Chapter 78 - 78 78 Scapegoat

Words : 1291 Updated : Sep 20th, 2025

78: Chapter 78: Scapegoat 78: Chapter 78: Scapegoat If it was just an ordinary person, then the matter would have ended there. But now that Ye Qiu was associated with Li Zhiguo, the leaders at the district education bureau knew things were going to be problematic. “Principal Zhou, why didn’t you make this clear to us at the beginning?” Deputy Director Liu asked. “Well.” Zhou Min knew that even if he had said so at the time, it wouldn’t have helped. However, he couldn’t understand why the other party was calling to ask about this now. “Principal Zhou, you handled this matter incorrectly. Zhang Wei and the other four students should have been expelled, not Ye Qiu. Ye Qiu should have been commended by the school.” Deputy Director Liu said. Hearing this, Zhou Min was even more confused. How had the district education bureau’s stance changed so completely in just one day? Was it because of Ye Qiu? “Director Liu, are you sure there’s no mistake?” Zhou Min asked. “No mistake.” “Alright then.” Upon hearing Deputy Director Liu say this, Zhou Min felt relieved. It seemed it was indeed because of Ye Qiu. Sёarch* The Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After Liu and Zhou completed their call, the relevant leaders present already understood what was happening. Compared to Li Zhiguo’s status, what did Zhang Dongliang matter? But now they had indirectly offended Li Zhiguo, and they knew they needed to make amends quickly. Of course, many leaders were at fault, but someone had to take the blame. Otherwise, if Li Zhiguo pursued the matter, it would be a hassle. So, they knew they needed a scapegoat. The district education bureau would find one, and Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School would find one. It was easier for Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School; it would be either Principal Zhou or one of the vice principals, or even the director of the academic affairs office or the political education office. However, it was different for the district education bureau. After discussing and meeting, they decided to designate a normally marginalized minor official as the scapegoat. Once they’d made the decision, they went to discuss it with Secretary Li. Meanwhile, at Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School, Zhou Min had just received the call and was stunned by how quickly things had turned around. He had been trying to figure out how to get Ye Qiu back to school quickly, but now, the problem was solved this fast. However, the next steps were tricky for him, so he first called all the school leaders to a meeting in the conference room. Other school leaders, including Liu Lingxiu’s uncle, Liu Guoqing, were all shocked. “I just received a call from Deputy Director Liu. He said Ye Qiu should be commended, and it is Zhang Wei and the other four students that should be expelled and disciplined. I don’t understand what’s happening here. So, I wanted to discuss it with you!” Actually, Zhou Min’s first reaction was that Ye Qiu’s background wasn’t simple and that he had quickly found support, causing the situation to completely reverse. The other leaders of Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School thought the same. “Principal Zhou, did Deputy Director Liu really say that?” “Yes, I just finished the call.” But to ensure these leaders believed him, and to clarify the situation, Zhou Min called Deputy Director Liu again. The deputy director had finished his meeting, so when Zhou Min called back, Liu said, “I can only tell you that Ye Qiu’s identity is not simple. The district education bureau has already disciplined someone. Now, it’s your turn. Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School must offer up a leader for punishment. I’m giving you half an hour to decide. Call me back in half an hour, and the punishment document will be issued.” Zhou Min and the other leaders were even more astonished after this call. Deputy Director Liu hadn’t mentioned the relationship between Ye Qiu and Li Zhiguo, but saying Ye Qiu’s identity was not simple had scared these school leaders even more. Moreover, hearing that someone at the district education bureau had already been disciplined and now it was their turn to discipline someone, Zhou Min and the others knew they needed a scapegoat. After Zhou Min hung up, he said, “You all heard that, right?” The leaders remained silent. They understood. Initially, none of them had agreed to expel Ye Qiu; it was the leaders who had pressured Zhou Min into doing it. Of course, they hadn’t expected Ye Qiu’s background to be even more influential than Zhang Wei’s. So now, hearing that someone needed to take the blame, none of them were willing. “Who do you think should take responsibility for this?” Zhou Min asked. This matter surely wouldn’t fall on him as the scapegoat. The two vice principals, directors of the political education office and academic affairs office, along with some minor leaders, exchanged looks. They didn’t know what the punishment entailed. If it was just a warning, it would be fine, but if it cost them their positions, it would be much more troublesome. As everyone looked at Zhou Min, he looked at them in return until finally, Li Molian stood up and said, “Principal, let me take the punishment.” Actually, Li Molian didn’t think much about it. She just thought that she had never met a student with Ye Qiu’s excellent grades in her teaching career. So, she hoped the school would quickly retract Ye Qiu’s expulsion announcement. She didn’t expect the matter to be resolved so fast. “Good, Teacher Li. Well done. After this matter is over, the school will promote you to the representative teacher for senior three’s Chinese class and head of senior three.” Zhou Min hadn’t expected Li Molian to step forward and take the blame voluntarily. Li Molian said nothing. After deciding on this, Zhou Min called Deputy Director Liu and said it was Li Molian, the headteacher, who insisted on expelling Ye Qiu. Of course, Zhou Min didn’t believe that, but he knew what was going on. He wanted to see if things could be settled this way. If not, Zhou Ning would have to take responsibility. Now that someone had taken the blame, the next steps involved retracting the expulsion and disciplinary notice for Ye Qiu and expelling Zhang Wei and the other four students. These five students had almost caused these leaders’ downfall. Their grades were far inferior to Ye Qiu’s. These matters naturally fell under the jurisdiction of the political education office director. During the first period in the afternoon, just after the class began, a surprising announcement came over the loudspeaker of Jiangbei No. 3 Middle School. It announced that Zhang Wei of class three, year three, and Li Qiang, along with four other students, had been found guilty of ganging up to beat Ye Qiu in the boys’ restroom. The school had thoroughly investigated and decided to expel these five students and record major demerits against them. As for the initial disciplinary notice against Ye Qiu, it was being retracted, and the school would apologize to Ye Qiu. When the announcement came over the loudspeaker, the students in Class 3, Grade 3 were astonished. Especially Zhang Wei, who dropped his book to the floor. He couldn’t believe this could happen. Liu Lingxiu thought she had misheard, but listening a second time confirmed it. Su Luoluo was also very surprised. She hadn’t even started looking for connections to help Ye Qiu, and yet the matter had already been resolved so quickly.

Chapter 78 - 78 78 Scapegoat

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