Expelled and Homeward Bound
School had not let out yet, but Lin Hao was already on his way home, holding the expulsion notice the school had issued.
He looked at the expulsion notice in his hand with a wry smile.
The school was usually terribly inefficient, yet when it came to expulsion, a complicated procedure requiring stamps from multiple departments, its efficiency was extraordinary. Everything had been processed in less than an hour.
He had nothing to miss about No. 2 High School.
Even Zhou Lie, his practical combat teacher, whom he had usually thought quite well of, had left him deeply disappointed.
Mr. Zhou knew his combat power was above 2.0.
If he had stepped forward and said a few words, with a combat power of 2.0, Lin Hao would have had a chance of getting into some ordinary martial arts universities, even with very low blood qi.
That way, at least the school would not have expelled him.
Yet from beginning to end, Mr. Zhou had not stepped forward to say a single word on his behalf.
He knew full well that Mr. Zhou did not want trouble and was afraid of offending Zhao Man.
He had not expected Mr. Zhou, who had fought on the frontier for years and usually seemed so straightforward, to have so many reservations.
But although he was somewhat surprised, he did not dwell on it.
After all, it was understandable that Mr. Zhou was unwilling to offend Zhao Man for his sake.
Besides, after seeing the faces Principal Zou Jianmin and Mr. Shi Tie had shown that morning, he did not want to stay at No. 2 High School anyway.
With his current strength, if he revealed even a little of it, would he really have to worry that no school would take him?
Would he really have to worry about being unable to register for the Martial Artist Examination?
Still, the fuss that morning had put quite a damper on his mood.
Before he knew it, he had reached the foot of his building in the mining district's family housing compound.
He stopped, rubbed his face, pressed down the gloom between his brows, and pulled on an easy smile no different from usual before heading upstairs.
But the moment he opened the door, the scene in the living room froze the easy expression on his face.
His father, Lin Rongshan, sat on the sofa. Seeing him return, he forced a smile and stubbed out the cigarette in his hand in the ashtray.
His mother, Li Xiulan, sat beside Lin Rongshan, her apron still on, and could not hold back a sigh.
"Dad, Mom, you already know what happened at school?" Lin Hao closed the door behind him, having guessed something.
"The school just called." Lin Rongshan nodded and gave a dry laugh. "They expelled a student without either of his parents even being there. Is that reasonable?"
"That school is utterly heartless! Aren't they just afraid you'll drag down their admission rate?" Anger edged Li Xiulan's voice. "And that Zhao Man is a real piece of work! She's the one competing with Qingqing for a position, yet she takes the knife to a high school student like you. What kind of ability is that?"
"Enough, leave it there." Lin Rongshan raised a hand to interrupt her, then looked at Lin Hao, his tone growing more serious. "Xiao Hao, let me ask you. Do you regret what happened today? If you'd cleared yourself of any involvement this morning, none of this would have landed on your head."
Lin Hao walked over and sat down in front of the sofa, without the slightest hesitation in his voice. "There's nothing to regret. Even if I could do it all over again, I'd make the same choice."
"Good boy." Lin Rongshan looked at him and nodded, a gratified smile spreading across his face.
"That's right. Qingqing was only trying to help Xiao Hao in the first place. We couldn't push her out to take the fall at a time like this." Li Xiulan nodded too, though her brows remained knitted. "But the Martial Artist Examination..."
"Stop looking so glum." Lin Hao smiled and poured each of them a cup of warm water. "Tomorrow, I'll go to the martial artist assessment center to test my blood qi and combat power. As long as the numbers are high enough, the case over my cousin's security post won't hold up, and I'll be fine too.
"As for the examination, even if I miss registration this year, I can just take it next year. It's no big deal."
Lin Rongshan and his wife exchanged a glance, some of the clouds of worry lifting from their faces.
But after hesitating for a moment, Li Xiulan still could not help asking cautiously, "Xiao Hao, tell your mother the truth. Your blood qi... has it really reached 1.0?"
The question first startled Lin Rongshan, then he hurried to smooth things over. "We asked someone to help us get in touch with your cousin this morning, and your mom told her your blood qi had risen.
"But your cousin wouldn't believe it. She said it was simply impossible for blood qi to rise that fast. That's the only reason your mom asked again. She didn't mean anything else."
Lin Hao understood.
It was not that his parents did not believe him. They were afraid something would go wrong with tomorrow's test, leaving him unable to save his cousin and getting him into trouble as well.
He smiled and said with certainty, "You can put every last worry to rest. My blood qi is at least 1.0, definitely well above the industrial park security post's recruitment requirement of 0.9."
Hearing him say it again, Lin Rongshan and his wife both breathed sighs of relief. Lin Hao had rarely made boastful claims throughout his life.
"By the way, Dad, how's my cousin doing?" Lin Hao asked, remembering the important matter.
"Qingqing's fine now!" At the mention of this, Lin Rongshan relaxed. "She got out of the Discipline Bureau this morning. She didn't even go home afterward, just went straight to see the higher-ups. She said she was running around to sort out your situation."
"That Zhao Man really is insidious." Li Xiulan gritted her teeth. "Once she knew Qingqing was out and she couldn't get at her anymore, she rushed straight to your school without stopping to catch her breath, trying to play dirty tricks on you. She's rotten to the core!"
Lin Hao nodded, feeling considerably more at ease as well.
Just then, Lin Rongshan's phone rang, with Lin Qing's name on the caller ID.
He answered and switched on the speakerphone.
"Uncle, Auntie, is Xiao Hao home yet?" Lin Qing's brisk voice came through the phone.
"He's home, he's home. He's sitting right here," Lin Rongshan replied.
"Xiao Hao, I owe you my thanks for this." Lin Qing paused, her tone becoming much more earnest. "If you hadn't shouldered everything and bought me time, I couldn't have gotten out of the Discipline Bureau so quickly."
"Come on, Sis, you're treating me like an outsider." Lin Hao leaned forward and spoke into the phone. "We're family. It was only right."
"We're family, so there's no need for formalities. I won't beat around the bush either," Lin Qing said. "I already know Zhao Man went to No. 2 High School to stir up trouble and the school expelled you.
"Don't worry. If you want to take this Martial Artist Examination, you'll definitely be able to.
"I've already spoken to the principal of Jiang City No. 1 High School. You can report to the senior-year martial arts class at No. 1 High School tomorrow.
"Then you can register for this year's Martial Artist Examination as a student of No. 1 High School."
At these words, Lin Rongshan and his wife both lit up with delight.
Jiang City No. 1 High School had the highest martial arts examination admission rate in Jiang City year after year, and its students swept the top three places in the city's Martial Artist Examination every year.
"Thank you, Sis." Lin Hao was taken aback too, then spoke.
He did not really care which school he attended. He simply had not expected his cousin to have everything arranged so quickly.
"What are you thanking me for? It's what I ought to do." Lin Qing laughed, then continued, "And I've already spoken to the people at the martial artist assessment center about tomorrow's test too. Just go over and take it casually.
"No matter what the results are, nothing will happen. No one will use this to make trouble for you."