Chapter 12

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“One thousand six hundred and eighty bucks for a pack of Red Pagoda Mountains? These black-hearted merchants, why don’t they just kill to earn their money for the new year?”

“Who the hell are you calling a black-hearted merchant?” The female boss was about to rush up to him but was stopped by the policemen standing around. “Don’t stop me!” she shouted. “I’m going to give him a good tongue lashing!”

Chen Yu said, “Don’t stop her! Let her come to me!”

The homeroom teacher was so angry that he yelled, “Chen Yu! You better shut your mouth!”

Next, the homeroom teacher bowed apologetically to the lady boss and said, “Sister, I’m so sorry. He’s just a kid and doesn’t know what he’s doing. He doesn’t know the price of cigarettes and thought they were cheap. He didn’t really mean to steal. I’ll compensate you for the loss of the cigarettes.”

The lady boss’s anger eased slightly. “The things he says are really rotten,” she said.

“He must have eaten shit. Please don’t take it to heart.” The homeroom teacher nodded repeatedly, took out his wallet, and counted two thousand bucks. Then, he handed the money to the lady boss and said, “As his teacher, I also have a great responsibility. This money here is for you. You can have it. I’ll see to it that he’s properly educated.”

“It should be one thousand six hundred and eighty. Teacher, you gave her too much,” Chen Yu calmly suggested.

“You shut up!”

Chen Yu: “…” (speechless)

[Mental damage inflicted: Mental state +4]

Several policemen gathered and discussed among themselves for a while. Then, they exchanged a few words with the lady boss of the cigarette store, reached a consensus, and pulled out a few documents.

One was for Chen Yu.

One was for the homeroom teacher.

One was for the principal.

One was for the lady boss.

“All of you, please sign the papers we gave you,” the old policeman said. “This student didn’t know the price of the cigarettes, and also, he did make some payment. It was non-intentional theft. Besides, this is his first offense, and he’s underage, so detention is not recommended. Any objections?”

Because the lady boss had recouped her losses and was no longer angry, upon receiving the document, she signed her name and said, “No.”

Chen Yu said, “I still feel that the price of these cigarettes is…”

The old policeman urged, “Hurry up and sign the paper!”

Chen Yu replied, “Alright.”

The grim-faced principal and homeroom teacher also signed the papers and returned them to the policemen.

“Then we’ll make a move first.” Facing a group of students who were about to take the college entrance examination, the old policeman was unwilling to waste any more of their time. He threw the pack of cigarettes back to Chen Yu and said, “Even if you’re under pressure and feeling stressed, don’t ever smoke this stuff.”

Chen Yu nodded and shoved the cigarettes into his pocket. “Got it. These should be thrown away.”

The old policeman: “…” (speechless)

After the policemen and the lady boss left...

The principal looked at Chen Yu, his face devoid of expression, and said, “You, come with me to my office.”

That said, he turned around and left.

The discipline master, team leader of the Senior Three cohort, and the other leaders also followed suit and left.

“Everyone, study time!”

The homeroom teacher’s heart was ablaze with anger. After shouting a single piece of instruction to the class, he pulled Chen Yu out of the classroom.

After three seconds of silence in the class, the students instantly burst into chaos.

With her lips slightly curved upwards in a gentle smile, the monitress, who was seated in the middle of the classroom, said, “Sure enough, a leopard never changes its spots…”

...

Ten minutes later.

Top floor.

In the principal’s office.

Almost every one of No. 2 Middle School’s management team had arrived and were seated in their respective positions.

Only Chen Yu and his homeroom teacher were standing.

In the room, there was an invisible pressure that made the homeroom teacher break out in a cold sweat.

Chen Yu, on the other hand, didn’t seem the least bit bothered.

It was just smoking in secret; how could that be considered a big crime?

Could they even expel him for that?

“Student Chen Yu.” The principal put his hands together and said coldly, “You’re expelled.”

“Good heavens,” Chen Yu said.

“Sir… Principal…” The homeroom teacher was very anxious. He said, “It’s just that, for smoking, this punishment is too…”

“Please don’t say anything.” The principal’s gaze was piercingly sharp.

“…” The homeroom teacher immediately held himself back from articulating the words that had formed at the back of his throat.

“The rules of our school are very clear. Students are strictly prohibited from smoking.” The principal pulled a document out from his drawer and affixed a seal on it. Then, he appended his signature and name and said, “From today on, you are no longer a student of No. 2 Middle School. Pack up your personal belongings and leave the school, alright?”

With that said, he simply threw the document across the room, and it happened to land right at Chen Yu’s feet.

The discipline master had already informed him about Chen Yu’s grades.

He was at the bottom of the class.

A notoriously poor student in the Senior Three cohort.

Without the least bit of value.

If he wasn’t expelled, then what was the use in keeping him?

In the eyes of the principal, “scum” like Chen Yu should be kicked out as far away as possible in order to prevent them from tarnishing No. 2 Middle School of Green City’s good reputation.

Standing in the same spot, Chen Yu lowered his head to look down at the notice of expulsion at his feet. His mind was somewhat in disarray.

He was actually being expelled, just like that…

Though in his case, he himself simply had no desire to go to school.

But it was one thing to drop out of school voluntarily and another thing altogether to be thrown out of school.

“So, it’s really true that a poor student has no human rights at all.”

Without saying anything more, Chen Yu turned around and left.

After all, he had violated the school’s rules. The school was not being unreasonable in expelling him.

Admittedly.

But he hadn’t even taken more than a few steps when he heard the principal’s cold voice from behind: “Pick up the notice.”

Chen Yu turned around and looked the principal up and down before saying, “I accept your notice of expulsion.”

“Pick it up.” The principal’s face was expressionless.

“You threw it and expect me to pick it up?”

“Pick it up.” There was a flash of murderous intent in the principal’s eyes.

Everyone present was breaking out into a cold sweat. Beads of perspiration stood out on their foreheads.

The homeroom teacher was frantically trying to stop Chen Yu by shooting warning glances at him.

Chen Yu said, “I’m no longer a student of No. 2 Middle School…”

The principal insisted, “Pick it up.”

Chen Yu was overwhelmed by the surging waves of oppressive force coming from the principal and felt shivers run down his spine.

After a moment of silence, he bent down and picked up the document under the watchful eyes of everyone in the room.

The aura belonging to a Level 2 Peak Warrior slowly faded away, and the look in the principal’s eyes was calm and placid again. He said, “Get lost.”

“Goodbye,” Chen Yu said.

The homeroom teacher’s face was filled with bitterness as he watched Chen Yu leave alone. He bowed slightly and said, “Principal, I will go make the arrangements.”

“Mm.”

Exiting the office and closing the door, the homeroom teacher quickly caught up to Chen Yu and stopped in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words. He simply didn’t know what he should say.

“You can’t interfere in this. I understand.” Chen Yu lifted the notice of expulsion that he was holding and tore it down the middle.

“Tear!”

The document was torn into two halves.

“Tear!”

Then torn into four quarters.

“Tear!”

Torn into eight pieces.

“Tear!”

Sixteen pieces…

The homeroom teacher asked, “Do you feel better now?”

Chen Yu swung his arm and threw the shredded paper away. Then he asked, “A Level 2 Warrior can simply do as he pleases, can’t he?”

The homeroom teacher replied, “… Hmm.”

Chen Yu: “…” (speechless)

[Mental damage inflicted: Mental health +3]

“I’ll come clean and lay all my cards on the table.” Chen Yu’s expression became relaxed again, and he said, “In truth, I’m a genius in the Way of Martial Arts.”

“… Chen Yu, even though it’s quite embarrassing to be expelled...” the homeroom teacher began, a little worried, “not taking the college entrance examination may be a good thing for you. Don’t take it too hard. Your mental health is more important.”

[Mental damage inflicted: Mental health +6]

Chen Yu said, “With you as my homeroom teacher, I am in much better spirits.”

“Let’s drop the subject. Come with me. We need to take care of the withdrawal process. Along the way, we’ll pick up the suitcase that you brought with you today…”

...

Thirty or forty minutes later.

Chen Yu was holding his backpack and carrying his suitcase as he walked with his homeroom teacher out of No. 2 Middle School’s gates.

“See.” Chen Yu patted his suitcase and said, “I already told you that I’m someone who must sleep on a bed. Since you don’t let me sleep on the bed, I’ll go home and sleep.”

The homeroom teacher couldn’t bring himself to laugh. Instead, he said, “Do you need me to call your family to explain?

“No need.”

“The chickens will come home to roost; just as you reap what you sow. You should also do some self-reflection.”

“I know. Why did I have to smoke, right?” Chen Yu put down his suitcase, pulled a pack of Red Pagoda Mountain cigarettes out of his pocket, and offered one to the homeroom teacher. “Want one?”

“… still dare to smoke? You really learned nothing at all from this lesson, did you?!” The homeroom teacher cursed and swore as he scolded, then he snatched the cigarette away from Chen Yu and said, “Expelling you was really the right thing to do! You deserve it!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Why are you still standing there? Light this up for me!”

“Ah? Oh!”

Chen Yu hurriedly took out his Red Spider and “rubbed” the stick to ignite it. Then, he used the jet of flame to light the cigarette.

“Bang!”

The firecracker exploded.

Dumbfounded, the homeroom teacher came back to his senses and said, “You… you use this to light your cigarettes?”

“Yup.” Chen Yu ignited another firecracker stick and lit a cigarette for himself. Then he asked, “Any problem with that?”

“No.” The homeroom teacher exhaled a mouthful of smoke and narrowed his eyes. “You are a genius,” he said.

Chen Yu also exhaled a mouthful of cigarette smoke, squinted, and said, “You are a good person.”

The homeroom teacher: “…” (speechless)

“In all seriousness, you really are a good person, and also a good teacher. It’s just that I’m not a good student.”

“So, it turns out your mouth is still capable of saying good things.”

“The changes in this world are always beyond what we expect. We can never predict what will happen in the future.” Chen Yu picked up his suitcase, and without even looking back, he left after saying, “On the day of the college entrance examination, I will be waiting for you on the other side.”

Amidst the streets crowded with people and roads heavy with traffic...

Chen Yu’s figure slowly got lost in all the hustle and bustle.

The homeroom teacher pinched his cigarette butt and forcefully inhaled a big mouthful of smoke.

“Huff…”

“The view of his back.”

“So d*mn dashing…”