chapter 10

Shu ChunChun got off the taxi not far away from the school and proceeded to walk her way there after swiftly paying the driver.

She had to admit that the rumors spread by Chen Liang was exceptionally well played, at the very least, she had seen many students pointing at her and whispering among themselves as she slowly made her way into the school building.

“Isn’t that Teacher Shu?”

“Why are you still calling her a teacher? She’s not worthy of being called one with that slutty nature of hers!”

“I know right, to think that after all she had done, she would still show up here! How thick is her face, I wonder? I heard she even seduces her students during class…”

“Oh my god, are you serious? But she doesn’t look like someone who would do that…”

“Ah, there are plenty of women like that, always keeping the act of pure and innocence at all times but thoroughly a whore inside, I wonder how many men she had been with…”

Not an effort was made as they gossiped about her ‘deeds’ right in her face, what had been mere whispering and pointing quickly evolved into outright gossip juice.

Seeing as how they had talked about the rumors with her on the scene, it was not hard to imagine the horrors Han XiPing could’ve heard when he was looking for her at school after the incident.

Shu ChunChun’s face paled to a deathly shade the more she listened to their words while her fingernails dug deeply into her palms. She stumbled all the way towards the teacher’s office and quickly made her way to her place, only to find out that her table had been piled up with random things, while her own stuffs had been pushed messily into a corner.

It was as if they had assumed that she would never return, and that there was no respect left for her, from the students or the other teachers from school.

Her eyes reddened significantly at the sight of her dirty and dusty table, truth to be told, she had not expected things to be so bad at school. She had lost Han XiPing, and now, she would lose her only job too? What had she done to deserve losing everything she had ever cared for, one after another??

Meanwhile on the other side, Chen Liang could not keep his mind focused on the business meeting he was attending, he could not keep his mind off Shu ChunChun, and it had took almost all of his willpower not to check on her status during work.

He had almost laughed out loud at his own behavior, When had I developed such clinginess for a mere NPC? Surely it must’ve been all the effort I had made to make her fall in love with me…

But nevertheless, the first thing he had done right after the meeting was to check up on her, but his phone had rang before he could do so, his face turning ice-cold as the butler reported that Shu ChunChun had left for school in the morning.

She went to school?! Those rumors were still active as of now, and knowing her personality, what if she took things to heart and decided to give up being alive after losing everything!? He thought in panic as he rushed all the way to school.

“Teacher Shu? You’re here?” A familiar voice sounded behind her deeply, causing her to jump in surprise.

It was Teacher Song, and if she recalled correctly, he had once confessed to her, but she was happy with Han XiPing, so she had rejected his advances. But now, he was staring at her with eyes of contempt and… anger?

Noticing that he might’ve been watching her from the start, Shu ChunChun quickly wiped off her tears before forcing out a strained smile, “Ah, it’s Teacher Song, I…I came back to collect my thing, I…I’ll leave immediately…” She stuttered softly, making her way to the dusty corner to pick up her scattered items before making her way to the door, but to her shock, he had suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a hug.

She yelped out in shock as her items fell towards the floor in a crash, “Teacher Song, y…you… Ah! …What are you doing!?”

He held her wrists together in a firm grip as he quickly locked the door, before pushing her against another table, “Teacher Shu, never have I thought that you’re someone like this… But if other men can have their ways with you so easily, what is one more to you…?” He breath deeply into her ears as he struggled to strip her of her clothes.

“What are you saying! Let go of me!” Shu ChunChun screamed out in shock as she tried to push him away.

But alas, her struggling angered the man further, as he immediately scoffed in contempt at her futile attempts, “That’re more than enough acting, who do you think you are? The entire school is talking about how you had whored yourself out to your own student, to think that I’ve once treated you as my goddess! You’re nothing more than a slut who couldn’t live without a man!”

His insulting and indecent words sent her entire body to tremble in rage and fear. But his words had reminded her of the rumors she had heard so clearly from before, and as bitterness filled through her, she somehow lost the will to fight. Her passiveness allowed the man to rip off her shirt before he started kissing and biting her neck hungrily.

(TNote: at this point I’m assuming the no-neckdown-rule only applies to worldhoppers and not existing citizens of the world, since he was able to rip off her shirt. Either that or she allowed him to, but I’m leaning more to the former.)

BANG! The locked door was kicked down forcefully from the outside!

“Who is it!?” Teacher Song yelped out in shock before turning towards the broken door-frame, only to see a furious Chen Liang standing at the doorway.

His face was as cold as ice while he scanned through the room urgently, his eyes instantly blazing with rage as soon as he saw her laying limply within his arms.

“Who gave you the right to touch her!?” His soft voice leaked an anger so intense that the entire room felt chilly.

In his rage, he grabbed Teacher Song’s hair tightly around his fists before smashing his face onto the exact same table, again and again, not stopping even when his face was all bloody from the impact.

[Beep! Someone is coming!]

Chen Liang managed to momentarily regain his senses at the system’s reminder.

[Settle this man properly.] He said, tossing his unconscious head onto the ground as he quickly regained his composure before arriving at Shu ChunChun’s side.

He wrapped his jacket around her exposed bra tightly before leaving the room with her in his arms, “Who allowed you to leave the house unannounced?” He asked softly.

But it was obvious that she was still in shock, as she had merely gazed up at him fearfully before lowering her eyes once more, but this time, her hands begun trembling.

Not a word was spoken.

His heart ached as he stared at her lack of response, “It’s alright now, everything’s fine, I’m here…” He sighed as he patted her trembling figure awkwardly, as he was not used to comforting anyone, let alone an NPC, “Don’t worry, I will settle the rumors and that man. Furthermore, if you wish to continue teaching, I can refer you to another school, let’s not come here anymore…”

“…The rumors… was it you?” She asked softly, word by word, as her gaze finally landed on his face once again.

“… I…I don’t know what you mean.” He replied deeply, but his increased heartbeat betrayed his calm words. He had stared intently at her face, watching her reaction to his answer, but there was nothing.

He let out a sigh of relief, it was funny, as it was his first time feeling so nervous over his mission.

It was at this moment that his phone rang, and as soon as he answered the call, his assistant’s voice rang out clearly, “Mr Chen, the ball is starting soon.”

“Sure, I’ll be there in a moment.” He answered deeply, hanging up the phone quickly before glancing at the woman within his arms, his brows furrowing together as he thought about what would happen tonight. After all she had endured today, a small part of him was reluctant to put her through tonight, but still, he had planned too long for tonight, and he did not wish for it to go to waste.

“Teacher, you’ll be attending the ball with me, make sure to stay by my side at all times, I will take good care of you, I promise.” He said finally, but as expected, there was no reply from her.

She had been silent ever since they left the school, it was unlike the defiant silence from before, this time, the silence was cold, as if everything that happened around her did not matter at all.

In a blink of an eye, they were already home and he had commanded the servants to dress her up in the customized white dress he had prepared for her, while he had worn a set of expensive looking white formal wear.

Everyone’s eyes were on them as soon as they reached the ball. It was, of course, due to Chen Liang’s status in the community, and it was his first time bringing along a female companion, hence everyone was filled with curiosity.

Furthermore, both man and woman was striking beyond belief, Chen Liang was handsome and elegant, while Shu ChunChun’s features were sharp and delicate, though her face was a little pale, her expressionless face had managed to enhanced her beauty further.

For someone like Chen Liang, it was usually the norm to accept his peers’ greetings, but this time, he had simply greeted everyone before staying near Shu ChunChun as her abnormal behavior was somewhat worrying.

Meanwhile, the other guests were all betting their money on Shu ChunChun being the future Madam Chen, as he was paying her too much care and attention throughout the night.

“Stop drinking so much.” Chen Liang said sternly as he glared at Shu ChunChun before taking her cup away from her hands.

“Don’t do this, don’t do that, so I can’t even drink some alcohol without your consent now?” Shu ChunChun asked blandly, glancing at him with emotionless eyes before reaching out towards the cup once again, he quickly raised the cup higher, tricking her to fall into his arms willingly.

Hm? Wasn’t her personality like a scared bunny? Why isn’t she scared of him now? He grinned slightly as he wrapped his arm around her waist, steadying her before placing the cup the table, “You’re not a good drinker, what if you get a hangover tomorrow? It feels horrible.”

But before she could reply to his ‘caring’ words, a gentle voice sounded behind her, “ChunChun.”

Her body froze instantly at the all-too-familiar voice, and it took her a while to finally turn around and face him.

It was Han XiPing, and she had no idea how long he had stood there.