The students in the classroom really wished that Principal Ye had asked them before questioning Xie Yang because who the hell did Mrs. Sheng think she was?
Just the fact that class 3-C was Xie Yang's own territory would prevent others from making such a statement let alone someone like Mrs. Sheng who actively looked down on them and dismissed them.
Even if there were some who didn't like Xie Yang (Ahem-Ahem, Zhou Kai and his minions, Ahem-Ahem) they would rather stay silent take this witch's side.
Although that didn't happen, Xie Yang's reply still shocked them.
"Yes sir. I'd like to add that my reply to her was a bit impolite but I can guarantee that I did not cheat."
Xie Yang's reply at the time can be interpreted as very rude or just a little impolite based on who the other person was. Considering that all the students who listened were biased towards him, no one contested his claim.
No one except, of course our dear Mrs. Sheng.
"Sir! He's lying! Not only did he talk back but he also brazenly cheated!" Mrs. Sheng argued in a shrill voice.
Damn! That's one annoying voice! How does her husband bear it?
Principal Ye had already decided to side with Xie Yang no matter his answer. Even though the answer surprised him, he appreciated his honesty and his decision remained unchanged.
Actually Mrs. Sheng's banshee like cries further reinforced it.
'Mrs. Sheng is a veteran teacher, Mrs. Sheng is a veteran teacher…..'
With an even deeper frown than before, Principal Ye silently recited in his mind worried that he might say something ugly. Mrs. Sheng's unprofessional behaviour almost made him consider about giving her an early retirement because clearly she's starting to lose it.
Even Xie Yang, a kid half her age was calmly answering his questions without raising his voice while also being polite and here, a respected teacher of their school was acting uncivilized.
"Mrs. Sheng, I believe there must be some kind of misunderstanding between You and Xie Yang. Why don't we resolve it in my office and not make a spectacle of it?" Principal Ye stated though his tone betrayed a hint of impatience.
He was really disappointed with Mrs. Sheng but he still couldn't make a fool out of her in front of so many students.
Unfortunately, once more his consideration went unnoticed by Mrs. Sheng who wanted to "expose" Xie Yang in front of students so that they could spread the matter to others.
"No sir. Let everyone be the witness for this cheating scandal so that when questioned by the higher administration, we'd have plenty of evidence." Mrs. Sheng said in a poorly disguised jubilant tone.
Honestly if it was up to Mrs. Sheng, she wished to publicly condemn Xie Yang but since that wasn't possible, she settled for the next best option.
Principal Ye felt a vein throbbing in his head. He rubbed his forehead and sighed.
'I give up. I fear even God can't save her from the criticism.'
With a heavy heart, he turned to face Xie Yang who was still calmly observing the situation and asked in a gentle tone, " Then, does Xie Yang mind resolving this here?"
Xie Yang actually didn't want to resolve it privately either but didn't argue when Principal Ye brought it up out of respect for him. Who'd have thought that our disguised witch would take the initiative to pull of her disguise?
"Isn't she bit too stupid? How'd she get a job here in the first place? Isn't this an elite school?" Leo remarked pretty amused.
'Probably has a relative up at the top who brought her in through the backdoor. I don't believe for a second that she got in because of her capability.' Xie Yang sneering at her low level acting.
"Want me to find out?" Leo asked despite he already answer.
Xie Yang side eyed him though to others it seemed as if he was thinking deeply about how to proceed.
Leo shrugged and went off to investigate while Xie Yang once again met Principal Ye's eyes and answered in a solemn tone, "Yes sir, I don't mind."
Seeing him contemplate about the issue, Principal Ye felt a newfound sense of respect for him. Even faced with such open hostility from Mrs. Sheng, he still hesitated probably worrying about Mrs. Sheng's face.
Principal Ye now had a gleam in his eyes while looking at Xie Yang which was noticed by everyone (except Mrs. Sheng).
Xie Yang felt a bit weird about this sudden favour but ignored it and calmly waited for him to start questioning.
Principal Ye cleared his throat before getting back into business.
"Then why don't we start from the beginning? Which question is the one in which Xie Yang cheated?"
When Principal Ye said that Xie Yang cheated, he meant it in a sarcastic and joking manner. Regrettably Mrs. Sheng thought this meant that he was on her side, thus becoming even more sure about exposing Xie Yang.
She excitedly interrupted Xie Yang who was about to speak saying in her shrill voice while pointing at the chalkboard.
"Sir! It was this question! This is a high level programming question which was used in a highly sophisticated programming competition and yet Xie Yang solved it! He must have cheated otherwise how could he solve it?!"
Principal Ye turned to look at the densely packed text on the chalkboard feeling the corner of his mouth twitch.
"Mrs. Sheng if I remember correctly, this is a science class so why were you asking a programming question?"
"Er… that's because…." Mrs. Sheng stuttered for a while.
"Also, as far as I'm aware this is an assignment question that you gave him to solve. Did it not occur to you that he might have privately studied the topic, hence why he could solve it?"
Without giving her time to answer, Principal Ye rapidly fired his questions.
All the students saw Mrs. Sheng's previously excited demeanour deflate with each pointed question entertaining them thoroughly.
"But sir! This solution to this question is extremely complex! Even veterans in the field found it hard to understand! How could a high school senior especially one as busy as our Student Xie possibly understand it even to solve it?!"
Mrs. Sheng objected while sarcastically referring to Xie Yang in a rather hostile tone.
The more he listened, the more Principal Ye felt a vein about to pop in his head.