Chapter 166: Hegemony
Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan were beaten, but they dared not speak up and verbally attack Guo Junhao. After all, Guo Junhao’s family owned a technology company, which was said to now be developing a very promising online game. Therefore, it could also be said that Guo Junhao was one of their prospective targets.
Thus, at this moment, the two of them could only redirect their hatred toward Zhong Nuannuan. They were acting as though they wanted revenge after she had stolen one of their husbands or murdered their parents.
Things would be different if Zhong Nuannuan just so happened to become the school beauty with a good family background immediately after transferring here.
If she was the same as Zhong Qianqian, then fine. However, the problem was that she used to be poorer and even worse off than those “scholarship students”.
Zhong Nuannuan was really too beautiful, so beautiful in fact, that people could not help but always turn their attention toward her. These two had tried very hard for a long time but still could not get this kind of attention, yet, Zhong Nuannuan did not need any to expend any effort at all but could still get the opposite sex to direct their gazes toward her.
Every time they saw Zhong Nuannuan, Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan could not help that this was God’s injustice.
After all, Zhong Nuannuan satisfied all the characteristics of Cinderella.
Papapa!
The two were staring at Zhong Nuannuan when Teacher Liu’s pointer hit their classroom desk loudly.
“This is a school, not a place for you to gossip. If I hear any more words that are damaging to the relationships of your classmates, you will stand on the rostrum at the side of the class for the rest of today!”
After roaring at the two of them, he looked at Zhong Nuannuan who was standing at the door and his face instantly became sympathetic.
“Nuannuan, you’re here. The school is already aware of the court’s verdict that you’ve been wronged. You haven’t been to school for more than a month and are surely behind in a lot of homework. The back is too far away, and the teachers of other subjects may not be able to take care of you there. This place just happened to be emptied two days ago, so you can sit here.”
Two days ago, one student’s grades fell too far and his performance had also not been up to scratch. The student had also beaten a noble-born student and was expelled from the school. Thus, the middle seat in the third row from the front was vacated.
Wu Wenqian was the top scorer for the high school entrance examination, with good grades and high ambitions. After entering Jia Yong, it was originally the difference in status that led to the distortion in temperament. Now, upon seeing how the teacher had criticized them yet was treating Zhong Nuannuan so nicely, the wickedness in her heart could no longer be contained.
“Teacher Liu, it was clear that she had pushed Zhou Jinhui, which led to his death. This is something that all the teachers and students of this school know. She is a morally corrupt person who has no regard for law and discipline, so why isn’t the school expelling her? Is it because her family has money?”
“Wu Wenqian!” Teacher Liu roared angrily.
“Even if Teacher Liu wants me to stand on the rostrum for class today, I still want to finish what I’m saying. Zhong Nuannuan is not only a murderer, she is also placed last in the entire school. Our entire senior year was seated according to our grades, so why is it that Zhong Nuannuan should be treated specially and get to sit in the third row? Are you partial to her because you are afraid that the other classmates will harbor some opinions?”
Zhong Qianqian, who was sitting in the third row, heard Wu Wenqian’s accusations, but in order to prevent her own fragile image that she had painstakingly managed from being damaged further, she could only bow her head whilst maintaining a light smile.
This girl hated Zhong Nuannuan so much! She wanted everyone to know that Zhong Nuannuan was a female watch.
“Who said she was a murderer?”
The incomparably cold voice of a man suddenly interrupted her.
Everyone looked up and saw a bold and assured man in battle uniform walking toward the classroom. He had perfect posture, and every step gave off an awe-inspiring aura.
Chapter 167: A Man That Makes Others Screech
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The morning light shone on him, painting the handsome face that practically made others want to screech in awe with a faint layer of gold.
The classroom, which was originally still clamorous, instantly became pin-drop silent.
The man stood by the rostrum, side by side with Zhong Nuannuan. His gaze swept freely across the classroom with dark eyes as deep as the vast sea. This intense stare gave off an unmatchable coldness and pressure.
Finally, the man’s eyes fell on the first two seats in the front row.
Where had Wu Wenqian ever seen such a dazzling yet frightening man?
As he glanced over by her quickly, her whole face instantly turned red.
In her mind, this was the ideal man—— a tall and stern adonis of abstinence!
Not to mention, he looked like the male lead from Four Moons* (TN: the author is referencing the Mexican drama, Four Moons) at such a young age. He literally had a director-general level figure! It was a persona that was practically the same as the male lead from TV shows, and some would say that he was even more domineering and handsome than that!
“Were you the one who claimed Nuannuan was a murderer just now?” Chi Yang asked.
Wu Wenqian was still starry-eyed with infatuation, unable to recover from her initial shock. Facing Chi Yang’s question, her brain instantly crashed and she could not help but ask shyly.
“You… who are you?”
“I am Zhong Nuannuan’s fiance.”
Crash——
A basin of cold water was poured over her head. Wu Wenqian felt as if her heart had been bitten ruthlessly by a cold viper as her face went pale.
“For what reason did you proclaim that Nuannuan is a murderer? Didn’t the school show you the court’s decision?”
Chi Yang’s aura was fully unleashed, the coldness emitting freely from head to toe. The temperature of the entire classroom dropped a few degrees.
The invisible force made Li Shanshan, who was sitting beside her tremble, let alone Wu Wenqian.
Boom!
Finally, unable to withstand the pressure, Wu Wenqian fell back into her chair, her face as pale as a ghost, not daring to say a word.
“Chi Yang, I was looking everywhere for you, but it seems you’ve already walked in yourself!”
As he said this, Zhong Kuijun walked into the classroom accompanied by the Jia Yong chairman and six vice-chairmen.
“Chairman Li, this is my daughter Zhong Nuannuan’s fiance, Chi Yang.”
Before Zhong Kuijun could even manage to introduce Chi Yang, Chairman Li had walked in front of the latter with a beaming smile, warmly extending his hand toward Chi Yang.
“Director-general Chi, hello, I’m Li Weimin, chairman of Jiayong. I’m glad to meet you.”
Chi Yang would normally never reach out to shake hands with a person like Li Weimin, as he disliked physical touch.
However, seeing as how this person was the chairman of his Nuannuan’s school, Chi Yang reluctantly extended his hand to shake it.
“Hello.”
Chairman Li smiled brilliantly.
“Seeing that Chairman Li just so happens to be here, please explain Nuannuan’s treatment to me.”
When everyone saw that Chi Yang was not going to show any mercy, their hearts sunk and their expressions changed.
The sixth vice-chairman, who was the principal of Jiayong, hurriedly walked over. “Director-general Chi, did something unpleasant happen?”
“Everyone repeatedly promised me before this that Nuannuan would have a proper name at school. We came for an unexpected visit today, just to see if Nuannuan was being bullied at school. Just as I had just come over, I heard these two people saying that Nuannuan was a murderer, right in front of their classmates, and that she should be expelled from school. Does the school ever place emphasis on developing students’ characters?”
Before Chi Yang finished speaking, Wu Wenqian gave him a pleading look, begging him not to talk ill of them in front of the school directors. As a result, Chi Yang not only spoke ill of them, but went one step further and berated the school.
Chapter 168: Chi Yang Is My Boyfriend
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The faces of Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan could no longer be described as pale. As they looked back at the faces of the principal and school directors, they felt as though their whole world had collapsed.
“Ms. Liu, just what is going on? The school has already announced Zhong Nuannuan as a student during the morning assembly a week ago. After that, didn’t the homeroom teacher of each class notify the students about this matter three or five times throughout classes? Why did such a situation still occur?” The principal looked at the head teacher angrily.
Teacher Liu was also depressed. She had just been slammed by his student, and now she was being scolded by the principal. Thus, he did not plan to protect the student anymore and replied, “Principal, I don’t think I can manage these two students anymore!”
“I’ve nagged them seven to nine times let alone three to five times, but there are some students whose mentality is just twisted and simply will not tolerate Zhong Nuannuan. Not only did she say she is a murderer, she also said that Zhong Nuannuan was a contemptuous existence for the Zhong family.
“I told them not to speak such nonsense, otherwise they would have to stand on the rostrum for the entire class. Nevertheless, the two became more brazen and immediately stood up to express their opposition, announcing that even if they had to stand for the rest of the class, they would still speak their mind.
“Headmaster, these two are scholarship students. They were the top 1 and top 2 students during their high school entrance examination. I suspect that it is because of this that their ego and arrogance are out of control. I feel that I’m completely incapable of managing these 2 students anymore.”
Chi Yang blamed the school, the school blamed the teacher, and the teacher immediately pushed the responsibility onto Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan. Who made it such that these two people would ever make light of her?
“The two of you are too impudent! Not having respect for either the school or the teacher… What kind of students are you? If all students were like you, not a school in the country would survive!”
Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan both came from the Wan Province. Farming districts had only emerged in the past decade or so, which centralized the agriculture of the entire country of Camino. In doing so, the rural areas of the previously agricultural as well as less developed states had now joined the urbanization process.
As a once-large-scale state city, it could be said that Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan were golden phoenixes that had emerged from their depths. Having said that, although their results were good, where would they have ever experienced such a situation?
Surrounded by school directors, the headmaster, teacher, Zhong Nuannuan’s parents, and her fiance, and with the other students’ sneering eyes slowly cutting them apart, they felt a sense of total abandonment.
The two soon started crying because they could not stand the pressure.
Seeing that the headmaster’s next sentence was to expel them, Zhong Qianqian stood up at that moment, and with a righteous tone, said, “Headmaster, Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan are my roommates. They were intolerable of Zhong Nuannuan because they wanted to uphold fairness toward me. After all… after all, Chi Yang had been introduced as my boyfriend before.”
1The voice fell and the whole class was in an uproar.
Although rumors of this matter had circulated before, the man from the legends was actually standing in front of them now, and the students could finally understand why the good sisters would quarrel so awfully because of this man.
“Moreover, Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan are both good students with good academic performance and behavior, so I hope the headmaster can give them a chance.”
Zhong Qianqian’s hatred for Zhong Nuannuan had peaked.
It was because of her that she missed Jiang District’s first lady, and at the same time, lost two outstanding men, Aiden and Gu Mingzhe.
Since Zhong Nuannuan was making things difficult for her, she would also give the b*tch tough time. Even if she could not get Chi Yang, she would still embarrass the two of them.
She did not think an imposing man like Chi Yang would ever bother explaining anything to such a large crowd. Therefore, after today, the whole school would know that Zhong Nuannuan, the b*tch, had robbed her of her boyfriend.
As Zhong Quijun was about to scold Zhong Qianqian, Zhong Nuannuan, who was normally always under Chi Yang’s protection and did not have any chance to display her verbal combative skills, finally saw an opportunity to strike.
Chapter 169: I’m Not Blind
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“If you are saying this, do you consider all the men introduced to you before this as your boyfriend too? I’ve always thought that only stallions are kept for selective breeding, but I never knew that mares are put out to stud as well. Zhong Qianqian, you’re really an eye-opener.”
“Nuannuan, how can you say such unpleasant words? Where has your ladylike demeanor gone? Where’s the school etiquette that you’ve learned? What do you mean by ‘put out to stud’? Is this a term you can use to describe your sister?” Zhong Qianqian seethed.
“Don’t you understand? You consider all men who are introduced to you your boyfriends, but when someone else fancies me instead of you, you regard me as the person who robbed you of your partner. Following this line of logic, how many banquets have you attended since you were young, and how many times have you been introduced to someone? If all of these men are your boyfriends, Zhong Qianqian, what are you, if not a breeding horse?”
“You… You still feel in the right even after snatching my boyfriend?”
Zhong Qianqian’s body shook with anger. At the same time, Zhong Kuijun felt a sharp headache, wishing that he could just knock Zhong Qianqian’s lights out and drag her away.
“I’m not blind yet! Even if I’m blind, I still won’t give you a thought!” Chi Yang, who had never spoken up until that moment, uttered those words coldly. His icy gaze stared straight at Zhong Qianqian, which gave her body the chills.
“Hahahaha…” Suddenly, there was a burst of laughter outside the door.
Due to the commotion in the Year 2 Senior class, some classmates from a few other classrooms on the same floor ran over to watch the excitement unfold. When they heard Chi Yang’s words, which were like a slap in the face for Zhong Qianqian, the group of people headed by Ye Mengxi laughed wildly.
“Zhong Qianqian, I met Chi Yang on the same day as you, and it’s an established fact that Chi Yang fell in love with me instead of you. Chi Yang has been my boyfriend ever since the start, and after your plan to seduce Chi Yang shamelessly failed, you slandered my name everywhere. Have you forgotten that my relationship with Chi Yang is protected by law? If I hear you and your pack of dogs say any more of these remarks, I can prosecute you on the basis of sabotaging a military marriage. When the time comes, we’ll let the judge decide whether I’ve robbed you of your boyfriend!”
“Tsk tsk, so it turns out that this army brother has been Zhong Nuannuan’s boyfriend ever since the start!”
“Zhong Qianqian is so vicious, how could she let everyone in school think that her sister had stolen her boyfriend?”
“She’s not just vicious, she’s also shameless, okay? Didn’t you hear that Zhong Qianqian once tried to seduce the army brother with aphrodisiacs?”
“Tsk tsk, this woman maintains the image of a gentle and dignified goddess all day long, but in reality, she’s a pretentious hypocrite from an upper-class family. She’s just too disgusting.”
As she listened to the discussions around her and looked at Zhong Nuannuan’s assertive gaze, Zhong Qianqian trembled with anger.
She was about to say something when she heard Chi Yang say, “Apologize to Nuannuan! Otherwise, like I’ve said before, if you question my relationship with Nuannuan again, and arbitrarily slander the two of us, we’ll see you in military court.”
Zhong Qianqian’s eyes widened. She had never thought that Chi Yang would demand her to apologize in public, or otherwise sue her, just to protect Zhong Nuannuan’s image.
Was he still a man?!
1All the students looked calmly at Zhong Qianqian. If she apologized, it meant that she had deliberately slandered Zhong Nuannuan all this while, and that she was immoral and two-faced. Subsequently, she would never be able to keep her head up in school ever again. If she refused to apologize, then she might end up in military court. Even if she was not sentenced to jail, the punishment for slandering a military officer, moreover a high-ranked military officer, was not going to be light.
Zhong Qianqian did not know what to do anymore. Only then did she turn her gaze to Zhong Kuijun, as though she wanted her father to come forward and say some good things on her behalf.
Chapter 170: Skyrocketing Combat Strength
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhong Kuijun had already felt very humiliated. In addition to this, she had already ruined her chances with Aiden and Gu Mingzhe, so how could he dare to offend Chi Yang just to help her? Hence, he simply turned his head to the side and avoided looking at her.
“All of you are just too much!”
Zhong Qianqian shouted, then she rushed out crying.
While she applauded her own wits for not having to apologize, Zhong Qianqian also felt truly aggrieved.
“Haha!” In the face of such an outcome, the onlooking students burst into laughter.
After Zhong Qianqian ran away, Chi Yang immediately directed his spearhead at Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan.
“Chairman Li, what do you plan to do with these two students?”
“Students like this are no longer worthy of the ‘scholarship student’ title anymore, and also contradict our original concept of introducing scholarship students. Such students…”
“Sorry, Zhong Nuannuan, it was our fault earlier, and I apologize.”
Li Shanshan was the first to step forward. When Wu Wenqian saw this, she quickly apologized as well. “Yes, we were wrong earlier.”
“We did that because we all thought that you were the one who had stolen Qianqian’s boyfriend. Now that everything has been clarified, we won’t say such things to you anymore.”
Chi Yang sneered. “Since the two of you have good academic records, and are top students, then you must know that there’s a crime known as defamation! Not all apologies are worthy of forgiveness. Your malicious speech earlier had already caused harm to Nuannuan. Although the two of you are still students, you’re already almost 18 years old, or may have even passed the age of 18, and you already possess the ability to fully pay for your actions. Since you believe everything Zhong Qianqian says, if Zhong Qianqian tells you to kill people, will the two of you immediately become executioners?”
Zhong Nuannuan looked at Chi Yang, who was reprimanding the students harshly, and felt that his verbal assault ability had gone through the roof.
This was always the case with her Chi Yang—he was fine whenever he was wronged, but he would never tolerate her suffering any injustice.
As she watched him act an old hen protecting its chicks, Zhong Nuannuan’s heart almost bubbled over with warmth.
Faced with Chi Yang’s harsh inquiry, both students went mute and did not dare to answer. Their heads were almost buried into their chests.
“Principal Wei, expel these two students immediately.” Chairman Li ordered.
“Yes.”
Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan were shocked to the core, unable to even shed their tears. All they could do was stare blankly at the group of people standing in front of the podium, who were all wearing suits and leather shoes.
However, at the end of the day, Chi Yang was a soldier. The integrity in his bones made him feel angry, but he was still unable to watch the former top and third-highest scorers in the high school entrance examination fall to their demise just like that. After a moment of silence, he said,
“Although there’s no need to go to the point of expulsion, their punishment should be severe. Otherwise, if every student in the school continues to defame Nuannuan like this, how is she going to live?”
“Yes. If so, what do you think is a better way of resolving this issue, director-general Chi?” Chairman Li asked modestly.
“A record of demerit must be written, and they must do extensive self-reflection and a public apology to Nuannuan in front of all the students and teachers in school. They also have to clean the toilets for one semester.”
Wu Wenqian and Li Shanshan were stunned!
The students laughed. “…Hahahaha! This army brother is so cute!”
At the same time, Zhong Nuannuan thought, ‘…The toilets at the military base must be very clean!’
Chi Yang took out a piece of paper from his briefcase. “This is a photocopy of the court’s Judgement. I hope that the school can clear Nuannuan’s name at an important morning assembly. If I were to find out again that someone used this issue to criticize Nuannuan, call Nuannuan a murderer, or spread rumors, as a family member, I will legally prosecute that person for defamation.”