Chapter 118: Principal Niuhulu Chen
Principal Chen squinted—and sure enough, the pig-headed figure was actually Fu Peng.
His face was wrapped in gauze, with only a narrow slit for his eyes showing. He looked absolutely miserable!
Su He recognized him too, and she was inwardly delighted.
Serves you right! You totally deserved it!
After all the wicked things you’ve done, even the wasps came out to deliver divine justice!
Fu Peng also spotted Principal Chen and Su He. When he saw Su He looking like she was gloating, he ground his teeth in rage.
To be fair, Su He was gloating a bit. But in order to maintain her good-girl persona, she had put on a concerned expression.
Unfortunately, Fu Peng’s imagination got the best of him, and he became convinced she was laughing at his misfortune.
At this point, Fu Peng was full of hatred—toward the heavens, the earth, and everyone around him. He felt like the entire world was bullying him.
That morning, he had gone to the outskirts of the city with Instructor Lin and several other teachers. For some reason—maybe something Lin had said—the others had been subtly distancing themselves from him.
He’d tried to make friendly conversation, but everyone was cold and indifferent. In the end, he went off on his own to pick some wildflowers.
Tired, he sat down on a tree stump.
What he didn’t know was that on the back of that dead stump was a wasp nest.
And just like that, he literally stirred up a hornet’s nest.
His clothes had protected his body, but his face… was stung into a swollen pig’s head.
Principal Chen held back his laughter. “Teacher Fu, since you’re not feeling well, go home and rest. If you can’t teach the next few days, we’ll count it as a workplace injury.”
Fu Peng clenched his fists and gave a curt reply before storming off.
Su He turned to Teacher Lin and the others. “Teacher Lin, where are the wildflowers you picked?”
“We put them in the main hall.”
Su He immediately rushed off to the venue to help coordinate the flower arrangements.
*
By half-past five that evening, guests began arriving.
The provincial night school representatives were the first to arrive. Leading the group was Director Lu—an old acquaintance of Principal Chen, though they never got along.
The moment they met, Director Lu joked about Chen’s hair.
“Old Chen! Haven’t seen you in a few months—how’d you lose even more hair?”
Principal Chen: “…”
Insulting a man’s looks like that—do you want to get punched?
Then Director Lu looked around and commented, “What’s with all the fanfare? Sure, our provincial night school is your superior unit, but you didn’t need to go this big.”
Principal Chen inwardly scoffed. You really think you’re that important? You’re just the bait to lure in bigger fish!
Aloud, he laughed and said, “Just taking this opportunity to showcase our students’ learning achievements. Later, county and commune leaders, as well as factory heads, will also be joining us.”
Director Lu raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t expect you to be this eager for praise. Trying to score points?”
Normally, Principal Chen would’ve ignored the jab and brushed it off. But that was the old Principal Chen.
Now, he was Niuhulu Chen.
“Our night school’s performance is a perfectly legitimate and positive activity. What do you mean ‘eager for praise’? What do you mean ‘scoring points’?
Old Lu, you’ve been in education and ideological work for years. You should know what’s appropriate to say and what isn’t!”
Director Lu’s face turned red, then pale. The teachers who had come with him hurriedly stepped in to ease the tension, finally putting an end to the verbal sparring.
Still irritated, Director Lu entered the hall and began criticizing everything in sight.
“Old Chen, I hate to say it, but the facilities here are really poor. Other counties’ night schools are in way better shape.”
“I don’t mean to be harsh, but a bad general burdens the entire army. As principal, shouldn’t you try harder?”
Of course, he knew it wasn’t that Principal Chen wasn’t trying—he simply didn’t have the means.
An County was the poorest in the province. Budget was tight. Forget extra funds—they were lucky to maintain their current ones.
The accompanying teachers looked awkward. They all thought, You don’t hit a man where it hurts—Lu’s being way too blunt.
Just as someone was about to step in, Principal Chen let out a long sigh.
“You’re right. It is my incompetence. If I had more ability, I wouldn’t be worrying about the budget every day. From now on, I’ll focus more on improving our conditions.”
Director Lu, who had prepared a whole tirade, was left speechless: “…”
What the heck? Giving up that easily? Weren’t you just full of fire?
Lu clicked his tongue. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but even a clever housewife can’t cook without rice. With An County in such a tough spot, no matter how hard you try, it’s unlikely to change much.
Honestly, I still think you should go with my previous suggestion—close the school and turn it into a satellite teaching point. That way, our provincial night school can take over the budget.”
Principal Chen said nothing.
Truthfully, whether they closed the school or not wouldn’t affect him much. His salary would remain the same. He might even get a raise if transferred to the provincial office.
But for the students of An County, it would be a huge blow.
Satellite teaching points only enrolled one class per year at fixed times. Many aspiring students would have no place to learn.
Seeing that Principle Chen remained silent, Director Lu sneered, “You’re just a stubborn mule. You won’t stop till you hit a wall! Fine, stay here and watch your school collapse from lack of funds.”
Principal Chen thought, That might’ve been true before…
But now that I’ve got Su He, I don’t just have food—I’ve got surplus!
Tired of arguing, he handed the guests over to Teacher Zhou and headed out to greet the other attendees.
*
When he reached the school gate, he saw Su He chatting and laughing with several commune directors.
Principal Chen: Didn’t she only speak to them once on the phone? Why does it look like a family reunion?
Oh, right—she did pick them up this morning.
The county leaders were the last to arrive. By the time they entered, the performance was only ten minutes from starting.
Aside from the night school faculty, students, and guests, many locals had come to watch the show.
Principal Chen saw this as a great publicity opportunity—it could help increase future enrollment.
Anyone who wanted to watch could come in, though the front seats were reserved. Many people had to stand.
Su He wasn’t wearing makeup. It wasn’t trendy at the time; the emphasis was on natural beauty.
She didn’t need a script either. When the time came, she stepped confidently onto the stage.
“Honored leaders and guests, welcome to our county night school…”
One program followed another. Su He simply filled in with short introductions between acts.
One of the senior county leaders turned to Principal Chen and asked with a smile, “Which unit is this Su He from? She speaks well—definitely has potential.”
Principal Chen was just about to clarify that Su He wasn’t a student when Director Shen, sitting behind the leader, quickly chimed in:
“She’s our liaison from Xiangyang Commune. Very capable, high ideological awareness—she’s a fine comrade.”
Principal Chen: Wait a second—wasn’t Su He the liaison from Huaihua Commune?
