The child might be the one with the least problems.

Chen Xiaoya walked over. "Director Li, what's going on?"

Seeing that it was Chen Xiaoya, Li Yan suppressed his anger a bit, though his tone remained unfriendly.

"Xiao Chen, this student of yours is unbelievable. The moment he walked into the office, he plopped right down in your chair, making himself completely at home. When I came in, he had his legs kicked up to the ceiling!"

It wasn't entirely unusual for a student to sit in a teacher's chair, but Huang Haoyang was the first to do it with the arrogant air of a boss.

Li Yan glared at Huang Haoyang, looking as if he wanted to bore two holes right through the boy with his eyes.

"This student of yours... you'd better discipline him yourself."

He had wanted to reprimand the boy further, but swallowed his words. After all, Chen Xiaoya's class boasted top-ranking students like Lin Mo and Xue Zigui; he had to save her some face.

After Li Yan walked away with a dark expression, the office finally quieted down.

Chen Xiaoya sat back down in her seat just as the landline on her desk began to ring.

"Hello... Oh, the security room. Alright, please send them directly up to the second-floor office. Thank you."

She hung up the phone unhurriedly, and only then did she look up at Huang Haoyang standing by the wall.

There was no questioning, nor was there any scolding. She just looked at him calmly.

Huang Haoyang felt a bit unnerved by her stare, but he stubbornly craned his neck, putting on the brazen look of a rascal who had nothing to lose. He let his gaze drift out the window, practically humming a little tune.

The rest of the office was bustling with noise, but a bizarre silence settled between the two of them.

Just as Huang Haoyang was about to crack under the silence and say something, the office door was shoved open.

A loud, gruff female voice barged in along with it.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Teacher Chen from Class Eight? What did my Haoyang do to offend you people this time?"

A woman wearing a floral dress, though built with a broad and burly frame, strode into the room.

She ignored everyone else. Her gaze swept across the office and locked accurately onto Huang Haoyang standing by the wall.

The woman marched straight over, grabbed her son by the arm, and looked him up and down. Only after confirming he was perfectly fine did she turn her head to glare at Chen Xiaoya behind the desk, her eyes filled with scrutiny.

Stepping forward, she looked Chen Xiaoya up and down, sizing up the teacher's attire.

"So you're Teacher Chen? What heinous crime did my Haoyang commit that you absolutely had to call his parents in? His father was the one who came to the last parent-teacher meeting."

The mere mention of that made Chen Xiaoya feel utterly speechless.

Huang Haoyang's father seemed completely indifferent toward his son. His attitude was essentially that if the boy could learn, great; if not, whatever. Furthermore, at the very beginning of the meeting when students were supposed to give their parents a tour of the school, his father had simply up and left.

Chen Xiaoya never even got the chance to speak with him.

As a result, they never got to talk, and Huang Haoyang's behavioral issues were left unaddressed.

Chen Xiaoya suppressed her surging emotions and tried her best to keep her tone calm and objective.

"Last time, Huang Haoyang's father left early, so I didn't get to discuss many issues with him. Today, Huang Haoyang..."

Chen Xiaoya recounted everything that had happened today, as well as the fact that many female students had reported Huang Haoyang for inappropriate behavior.

To her surprise, Huang Haoyang's mother merely raised an eyebrow and waved her hand dismissively.

"What's the big deal? So what if a boy talks a little extra to his female classmates? Little girls these days are just too delicate, crying harassment at the drop of a hat. My Haoyang is just building up their mental resilience and helping them adapt to society early, so they don't get taken advantage of once they leave school!"

She glanced around the room and continued, "And what about that sticky rice dumpling making activity? Why wasn't my Haoyang allowed to participate? If he had gone, he might have won first place too! I think you teachers are just playing favorites with that Lin Mo kid, constantly looking for ways to hand him free perks!"

The office fell dead silent.

Even Huang Haoyang, who had been leaning against the wall with a lackadaisical attitude, flashed a look of unease and quietly shrank back.

Chen Xiaoya was so infuriated by this absurd logic that she actually laughed.

She slowly stood up, crossed her arms, and stared right at the unreasonable parent standing before her, enunciating every single word.

"Ma'am, let me just confirm that I'm understanding you correctly."

"Are you implying that across the entire tenth and eleventh grades—totaling more than twenty classes and over eighty participating students—everyone conspired beforehand to intentionally throw the competition just for Lin Mo from my class?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word fell like a small hammer, striking firmly against the listener's chest.

"All so that he alone could smoothly wrap over two hundred pentagonal sticky rice dumplings in a mere two hours, allowing him to legitimately claim first place?"

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Chen Xiaoya's mouth, a mixture of mockery and utter exasperation.

"Do you genuinely believe that an ordinary homeroom teacher like me has the sheer power to rig a school-wide competition?"

The air seemed to freeze.

Huang Haoyang's mother was so choked up by this barrage of questions that she was left speechless. Her face flushed the color of raw liver; she opened her mouth several times, but couldn't force a single word out.

Chen Xiaoya didn't give her any further opportunity to be unreasonable. The last trace of warmth vanished from her face, and her tone became strictly professional.

"Since we cannot have a normal conversation as parent and teacher, everything will be handled strictly according to the school's rules and regulations."

"Huang Haoyang has repeatedly harassed his female classmates and shown blatant disrespect toward his teachers. I will compile all of these incidents into a written report and officially submit it to the Dean's Office.

At that point, the school will assess whether his actions constitute a severe violation of the rules and issue the appropriate disciplinary action."

Hearing the words Dean's Office and disciplinary action, Huang Haoyang, who had been playing dumb this whole time, snapped his head up. Genuine panic finally seeped into his eyes.

He knew for a fact that once the matter reached the Dean's Office, Director Li Yan would never let him off the hook.

His mother, however, froze for a split second before completely blowing her top. She pointed a finger so close to Chen Xiaoya's face that it practically poked her nose.

"Don't you dare! Who do you think you are? You're nothing but a lowly teacher! If you dare spout nonsense, I'll go straight to the Education Bureau and file a complaint against you, just watch me!"

Since the parent was going to be this unreasonable, then everything would simply be handled by the book.

Huang Haoyang definitely had issues, but within his family, the child's problems were likely the least of them.

Looking at the situation now, Chen Xiaoya felt that this sentiment couldn't be more accurate.

She took a deep breath, suppressing her surging emotions, and made one last attempt to speak directly to the student:

"Huang Haoyang, who you like or dislike is your own business, and it's not my place to interfere. However, the condition is that you cannot let it affect your classmates. If even one more girl comes to this office to file a complaint against you, your name will immediately appear on the Dean's Office bulletin. This is your absolute final warning."

Huang Haoyang, who had lowered his head again, knew full well that this was indeed his last chance.

He quickly looked up and said, "I understand, Teacher."