Chapter 168 - 167: Keep Spoiling Her, She Gets It Right Every Time
Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Keep Spoiling Her, She Gets It Right Every Time
The Disciplinary Director figured their principal must have made some monumental sacrifice to invite a big shot like Xie Lin. If Meng Shuyan hadn’t brought it up, he truly wouldn’t have known this had anything to do with Shi Changying. He knew it! How could the principal possibly have that much pull?
The director silently scoffed at Principal Ning in his heart, feeling even more elated. With a swift SWISH, SWISH, he plastered the promotional poster up and walked away humming a tune.
"..."
The entire area around the noticeboard was completely silent. The name Xie Lin and his accompanying photo had successfully silenced all voices.
Meng Shuyan was in disbelief. "Sister, did she really invite Xie Lin? How is that possible?"
Xu Shuyu was uncharacteristically stunned. She studied piano and always paid close attention to the music industry, making Xie Lin one of the figures she admired most. Xu Zhao Yu had reached out to various contacts on multiple occasions, hoping to build a connection with Xie Lin and invite him to give her a couple of lessons, but unfortunately, all attempts had failed.
"Oh my god, it’s really Xie Lin! I’m going to brag to my friends at other schools right now and make them jealous for a whole year!"
"The principal really outdid himself this time. He actually managed to get Xie Lin."
"It wasn’t the principal! Didn’t Young Master Meng just say it? Shi Changying invited him!"
"It definitely has nothing to do with the Xu Family or the Meng Family, otherwise they would have invited him ages ago. Girls, my logic is sound, right?"
Meng Shuyan never could have imagined that his previous words would end up paving the way for Shi Changying’s glory. He stared fixedly at the noticeboard, utterly unwilling to believe what he was seeing. But the facts were right in front of him. It felt as if a massive hammer had swung down and slammed heavily into his chest, leaving him seeing stars, gasping for breath, and completely dazed.
Compared to everyone else’s excitement, the students of Class 17, Grade 12 were very calm. After all, they had already seen the man himself in the dance studio.
Song Qingmu’s delinquent buddies couldn’t understand his calmness. "Why aren’t you reacting? That’s Xie Lin!"
"I know," Song Qingmu replied. "I’m not blind."
"Then why aren’t you excited?" his buddy asked.
Song Qingmu rolled his eyes. "It’s just seeing Xie Lin, isn’t it? It’s no big deal. Look at you, acting like you’ve never seen the world."
His buddy fell silent.
Song Qingmu was secretly thrilled. It wasn’t until he returned to the classroom that he jumped three feet into the air, absolutely elated. "Thank goodness Senior Sister already took me to meet Brother Xie! Now I can finally bask in her reflected glory!"
Lu Mi looked at him with disdain. "Pathetic."
Song Qingmu was entirely unapologetic. "So what if I’m pathetic? When one person ascends to heaven, even their chickens and dogs get to tag along. I’m perfectly happy being Senior Sister’s chicken or dog!"
This statement made Shi Changying start to doubt whether Song Qingmu’s Chinese exam score of 127 was actually real. If he could score so high while using idioms like that, sure enough, she was still too weak.
Shi Changying buried her head in her studies. It wasn’t until the streetlights began to flicker on and the classroom was almost empty that Shaoyuan reached out and lightly tapped her desk. "Not leaving yet?"
"Right away." Shi Changying was working on her final question.
He leaned against the back door with his long legs slightly bent, waiting for her without rushing her further.
Shi Changying packed her schoolbag, walked over, and waved her phone at him. "I’ll treat you to fried skewers."
Shaoyuan’s eyebrow twitched slightly, his tone languid. "Then I thank you, Young Miss."
The two walked out of the school gates shoulder to shoulder and bumped into Ming Chengli, who was waiting outside.
Shaoyuan gave a slight nod. "Hello, Mr. Ming."
"Ah, Little Shao! Hello, hello, long time no see," Ming Chengli said with a beaming smile. "Thank you so much for looking after Changying."
"You’re too polite, Mr. Ming. It’s Classmate Shi who looks after me," Shaoyuan said with profound meaning.
Ming Chengli thought to himself that these words really gave his daughter plenty of respect. He was truly worthy of being the student council president, excelling in both character and academics! Changing the subject, he asked, "Changying, do you have any plans for tomorrow? How about Dad takes you out to play?"
"I already made plans with a friend," Shi Changying said lazily. "We’re going to the Zhongwu Tomb."
"That’s a good thing!" Ming Chengli’s expression brightened. "You should visit places like that more often and chat with your friends. At your age, you need to make more friends."
Shaoyuan’s expression remained passive; he didn’t say a word.
While Shi Changying went to buy the fried skewers, Ming Chengli asked, "What does Little Shao want to eat tomorrow? I’ll buy some things later so you guys can eat on the road."
Shaoyuan smiled. "No need, Mr. Ming. I won’t be among those going to the Zhongwu Tomb tomorrow."
Ming Chengli was taken aback. "Ah? Why not?"
Shaoyuan’s tone sounded entirely nonchalant. "Perhaps I’m not counted among Classmate Shi’s friends."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Ming Chengli said righteously. "I even saw her writing your name in her workbook! Your significance to her is definitely not something an ordinary friend can compare to!"
Shaoyuan’s eyes suddenly narrowed.
"Here’s yours." At this moment, Shi Changying returned and handed one of the cups of fried skewers to Shaoyuan. Then, she turned to Ming Chengli. "You’re not allowed to eat any. You’re old, you need to maintain your health."
Ming Chengli was speechless. Although it was true that he didn’t like eating fried skewers, she couldn’t just use that as an excuse!
Shaoyuan reached out to lightly flick some nonexistent dust off his clothes and suddenly smiled. "Goodbye, Mr. Ming."
After saying their goodbyes, Ming Chengli and Shi Changying returned to the Old Xu Mansion. Shi Changying was quite the studious one; she immediately took out her books and started working on practice questions.
A while later, Ming Chengli walked into the study carrying a glass of milk. As he set the glass down, he noticed that Shi Changying had written a name on her scratch paper.
Shaoyuan.
Before Ming Chengli could voice the doubts in his heart, he saw his daughter draw a massive "X" right over Shaoyuan’s name.
Ming Chengli froze. Crap, it seemed he had misunderstood something entirely!
Seeing Ming Chengli’s blank stare, Shi Changying asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
In a daze, Ming Chengli asked what the "X" meant.
Shi Changying let out a soft "Oh." "He’s ranked first in the grade, and I’m going to replace him."
"Ambitious and bold! As expected of my daughter!" Ming Chengli breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped his sweat, thinking to himself that she had scared him to death. He actually thought his daughter was going to murder someone. It was a good thing that wasn’t the case. A very good thing!
The next day, the sky was clear and the air was crisp.
By ten o’clock, the area in front of the Zhongwu Tomb was already packed with people. Pei Xuan leaned against his car, watching the long line of people at the entrance. At first, Pei Xuan had only felt profoundly mortified by all this attention, but over time, he had gotten used to it. Some people traveled thousands of miles to Jianghuai just to bring him a jar of good wine. Others bought flowers and placed them on his grave, praying for him to bless their Chinese exam scores.
But what gave him the right? Could those few poems alone really allow him to be remembered throughout the ages? There was someone whose achievements were far greater than his—so great that they practically rebuilt Jiuzhou—who had instead been written down in history as a villain.
As he watched, Pei Xuan’s eyes suddenly narrowed, landing on a specific person. This person had brought neither wine nor flowers, but rather a bundle of foxtail grass, commonly known as weeds. He didn’t like weeds at all, because Cui Jinghan had always used this botanical imagery to insult him.
How had Cui Jinghan insulted him back then?
"Weeds bear empty husks, yet stubbornly thrust themselves toward the heavens. How exceedingly shallow."
As expected of a scholar—insulting people without a single dirty word, yet every sentence was utterly ruthless. What kind of decent person would bring foxtail grass to pay respects at a grave?
Wait!
Pei Xuan’s expression suddenly turned ice-cold. He slammed the car door shut and strode forward.