Chapter 443 - The First Song of Qin (16) (2/2)

Qin Ge guessed that the Vice Principal wanted to talk to him about something, so he nodded.

The Vice Principal talked about some unimportant stuff at first before getting to the point. “Xiao Qin ah, the students have been very adverse to your style of teaching as of late. You know our school encourages a more hands-off teaching method, so teachers don’t need to be so strict…”

Qin Ge’s frown deepened more and more.

“…I know you mean the best for them, but you’re still too young. These kids get more rebellious the sterner you are with them. I see you’ve been under a lot of pressure lately, so how about you take a break for some time?” The Vice Principal smiled and spoke.

But Qin Ge already understood. The Qin Family was pressuring the school. Had it been before, Qin Ge would’ve resigned without looking back.

But…

Qin Ge couldn’t help but think of a certain someone.

“Xiao Qin, the school doesn’t mean anything else by it, so don’t stress out. We just wanted you to have a rest.” The Vice Principal patted Qin Ge’s shoulder.

“Vice Principal, can you give me some time to consider?”

The Vice Principal sighed. He was the one who hired Qin Ge and had high expectations for the latter. What a shame…

Even the best of talents were useless in the face of money and power.

‘This kid Qin Ge is good in every way, save for his stubbornness.’

“Sure thing.” The Vice Principal shook his head and left.

The peach blossoms surrounding the pathway were in full bloom. When a slight breeze blew past, they rustled on their branches.

The pink petals danced in the wind, spinning in lazy circles as they fell onto the man’s shoulders and hair.

Qin Ge slowly held his face. His expression regained its coldness after he put his hands back down.

The school only gave him a week’s time. Qin Ge held classes as per usual, as if nothing had ever happened.

When he returned to his apartment, the security guard gave him an apologetic look. “Mr Qin, sorry… You can’t come in.”

Qin Ge didn’t ask him why. He didn’t have to. He already knew why.

Qin Xin was cornering him.

Qin Ge sat in a dark corner of a noisy bar, downing cup after cup of strong alcohol.

Lightly-dressed women occasionally cast looks in his direction, some of the bolder ones going so far as to scoot closer to him. But before they could even get close, they were scared off by his cold gaze.

Gradually, no one dared to approach him anymore.

……

The ear-splitting music and raucous crowd made one feel as if they’d entered another world.

“Chu-Chu, do you know what he told me?” Chen Xi had a bitter expression. “He said you’re a girl, so you’d be easily forgiven even if you did those things. But he’s ‘different’. If he does it, his future is ruined. Fuck that! Chu-Chu, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”

‘If I hadn’t gotten Chu-Chu involved in the first place, Chen Xiao wouldn’t have made her take the blame.’

“En. You misjudged him. Be smarter next time.” Shi Sheng poured more alcohol for Chen Xi. “Just take it as a lesson.”

Chen Xi downed the drinks like they were water. Shi Sheng didn’t stop him. All humans were rebellious—the more you tried to stop them doing something, the more they wanted to do it.

Chen Xiao’s family situation wasn’t too good.

Back then, he co-headed this project with another senior. But that senior left the country and tossed the project to Chen Xiao.

At first, Chen Xiao wanted to do a good job. He spent all his effort on it, even going so far as to delay his graduation.

But something that happened at home made it so that he urgently needed money.

There were still some funds leftover from last semester, but Chen Xi was the one in charge of them, so he couldn’t touch them. He could only set his sights on the project itself.

And someone needed to take the blame, so Chen Xiao picked Shi Sheng.

Chen Xiao had been under pressure at the time. His father owed a million in gambling debt. If Chen Xiao didn’t pay up soon, his mother and little sister would have been tormented to death by the debtors.

He’d only been thinking of how to come up with the money, so his IQ had gone into the negatives. Even if Shi Sheng had just called the police, the truth would’ve been revealed.

Shi Sheng accompanied Chen Xi. Suddenly, there was a hubbub in the already chaotic crowd.

Shi Sheng turned to see what the fuss was about, and her gaze suddenly paused.

[1] One of his reincarnations is called the Smiling Buddha (I think), so I guess you can see how this analogy came about? Though technically he’s not Maitreya since Maitreya is supposed to be the Future Buddha, but people get confused easily.