終於，輪到居於末位的王美瑛老師發言。
她老娘早就想趁「新官上任三把火」──代理校長剛上任，還沒把事搞砸、尚存威嚴之時──不吐不快：「As you know, I’m Lily Li’s homeroom teacher, as well as Ariel Liu’s language tutor. I know clearly my responsibilities and obligations. I have already manifested, not just once, I am fully aware of being obligated to do what I have to do, and ready to take any practical measures—and even assist in taking legal actions, provided my presence is necessary. This committee, nevertheless, kept hindering me from fulfilling my duty. And now, President, Your Honor, is here. I would like to reiterate my disappointments to all of you—」
「說中文，美瑛老師──體諒我們有些老師不講英文。」
「Get yourselves an interpreter, then—I don’t care—What I have to say I say it out loud and clear. And those who got my point got my point—whichever language I speak in, 老師。Only if you choose to listen, not to once again hush me by shouting and hissing──ah-uh, here we go again—now please, let me continue . . .」
「很失禮耶王老師──」「尊重一下好不好？」「權宜問題、權宜問題！」「主席，立刻將王美瑛趕出去！」
不滿的聲音此起彼落。
代理校長不為所動。
見主席的神情比雕塑的表情更加肅穆，叫囂的人員只好乖乖閉嘴。
「The whole incident just reminds me of J. D. Salinger’s famous novel, The Catcher in the Rye. One particular passage I want to share with all of you—And I assure you: it deserves your attention. Now, bear with me—it goes like this:
「‘I keep picturing all the little kids playing some game in this big field of rye. Thousands of little kids. Nobody's around - nobody big, except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What could I have to do, I have to catch every little kid if they start to run toward the cliff—if they're running and they don't look where they're going, I have to come out and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye. I know that sounds crazy, but that's the only thing I will have to be.’」
「Let me tell you, my peer and respectful senior members, how regretful I am, right now, right here, to have to attend this pointless meeting; not because I have to play the little game with you weaklings, or because I have to sit in this meeting room, discussing some insignificant issues over ‘the school’s prestige’ or the so-called ‘measures to the current PR crises’ and WASTE MY TIME—Oh-oh—
「Some people in this room who actually speak English felt seriously wronged and started—You DO get my point—This is exactly why I call the members in this committee weaklings—
「All of you saw the ‘elephant in the room’ but chose to ignore it completely. If there is a pink elephant, let us point it out with our fingers—If there is a Big Wolf hiding in the wood, lurking to harm our kids—Let’s get it, then! Why—isn’t it ‘A Perfect Day for the Wolf?’ I don’t see no points that we still sit here and wait for a messiah-like figure to save the day, to remove the threat for us, while we are still far from being late to TAKE ACTION.
「I regretted it, I deeply regretted that I failed to be that ‘Catcher in the Rye’ when there was a kid, an absolutely lovely sweetheart, who just ran straight toward the ‘crazy cliff,’ while still within arm’s reach—I could have caught her in my arms [a catch in her throat]. I regretted that we just let it happen, as she just fell over the nest, without the slightest chance to grow up and learn to flutter her little but brave wings—」
「夠了喔，王老師。今天不是來聽妳發洩情緒──是來解決問題──」
「那前面開好幾次會怎麼都沒看妳們解決問題！」
美瑛的反駁令在座的人員，除主席之外，全都愣住了。
沒等被震懾的人回過神，美瑛繼續質問：
「前面開那麼多會，妳們哪個有要解決問題──」
「噓──」「噓──」「噓──」
台下開始發出噓聲，隨後則是更多附和者加入行列。
「Oh, oh, some people are sweeping away the person they disagree with—Fine by me, I know I am never welcome here. The moment I stepped into this school, I’d already known you all HATED me to the bone. You all see me as an outsider, if not a pariah—which is fine. I know the honest outsider always gets expelled from the city state just because she speaks the truth.」
美瑛已經起身，氣沖沖奔向門口，用力扭開門把。
「Since this meeting gets us nowhere, now, please allow me to take my leave.」
對著主席說完最後一句話，她憤怒地甩門離去。
