Principal Ye was aware of Mrs. Sheng's halfhearted demeanour when it came to Class 3-C as Xie Yang had mentioned it before. He had spoken to her about it and Xie Yang stopped mentioning it so, he assumed that it was a misunderstanding that had been resolved.
He didn't know it was still continuing or that it'd be this bad.
Just from her initial attitude, he could tell that she'd been waiting for the day to catch Xie Yang off guard but to go far as to give him hard questions from another field, one not only out of syllabus but also out of the subject was really too low even for her.
"So, what you are telling right now is that you gave a highly complex question which is not only out of your subject but one that even the respected seniors of the field find hard to understand to a high school senior to solve and you accused him of cheating when he actually solved it?" Principal Ye spoke through gritted teeth, anger evident in his eyes.
He really regretted not taking Xie Yang seriously the first time. Xie Yang was probably told off by Mrs. Sheng or maybe even threatened not to speak out after he spoke with her.
Principal Ye felt cold sweat run down his back. He couldn't begin to imagine what kind of psychological pressure Xie Yang had been in all this time.
Having to study different fields related to the subject, just in case Mrs. Sheng questioned him on one. Being unable to answer would have only given Mrs. Sheng more ammo to use against him.
She could have easily distorted the truth about the question and instead told others that the question was a basic one which Xie Yang couldn't solve thus raising suspicions about whether his grades were genuine or not.
In a school as competitive as theirs, an accusation as serious as this could easily destroy his future.
The more Principal Ye thought about it, the more messed up it seemed to become further angering him.
"Did I get it right, Mrs. Sheng?" Principal Ye asked in a frosty tone.
Mrs. Sheng felt the colour drain from her face. She wanted to defend herself yet her mouth felt so dry that no sound came out of it despite opening it to speak. She understood exactly what the principal thought.
Mrs. Sheng only now understood, after everything had happened, just how bad the situation looked for her.
In her haste of trying to prove Xie Yang's academic dishonesty, she had shot herself in the foot by accidentally revealing her past actions.
If it had gone according to her plan then these questions wouldn't have mattered but now that she has exposed herself instead, when questioned she really had no defence.
No matter how you look, from start to finish, it was her who called on Xie Yang to solve a question that she knew he couldn't solve just to frame him.
His "rude" reply pales in comparison to her repeated attempts of sabotaging him. In fact, after hearing about this other people will only lament his saintly nature of only giving a mildly impolite reply after being schemed against like this.
Mrs. Sheng knew that if she let this escalate anymore, it could cost her her career. And right now, the only person who could save her was the very student she tried to sabotage.
As long as he spoke up for her, as long as he decided not to pursue this, even if she has to leave this class she can still keep her position.
Mrs. Sheng suddenly shifted her gaze to Xie Yang. Her eyes filled with hope.
'Yes! Isn't he known for his gentle nature?! As long as he speaks up I'll be fine!'
The other students in the classroom also understood what Mrs. Sheng planned to do and were also shocked. They felt a wave of nausea. They couldn't believe, a teacher could have such malicious thoughts about a student for no good reason.
Almost collectively their gaze went to Xie Yang who was still standing with a serious expression on his face. There was neither a look of grievance for having had to go through such a thing nor a look of joy on his face about finally getting justice. As if he was used to this treatment.
They had previously felt pity for him for always being Mrs. Sheng's target and even tried to help with no success. They never thought about it too deeply because it wasn't their business in the end and Pres could usually solve the question so they thought it wasn't a big deal.
Only now did they understand that despite being so busy with Student Council duties and the various competitions, he also had to carve out enough time to study these useless things which wouldn't help him just to avoid being implicated.
He was completely alone in this and despite it all, he still managed to stump her every time, managed to save himself every time.
They felt a new wave of respect for him along with regret for not trying harder to report it.
The change in Mrs. Sheng's eyes were caught by everyone in the room. They felt disgusted.
After all this, she still expected Xie Yang to speak up for her?
As much as Principal Ye wanted to punish Mrs. Sheng for this vile behaviour, at the end of the day, it was Xie Yang who was harmed. If Xie Yang wanted to forgive Mrs. Sheng then he really couldn't change his mind. And knowing Xie Yang, he just might do it to keep the peace.
Now, all eyes were on Xie Yang. His words would decide whether or not Mrs. Sheng would be given leniency or not.
Though Xie Yang seemed to be contemplating how to handle this, he was actually casually chatting with Leo in his head.
'Wow! Damn! This disguised witch's schemes run so deep!' Leo exclaimed, 'How did you deal with it back then?' He asked in a curious tone.
'Who knows? I don't remember but what I do remember is solving this question in a competition.' Xie Yang replied nonchalantly as if the ongoing discussion does not involve him.
'Damn~ Bro 666666' Leo praised.
Xie Yang just shrugged with a cynical smile in his heart.