It wasn't just Ou Yilian.
Wang Ci's mother had also frozen stiff where she stood, cold all over, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
The man before her looked all too familiar. He appeared on Jing City's televised political news every day; it would have been hard not to recognize him.
She felt as if she couldn't breathe. Regret flooded her mind, drowning her wave after wave.
She knew what her son was like. She had come to Jingcheng No. 1 High School to demand an explanation without caring about the truth at all.
She hadn't expected to provoke the Meng Family, the very people she could least afford to offend.
When Mayor Meng came in.
The principal beside him happened to be discussing the selection of outstanding teachers. Unaware of the situation, he spotted Ou Yilian and said with a smile, "This is Yuyu's homeroom teacher, Ou Yilian. Ms. Ou is a senior English teacher with many years of teaching experience, and she's the candidate our school intends to recommend for this year's provincial outstanding teacher award."
Hearing this, Ou Yilian's breath caught. She forced a smile onto her pale face, her gaze turning urgently toward Song Yu, her eyes filled with profound pleading and regret.
Song Yu ignored her, turning his head to talk to his cousin.
Meng Guang wore a half smile. "Didn't you come here to study hard? And you've already had your parents called in during your first week?"
Song Yu was expressionless. "...My homeroom teacher's sick in the head."
Only then did Meng Guang remember that deranged teacher. His smile vanished at once, and he pointed at Ou Yilian, raising his eyebrows. "Her?!"
He swore, then shouted at Mayor Meng, "Dad! It's her! That freakish piece of trash I told you about in the car. The education bureau's too slow. Can't you deal with her today?"
Wen Yuan finally lost patience and grabbed him by the ear. "If you can't speak properly, shut up!"
Hearing Meng Guang's words.
The smile slowly froze on the principal's plump, pale face. Utterly bewildered, he couldn't continue. He had actually been saying all that to earn some credit.
What was wrong with Ms. Ou?
Ou Yilian shook like a leaf. She rubbed her eyes, their rims already red, and said shakily, "No, what... what happened today, I can explain. Here and now, I sincerely apologize to Song Yu. As a homeroom teacher, the greater my responsibility, the greater my pressure. I was so anxious today that I lost my head and said many inappropriate things."
The principal opened his mouth. "Ms. Ou?"
Mayor Meng frowned and glanced at the distraught Ou Yilian without saying anything to her. Instead, he turned to the principal and said pointedly, "The provincial education department issued a document concerning teachers' ethics records recently, making them an important consideration in awards and promotions. I think No. 1 High School should recommend another teacher."
Mayor Meng said slowly, "I know high school teachers today face tremendous pressure because of university admission rates and public opinion. But however great that pressure may be, it should never become an excuse for currying favor with the powerful, confusing right and wrong, or insulting and even trampling on students' dignity."
With every word he spoke, Ou Yilian's face grew paler.
The principal also looked somewhat embarrassed by the criticism and nodded. "Yes, yes, absolutely."
Mayor Meng gave Ou Yilian a searching look. "A few days ago, I received an anonymous report about something that happened when Ms. Ou taught elsewhere. The matter is serious and has already been reported to the police. Notify the academic affairs office to suspend all her classes for the time being and have another English teacher take over."
Reported to the police.
Those words struck like a thunderbolt!
Ou Yilian couldn't keep up the act any longer. Her eyes bloodshot, she broke down. "Mayor! I wasn't targeting Song Yu today! I didn't know he was your nephew! I-"
Meng Guang was so angry he laughed. This woman was hopelessly stupid. Did she really have the intelligence of someone in her twenties?
Song Yu thought much the same. Meeting her desperate, pleading gaze, he tugged at the corner of his mouth and said sarcastically, "Are you sick in the head? You still don't understand why you've ended up here? You did too much evil before. This is just your bad karma coming back to you."
Song Yu stared at her and gave a cold laugh.
"If I wanted special privileges, I could've told you to get lost on day one." Why would I have put up with you being so disgusting?
He followed the socialist path, believed in civility and the rule of law, and didn't like seeking special treatment.
But idiots didn't understand that.
Song Yu's eyes were light, almost tea-brown under the lights, their gleam cold and astonishingly beautiful.
-If I wanted special privileges, I could've told you to get lost on day one.
Not a single word could escape Ou Yilian's throat. It was as if someone had slapped her across the face, a searing humiliation she would never forget.
Her mind went blank. Belated dread and fear wrapped around her heart like countless needles.
How ridiculous.
She had constantly targeted Song Yu, verbally abusing him, believing herself superior and using adult concepts of "society," "class," and "power" to humiliate him. Yet she hadn't known that Song Yu had always belonged to the very group of people she desperately tried to flatter and curry favor with.
So what had he been thinking when he heard those words of hers?
Humiliation and embarrassment tangled anew with despair, collapse, and regret.
Her face was as white as paper. Tears kept falling, and all the strength drained from her body, as though she might faint at any moment. But she was such an insignificant figure that no one would pay her any further attention.
Song Yu had had more than enough of Ou Yilian's disgusting behavior.
While his uncle and the principal were still discussing other matters behind them, he pulled Xie Sui outside first.
They stood in the school building's corridor, where the moon shone bright and a gentle breeze dispersed much of his hostility.
Song Yu thought he was truly unlucky.
He wanted to study peacefully at Jingcheng No. 1 High School and be a top student who improved every day, but people kept throwing themselves at him one after another, turning him into the school tyrant.
He wanted to hide his identity and stay beside Xie Sui through these three years, yet Ou Yilian and the Wang Family had insisted on exposing him. What the hell?
No... he had to explain his way out of this.
Suddenly pulled outside, Xie Sui was still somewhat puzzled about what Song Yu wanted.
Once pulled into a corner, he naturally stepped back against the railing and lowered his eyes to watch him quietly.
"I..."
Song Yu hesitated, frowning and racking his brains, troubled over how to begin. But the more he thought about this whole mess, the angrier he became, until his expression was so icy he looked ready to kill.
...With that expression, had he called him out for a fight?
Xie Sui's lips curved.
But seeing Song Yu's hesitant, irritated expression and thinking briefly about what had happened today, he more or less figured out everything on his mind.
Did Song Yu think that, in his eyes, he had always been a hardworking, well-behaved student from an ordinary family?
Amused, Xie Sui deliberately teased him.
He slowly withdrew the arm whose sleeve Song Yu was gripping. The moonlight was faintly cold, and his face was hidden in shadow, his expression indistinct. Yet an inexplicable atmosphere seemed to separate them, adding a little distance.
Song Yu froze for several seconds, then immediately looked up at Xie Sui and hurriedly said, "My family's actually from City A. My parents run a small business. I came to Jing City to study because my grades were too bad to get into high school, so I came to stay with my uncle. My family background really isn't as impressive as you think, so you don't have to mind it too much."
Although he wasn't afraid of the system, he kept feeling that exposing his real identity would become a pitfall later.
The Song Family, a small business. He really dared to say it.
In the end, Xie Sui couldn't bear to watch him struggle. He smiled, his eyes pitch-black. "You called me out here just to tell me this?"
Song Yu opened his mouth, intending to say something, when his brain suddenly worked for once on this matter.
Wait!!
No!! If you thought about it carefully, City A, the Meng Family, his uncle-those were such obvious clues.
With the abilities Xie Sui had in the book, he would know after the slightest investigation once he returned to the Xie Family.
So there was no need to hide it at all.
Song Yu: "..."
Song Yu: "..."
Fuck.
System, hurry up and come back. I've screwed this whole thing up.
After a long silence, he gave up. "Yeah. I was afraid you'd think I was a **, decide there was too big a class gap between us, and stop hanging out with me. Distance yourself from me."
Xie Sui smiled and commented, "You really have a lot of inner drama."
Song Yu's eyes widened as he demanded, "Then why did you pull away from my hand just now? And look so cold?"
Oh, that was an act.
Xie Sui didn't discuss that, only saying, "I won't."
Song Yu said, "Huh?"
Xie Sui said, "I won't distance myself from you."
Even he found it amusing after saying it, but he still patiently curved his lips and spoke softly.
"When you came into my life, you were unique. The kind of unique that no worldly label could obscure. Not your family background, your appearance, or your past. You're just you, Song Yu."
The Peter Pan who came to me when I was fifteen, bringing hope and light.
But Song Yu didn't consider the deeper meaning in his tone at all. Now he had completely put the system out of his mind and confessed his thoughts to Xie Sui. "I didn't mention my background because it felt too stupid. Going around saying 'my uncle's the mayor' all day would just be asking for a beating. Look at Wang Ci, acting so full of himself, but he's the only one in class enjoying it. Some people rush to flatter him, but more people don't dare get close."
Song Yu raised his head, starlight reflected in his light-colored eyes, clear and bright, and continued.
"Really, I just wanted to study quietly and spend these three years with you. Study hard, make real progress, have strict or kind teachers and outgoing or shy classmates. Something simple and happy."
Spend these three years with you.
Those words melted like honey in his chest. For the first time in ages, he experienced sweetness and searing warmth, burning at the tip of his heart. Xie Sui's lips lifted, his eyes and brows full of smiles. "Then of course I'll make your wish come true."
And not just three years.
Having said his piece, Song Yu calmed down too. He didn't know whether the Qin Family's first gong would still transfer here after what had happened to the Wang Family, but who cared? With him here, the scum could get lost.
With Ou Yilian dealt with and everything explained, Song Yu sat in the car on the way home, completely relaxed.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Wen Yuan turned her head and asked with a smile, "Yuyu, was that your deskmate just now? He's so good-looking. Your aunt's met so many people, but I've never seen a child with a better bearing. If he's your friend, invite him over sometime. I quite like him."
Now that everything was out in the open, there was no longer any question of hiding his identity.
Song Yu said, "Then I'll ask him."
Leaning against the seat, he was bored anyway, so he decided to message him directly. But he spent ages composing it, deleting and revising.
Watching beside him, Meng Guang clicked his tongue twice. "You're inviting a friend over, but you're acting like you're asking your girlfriend to meet your parents. Why think so much? There are tons of reasons to hang out-'Want to come over and play games tomorrow?' Nice and straightforward."
Wen Yuan scolded him. "What games? Don't be a bad influence on Yuyu."
Song Yu was dissatisfied too. He had grown so used to acting like a top student at school that he couldn't drop the persona even at home.
"What games? Isn't doing homework fun enough?"
So he composed his message.
Simple and sincere.
[Want to come over and do homework tomorrow?]
Meng Guang: "..."
Author's note: Thank you to all the little angels who gave me Overlord Tickets or watered me with nutrient solution~
Thank you to the little angels who sent [Rocket Launchers]: Hua Yev5, Shui Yuan Shan Yao, one each;
Thank you to the little angel who sent [Grenades]: Miao Miao, two;
Thank you to the little angels who sent [Land Mines]: yy_yy, muamua_ua, Feng Li You Shou Shi, Ying Ying Ying, Lian Zi Cheng Xin, Yu Qiu, Mao Xiongw, Tao Hua Huan Jiu Zui Cang Zhou, lQinqCuan Jiu, Shen Cheng, Ling Di Dian Tu Po, Kureko, Jie Ri, Gu Gu Gu, Yan Qie, Ge Bi De Xiao Cong Hua, Zhi Jiao Yi Zhao Zhao, one each;
Thank you to the little angels who watered me with [Nutrient Solution]:
Lu Guo Jun, 38 bottles; Xiao Jing Lian, 20 bottles; San Shan Ban Luo, Qing Zhu, Bie Di Tou Gua Hui Diao, Jiao Jiao, someonelikeyou, Liu Ge He Tao Ren, 10 bottles each; Qing Qing Yi Qing, Jiang Xie, 6 bottles each; Bu Gong Bu Gai Ming, Yun Mu, Yan Yu, Qing Wu Bi Tian Hui Lai, =3=, Wu La Wu La, Meng Da Da, Jing Jiu Bu Shi Ying Ying Guai, Ju Xie Heng Zhe Zou, 5 bottles each; Yi Zui Qing Cheng, Zhi Shi Ju Pei Gen, Xing He, 4 bottles each; Yi Zhi Tang Tu Zi, Yi Nü, 67, 3 bottles each; Wei Ji Li Yu Shen Yi, Shi Zi Fei, Nan Liang Re Xue, 2 bottles each; Qian Zi Lou, z, Song Yi, Qing He, Mao Xiongw, Qi Zi, Xin Xiao Du La La La La La, zy-, a, You Huo De Er Ding, 1 bottle each;
Thank you so much for all your support. I'll keep working hard!