Chapter 88: Action
Perhaps because her state had been adjusted in the system’s space, Gu Qinghuan felt fantastic this morning.
Gu Haiyan had been a little worried her daughter hadn’t rested well, but when she saw her come out brimming with energy, she felt much more at ease. She called Gu Qinghuan over to sit down— the small wontons were just about to come out of the pot.
The freshly cooked wontons were a little hot, but the wrappers hadn’t been soaked in the broth long enough to turn mushy. The thin skin held tender, fresh meat filling, each one slipping down her throat like a little goldfish— delicious and fragrant.
After finishing the steaming wontons, Gu Qinghuan also drank up the soup mixed with seaweed and dried shrimp. She let out a satisfied burp, “I’m full!”
Gu Haiyan handed her a boiled egg and a box of milk, “If you get hungry this morning, eat these. If not, save them for tonight and give them to your dad.”
“Got it.” Gu Qinghuan obediently took them, slipped them into the mesh side pocket of her schoolbag, said goodbye to Gu Haiyan, and hurried off to school.
Because she had been too tired last night, Gu Qinghuan hadn’t had the energy to think about the tutoring situation. Now, sitting on the bus to school, she finally had the energy to plan.
In short, today she needed to finish going over her classmates’ wrong questions first. Since everyone’s mistakes were pretty similar, she might even be done by lunch break.
Then, she would need to think about the homeroom teacher issue.
Just recalling the homeroom teacher of Class 12’s words made Gu Qinghuan’s anger flare up again.
What’s wrong with the class average being high? In Class 3, even the student ranked last was still in the top 200— wasn’t that impressive enough?
To be honest, she’d considered going to the student council to get someone to look into Class 12’s grades. But that thought only lingered for a moment before she dismissed it.
After all, it was only the Class 12 homeroom teacher bad-mouthing Chen Zelin. It had nothing to do with the students of Class 12.
If she wanted to target someone, it should be the real “enemy,” not drag in the innocent.
Maybe she could quietly ask around in the student council for information about the Class 12 homeroom teacher. At the very least, she didn’t even know the person’s name yet.
When Gu Qinghuan got off the bus and arrived at the school gates, she happened to see Jiang Chuchu getting off as well. She called out, “Chuchu—!”
Jiang Chuchu turned her head, smiling brightly when she saw her, “Morning, Qinghuan.”
She pulled Gu Qinghuan closer, looking her over with concern, “You okay today? Last night you looked so out of it, I was starting to think you had a cold.”
Gu Qinghuan quickly explained, “It’s nothing, I was just a little tired. Look— I’m totally fine now, full of energy!”
She even widened her eyes dramatically, blinking at Jiang Chuchu.
Jiang Chuchu laughed and pinched her cheeks, “Yeah, you look super energetic. I bet you could explain ten questions in a row without catching your breath.”
“Uh…” Gu Qinghuan scratched her cheek. “Ten might be too much, but three should be no problem.”
The two of them walked toward their classroom together, discussing how to divide today’s question explanations.
Before they even reached Class 3’s door, they noticed several classmates not going inside, but instead standing by the hallway window and doorway, faces grim as they talked.
When they saw Gu Qinghuan and Jiang Chuchu, the students immediately perked up, “Class rep! Discipline committee member! Something bad’s happened!”
Gu Qinghuan had a bad feeling, “What happened?” She quickened her pace.
Bao Qingsong pulled her to the doorway. When she looked inside, Gu Qinghuan saw that on the back blackboard of Class 3, someone had spray-painted two huge red characters: “Trash.”
Her mind buzzed. She took two deep breaths to calm herself before turning to her classmates, “Who was the first to arrive today?”
Lian Fenghe raised his hand, “Me. I brought fresh flowers today, so I came early to change them, and saw the words on the back blackboard.”
Back on Teacher’s Day, Class 3 had given flowers to their teachers. The teachers had each taken one from their bouquets and placed them in a vase on the podium.
Later, Lian Fenghe had asked Gu Qinghuan if he could bring leftover flowers from his floral arrangement practice to put in the classroom as decoration.
After checking with the teacher and classmates, Gu Qinghuan had agreed, with a few conditions— nothing too flashy, no overly expensive flowers, and no overpowering scents.
Lian Fenghe had happily agreed and started his “flower arrangement art.”
At first, he tried Western-style arrangements, but after being teased by classmates, he switched to Eastern-style arrangements, where he actually had quite a knack. Lately, the feedback had been more and more positive.
Today, since he was changing flowers, he had arrived early and been the first to see the spray paint.
“Did you see anyone leaving our classroom?” Gu Qinghuan asked.
He shook his head.
“Anyone notice anything suspicious nearby?” She looked at the others.
They all shook their heads, faces filled with anger.
“We could check the security cameras,” Jiang Chuchu suggested, pointing to one in the hallway.
Gu Qinghuan frowned but didn’t respond immediately.
If it had been painted on the front blackboard, it would have been openly taunting the students and disrupting class— checking the cameras would be reasonable.
But on the back blackboard… Usually, only teachers would spend much time facing it.
This was a direct attack on Class 3’s teacher, not the students.
Of course, they could investigate, but the school administration might judge it as a conflict between teachers. If it looked like a dispute involving teachers and dragging in students, that would be even more troublesome.
“Fenghe, go ahead and set up the new flowers,” Gu Qinghuan said.
Something about her calm tone settled everyone down.
He nodded and went to the podium.
“Qin Yue, take a few people, turn on the lights, and take photos for records— any footprints or unusual marks, make sure they’re documented. For the spray paint, add a time and location watermark to the photos.”
Qin Yue didn’t really understand what was going on, but since it was Gu Qinghuan giving orders, he patted his chest, “Got it!”
He picked two girls and two boys to help take photos carefully.
“Xiao Lan,” she turned to the activity committee member, “search for stores in the city that sell strong paint remover, and get a delivery here fast. Use class funds.”
“I know a few car wash places that have it. I’ll check and get the best one delivered.” Xiao Lan jumped into action.
Gu Qinghuan nodded and kept assigning, “Song Yi, Zhan Chuchen—”
“Yes, boss!” Song Yi replied, and Zhan Chuchen stepped closer.
“And Chuchu, Xin Bao,” Gu Qinghuan pulled in Jiang Chuchu and Yu Xin.
“I’ll contact the publicity department to borrow an unused banner. You guys come up with the wording and write it. Song Yi and Zhan Chuchen will handle measuring and setup later.”
“The rest of you— half stay around the classroom to block the view so no other classes notice the blackboard. Also, the person who did this might come back to watch, so keep an eye out.
“The other half, come with me to stall the teachers. Act natural— don’t let them see the classroom until we’re ready. If they do see, just say we’re preparing a surprise for them.”
She clapped her hands, “Action!”
