Ch5 - Let’s make a bet

This situation was something I never expected.

Resisting the urge to rub my temples, I calmly said, “I repeat, you misunderstood that day, and I have no bad thoughts about you. By ‘opportunity’ I meant…” The ridiculousness of this matter made me at a loss for words, and I didn’t know how to bring up those two papers for a while, “Forget it, it doesn’t matter. I’ve changed my mind now. I won’t give you any more chances. Your failure is confirmed in my class. Choose your subjects well next semester, Student Shang.” After I finished speaking, I pushed open the door and entered the bedroom without waiting for him to answer. 

After closing the door, Shang Muxiao’s words echoed in my head, ‘I can accept your unspoken rules.’

“Can accept what…” I sighed softly. Afraid he would do something improper, I thought about it and locked the door.

Early the next day, the morning light filtered through the gap in the curtains and fell on my eyelids. I frowned and sobered up a little bit, and glanced at the bedside alarm clock. It was half-past eight.

After entering the bathroom to wash, I looked down at the pajamas on my body and felt that it was inappropriate, so I changed into my usual clothes before going out. 

The living room was quiet. Shang Muxiao was nowhere to be seen on the sofa. It seemed that he left after the rain stopped last night.

Now that people were gone, I also went back to my room and changed back into my pajamas.

I simply made an egg sandwich with milk for breakfast. When it was almost finished, Yang Haiyang called and asked me if I was free next weekend.

I thought about it and said, “I should be.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and said, “That’s great. My girlfriend will also come that day, and I will introduce the two of you.”

I was wondering why he suddenly invited me to dinner, it turned out to be a girlfriend.

Yang Haiyang and I had known each other for more than ten years. He was my junior high school classmate. His family background was average, and he wasn’t too talented in studying. After graduating from junior high school, he was admitted to a higher vocational education. After graduating from higher vocational education, he went out to work as an insurance salesman.

We had not communicated since junior high school, but he needed to call me often because of business needs and insistently asked me to buy accident insurance. Fortunately, thanks to this insurance, my family basically didn’t pay much money after the accident. The medical expenses were all paid by the insurance company. 

Rounding it all, he could also be considered as my benefactor.

After I was paralyzed, he often called me to ask about my current situation and invited me to dinner when he was free. After a few years, I became his best friend. When he got married, I was his best man. When his daughter was born, I became her godfather. Later, his ex-wife thought he was incompetent because he was still a small insurance salesman so she ran away with another man and disappeared. I also got drunk with him in the middle of the night.

Yang Haiyang cried and vomited while drinking. After tossing all night, he went to the company to quit his job the next day, opened a small shop with a small amount of savings, and said he wanted to start a business. 

Now that three or four years had passed, the commissary had been upgraded to a convenience store, and the life of him and his daughter had become more and more enjoyable. I also asked him before if he had any thoughts about remarrying. At that time, he had given up on love and marriage, and he was afraid that his daughter would be wronged, so he bluntly said that he would not look for love again. I didn’t expect that in less than a year, he would actually introduce his girlfriend to me.  

This showed that the man’s words were not credible. 

After making an appointment, Yang Haiyang hung up the phone. Just as I was about to put my phone away, I saw a few unread messages. I clicked it and the first one was from Shen Luoyu, asking me about my participation in the mutual aid group yesterday.

After thinking about it, I returned three words. 

“Not bad.”  

The next one was a message from an unfamiliar number. 

“Thank you for letting me stay last night. Your sofa was very comfortable. See you next time, Professor Bei.”

Needless to say, this must have been sent by Shang Muxiao.

I frowned, wanting to delete the message, but hesitated with my finger hovering over it. Eventually, I just turned off the screen and threw the phone aside. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Yu Xixi ran very fast all the way and pushed me into the office of the department head.

Upon entering the door, Jiang Yi, the deputy director of the Humanities Department, Dong Li, the dean of the department, and Chen Qixue, the provost, were all there. Yan Ying was currently holding Chen Qixue’s hand and crying very hard. 

“Xiao-Yu, you go out first.” Jiang Yi saw me coming and waved me over.

The wheelchair stopped in front of the coffee table. Yan Ying looked like she was very afraid of me, and shrunk into Chen Qixue’s arms. Chen Qixue stroked her back lightly, looking at me like she was looking at a pile of garbage, or harmful garbage.

A three-court trial. This was really bad.

“You should also listen to Xiao-Yu about the situation.” Dong Li tapped the marble tabletop with his knuckles, and said with a serious face, “I called you here to hear your explanation. Director Jiang and I both don’t think you’re that kind of person…..” 

“Director Dong, both of them are your students. I know it’s hard for you, but you don’t have to be so biased, alright?” Chen Qixue interrupted Dong Li’s words. Her words were full of gunpowder, “It’s impossible to judge a man’s heart from his face. No one would write the word ‘beast’ on their face.”

When it came to the word “beast”, her eyes flashed to me, clearly referring to myself.

“Okay, don’t talk for now, just listen to what Bei Jie has to say.” Jiang Yi was the oldest among the three, and had more right to speak, “You can’t be partial, and you can’t just  listen to one side either, don’t you think? Dean?”

Chen Qixue snorted coldly and said nothing. 

I pondered for a moment, and went through the ins and outs of this matter: “Yan Ying has not been to class since the beginning of the school year. According to the rule of disqualifying a students’ right to sit the examination after five absences, I asked Yu Xixi to send her an email last week…”

When I started to talk about how Yan Ying wanted me to let her pass through sexual bribes, Yan Ying, who was close to Chen Qixue and crying with red eyes, suddenly refuted me fiercely.

“I didn’t! It’s you, I really wanted you to give me another chance, but I didn’t want to bribe you with such dirty means! It’s you! You obviously let me go over, and then grabbed my hand, and forced me to kneel down to give you…” She seemed to have a hard time opening her mouth when she said this and didn’t continue. But even if the meaning was unfinished, they were all adults, and you could guess.

Today, I finally realized what it meant to refer to a deer as a horse and to reverse black and white 

“Then did you do it?” I asked calmly.

Chen Qixue looked at me like I was a monster, incredulous at what I was saying.

“I was forced to bow my head because of your obscenity…but I didn’t do it voluntarily, you forced me.” Yan Ying’s voice was fierce, her eyes were spitting fire, her acting skills were really superb, “After I went back, the more I thought about it, the more wrong it was. You are such a black sheep, I can’t let you continue to stay in Qingwan University to poison more people. I want to report you to the school and discredit your reputation!”

Only the last part of this sentence was true. She did it just to bring my reputation down. 

I looked at her and saw the maliciousness in her eyes that was almost gushing out. I almost applauded her for this trick.

“Student Yan, do you know why I sit in a wheelchair?”

Unfortunately, she was still too young and lacked the necessary medical knowledge.

Yan Ying was stunned, “How could I know…” 

“Because my spinal nerve is damaged. My lower limbs cannot perceive instructions from the brain.” I didn’t think she understood it very well, so I could only continue to say, “You may not know that the erection reflex also depends on the brain. Although I still have some sense of touch, the neural pathway between my spinal erectile reflex and the brain has been completely blocked. In other words, I have no sexual function.”

As soon as these words came out, let alone Yan Ying, the expressions of the other three people present changed.

“You…” Yan Ying was shocked. For a while, she couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation as to why a person without sexual function would suddenly became invincible and have a reaction in her mouth. It was not an exaggeration to call it a medical miracle.

According to society, it was a very humiliating thing for a man to admit in public that he was no good. I was actually fine, but looking at the expressions of the school leaders, they were quite embarrassed. 

“I can provide my medical records.” I added, and then the faces of the several people in the room looked even worse.

“I can use my integrity to guarantee that Xiao-Jie is not such a person. Are you happy now, Provost Chen, are you still going to investigate?” Dong Li had a fiery personality. If Minister Jiang wasn’t still there, he probably would have jumped up in anger already.

Chen Qixue’s expression also wasn’t good. She changed her previous protective attitude towards Yan Ying, pulled back her hand that was held by the other party, and said coldly, “This is a little different from what you said, classmate Yan.”

“I didn’t lie…” Yan Ying wanted to argue, “Really, teacher, you believe me!” 

She was going to pull Chen Qixue, but was avoided by the other party in disgust. Provost was like this. Love and hate were clear, and there was no room for a grain of sand in her eyes. Yu Xixi said that she could easily offend people, but I thought this character was also very good. People who could be seen through at a glance were always easier to get along with than people who had things hidden beneath the surface.

“Bei Jie, don’t worry, we won’t say anything about it.” Jiang Yi’s gaze swept across the group, before his eagle-like eyes eventually fell on Yan Ying, implicitly warning, “Today’s affairs can only rot here, in this room, understand?”

I didn’t care if this matter got out.

Only 10% of the lucky ones were still fertile after being paralyzed in the lower body. Although I wasn’t 10%, it wasn’t a pity. It was a miracle that I was alive, a true miracle. There were four people in one car, and the other three were not as lucky as I was. 

“How about this? According to the procedure, you should investigate what should be investigated, and punish who should be punished.” I suggested, “Although I don’t have… the actual ability, you can’t rule out the possibility of me harassing her verbally. Is that what you’re saying, Provost Chen? ” 

Chen Qixue’s face was indistinguishable, and she probably didn’t expect that I would make such a request myself. 

“Okay.” She thought about it for a while, nodded and said, “This matter has already spread in the school. If it ends like this, I don’t know what everyone will think. If the investigation is clear, innocent people will be innocent. ” 

Leaving the office of the head of the department, Yu Xixi rushed up to ask questions immediately, as if I was tortured inside. “I’m so pissed off. There’s all sorts of things on the forum, like they were actually there. And there’s someone saying that the big Demon King has become a big Beast……” Yu Xixi clutched her chest, looking like she couldn’t restrain her anger, “It must be unscrupulous people who you have failed that are spreading rumors. I have asked the administrator to delete a few related posts. Bei-ge, do you want to completely seal it?”  

“The more you seal it, the more others will think that I have a guilty conscience.” As the protagonist of the incident, I was calmer than Yu Xixi, “Relax, trust the school, and wait for the announcement.” 

As a result, the announcement did not come, Shang Muxiao came first. 

As soon as he entered the door, he leaned against the desk and said to himself, “Is your car not repaired yet? How about I take you home every day until your car is repaired?” 

I typed on the keyboard, ignoring him. After a while, the mouse moved, minimizing the form I was filling out. 

I sighed inwardly. I had no choice but to look up at him. 

“Thank you, but no need.” After I said that, I went to touch the mouse. Just as I put my hand on it, Shang Muxiao held it down. 

He leaned over slowly, with a faint smile on his lips, “I heard about your matter. Do you want me to help?” 

I didn’t have many matters, just that one recently.  

“How can you help me?” I was a little curious.   

“I was outside the door that day. How could I not know if you guys did anything?” 

That was true. 

I nodded and said, “Then I will have to trouble you to testify for me.”  

“But I have a request.” The strength of Shang Muxiao’s hand became gentle. His thumb rubbed the back of my hand suggestively, and his smile was somewhat innocent. 

He really liked to laugh. This was different from Shang Lu. Shang Lu took the cool brother route, and the characters he played did not like to laugh, and his smiles weren’t good-looking. 

“What?” Looking at this face, I couldn’t help but feel a little stunned. 

“Sleep with me.”  

It took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about. It wasn’t treating him to a meal, or not failing him, but… sleeping with me. 

As if caught by fire, I suddenly pulled my hand back, and said in a tone that couldn’t hide my unhappiness, “Get out.” 

He looked me up and down, saw my firm attitude, raised his hands in a perfunctory gesture of surrender, expressing that he was only joking. 

“It seems that I really misunderstood you before. Let’s change it. I’ll testify for you, how about you let me chase you?” 

Not very good. 

“Don’t know what’s wrong.” I returned what he said to me before. 

Shang Muxiao was stunned for a while, apparently still remembering this sentence. The smile faded away as he straightened up, and his feet touche to the ground. 

“Let’s make a bet.”  

I frowned, wondering what he was doing. 

“Just bet… I will definitely succeed in pursuing you.” After he finished speaking, he raised the corners of his lips, revealing a slightly ruffian smile, “If I lose, I will stop pestering you.”

What was this useless bet? 

Sometimes I really envied these young people, such self-confidence. Confident enough that… People couldn’t help but want to defeat them and see how they would be when they were no longer confident.  

“One month.” I reported the deadline, and it was considered a bet. 

Shang Muxiao’s smile widened, and he understood the meaning of “one month” almost immediately. 

“Alright.”

He glanced at the time on the phone and said, “Can I send you back now? Let’s add an additional clause in the bet. You can’t avoid me on purpose.”  

Since it was a bet, this was fair. 

I glanced at the unfinished form on the computer, then at Shang Muxiao, and finally turned off the computer. 

“Let’s go.” I controlled the wheelchair and walked out.

A few days later, news came from the Academic Affairs Office that because a well-meaning student who wanted to remain anonymous testified for me, it was Yan Ying who wanted to bribe me instead of me sexually harassing her. This matter could be finalized at last.  

The Office of Academic Affairs then issued a notice to punish Yan Ying for this false accusation. About half a day later, another bulletin was issued. Yan Ying’s serious absence from school was given another demerit punishment. Due to Yan Ying’s repeated demerits, it was decided after a meeting at the principal’s office, that she would be expelled from the school.