LWDC Chapter 61

Chapter 61 – Slander

Chapter 61 – Slander

Chapter 61 – Slander

Around quitting time on Friday, Duan Yunhong sent Ning Fei a message asking if he wanted to go out for dinner together that night, offering to pick him up.

Ning Fei replied: [Uncertain, still in the classic slander game.]

Duan Yunhong: [What slander game? Who’s messing with you?]

Ning Fei: [You’d have to ask your nephew.]

Duan Yunhong: [Ji Xingzhe? What did he do?]

Duan Yunhong: [Are you at school?]

Ning Fei didn’t reply anymore.

Because as soon as he sent the previous message, the middle-aged man across from him slammed his hand on the table, shouting, “Ning Fei, what time is it, and you’re still looking at your phone? Is that how you set an example for the students?!”

Ning Fei quickly tapped the phone screen twice, leisurely placing it on the desk: “I already made plans for dinner, I should at least tell the person, or wouldn’t it be impolite to keep them waiting?”

“If you hadn’t been dragging your feet and refusing to admit it, how would it have dragged on until now?” the middle-aged man said, “You leaking the exam to the student and cheating is wrong in the first place. Now you’re still stubbornly refusing to admit it, that’s adding wrong on top of wrong!”

As he spoke, he pointed to the side: “Lin Shengjia’s grades were just getting worse, but now he’s learned to cheat. You’re not advising him to turn back from the wrong path, but helping him leak the exam. Once this demerit is written down, it will follow him for life. What school or unit would dare to accept him in the future? Is this the kind of education you studied abroad?”

Lin Shengjia had already been lectured many times, and was furious: “I said I didn’t cheat!”

The middle-aged man said: “How can you prove you didn’t cheat?”

“Then what evidence do you have to prove we cheated?” Ning Fei was the calmest person in the room, completely unwilling to fall into the “self-incrimination trap,” “Director, you said someone reported us for cheating. Does that mean this ‘reporter’ didn’t submit any evidence, and you just believed them, and came here to force us to admit to cheating?”

“If he didn’t cheat, how could Lin Shengjia have improved from 28 points to 65 in less than a month?” The head of the grade slammed the table again, “You were present when the English group created the exam, and you even offered many suggestions, so you’re very clear about the direction of the questions, aren’t you? You live across from Lin Shengjia, and you know his parents, don’t you? The average score in your class has also clearly improved compared to the last monthly exam. Isn’t it just that Lin Shengjia’s score went up, so it didn’t drag down the average score much?”

“There’s no clear logical chain in any of that, what kind of evidence is that? As an English teacher, can’t I participate in creating the exam? Can’t I live wherever I want? Can’t the students in my class do well? If the overall ranking of our class has improved, does that mean all the kids in my class cooperated with me to cheat?” Ning Fei scoffed, “Director Ma, just because you said three rhetorical questions doesn’t mean I have to admit to a trumped-up charge.”

Director Ma: “…Huh? What are you saying? What kind of attitude is that?!”

“Alright, alright, don’t argue.” The vice-principal, who had been sitting in the office overseeing the situation, finally spoke up to mediate, “Well, Teacher Ning, student Lin, although there’s no substantive evidence now, this matter is indeed quite controversial. If we don’t give others an explanation, you’ll continue to be discussed behind your backs, right?

“I suggest that the English group create a spare exam paper again, without Teacher Ning’s involvement. Student Lin can take the spare exam again, and if the score is similar to this time, wouldn’t that prove student Lin didn’t cheat?”

“We’re being slandered, and we have to prove ourselves innocent? Doesn’t that mean we’re being wronged for nothing?” Ning Fei didn’t commit, but instead said, “If it’s proven, what compensation will we get?”

Director Ma’s eyes widened: “You still want money?! You’re really obsessed with money, and you even tutor students privately to earn money, right?”

In this day and age, tutoring students wasn’t against the rules. Ning Fei calmly replied, “Does me tutoring students have anything to do with this matter? I didn’t say I wanted money either, why is Director Ma’s first reaction money?”

The vice-principal asked, “Then what compensation do you want?”

“Not me, us.” Ning Fei leaned back in his chair, leisurely said, “If Lin Shengjia can score about the same on the retest, then Director Ma should give a public explanation at the school assembly on Monday. First, clarify that I didn’t leak the exam, and Lin Shengjia didn’t cheat either. Second, apologize for slandering me and Lin Shengjia.”

“What? Apologize?” Director Ma immediately said, “Why should I apologize? I just received a report and handled the matter. And this matter wasn’t even publicly investigated in the first place. If we make a public statement, the impact will be even greater. It’s all because you guys were dragging your feet and not cooperating with the investigation that it dragged on for so long!”

Lin Shengjia couldn’t help but say: “You came to investigate with preconceived notions. If I denied it, you said I was lying. So, if I don’t admit it, I’m dragging my feet and not cooperating?”

Director Ma angrily said: “That attitude of yours is not cooperating with the investigation!”

“He’s been wronged, can’t he get angry? Only Director Ma can get angry and use the position of head of the teaching affairs to suppress people? What kind of old feudal thinking is that?” Ning Fei’s voice cooled down, “You wouldn’t know how fast news spreads among students, as teachers and educators. If it’s not handled publicly, even if Lin Shengjia can prove that he relied on himself to pass the exam, there will still be gossip behind his back. If he’s forced to transfer schools because of this, it will be with the stain of public opinion; if I’m forced to resign because of this, it will be my professional stain.

“In that case, I’ll have to ‘discuss’ this kind of education method with my teacher – a famous domestic and foreign educator, and my fellow students all over the place – teachers, educators, and education bureau backbone, etc. I might even write a paper and send it to the education bureau to ask for ‘guidance’?”

It took Director Ma a while to react: “…You, you’re threatening us?! When did we force you to resign!”

“Just stating the most likely thing to happen.” Ning Fei looked at the vice-principal, “Principal Li, this matter should have been publicly explained by the highest responsible leader – that is, you – to be more authoritative. Asking Director Ma to speak is already the choice that I think can minimize the impact.”

Vice-Principal Li hesitated for two seconds: “But Xiao Ning, this, your request is indeed a bit much…”

“Alright, I won’t even mention the request for Director Ma to apologize. Just let him clarify that the reporter made a mistake, and the school confirmed after investigation that this didn’t happen, thank you to student Lin Shengjia for his patient cooperation, and also a special congratulations to him for indeed making progress in his studies, can we do that?” Ning Fei said, “Also, it must be said that everyone should grasp the evidence before raising objections in the future, otherwise it’s slander. This time, you can educate the reporter privately, but if there’s a next time, I might consider filing a lawsuit.”

“Oh my, Teacher Ning, why file a lawsuit? Those things abroad may not apply domestically. It’s normal for some friction to occur in the school, why make a big deal out of it.” The vice-principal made a decision, “Well, in that case, as long as student Lin takes the retest and the score does improve, Director Ma will announce the results of the handling of this matter at the school assembly, is that okay?”

Director Ma looked incredulous: “Principal Li, this, I…”

“Oh right, there’s one more thing.” Ning Fei said, “Because we’re making a new paper, I’m afraid the level of this paper will be different from the monthly exam, so it wouldn’t be good if Lin Shengjia’s normal score fluctuations were misunderstood. I suggest randomly selecting two students from each class in the whole grade to take the paper as well. It doesn’t matter whether their original score is high or low, and then calculate a reasonable median range for the difference between the final score and the monthly exam score. If Lin Shengjia’s score error is within this range, or very close to it, then it can be considered that he did improve on his own, is that okay?”

Director Ma was a liberal arts teacher and didn’t understand right away.

The vice-principal understood, but he also fully appreciated Ning Fei’s trickiness. Although Ning Fei didn’t have much family background, his resume was scary, and the vice-principal was really afraid that he knew some figures in the education field, so he still decided to smooth things over: “Alright, then I’ll ask the other people in the English group to make a paper next week, and gather the children to a study hall to take the exam during an evening self-study session one day, is that alright?”

Director Ma was somewhat dissatisfied: “This is such a fuss…”

“I suggest taking the test on Monday night, the sooner the better, otherwise the rumors will have spread throughout the school. I’m an adult, I don’t care, but what about Lin Shengjia? He was only happy for a few days after improving in the exam, and then he was discussed for cheating. What will the child think? If other children misunderstand and want to stay away from him and isolate him, and there’s school bullying, what about the reputation of our prestigious school?” Ning Fei paused, his tone meaningful, “And the school doesn’t even have a psychological counselor, what if something happens, Principal Li…”

“Alright, stop exaggerating, you’ll say something bad even if nothing happened. I’ll have the English group work overtime and try to take the test on Monday or Tuesday, is that alright!” The vice-principal waved his hand, “You all leave, keep this matter confidential, don’t spread it around! What kind of image is it for our key high school to spread such rumors. Student Lin, don’t have any psychological burden either. If you’re innocent, the school will definitely restore your innocence. Don’t feel like others are targeting you. If you really did make progress in your studies, then you should maintain your motivation to continue improving.”

“Maintaining the motivation to study hard requires the child to have a good educational environment. If he’s said to be cheating as soon as he makes progress, then who can be motivated?” Ning Fei was also unhappy with the vice-principal’s self-righteous, condescending remarks, and continued to make trouble for him, “Also, you said someone reported it, but you won’t let me ask who reported it. Then may I ask what the reporting process is? What led you to believe that this matter might be true and needs to be investigated? If there are no standard procedures or requirements for evidence, then I’ll report this and report that, and the school has to investigate every matter like this? If everyone reports every day and the school investigates every day, then what kind of school is this, we should change it to a detective agency.”

Before the vice-principal could say anything, Director Ma jumped up first and said, “Ning Fei! There are still students here, and you’re always finding fault, is that how you teach and educate people?!”

“I’m telling the truth. If there’s a standard, show it to me, what’s there to debate about?” Ning Fei scoffed, stood up, “Also, how I teach and educate people is evident in the results of the classes I teach. If Director Ma doubts it, then the whole grade can retake the exam together. After the exam, I’d also like to ask Director Ma to clarify at the school assembly how the school suspected the students and teachers of cheating because the students taught by one teacher had improved, leading to a meaningless retest for the whole grade…”

“Enough! Ning Fei, stop playing with words, take student Lin out.” The vice-principal finally lost patience and dismissed them again, “You haven’t been at the school for long, and you don’t fully understand the school’s situation. The education you learned abroad is ultimately just on paper, and it may not work in China. Let’s talk after you pass your probation period.”

Ning Fei just picked up his phone: “Threatening me, Principal Li?”

The vice-principal put on an air: “Not a threat, just advising you to adapt to the school environment, don’t always cause trouble for everyone. If you really can’t adapt, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“Okay, I’ll remember that. But, it doesn’t matter if I don’t remember…” Ning Fei chuckled, turning the phone screen to show the vice-principal and Director Ma, “I recorded it, I’ll listen to it slowly when I get home.”

The vice-principal and Director Ma were stunned: “You…!”

They didn’t even have cell phones yet, they’d only seen them, how could they know that this thing could actually record audio?!

Ning Fei had already put his arm around Lin Shengjia’s shoulders and turned to walk out: “Have a good weekend, you two, don’t forget our new paper!”