In the classroom, Li Zheng suddenly woke up.
He was unhappy.
He felt as though someone was scolding him.
He immediately looked toward Lin Yujing.
However, she was still asleep, and she looked like she was sleeping soundly.
"There's no need to think about it. It must be her," Li Zheng thought.
Li Zheng indignantly placed his head back down on his book-made pillow.
He recited incantations in his heart, praying for a certain dream.
"Lin Yujing failed, Lin Yujing failed, Lin Yujing failed," he chanted in his heart…
…
In the meeting room, in front of a long, round table, Sun Xiubin was talking endlessly.
On the other side, a group of people was about to fall asleep.
The people in the meeting this time were the subject teachers of the second year.
Among the group, the more experienced teachers sat in front of the table, while the younger teachers sat in a line of chairs at the back.
Yu Hong was the exception. She never attended meetings.
The situation was urgent. The homeroom teacher of class 2-1 was quickly appointed as the teacher in charge of the entire level.
However, for the longest time, they couldn't decide on a candidate for the homeroom teacher of class 2-4.
Depending on the results they produced, a homeroom teacher could receive a bonus of a few hundred yuan every month.
However, the intensity of the work also increased exponentially.
At the same time, the job also carried countless risks.
These risks included students fighting, or arguments between parents.
The students might not be happy if a homeroom teacher said the wrong things, while the parents might feel that a homeroom teacher was being irresponsible if they didn't say anything.
In other words, no one wanted to be a homeroom teacher. They would rather move bricks outside of school for the few extra hundred yuan.
Thus, the leaders of the school always had to play a psychological game whenever they mentioned homeroom teachers.
They would often throw in benefits like calling them an "exceptional teacher" or giving them a more professional title.
It was too hard to find a teacher like Hu Chunmei, who was willing to put in the effort and had naturally gotten used to the role of a homeroom teacher.
It was for this reason that most of the leaders of the school hadn't heard about Hu Chunmei's illness.
They didn't know why the principal would remember this now and force her to the hospital.
"Then, regarding the homeroom teacher of class 2-4, will the teachers who are willing to undertake the role raise their hands." Sun Xiubin finally finished speaking.
There was utter silence on the other side.
Almost everyone hung their heads low.
The entire crowd had become like statues.
A female teacher who was dressed in professional attire and sitting in one of the back rows was the only one to raise her hand with gusto.
She had a sharp gaze and seemed raring to go.
"Me, me, me!" she thought.
However, Sun Xiubin pretended not to see her and continued scanning the rest of the group.
"Sigh, don't be so reserved, all of you. Then I shall… appoint someone. Mr. Hu Youbin, you teach biology to class 2-4, so you should be relatively more familiar with them, right?"
On the other side, a middle-aged male teacher silently took his glasses off. "I… don't really… understand them…"
"That's still a certain level of understanding." Sun Xiubin said to the surrounding teachers, "Do all of you support Mr. Hu?"
Were they going to support him? Of course.
However, no one voiced their support out loud.
Even though they wanted desperately for Mr. Hu to be the target, as that would mean they were safe.
However, it was likely that they would be noticed if they spoke out without thinking now.
It was better for them to hide.
It was better for them to remain as statues.
Sun Xiubin had no choice but to express her stance. "Alright, if I say that there are no problems, then there'll be no problems."
"That… Discipline Mistress Sun… I have my difficulties." The biology teacher Mr. Hu became very nervous. "My… My wife… My wife might be pregnant."
"No…" Sun Xiubin said, depressed. "What do you mean by 'might be pregnant'… Don't you have a way to confirm that?"
The female physics teacher by the side forced back her smile.
That was because she thought about something.
Schrodinger's Womb.
Sun Xiubin stared at the biology teacher, Mr. Hu. She didn't intend to spare him. "Old Hu, let's try to overcome the problem. Pregnancy takes ten months. By then, Chunmei will have returned."
The biology teacher Mr. Hu had been forced into a dead-end by Sun Xiubin. He suddenly slammed the table and erupted with a strong desire to live. "Discipline Mistress, I just remembered, my wife is already pregnant! See, Discipline Mistress, we're having our second child. We definitely won't be able to cope when that time comes. I'll only hold the students of class 2-4 back."
The statues around him secretly clenched their fists when they heard those words.
"D*mn him, he went all out," they thought.
"Are they going to force it tonight just so he doesn't have to be a homeroom teacher?"
Seeing how conflicted Mr. Hu was, Sun Xiubin had no choice but to turn her gaze toward the female physics teacher by her side. "Xiaotao, the physics grades of class 2-4 are quite decent, do you think…"
"Discipline Mistress!" The physics teacher, Mrs. Tao, had a stroke of inspiration. "I also have plans for a child recently."
"Are… Are you married?"
"Soon, soon." Mrs. Tao nodded continuously.
Sun Xiubin swallowed. "Didn't you ask me to recommend a partner to you just two days ago?"
"Ah… That's right… Love came too quickly." Mrs. Tao nodded her head determinedly. "Furthermore, I'm a woman. If I were to really have a child, it would disrupt the class more than it would for Mr. Hu."
Mr. Hu's face twitched.
"You are vicious, Mrs. Xiaotao!" he thought.
"You with your thick eyebrows and big eyes!"
"You even frequently called me Brother Hu."
"Yet you betrayed your brother faster than anyone else at the critical moment."
"My wife is right."
"How could there be true friendship in the workplace?"
"There are only interests."
While they were bickering, the female teacher in the back row still had her hand manically raised. Her eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
"I won't have a child, I won't have a child, I won't have a child in my life!" she thought.
Sun Xiubin didn't look her in the eye.
Instead, she looked toward a female teacher who was over 50 years old.
As someone her age, she knew that the female teacher would not be having a child.
"Mrs. Zhao, the English grades of class 2-4 can be improved…"
However, she suddenly saw the teacher scratch her head and let out a grimace. "Oh my… oh my… My blood pressure is acting up again… I've only managed to keep my blood pressure under control these two years because I wasn't leading a class…"
"..."
Sun Xiubin looked around in frustration.
The female teacher in the back row who had raised her hand couldn't hold it in any longer.
She leaped up and nearly flipped over her chair.
"Discipline Mistress Sun, I can do it," she pouted. She looked serious, hardworking, and full of spirit. "I'm not afraid even if the class places last in the level. I'm not afraid no matter how difficult the class is to lead."
"Mrs. Xiaotang, please have a seat first." Sun Xiubin pressed her hand down as she said, "It's not that the leaders of the school don't trust you. It's because you're still too young. Last year, you were only a homeroom teacher for a week when the parents started to complain. The problem doesn't lie with the quality of your teaching, but purely in the rigid mindsets of the parents. The school can't do anything about that."
Even though the surrounding statues didn't dare to raise their heads, deep in their hearts, they completely agreed with Sun Xiubin's explanation.
In the eyes of the parents, the golden age of a homeroom teacher was between 35 to 50.
Teachers at this age had a vast amount of experience, ample amounts of energy, and had the patience and strength to control the students.
The parents thought that a homeroom teacher wouldn't be able to control the students if they were younger than that age.
The parents also thought that a homeroom teacher wouldn't care about the students if they were older than that age.
Due to this reinforced belief, some parents might feel that the school was biased against their child's class if the age of their homeroom teacher was too young or too old. They felt that their child would be put at a disadvantage and be doomed for life.
It was that way for Mrs. Xiaotang in the past. She had been serious and responsible and had spent all her time communicating with the parents. However, there had been some parents who came to the school every day just to cause trouble. They had put a label on her and said that she physically punished the students.
They claimed that the surveillance cameras had captured everything. The police were even called.
They were obviously lies.
However, the parents were determined.
Xiaotang had been chased after and scolded by the parents. She had cried alone in the office.