Canghai Academy

Jiang Nian returned to her seat. Li Qing trembled with rage, but there was nothing she could do.

She gave Jiang Nian a sinister look before having the class representative hand out the test papers. Without even reading out the scores, she went straight into reviewing the questions.

Song Jici took his test paper and turned to ask Jiang Nian:

"Why not just have her kicked out of Pluto?"

After all, Li Qing's behavior hardly qualified her as a good teacher.

Jiang Nian looked at her test paper and answered calmly:

"Strictly speaking, she only wanted to make me stand as punishment and hit my palms. As for her usual insults and put-downs, she could twist those into well-meaning advice."

"If she really got fired over just that, we'd be the ones blamed."

Let her leave Pluto over this and go bully students at another school? That would be letting her off far too easily.

Tan Xuguang, sitting in front of them, overheard and turned around with a question:

"Then you could ask the principal to transfer her to another class. Out of sight, out of mind."

Jiang Nian propped her chin on her hand and asked, "Do the students in the other classes have as much power and influence as we do?"

Tan Xuguang froze for a moment.

Pluto brought together plenty of children from elite families, but even they had their own hierarchy. The handful at the very top were mostly in their Class 2 and Class 1 next door.

With Li Qing in their class, Jiang Nian and the others could still keep her in check and stop her from throwing her weight around.

If she went to another class with no one to rein her in, those students would be the ones who truly suffered.

Jiang Nian shrugged helplessly.

They couldn't just dump her on another class and make them suffer, could they?

"Anyway, she can't cause much trouble in our class. We just need to keep an eye on her and stop her from doing anything bad. If she really does do something wrong, we'll have a legitimate reason to send her packing."

The others nodded and returned their attention to the lesson.

After class, even Fang Qiu from next door came over looking baffled to ask what had happened during the previous lesson.

She sat right beside Jiang Nian and started fishing for gossip:

"Why did you run out crying last period? Did that old witch Li Qing hit you? She actually dared to mess with you?"

"And why did the principal and your dad all show up afterward? To get revenge for you?"

With a numb expression, Jiang Nian recounted what had happened during the previous lesson. Fang Qiu laughed until her stomach hurt and gave her a thumbs-up:

"Nicely done. I've been sick of her for ages."

Remembering how Li Qing usually strutted around their class, Fang Qiu curled her lip:

"Most of her petty tricks target the scholarship students. She doesn't dare mess with us, and the scholarship students don't dare mess with her, so I don't really have any grounds to lose my temper at her."

Jiang Nian couldn't be bothered to talk about Li Qing. "Just keep an eye on her from now on. Watch out for her trying to trip you up."

Fang Qiu nodded casually, then caught sight of Tan Xuguang sitting in front of them, as though something had suddenly occurred to her.

She leaned forward and poked Tan Xuguang:

"Hey, Tan Xuguang, isn't your Basketball Club having guests over today?"

Tan Xuguang looked puzzled.

Guests?

Was their club having guests over?

He thought back to what the club president had said at yesterday's meeting, then realization dawned.

"Oh, you mean Canghai Academy?"

At the thought of those guests, he frowned almost imperceptibly and nodded at Fang Qiu:

"That's right. The Basketball Club from Canghai Academy next door is coming to observe and learn today."

Jiang Nian paused. "Canghai Academy?"

Seeing Jiang Nian's startled expression, Tan Xuguang assumed she hadn't heard of the academy and gave her a brief introduction:

"Canghai Academy has pretty much the same positioning as ours. It was founded to compete with our academy from the start, but its teaching staff, facilities, and resources can't match ours."

"The older members of our club said that most Canghai Academy students look down on us, but they love competing with us over everything. They're bad at it but keep coming back for more. Their club says they're coming to observe and learn this time, but they're probably here to pick a fight again."

After hearing Tan Xuguang's explanation, Jiang Nian nodded in understanding.

No wonder the Canghai Academy students later started provoking us right away and insisted on playing a friendly match against our academy. So it was a tradition passed down from the previous generation-they just had to get the better of us.

Hearing Jiang Nian's thoughts, Tan Xuguang raised a hand to rub his chin.

Looks like their club's visit this afternoon won't go too smoothly...

Fang Qiu, on the other hand, perked up when she heard that the visitors might be coming to cause trouble. She eagerly asked Tan Xuguang:

"Can we come watch, then? Will you guys just start fighting? I want to see!"

Her true nature as a drama-loving spectator was on full display.

Jiang Nian was a little tempted to watch too. If she remembered correctly, the opposing basketball team had a character who made quite a few appearances.

Wherever there was drama, she'd be there!

So she also asked Tan Xuguang:

"My club doesn't have any activities today. Can I come watch?"

Tan Xuguang thought for a moment. "Should be fine. Our Basketball Club doesn't train behind closed doors anyway. Plenty of cheerleaders and spectators usually come to watch."

"Yay!"

Fang Qiu clapped her hands and turned to Jiang Nian. "Then shall we go check out the Basketball Club this afternoon?"

Jiang Nian didn't hesitate at all.

"Sure!"

The afternoon dismissal bell rang, and the students headed off to their clubs or went home.

Jiang Nian took Fang Qiu, who was waving frantically at her from the classroom doorway, and followed Tan Xuguang to the basketball gym.

The club activity rooms at Pluto Academy were generally housed in the Student Activity Center.

But the Basketball Club was a large club with plenty of members, so the school had simply set aside an entire basketball gym for their regular basic training and matches.

By the time Jiang Nian and Fang Qiu arrived at the gym, most of the Basketball Club members were already there. After changing, they began getting ready for basic training.

Jiang Nian and Fang Qiu sat on the chairs provided for resting inside the gym, watching the Basketball Club train while waiting for the guests to arrive.

Not long after training began, the Basketball Club president's phone rang. Everyone watched him answer, exchange a few words, and head toward the school gates.

Watching the club president walk away, Fang Qiu excitedly grabbed Jiang Nian:

"They must be here, right? Jiang Nian, do you think they'll actually start tearing each other's hair out?"

The corner of Jiang Nian's mouth twitched.

Couldn't rule it out.

There was a little hothead among them, after all.