After lunch, everyone was satisfied, so in the afternoon, when Lu Mingming was urgently summoned to the Dean's office by Mrs. Thatcher, no one expressed any special opinions and frankly stated their understanding of Lu Mingming.
Lu Mingming felt guilty and called Cheng Shiqin to organize a joint event for class A and class B.
Without their parents watching in the afternoon, the children happily mingled together.
And the little white tiger, watching Lu Mingming leave alone after sending the class A cubs to the playground, felt a sour pang in his heart.
...
"You're here. The IP address of the phone you asked about this morning has been found."
Mrs. Thatcher put down her cup and got straight to the point.
"After investigation by our professional personnel, the IP address of the phone showed that it was in a high-end residential complex not far from the northwest small forest."
She paused at this point:
"If you don't have enough courage, it's best to leave it to us to complete it in the most dangerous yet safest way."
"Is there a problem?"
Lu Mingming was confused.
The most dangerous and the safest at the same time, wasn't that a contradiction?
"Alas, that's where the problem lies. That high-end residential complex was purchased by Count Goodfin as a place for Hui Lan to live alone."
Mrs. Thatcher's eyes conveyed the unspoken meaning of "you understand."
As everyone had guessed, it was now explicitly clear that Hui Lan was behind the mischief.
Lu Mingming, being a poor and unsupported commoner, was about to confront a noble head-on. If she truly offended Count Goodfin this time, her hard days were yet to come.
The danger lay in having to use forceful means, with no guarantee of complete harmlessness.
The safety aspect was that it would minimize Lu Mingming's "commoner" presence as much as possible.
Did a minor incident of cutting in line during a meal, which resulted in a scolding from a teacher, provoke such a strong retaliatory impulse in the other party?
Lu Mingming frowned, thinking that such a reason was unheard of.
Mrs. Thatcher took a sip of cold water to calm her mind:
"Would you like us to conduct a night raid tonight to deal with it? However, no one knows where Xue Gao was taken by them, which is another difficulty."
"No need."
Mrs. Thatcher was surprised that Lu Mingming refused almost without hesitation.
Lu Mingming naturally had her reasons: "Then, could you please dispatch a suitable covert reconnaissance team to monitor the area near that high-end residential complex? Try to minimize the harm of this matter."
Mrs. Thatcher immediately understood Lu Mingming's meaning. If by chance there was a lapse in security, it could be handled without deploying any troops.
If the other party was prepared to face danger, Mrs. Thatcher couldn't say much to shake their confidence.
After discussing the details, they reached a consensus on the matter.
After finishing all this, Lu Mingming received a message from Cheng Shiqin via the star network and went to the playground.
The young cubs, after dinner, were holding a "little red flower" voting event for class A and class B on the playground.
The grass on the playground was soft and fresh, with a layer of single-person soft mats to serve as seating for the little ones.
Ribbons were tied into bows on the surrounding fences, and a long row of shiny silver and blue balloons bumped against each other, creating a semblance of an awards ceremony atmosphere.
The little ones were gathered in a circle.
Each seat had a shining star lamp, which, as night fell, created a unique fluorescent halo.
Twinkling faintly, they outlined the words "Little Red Flower Voting Convention."
Cheng Shiqin, using some unknown device, projected a brilliant and dreamy starry sky in the center of the crowd, as if the stars were descending to earth, within reach.
Lu Mingming saw this scene when she arrived and couldn't help but tentatively reach out to grab a handful of the starry sky in the night.
Unfortunately, only cool air flowed through her hands, and in the end, she got nothing.
"Teacher Mingming is here, everyone give her a warm welcome."
Cheng Shiqin skillfully called out, not stopping his movements as he ushered Lu Mingming to the center of the circle.
Upon seeing Teacher Mingming arrive, the class A cubs showed her great respect, clapping their hands loudly as if beating a drum.
The little white tiger seized the opportunity to slip to Lu Mingming's side and, under everyone's gaze, quietly nestled in the crook of her legs.
The soft plush mat beneath her was warm and comfortable, and she could smell Lu Mingming's lavender scent with each gentle breath.
Because of the incident with the little Samoyed, Lu Mingming hadn't been very close to the little one for two days.
Now, finally relaxing her mind, she unconsciously stroked the little one's soft ears to de-stress.
"Now, the voting for little red flowers for class A and class B begins!"
The nightly little red flower voting was simple.
If you liked someone, you voted with a little red flower; if you didn't, you voted with a little white flower.
The young cubs received two-colored flowers from the officials and could choose whether to place them in a specially made iron box according to their wishes. The organizers would then count them.
Teachers could choose to be present or absent during the voting process.
In any case, teachers were not allowed to know the specific number of little red flowers until the end of the competition, to avoid differential treatment of the cubs in each class.
"The first to vote is Teacher Mingming from class A!"
Aisha, the class's "unsung leader," shouted through a megaphone, and the entire venue fell silent.
Lu Mingming covered her mouth and smiled, suddenly relaxed, and turned around to wait for the cubs' votes.
Behind her was a delicate iron box, slightly larger than her palm, with dense and intricate patterns on its surface.
It seemed very profound and even more difficult to decipher.
Aisha waved, and the class A cubs lined up neatly behind her.
Each cub held a red flower the size of a thumb, which would never wilt, and their faces were filled with excitement.
They had missed last night's voting due to a special event, so this was their first time participating!
The class B cubs, even though they had participated once, still felt a sense of secretive mystery facing the second voting choice.
Under the unpublicized camera recording of the official cameras, Aisha was the first to resolutely place a little red flower into Lu Mingming's box with a gentle gesture.
She was definitely supporting Teacher Mingming unconditionally.
The second cub, Alpha, like Aisha, picked up a corner of the little red flower and inserted it into the box.
After finishing, he patted his hands with satisfaction.
Next came the third, the fourth...
In class B, the little white tiger was the first to finish voting.
With nothing else to do, he sat squarely beside Lu Mingming, allowing her to stroke his head.
His icy blue eyes were fixed on Lu Mingming's students.
To his surprise, the class A cubs, without any discussion, had all voted for Lu Mingming with red flowers.
This meant that Lu Mingming's box contained a total of five red flower votes.
A perfect score!
When the little white tiger was alone in class B, he, who usually didn't interact or play with his classmates, would obtain information about other streamers' competitions through his assistants via his optical computer.
The nature of children changes quickly, and even Cheng Shiqin had been behind by one vote due to different children for two consecutive days.
Except for the first day, when Lu Mingming didn't participate and received zero votes.
As of now, Lu Mingming was the only streamer with a perfect score of little red flowers!