"Agh, I had no idea maintaining the defensive force field was this exhausting. Now I finally understand why Giu Wu keeps fainting." Qiao Xi yawned as she walked to school.
Soon, when she arrived at Ultima Class, that Director Jia Yong would probably show up to announce Teacher Tian Xin's resignation. She had better get to the classroom quickly.
Thinking this, she teleported right to the gates of Bali High School.
There she saw Ding Xiaoyu, who had also just arrived at school.
"Xiaoyu!"
Ding Xiaoyu turned his head to look at Qiao Xi as she ran toward him.
"Xiao Xi, morning."
"Morning! I didn't expect you to be late too."
"Yeah, because I was packing up my place until very late last night."
"True. After all, nobody's lived there in a long time. Hey, after school today, I can come help you clean up. That way it'll be a bit easier for you."
Ding Xiaoyu smiled and nodded, and the two of them walked together toward Ultima Class.
"Whoa, Xiao Xi, little sister, how come you walked to school with Ding Xiaoyu? Could the two of you be— Oh! Right now my heart feels like it's being chewed on by a thousand ants! Somebody save me!" Without even thinking, anyone could tell this frivolous and dramatic line came from Jin Baosan. Beside him, Dalaxie, Xiaola, and Axe panicked and steadied Jin Baosan as he tumbled backward.
Sha Jie strode over domineeringly and brought her hand down in a swift chop.
"Jin Baosan! Are your hands itching for a beating or what? You still dare to flirt with Xiao Xi—have you got a death wish? Don't you want your internal injuries to heal? Go back and sit down!"
Qiao Xi gave Sha Jie a thumbs-up.
Sha Jie shot her a look that clearly said: *Duh, nobody's allowed to bully you.*
Yet none of them noticed the suspicious blush creeping across Ding Xiaoyu's ears when Jin Baosan had spoken those words.
The entire class sat at their desks. About half an hour later, Director Jia Yong and Su Buqi arrived in full gear at Ultima Class to announce Teacher Tian Xin's resignation.
The students of Ultima Class all slammed their desks in fury.
"And here I thought she was different from other teachers!"
"Exactly, she kept telling us to take the college entrance exams—she was just playing us for fools!"
"Being late was one thing, but I never expected her to just quit now!"
Even Sha Jie, who usually acted all clingy and spoiled around Wang Dadong, got into a massive screaming match with Brother Dadong over this incident.
Seeing Sha Jie leave, Linda and Taozi grabbed their schoolbags and followed right behind her. The rest of the Ultima Class students—except for Qiao Xi, Xiaoyu, and Arthur—also left in anger.
Wang Dadong looked at the three people who had stayed behind. "You guys..." A look of deep emotion crossed his face.
Qiao Xi spoke up first. "Brother Dadong, did you see Sister Xinxin when you went to her house last night?"
Wang Dadong sighed, shook his head, and his face filled with worry. "I knocked on the Homeroom Teacher's door for ages last night and nobody answered. I waited downstairs for a long time, but you know I have a curfew at home, so I headed back before ten. This morning I asked the security guard, and he said Teacher Tian Xin never came back all night."
Just as expected.
"It might really be just like Xiao Xi and Xiaoyu said—something happened to the Homeroom Teacher."
Wang Arthur smiled and patted Wang Dadong on the shoulder. "Stop overthinking it. The most important thing for us right now is to find the Homeroom Teacher. I can use the power of the Tulong Gang to help look for her."
The four of them left the school and searched many places, even going to Tian Hongguang's grave—which they knew about from previous chats with Teacher Tian Xin—but found nothing.
Wang Dadong started sinking into his own world, letting his imagination run wild. Rainy-night sex fiends, subway flashers, alley thugs, under-bridge perverts—he conjured them all up. Qiao Xi couldn't help but complain internally:
*Do you think you're starring in some ultimate pervert movie? Besides, based on the original plotline, are things like that even in here? What's next—chainsaw murderers, mad scientists, dismemberment, autopsies? Haven't you watched way too many horror films?*
With great difficulty, she managed to pull Dadong back from his own imagination, and Qiao Xi suddenly remembered what had led them to Teacher Tian Xin in the first place.
"Brother Arthur, why don't you ask your men if any of them saw a woman being grabbed or kidnapped by someone last night?"
Wang Arthur nodded, pulled out his phone, and dialed one of his subordinates, telling them to ask the brothers who were out last night if they had seen anyone matching that description, and instructing them to dispatch more men to search for Teacher Tian Xin.
Qiao Xi looked at Wang Dadong sitting desolately and helplessly on the bench, and sighed.
"Brother Dadong, this is all I can do to help. I can't alter the plot I'm able to control too much, otherwise whatever butterfly effect follows won't be anything I can manage."
She patted Wang Dadong on the shoulder. "Brother Dadong, you're the boss of Ultima Class, the boss who's supposed to lead us. If you're this depressed, what are the rest of us supposed to do?"
Wang Dadong just stared blankly at Qiao Xi without a word.
She handed him a slightly chilled bottle of milk.
"Thanks, Xiao Xi. You were always like this when we were kids, always backing me up." Wang Dadong took the milk, took a sip, stood up, clenched his hand into a fist, and thrust it toward the sky. "Right! We have to rescue Teacher Tian Xin!"
Under the brilliant sunshine, Wang Dadong seemed enveloped in a layer of dazzling golden light. He held his head high, chest out, taking firm and powerful strides forward. His broad shoulders, upright posture, and resolute gaze all manifested his formidable inner strength and courage.
The sunlight poured over him, stretching his shadow long as though draping a sacred cloak across his shoulders.
From horror movie straight to passionate shonen manga aesthetic—Qiao Xi felt like there must be a giant blue sweatdrop hovering right above her head.
The three behind him exchanged glances, then tacitly ran in Wang Dadong's direction.
That evening, Qiao Xi went with Ding Xiaoyu to his apartment to help him clean up his room.
"Xiaoyu, it's getting late, and you haven't eaten yet, right? Why don't we go to the supermarket together and buy some groceries? It just so happens I can let you taste my cooking."
Ding Xiaoyu nodded, and they walked out of the apartment together.
At the supermarket.
She suddenly realized she had no idea if Xiaoyu had any dietary restrictions. "Xiaoyu, is there anything you don't eat?"
"I don't eat spicy food."
"Hmm... is omurice okay?"
"Yeah."
After picking out the ingredients for the omurice, she bought some fruit and milk, and took Ding Xiaoyu to the checkout counter.
Back at the apartment.
Ding Xiaoyu watched the figure bustling about in the kitchen, and suddenly got the feeling: *If things could just stay like this forever, how wonderful that would be.*
About half an hour later, Qiao Xi placed two plates of omurice and two glasses of mixed drinks on the dining table.
"Xiaoyu, hurry and taste this. Brother Arthur and the others haven't even tried my cooking yet." Qiao Xi looked at Ding Xiaoyu with expectant eyes.
He picked up his spoon, scooped a bite, put it in his mouth, and chewed twice. For some reason, the corners of Ding Xiaoyu's eyes grew a little red.
Qiao Xi looked at Ding Xiaoyu in a panic. "Xiaoyu, does it taste bad? Why are your eyes all red?"
Ding Xiaoyu sniffed, the corners of his lips curling up as he shook his head. "No, it's delicious. It's just... it reminded me of my mom. It tastes a lot like what my mom used to make when I was little."
She let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, I thought I messed it up. If it's good, eat up! If you ever want to eat it again in the future, just tell me. Oh, right, why don't you try the drink? I mixed it myself. Aside from fruit and milk, I added a special plant extract to it. It can really put you in a great mood, and it's super helpful for sleep, too. You spent the whole day looking for Sister Xinxin, and then you just cleaned the place, plus you have to practice the piano tonight—drinking this will really help."
Ding Xiaoyu looked at the girl in front of him who was so eager for praise, his eyes and brows full of smiles.
They enjoyed a very happy meal.
Downstairs by the apartment.
"Alrighty, Xiaoyu, I'm heading home first. See you at school tomorrow."
"Yeah." Ding Xiaoyu waved goodbye to Qiao Xi.
He turned and walked away.
On his way, whether by coincidence or just happening to pass by, he actually ended up near the Black Cat Bar. And as luck would have it, right at that moment, he saw the Drunkard being thrown out by Rex.
Qiao Xi was hiding in an alley across the street, secretly watching this scene, and bit her lip.
"After Sister Xinxin's affair is over, Rex is going to come back. I'm really scared that seeing that face, the exact same as Brother Yu's, will make me unable to bear exposing him. Oh well, let nature take its course."
Yet for some reason, Qiao Xi's feet began to walk toward the Black Cat Bar of their own accord.