Chapter 1375: Feigning Illness Almost Gets Her Fired

The Principal would not be swayed by her few words.

He said to Teacher Tian, "Instead of wasting time with me, you'd be better off thinking about how to wrap this situation up."

"Young people don't buy your act; they prefer things straight and direct, a head-on confrontation!"

Teacher Tian:...

Since she couldn't count on the Principal, she could only count on herself.

After class, Teacher Luo learned that Teacher Tian had been hospitalized!

She had a heart condition flare-up, supposedly due to years of accumulated exhaustion, and would need to stay in the Hospital Ward for a while.

To think she would come up with such a ploy just to avoid a self-criticism in front of the whole school's teachers and students—it was truly irresponsible.

That very afternoon, the Principal arranged for a substitute head teacher for the Experimental Class, but with a new head teacher came different teaching philosophies.

The students' grades dropped, and the parents were not happy.

They came to the school one after another, asking when Teacher Tian would be discharged.

And when she would be back to work as usual.

It was already the third year of high school; the children's time was most precious and could not be wasted.

Even while lying in the hospital, Teacher Tian kept a close eye on school affairs.

She knew about every little stir at school, and she was quite pleased with herself.

The Principal went to the hospital, bringing flowers and fruit.

Upon arriving at the Hospital Ward, he realized he had been mistaken.

Teacher Tian's Hospital Ward was not lacking in flowers or fruit, nor in various expensive tonics; these items were nearly filling the room.

These had all been sent by the students' parents.

Any single item taken out was more valuable than the "Xiaojin" that Zichen had sent before.

"Principal, you're here. Sit!"

Teacher Tian looked to be in great spirits, her complexion rosy, as she lay in bed binge-watching shows.

"Teacher Tian, you look quite well. How has your recovery been lately?" the Principal said with a forced smile, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

"Cough, cough..."

She covered her chest with her hand and pretended to cough a few times.

"Principal, I am eager to return; I want to go back immediately to teach my lovely students, but my health... cough, cough!"

"As you can see, it's better one moment and worse the next. The doctor said I cannot get angry or be emotionally agitated, but the school has... you know, I am in a difficult position too."

Principal:...

This was a blatant threat.

She was threatening the Principal that if he wanted her back, he would have to fire Teacher Luo.

The Principal was in a dilemma.

Teacher Tian's character was poor; there was no doubt about that.

But her teaching was excellent; this was also universally acknowledged by the whole school!

Relatively speaking, Teacher Luo was upright and open, but she was just too young. Although the grades of Class Twelve had improved rapidly, a large part of that was due to Zichen.

The Principal didn't get his position for nothing; he knew exactly how things stood.

These two teachers were at each other's throats, but he didn't want to fire either of them; he wanted to keep both.

"Teacher Tian, let's put this matter aside for now. You haven't been to school these past few days, and there are a few things you aren't aware of. Let me tell you about them."

The Principal told her that Shi Ran, the older sister of Zichen from Class Twelve, had a college classmate who was interested in teaching at First High School.

Given her ability and qualifications, it would be a waste of talent for her to just be a teacher at First High School, and it would be even less appropriate to make her a subject teacher.

And this person had stated that she wanted to be a head teacher, but only if she could lead the Experimental Class.

Hearing this, Teacher Tian sat up straight involuntarily, her eyes wide, half-believing and half-doubting.

She didn't fully believe the Principal's words, but she didn't disbelieve them entirely either. Her mind raced, trying to discern whether the Principal's words were true or false.

The Principal noticed this and felt secretly pleased, though he didn't show it on his face.

He told Teacher Tian one more thing, and this time she couldn't sit still at all.

The other matter also concerned the Experimental Class, but this time it was Teacher Luo's own teacher, an veteran educator with rich teaching experience, who was preparing to come to First High School to teach.

The Principal expressed his difficulty and asked Teacher Tian with a "humble" attitude: "How long will you be staying in the hospital? What did the doctor say? My meaning is, if your health truly doesn't permit it, don't force yourself. Rest assured and recover; the school will provide all the benefits you are entitled to..."

"Principal, I will return to teach tomorrow."

She compromised.

She couldn't drag this out any longer; if she dragged it out any further, she would lose her job.

The Principal still looked troubled: "It would be great if you could return to teach, but are you sure your health can handle it? I must go ask the doctor; if your health condition doesn't permit it, you cannot return to teach..."

Things were not like they used to be.

Labor laws were becoming increasingly comprehensive, and for employees who had issues while on the job, such as a heart attack, it would be counted as a work-related injury!

The school would have to bear the responsibility, so the Principal was cautious. Teacher Tian not only understood this but also broke out in a cold sweat.

She realized she couldn't view new problems with old perspectives.

In the past, taking fake sick leave was fine, and she could even use it to threaten the Principal, but it didn't work anymore.

She couldn't threaten anyone, and it might even lead to her being forced into early retirement.

"Principal, my health is fine now, perfectly fine. If you don't believe me, you can look at this!"

She didn't care about anything else; she pulled open the drawer, took out the test results, and laid them all out in front of the Principal for him to see.

He looked, and he looked very carefully.

Not to mention major illnesses, there wasn't even a minor ailment!

"Since there's nothing wrong, why have you been staying in the hospital for so long? Don't you know that time in the third year of high school is precious?"

The Principal's face darkened, and without any politeness, he gave Teacher Tian a thorough dressing-down.

This time, her attitude was exceptionally good; she didn't talk back, accepted everything, and even gritted her teeth to accept the Principal's demand that she apologize to Teacher Luo in front of all the teachers and students after returning to work.

She had no choice but to accept; if she dragged it out any longer, she would lose her job!

The next day, during the break between classes.

The sound of Teacher Tian reading her letter of self-criticism came through the school's broadcast speakers.

The conflict between Class Three and Class Twelve was, for the time being, considered to have come to an end.

……

"Waa—"

"Waa waa waa—"

Shi Yuan had been crying continuously, and no matter how they coaxed him, he wouldn't stop.

Shi Ran paced around the room holding the child; as long as she was walking, the little one would be quiet for a while, but he would cry as soon as he was placed in his crib.

But the quiet only lasted for a moment; it worked at first, but later it became less and less effective.

"What should we do, Qi Tian? Is he sick?" Shi Ran asked her husband.

Her husband was slumped on the sofa, exhausted.

He had been the one holding the child and pacing the floor for the first half of the night, and only when he was truly too tired to go on during the second half did they switch.

Qi Tian said weakly, "Unlikely. I gave him a full check-up, and there is nothing wrong with his body. If there were a problem, his crying wouldn't be this loud."

That made sense.

But why was Baobao crying non-stop?

The couple really couldn't hold on any longer, so Shi Ran called her mother for help!

"Mom, are you still awake? That's great. My Baobao has been crying all night, and no matter how we coax him, he won't stop. Do you know what the reason might be?"

Shi Youxuan asked, "Is the nanny at home?"

Shi Ran said, "No, the nanny had family matters and asked for a few days off to go home."

"Oh, have you fed the child milk?"

Shi Ran was surprised: "Does he need to eat milk in the middle of the night?"

Shi Youxuan mocked: "How novel. Sometimes when you work until the middle of the night, you still have a midnight snack; of course such a small child needs to be fed milk in the middle of the night."