Chapter 668: Naturally, It’s for His Own Good (Not)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 668: Naturally, It’s for His Own Good (Not)
A new day began.
I wasn't in any hurry to confront those "parents" of mine.
Instead, I chose to first familiarize myself with the mission I had accepted before leaving school—the one where I’d be proctoring the College Entrance Exam.
The mission hadn't officially started yet; perhaps the required number of participants hadn't been met, or maybe the final deadline simply hadn't arrived.
Furthermore, I hadn't signed the mission contract yet.
Signing the contract was a trivial matter. I could just teleport back and sign it when the time came; after all, I had left a teleportation mark at the Academy, and I had one here as well.
The main reason I brought this mission to mind was to get a feel for the exam center arrangements. Although the College Entrance Exam was still over half a month away, the important logistics had been finalized months ago.
With my status as a Teaching Assistant and Sister Bai’s status as an official Mentor, the high-ranking officials of the school chosen as an exam center were more than willing to drop everything to welcome us personally—even if the Academy’s official notice regarding invigilation hadn't been sent out yet.
Most of these officials were graduates of Transcendent Academies themselves, so they understood exactly how much weight the titles of "Official Mentor" and "Teaching Assistant" carried.
Of course, important positions in the education sector weren't handed out to just any graduate. Competition was fierce, personal ability was highly valued, and one needed various certifications and to navigate complex bureaucratic processes.
Naturally, interpersonal relationships and background played a significant role as well.
When they first heard the report from the gatekeeper, they initially thought it was a joke.
However, jokes aside, they decided to go and check for themselves. After all, what if it was true?
To their surprise, reality turned out to be more surreal than any tall tale—they were actually being visited by a Mentor and a Teaching Assistant from the Academy!
Though such an occurrence was extremely rare, they were left utterly stunned once they personally verified our identities.
They had never experienced a scene like this before. In the past, even a Teaching Assistant rarely appeared at their school, and the presence of an official Mentor made the Teaching Assistant seem dim by comparison. This led them to wonder if something major had happened at the Academy.
As for whether they were panicking... of course they were. But it was mostly the kind of nervous agitation one felt when facing an official Mentor.
If a Teaching Assistant had come alone, they might have been afraid or anxious, everyone wondering if some past misdeed had come to light, fearing they were there to make an arrest.
Or perhaps someone had been secretly doing something strictly prohibited on the outside, like black-market trading of Transcendent materials.
But now that an official Mentor had arrived in person, they actually felt a sense of relief. There was no need for an official Mentor to show up just to arrest the likes of them.
When they learned that the Teaching Assistant was merely there to inspect the arrangements for the College Entrance Exam centers, they were still quite puzzled. However, since the purpose of the visit had been stated, they naturally adopted the appropriate attitude. The Principal immediately came forward to explain the various arrangements and procedures for the exam period.
As for whether they believed the two of us were actually there just to "understand the procedures"... well, they didn't believe it for a second.
Even if we acted like we truly didn't know anything.
After I finished learning about the procedures, they warmly invited me to observe the students' academic spirit. It was clear that everyone was working incredibly hard in the face of a life-altering event like the College Entrance Exam.
After touring this particular exam center, I suggested visiting a few other schools as well.
Since this place was a designated exam center, many student candidates would gather here when the time came. My first stop was the school closest to this one.
Naturally, no one objected to my suggestion. They even arranged a dedicated vehicle and accompanying staff to handle the trivialities of communicating with the other schools.
The school I suggested was the one Yang Yunhan attended—the very same school I used to attend.
However, my impression of this school wasn't exactly positive. How should I put it?
Including my deskmate Yao Beijuan, this school had failed to leave me with a single happy memory so far. That included the teachers and the homeroom teacher I’d had. I still remembered the "heavyweight" homeroom teacher they swapped in during my final year; she shared a surname with the Grade Dean, so their relationship went without saying. She taught Common Language, loved picking on people, and so on.
As for now... if it was convenient this time, I wouldn't mind causing them a bit of trouble. Although doing so was meaningless to the current me, not everything in life has to be meaningful to be worth doing.
With the help of this group, I entered the school smoothly.
Led by the Principal and others, I began my inspection.
I watched as we passed each classroom. Whenever a student turned their head to look out the window, the teacher would begin scolding them the moment I passed by.
The feeling... was quite subtle.
Once upon a time, I was the one being lectured that "leaders are inspecting outside the window," "don't look away," and "listen to the lecture attentively."
Now, all the students and teachers were putting on a show for me.
"The graduating classes start from this floor, right?" I asked as we reached a new level.
"Yes, yes. From this floor up are the seniors. The exam is approaching fast..." Hearing my question, the Principal beside me hurriedly began his explanation.
"They're quite diligent. How do you arrange the curriculum hours for these students?" I continued.
I was actually very familiar with the schedule for students at this stage. They had to be in class by 6:30 AM for Morning Meditation.
Morning Meditation was the meditation training in the morning, similar to a morning reading session. After all, meditation was one of the formal courses, and it rotated with Common Language morning readings.
The schedule they described was indeed similar to what I had experienced. The only difference was the "artistic" way they phrased it.
"There are also evening self-study sessions, so they must get out quite late, right? Is the school currently all-boarding?" I stopped right at the door of Class 4 and asked.
"Boarding is primarily voluntary, but the school recommends collective boarding. After all, this is a critical moment in their lives. We also have the teachers of each class communicate with every parent to strive for full boarding, so the students don't have to commute so much."
"Oh, so there are still day students? If they commute and live a bit far from school, they must have to wake up around five, right? Getting home so late after evening self-study, with so little sleep... doesn't that affect their grades?"
"That... that certainly has an impact. That's why I strongly discourage such behavior and offer my best advice. Currently, there aren't actually many day students in the school."
"How many is 'not many'? Is it in the single digits? Let's take this class as an example. How many day students are in this class?" I looked through the window into Class 4 and finally spotted a familiar figure in the front row. "This is a meditation class, right?"
"Yes, this class is indeed in meditation... As for the day students in this class... day students..." The person speaking provided a number after a nudge from the nearby Dean. "Just one. Class 4 is a bit of a special case. Actually, several of our classes have already achieved full boarding."
"A special case? Would you mind explaining what kind of special case? Does that day student have some special circumstances?" I asked relentlessly.
"This..." The Principal was momentarily at a loss for words and looked at the Grade Dean. Regarding the arrangements for these students, the Dean was the one who knew best.
"Um... I am the Grade Dean. I have some impression of this day student in Class 4. He is indeed a special case. His name is Yang Yunhan. He was originally considered a bit of a child prodigy; I heard he skipped grades to get here. However, he seems to be running out of steam lately. His grades are only at a middle-of-the-pack level..."
"Skipped grades? Tell me more."
"Yes. Actually, we've communicated with this student's parents, but they are incredibly stubborn. They said there are too many people in the dorms and it would affect the child's rest at night, and they even claimed the school cafeteria's breakfast isn't nutritious enough..."
"But parents like that are just holding the child back. Setting aside those bizarre reasons, they even use the fact that he skipped grades as capital to show off. A child's learning should be step-by-step; knowledge can't be achieved overnight. If he followed the normal age progression, he would have several more years before facing the College Entrance Exam. Perhaps if he had taken it slow, a child with his ability wouldn't be hovering at a mediocre grade level..."
After getting a general understanding of the situation, I finished my brief inspection.
After all, my main goal in coming here was to check on Yang Yunhan's status. And as expected... through the information gathered by the Ley Line Identification Art, he was also not the biological son of that couple.
Heh... how ridiculous. Three children, and none of them were theirs.
However, I did pick up another piece of news from this school: they had been proactively approached by people from the Holy Light Church.
Their target was also Yang Yunhan. It seemed they had the intention of recruiting him early for the Holy Angel Academy. However, after learning about his grades, they retracted their initial promise and said they would observe him further.
Furthermore, since this school was within the radiation zone of the Witch Academy, the Holy Light Church eventually let the matter drop.
In the end, I left only after trying the lunch there.
I have to say, the school's food was just as bad as I remembered—both expensive and disgusting.
After finishing the inspection of this school, I did a cursory tour of the next few schools to conclude the day's experience.
"Xiao Han... how do you plan to treat this... brother of yours in the future?" Sister Bai asked after we left the school.
"Hmm, I'll just let nature take its course..." I said.
In truth, I didn't have a good impression of this "brother" who shared no blood relation with me.
But at the end of the day, it was that family that had spoiled him.
Of course, that's not to say he himself bore no responsibility. To be honest, back when we lived together, this brother never surpassed me in any area except for relying on our parents.
So, he had actually always lived in my shadow. It was just that his cheap parents never noticed, simply assuming I was bullying him.
After all, my soul was that of someone who had lived two lives, with a fully developed worldview and set of values. Manipulating a little brat like him was effortless. Naturally, my "education" of him wasn't limited to simple bullying.
Actually, back then, I wouldn't have targeted him like that, but when he started imitating his cheap parents and targeting me, I stopped being polite. Crushing his spirit was the least I did.
Who could imagine a child not even ten years old pointing at his "older brother" and calling them a psycho?
Of course, most of it was him riding on the family's sense of superiority, mimicking his parents' tone and attitude to tell me to "get lost" and the like.
Even now, knowing he isn't my biological brother and that the parents aren't blood relatives either... facing such a "brother" in name, when a brother makes a mistake, I naturally have to "educate" him properly.
As for the suggestion of bringing him to the Witch Academy... I have to say, Teacher Lina's suggestion was quite outrageous.
I didn't know if he could accept living as a different gender, but it didn't matter. Compared to changing genders... he was more afraid of death.
Someone who grew up with a negative example like me for comparison would lose the privilege of being pampered by his parents once he lost that comparison and punching bag. He would even become the target of his parents' vented frustrations. Such a person, under the oppression of their parents, wouldn't even have the courage to commit suicide.
So, kidnapping him to the Witch Academy... was theoretically feasible and wouldn't face any unexpected hurdles.
Moreover, the Witch Academy wasn't bad at all. From my personal experience, I could say that the path of a Witch was the most advantageous for touching the Transcendent.
Of course, this wasn't about helping her. If she entered the Witch Academy, there would be far too many challenges and difficulties waiting for him—no, waiting for her.
Just the exposure of her name would cause a stir. Before long, once the connection was revealed, having a "sister" like me—a "sister" who wouldn't protect her—would be the greatest disaster of her life!
And I wouldn't need to do anything throughout the entire process. I only needed to bring him to the Witch Academy and reveal his identity; that would be the beginning of her agony.
The massive contrast and gap, the strange looks from classmates, and the "disappointed" words from the counselor would become the norm for her future Academy life. Every detail of life would turn into invisible needles, pricking her until she was in unbearable pain.
And her only way out would be to become stronger, to become excellent!
And it couldn't be just ordinary excellence!
Every success she achieved would be taken for granted, and every time she tripped, people would point and stare.
If she wanted to turn her life around... the difficulty of that went without saying.
"Sister Bai... what do you think if I kidnap this cheap brother of mine to the Witch Academy?"
"Kidnap him to the Witch Academy?" Sister Bai was stunned by my suggestion. "Is that even possible?"
"I don't know. But... Teacher Lina told me in a joking tone that she wouldn't mind the Academy having one more mediocre student."
"Well, that certainly is... haha..." Sister Bai couldn't help but laugh as she imagined the situation.
"So you're really planning to do it, Xiao Han... Have you thought about how much of a psychological shadow this will leave on him?"
"I have... but he grew up in a dysfunctional family. Only strong medicine can reshape his twisted values. There are so many senior sisters in the Witch Academy, and so many talents. They're witty and fun; I'm sure many of them would be willing to teach him how to be a proper person."
"So you're saying you're actually saving him? Repaying grievance with kindness?" Sister Bai's smile didn't fade, as if she felt it didn't really matter.
"Yeah, a cheap older sister as good as me is hard to find these days~" I said, eventually joining Sister Bai in laughter.
Perhaps I was also amused by my own shameless phrasing.
"Alright, alright... Xiao Han, since you've already made up your mind, let's talk about serious business..."
"Serious business... let's leave that for tomorrow. Tomorrow happens to be the weekend. I remember on weekends... they hired a strict tutor for that cheap brother of mine." I spoke, recalling the information from the Ley Line Identification Art.
"It's time to lay all the cards on the table. Thinking about it now... this was just a small matter, yet it trapped me for so long." I said, fiddling with the Fate Coin.
I wondered where this Choice of Fate would eventually be used... or would I never get the chance to use it?
"Then... Xiao Han, tomorrow, what image do you plan to use when you see them? Your old ma—"
"No, this is fine. If I hide and cover up... how can I call it laying my cards on the table?"