CH 33

Chapter 33 Punishment 

Every time Jian Chi walked into the student union, his complicated feelings were difficult to describe in words. He followed behind Shen Shuting, waiting for the knife that was about to fall on his head. 

In the end, he was defeated and opened the door of the bathroom. When Wu Shengyuan, whose mouth was full of unspeakable words, saw Shen Shuting in front of him, his knees almost softened again. After a while, Shen Shuting didn’t listen to him and ordered Jian Chi to go to the student union later. Wu Shengyuan’s face flushed and he didn’t know if it was embarrassment or him being shy, but he and the two special enrollments buried their heads and quickly left. 

After bustling for a while, Jian Chi, who was labelled as ‘violating discipline’, had to watch the backs of the three leave. He sighed in his heart. If he knew this would happen, he might as well run faster just now and avoid the dispute and Shen Shuting directly. 

Jian Chi walked forward while thinking about it, and suddenly heard a ‘stop’. His body reacted one step earlier than his brain. After Shen Shuting said these two words, he didn’t waste a glance, entered a string of codes, and pressed his thumb to the sensor of the door lock. If he hadn’t known that he was at school, he would have wondered whether there was some rare treasure hidden behind the door. 

Although this was just a nonsensical idea, when Jian Chi saw Shen Shuting’s office, his mood was no less than seeing a room of treasures. 

Neat, too neat. 

If Ji Huaisi’s office was clean within the acceptable range of normal people, then the room in front of him can be described as spotless. Jian Chi didn’t want to place a foot anywhere, afraid that he would leave a black footprint on the light reflecting floor.

The room seemed to be able to read the thoughts of everyone who came here. Jian Chi saw a row of shoe covers on the high platform to the left of the entrance. Even without any reminder, he subconsciously took them and bent over to put them on. 

Since the ‘stop’, Shen Shuting didn’t say an extra word. He took out a pair of rimless glasses from the glasses case on the desktop, turned on the computer in front of him, and tapped slowly on the keyboard with his long fingers, as if he had completely forgotten about the second living person in the room. 

Jian Chi listened to the continuous tapping sound, changed the weight to his left leg, felt a little numb, then called out tentatively, “President?”

The sound on the keyboard paused, Shen Shuting raised his green eyes. Through the lens, the light-colored pupils appeared to be particularly dull, emotions almost non-existent. Even if there was no expression on his face, it conveyed an unspeakable sense of oppression. “Do you know what went wrong?” 

Jian Chi’s eyes twitched slightly and replied, “I know, I shouldn’t restrict the personal freedom of my classmates.” 

“And.” 

“They were not released in time.” 

Shen Shuting said: “You will clean the classrooms on the second and third floors of the Taylors Building every day after class for the next week. I will have people supervise the results. If you understand, you can leave. Close the door and wrap your fingers with the tissue on the table, so as not to touch the handles.” 

It took Jian Chi ten seconds to digest this information. He couldn’t tell whether he was more frustrated or more helpless. Shen Shuting continued to work on the computer, the lens reflected the bright light on the screen and his quiet eyes. Obviously, he was just giving orders and not discussing. Jian Chi could only respond with ‘ok’ and then open the door as Shen Shuting said. When he was about to go out, he ran into Ji Huaisi who was approaching. 

“Jian Chi?” 

Ji Huaisi’s eyes paused for a moment, accompanied by an indistinct bright color. After approaching, he glanced at the room number next to him, “Why are you coming out of Shu Ting’s office?” 

“A little accident happened,” Jian Chi felt a sense of embarrassment from being caught, and touched his nose, “The president asked me to come over and explain something.” 

“What did he ask you to do?” Ji Huaisi said, “clean the classroom?” 

Jian Chi, who was about to speak, couldn’t help admiring Ji Huaisi’s understanding of Shen Shuting, and nodded, “Clean the classroom for a week.” 

“A week?” 

These two words made Ji Huaisi frown. Instead of showing impatience like others, he showed familiar concern, “What happened? He rarely punishes students for a week.” 

Jian Chi thought that maybe Shen Shuting hated him and he briefly described what happened just now. 

“I’m going to tell Shu Ting that it’s not your fault.” 

After Ji Huaisi heard everything, there was a layer of seriousness in his always gentle eyes. Before Jian Chi could stop it, he had already stepped forward and knocked on the half-closed door.

“Wait……” 

But it was too late. 

Shen Shuting said without raising his head, “Get out.”

“It’s me.” 

The moment Ji Huaisi spoke out, Shen Shuting finally raised his eyes and looked over. He stopped the movements of his hands, the coldness on his face melted slightly, and he relaxed his shoulders and leaned on the back of the leather chair, “What’s the matter?” 

Jian Chi didn’t have time to take off his shoe covers and walked in, just in time to hear Ji Huaisi say directly: “I think this punishment is a little too severe. The whole thing is not Jian Chi’s fault, he just chose those action out of danger, justified defense.” 

Across the distance from the door to the desk, Jian Chi could feel Shen Shuting’s sudden knife-like cold eyes sweep over him who dared not move. He spat out a sentence between his thin lips: “I never said that those three people would not be punished.” 

“I understand,” Ji Huaisi smiled a little and didn’t give in, “but this punishment is unreasonable.” 

The feeling of being caught in the stalemate atmosphere was not good and Jian Chi couldn’t help but say: “Actually, I think it’s fine for a week…” 

It’s just cleaning a classroom, not places like the bathroom, and even if it was the bathroom, Jian Chi could understand. Those few people said some provocative words. He fought back because of his selfish impulse, violated the school rules, and did something wrong. This was undeniable.

But neither of them seemed to hear his words. Shen Shuting pursed his lower lip. 

The rimless glasses did not add gentleness to this cold and noble face, but made the eyes hidden behind the lenses even more indifferent and unattainable. Shen Shuting tapped the table, “Three days, no more reduction.” 

“Shu Ting, you know the reason of the events.” Ji Huaisi said slowly, “He is also a victim. If you let others know the result of the punishment, what do you think they will think? How will the situation develop after you have managed to control it?” 

Shen Shuting looked at Jian Chi, his eyebrows slowly twitched, there was no superfluous expression, but he seemed to have written his dissatisfaction in his eyes. After a long silence, he spat out six words like gold. 

“It is not to be repeated.” 

Until he followed Ji Huaisi out of the office, Jian Chi was still felt a little surreal. 

“What does the president’s words mean?” He seemed to understand, but he didn’t seem to understand. 

Ji Huaisi turned his head and smiled gently, “What he means is that he won’t punish you.” 

Jian Chi, who was still feeling low about the punishment just now, was taken aback for a moment, feeling guilty and subtle. It was as if he had gone through the back door through their relationship. Although it was a good thing, he couldn’t help but say, “But I did something wrong, and the president punished me correctly.” 

“You don’t have to be burdened. If Shu Ting really thinks that you have made a serious mistake, it wouldn’t be so easy to talk about it.” Ji Huaisi stopped in front of the door with his name written on it at some point, turned his head and asked, “You want to come in. Do you want to sit down? I just happen to have something to tell you.” 

Just as he was about to say “no”, Jian Chi lifted his foot and walked in. 

“Actually, I’ve been waiting for you to speak.” After closing the door, Ji Huaisi suddenly said such a sentence. 

Jian Chi, who was sitting beside the sofa, straightened his back subconsciously, and faintly sensed something from these words. He wasn’t sure, and Ji Huaisi immediately said the second sentence: “The matter of the post have been resolved.” 

This sentence hit Jian Chi’s heart like a hammer. His throat was inexplicably dry. 

“…you knew all about it?”

Ji Huaisi seemed to be amused by this somewhat superfluous question. He restrained the smile on his lips and said in a low voice, “How could I not know?” 

Jian Chi subconsciously took out his mobile phone. For some reason, he raised his head to meet Ji Huaisi’s eyes. They just looked at each other and said nothing, but he had an indescribable peace of mind and a surge of power in his heart. He had been scrolling for a long time and hadn’t seen those unsightly posts. 

“Half an hour after the post was sent, I found the person who posted it. After collecting evidence over two days, I issued a warning. He has deleted all the posts. And including those who fanned the flames, they will be on the forum and HS at 8 o’clock tonight issuing an apology.” 

These words seemed to come from another world. Jian Chi hadn’t recovered from his mind for a long time. The phone pulled his arm down heavily. Like Ji Huaisi’s words that had smashed into his ear, it left a buzzing sound that could not be dissipated, an endless heat. 

Ji Huaisi sat down, looked at the eyes that Jian Chi was trying to avoid, and said in a gentle and powerful voice, “I’ve been waiting for you to take the initiative to find me, but you didn’t say anything until the matter was resolved. In fact, Jian Chi, you don’t have to worry too much. We are friends and helping friends is a matter of fact, isn’t it?” 

Jian Chi’s heart trembled slightly. he felt that this sentence was a little strange, but he couldn’t pick out what was strange. He asked with his remaining rationality, “Who sent that post?” 

Ji Huaisi took a moment, and his voice was hesitant and lightly soothed: “The first post was sent by Wei An.” 

Hearing this answer, Jian Chi was not surprised at all. In fact, he had already guessed the possibility, especially when he thought of Wei An’s strange behavior before the post, his suspicion was just short of favorable evidence. 

But Jian Chi couldn’t understand, how could Wei An know about him and Ji Huaisi? How did he know what was going on in the literary society? Unless Wei An wasn’t the only one who wanted to work against him. There must be another guy with this information hiding behind the scenes. 

The messy thoughts crossed his mind, but Jian Chi didn’t say it. He nodded calmly, “I see.” 

Ji Huaisi stared at Jian Chi’s expression carefully, as if he was looking for signs of him pretending he was okay on his face, making sure that the calm was not mixed with his disguise, and pondered: “The way to deal with this matter has been decided. Shu Ting and I have unanimously agreed to expel Wei An.” 

The last words were calm, not joking or false. Jian Chi almost stood up and repeated: “Expelled?” 

“This was not the first time Wei Ad had done this. Last time, he narrowly escaped punishment. The school has already given him a warning. This time, he repeated the same trick. There was absolutely no reason to forgive him a second time.” 

Every sentence of Ji Huaisi’s explanation was well-organized, calm, and powerfully persuasive. 

Jian Chi calmed down and understood that this was indeed not an impulsive decision, but there was still an indescribable discord and complexity that squeezed his airtight chest.

“He has to be expelled?” 

“It’s the unanimous result of the student council.” 

Jian Chi squeezed the flesh in his palm, “I see.” 

“Do you think this punishment is bad?” Ji Huaisi got closer and asked softly, “I know he is your roommate, so this result will definitely make you feel guilty, but he repeatedly ignored the school’s warning and committed the same mistake. Saintston cannot tolerate such a morally corrupt student.” 

“I understand your decision.” 

Jian Chi couldn’t help shaking his head, and in the flashback, he seemed to see himself in that dream. He framed Bai Xiyu and voluntarily dropped out of school, ruining his promising future. Does the current Wei An have to take the path of ‘Jian Chi’? 

What about him, who went the wrong way? 

Jian Chi unknowingly came to the door of the infirmary. Looking at the door sign for a moment, he had not been here for a long time, but there was a voice in his heart that was getting louder and clearer: he needed an answer.