His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Earlier, he had accompanied Minister Wu on an inspection tour of the school. Unexpectedly, two students had rushed over, standing directly in front of the leader and brazenly claiming there were problems with the experimental field.
They had even directly targeted Shen Zizhen, repeatedly accusing him of using his position for personal gain.
He had initially intended to ignore the matter and simply have the two students taken away.
However, Minister Wu, upon hearing that the issue involved Shen Zizhen, had personally requested to come.
He had also stated that Shen Zizhen was a talented individual who had increased crop yields last year, and that such a person should be dedicated solely to scientific research.
The principal understood the minister's intentions and knew that the minister planned to vindicate Teacher Shen today. He then directly led the minister to the experimental field.
While the principal understood the minister's intentions, Gao Jun and Yuan Yang did not grasp the meaning behind the minister's words.
Upon seeing Shen Zizhen and a few others still in the experimental field, Gao Jun and Yuan Yang exchanged glances, their eyes revealing a hint of smugness amidst their evasiveness.
They even looked at each other, seeing excitement and anticipation in their eyes.
After they left, they felt extremely resentful, having been told by Shen Zizhen that they were not even as good as a little girl. They felt insulted by Shen Zizhen.
After complaining a few times, they harbored ill intentions and, after discussion, decided to go and report the matter.
They felt that although Shen Zizhen had a certain status in the school, he was ultimately just a teacher with some reputation. With so many leaders present, surely no one could manage him?
The two of them, with a shared purpose, went to find the school leadership.
After walking only a short distance, they happened to see the principal. They rushed forward without regard for anything, directly venting their dissatisfaction.
Their current thought was to see if Shen Zizhen would dare to treat everyone fairly in the future.
They had done more work, yet they received no benefits at all.
Shen Zizhen had handed over all the opportunities to shine to Su Sangong and Su Xiaomei.
However, the two were also worried that a high-ranking leader was present today, a leader whom even the principal treated with great respect.
Had they caused trouble?
But the two also knew that even if they realized they had caused trouble now, it was too late to salvage the situation.
They had already said what they should and shouldn't have said.
Since that was the case, they could only escalate the matter.
They wanted to let this leader, whose position they were unsure of, know that such dirty business had also occurred in their school.
Su Xiaotian walked forward with light steps, smiling as she greeted Minister Wu.
"Grandpa Wu, hello!"
Minister Wu was very surprised to see Su Xiaotian. He was very interested in this young girl whom he had only met once.
After all, he was counting on the little girl to treat his illness.
"Oh, Xiaotian, why are you here? I remember you're attending high school at Seventh High School, aren't you?"
Minister Wu greeted Su Xiaotian familiarly, acting as if he treated Su Xiaotian as one of his own family.
Su Xiaotian smiled and said, "I was attending high school, but Uncle Shen had some matters here today, so I came to take a look."
Her confident and natural demeanor shocked many of those present.
This girl, who looked no older than eleven or twelve, should be in elementary school, right?
However, Minister Wu saying she was attending high school at Seventh High School was already incredible enough.
And yet, this little girl claimed there were problems with the experimental field and that she had come to take a look.
Could she look? What could she understand?
Everyone around looked at Su Xiaotian with strange expressions!
They wondered who had given her such confidence?
As for the others, Gu Yuan and Gao Jun were completely stunned at this moment.
The leader present today, whom even the principal dared not slight, actually knew this inexperienced little girl.
Who exactly was this girl?
Could she be the child of some high-ranking leader?
Had they made a mistake?
The two quickly exchanged glances, but at this point, even if they had made a mistake, what could be done?
They could only hold onto a sliver of hope, believing they were overthinking.
Even if she was the child of a high-ranking leader, so what?
Children of this age were doing well if they could understand the school curriculum, they certainly wouldn't understand agricultural knowledge, let alone seed production.
As long as this girl didn't understand seed production, Shen Zizhen would be using his position for personal gain.
At that time, they would firmly insist that Shen Zizhen intended to allocate this year's research funding to this little girl.
"Minister Wu, do you know this child?" the principal asked cautiously.
When had Shen Zizhen become so reckless as to bring unrelated people here?
The principal was very worried about a child suddenly appearing in the experimental field. What if the minister was displeased?
But he hadn't expected this child to be someone Minister Wu knew.
He hoped that Minister Wu would be more accommodating because of this.
Minister Wu, having a military background, was straightforward and always valued rules!
Minister Wu paid no mind to what these people were thinking. He slightly bent down and smiled as he spoke to Su Xiaotian.
"Little girl, your second grandfather didn't tell me you understood agricultural knowledge. This experimental field is specifically for researching seeds. Do you understand?"
Su Sangong looked at the leader before him and finally remembered that this person was Minister Wu.
Minister Wu had mentioned his second grandfather just now?
Indeed, their statuses were comparable, so it was natural for them to have some contact.
He just didn't know how Xiaotian had met Minister Wu.
Looking at Minister Wu, although he was smiling, his complexion showed no signs of improvement. His condition was even worse than when he had seen him from afar last year.
Could it be that the Minister Wu, whom Second Grandfather had asked Xiaotian to help treat, was this very person?
Su Sangong cast a questioning gaze at Su Xiaotian.
Su Xiaotian, however, didn't have time to look at him.
Instead, Shen Zizhen and Su Xiaomei looked at Su Sangong with confused eyes, as if asking him to explain what was going on.
Su Sangong: "..."
Could he say that he didn't know either?
"Grandpa Wu, I only have a superficial understanding!" Su Xiaotian quickly explained.
Regarding agricultural knowledge, she truly only had a superficial understanding.
Minister Wu laughed heartily, "Xiaotian, if you truly only had a superficial understanding, Teacher Shen wouldn't have specifically invited you here, would he?"
Shen Zizhen quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "Minister, when I was in Hongxin Brigade years ago, I researched this topic with Xiaotian. That's why I sought her out when I encountered a bottleneck."
He had met Minister Wu once last year, but he hadn't expected Minister Wu to remember him.
"When you were in Hongxin Brigade? That was years ago, wasn't it? How old was Xiaotian then?" Minister Wu asked, staring at Su Xiaotian with disbelief.
Shen Zizhen smiled and said, "She was nine years old then."
"Nine years old? And she already understood seed production?"
"Xiaotian, it seems your second grandfather doesn't know you well enough," Minister Wu said, smiling and ruffling Su Xiaotian's hair.
What kind of family could cultivate such a learned and talented child?
However, remembering that Su Xiaotian had taken the initiative to read books when she was at the Dong family, Minister Wu felt that it was reasonable for this child to understand everything.
Yuan Yang and Gao Jun were now completely dumbfounded.