"This..." Xu Lehua pushed the door open again and stepped in. "Principal Zhao, I handle discipline. Don’t make this hard for me."

Zhao Fuguo stared at him silently. He kept staring until Xu Lehua grew visibly uneasy. Then, Zhao slowly raised a finger and pointed upward.

Above?

This kid had connections up high?

"This... does Qin Yi have relatives in the county sports bureau?"

Zhao shook his head.

"In the city education bureau?"

Zhao still shook his head.

"He can’t possibly have ties in the provincial education department, right?"

This time, Zhao didn’t shake his head.

He locked eyes with Xu Lehua and spoke slowly, each word deliberate: "He has an uncle. A deputy governor."

Xu Lehua froze.

He’d suspected Qin Yi’s rebellious streak came from backing—but never imagined it ran this deep.

Xu swallowed hard. "Are you sure?"

"Last year, when Deputy Governor Li visited us for an inspection tour," Zhao said flatly, "he made a special trip alone to Qin Yi’s classroom window just to see him. What do you think?"

"Why didn’t he ever mention it..." Xu muttered, a trace of hurt in his voice.

This kid was too good at playing the fool to outsmart tigers.

"Why would he tell you?" Zhao’s tone turned icy. "If I hadn’t suddenly recalled this, you might’ve actually punished him."

"Drop it. From now on, stay out of anything involving Qin Yi. Even if he gets some girl pregnant, his father will handle it. Don’t waste your energy."

Xu pressed his lips together but said nothing.

Silence hung between them for a long moment.

"So... this Deputy Governor Li," Xu finally asked, his voice uncharacteristically timid. "What’s his story? Qin Yi’s family... what’s really going on?" Xu the Bald—the man who’d dominated First High School and tamed countless troublemakers—sounded almost nervous.

"Li Hewei. Parachuted in as deputy governor a year ago. A member of the provincial Party Standing Committee. Rumor says he was specially sent down from the capital for training."

"Ahem... so Qin Yi’s uncle is a bigwig in Beijing," Xu said with a forced chuckle.

"Comrade Li Hewei is an alternate member of the Central Committee."

"...Understood."

"CANCEL all punishments. Hand this matter to Teacher Liang Zengguang." Zhao knew well about Qin Yi’s grandmother’s ties to Liang. He was the safest choice.

"Got it. Absolutely. No problem."

Xu blurted out three quick affirmatives, then hurried out the door with small, rapid steps.