Chapter 4 - Love Makes People Blind
After a brief silence, the auditorium erupted into thundering roars and whistles, with screams spreading like wildfire:
“What the hell, aren’t Zheng PingQing and Lin Qian mortal enemies?”
“That’s it; we have another crazy man. The college entrance exams really are killing people, ah!”
“Ermmm, my eyebrows are wrinkling, such a complicated situation!”
“Why do I feel like this is actually a little cute? Am I sick?” -someone replied crisply: “Definitely.”
“I can’t tell if Zheng PingQing is flirting or being devious…”
“What’s Zheng PingQing’s angle? Is this the legendary ‘little brother tying himself to one’s pier?’ ”
“Young brother, you’re flattering too much. Could it be that he was conquered by Lin Qian’s heroic figure while he was saying his speech?”
“To tell you the truth, even I was conquered by Lin Qian’s speech!”
……
Lin Qian’s friends had already stood up and were ready to gallop towards Zheng PingQing, but after that announcement, they all fell back into their seats.
All the school leaders and teachers who were regretting choosing Lin Qian as the school representative, especially Ke CaiZhu whose mouth was still wide open, were speechless. They looked at Zheng PingQing dazedly, then turned towards Huo YeRui.
Meanwhile, Huo YeRui’s face turned ugly.
The Principal’s heart was already so tired from the ups and downs of the situation. Slumping into his chair, he looked towards Huo PingChuan with suspicion: “This is Class 8’s method for bringing Lin Qian down?”
Huo PingChuan was gobsmacked. When he heard this, he could only chuckle awkwardly: “Maybe the gossip I heard was wrong.”
The Principal gave him a loaded look: “A school environment is relatively simple, things like hearsay aren’t very good.”
What could Huo PingChuan say? He could only laugh: “The Principal is right.”
If Huo YeRui hadn’t been his son, he would have killed him already.
Dong MingEn looked like a victim from a horror movie as he pulled at the corner of Zheng PingQing’s shirt. He had already dropped his phone without a care, his voice trembling as he whispered: “Boss, your line…your line is wrong…”
But Zheng PingQing had turned a deaf ear to everything around him, his hand tightly gripping the big and scratched loudspeaker. His eyes had crossed the sea of students, directly focusing on Lin Qian.
At this time, Jiang TingJun’s words were echoing in Lin Qian’s mind: “I would rather be single for the rest of my life than get such a confession!”
Zheng PingQing’s words weren’t just a simple confession; it was practically social martyrdom.
Could things get any crazier?!
As it turns out, it can.
While Lin Qian continued to be speechless, Zheng PingQing’s loudspeaker suddenly burst out a powerful voice with a strong accent: “Beautiful Northern Radishes, one catty two pieces~ three catty~”
Lin Qian: “&#k2026;.”
Zheng PingQing: “&#k2026;.”
Teachers and students: “pfft-“
“Hahahahahahaha&#k2026;”
“Fuck, its the little prince of the vegetable market!”
“The case has been solved. Zheng PingQing must’ve wanted to sell some radishes to Lin Qian…haha Northern Radishes.”
“Ah, I want to buy some!”
……
Dong MingEn, who was responsible for borrowing the equipment, felt cold sweat gathering on his back. Fearing death and wanting to cry, he tugged at Zheng PingQing’s sleeve: “Boss…I didn’t know the loudspeaker had a recording…”
Zheng PingQing ignored him. He simply pressed the loudspeaker’s off button and continued to look at Lin Qian.
The hesitation, the sadness, the sorrow of becoming a single dog- all these emotions disappeared after he heard Lin Qian’s speech. Against all odds, Lin Qian was reborn with him.
Zheng PingQing scolded the useless Dong MingEn in his heart. Since he managed to borrow a loudspeaker, couldn’t he have taken the time to overwrite the preset recording with some fireworks or something?
He could’ve set the loudspeaker at full-volume and celebrated the fact that he didn’t need to relive life as a single dog!!!
Lin Qian choked down a sob as he saw Zheng PingQing’s burning gaze.
He never thought that Zheng PingQing, someone who’d rather get beat up than lose face, would willingly do such a crazy thing in front of so many people.
It looks like love really does make people blind.
And the similarly love-blind Lin Qian, as he looked into Zheng PingQing’s eyes, could tell what he was trying to convey: I promised you, and I did it. Now all that’s left is to fall in love.
Having such a romantic brain really is bothersome, ah.
At this moment, Lin Qian felt that he was now responsible for shouldering both of their futures and that his next words were going to be crucial.
Under the scrutiny of the audience, he quietly coughed then laughed: “Thank you for your support, classmate Zheng. Then please, let us study hard.”
Zheng PingQing lifted the loudspeaker again to firmly reply: “Good.”
After that, he smacked Dong MingEn on the back: “What are you doing? Applause.”
Dong MingEn’s brain had long turned to mush so almost unconsciously, he began to clap. As Zheng PingQing clapped along with him, the rest of Class 8 that had united behind him also started to applaud in a daze.
Like a roaring tide, the applause began to spread from the colorful and flashy group to the entire venue, loud and inspiring.
The Principal looked to the crowd in excitement: “I’ve never seen such a successful assembly in all my time in No. 12 High School. Even the problematic students cooperated beautifully. Lin Qian really is amazing!”
Huo PingChuan: “….” Amazing my ass!
Hong KeYi and the other teachers gave Ke CaiZhu a meaningful glance
Ke CaiZhu: “….” So uncomfortable, I want to bury my head in sand, ah.
……
As soon as the assembly ended, Lin Qian was immediately surrounded by Xu Yao and his classmates.
They all looked as pale and frightened as Dong MingEn.
Although most of the teachers and students thought that this was a case of young people suddenly becoming mature, where they were deeply regretful for their past actions, front-line combatants like Xu Yao who knew the war between Lin Qian and Zheng PingQing intimately wouldn’t believe such a nice Zheng PingQing.
Zheng PingQing must be plotting something!
“Zheng PingQing is too sinister, unexpectedly coming up with such a venomous scheme!” Fu YiFei scolded.
Lin Qian raised an eyebrow: “In what way was he venomous?”
Fu YiFei: “….”
Tongue-tied and moody, Fu YiFei replied: “I haven’t figured it out yet, but the fact that Zheng PingQing is planning something evil isn’t something that needs to be proved.”
Lin Qian: “….” He really would love to get a peek at one of Fu YiFei’s exam papers, just to see what an idiot of his caliber would write.
Unexpectedly, Jiang TingJun actually agreed with Fu YiFei’s words: “Zheng PingQing is a despicable villain…no, he isn’t even human!”
Lin Qian reluctantly reminded them: “But he said I was handsome.”
Xu Yao slapped his thigh: “I think I get it! He wants us to let our guards down, and then he’ll take advantage of our relaxed vigilance…”
The more he said, the more he felt that he was right. Proud of his wisdom, Xu Yao gripped Lin Qian’s shoulder: “Ah Qian, Zheng PingQing must be biding his time now, just waiting for us to drop our guard. We mustn’t be fooled, ah!”
“It makes sense.” Jiang TingJun looked thoughtful, “Maybe Zheng PingQing’s trying to make us soft-hearted. Then when we go meet with them to negotiate later, he’ll take the opportunity to push us while we’re staying passive.”
“He’s taking us as idiots, isn’t he?” Fu YiFei raged, “We mustn’t back down an inch during the negotiations, and let him know we aren’t easy to fool.”
Pan QiBo: “Hmm.”
Lin Qian was shocked by the number of brain holes his friends had. He managed to spit out: “…I think you people think too much.”
The truth was, Zheng PingQing’s brain simply stopped working because of love.
Xu Yao expressed his sincere and heartfelt advice: “Ah Qian, you’ve never been outside proper society so you don’t know just how dangerous human nature can be.”
Lin Qian: “….” Excuse me; he had been participating in society for more than 10 years in his last life. This Xu Yao hadn’t even stepped out of the school gate with his own two feet, his fantasies of what society must be like were entirely based on high school drama.
Xu Yao, who believed that he had figured out Zheng PingQing’s devious plot, was quick to badmouth him again. Refreshed after all that scolding, Jiang TingJun said: “We need to plan how we’re going to approach the negotiations with Zheng PingQing and his colorful groupies.”
As they fell into a serious atmosphere, not unlike the atmosphere you see in palace intrigue dramas, Lin Qian also became deep in thought.
Although he would occasionally think back to his teenage years, it seems that time really did add a few filters. He had never faced such potent teenage mental retardation so directly. It really is better to reminisce the past rather than relive it.
Especially whenever he remembers the reason that led them to have negotiations with this Class 8 group in the first place. The fact that Lin Qian was reborn, and his dark teenage years were now being forcefully shoved into his face made his mood even more: ……………….
The reason was that during summer vacation, Xu Yao created a character in a popular online game as an indulgence before senior year. Dong MingEn had coincidentally been in the same internet cafe. Dong MingEn had been playing this game for a long time, so with his fantastic armor and weapons, he started PKing Xu Yao non-stop, so much so that Xu Yao couldn’t even leave the starting village. Xu Yao was so angry he almost broke the keyboard in frustration.
By chance, Lin Qian’s older sister Shao SiJia came home from university for the summer and found out. After learning about the situation, she personally went and practiced with Xu Yao’s account for a few days before directly leaving the novice village and killing Dong MingEn with one hand tied behind her back.
Not only that, Shao SiJia set up a party and took her party members to kill both Dong MingEn and his party until they dissolved and scattered.
Dong MingEn obviously refused to give up and chased after Xu Yao’s character to get revenge, but after Shao SiJia went back to university, Xu Yao didn’t dare go online without her. For the sake of his and his friends’ dignity, it was impossible for him to tell Dong MingEn that he wasn’t the one who killed him.
Dong MingEn became so angry when Xu Yao didn’t go back online and would frequently harass him instead.
After weeks of harassment, Xu Yao finally agreed to negotiate with him face to face. Lin Qian had been afraid that Xu Yao would suffer, so he naturally wanted to go together. Dong MingEn’s situation was the same. Finally, it became Lin Qian’s group of friends vs. Zheng PingQing’s group of friends.
In short, it was-
A garbage game that destroyed his youth!
Proud of the delicate Zheng PingQing for actually confessing in front of the whole school.
I cackled after this chapter. As horrible as it was, the fight that prevented Lin Qian from getting into a prestigious university all started with a PK in some online game. That he didn’t even play.
If you hadn’t noticed yet, this story is ridiculous.