Chapter 38: My Life is Over

“Everyone in our circle knows about the relationship now,” Qiao Sang said, speechless.

“Well, sharing the joy is better than enjoying it alone,” Fang Sisi said with a beaming smile.

Qiao Sang couldn't hold back her laughter after all. “Hahaha, you have a point.”

“Hahahahaha...” Fang Sisi burst out laughing as well.

Even though she had told many people about this, it still felt just as funny every time she recounted it.

The two of them shared a silly laugh for a while. Once they were tired of laughing, Qiao Sang asked, “Why doesn't Old Ban just buy a bottle of Taro Root Gel to use?”

Taro Root Gel is extracted from the bodies of Taro Egg Pans.

Every time a Taro Egg Pan sleeps, it closes its eggshell; when it wakes up in the morning and opens the shell, a tiny amount of gel flows out, which is called Taro Root Gel.

This gel has the miraculous effect of promoting hair growth, saving far more time and effort than a hair transplant.

“One bottle of Taro Root Gel is worth half a year of Old Ban's salary. A hair transplant is much cheaper,” Fang Sisi said.

Indeed, in this day and age, anything involving transcendent creatures was outrageously expensive.

Even though hair was everything to a middle-aged man, Old Ban had a wife and children to support; he couldn't afford to make a massive purchase like a bottle of Taro Root Gel for himself.

Thinking about it this way, Qiao Sang felt that Old Ban was quite pitiful.

Teacher Ji, who taught the third period of Pets and Nature, was someone who loved to ask questions, especially to students with poor grades.

In the past, Qiao Sang had been called on frequently. Since she had been absent for a while, that pressure had been distributed among the students whose rankings were close to hers.

“The evolved form of the Spotted Bud in the Lianke region is the Poison Powder Jasmine,” Teacher Ji said, providing the correct answer to the second sub-question of the fill-in-the-blank section on the exam paper. After speaking, he reached up to adjust his glasses and asked, “Then, does anyone know what the evolved form of the Spotted Bud is in the Liaoxi region?”

Some pets have fixed evolutionary forms, while others evolve into different forms depending on different evolutionary materials and environments.

The Spotted Bud was the latter; currently, it was known to have four different evolutionary forms under different environments.

The students sitting below all kept their heads down, staring intently at their exam papers, fearing that if they looked up, they might accidentally make eye contact with Teacher Ji.

This exam paper had been distributed last week, but Qiao Sang didn't have one. She was leaning to the side, looking at Fang Sisi's paper with her.

Teacher Ji's gaze swept toward Qiao Sang, Fang Sisi, and the cluster of low-achievers where Guo Linze was sitting.

Guo Linze instantly became nervous. He had been called on quite a few times recently to answer questions. His eyes darted around and landed on Qiao Sang, who was sitting to his front-left.

“Qiao Sang, you don't have a paper, do you? You can use mine,” Guo Linze whispered, patting Qiao Sang on the shoulder.

*The teacher has been talking about the exam paper for over ten minutes; you want me to use it now?*

Qiao Sang wanted to refuse. Just as she lifted her eyes to turn her head, her gaze met Teacher Ji's.

“Qiao Sang, you answer.”

Qiao Sang: “...”

*Guo Linze, you scheming man!*

“Ice Powder Jasmine,” Qiao Sang stood up and answered.

Seeing that she got it right, Teacher Ji asked, “Then what about in the Xilü region?”

“Grass Powder Jasmine,” Qiao Sang said.

“Very good answer. Sit down,” Teacher Ji nodded with satisfaction, then asked, “Does anyone know which region the last one, Water Powder Jasmine, evolves in?”

Qiao Sang sat down, turned around, and snatched the paper from Guo Linze's desk, smiling, “Then I won't be polite.”

Caught off guard, Guo Linze tried to press down on the paper with his hand, but he failed, and his hand hit the desk with a significant thud.

“Guo Linze, stand up and answer.”

Guo Linze: “...!”

***

Soon, it was break time.

“Qiao Sang, the headteacher is calling for you,” said the class monitor, Ma Xiao, walking over.

What was meant to come eventually arrived.

Qiao Sang put down her books and headed to the office, her mood entirely different from last time.

“You've taken so many days off. Come by and submit a formal leave application to make up for it,” Old Ban said, opening a drawer and placing a piece of paper on the desk.

Qiao Sang's eyes uncontrollably drifted toward Old Ban's head.

It was a wig. She wondered what it looked like underneath...

“Qiao Sang,” Old Ban called her name, his tone somewhat dangerous.

Qiao Sang hurriedly picked up a pen and began filling out the leave application.

“Is your mother alright now?” Old Ban asked.

Qiao Sang froze for a moment before answering, “She's fine.”

Once the application was finished, Old Ban picked up a notebook sitting nearby and placed it in front of Qiao Sang. “You've fallen quite a bit behind in your revision these past few days. This contains the notes of my student from last year; he scored 632 on the high school entrance exam. Take it home and study it well.”

The maximum score for the entrance exam was 650, so 632 was indeed quite high.

Qiao Sang remained silent for a moment without refusing; this was indeed what she needed most right now.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

Old Ban waved his hand, signaling that she could leave.

Qiao Sang couldn't quite describe the feeling. Old Ban might have some flaws, but who doesn't? At the very least, he was beyond reproach when it came to his students.

Even if the reason he lost his precious hair was because of her, he wasn't holding a grudge or acting out against her now.

Feeling deeply moved, Qiao Sang asked with concern, “Teacher, is your hair okay?”

Old Ban's expression froze, and he stood there dazed.

After a moment, Old Ban took a deep breath and said, “Would your mother really delay coming to school for such a long time just because she was sick?”

Qiao Sang: “...”

***

After school, Qiao Sang decided to confess everything to her mother.

The consequences of things coming from her own mouth versus from Old Ban's mouth would definitely be different.

To her surprise, her mother hadn't returned home yet when she arrived.

“Fire-Fang Dog, you mop here, and I'll mop there,” Qiao Sang said, handing a wet rag to the Fire-Fang Dog and pointing to the right side of the living room.

Qiao Sang had already planned it out: once her mother came home to see a clean room, a mopped floor, and cooked food, even the biggest temper would subside significantly.

“Ya!”

The Fire-Fang Dog responded happily, stepping onto the rag with one paw and getting to work.

The Fire-Fang Dog placed its right limb on the rag, used its left limb to push off the ground, and its body slid forward along with the rag for a short distance.

“Ya.”

“Ya-ya~”

It barked happily even while mopping.

Despite it being manual labor, the Fire-Fang Dog acted as if it were playing a fun game.

*What a good boy.*

Filled with gratification, Qiao Sang took the mop and began cleaning the left side of the living room.

The twilight glow cast pale orange light through the glass onto the floor, illuminating both the girl and the Fire-Fang Dog.

Everything was so quiet and beautiful.

The Fire-Fang Dog stepped on the rag happily, moving faster and faster, sliding more and more quickly.

*CRASH!*

A loud noise shattered the tranquility.

Qiao Sang looked up to see a pile of porcelain shards scattered around the Fire-Fang Dog.

Her heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, she dropped the mop, ran to the Fire-Fang Dog, pulled it into a hug to check it, and asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”

“Ya!”

The Fire-Fang Dog gave a loud bark and wagged its tail to show it was fine, then pointed its paw at the blue porcelain fragments on the floor.

“Ya-ya-ya.”

“Ya-ya.”

“Ya-ya.”

After explaining, the Fire-Fang Dog looked somewhat guilty, its ears drooping.

“It's okay if the vase broke, as long as you're alright.”

Only after comforting the Fire-Fang Dog did Qiao Sang turn her gaze back to the shards on the floor.

She remembered that her mother had brought this back from a trip to the Lianbo region; there seemed to be a signature of a certain Beast Tamer her mother liked on the bottom of the vase...

*Click.*

Right at that moment, the door opened.

Qiao Sang turned to look at her mother's face, and four words flashed through her mind.

*My life is over...*

(End of Chapter)