“What!?”
Gu Chen had not expected the Homeroom Teacher to call her over to discuss this matter.
She was quite surprised.
And by the look of it, she did not seem to be joking.
“Teacher Li, this is my own business. You don’t need to worry about it,” Gu Chen said with a troubled expression, which served as a polite refusal.
It was not that she was unwilling, but the duel was scheduled for tomorrow.
‘If I really shrink back now, the entire school will laugh at me!’
Li Fugui would become even more arrogant.
For Gu Chen, who had always valued her reputation above all else, that was simply unacceptable.
“I’m doing this for your own good!”
Li Yanqiu’s emotions suddenly became a bit agitated.
She said, “What do you think your current chances of winning are? Do you have to get injured before you’ll be happy?”
“…”
When asked this, Gu Chen truly had no answer.
She could clearly feel that her combat strength had declined, so her chances of winning were indeed slim.
Even at her peak, she could not guarantee a hundred percent chance of defeating the other party.
In truth, giving up on the duel was the wisest choice.
Otherwise, if she really lost, she would have to face Li Fugui’s endless humiliation, which would only result in an even greater loss of face.
“Gu Chen…”
“Listen to me. Just ignore that guy. If it really doesn’t work, I can help you handle it, alright?”
Seeing Gu Chen’s hesitation, Li Yanqiu tried to persuade her again.
She pressed her hands on Gu Chen’s shoulders, a worried look appearing on her face.
“No!!!”
After a brief struggle, Gu Chen bit her lip and rejected the Homeroom Teacher’s suggestion.
She waved her hand to signal her stance.
“Teacher Li, we can discuss anything else, but this is truly out of the question. No matter what, I will win.”
“Sigh, you child… You’re becoming more and more like the Class Monitor in this regard…”
Seeing that Gu Chen’s attitude remained so determined, Li Yanqiu sighed.
Both of them were incredibly stubborn and wouldn’t listen to anything she said.
There was truly nothing she could do.
She then stopped pushing and said, “Alright, just be careful when the time comes. However, besides this, there’s something else I need to discuss with you.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve investigated Wu Peng’s background. Before he became a teacher, he was a do-nothing hoodlum who only got in through a back door provided by the school leadership. He’s even been detained several times for harassing women. He’s definitely not a good person.”
Reasonably speaking, someone with such a scandalous record should not even be considered for a decent job, let alone for a position as a role model for students.
Unfortunately, minor offenses like those were sealed away by law, making them difficult to uncover.
If things continued like this, she feared that one day, even those who used illicit drugs would be able to get in…
“No wonder! He really is a bad seed! Teacher, why don’t we report him to the school and have him fired immediately?”
Gu Chen suddenly understood; everything made sense now.
Since he had a criminal record, things would be much easier.
As long as they brought the matter to light, even if he couldn’t be convicted of a new crime, they could at least get rid of this menace.
“The Dean of Instruction is in charge of handling reports. Do you think it would be successful?”
Li Yanqiu countered.
“This…”
Gu Chen was stumped.
The man had entered through that very connection, so the leadership most likely already knew about these things.
It would be completely useless.
The only response they would get would be the equivalent of: “Who stands below, accusing the magistrate?”
“Alright, I’ve already thought of a plan.”
Li Yanqiu smiled and took out her phone to show a notification.
It was a district notice stating that due to electrical maintenance, the area around the school would experience a power outage starting from noon on Saturday.
Since not every student lived locally or nearby, a portion of them would remain at the school over the weekend.
A one-day power outage wouldn’t have a huge impact as long as preparations were made in advance.
“Teacher Li, what does this mean?”
Gu Chen did not understand why she was being shown this.
“Because the school added cameras, both perverts have been afraid to show themselves for the time being. But there will be a power outage on Saturday, and we don’t know when it will be restored. If the power isn’t back by nightfall, do you think Wu Peng will take advantage of this rare opportunity to commit a crime?”
The Homeroom Teacher prompted.
“Oh!”
“You mean, we wait for Wu Peng to appear during the power outage so we can catch him red-handed?”
Gu Chen finally understood.
It was indeed a great opportunity to catch a turtle in a jar.
By then, most of the students would be gone, and it would be much quieter.
Furthermore, with the power out, the cameras wouldn’t be working.
Given that Wu Peng had failed the last time, he would certainly be dissatisfied and would very likely try to strike again!
This line of thinking was brilliant; Gu Chen certainly wouldn’t have thought of it herself.
“Exactly. We’ll find some bait to lure him out and then catch him on the spot.”
“Yes, that’ll work. But who will we use as bait?”
Gu Chen clapped her hands in approval.
The plan was perfect, but there was still some uncertainty.
Most importantly, who would dare to do something so bold?
“I’m not sure. Discuss it with the Class Monitor later and find a girl who’s brave enough, but it must be kept secret.”
“Mhm, no problem.”
Seeing that it was almost time for class, Gu Chen didn’t delay any further and turned to leave.
Li Yanqiu sighed once again.
Catching the pervert was secondary; she mainly wanted Gu Chen to skip the duel, but she hadn’t been able to stop her after all.
However, she hadn’t given up. Since persuasion was useless, she would have to try other means.
She dialed a number on her phone and said, “Old Wang? Do me a favor…”
***
The biggest news at school today was the hype building up before the duel between Gu Chen and Li Fugui.
Every class was talking about it, and they had even started a betting pool.
Bets were being placed on whether Li Fugui or Gu Chen would win.
The current odds were one point five to one for Gu Chen and two to one for Li Fugui.
After all, the former had an actual track record, so her popularity was relatively higher.
If the two of them ended in mutual destruction, the odds were fifty to one.
If someone actually guessed right, they could turn their bicycle into a motorcycle!
“Damn it! They’re using me to get rich!”
Seeing so many people participating in the betting, Gu Chen was both angry and speechless.
In a fit of rage, she bet half a month’s worth of her living expenses on herself to win.
She couldn’t afford to lose face!
At noon, Gu Chen met with Tang Ziya as planned.
“You’re saying Teacher Li wants to use a girl to lure the pervert out?”
Tang Ziya frowned after learning about the situation.
“Mhm, this is the best chance we have. See if there’s anyone in class who is suitable and reliable enough to participate, like Wang Meng.”
Gu Chen nodded.
If she tried to persuade someone, they definitely wouldn’t believe her.
Only Tang Ziya had that kind of popularity.
Besides, if the school beauty herself made a move, she didn’t believe that the Copycat would be able to keep his cool.
She herself would be tempted if she were in his shoes.
“No!”
“It’s too dangerous. How can we ask Wang Meng to go? I’ll act as the bait myself. You guys just need to be ready.”
However, Tang Ziya immediately rejected the proposal.
Given her personality, there was no way she would let a classmate take such a risk, especially since Wang Meng had been severely frightened by the Exhibitionist Pervert last time.
Even if it was a different person this time, she wouldn’t have the courage.
“Class Monitor, if you go as the bait, neither the Exhibitionist nor the Copycat would dare to show up…”
Gu Chen’s lip twitched.