Seeing Secretary Li asking Cheng Lu and another girl to leave, Xu Xiuwen knew that Secretary Li was planning to have a private conversation, so he immediately became serious.
As Cheng Lu passed by, she whispered to the other girl, "I wonder if Jiangling students can do anything other than cheating."
Yang Baishan, hearing this, was instantly furious and glared at her.
But Cheng Lu didn't even look at him.
After the two girls left, Secretary Li waited for the door to close and then softly said, "Tell me, why did you seek outside help? The sports department should have informed you during registration that only students from your own department are eligible to participate in the competition. By doing this, not only are you openly violating the rules, but you're also showing blatant disregard for the school. If everyone did what you did, wouldn't that create chaos?"
Hearing Secretary Li's words, Yang Baishan wilted like a frosted eggplant, losing all the energy he had when glaring at Cheng Lu earlier.
Dong Jun hung his head, looking like a well-behaved child.
Seeing them playing dead, Xu Xiuwen thought to himself that he had to step up.
He proactively explained, "Secretary Li, here's the situation. We have very few boys in our department who can play soccer. If we force those who can't play to participate, it would surely embarrass our management and engineering department. That's why we sought outside help. We didn't know it was against the rules."
The lie came easily.
Even if they knew it was against the rules, they couldn't admit it in front of Secretary Li.
Secretary Li remained calm, "I understand that your department has few boys, and I can understand your thinking, but did you not consider the consequences of doing this behind your advisor's back? Who would take responsibility if this was discovered? You students?"
Yang Baishan, feeling indignant, said, "Secretary Li, we didn't do anything major, we just brought in a few fellow townsmen to play. It's not that serious, right?"
Hearing Yang Baishan speak, Xu Xiuwen knew they were in trouble.
Sure enough, Secretary Li's expression turned stern.
She lightly tapped the desk with her pen and said seriously, "By your logic, a murderer could say, 'I just killed one person,' and a robber could say, 'I just stole some money.' Society has laws, schools have regulations, and competitions have rules. Seeking outside help violates school regulations and competition rules. Do you think this is fair to the other participants? If another department brought in outside help and eliminated you, would you accept that?"
Yang Baishan thought to himself, no, I wouldn't accept that.
At this point, he realized his mistake but didn't know how to explain it.
Fortunately, Xu Xiuwen quickly helped him out, saying, "Secretary Li, Yang Baishan doesn't fully understand the severity of seeking outside help. The class monitor and I already know it's wrong. We'll make sure to educate him properly."
Secretary Li nodded, "I hope this ends here. None of the outsiders you brought in will be allowed to play in this afternoon's match!"
Yang Baishan was anxious, "Secretary Li, this is the final match. If they don't play, we won't have enough people, and without them, we can't beat the computer science department!"
This Yang Baishan had no sense; he was still talking nonsense at this point.
Xu Xiuwen was speechless and quickly scolded, "Yang Baishan, don't be foolish. Secretary Li has already been lenient. Don't be ungrateful."
Dong Jun also quickly assured, "Secretary Li, we know we were wrong. Yang Baishan just cares too much about winning. We'll make sure he understands. We won't use any outside help for this afternoon's match. Please rest assured."
Yang Baishan realized he had spoken out of turn again and said dejectedly, "I'm sorry, Secretary Li. I misspoke again."
Secretary Li didn't hold it against him and nodded, "I understand. You two can leave now. Xu Xiuwen, stay behind."
Yang Baishan and Dong Jun breathed a sigh of relief but were puzzled as to why Secretary Li wanted Xu Xiuwen to stay.
After they left the classroom, Secretary Li gave Xu Xiuwen a stern look, "Xu Xiuwen, you're really causing me trouble."
Xu Xiuwen felt very awkward.
Secretary Li said, "This morning, the sports department brought people from the computer science department to complain to me. I was startled."
"Luckily, they came to me. If they had taken this to other leaders, it would have blown up. Do you know what the consequences would be? Openly violating school regulations and competition rules would mean your entire team would be disciplined, and your advisor would also be held accountable!"
"Secretary Li, I'm really sorry." Xu Xiuwen could only apologize.
Secretary Li waved her hand, "I heard that your two departments had conflicts during the last military training. I understand that your management and engineering department wants to beat the computer science department, but this approach is wrong. Think carefully before you act in the future."
Xu Xiuwen nodded, "I understand, Secretary Li."
At this moment, he felt incredibly right about his decision to return to Xi'an to prevent the case from happening after being reborn.
If it weren't for this incident, Secretary Li wouldn't have looked at him differently or taken care of him like this.
Whether it was using the field last time or this outside help incident, without Secretary Li, it would have been a headache for him.
This also served as a wake-up call for Xu Xiuwen to be more cautious in the future.
"Alright, I have other things to do. You can go now."
"Okay, goodbye, Secretary Li." Xu Xiuwen turned to leave.
As he reached the door, Secretary Li said meaningfully, "You'll be very busy later. Do well and don't disappoint me."
Xu Xiuwen didn't understand what Secretary Li meant, but seeing her lower her head to write, he didn't interrupt and left the office.
Dong Jun and Yang Baishan were waiting in the hallway outside the office.
Seeing him come out, they immediately asked, "Secretary Li didn't give you a hard time, did she?"
Xu Xiuwen shook his head, "No, don't worry."
Dong Jun and Yang Baishan were relieved.
The three of them talked as they walked downstairs.
When they reached the ground floor, they saw Cheng Lu.
She hadn't left and was waiting at the entrance, seemingly for someone.
Seeing Cheng Lu, Yang Baishan recalled what she had said earlier, and his anger surged. He rushed over and pointed at her, "We have no grudge against you. Why did you report us to Secretary Li?"
Cheng Lu glanced at him sideways, ignored him, and moved to walk beside the teaching building.
Yang Baishan shouted, "Don't go! Explain yourself. We worked hard to make it to the finals. Why did you report us?"
Cheng Lu stopped in her tracks.