Happy Days at School

When he woke early that morning, it was still dark outside the warehouse. There was no sun.

Qin Siyang's heart, however, was filled with sunshine.

"Today is the best day I've had since being reborn."

"Even better than the day I awakened my Sequence."

Qin Siyang didn't even bring a bag. Holding his lunch box in one hand, he left the warehouse.

The road to school felt both familiar and strange.

As he passed beneath one streetlight after another, light washed over him again and again.

At last, he reached the school gates.

Today, the principal was standing at the gates again.

But he wasn't there to conduct inspections.

One look at the handwritten banner hastily made overnight told Qin Siyang that the principal had arrived early today solely to welcome him.

The principal was unusually humble today, taking the initiative to greet every student at the gates.

At first, Qin Siyang wondered why the principal had changed his ways. Once he drew closer, he immediately understood.

The principal held a photograph, apparently checking the students entering campus one by one to see which was Qin Siyang.

He didn't know Qin Siyang, so to avoid offending this newly awakened Sequence Ability User, he had broken with his usual behavior and greeted every student, hoping to leave a good impression.

He had already forgotten that during his last inspection at the gates, a student who hadn't greeted him had been scolded by the teacher standing beside him.

Unfortunately, the principal's performance was wasted on Qin Siyang, who wasn't buying any of it.

Even without his Sequence Ability, he was no ordinary high school senior.

Qin Siyang walked forward and looked at the red banner at the school gates:

[Congratulations to Qin Siyang, a senior at our school, on becoming a Sequence Ability User!]

The large characters were crooked and barely legible.

Qin Siyang had seen the fabric of that red banner before. It had been used at the school's pre-Gaokao pep rally a few months ago. The stain from a night bird's droppings was still on it, left when the bird had relieved itself during the principal's speech.

"The school really is shabby. Oh well, they probably never expected to need a red banner for anything else."

Students crowded beneath the banner, all curious to find out who this history-making Qin Siyang was.

Qin Siyang walked up to the principal and silently met his eyes.

Principal Li Tianming carefully examined the photograph supplied by the Administration Bureau, then looked at Qin Siyang. He immediately recognized the student before him as the pride of Ju'an School-Qin Siyang!

"Qin Siyang, you're here! Congratulations on successfully awakening your Sequence Ability!"

The surrounding students also burst into exclamations.

"He's Qin Siyang? His family doesn't look very well-off..."

"Keep your voice down! He's a Sequence Ability User!"

"If he can awaken, does that mean I have a chance too?"

Li Tianming extended both hands, hoping to shake Qin Siyang's hand.

Qin Siyang shifted slightly, initially intending to give the principal some face. But after a moment's thought, he kept one hand on his lunch box and the other in his pocket, making no response.

Li Tianming's expression stiffened. His brows furrowed slightly as he gave Qin Siyang an appraising look.

"Qin Siyang, why don't you come to the Principal's Office with me for a chat? You're the pride of Ju'an School. The school takes you very seriously!"

A teacher beside him also nodded and bowed. "That's right, Qin Siyang. We've prepared some gifts to celebrate your Sequence awakening... All your teachers are proud of your progress!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward and caught Qin Siyang's sleeve, offering flattering words with a fawning smile.

Qin Siyang tilted his head to look and realized it was the very grade director who had given him trouble that day.

Even someone who had practically nothing to do with him was rushing over to suck up to him? Who knew how many people would swarm around him in the future?

Qin Siyang's eyes flickered as he asked with a hint of disdain, "Proud? Then do you remember what you said to me before?"

The man froze. He thought for a long time but couldn't recall ever having anything to do with Qin Siyang. Only after a long pause did he ask, "You... are you one of my students?"

Qin Siyang shook his head. "Fair enough. It was only a little thing. How could someone as high and mighty as you remember it?"

"But it still pisses me off. If I can't get some satisfaction after awakening my Sequence, what was the point?"

With that, Qin Siyang swung his lunch box and casually smacked it against the grade director's face. With a dull thud, the teacher fell straight to the ground.

Under everyone's shocked stares, he clutched his face and staggered to his feet, utterly bewildered.

After gaining experience killing people, Qin Siyang could more or less control his strength. He had put no real force into that blow to the face, but it was enough to intimidate everyone else.

Seeing Qin Siyang strike without warning, Principal Li Tianming's eyes flickered, his confusion deepening.

A nearby student whispered, "Are all Sequence Ability Users this violent?"

Violent?

Qin Siyang smiled faintly.

If I'd really used Violence, that blow would have sent the grade director's head flying onto the roof of the school building.

Qin Siyang tossed the dented lunch box into a trash can and glanced around at the silent crowd.

"I'm more used to this kind of quiet school life."

With that, he strode away.

When Qin Siyang entered the classroom, quite a few people stood outside watching him.

He sat in his seat in the corner, gazed at the starry sky outside for a while, and marveled at how wonderful life was before turning his attention back to the classroom.

Li Jingwen kept stealing glances at him. Her eyes held both extreme fear and something that looked like flirtation.

Seeing Qin Siyang look her way, she rose from her seat and came over to him.

In as shy and sweet a voice as she could manage, she asked, "Qin Siyang, what happened before was my fault. Can we start over?" Perhaps afraid he would refuse, Li Jingwen continued, "I know I didn't treat you right, but we were together, after all... From now on, I'll listen to you in everything."

"I won't have anything to do with Zhou Yang anymore. To me, he was just a replacement for you. What I really liked was when you took care of me."

Qin Siyang had no idea how Li Jingwen could bring herself to say such things.

As far as he was concerned, the state of their relationship couldn't have been clearer. Li Jingwen wasn't a complete idiot like Qian Wendao's nephew, either. What on earth was she thinking?

Qin Siyang couldn't understand it.

Perhaps humans were simply absurd creatures. Even when they knew there was no chance, no possibility, they still clung to a shred of hope and tried anyway. What if it worked?

While Qin Siyang was thinking, Li Jingwen suddenly took his hand and shyly apologized.

But what she considered acting cute with Qin Siyang felt to him like being force-fed shit.

A girl who had wanted to kill him had now come running over to flatter him and play sweet. She really must have thought he was an idiot.

Qin Siyang had had enough.

Once Li Jingwen graduated from high school and lost the protection of her student status, he would definitely visit her home and personally pay his respects to her entire family.

Smiling, Qin Siyang took Li Jingwen's hand. She panicked for a moment, then gave him a tender, alluring look, believing he had forgiven her.

Qin Siyang leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"I don't really have a problem with it."

"But your uncle in the underworld might object."