Zhang Chao's punch came fast—too fast for a normal student.
But Jiang Chen wasn't normal.
He shifted to the side and with a casual backhand, slapped Zhang Chao across the face.
Crack!
Zhang Chao spun like a top, two front teeth flying from his mouth as he staggered back, completely dazed.
Gasps echoed across the room.
The so-called Taekwondo master was floored by a single slap.
Zhang Chao's two cronies stood frozen, horror etched on their faces. If their boss was humiliated this badly, what chance did they have?
Jiang Chen stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Chao by the collar like a misbehaving child, and lifted him slightly off the ground.
"You yield or not?"
Zhang Chao gulped. "I yield! I yield! All caps—YIELD!"
Jiang Chen sneered. "Good. There won't be a next time. Or I'll make you wish you were never born."
Then, with a flick, he tossed Zhang Chao aside like garbage.
"Scram."
Zhang Chao scrambled to his feet, thinking the nightmare was over—
Until Jiang Chen's cold voice rang out behind him.
"I said SCRAM—like an egg. You know how to roll, don't you?"
Zhang Chao froze, blood dripping from his lip.
"Jiang Chen, don't push people too far!" he shouted, turning around.
Smack!
"Pushed too far? What are you going to do, bite me?"
Smack!
"Still not rolling? Want another demonstration?"
Zhang Chao looked like he might cry. In the end, clutching his face, he dropped to the floor and rolled himself down the corridor.
The entire class sat in stunned silence.
Jiang Chen brushed imaginary dust from his shoulder and turned back with a smirk.
He walked up to Lin Yuechan's desk and leaned in with a teasing grin.
"Xue'er, don't forget your promise."
Lin Yuechan blinked. "Huh? What promise?"
Jiang Chen didn't answer. He just smirked knowingly.
Before she could react, the classroom door slammed open again.
In walked a middle-aged man with thinning hair, a half-burnt cigarette dangling from his lips.
Zhao Dongfeng.
Homeroom teacher of Class 8. Head of the Math Teaching and Research Group. Known for sucking up to the school leaders and for his love of smoking indoors.
He dropped a stack of test papers on the front desk, exhaled a smoke ring, and coughed.
"Since your physics teacher has an emergency, I'll be taking over this period to review the mock exam."
He glanced around with a smirk.
"Class 7, your scores were appalling—especially in physics. A full 100 marks, and someone only managed 10. Honestly, did you forget to bring your brain to the exam?"
Several girls in the front row coughed violently as his smoke wafted through the air.
Suddenly—
"Teacher!" Jiang Chen stood up, voice loud and clear. "This is a classroom. Please put out your cigarette."
Zhao Dongfeng paused mid-drag, staring at Jiang Chen.
The room fell silent.
Everyone knew Zhao Dongfeng had clout. Even the school board looked the other way when he smoked indoors.
Instead of putting it out, Zhao Dongfeng took a long, exaggerated puff.
Jiang Chen slammed the desk. "I said put it out. Are you deaf?"
The tension exploded.
Zhao Dongfeng's face darkened. "What's your name?!"
"Jiang Chen," he replied calmly. "Jiang as in 'wood,' Chen as in 'sun and stars.'"
Recognition dawned on Zhao Dongfeng's face. "Ah, the student who scored 10 out of 150. Impressive."
Jiang Chen nodded. "That's me."
Zhao sneered. "You've got nerve. With grades like that, even a third-rate college wouldn't accept you. You'll be lucky to stay out of prison. And yet here you are, trying to act righteous."
Jiang Chen's smile faded. He walked up, snatched the cigarette from Zhao's fingers, flipped it, and shoved the burning end into the man's mouth.
Zhao Dongfeng screamed, spitting it out and coughing uncontrollably. Tears and snot streamed down his face.
The students stared, jaws on the floor.
Jiang Chen clapped his hands clean.
"Not fun, is it, Teacher Zhao? Choking on smoke?"
He stepped closer, voice razor-sharp.
"You've been a teacher for how long? And still don't know: 'Do not do unto others what you don't want done to yourself'?"
"Respect is mutual. Smoking here? Poisoning these girls in the front row? Is that your idea of virtue?"
Zhao Dongfeng was trembling with fury and humiliation.
"You—you—"
Jiang Chen didn't let him finish.
"You what? Got nothing to say? Smoking's bad for your health, isn't it? And here you are, stinking up the room like a broken exhaust pipe."
He paused, voice deepening.
"Mr. Liang Qichao once said, 'When the youth are strong, Huaxia is strong.' So tell me, by stifling the next generation, aren't you sabotaging the nation's future?"
"Aren't you a disgrace to teachers everywhere?"
"Are you ashamed yet, Teacher Zhao? Or do you need me to write it on the board for you?"