Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Outbreak of Conflict

All the students in the class had to hand in willow leaves, and naturally, Hong Tao was no exception. This time, he didn't resist the teacher; instead, after school, he pushed his little bamboo cart, taking Jin Yue and Da Jiang with him straight to the moat. The willow trees by the river grew thick and lush, their branches drooping low so that one could grab a handful without climbing. Hong Tao pulled down the branches, while Jin Yue and Da Jiang picked the leaves as deftly as tea pickers, tossing them into the cart and finally bagging them up.

They weren't the only ones out there collecting willow leaves; every nearby school with a primary section had organized the same activity. Hong Tao wasn't the only one who knew about the abundance of willow trees by the river. Soon, children from all directions swarmed up the trees, and that spring, the green willow branches turned bare. The children cared little for the tenderness of the leaves, only for who could collect the most. The whole class competed: the more you brought back, the greater your honor, and the bigger your red flower badge!

One day, Hong Tao ran into two familiar faces here—two of the four kids he'd fought with at the community swimming pool. One was the boy he'd kicked into the water, the other was the pale-faced one. You'd expect enemies to glare at each other, but as soon as those two recognized Hong Tao, they scrambled down from the tree, forming a defensive line with other kids from their school, ready for a challenge. Though they had numbers, their courage seemed lacking; perhaps Hong Tao's kick and punch had taught them a lesson, and now, with Da Jiang looking even more imposing than Hong Tao, they dared not make a move.

"Brother Tao, those are the two bad kids from the swimming pool!" Jin Yue whispered, warning Hong Tao.

"Ignore them; let's go pick leaves over there," Hong Tao replied. He didn't want to fight with these kids—he already had enough trouble at school, a crowd of eyes watching him. Even if not for himself, he had to consider his father and Director Bai's feelings.

"Oh, give them a big scare! A scare… a scare; give them a washboard, let them wash their underwear at home…" The group of kids behind, seeing Hong Tao walk away, immediately perked up, following him and chanting mocking rhymes, trailing him for a long distance before finally losing interest and returning.

"Why didn't you fight them? They insulted us!" Jin Yue had been waiting for Hong Tao to show his power, but he didn't even turn his head, leaving her feeling wronged.

"Well, the teachers at school don't like me. If I get into a fight, they'll call my parents, so I'd better hold back. Let them say a few words—it's not undeserved, since I broke their noses last time," Hong Tao tried to reason with Jin Yue, hoping she'd understand. If not, so be it; he couldn't fight just to please her—that would be foolish.

"I overheard Teacher Wang talking bad about you in the office again today. Why don't they like you?" Jin Yue puzzled over the question. In her eyes, Brother Tao was quite lovable, but to the teachers, he was a troublemaker.

"You'll understand when you grow up. Come on, let's bag up the leaves—this is enough for a week," said Hong Tao. He didn't plan to pick leaves every day; he'd calculated how much he needed to hand in daily, and used one afternoon to collect enough for the week, making the process much more efficient.

The next day, during eye exercises, the teachers carried a large insulated urn and began distributing willow leaf soup to the students, each getting a mug. Once again, Hong Tao refused to cooperate, steadfastly refusing to receive his portion. Teacher Wang was just about to rally the children with words of courage, urging them to drink the bitter medicine, and could not allow Hong Tao to disrupt her work.

"I've had acute hepatitis before, so I don't need prevention. I'll never get it again," Hong Tao argued convincingly. Willow leaf water was meant to prevent acute hepatitis, and was useless for chronic cases.

"You have to drink it anyway! It's a matter of discipline!" Teacher Wang was getting flustered.

"Teacher Wang, that's unreasonable. Medicine is for treating illness; I don't have the disease, but you still insist I take it. What do you mean by that? Even you as a teacher should know that all medicine has side effects. If I can't get sick and you force me to take medicine, aren't you deliberately harming me?" Hong Tao seized on her slip and launched a counterattack.

"Teacher Wang, if he doesn't want to drink it, let him be. If he really had acute hepatitis, he doesn't need this. Ask his parents—you'll know for sure. I don't think he'd lie about this," said the teacher from the school infirmary, surprised at Hong Tao's medical knowledge. The infirmary was on the fifth floor, and the staff there had their own offices, so they weren't familiar with Hong Tao's infamous reputation and tried to mediate.

"No, that's not the issue, it's about discipline. Why should every other child obey, but he always has excuses? If I let this slide, how can I enforce discipline in the future? He can't have special privileges! Today, you must drink it! No matter your reason!" Teacher Wang was especially agitated today—perhaps she'd quarreled with her husband that morning.

"Hey, I've got a temper myself! If I don't want to drink something, no one can make me—even if my father comes! Remember, you're a people's teacher, not a petty tyrant. Students come here to learn, not to serve as slaves. Let's see how you force me to drink today!" As the saying goes, it takes two to quarrel. If Hong Tao had backed down as usual, Teacher Wang would have just scolded him and vented her anger. But Hong Tao didn’t hold back; he stood up and confronted her directly.

"You... you... Fine, I'll see the principal! This isn't over; if you aren't expelled, I'm quitting!" Teacher Wang hadn’t expected Hong Tao to explode, and his words hit her point for point. In front of the whole class and the infirmary teachers, she was utterly embarrassed, her face turning purple with rage; several times she seemed about to strike Hong Tao, but managed to hold back, stomping out of the classroom.

Some timid students began to cry, and the two infirmary teachers exchanged wide-eyed glances, unsure what to do.

Soon, Deputy Director Li appeared at the door. He said little, merely asked Hong Tao to follow him to the principal's office. But Hong Tao could see the gloating in his expression—he was pleased, probably hadn't spoken kindly about Hong Tao to the principal, and was waiting to see him get punished.

Hong Tao never saw the principal; he stood outside the office door, ignored by everyone, for more than half a lesson. He guessed the principal didn't intend to speak to him, and that the decision had already been made; his father was probably rushing to the school right now. Since no one asked him anything, there was no point in standing foolishly, so he went downstairs to the playground. He'd planned to do some parallel bars, but it happened to be his uncle's class having PE, a group of middle schoolers playing basketball, so he joined them. His scatterbrained uncle didn’t even ask, just played along.

After half a lesson of basketball, the fourth class began, and Hong Tao kept playing on the playground, noticing from the corner of his eye that people were watching from behind the principal's office window on the third floor—more than one. They were probably observing him. But Hong Tao felt no fear or panic; back in his previous life in middle school, he'd faced far more dangerous situations. The reform school van had come for him and his troublemaking friends, but only his classmates were taken away; he was merely put on probation.

The reason was his father, who knew the education system inside out. When his father heard the school planned to send his son to reform school, the usual scholarly demeanor vanished. His eyes bulged with bloodshot fury, like an injured lion bursting into the principal’s office, roaring that if they dared send Hong Tao away, he’d go straight to the Education Bureau and report them. He spoke of a teacher’s responsibility more eloquently than any middle school teacher, with a voice that rang out even more powerfully. At university, he often lectured to hundreds at a time without a microphone, his voice rivaling that of an opera singer.

Most importantly, he had friends from the days when teachers were reviled, all working in the education system. After rehabilitation, these “stinking intellectuals” became the backbone of their units, some rising to leadership positions. When the principal heard his father's familiar and formidable list of names, he had to consider whether it was worth going against a student, and whether it might affect his own future.

Near noon, Hong Tao saw his father riding his heavy-duty bicycle through the school gate, speeding past the playground and stopping in front of the teaching building. Judging by his expression, the school must have described the situation as quite serious.

"Dad, sorry to trouble you again," Hong Tao called out as his father locked his bike.

"Hey? Why are you here? Why aren’t you in class?" His father turned and saw his son, glanced at the students in PE on the playground, and immediately realized this wasn’t his son's class.

"They made me stand outside the principal's office as punishment. No one said why, no one paid attention, so I came down to stretch my legs. Today’s incident wasn’t my fault," Hong Tao began to complain to his father.