Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 343: Chapter 333: The Mysterious Principal

Tang Mo followed behind Teacher Chen. In the apocalypse she had lived through, people like the principal were all too common.

Or perhaps, it was those who *weren’t* like the principal who were abnormal. Tang Mo didn’t share the students’ cynical outrage at all. On the contrary, she felt this was the norm.

People would naturally do anything just to survive.

”Teacher Chen, can I see the principal?”

It didn’t matter what kind of person the principal was. He understood architecture, which made him useful to Tang Mo.

She wasn’t afraid the principal would refuse her. After all, everyone’s situation was clear, and besides, the principal was someone who ”cherished his own life” so dearly. She was confident she had enough leverage.

After all, the opened supply packages down in the canyon all had her name—Tang Mo—written on them.

After the other students had dispersed, Tang Mo spoke to Teacher Chen.

Teacher Chen knew what Qiao Jin wanted to do, but the principal had previously said...

”Teacher Chen, can you help me ask the principal? Just tell him I have something he wants.”

Tang Mo didn’t want to make things difficult for Teacher Chen. She just needed her to pass on a message. Tang Mo was confident the principal would see her.

”Okay.” Since it was just a matter of asking the principal, Teacher Chen naturally agreed.

She relayed Tang Mo’s words to the director, who was the teacher responsible for bringing the principal his meals every day. She was a plain-looking woman in her forties.

This director’s surname was Yan. Like all deans of discipline, she was a teacher with an expressionless face that made her look fierce.

However, in Xiao Jin’s memories, her impression of this Teacher Yan seemed to be very good.

After hearing what Teacher Chen said, Director Yan knocked three times before pushing the door open to find the principal.

Tang Mo didn’t wait outside for long. Soon, Director Yan came out and told Tang Mo to enter the principal’s room.

The principal’s room, in both size and layout, was identical to Teacher Chen’s. For a principal, it seemed exceptionally small. This was Tang Mo’s first impression.

There was another chair in front of the desk. At this moment, the principal was sitting in it, watching Tang Mo with a gentle smile.

”Qiao Jin.” The principal called out the name of the body’s original owner, his voice gentle and kind.

Contrary to what Tang Mo had imagined, the principal wasn’t a shrewd-looking middle-aged man. Instead, he was a hale and hearty old man, at least sixty-five years old, with graying hair and a neat tunic suit. The sheer aura of righteousness he exuded almost startled Tang Mo.

If it weren’t for the covered plates and bowls on the table, Tang Mo might have thought this old man, who looked like he had the word ”integrity” written all over him, was different from what she’d imagined.

”You know me?”

Judging by the old man’s tone, he clearly knew Qiao Jin.

”Your grandfather and I were old acquaintances. Otherwise, your father would never have felt at ease sending you to school here. What is it? Did you need something from me?”

’So they were old acquaintances.’ No wonder. No wonder Qiao Jin’s father would still feel at ease sending her to this prestigious school after what had happened.

The principal didn’t refer to himself as ”Principal,” but rather as ”Grandpa.” This felt a little strange to Tang Mo.

This sense of familiarity didn’t seem feigned, but Tang Mo, possessing Qiao Jin’s memories, couldn’t believe that someone from a family like Qiao Jin’s would have a grandfather who was friends with a person like this.

’Could it be?’

An idea formed in Tang Mo’s mind. Acting on it immediately, she made a bold move.

She swiftly lifted the lids off every covered plate on the table.

Empty...

Just as she’d thought.

All the plates were empty. Only the bowl in the middle contained a single baked potato, so dark and charred that it killed any hint of an appetite.

A meal like this was completely unappetizing, much worse than what the students were eating.

But, ”Why?”

Tang Mo couldn’t understand.

Everyone was trapped here, and no one would dare defy the principal’s orders. He could have been living the most comfortable life of anyone. Why would he do this...

The principal’s actions were something Tang Mo, who had long grown accustomed to life in the apocalypse, couldn’t quite wrap her head around.

”You are all still children who need to grow. Just leave the outside matters to the adults. You don’t need to worry too much.”

Seeing Tang Mo lift the lids, the principal wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he took out the potato, broke it in two, and handed one half to her.

Tang Mo subconsciously reached out and took the half-potato.

’So that’s how it is...’

’So the principal’s grand-looking meals every time were just an act.’

’The purpose of the act was just to put everyone at ease.’

’If the principal can still eat so well, then at least our food won’t run out. At least we won’t starve to death.’

Having that constant reassurance would put people at ease, helping them endure through days like these.

The principal didn’t care what those children thought of him. He was just trying to find a way, any way, to keep them alive.

”Go on, eat. Potatoes aren’t as good when they get cold.”

The principal seemed to have no stress at all. He happily ate his remaining half of the potato, even urging Tang Mo to eat quickly.

Watching the kind old man squint his eyes, savoring his ”feast,” Tang Mo’s eyes suddenly grew moist.

’What are you crying for? Hold it back.’

Tang Mo cursed herself internally as she wiped away her tears.

But she couldn’t control it. Half of it was the residual emotion Qiao Jin had left in this body. Qiao Jin had been very close with her grandfather since she was little, and he used to feed her just like this when she was a child.

Unfortunately, the year Qiao Jin was kidnapped, her grandfather passed away from a sudden cardiovascular event, brought on by excessive worry.

When Qiao Jin finally made it home, all that awaited her was a funeral tent. This was one of the direct causes for the drastic change in her personality.

If those kidnappers hadn’t been successfully caught and heavily sentenced in the end, killing them herself would probably have been Xiao Jin’s most important wish.

Tang Mo’s tears flowed faster the more she wiped, impossible to dry.

She stubbornly refused to admit that some of these tears were because she was moved.

’I must be sick,’ Tang Mo thought. She had never been the type to be moved by such trivial things.

But now, she couldn’t control it at all. It was a physiological reaction, and she had no idea what was wrong with her.

”Xiao Jin, why are you crying? Don’t cry. Rest assured, someone will come and rescue us.”

Seeing Qiao Jin cry, the principal was suddenly at a loss. ’This child must be anxious from being trapped here for so long, unable to get out.’

Since they’d been trapped, the principal had almost never left his room in order to keep up the act, so naturally, he had no idea how Qiao Jin had been living outside.

If the principal had known, he surely wouldn’t have let Qiao Jin die by the stream.