You want to go too?”

“Don’t be fooled by my age. I’ve learned the true essence of this art from a legendary figure in gambling stones. I win nine out of ten times!”

“This…”

“Principal, please take me with you. My family is not well-off, and my parents work very hard. I want to earn some money to help them,” Chu Bai played the emotional card.

“What a filial child.”

Seeing Chu Bai’s earnestness, the Old Principal, believing he wasn’t lying, said:

“Go ask your class teacher for leave.”

“Our class teacher is not easy to communicate with, so I hope you can help me,” Chu Bai said with a sheepish smile.

After the incident with Wen Jing, Song Zhenyu, although she didn’t make it public, was definitely still upset.

Chu Bai didn’t dare to ask Song Zhenyu for leave. If he did, he would definitely get scolded and wouldn’t get the leave.

…

In the afternoon.

Wang Haoran found a quiet place and made a phone call.

This was to his so-called mother.

Because Wang Haoran remembered that his mother had once said: “Our family has connections. You can bully anyone you want at school.”

Although Wang Haoran didn’t know exactly what these connections were, he was sure they weren’t simple.

The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

After several attempts, it was still the same.

According to his mother’s schedule, she should be busy at the company at this time.

Wang Haoran gave up on calling and decided to go to his mother’s company.

After all, this matter couldn’t be explained clearly over the phone, and even if it could, they would still need to meet in person.

Wang Haoran arrived at the office.

Song Zhenyu had stayed up until four in the morning grading English papers and was now exhausted. She took advantage of the lunch break to nap at her desk.

There was no one else in the office at the moment. Wang Haoran had an idea and leaned close to Song Zhenyu’s ear, softly singing the song “Loving You”:

“I hold you tightly in my arms,”

“Cradling you in my hands,”

“Because I truly love you,”

“In the pure world of love,”

“You are my only one,”

“Never, ever doubt it.”

Song Zhenyu was a light sleeper, and the familiar song made her groggily open her eyes.

In her view was a handsome young man’s face.

Song Zhenyu instinctively smiled.

[Ding! The host has stirred the heart of one of the female leads, Song Zhenyu, earning 200 villain points.]

“I know you sing well, but you didn’t have to come to the office to sing. I’m really tired,” Song Zhenyu said gently, not angry at being woken up.

“Sister Zhenyu, I want to request a leave of absence. Could you approve it for me?” Wang Haoran handed over the leave slip and a pen.

“Why are you also requesting a leave?” Song Zhenyu asked casually.

“Who else requested leave?”

“Chu Bai,” Song Zhenyu said, sounding a bit unhappy.

She hadn’t wanted to approve Chu Bai’s leave, but he had brought up the Principal.

Song Zhenyu couldn’t refuse.

What was Chu Bai taking leave for?

Wang Haoran was curious, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.

He pointed to the leave slip.

“Sister Zhenyu, please help me out.”

Song Zhenyu didn’t ask for a reason and promptly signed the leave slip.

In her view, Wang Haoran was an excellent student with outstanding grades. If he was requesting leave, it must be for something particularly important.

Approving it was the right thing to do; there was no need to ask too many questions.