Power and Wealth

Chapter 2023

It was a complete mess.

Classes throughout the school were nearly all suspended. Understandably so—most of the teachers were downstairs, and many of the children were crowding around the windows watching what was happening in the courtyard.

“Xiao Hou,” Luan Xiaoping said.

Hou Jing replied helplessly, “Madam Luan.”

With righteous severity, Luan Xiaoping said, “Take your people and restrain him.”

Hou Jing was dumbfounded, almost laughing and crying at the same time. Restrain who? The God of Plague? She replied, “Madam, we don’t have enough police force, and even if we did, we couldn’t control him. Xuebing’s combat skills are beyond what 30 to 50 people could handle.” First, they really couldn’t beat him. Second, this was Dong Xuebing—Luan Xiaoping’s son. And who was Luan Xiaoping’s current husband? The city’s mayor is the top leader of the City government. Who would dare arrest Mayor Yang’s son?

Dong Xuebing had already thrown out some threats and now turned to Hou Jing, who was talking to his mother. “Director Hou, are you going to block the door or not? If not, I’ll do it myself.”

Luan Xiaoping said, “Don’t listen to him.”

Dong Xuebing snapped, “Today, I’m not done.” Sometimes Dong Xuebing was reasonable, but other times, he was downright unreasonable—especially when it came to his daughter. Dong Xuebing felt he was already being restrained. In the past, he might have torn down the whole kindergarten. And honestly, no one could blame him for losing his temper today. This situation was just infuriating. That so-called teacher? Even beating him to death would be too kind.

Hou Jing was in uniform, so of course, she had to step in. “Xuebing.”

Some of the other officers present had met Dong Xuebing before. They knew that Deputy Director Hou had personal ties to him, and they were also aware of his connection to Yang Zhaode. Sharing glances, they realized this wasn’t a case they could handle lightly. They could only leave it to Deputy Director Hou. None of them dared step forward. Everyone knew he was a loose cannon. Back in the day, over a minor issue, this young man had blocked the entrance of the city government compound with a Porsche, preventing a wedding convoy of a city leader’s son from leaving. He even played funeral music from the car stereo. That incident alone showed what kind of person he was. These junior officers didn’t want any part of this disaster.

“What do you want?” Dong Xuebing asked Hou Jing.

Hou Jing said, “Do me a favor today. Go home first.”

Dong Xuebing responded coldly, “I’ll repeat it. No one’s face matters today. I’m not giving anyone any favors. If this problem isn’t resolved, no one’s going anywhere.”

Hou Jing smacked her lips. “You’re making this hard for me.”

Dong Xuebing’s eyes turned cold. “Hard for you? Why?”

“No matter how it started, you still assaulted a teacher,” Hou Jing tried reasoning.

Dong Xuebing replied like a total thug: “So what if I hit him? He deserved it. And let me make this clear—this won’t be the last time. Every time I see him, I’ll beat his ass. What now? You want to arrest me? Go ahead—try it.”

Hou Jing’s face darkened. “Look at you, now you’re snapping at me? We’ve known each other for so many years—you can’t give me even a little face?”

Dong Xuebing said, “Sorry, Director Hou. Not today.”

Hou Jing tried to persuade him a few more times, but it was to no avail. She felt helpless. The initial police report had come from the local substation. It was escalated to the district bureau and finally reached the City bureau. Because of previous violent intrusions into schools, the city had been particularly cautious about such incidents. After receiving the report, Hou Jing personally led a team, bringing a large number of officers. But who would’ve thought they’d run into Dong Xuebing?

She had known Dong Xuebing for years. Back when he was deputy director of the Yantai County Public Security Bureau, they’d met during a museum theft case. Dong Xuebing had gone undercover and ended up rescuing her from a group of criminals. They hadn’t been in touch for a while, but reconnected later in Lü’an City, where she was promoted due to her role in recovering stolen artifacts. They had stayed close ever since. She knew about his career and that he was now a county party secretary, but she never imagined that his personality hadn’t changed a bit. He was still the same reckless rogue.

The teachers watching were all shaken. Damn. So they all knew each other? Who was this guy that even the police didn’t dare touch him? And not just any police—that was the deputy director of the City bureau!

Mr. Zhou was finished.

He was truly screwed this time.

The teachers couldn’t help but sigh. They all knew Mr. Zhou—he was new and had never shown much competence, always seen playing games on his phone. No one had a close relationship with him. Who would’ve thought he’d cause such a mess—grabbing a kid by the collar and throwing her aside in front of her parents? If it were their child, they wouldn’t be able to stand it either. It was unprofessional and shameful. Still, they felt the man had gone too far in his beating. That was brutal. The ambulance hadn’t even arrived yet. What if the teacher died?

But none of them knew that Dong Xuebing was in complete control of his strength. He’d beaten hundreds, if not thousands, of people. He knew what he was doing. He wouldn’t beat someone to death.

The situation was at a stalemate.

Faced with Dong Xuebing’s utter disregard for logic and reason, no one knew what to do.

They couldn’t beat him.

They couldn’t reason with him.

What kind of situation was this?

“Daddy!” Little Qianqian suddenly toddled over.

Dong Xuebing immediately stopped yelling and didn’t bother Mr. Zhou anymore. He bent down, hugged his daughter, and kissed her. “Let Daddy see—did he hurt you?” He gently pulled back her collar to check. Luckily, there was nothing serious. He asked, “Tell me, baby. Did any other teacher ever bully you? Daddy will handle them, too.”

Qianqian said, “Nope. The teachers… they’re nice to me.”

“Except him, huh? The others are good to you.” Dong Xuebing said.

“Daddy is a hero! All the bad guys get beaten by Daddy!” Qianqian clung to his neck, insisting on being carried.

Dong Xuebing picked her up. “Of course. You know who your Daddy is. If anyone ever dares to bully you again, come to me. I’ll beat them up one by one.”

Qu Yunxuan frowned. “Is that how you teach a child?”

“It’s the truth,” Dong Xuebing said coldly. “Whoever dares touch my daughter, I’ll beat them so bad their mother won’t recognize them.”

Luan Xiaoping saw her son’s temper cooling and snorted, “If you ever hit or curse someone in front of your child again, I’ll beat you up.”

Dong Xuebing rolled his eyes. He wasn’t in the mood to hit Zhou anymore—not that Zhou could take more. But Dong Xuebing hadn’t forgotten what he came here for. He turned to the kindergarten principal and said, “So, how are you going to handle this? You tell me.”

The principal wiped the sweat from his face and looked at the other side. “Madam Luan…”

Luan Xiaoping acted like she hadn’t heard anything and remained silent. But that silence was its statement. She was also very upset about her granddaughter being mistreated. She had stopped her son earlier to prevent anyone from dying—a protective act—but now that the teacher wasn’t in mortal danger, she made no move to defend him. Her stance was clear. But as the mayor’s wife, she couldn’t say much publicly. It would be improper.

The principal gave a nervous laugh and turned to Hou Jing. “Director Hou, what’s your view?”

Hou Jing replied coolly, “I suggest you settle this privately. After all, your teacher was at fault. Assaulting a child for no reason? No parent would accept that.” Even though she and Dong Xuebing had argued earlier, in the end, Hou Jing was still on his side. Their friendship dated back years, and Luan Xiaoping was also there.

The principal hesitated, then said, “Let’s go to my office and talk.”

Dong Xuebing didn’t budge. Hearing that, he started cursing again. “Are you even trying to resolve this? Why the hell would I go to your office? Just say it here. Why are you trying to dodge? If you care so much about appearances, then start by properly screening your teachers. Hiring someone like this—what kind of principal are you? Just for show?”

Luan Xiaoping also chimed in, “Principal Sun, your handling of this situation has been… less than ideal. I’m also a teacher. In my life, I’ve never even yelled at a student, let alone hit one. That is the most basic quality and discipline a teacher should have.”

The principal quickly bowed his head. “Yes, yes, you’re right. It was our negligence.”

Luan Xiaoping didn’t stay long. She waved to her granddaughter. “Qianqian, come to Grandma. Grandma will take you home. Let your dad handle things here.”

Dong Xuebing put the child down. Little Qianqian ran straight into Grandma’s arms.

Luan Xiaoping carried her away. As she left, she said to Qu Yunxuan, “Whether we transfer her or not, we’ll discuss it when we get home.”

That was a heavy statement. Hearing it, the principal and the other administrators felt their hearts sink. This wasn’t a private kindergarten—this was public. One word from a higher-up could change everything. And this wasn’t the child of some district official—this was the mayor’s granddaughter. They hadn’t protected her, and now they might even lose her as a student. That would reflect poorly on everyone involved. The principal and staff instantly went into damage control mode.

What now?

Take it seriously.

Soon, the principal announced their decision: Teacher Zhou was fired for inappropriate conduct. Because his actions directly caused physical harm and amounted to gross misconduct, the school would not cover his medical expenses. The administrator responsible for hiring him would also be reassigned and removed from the First Experimental Kindergarten.

It was their way of giving Dong Xuebing an answer.