Chapter 124

Upon hearing Yan Jiecheng's words, Principal Gao felt his blood pressure spike and his rage soar!

"You... you..." Principal Gao was extremely annoyed, pointing a trembling finger at Yan Jiecheng, unable to even speak clearly.

Yan Jiecheng was also terrified in his heart, but he understood that success or failure hinged on this one move. If he kept up the bluff, he might not succeed, but if he chickened out, he would definitely fail.

Yan Jiecheng remembered He Yuzhu's words again, pulled a long face, and said in a deep voice, "What 'you'? Two minutes have passed already. Once the time is up, if my demands aren't met, I won't even bother going to the square to hold up a sign—it's too much trouble. I'll just smash my head against the stone lions at Zhongnanhai."

"Anyway, if I'm not worked to death by your school's teacher Yan Bugui, I'll be driven to death by your school. Might as well let everyone die together! My death alone brings happiness to everyone—it's a bargain!" Yan Jiecheng sat down on the chair, crossed his legs, and said brazenly.

Principal Gao was going crazy. He had never encountered such a rogue before. Even the most unruly people would be respectful when they came to the school and saw him; he never expected to run into a tough nut like Yan Jiecheng.

It really was a case of a scholar meeting a soldier—reasoning was useless.

Principal Gao really wanted to call the security section to give Yan Jiecheng a sound beating, but he didn't dare to gamble on whether Yan Jiecheng would really smash his head against the stone lions at Zhongnanhai.

Just as He Yuzhu had predicted, Principal Gao's own hands weren't clean. Setting aside the economic aspect, in his personal life, Principal Gao had had an affair with a teacher surnamed Bai and also had a relationship with a female student named Liu Xiaojing.

If Yan Jiecheng really went to smash his head against the stone lions, he didn't know if Yan Jiecheng would be okay, but he, Principal Gao, would definitely be finished.

"Comrade Yan Jiecheng, don't be so hasty. You have to give us some time to investigate clearly. Besides, even following the procedures takes time," Principal Gao said, suppressing the anger and fear in his heart.

When Yan Jiecheng saw the Principal like this, he knew it was a success, and he became even more arrogant.

"That's your problem, not mine. Anyway, if I don't get what I want, I'll go to Zhongnanhai to play with the stone lions. Yeah, just for fun. Principal, let me remind you again: five minutes have passed." Yan Jiecheng said coldly, though the corners of his mouth were harder to suppress than the muzzle of an AK-47.

"Why are you being so unreasonable?" Principal Gao slammed the table in anger and roared.

"Fine! Fine! Fine! You want to talk about reason, right? I'm leaving! I'm going to find a place where people talk reason!" Yan Jiecheng was startled, but he suppressed his inner panic and shouted loudly.

After saying this, Yan Jiecheng walked toward the door.

On the surface, Yan Jiecheng was furious, but in his heart, he was terrified. However, he had to leave, and not only that, he had to leave with determination.

Things had reached this point; he could only gamble that Principal Gao's hands weren't clean and that the Principal wouldn't dare to take the risk.

At worst, he would go home and get a beating from Yan Bugui. Besides, Yan Bugui might not even dare to beat him; he could completely use the report letter to threaten him.

Yan Jiecheng hadn't reached the point of despair, and neither had Principal Gao, but the Principal was only one step away from it—and that step was the one Yan Jiecheng was taking out the door.

"Wait a moment. Young people are always so hot-headed. I haven't finished speaking yet, have I? What's the rush?" Principal Gao said hurriedly.

Seeing Yan Jiecheng's determination and lack of hesitation, Principal Gao panicked. He couldn't let Yan Jiecheng walk out that door. Inside this room, Yan Jiecheng could demand the sky, and Principal Gao could bargain on the ground—they could negotiate anything—but he absolutely could not let him leave this room.

Walking out that door meant there was no more room for negotiation; it meant tearing off the masks and fighting to the death.

Seeing this, Yan Jiecheng felt a sense of relief in his heart, knowing he had won the gamble. It would be best to take over Yan Bugui's job, so Yan Jiecheng allowed himself to be half-pushed, half-pulled back into the chair in the office by Principal Gao.

"Principal Gao, if you aren't hot-headed, are you even a young person? Let's hurry up and go through the procedures and paperwork." Yan Jiecheng said quite bluntly.

"Comrade Yan Jiecheng, things aren't that simple. Going through the procedures takes time. How about this: you go back first, and tomorrow I'll first work on your father's ideological thinking, and then I'll handle the paperwork for you, okay?" Principal Gao said in a persuasive tone.

"Heh, stalling for time? Want to drag it out until tomorrow? No way! The reason I came now is precisely because my father, Yan Bugui, isn't here. I came to get the rice cooked into porridge. Principal Gao, let me remind you again: ten minutes have passed."

"Don't give me any of that 'procedures and paperwork take time' nonsense. I believe you can get it done. And don't be afraid of my father, Yan Bugui, making a scene, because everything I said is true."

"How about this: I'll take a step back. I'll give you twenty more minutes. Send two people to our Siheyuan to ask around about my father's character, and you'll understand everything."

"If you're still stalling by then, or playing any 'openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang' tricks, then the people I've arranged will only have ten minutes left." Yan Jiecheng said the most sinister words in the calmest tone.

Principal Gao couldn't help but let out a long sigh. How could he not know what kind of character Yan Bugui had? If it weren't for the fact that Yan Bugui brought him a pot of flowers every so often, Yan Bugui would have been punished long ago for being late and leaving early every day.

Principal Gao also understood that since Yan Jiecheng dared to let him send people to investigate, it meant what was written in the report letter was true. Seeing that his stalling tactics weren't working, he thought about trying to trip Yan Jiecheng up in other ways.

Just as Principal Gao was trying to think of a way, he suddenly remembered that a hot-headed youth like Yan Jiecheng would go to the square to hold up signs or smash his head against the stone lions at Zhongnanhai at the drop of a hat. He couldn't move against Yan Jiecheng lightly for now; he would have to wait until Yan Jiecheng entered the school, committed an offense, and was caught in the act before he could deal with him.

Otherwise, if he did anything that didn't suit Yan Jiecheng, he would go to the square to hold up a sign—who could stand that?

"Yeah, that's decided. Once I catch him in a mistake, I'll deal with him severely. As for Yan Bugui... sigh, to prevent him from jumping over the wall like a dog, I can only arrange a medical retirement for him first." Principal Gao thought helplessly.

Yan Bugui was far from retirement age, so he couldn't retire him normally; he could only arrange a medical retirement. This way, Yan Bugui's pension would be far lower than a normal retirement salary.

"Yan Jiecheng, don't even think about being a physical education teacher. Even to teach PE, you need to be a graduate of a sports school. You can't teach it."

"As for other departments, like the Academic Affairs Office or Finance, you can't get in there either; they all require professional knowledge and a certain level of skill. You can only enter logistics." Principal Gao said.

"Fine, logistics is fine." Yan Jiecheng said with a grin. He had intended to get into logistics anyway; he didn't want to teach PE.

"As for the logistics department, let me be clear: don't even think about positions with little work, few tasks, and high pay. Those are all for people with connections. You understand that, right? You can only do some cleaning work." Principal Gao said.

Principal Gao was being conservative; calling it "cleaning" meant that, in reality, Yan Jiecheng would have to do all the dirty and tiring work.

"I understand. Cleaning is fine. It's a formal position, right? With a state-sanctioned quota?" Yan Jiecheng asked.

"It has a quota, but it's quite tiring. There's no other way; who told you your education isn't high enough to teach students? I gave you a chance, but you're useless."

"Now, I'll give you two paths. Either you enter the school and start by cleaning. Although it's a formal position, you'll have to take an intern's salary: 17.5 yuan a month, and 27.5 yuan after three years."

"Because of your position, your maximum salary will be 32.5 yuan; it won't go any higher than that. Let's be clear: this cleaning isn't just sweeping the playground. The classrooms are cleaned by students, but you'll be responsible for the teachers' offices, the Academic Affairs Office, the security section, and so on. And the toilets."

"The second path is that I pretend today's events never happened, and this matter rots in our stomachs. Of course, I won't let you make the trip for nothing; I'll give you 400 yuan, you can go buy a job, and then this matter ends here. Think about it carefully." Principal Gao said.

Principal Gao wasn't trying to "spend money to avoid disaster"; he was digging a pit for Yan Jiecheng. As soon as Yan Jiecheng dared to take that 400 yuan, Principal Gao would immediately call the police to report Yan Jiecheng for extortion.

Why give 400 yuan? Mainly to numb Yan Jiecheng. At this time, for small factories like the machine repair factory, an apprentice's position cost about 400 yuan.

For a large factory like the Rolling Mill, a position started at 500, and you still needed connections.

Yan Jiecheng hesitated immediately.

"I have to clean the toilets too?" Yan Jiecheng asked, frowning.

"Of course, that's all you can do right now. There's only one person currently responsible for cleaning, and she's an older auntie. You coming is just right; you can be responsible for the men's toilets. After all, it's not very convenient for an auntie to clean the men's toilets." "Your father, Yan Bugui, has worked at the school for so many years; you should know some things about the school. I'm not cheating you. If you don't believe me, go ask around. This is already my biggest concession. If you want to fight to the death, then let's fight to the death. I can't break the school's rules for you."

"If you report me, at most I'll end up with a result of poor management and a demotion. But breaking the rules costs lives. Some things aren't as simple as you see them." Principal Gao said in a deep voice.

Naturally, there was some exaggeration in Principal Gao's words, but the key was that Yan Jiecheng didn't know that.

Once Yan Jiecheng heard that he not only had to clean the entire school but also the toilets, he was stunned. Was it tiring? Others might not know, but could Yan Jiecheng not know? Did he even need Principal Gao to emphasize it?

Yan Jiecheng wanted to use the "smashing his head against the stone lions" threat again, but Principal Gao wasn't buying it.

Because Principal Gao had also reacted.

When Yan Jiecheng first came, he played the "smashing his head against the stone lions" card, which had caught Principal Gao off guard. Principal Gao had been panicked and lost his footing, which created such a passive situation.

Now, Principal Gao had reacted. Setting aside whether Yan Jiecheng would report him, even if he really did, it would take time—at least an hour or two. That hour or two was enough for him to erase traces and arrange an escape route.

As for Teacher Bai and Liu Xiaojing, as long as he explained the severity of the situation, those two would definitely keep their mouths shut. Furthermore, as long as he gritted his teeth and didn't let go, not revealing the matter of Teacher Bai and Liu Xiaojing, they would at most just go through the motions.

Principal Gao also thought that he hadn't really embezzled anything economically; it was just that Yan Bugui had given him a dozen pots of flowers. Sending money and sending flowers were two different concepts. At worst, he would just get a disciplinary action for poor supervision.

At that time, he could even bite back and accuse Yan Jiecheng of extortion, and could even drag Yan Bugui into it, saying Yan Jiecheng was acting under Yan Bugui's instructions.

The more Principal Gao thought about it, the clearer he became, and the calmer he grew. The calmer Principal Gao became, the more uneasy Yan Jiecheng grew.

Yan Jiecheng was so anxious he was scratching his ears and cheeks. At this moment, the Yan family's flaw of indecisiveness began to show. The Yan family was too stingy and too calculating about gains and losses; Yan Jiecheng couldn't calculate what was most beneficial for him.

In fact, the moment Yan Jiecheng dared to come find Principal Gao, he had fallen into He Yuzhu's trap.

He Yuzhu had eradicated the Deaf Old Lady, the Yi Zhonghai couple, and the Liu Haizhong family; there was no reason he would let the Yan Bugui family off.

The Yan Bugui family were also beasts. The "beastliness" of the Yan family lay in using a way that was "moistening things silently" to give you mental destruction, bit by bit destroying your perception and trust in the beautiful side of this world.

Everything has two sides. This world certainly has a side that makes people disgusted, but it also has a beautiful side. What the Yan family did was slowly destroy the beautiful side in people's hearts, making you feel exhausted from the bottom of your heart.

The key is that after they take advantage of you, they still smugly call you a big idiot.

In the end, Yan Jiecheng's way of calculating, which only cared about immediate interests, gained the upper hand.

"400 yuan isn't enough. Give me 200 more." Yan Jiecheng said.

Yan Jiecheng was thinking of spending 500 yuan to buy a position at the Rolling Mill and using the remaining 100 yuan for living expenses. Although his rations were reduced, he could go to the black market. Having money was always better than having no money.

"Fine. However, this is not a small amount of money. Come get the money tomorrow. My money is all at home; I still have to go to the bank to withdraw it." Principal Gao said calmly.

Principal Gao was digging another pit for Yan Jiecheng. He wasn't stalling; he was forcing Yan Jiecheng to take the money on the spot, but since Principal Gao didn't have the money on hand, taking it on the spot meant going to the finance department.

Moving money from the finance department meant embezzling public funds. Moving private money and moving public funds were two different things. If you move 500 yuan of private money, maybe nothing big will happen, but if you move a single cent of public money, it's a big deal.

Yan Jiecheng fell for it, of course. How could Yan Jiecheng let Principal Gao stall?

"You must give me the money now, or else I'm going to Zhongnanhai." Yan Jiecheng said sternly.

"Fine! Then I'll go to the finance department to get the money, and I'll make up the difference." After saying this, Principal Gao started to walk toward the finance department.

How could Yan Jiecheng let Principal Gao leave alone? What if Principal Gao ran away? Should he really go to the square to hold up a sign? If he really held up the sign, it would certainly be disadvantageous to Principal Gao, but everyone has relatives—what if they retaliated?

Yan Jiecheng was now also realizing this after the fact. He was extremely nervous, his whole body was trembling, and he only wanted to take the money and leave.

"No, I can't take the money." Yan Jiecheng suddenly reacted. If he took the money, he would become a robber and an extortionist, and he would be finished.

Yan Jiecheng had at least attended middle school, and under Yan Bugui's influence, he had benefited quite a bit; he still understood some conventional laws.

Yan Jiecheng suddenly realized he had been set up by He Yuzhu, but he was already in a position where it was hard to get off the tiger. Yan Jiecheng's brain was spinning rapidly, trying to come up with a perfect solution.

However, no matter how much he sweated and racked his brains, he couldn't think of a solution.

"Principal Gao, stop! You can't go anywhere!" Seeing that Principal Gao had already risen from his seat, Yan Jiecheng couldn't help but shout urgently.

Principal Gao immediately understood that the pit he had dug had been seen through by Yan Jiecheng. Principal Gao couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Young people of this age were the most terrifying; they wouldn't worry about too much—if they said they'd stab you, they'd stab you.

Principal Gao believed Yan Jiecheng was capable of such things. He could even report his own father; what couldn't he do?

"I... sit down. I'm not going anywhere." Principal Gao said nervously, fearing that Yan Jiecheng was carrying a knife and would stab him with it.

After Principal Gao sat down, he looked at his desk calmly, fearing that something on his desk might become a weapon.

"Principal Gao, let's pretend I never came here today!" Yan Jiecheng stared intently at Principal Gao and then suddenly said, scaring Principal Gao into a shudder.

After saying this, Yan Jiecheng snatched the report letter.

This action by Yan Jiecheng almost scared Principal Gao into peeing himself; he thought Yan Jiecheng was going to stab him to death.

"This matter ends here. Let's pretend it never happened. Even if you report me, I won't admit it, and in the end, it will just be dropped. Even if I go in, I won't be locked up for long. When I get out, not only will I go to the square to hold up a sign, but I'll also go to your house."

"You wouldn't want your child to be accidentally sold to the mountains, would you?" After saying this, Yan Jiecheng turned and ran.

Principal Gao was also scared out of his wits. It was only after Yan Jiecheng had been running for a long time that Principal Gao finally came to his senses.

"Damn it, I was threatened by a stinking brat." Principal Gao cursed angrily.

Principal Gao had been threatened; it would be strange if he didn't retaliate.

Yan Jiecheng ran home in a panic, and it took him a long time to calm down.

After calming down, Yan Jiecheng headed straight for He Yuzhu's house, kicked open the door, and roared angrily, "Shazhu, you dared to set me up!"

(End of Chapter)