With the principal making the final call, the others all left the office one after another. Before leaving, the dean of discipline shot Lin Huai a vicious glare.
“Hmph.”
Lin Huai, having been glared at, merely spread his hands in a gesture that said “I’m helpless too.” Toward the rare people in this world who actually disliked him, Lin Huai treated them with a surprising degree of respect.
After everyone had left, the principal closed the door. Turning around, he said to Lin Huai, “Now we can have a sincere conversation.”
Click.
A faint sound of the door locking echoed through the office. Lin Huai pretended not to hear it.
“Ever since you enrolled, people have been constantly reporting your situation to me.” The principal sat down beside him. “They all say that you are a problematic student. Your private life is chaotic, your conduct improper. These reports are not just one or two. Tell me… do you think you are a problematic student?”
He gave Lin Huai a suggestive look. Lin Huai, very modestly, lowered his head.
“My beauty has affected the order of teaching.” Lin Huai said sincerely. “I truly admit my mistake, really. As compensation, I’m willing to wear a mask to class every day. If a mask isn’t enough, I’m willing to wrap myself up like a mummy.”
Principal: …This person doesn’t follow the script at all.
He spoke in a seemingly objective tone, “Perhaps your intentions were not like that but you have indeed severely affected the school’s teaching order. Logically speaking, I should expel you…”
Lin Huai also widened his eyes in feigned terror. “That’s the one thing I absolutely cannot accept!”
Seeing that Lin Huai had finally stepped onto the plotline he wanted, the principal revealed a satisfied smile. “Actually, matters within the school are easy to handle. Those are merely baseless rumors… However, I’ve heard that outside of school, you seem to have your own side job, such as cross dressing and accompanying people for drinks…”
“No!” Lin Huai began to argue as if he had been insulted. “That’s completely, ”
‘That’s completely inaccurate.’ Lin Huai thought inwardly as he diligently played the role of a pitiful little white flower. ‘I’m clearly robbing people…’
“In this world, there are indeed many false rumors but even rumors that come from thin air are not entirely without basis.” The principal interrupted him gently. “For example… are you short on money? There’s no need to deny it. I know you once said…”
Lin Huai fell silent. “Yes, I’m very short on money.”
This statement, at least, was completely sincere. The principal continued, “Actually, for a student like you, there are easier ways to live. For example…”
“For example what?”
“The principal’s scholarship.”
Lin Huai: “…And how would I obtain it?”
“…You only need to be a likable, well behaved student. Like this.”
Even though he had already prepared himself mentally, when the principal’s face drew closer, Lin Huai still couldn’t help but bristle.
…What kind of world full of lunatics am I even in? he screamed inwardly.
“P… Please… calm down…” Lin Huai’s gaze darted around.
He caught sight of a conveniently placed ashtray and a bookshelf that would be very suitable for storing a corpse. The principal’s office seemed to lack fire suppression equipment, destroying evidence by burning might also be a good option…
However, the principal, who had already been bewitched by him, seemed completely unaware of the student’s cold and violent train of thought. From his perspective, this pitiful and adorable student had wandering eyes, a pale face and seemed to be trembling.
Excellent, he thought.
“So, you… ”
At the very moment the door lock exploded, the principal was also sent crashing into the wall by a solid kick from Lin Huai.
“My god…” Lin Huai trembled. “This world… is truly too terrifying…”
At the same time, Chu Tianshu, who had blasted open the principal’s office door with a gun, shouted, “Lin Huai! Are you alright? Are you hurt?!”
“I’m fine.” Lin Huai trembled. “Just a little disgusted…”
The principal, bleeding from his head, let out a miserable cry with great difficulty: “I’m not fine..”
Chu Tianshu decisively ignored the principal’s plea for help. Grabbing Lin Huai’s arm, he checked him from head to toe. Only after confirming that he wasn’t injured did he finally relax.
The principal was still struggling amidst the wreckage of the bookshelf. Looking at his trembling hand, Lin Huai felt a wave of nausea. “This person…”
Chu Tianshu, expressionless, held the strangely shaped gun and walked toward the man in the ruins.
“Kill him.”
“W… Wait, hold on? I thought you were a law abiding citizen?” Lin Huai leaned against the sofa, narrowing his eyes. “By the way, if you kill him, won’t there really be some kind of chain reaction, like the school festival getting canceled?”
Chu Tianshu: …
“Well, that does make things a bit tricky.” He scratched his hair. “How about this, you go outside first and I’ll have a proper talk with him?”
Lin Huai: “Oh, okay.”
Then he added, “Don’t be too violent. Remember to destroy the body.”
“Don’t worry,” Chu Tianshu gave a thumbs up. “I love peace and I always insist on persuading people with reason.”
Without the slightest bit of attachment, Lin Huai took his phone and left the principal’s office. After a series of teeth aching sounds, Chu Tianshu, who loved “nuclear peace”, pushed the door open.
“All settled.” Carrying a blood stained knife on his back, he casually patted Lin Huai’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“Your knife…”
“It’s red ink.” Chu Tianshu didn’t even blink. “I made him write a written statement.”
Lin Huai: …
Chu Tianshu: “It’s really red ink.”
“I believe you, my ass.” Lin Huai narrowed his eyes.
He irritably pressed his phone and upon realizing that it was completely broken, he let out a sigh.
Chu Tianshu noticed his movement and asked, “Your phone’s broken?”
“Yeah.” Lin Huai rubbed his forehead. “No idea what happened, it was working perfectly fine before… then it suddenly blacked out and it almost exploded. I have no idea who did it…”
He recounted the whole sequence of events and Chu Tianshu fell silent. “It sounds like…”
Lin Huai: “?”
“It was me.” Chu Tianshu admitted. “On my way to the principal’s office, I logged into the campus network and blew up all the phones of the people who were smearing you.”
Lin Huai: …………………………
“I also disbanded all the groups that were blackening your name.” Chu Tianshu gave a thumbs up. “Pretty impressive, right?”
What answered him was a long stretch of silence.
“Why the hell would you disband the groups?!” Lin Huai screamed. “I was the one who created those groups! Group One, Group Two, Group Three, Group Four… I made all of them!”
Chu Tianshu: …
He turned his head back slowly, his expression almost vacant. “Huh?”
“Hurry up and get my groups back!” Lin Huai was frantic. “It took me so much effort to become the owner of the biggest anti–Lin Huai group in the entire school…”
Chu Tianshu: “Why would you even create something like that??”
“Of course it’s to persuade them to stay away from me!” Lin Huai gritted his teeth.
Chu Tianshu looked at him with an extremely complicated expression. “You enjoy hearing people curse at you? Is this… some kind of obscure fetish of yours?”
“Being hated still counts as fame.” Lin Huai said indifferently. “If I can use this method to keep them addicted to the internet and stop them from bothering me in real life, then I’m very happy.”
Chu Tianshu: “…Alright, I’m an idiot.”
Since they had already blown up the principal’s office, skipping class was naturally no longer an issue. The two of them simply went to the abandoned plaza behind the school and quietly started repairing the phone.
The ground of the plaza was crookedly marked with chalk lines. While fixing the phone, Chu Tianshu asked, “What are these chalk lines? Booth layouts?”
“Probably the maze for the third years.” Lin Huai said. “They’re planning to stack up a giant maze with cardboard boxes during the school festival.”
“They’re really in the mood for leisure.” Chu Tianshu commented. “Are they sure you won’t run into a ghost at the corners of that maze?”
Once again reduced to a phone repairman, Chu Tianshu handed the fixed phone back to Lin Huai. Lin Huai glanced at the collected messages. “Tch, there’s still one hate group that I didn’t create that hasn’t been disbanded. They’re pretty creative, I’ll give them that…”
“?”
“Here, take a look.” Lin Huai held up his phone. “Someone’s spreading rumors that there’s a video of me cross dressing and… engaging in group sex. A bunch of people are asking for the link in the comments.”
Chu Tianshu: …
“To wear the crown, one must bear its weight, I’m used to it.” Lin Huai sighed. “Is this the price I have to pay for being an unparalleled beauty? I really am a calamity of beauty…”
“Do you think the fall of the Shang dynasty was caused by Daji?”
“Huh?”
“Xia Jie was tyrannical and immoral, not because of Meixi but because that was his nature. The fall of the Shang dynasty was never something a single weak woman like Daji could accomplish and the one who played with beacon fires to amuse himself wasn’t Bao Si but King You of Zhou, whose judgment was clouded by lust.” Chu Tianshu said.
“The reason these people fall into madness isn’t your ‘beauty.’ It’s their own nature, the selfishness, greed, jealousy and possessiveness within them. ‘Tomie’ is merely a catalyst that brings out the darkness already inside them.”
Lin Huai: …
“The collapse of dynasties comes from rulers losing control and systems falling apart yet some people prefer to pin all the blame on a single woman, that in itself is an extremely irresponsible thing.” Chu Tianshu continued. “What you’re experiencing in this instance follows the same logic.”
Lin Huai was stunned for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. “You’re being really serious about this… I was originally going to say that everything I’m experiencing is just part of the setting and the fact that they go mad because of me is also just part of the game’s design.”
“I know.” Chu Tianshu scratched his head. “But I don’t want you to feel even the slightest bit of… um, how should I put it? Guilt?”
Lin Huai: …
“…Actually, that line just now was also said by Lu Xun.” Seeing Lin Huai fall silent, Chu Tianshu quickly added, “Lu Xun truly was a great thinker.”
“Then,” Lin Huai suddenly grew a little curious, “it seems that you’re the only one who hasn’t been affected by this buff at all… Is it because your mental resistance is stronger, or because you as a person are… comparatively upright?”
“Everyone has darkness and desires. I’m no exception.” Chu Tianshu coughed lightly. “Sometimes at night, when I read certain scenes in novels, I also think about how one day I might do this or that with someone I like. Occasionally, I also have some rather excessive fantasies but as a human being, one should at least have some self control. If you let yourself be misled by momentary impulses and do something excessive, then… and there are some principles that are…”
“Oh, I understand.” Lin Huai said thoughtfully. “What you mean is, you’re…”
Chu Tianshu swallowed.
“…straight?” Lin Huai concluded. “Got it. You have absolutely no sexual interest in me.”
Chu Tianshu: …
Lin Huai: “Tch, I’m relieved.”
Chu Tianshu: …
The straight man Chu Tianshu and the calamity like beauty Lin Huai walked back to the classroom side by side. Lin Huai glanced at his watch and said, “It’s almost time for school to end…”
Chu Tianshu: “So you’re going to cross dress and rob people again?!”
“What else?” Lin Huai turned back. “Otherwise how am I supposed to save up one million to complete the mission objective?”
Chu Tianshu fell silent.
“…How about this.” He said with heartfelt anguish, “After school, I’ll go sell my car and then, ”
Lin Huai: ?
“You can try… to toy with my feelings?”
Lin Huai: ………………
“What the hell are you talking about?” Lin Huai’s eyebrows twitched uncontrollably. “Saying something so weird all of a sudden, tch, you sound like a gay guy.”
Chu Tianshu: …
“Stop joking.” Lin Huai patted his shoulder but his gaze suddenly caught sight of a listless figure. “Hm?”
A smile spread across his face. “Something fun just arrived.”
The one walking down the corridor in a daze was none other than Ji Fengjian, who had been forced into cross dressing the night before.
Even his once vivid hair looked wilted as he dragged his feet along the hallway. Being forcibly stripped of his outerwear and made to wear women’s clothing had become a nightmare he would never forget for the rest of his life.
“Is there anything in this world more cruel than this?” he muttered.
The next moment, a pair of leather shoes stopped in front of him.
As he followed the long legs upward with his gaze, he finally understood.
Yes, there was.
“I’ll kill you!”
Rage overwhelmed Ji Fengjian’s mind as he shouted and charged forward, swinging his fists. His loud voice alerted the nearby students. Those who had been walking in small groups and pointing at Lin Huai and Chu Tianshu also turned to look at them.
Among the crowd, the boy who sat in front of them also stopped in his tracks, carrying two heavy buckets of water.
“…Look, it’s him again.” He heard the whispers from those beside him.
“Another one. Do you think those two… have some kind of relationship too?”
Noticing that the boy had stopped, another student kicked him. “What are you doing? Hurry up and carry the water back to the classroom!”
“Oh, o ..okay.”
The boy responded timidly and, as usual, trudged back toward the classroom, looking as dejected as ever.
“You’re bullying him again, making him clean up alone.” The boy beside them jokingly pushed the one who had kicked him. “Hey, I stole the diary for you, how’s it working out?”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cresvynia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
This chapter was powered by questionable decisions. The next one may require coffee.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 111 · Although the author really didn’t want to writeChapter 112 · An explanation of the main storylineChapter 113 · Lin Huai’s QuestionChapter 114 · Hello classmateChapter 115 · Let me introduce the protagonist’s family backgroundChapter 116 · The innocent and naive Lin XiaohuaiChapter 117 · The Trisolarans ArriveChapter 118 · He Isn’t Fighting AloneChapter 119 · Why Here?Chapter 120 · A World Where Everyone Is Sculpted in ClayChapter 121 · How Could It Be YouChapter 122 · I want to sell my carChapter 123 · The Mysterious Transfer StudentsChapter 124 · Gu BeichenChapter 125 · The Male Lead of This StoryChapter 126 · A Voice Never Heard BeforeChapter 127 · You’re Tomie, aren’t you?Chapter 128 · I’ll give youChapter 129 · I just want to be with youChapter 130 · The Principal’s OfficeChapter 131 · Chu: I Disbanded Your Hate GroupsChapter 132 · Speak ProperlyChapter 133 · A Trisolaran Enters the Grand View GardenChapter 134 · Ji FengjianChapter 135 · About Me and YouChapter 136 · Kayako Likes ItChapter 137 · YouChapter 138 · I’ll Beat MyselfChapter 139 · I Want to See MyselfChapter 140 · The Trisolarans’ First Experience of Love and SexChapter 141 · The Trisolarans Try Romance Once MoreChapter 142 · The Trisolarans Try Romance for the Third TimeChapter 143 · It’s All This Buff’s FaultChapter 144 · The Way You Straight Men TalkChapter 145 · Why are you taking it so seriously?Chapter 146 · Chu Tianshu Shows Off His MusclesChapter 147 · Enter the DreamChapter 148 · Leave a little secretChapter 149 · Shadow StreamerChapter 150 · Don’t Look at MeChapter 151 · The Trisolarans betrayed StalinChapter 152 · Then I WillChapter 153 · The Trisolarans rewrite the Book of Life and DeathChapter 154 · What Career Could Be More Important Than Your Wife?Chapter 155 · Aren’t We Already Together?Chapter 156 · MVP of the Entire FieldChapter 157 · Meeting the FamilyChapter 158 · A Phone Call Across Time and SpaceChapter 159 · Lu Jin, You’re So MiserableChapter 160 · The Lands Of DaughtersChapter 161 · The So Called Pregnancy StreamChapter 162 · The Street Where Only the Two of Us ExistChapter 163 · No bare faceChapter 164 · Question 1: Do you have hair loss?Chapter 165 · LaxativesChapter 166 · Where Exactly Do You Exist?Chapter 167 · Seven ZeroChapter 168 · The issue of 0 and 1Chapter 169 · Wind ChimeChapter 170 · Visa and Wind ChimesChapter 171 · Continue to persecute Lu JinChapter 172 · Examiner: I’ve fallen in love with himChapter 173 · Lin Huai intimidates scalpersChapter 174 · Night of EvilChapter 175 · Congratulations to the Male Guests on Successfully Finding Their PartnersChapter 176 · Before ThisChapter 177 · The gong says he is terrifiedChapter 178 · The Tasker CampChapter 179 · I’m So ScaredChapter 180 · The Final Transitional ChapterChapter 181 · Four Beauties Among the FlowersChapter 182 · Plum FragranceChapter 183 · Dry Weather and Flammable ThingsChapter 184 · The Heartless Sword ManualChapter 185 · Only MeChapter 186 · The North PoleChapter 187 · Let Brother Lin Learn to Meow Like a CatChapter 188 · Good Night