Hearing the clear reading voices in the campus, Daniel felt particularly comfortable. He had spent the most innocent and relaxed six years of his life here. Although junior high and high school were in the same campus, they were two separate teaching buildings. He went up to the second floor and walked to the door of the familiar Grade 11 (3) class: "Reporting."
The middle-aged Chinese teacher, seeing that it was his prized student, didn't say much, only nodded slightly, and continued lecturing. Because Daniel was now almost 1.8 meters tall, even though his grades were excellent, he was still assigned to sit at the very back. After finding his seat, he picked up his familiar textbook and notebook, placed them on the table, and looked at his somewhat silly deskmate with a smile.
"Why are you late today?"
Daniel's deskmate, Rose Merry, was a silly girl who only knew how to study. She wore large black-rimmed glasses and had silly, watermelon-shaped hair. Although her hair was dark and straight, it became the object of ridicule for many boys. Beneath her glasses were a pair of large, intelligent but somewhat dull eyes. At this time, Rose didn't seem feminine at all, but Daniel knew that after the senior year exams, Rose relaxed and changed her look, and her stunning appearance made all the boys in the school regret their decision.
"Would you believe me if I said I was late because I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about you?"
At this moment, Daniel could already vaguely see the shadow of the stunning beauty she would become in the future in her. Right now, Rose was focused on studying and hadn't paid much attention to her appearance, which earned her the nickname "silly girl".
Upon hearing this, Rose immediately lowered her head in embarrassment. Daniel had always been a bookworm in high school, completely absorbed in his studies even when he was Rose's deskmate. His sudden remark startled the young girl.
"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. I was late because my stomach hurt this morning!"
Daniel felt particularly pleased when he saw Rose's shy appearance. Girls in this era are still relatively innocent, and it would be good to find one to be a wife. Compared to that slut who was even more proactive than him in his previous life, this girl is much more attractive.
"You're acting strange today!" Although Rose's heart was pounding, she had been Daniel's deskmate for two years, and her womanly instincts immediately led her to ask.
"Oh, I looked in the mirror when I woke up today, and I neither became more handsome nor uglier. That's strange. Could it be that I've transformed into Superman in disguise?"As Daniel spoke, he put on a very serious expression and looked down at his pants.
"I'm ignoring you now, focus on the lesson!" Seeing the hidden meaning in Daniel's words, Rose immediately whispered something as the teacher looked over.
"Daniel, you answer this question." The old man was probably a little annoyed that Daniel was late and was still talking to other students in class, so he called out his name.
Damn, I was so busy flirting with Rose that I didn't listen. But when Daniel stood up and saw the blackboard, he immediately felt relieved. After all, he'd gone to college; these questions were child's play for him. He easily finished answering and then sat back down.
Just then, a note was passed to him. He opened it and laughed:
"Hey kid, did a dog bite your head yesterday? Why are you late again and talking in class! That's not like you. Tell me honestly where you were up to last night." Looking ahead, he saw his good buddy, Fatty.
This guy wasn't very bright, but he was loaded with meat, small eyes, and a big belly. He walked like a small mountain, 1.7 meters tall but weighing a full 150 kilograms[331 pounds]—practically free advertising for his father who owned a slaughterhouse.
He gave him the middle finger and then picked up his book. He hadn't studied in a long time and needed a good review to keep up. As soon as the bell rang, the old man, seemingly still wanting more, closed his book and left. The students, like wild dogs released from their reins, rushed out of the classroom. Daniel, as usual, walked with Little Fatty to the stairwell entrance, a place where students usually smoked, and the school turned a blind eye. After all, many students in the countryside did smoke.
Daniel didn't smoke in high school, but he always liked to sit here with Tyler Ben and watch him smoke while telling jokes.
"Hey, what's wrong with you today? You're usually so attentive when I'm sleeping. Tell me honestly, did you go climbing over the widow's gate in the middle of the night?"
Little Fatty took out a plum blossom tea that other students envied, lit it, and asked with a smile.
"Fine, just consider it as me climbing over your door!"
As Daniel spoke, he snatched the cigarette from Tyler's hand and lit one for himself. The familiar action of puffing out smoke stunned Tyler.
"When did you start smoking?" the chubby boy asked in confusion.
"Back when the old man was smoking, North Korea and South Korea were still called One. I feel like I'm being silly talking to someone as ignorant as you about these things."
Daniel teased as he took a drag.
"By the way, why were you late last night? I ran into Danisha on my way to school; you two always come together!"
Still a student at heart, Little Fatty had many guesses.
Daniel's younger sister's full name is Danisha Miller. She is a famous beauty in the junior high school and can be considered a celebrity in the small school.
"No need to ask, it's definitely just like you said, he went to climb over the wall of his widowed aunt's house!"
There were always some sarcastic people around, and everyone would burst into laughter whenever they said something. Little Fatty turned his head away, his face full of anger.
Daniel glanced at him; this guy was from the small town. His name was Derek Hale, and he always admired hooligans and thugs. He was also a notorious bad student. However, apart from smoking and skipping school, he had no other notable achievements.
"Go to hell, you looking for a beating!"
Tyler was always protective of Daniel during high school.
"I know, isn't his second aunt a widow? And she's mute too. I'll go climb her sometime when I have time." Derek had never taken bookworms like Daniel seriously, and when he saw the chubby guy stand up for himself, he retorted.
At this moment, Daniel threw away his cigarette butt and walked over. No one thought that such a bookworm would dare to do anything. But Daniel kicked Derek so hard that he tumbled down the stairs and then pulled the dumbfounded little fat boy back to the classroom.
"Damn, Bro, that kick you just did was so cool! Where did you learn that?"
Little Fatty snapped out of his daze and his face lit up with excitement.
"Well, I reckon that coward Derek will go and complain again in a bit. I'm just going to sit here for a while and see how he cries,"
Sure enough, Daniel hadn't been sitting down for long when his homeroom teacher called him out. That kid Derek had actually gone all the way to the principal's office. When he arrived, Derek was sitting in a chair with a wronged look on his face, while the old principal sat behind his desk with a gloomy expression.
"Report!"
Daniel wasn't nervous at all; this was a simple matter that he easily resolved.
Before Daniel could even enter, the old principal began to speak: "Daniel, what's wrong with you? You actually knocked a classmate down the stairs in school. Luckily, he wasn't seriously injured. Do you know what the consequences would be if he had been seriously hurt?"
"Reporting to the principal, it was Derek who insulted my family first, so I hit him."
Daniel glared at Derek, who immediately lowered his head guiltily.
The old principal was taken aback when he saw that this usually honest student was talking back. After a moment of surprise, he said seriously, "No matter what Derek says, you can talk to the teacher. You can't hurt him!"
"First of all, I want to clarify one point: you can't say that no matter what Derek says, violence can be divided into two categories. One is physical harm, which is called physical crime, and the other is verbal abuse, which is called verbal violence. We can see from the laws of various countries that the compensation for general injuries is very small. Even for a death, it is only about $2,000. However, the compensation for mental distress is so high that it is impossible to determine a specific amount. From this, we can see that the harm caused by words is greater than that caused by physical violence. Therefore, I believe that Derek's behavior has hurt me more than I have hurt him."
Daniel decided to talk the old principal into a stupor first.
As expected, the old principal was stunned as soon as he heard this professional statement. After a while, he said, "Then you can tell the teacher or the head of student affairs, and we will handle it."
"Telling the teacher was one way, but it was completely ineffective. At most, the teacher could only reprimand him a few times, because according to school rules, his behavior wasn't excessive. However, what he said caused me a lot of emotional harm and may even leave a lasting shadow. You know, if I didn't stop it, these words could cause a lot of trouble for me and my family if they became rumors. People's words are a fearsome thing! How can anyone live if they are constantly being pointed at and talked about?"
Daniel made it sound like he had a lot of eloquence about how he hit someone.
Upon hearing so many new terms for the first time, the old principal couldn't help but ask, "Where did you hear all of these?"
Seeing that the principal had forgotten about the matter after his rambling, Daniel said smugly, "As a student of the new century, I have always believed that studying is one aspect, but we must also learn about society in order to be open-minded. Our country is developing at a speed that even rockets can't keep up with. If we just bury ourselves in books, we will fall behind the pace of society when we come out. So in my spare time, I always like to read news and books about law or social development. I think this is a good way to enrich my knowledge."
"Wow, what a speed of social development!"
Although the principal didn't quite understand, he was pleased to hear the students say such things and praised them.
"Principal, as the victim, I strongly demand that the school discipline Derek. After all, the verbal violence he used against me was a vicious method. If this trend is allowed to continue, wouldn't our school become a breeding ground for rumors, which would pollute the minds of every student?"
Daniel glanced triumphantly at Derek, who was so angry he couldn't speak.
"Yes, yes, we can't let this kind of atmosphere continue. Derek spread rumors and slandered other classmates, he has received a major demerit. He will be punished by cleaning toilets for a month."
The principal was already dizzy from Daniel's ramblings, so he just went along with what he was saying.
"Principal, I'll be going now. I think your improvement of the school's advanced teaching methods is a major credit."
Daniel wanted to slip away.
"Okay, go ahead! But remember not to be so rough with your classmates in the future."
"Thank you, Principal!"
Daniel secretly gave Derek the middle finger before walking out with a humble expression. Derek followed him out, his face ashen.
As soon as Daniel stepped outside, he ran at 70 miles per hour. Only then did the principal realize what was happening and shouted angrily, "That's not right, Daniel! You hit someone, so why is someone else being punished? Come back here!"
It was too late by then; Daniel had long since vanished without a trace.