Chapter 52.1

Editor: SimoB

The situation was extremely embarrassing.

The parents were even more uncomfortable. One turned to ask their son, “What’s going on? Didn’t you tell me he fights all the time?”

They only came because they thought some bad students were bullying their children. They even self-righteously chased them to the rooftop.

They were expecting to see a group of students maliciously beating other students up. They even had their phones ready to record.

However, what greeted them was this harmonious scene.

What were they supposed to do now?

Their delinquent sons were also at a loss.

They knew exactly what kind of person Shi Qing was. He had always been unbearably arrogant and out of control.

To put it nicely, he was the leader of a specific clique.

To be more blunt, he collected bad students like they were pokemon.

He lured them with his money or threatened them with his fists. Nothing was off-limits to him.

Because their own group didn’t fall in line behind him, Shi Qing often brought some lackeys to teach them a lesson when they cornered students and robbed them.

They managed to hold on until this guy had left to make a bigger name for himself at another school.

But what did they see?

Shi Qing was actually studying.

This was as unbelievable as aliens invading Earth, as Mars colliding with Saturn, and the big bad wolf falling in love with a little white rabbit.

The parents became anxious when they didn’t receive an answer, “Why aren’t you guys saying anything?”

The leader delinquent: “W-we don’t know what’s going on either…”

In the end, it was the homeroom teacher who broke the silence, coughing awkwardly after managing to squeeze through the crowd. He straightened his tie, which had migrated to his back as he was running over here.

“Um. Hey Shi Qing, what are you guys doing? Studying?”

“What else could we be doing.”

The good-looking school bully quirked an eyebrow and shook the book he was holding, “Or do you think we came here to eat books?”

“How can you talk to your teacher like that?!” his homeroom teacher exclaimed. Zhuo Junli immediately pulled himself in front of Shi Qing.

The youth was as gentle and well-behaved as ever: “Don’t be angry, teacher. Shi Qing’s just scared because all of you suddenly barged in here by kicking down the door.”

Scared…

The homeroom teacher stared at Shi Qing’s ‘Laozi’s the best’ expression before turning to the completely straight-faced Zhuo Junli.

This kid’s so timid he thinks everyone else is timid too.

He had another coughing fit. “What kind of learning is this? Are you teaching them?”

“Yeah.”

The top student warmly turned to look at Shi Qing.

“Shi Qing and the others were worried that they wouldn’t be able to get into college with their current grades. They also knew that my family isn’t well off, so they offered me a job as their tutor.”

“Other students were using the classrooms, and we’re a pretty big group, so we decided to come to the rooftop.”

As he rushed here, the homeroom teacher imagined the many ways this situation could play out, but not one of them was anything like what was happening now.

He coughed dryly. His throat was dying on him.

His voice was hoarse. “G-good. Very good. Your teacher is very happy that all of you are taking your education so seriously.”

The other teacher looked at Shi Qing’s group, the faintly smiling Zhuo Junli and the originally incensed parents that were now all silently deflating like leaky balloons. The teacher stepped forward.

“Please don’t be alarmed. This kind of learning environment is very common at our school. Bad students don’t need to be micromanaged by their teachers. They look for opportunities to improve on their own.”

Then he pointed to Zhuo Junli. “See? They brought the number one student in their year to help them. Not only are they improving his life, they are also improving their own grades. How commendable!”

To sum it up: our school’s students are beyond impressive!

You wanted to find fault with our students, right?

Look at the books in their hands! Look at the words on the little chalkboard! Where is the problem? Huh?!

After seeing such a harmonious picture of ‘friendly communication and education’, the questioning parents and the pacifying teachers had their roles reversed.

Now the parents were guilty and the teachers were righteous.

“Could there be some kind of misunderstanding? Shi Qing might have poor grades, but he…um…”

The teacher wasn’t too familiar with Shi Qing either. Although he had heard about his powerful background and his group of lackeys and his rudeness to teachers…

…He’s only heard bad things about this kid. As for Shi Qing’s merits…he has no idea.

Unable to say anymore, he immediately looked to the homeroom teacher at his side.

No matter what, he was Shi Qing’s homeroom teacher. He had to have a better understanding of his student, right?

The homeroom teacher: “……”

“…But he’s very sociable and enjoys being around and helping his classmates.”

He especially liked strutting into the cafeteria and cutting in line.

“He also never brings his phone to class to secretly play with unlike some students.”

After all, he didn’t try to hide that he was on his phone in the slightest.

“He’s eager to help other students with carrying water and such.”

It went unsaid that he only did so while ‘courting’ Tong Xinyu, and that it was one of his lackeys who carried the water for her on his behalf.

“And he’s also very…um…very…”

The homeroom teacher was all out of ideas.

Zhuo Junli very naturally picked up the torch, “He has a strong sense of justice. He was the one who saved me when I was robbed before.”

Then the top student glanced behind his homeroom teacher. His eyes lit up as he pointed, “Teacher, they’re the ones who robbed me!”

All eyes quickly fell upon the delinquents, who had come to tattle.

The delinquents: “…”

Under the dangerous gazes of their parents, small beads of sweat began to gather on their foreheads.

“That’s a lie! Mom, Dad, listen to me. We really didn’t rob him. He set us up! Really! He walked past us, then the money fell out, and then I went to pick it up, and then…”

Zhuo Junli added slowly, “They also robbed Tong Xinyu. Shi Qing rescued her as well.”

The delinquents: “……”

That one really happened…

Their leader tried to salvage the situation one last time. “Although that really happened, this guy’s lying about the other one!”

“He’s clearly trying to screw us over with Shi Qing! This is entrapment!”

Shi Qing grinned widely as he stepped forward with a hand on Zhuo Junli’s shoulder. He lazily leaned on the youth while looking at these people with a raised eyebrow.

“I have to say, you guys have been bullying younger students and extorting money from them after school, since before I transferred. Everyone knows about it. If I didn’t stop you all, you would probably have been expelled already.”

“I didn’t think you guys would fall into old habits after I left. You even tried to smear my reputation after I stopped you again. How shameless.”

“That’s right.” Zhuo Junli also frowned. He appeared as though he was trying to remain polite despite his disgust. “That $500 was from my part time job. How shameless do you guys have to be to snatch that money?”

“Yeah.” Shi Qing played along and even rubbed his elbow. “My whole body aches from the fight yesterday. Especially my elbow.”

The thugs who were like sitting ducks the entire time yesterday: “…”

They were already shocked beyond words.

How shameless were these two?!!

“Liars! Mom, don’t look at me like that! I really didn’t rob this guy!!”

Shi Qing continued to lazily lean on Zhuo Junli.

“Whether you did or not will become clear if someone goes to their school and asks for their disciplinary record. I could keep them in check before my transfer so they behaved themselves, but now they must be the same as before.”

“And just to make it clear. You guys are old enough that if I call the police on you for robbery, you’ll go to juvie or at least to jail for a few days.”

The parents’ harsh gaze towards their sons intensified.

They knew their children were troublemakers.

Plus the school they were in was notoriously messy, so it was quite possible that they didn’t learn well. But they had always thought that their children would only have bad grades or something.

It hadn’t really occurred to them that they had reached the point of robbing people.

The delinquents looked at their parents with more sweat on their foreheads.

They were trembling with fear. “Mom…Dad…you guys don’t really believe his bullshit, do you?!”

“We really didn’t rob that guy! It was Shi Qing! He worked together with this guy to set a trap for us!”

“Tsk.”

The school bully looked disdainful. “I’m already tired enough from studying everyday. Who has time to play with you guys? Besides, accusing me is one thing, but Zhuo Junli? Everyone in our class knows that he’s always been a model student! He’s number one in our grade! You’re saying he set a trap for you? What a joke.”

Shi Qing’s lackeys chuckled at his comment.

“Did you watch too many TV shows?”

“I’m going to laugh to death from how ridiculous this is. He thinks he’s the emperor and everyone wants to assassinate him.”

“Even if our Shi-ge had a bone to pick with you, he would just beat you up. Who’s bored enough to set a trap for you? What’s the point of doing that?”

Cough cough cough cough “Quiet. All of you be quiet.”

Their homeroom teacher noticed their words becoming more and more outrageous, so he stopped them preemptively and turned to the parents, whose faces had grown unsightly.

“Ahem. So since we can’t settle this matter right now, why don’t you take your children back to their school and ask the teachers and classmates for more information. We can deal with this after we find out what happened.”

If they had heard these words before, these parents might’ve thought that Chang Yin High School was deliberately dragging their feet on this, but now…

They looked at Zhuo Junli.

He was white and clean, handsome but weak. He also looked very confident, speaking neither fast nor slow, yet remaining polite and clear. He looked at them without any hesitation.

This was, by all accounts, a good student who wouldn’t lie.

They looked at their own sons again.

Their faces were bruised, their bodies were dirty, their posture was slumped and there were even drawings made with ballpoint pens on their school uniforms.

They looked like uneducated and scummy scumbags.

The parents looked at Zhuo Junli, then at their children.

They looked at their children, and then at Zhuo Junli.

The delinquents gradually began to realize that something was wrong as their parents’ gaze grew increasingly disgusted with every swivel of their heads.

“Mom! Dad! Things really aren’t like what you’re thinking!”

Shi Qing: “Their school isn’t far from here. Just go check and everything will become crystal clear.”

The delinquents: “……”

Shi Qing: “If they really are innocent, they should be fine, right?”

The delinquents: “………”

Shi Qing: “It’s not like we can run from here, so why don’t you come back when you figure things out.”

The parents were convinced.

Their faces were green and blue as they dragged their not-so-innocent children down the stairs, after saying goodbye to the teachers, all while their sons continued to protest their innocence.

That left a group of delinquents holding books on the rooftop, facing off against the teachers who had criticized them countless times in the past.