Zhuang Hao stood silently to the side as Yi Chuxue spun in circles around him.
"Qi Shaorong is really a pervert. I never would've thought that the Qi family could raise this kind of person. He's so shameless, he actually dared to drug you. What a disgrace…" Yi Chuxue stood by Zhuang Hao's side, chattering endlessly about Qi Shaorong's shortcomings.
Zhuang Hao closed his eyes, thinking of how Qi Shaorong had pressed down on his body before, and how Qi Shaorong's hands had touched his chest. Such a scene was actually projected in front of all the spectators through the light beads. Zhuang Hao felt like his scalp was going to burst.
Zhuang Hao pursed his lips. He kept feeling like the gazes that the contestants around him were giving him didn't seem quite right.
"Qi Shaorong that guy, with just one look, you can tell that he's not right in the head. The Ghost Doctor is actually involved with this kind of person." Yi Chuxue said.
Zhuang Hao listened to Yi Chuxue's endless complaints, turned his head, and looked directly at her.
Yi Chuxue saw Zhuang Hao's gaze fall on her, and she felt a little embarrassed. "A-Hao, what is it?"
Zhuang Hao frowned and said coldly: "Your Second Brother's life and death is currently unknown, don't you care?"
Yi Chuxue's face turned red, "My father has already sent people to look for Second Brother. I think that he's probably just stuck in some place. Second Brother is very powerful, he should be fine."
Zhuang Hao doubtfully said: "Really?"
Yi Chuxue lowered her head and felt a little depressed in her heart. She secretly thought: Does Zhuang Hao think that she's too fickle and doesn't even care about her own brother?
"A-Hao, I…"
Zhuang Hao lowered his head and said, "If you have time to gossip with me, then you should go worry about your brother instead."
Zhuang Hao gritted his teeth. He was already tired enough, and Yi Chuxue, that inconsiderate woman, kept on making a ruckus beside him.
Yi Chuxue bit her lip and left feeling wronged.
Seeing that Yi Chuxue left, Qi Shaofu went to Zhuang Hao and said: "Zhuang Hao, are you okay? My fourth brother turned out to be such a person, really…"
He had always thought that Qi Shaorong was a poor guy. He felt that Qi Shaorong should have already been worn down and turned into a delicate Cuscuta flower due to his hard life [1]. As a result, Qi Shaorong smiled and revealed his true colours, and turned out to be a ferocious man-eating flower instead. It was really…
Zhuang Hao shook his head and said, "I'm fine."
"That's good." Qi Shaofu recalled the scene of Zhuang Hao being pressed down by Qi Shaorong and felt that the picture was really too beautiful to look at!
That scene should have been recorded by many people. No matter how successful Zhuang Hao is in the future, the dark history of being pressed down by his Fourth Brother will probably follow him for life.
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaofu and said: "What are you thinking about?"
Qi Shaofu shook his head and said: "Nothing."
Hu Feng looked over in Lu Ming's direction and said: "Lu Ming, that old guy, his complexion isn't looking too good! You two should go with the Principal to comfort him." [2]
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Yi Fan: "…"
Hu Feng led Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan to Lu Ming's side and proudly said: "Old Lu! I never would've thought that your university would only rank in second place this time! I don't know how many gamblers thought that you'd win for sure this time and bet heavily on you taking first place. What do you say, don't you think that you should feel sorry for them!"
Lu Ming smiled coldly and said: "Hu Feng, didn't your school only win first place because of luck? What are you acting all frivolous for."
Hu Feng smiled and said disapprovingly: "Winning is winning, no matter if there was a fluke or not. Lu Ming, out of the ten contestants from your school, only three were able to make it to the end! The Seven Imperial Talents were so good, were all taught into incompetent fools by you [3]! Just how did you become the principal?"[4]
Lu Ming looked towards Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan who were standing beside Hu Feng, and said, "You two students, your performance in the competition was very good this time! If the two of you ever plan on transferring to Shenghuang University, the doors of our school will always be open for the two of you."
Hu Feng: "… Lu Ming, you scumbag, stop acting as if I don't exist!"
Hu Feng and Lu Ming started quarreling. Qi Shaorong looked at Chen Yuan beside Lu Ming and greeted: "Young Chen, long time no see!"
Chen Yuan: "…"
Lu Ming stopped arguing with Hu Feng, looked at Chen Yuan, then looked at Qi Shaorong, and said, "Student Qi, is there a misunderstanding between you and Student Chen?!"
Qi Shaorong smoothed his hair and said, "Of course not! Young Chen, I kicked you out on the first day of the competition, I hope you don't mind!"
Chen Yuan smiled stiffly and said, "How could I? It's my skills that aren't as good as others, of course I'd have to accept the price of losing."
"Young Chen, I think that this time, you shouldn't be able to hold onto your seat with the Seven Imperial Talents. In fact, your skills were already so weak in the first place, but you're still one of the Seven Imperial Talents. Although you're only ranked last, you must have still felt like you're sitting on pins and needles [5]! The pressure must be great. This time, I kicked you out, so you should feel relieved! Don't you feel really grateful towards me?!" Qi Shaorong said.
Chen Yuan "…" Zhuang Hao, your ex-fiancée, his mouth is so poisonous, did you know that?
Zhuang Qian stood beside Chen Yuan, shrunk his neck, and looked at Qi Shaorong carefully.
"Congratulations to Young Fourth Qi here. I'm out of the rankings now, and Young Master Qi may have gotten onto the rankings." Chen Yuan's cheek twitched.
[T/n: They're talking about the rankings for the Seven Imperial Talents.]
Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "Really, you think I might be on the rankings? Although I don't care much for this title, being a part of the Seven Imperial Talents does sound very prestigious. If I really must accept it, then I suppose I'll just have to. I heard that once you enter the rankings, it'll be much easier to get a girl!"
Chen Yuan: "…"
"Young Master Chen, now that you've been removed from the rankings, it'll be a lot harder for you to find a wife. It was already hard enough for you before, but now it'll be even harder! What do! Thinking about it really worries me!" Qi Shaorong said with a long sigh.
"Young Master Qi need not feel troubled by this." Chen Yuan blushed and thought: Qi Shaorong this guy, he made it seem like there wasn't anyone who wanted him.
"How can I not be worried? Although your strength is relatively poor, if it weren't for me kicking you off, then you'd still be hanging out on the rankings. Here's a good idea, what if I go meet up with the Ghost Doctor, and ask him to give priority in arranging a cosmetic surgery for you? You see, your eyes aren't big enough, your nose isn't strong enough, and your mouth is flat, all of them need reshaping! By the way, would you like to try breast augmentation too! Looking at your chest, it's…"
Chen Yuan heard muffled laughter come from nearby him. People were actually secretly eavesdropping on his conversation with Qi Shaorong.
Does Qi Shaorong this guy really need to be like this? Didn't he only help Zhuang Hao annul their marriage agreement? Is it really necessary for him to take it so to heart?
"No need." Chen Yuan gnashed his teeth.
Qi Shaorong shrugged and said, "You don't need it? That's a pity."
Chen Yuan: "…"
"Little fat man, I see you! What are you hiding for, come out!" Qi Shaorong said.
Zhuang Qian stepped out a little awkwardly, and said: "Congratulations to Young Master Qi?"
"Congratulations? Congratulations for what?" Qi Shaorong asked.
"Congratulations to Tianlan College for being in first place!" Zhuang Qian said.
Qi Shaorong sneered and said, "What kind of congratulations is needed for something that's so easily won? I didn't expect that your elder brother would be able to keep the position of first place in the individual rankings in the end. I always thought that only someone like me, who was born from a mother but never raised by one, and never had a family to teach me good morals, would do something so underhanded [6]!"
"I didn't expect it! I really didn't expect… That Young Master Zhuang, who was born to such a well-known and respected family, who is rumoured to act bright and brilliantly, would actually turn out to be such a deceitful person [7]! I severely overestimated the Zhuang family's 1000-year old reputation. To think that all of it could've been ruined so quickly by just one person [8]. It looks like the Zhuang family's reputation is really nothing more than this."
Zhuang Qian: "…��� Although Elder Brother does sometimes trick people occasionally, does Qi Shaorong really have to make it out to be such a big deal?
"Help me take a message to your brother." Qi Shaorong said.
Zhuang Qian blinked and said, "Fourth Young Master Qi, if you have something to say, you should talk to my brother yourself."
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Qian and said: "You idiot, do you not even know how to carry a message?"
Zhuang Qian: "… Just tell me."
Qi Shaorong reached out his hand, smoothed Zhuang Qian's hair, and said: "Tell your brother that he should be careful not to land in my hands, or I'll teach him a lesson!"
Chen Yuan: "…" Zhuang Hao was already taught a lesson this time.
Zhuang Qian blinked his eyes and looked at Qi Shaorong while trembling in fear.
"Do you remember! If you don't, I can repeat it for you again?" Qi Shaorong asked.
Zhuang Qian nodded hurriedly and said, "I remember."
Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "It's good as long as you've remembered."
Qian Mian walked over to Qi Shaorong and said: "Shaorong, someone over there is looking for you."
Zhuang Qian was relieved when he heard Qian Mian's words.
Qi Shaorong glared at Zhuang Qian and followed Qian Mian.
Hu Feng coughed twice, looked at Qi Shaorong and Qian Mian, and said, "You two should go back to the college with this Principal. There are so many people here looking for you with impure intentions, and you were just in the center of attention. Many people here are just waiting to eat you alive."
Qi Shaorong and Qian Mian followed Hu Feng and got in Hu Feng's carriage.
Lu Ming looked at the backs of Qi Shaorong and Hu Feng, and his eyes tightened. "That guy Hu Feng really has dog-shit luck, Tianlan College actually produced those two freaks."
Chen Yuan pursed his lips and sighed. This time he really made a fool out of himself.
Lu Ming looked at Zhuang Qian next to Chen Yuan and said: "A-Qian! Just why did your brother have to break off the engagement? Look at how exemplary Qi Shaorong is!"
Zhuang Qian said carefully: "Principal, don't you think that Qi Shaorong is too fierce?"
Lu Ming nodded and said, "A little bit! If he really marries your brother, it'll be hard to say who's going to be the one getting pressed down."
Zhuang Qian: "…"
"Principal, Yi Bing has been found." An instructor came over and said distressedly to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming was shocked and said: "Where? How is he?"
"He has traces of being attacked by a fire mage all over his body, and his meridians have been destroyed. Even if he is healed, I'm afraid that he'll only ever be a level two mage for his entire life." The instructor who was reporting this said very quietly.
Lu Ming's eyes shrank suddenly, "What?"
Zhuang Qian and Chen Yuan looked at each other, "Brother Chen, something happened to Yi Bing? That guy actually encountered an accident?" Zhuang Qian said with surprise.
"What troubled times!" Chen Yuan frowned. He felt that this was not a simple matter.
"Principal, your carriage is too small." Qi Shaorong complained.
Hu Feng glanced at Qi Shaorong and said with some embarrassment: "I have no choice, this Principal is too poor!"
Hu Feng rubbed his nose. The college was too poor, so all the equipment could not keep up to date, and the teaching staff's strength could not keep up. None of the talented students wanted to enroll.
This time, Tianlan College won first place, and received a large subsidy from the Imperial family. Finally, they can be a little more generous with using their money.
However… Compared to the money won by Qi Shaorong from betting, the subsidy really wasn't a lot.
"Disciple, if you really bet a million on Tianlan College winning first place, then you should have won big." Hu Feng said enviously.
Qi Shaorong glanced at Hu Feng and said, "Master, do you still remember, you said before that if Tianlan College gets first place, then you would do me a favour."
"Of course, I don't know what it is that you need your Master to help you with? Whatever it is, I will do my best." Hu Feng patted his chest. His disciple was so fierce, as the Master, he shouldn't be too incapable either.
Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "It's not something that's too much."
Qi Shaorong took out a box and opened it. Hu Feng looked at the thick stack of receipts inside, and Qi Shaorong said, "These are the receipts that I have taken from all the major gambling houses."
Hu Feng glanced at the receipts in the box and found that in addition to the many bets placed on Tianlan College winning first, there were also many bets made on Qian Mian and Qi Shaorong placing in the top ten. Of course, there were also bets that were lost, such as Zhuang Hao falling out of the top ten in the individual rankings, and Shenghuang University falling out of the top ten in the college rankings.
"I'd like to trouble the Principal to please help me exchange all these gambling receipts into anonymous money cards. Out of them, 30 percent will be donated to the college."
Hu Feng felt very excited in his heart. If Qi Shaorong exchanged all the receipts, he'd earn around 30 million gold coins, and thirty percent of that would be almost 10 million gold coins.
"Disciple, you can rest assured that your Master will properly accomplish this task for you. Whichever gambling house dares not to pay up, I, your Master, will slap them into the air with one hand."
Hu Feng sent Qi Shaorong and Qian Mian to the college, and left excitedly with the receipts.
Qian Mian looked at Hu Feng's back in the distance, and said, "The Principal seems to be very motivated!"
Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "If one doesn't even have the motivation to collect money, then they'd have even less motivation to do anything else."
Hu Feng took with him several instructors from Tianlan College as well as the college's supervision team, and they killed their way through the Imperial capital. The gambling houses that had originally planned on pushing away the matter if Qi Shaorong had gone to exchange money all obediently handed over the money once they saw Hu Feng leading over a large, menacing group of people.
All the people in the Imperial capital who were watching almost drooled with envy when they saw Hu Feng coming carrying out large chests of gold coins from each of the gambling houses.
Hu Feng held his chest high and proudly commanded the instructors from the college to make their collections.
"Principal, did Student Qi really say that thirty percent of the gold won from the bets belongs to the college?
Hu Feng nodded and said, "Naturally."
Li Hong's eyes shone and said: "Student Qi is really a good student! This time he's about to make a fortune! Principal, Student Qi has already been expelled from the Qi family, so where did he get such a huge amount of the original gold from?"
Hu Feng: "…" How would he know that? "What are you caring so much for?"
Hu Feng squinted his eyes. His disciple was so unordinary! Zhuang Hao may be better than Qi Shaorong in terms of strength, but in terms of boldness, he really couldn't be compared to Qi Shaorong. Qi Shaorong is only in his teens, and he dared to bet 2 million. What a spirited young man!
[T/n: Alright, so Qi Shaorong bet 1 million on Tianlan College winning, and he won the bet, so the other million was probably used for some other bets that weren't as successful, for a total of 2 million.]
Hu Feng kicked open the doors of a gambling house, and somewhat impatiently asked: "What's going on at this gambling house? They already knew that their patrons had won money, but they haven't even prepared the gold coins. Are they trying to cheat us?
Li Hong came to Hu Feng's side and said in his ear: "Principal, this gambling house seems to have a relation with the Qi family. Some of the Qi family elders were here originally, but those guys all ran away once they saw you coming."
Hu Feng curled his lips and said: "It's good that I was the one who came here. If my disciple had come, some of the elders from Qi family would have tried to squabble with my disciple [9]. Just what are they trying to do! Although my apprentice was someone from the Qi family, he has already been kicked out from the Qi clan."
Footnotes:
Cuscuta flower: Well, this is a type of flower, but I have no idea what Qi Shaofu is trying to say here. I almost translated it as a "filigree" flower, which is a type of ornamental work and is used to describe something that is very delicate, but it makes even less sense than the first translation.
This Principal: In case you haven't noticed by now, Chinese people often refer to themselves in third person. Hu Feng does this all the time lol. It might seem kind of weird to non-Chinese people, so I wanted to let you know just in case you didn't already.
Incompetent fools: Literally translated as "wine bags, rice sacks", meaning someone who is useless or incompetent, knowing only how to eat and drink
Just how did you become the principal: This can actually be translated two ways. Either Hu Feng is asking how Lu Ming became the principal (because he doesn't seem to be very good at it), or he's questioning the methods that Lu Ming is using to do his job as the principal (insinuating that he's not doing a good job).
Sitting on pins and needles: The original was "sitting on felt covered in needles", which pretty much means the same thing as its English counterpart. It means to be in a state of uneasiness, uncertainty, or agitation.
Underhanded: Original meant something along the lines of "someone who would improperly take advantage of something for their own gain/opportunistic but in a bad way."
Deceitful: Literally translates as "someone who bullies and steals/takes credit for other people's fame/merits."
All of it could've been ruined so quickly: The original is an idiom that literally translates as "a boat capsizing in a ravine", meaning when something goes wrong in a situation where it shouldn't have. Qi Shaorong is talking about how the Zhuang family's reputation is supposedly really good, but it seems to not be that case at all because of what Zhuang Hao did.
Dog-shit luck: Thank you to tuzi for explaining what this means in the comments! As they said, it means something like unexpected luck that leads to success.
Squabble: In the raws, the words used mean something like "to dispute/argue over trivial or petty matters.