Chapter 33: The Unreachable Cold God (8)
Huo Qingping, Huo Xian’s father, had only been to Huo Xian’s school for parent-teacher meetings. He was quite surprised to be summoned to the school today, but also a little curious. After all, his child had always been well-behaved, and he’d never experienced being called to school.
Of course, whether being called to school was embarrassing was another matter.
When Huo Qingping arrived at the Disciplinary Office, Huo Xian was working on math problems, having substituted a test paper for the apology letter requested by Vice Principal Chou. Huo Xian didn’t believe he was in the wrong, and had Huo Yuan find him some problems to solve instead. This angered Vice Principal Chou, who had just returned from the infirmary, enough that he tried to tear up the paper.
Huo Xian pressed his hand on the paper, preventing him from succeeding.
“You little brat, I’ll…” Vice Principal Chou’s eyes flashed with ferocity and he sputtered angrily. He stopped mid-sentence, sensing someone behind him. As a vice principal, he had to maintain his composure in front of others.
Clearing his throat and adjusting his clothes, Vice Principal Chou turned around only to hear Huo Xian call out, “Dad.”
Huo Xian’s parent?
Vice Principal Chou was just about to put on his vice principal demeanor, when he saw a familiar face, he widened his eyes, pointing at him, “Huo… Huo… Huo Qingping??”
Seeing Vice Principal Chou’s face, Huo Qingping raised an eyebrow, a hint of a smirk appearing on his stern face. “Oh, it’s you, Chou Qingping?”
Huo Xian: ???
The same name?
Vice Principal Chou’s round face instantly turned the color of pig liver. His initial confidence evaporated, and he showed a subtle fear when meeting Huo Qingping’s gaze, which amazed Huo Xian.
Huo Qingping ignored Vice Principal Chou. When he passed him, Vice Principal Chou even stepped aside, seemingly afraid of facing Huo Qingping.
“Huo Xian, you didn’t explain clearly on the phone. Now, tell me exactly what happened that made me have to come here.” Huo Qingping’s voice was as stern as ever, but Huo Xian could hear the underlying support. He glanced at Vice Principal Chou and calmly added, “After all, you’ve always put your mother and me at ease. This is the first time you’ve been called to school.”
Huo Xian saw Vice Principal Chou’s body stiffen, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
There’s definitely a story here.
Huo Xian suppressed his curiosity and concisely explained what had happened. As he recounted the events without exaggeration, Vice Principal Chou sweated more and more profusely. Even with the air conditioning in the office, he was soon drenched in sweat.
“Expel you?” When Huo Qingping heard Huo Xian mention “expulsion,” his gaze towards Vice Principal Chou turned icy.
Seeing this, Vice Principal Chou knew he couldn’t continue, waving his hands hastily, “Misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding. No one wants to expel Huo Xian. Such an excellent student is a great honor for our school.”
“Vice Principal Chou, you personally said you wanted to expel me.” Huo Xian interjected.
“When? Who said that?” Vice Principal Chou denied it outright.
Huo Xian subtly curled his lips, took out his phone from his pocket, made a few simple operations, placed it on the table, and said coldly, “I have a recording. Listen to it yourself.”
He had been cautious since entering the Disciplinary Office. While recording wasn’t exactly aboveboard, he felt it was a good way to protect himself from harm.
As soon as the recording started, Vice Principal Chou heard himself unfairly blaming Huo Xian. He didn’t have time to think further and wanted to destroy the recording.
However, he showed unexpected speed for a man of his size, but Huo Xian was still faster at grabbing the phone. For a moment, he was off guard and bumped straight into the corner of the table, gasping in pain.
Huo Qingping took the phone from Huo Xian, sneering, “Chou Qingping, I thought you had truly repented when you were dismissed by Professor Liu. I didn’t expect to see you again today, unchanged, even worse. A greedy, sycophantic person like you has no qualifications to be the vice principal of the school’s Disciplinary Committee!”
Seeing Vice Principal Chou clench his fists, Huo Xian became wary, ready to protect his father in case he attacked.
However, he had overestimated Vice Principal Chou. After a silent standoff, Vice Principal Chou unclenched his fists, forced a smile, and softened his tone, admitting his mistake: “It’s my fault. I didn’t know Huo Xian was your son…”
“If it weren’t my son who was pranked, would you have acted so arrogantly?” Huo Qingping asked sharply.
Vice Principal Chou’s face froze for a moment, but he remained composed. He sighed, a little helplessly, “Huo Qingping, for the sake of our being old classmates and former colleagues, let’s just pretend this didn’t happen, okay? I didn’t want to target a student, nor did I want to deliberately please anyone. It’s just that the Mei family, whom Huo Xian offended this time, isn’t an ordinary family. You can check if you don’t believe me.”
Huo Qingping almost laughed at his hypocrisy. He was the one who called for a parent meeting, and he changed his tune after seeing that Huo Xian’s father was Huo Qingping. When he saw his determined attitude, he tried to appeal to emotions and even mentioned the other student’s parents… truly shameless.
“Huo Xian, haven’t your morning classes ended yet?” Huo Qingping asked Huo Xian.
Huo Xian nodded. Haida University wasn’t far from their school, a fifteen-minute drive if traffic was light. His morning classes were still in session.
“Go back to class. I’ll go find the principal,” Huo Qingping said.
As soon as he spoke, Vice Principal Chou became visibly panicked, “Huo Qingping, making a big fuss about this won’t benefit Huo Xian.”
Huo Qingping ignored him and gave Huo Xian a nod.
Huo Xian wasn’t comfortable leaving his father alone with Vice Principal Chou and said, “Dad, I’ll go with you to see the principal.”
Even reputable schools have their share of corrupt individuals, and Vice Principal Chou wasn’t the first to “abuses his power.” He had always been discreet in the past, and although the school leaders had heard rumors, there was no evidence. He also had some connections, and his private actions weren’t too egregious, so no one had really bothered with him.
Perhaps the school leaders’ tolerance fueled Vice Principal Chou’s ambition, and his actions became increasingly blatant, until today, when he finally met his match.
…
The school’s response was swift, but the school, including the principal, had no authority to discipline teachers, even those who violated professional ethics. The matter needed to be reported to the education administrative department, then go through the follow-up procedures.
Regardless of the outcome for Vice Principal Chou, Huo Xian returned to his classes in the afternoon.
He Wenqu tried not to pay too much attention, but he kept glancing at Huo Xian during class. He tried to act nonchalant and walked away.
Finally, he complained to Yu Zi’an during dinner.
“I think Huo Xian is toxic, no, he seems to have put a spell on me. If he weren’t male, I would suspect I fell in love with him at first sight.” He Wenqu poked at his food, his usually large appetite completely gone.
Yu Zi’an’s grip on his chopsticks tightened. He didn’t speak, just lowered his eyelids and ate, but the food tasted like wax.
“I’m finished.” Soon, he put down his chopsticks, looking at He Wenqu, “I have a lot of homework today, I’ll go back to the classroom.”
Before He Wenqu could react, Yu Zi’an had already walked past him with his tray. When He Wenqu reacted, he could only say, “There isn’t much homework today, is there…?”
Classes 9 and 10 had the same teachers for all subjects; hence, the homework was likely the same.
When Yu Zi’an passed the convenience store on his way back to the school building, he saw Huo Xian coming out, holding a bottle of mineral water and a chocolate bar. Yes, a chocolate bar—a snack that is completely incongruous with a cold god.
Sensing his gaze, Huo Xian paused for a moment, then calmly put the chocolate in his pocket.
The original owner liked sweets—chocolate, cakes, etc. He liked them because they were sweet, and because sweets could replenish his brain’s sugar supply, which was constantly depleted, helping him focus better on his studies.
Huo Xian didn’t have much of a preference for sweets, but this body depleted its sugar reserves too quickly, and he would feel tired without timely replenishment.
He considered himself barely an acquaintance of Yu Zi’an. It was fine if they didn’t make eye contact, and a polite nod was acceptable if they did.
“Huo Xian.” After politely nodding, as he walked past Yu Zi’an, he heard Yu Zi’an call him.
Huo Xian stopped and turned his head, “?”
After briefly making eye contact, Yu Zi’an shifted uncomfortably, his hands clenching his clothes. His voice was dry: “I heard from Wenqu that you were pranked by a classmate with a snake. Are… are you okay?”
“I’m fine, thank you.” Huo Xian was a little surprised by his concern.
After expressing his concern, Yu Zi’an fell silent again.
Huo Xian waited for half a minute, and seeing that he didn’t seem to have anything else to say, he asked, “Anything else?”
Yu Zi’an opened his mouth. He really wanted to ask Huo Xian what was wrong with He Wenqu that made him dislike him so much. He Wenqu was so concerned about him and thought of him, but not only did he not appreciate it, he actually disliked He Wenqu’s interference… But the words stopped at his lips. What position did he have, what right did he have to interfere? Even if he asked, He Wenqu wouldn’t appreciate it, but would instead blame him for meddling in front of Huo Xian?
He’d been through this once, hadn’t he?
Taking a deep breath, Yu Zi’an changed the subject, “This is it, Huo Xian. Can I ask you what extracurricular tutoring you do besides school? Tutoring classes or books are fine.”
Huo Xian shook his head, “I’m in my first year of high school, the courses are heavy, so I’m not considering extracurricular tutoring for now.”
“Is that so…” Yu Zi’an nodded thoughtfully, “Thank you, sorry for taking up your time.”
After they parted, Huo Xian called out to Huo Yuan: [Huo Yuan.]
[Huo Xian, I’m here.] Huo Yuan immediately responded.
Huo Xian asked: [How will the system on Yu Zi’an urge him to study? Is there an alternate space that slows down the flow of time?]
His guess was a bit far-fetched, but Huo Yuan’s answer was affirmative. Huo Yuan said, [Mechanical life forms are a type of life form formed under special circumstances in the universe. They have unique energy fields. The agency hasn’t studied these weaker mechanical life forms in detail, but there are records that they can transform their energy fields into an independent space, with time controlled by the mechanical life form.]
[So powerful?] Huo Xian was surprised.
Hearing the praise, Huo Yuan was dissatisfied: [That’s nothing, I can do it too, Huo Xian. Want to try?]
[No…] Huo Xian quickly stopped him, [You’ll deduct points now if you use your abilities. If it goes below -4000, another task world will be added. Wait until I complete some task worlds to get you some points, then you can show me.]
Thinking of his pitiful negative points, Huo Yuan wilted: [Okay…]
Huo Xian thought: I’m waiting for you to materialize so I can touch your hair. I can’t let you squander points anymore.
Author’s Note: Yuan Yuan: I’m not even as good as a rogue system [ashamed.jpg]
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Thanks to the little fairies “Pixiu ah” for watering the nutrient solution +5, “Si Wu” +1, and “Not Sweet Don’t Want” +10. Love you, muah =3=