I had only ever heard of teachers urging students to study hard, never of one advising them not to read. It was truly a first for me.
This Teacher Li always favored students who were good at their studies and treated those who weren't very harshly, having even slapped Shen Mianmian before.
Corporal punishment with students was quite common at the time. As long as it wasn't too severe, parents would not interfere, which only emboldened Li Qiumei.
About a month ago, because she hadn't turned in her homework on time, Li Qiumei had slapped her hard enough to swell half her face.
She didn't dare to report it, but Zhou Siyu did when she got home, which resulted in both Zhou Lanfang and Shen Jianhua feeling it was deserved.
Recalling the past, Shen Mianmian's gaze turned slightly cool, "Teacher Li, before you scold a student, don't you ask for the reasons first?"
Li Qiumei was taken aback, and her face immediately darkened. "Ask for what reason?"
How dare she talk back to her? With so many teachers in the office, Li Qiumei felt Shen Mianmian was deliberately trying to make her lose face.
Chen Jie also hadn't expected Li Qiumei to say such a thing and stood gaping in surprise for a moment.
After coming back to his senses, he quickly explained, "I asked Shen Mianmian to come over to talk about her studies, not because she did anything wrong."
Students should be scolded when necessary, but also be praised when they deserve it; only then can they truly love learning.
Seeing Chen Jie siding with Shen Mianmian against her, Li Qiumei's face grew even longer.
"Being poor in studies is already a mistake, pulling down the overall score, what need is there for other errors?"
Though Li Qiumei was only a decade or so older than Chen Jie and had been teaching longer, Chen Jie had always respected her as a senior colleague.
But he found her words too excessive this time and his opinion of her greatly diminished.
Previously he thought she was just strict; now it seemed her moral compass also had issues.
"Teacher Li, your words are a bit harsh."
"How long have you been teaching? Do you need to teach me how to be a role model?" Li Qiumei's neck flushed red with anger. He had only been teaching for half a year and yet dared to confront her. In another two years, wouldn't he be trying to lord over her?
As the argument escalated, the vice-principal quickly intervened, "Alright, what's this big fuss about? Two teachers arguing fiercely in front of a student, what kind of example is this setting?"
The other teachers sniggered quietly, for Li Qiumei was known to be overbearing, using her family's connection to the principal to act arrogantly.
Chen Jie pursed his lips and, no longer speaking, motioned for Shen Mianmian to follow him to his desk.
Li Qiumei glared at Chen Jie and complained to the vice-principal, "Some people only teach for a few days and put on airs bigger than yours, even starting to educate me."
The vice-principal nodded and placatingly said, "This batch of students is difficult to handle, you've been working hard." Considering the principal's feelings, he felt he should attend to Li Qiumei's emotions.
After Li Qiumei had grumbled a few more times, she finally stopped.
"Shen Mianmian, can you tell me why you suddenly solved these math problems so quickly? Did you discover some kind of learning technique?"
There are many ways to solve math problems, and some people with quicker minds can find shortcuts. After reviewing Shen Mianmian's methods, they seemed to be the simplest and fastest available.
This piqued his curiosity.
Shen Mianmian did not hide anything and straightforwardly shared her thought process on the problem. Chen Jie listened, astounded, and became even more convinced that Shen Mianmian had solved it through her own abilities.