Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 314: Chapter 296: Deciding to Study Hard

In the past few days, Qin Liang hadn’t bothered Luo Qianqian anymore. He washed the tools himself, carefully hid them away, and then looked at the three boxes of books delivered this morning. One box belonged to Ye Liang, and two boxes belonged to his sister.

”It seems we can finally have a good discussion about the ’big sphinx’ issue,” Qin Liang mused as he eyed the assortment of books in the boxes, squinting with a smile like a little fox.

The other person in the office, Wei Guang, shuddered at the sight of Qin Liang, and asked blankly, ”Boss, she’s underage. She’s underage, and besides my sister, there’s another adult you can pursue, and it’s not that far from the town...”

”What are you thinking about?” Qin Liang frowned, ”I haven’t used my hands in a long time. They’re a bit itchy. Come on, let’s have a fight.”

Wei Guang wished he could go back a minute in time; he would definitely keep his mouth shut. This person hadn’t used his hands in a long time? Who was it that beat Zhang Jin until he was too weak to stand and had to be carried back yesterday?

”Boss, I have to lead the team this afternoon. How about I get Little One to come over during the lunch break?” Wei Guang, adhering to the principle of absolutely not causing trouble and firm in his resolve never to clash with Qin Liang, had been living quite well here for two years on the principle of avoiding conflict whenever possible.

”No need, I’ll go by myself.” Qin Liang squinted his eyes. That puffed-up kitten had wronged him horribly; if he didn’t sort this out properly, could he still call himself the Great Demon King around here?

Luo Qianqian leisurely finished her meal, washed her lunchbox clean, and thought about how she absolutely must elevate her legs when she slept tonight. Suddenly she felt the air around her grow colder. She shrank her neck and shook the water off her lunchbox. Turning around, she saw Qin Liang radiating an aura of chilliness.

Her expression darkening, she circled around Qin Liang, intending to leave, only to hear his icy voice drift over, ”Come to the office.”

Just as she was about to refuse, she saw Qin Liang already walking away with a plastic bag. What was inside the bag? It sure looked a lot like sweet potatoes?

After a moment of contemplation with her head down, she took her lunchbox to the office, declining Chang Xi’s offer to take the lunchbox back for her. After all, a lunchbox could be used as a weapon, couldn’t it?

As soon as she entered the office, Luo Qianqian was confused; what was with all these books?

”From now on, you’ll come here to study during the lunch break and after evening training,” Qin Liang said nonchalantly, disregarding Luo Qianqian’s surprised gaze. He was surprised by all these books too, okay?

”Hold on, wait, I have to learn this too?” Luo Qianqian said, lifting a copy of ”Basic Medicine” with black lines all over her face.

Qin Liang, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, ”Otherwise? There won’t always be someone around to help you. The best solution is to learn to help yourself.”

”I don’t think basic medicine is going to be on the college entrance exam,” Luo Qianqian said, frowning. She had a feeling he was grooming her into something... Didn’t he know that doctors can’t heal themselves?

”I don’t think the knowledge you learn for the college entrance exam will be applicable to real life,” Qin Liang retorted with a snort, ”Do your exercises; once you’re done, I’ll get them to buy more for you from over there.”

Luo Qianqian’s face was full of black lines, ”There’s so much I’m afraid I won’t finish it all. Are you a teacher? This is pressure, sheer pressure, and it’s going to crush me.”

”Speaking of which, don’t you owe me an explanation?” Qin Liang leaned on the desk in a cheeky manner, his smile devilish.

Luo Qianqian rolled her eyes, ”That gesture of yours has neither a deterrent nor an enticing effect. Have you been watching too many soap operas?”

Qin Liang was taken aback, then returned to normal, touching his nose and looking helpless, ”But you can’t go around telling people I’m a big swindler, and calling me ’big sphinx’ at that. Do you know how they’ve misunderstood me because of that?”

”Stop, that’s not you; you’re back to normal.” Luo Qianqian touched her arm, and sure enough, she could feel her hairs standing on end. That aggrieved tone — it couldn’t be the voice of Qin Liang, famously known as the Great Demon King, could it? Impossible. She must have heard wrong.

Watching Luo Qianqian shake her head incessantly, Qin Liang couldn’t help but cry and laugh at the same time, speaking coldly, ”Hurry up and do your exercises. If you don’t write, you won’t get to sleep until you finish this book today!”

Luo Qianqian was startled and nodded repeatedly, unceremoniously taking a seat and grabbing a new line of pens from the table to begin writing furiously. After a while, she paused and asked, ”Boss, did you buy arts or sciences?”

”...” Qin Liang froze, completely forgetting about that. As he rummaged through the three boxes, he was surprised to find that, except for the textbooks which were for both arts and sciences, all the exercises were for science subjects, even in different versions. He marveled at his sister’s thoroughness and said calmly, ”You’re an arts student? Then there are only textbooks for you; just make do with them.”

”That’s good.” Luo Qianqian heaved a sigh of relief. As long as there were sciences involved, she wouldn’t fall too far behind.

”By the way, do you also have to take the graduation exam before you can take the Gaokao?” Qin Liang paused, then continued to ask. He seemed to recall that this young lady was only in her first year of high school, right?

”You’re right.” Luo Qianqian was startled for a moment, then walked around to the other side of the desk to pick up the phone and dial. While dialing, she said, ”Boss, borrowing the phone for a sec.”

Qin Liang felt helpless. Even if he had said no, you’ve already made the call, haven’t you?

”Tang Chen, I am...” Looking at Qin Liang’s gaze, Luo Qianqian abruptly stopped what she was about to say.

”Tang Chen, it’s me.” Even if the name isn’t mentioned, the voice should be recognizable, right?

”Is this some kind of phone scam? Are you ’Old Wang’?” Tang Chen on the other end of the phone didn’t recognize the voice at all.

”You’re Old Wang. Is Xu Tianyi there?” Whether he was there or not, Tang Chen was the one who had to do it because he’s a bit older and more prudent.

Upon hearing the familiar name, Tang Chen paused, then quickly caught on: ”Luo Qianqian?”

”Yeah. Can you do me a favor?” Luo Qianqian curled the corners of her mouth, acknowledging his quick-wittedness.

On the other side, Qin Liang touched his nose. He was the boss here; he knew everything, okay?

”Go ahead, ready to serve till the end of my days...”

”You don’t need to ’die and then rest’; have my student records been transferred out? It should have just been a temporary transfer for study purposes, right? My records weren’t moved, were they?”

”Yeah, what’s up?”

”I need you to sign me up for the Gaokao this year. Pull out all the stops; it must be done.” Luo Qianqian paused, then added, ”Also, the graduation exam. Ask when it is for me when you can. I need to sit for it next year.”

Although Tang Chen was surprised, he wasn’t shocked. Instead, he muttered softly, ”What’s going on? Why is everyone in such a hurry to shoot for the stars?”

”What?” Luo Qianqian hadn’t heard clearly and asked anxiously.

Tang Chen waved his hands, even though Luo Qianqian on the other end of the phone couldn’t see him: ”I said, how can I get in touch with you? I’ve been unable to reach you by phone.”

Luo Qianqian pouted; she was well aware of that issue. Otherwise, she wouldn’t need to take a leave every Wednesday and go to town to make a call. The signal here was spotty, and it stressed her out, okay?

Watching Luo Qianqian’s look of silent complaint, Qin Liang pointed to the phone she was using, then wrote the number on the exam paper Luo Qianqian was working on.

Luo Qianqian was startled and quickly gave out the phone number: ”If you need to reach me, call this number and ask them to call me over. Just say you’re looking for ’Ye Meng’.” Luo Qianqian emphasized the name she was currently using, anxious not to be found out.

Qin Liang didn’t expose her, standing aside with an indifferent expression.

”Okay. Will you be able to come back then?”

”I’ll have to create an opportunity to come back even if there isn’t one. By the way, how’s my mom doing?” Since arriving here, she had never contacted home. On one hand, she found it hard to explain without feeling guilty; on the other hand, she feared her mom would continue to cry.

”Xiao Yu, Xiao Xue, and a few of your friends visit the store to check on your aunt on weekends. Chu Ci went to Provincial City; she left the day before yesterday. She said she’s keeping her current phone number and will wait for you to return.”