Chapter 7 Suspension and Expulsion

“Apologize to her? For what reason?!” Lin Jinxiu was indignant.

Li Qing quietly wiped the sweat from his brow — he knew it, neither Zhang Pingtian nor Lin Jinxiu were easy to deal with. These two were real trouble! Neither was willing to apologize, so what could be done? Li Qing looked at Zhang Pingtian, then at Lin Jinxiu. Forget it. He decided not to get involved and just stood off to the side, pretending to be mute.

Zhang Pingtian gave a cold laugh. “For what reason? For the reason that you bullied my student! Absolutely not!!”

“Professor Zhang, there are plenty of students in the Chinese Medicine Department. If you have to meddle in even our personal disputes, isn’t that sticking your nose in a little too far?” Lin Jinxiu mocked sarcastically. “Or is it that you’re getting old and your brain isn’t working properly, and you just like to stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong?”

“Which department are you from?” Zhang Pingtian’s voice revealed no emotion.

“What? You want to know which department I’m from so you can have a professor give me a good talking-to?” Lin Jinxiu folded her arms. “Useless. If you’ve got the ability, go find the principal and have him expel me! No need to know my department — just say my name and I’ll see whether it’s me who gets expelled or you!”

Her arrogance was through the roof.

“Could one of you please run to the principal’s office?” Zhang Pingtian said mildly. “We don’t need to wait — he can come over right now.”

A student volunteered with a raised hand. “Professor Zhang, I’ll go.”

Zhang Pingtian gave a glance of approval. “Alright, thank you.” Then he turned to Gu Jinshu. “It’s fine, you can go back to the dorm and pack your things first.”

“Heh! So you’ve already admitted defeat and are packing your bags to get out?” Lin Jinxiu laughed gleefully.

Gu Jinshu hesitated, but decided to follow the professor’s instructions. She didn’t have much to pack — she had just arrived at the school with her luggage that very morning.

About ten minutes later, the principal arrived!

Lin Jinxiu assumed she was the one who had “called him over.” After all, relying on her father’s influence, she believed the principal would be afraid of her. Thinking this, she instinctively raised her chin.

“Principal, I wasn’t going to trouble you with this matter, but since you’re here, let’s not waste time. Just deal with it directly.”

On the way over, the principal had already heard from the student what had happened. He smiled a little awkwardly. “Old Zhang, look at this fuss — there’s no need to lower yourself to a dispute with the younger generation. Please, don’t be angry.”

“Hmph.” Zhang Pingtian gave a short snort. “I’ll just ask you one question — who are you planning to expel?”

“Uh—” The principal furrowed his brow, turning his gaze to Gu Jinshu. So this was the new student Old Zhang had just accepted? She didn’t look particularly special, but for her to be protected like this, she must be very important in his eyes.

After a moment’s thought, the principal made his decision. “Lin Jinxiu — the school will suspend you from classes. You are to reflect seriously on your mistakes at home. As for the other students — for malicious bullying of a fellow student, an extremely serious violation — you are hereby expelled!”

Lin Jinxiu was stunned. What? She was suspended?!

“You still want to be principal? Believe it or not, I’ll have my father remove you!” she shouted angrily.

The principal’s face darkened — this was the first time a student had dared to threaten him like that.

“Heh, didn’t expect your job as principal to be such a humiliating one,” Zhang Pingtian remarked sarcastically. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have called you here to make things difficult for you. Forget it, I’ll just resign and take my student over to the Military University.”

“No, no, Old Zhang, you can’t resign. Difficult? What’s difficult? I’m the principal — what I say goes!” The principal firmly clung to his “golden goose.”

After all, Zhang Pingtian wasn’t just a top figure in Chinese medicine — he also had influence with the military. Most importantly, with him overseeing the department, their Chinese Medicine program at Jing University always had the best students in the country.

The principal barked sharply at Lin Jinxiu, “If you dare speak nonsense again, I’ll expel you on the spot!”

Lin Jinxiu stamped her foot angrily. “You’ll all regret this!” She turned and left.

Lin Jinxiu herself wasn’t afraid, but the other girls who had acted with her were terrified. They had worked so hard to get into Jing University — now they were expelled? Once expelled, no other university would accept them, not with a “problem student” record.

Going to college was supposed to lead to a good future — now they had nothing. Their faces went pale, and they began to beg.

“Principal, we know we were wrong — can you give us another chance?”
“Professor Zhang, please don’t let them expel me — my parents are counting on me to graduate from a good university…”
“…”

One by one they began crying, pitiful as could be.

But Zhang Pingtian was hard as stone. “If you knew you were wrong, why didn’t you think about that when you were bullying my student? Weren’t you pretty arrogant then?”

He was furious. “University is for learning, not for forming gangs and causing trouble. The school is expelling you so that society will have fewer trashy people in the future!”

Seeing that begging Zhang Pingtian was useless, they turned to Gu Jinshu.

“Jinshu, I didn’t even hit you earlier — I’ll kneel down if you want. Please, help us plead our case — don’t let them expel me.”
“We were forced into this — if we didn’t listen to Lin Jinxiu, she wouldn’t have let us off.”
“…”

Gu Jinshu looked at them calmly for a long moment.

“Teacher, I think expulsion is too harsh. I’ve already given them a lesson — let’s just forget it.”

She wasn’t being especially kind-hearted — she simply didn’t want to make enemies. If people were driven to desperation, they could do anything. What she wanted now was to make them turn against Lin Jinxiu. Lin only cared about herself and didn’t give them a second thought — they were probably already cursing her in their hearts.

Zhang Pingtian waved his hand. “Since you’re saying that, what else can I say? We’ll do as you suggest!”

The principal followed up. “You’ll all go back and write self-criticism letters — deep and thorough ones. If any of you cause trouble again, get out in advance!”

“Thank you, Principal, thank you, Professor Zhang, thank you, Jinshu.”
“Thanks…”

The group hurried away, afraid that Gu Jinshu would change her mind and cause them more trouble.

“Teacher,” Gu Jinshu said, carrying her luggage, “it’s convenient for me to live in the dorms. If I go with you, I’ll trouble you and your wife.”

“You’re different from my other students — come stay with me, I can teach you more often,” Zhang Pingtian replied, glancing at the principal. “If you don’t rest well at school, it’ll affect your learning efficiency.”

Gu Jinshu nodded slightly. “I’ll listen to you, Teacher.”

“Um, Old Zhang? Could we step aside and have a quick word?” the principal asked with a smiling face.