Chapter 19
Chapter 19: Are You My Long-Lost Dad?
Qian Qi noticed Su Ang too.
That silver hair was impossible to ignore. And the face under it was even worse—one of those unfair, cinematic faces that made you want to swear at genetics.
Qian Qi’s throat bobbed. For a split second, she almost whistled.
System Panel: [You were about to whistle like a hooligan.]
Qian Qi’s eyes widened in outrage. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
System Panel: [I saw your mouth shape.]
“That was the original body’s habit,” Qian Qi said smoothly. “Not mine.”
System Panel: […] The original body didn’t have a whistling habit.
Still staring, Qian Qi turned to the student she’d grabbed earlier and asked, “Classmate, who’s that?”
The student glanced back and immediately recognized him. “That’s Su Ang. A senior from the Commander Department.”
“Su Ang…” Qian Qi repeated.
The name matched the man too well—distant, sharp, the kind of name that felt like it belonged to someone who stood above everyone else.
Then Qian Qi snapped back to reality.
Business.
“Classmate,” she said earnestly to the boy she was holding, “you haven’t heard of me, Qian Qi, have you?”
In the Magic Plant Department and the Magic Beast Department, the original body had been infamous.
Here, in the Skills Department, she was nothing.
Everyone here was an awakener. If the school didn’t have rules against attacking ordinary persons, any random student could beat the original body until she couldn’t recognize her own mom.
That was a problem.
She needed the Skills Department to know her name.
Brand recognition. Chain effect. Reputation first—then prices could rise as high as she wanted.
Qian Qi’s smile crept into something unpleasant.
The boy she’d grabbed—Little Wang—shivered.
Unfortunately for him, he actually had heard of Qian Qi.
One of his friends was in the Magic Beast Department and had vividly described Qian Qi’s “heroic deeds.”
Apparently she was arrogant as hell. Even the mentor and the principal couldn’t control her, and that only made her more unhinged.
Little Wang hadn’t believed it at first. How could the principal not handle one student?
But his friend had warned him again and again: do not provoke Qian Qi.
So the moment Qian Qi introduced herself, Little Wang folded instantly.
“Classmate,” he said in a small voice, “can you… make it cheaper?”
“Tsk. No bargaining,” Qian Qi said, patting his shoulder like she was calming a child. “If you’ve got money, you buy. Mm?”
In Qian Qi’s mind, this was perfectly reasonable.
In Little Wang’s mind, it translated as: You’re rich, so pay up. If you keep haggling, I’ll kill you.
Little Wang fought back tears and pulled up his lightbrain. He transferred the money.
Fine. He’d treat it as paying for peace.
He did not want to end up like Chen Tong, carrying around a lifelong Qian Qi incident.
Qian Qi accepted the transfer with the solemn joy of a woman receiving a blessing. She handed him the medicine bag and then added casually, “Oh, right. Hemostatic medicine is 998. The packaging bag is 2 yuan.”
Little Wang stared. “The packaging bag costs money?”
Then why not just say 1,000?!
Grinding his teeth, he transferred another 2 yuan.
The principal, who’d been watching this whole time, finally snapped.
He strode over and barked, “Qian Qi! You can’t just scam classmates! Give his money back!”
Qian Qi looked him up and down, eyes narrowing in uncertainty.
Then she blurted, “Dad?”
The principal froze.
Little Wang and Su Ang both looked at the principal.
Su Ang’s expression barely shifted, but there was a flicker of interest in his eyes.
Little Wang, meanwhile, felt like he’d discovered a forbidden secret.
Oh. Oh no.
No wonder the mentor and principal couldn’t control her.
Was Qian Qi… the principal’s daughter?
The principal, who had just been conjured a child out of thin air, laughed in rage. “Who are you calling dad? Why are you shouting nonsense?”
“Then why are you opening your mouth and lying?” Qian Qi shot back. “You accuse people of scamming without evidence. Even if you were my dad, you couldn’t pull that kind of trash!”
The principal’s eye twitched. “You’re saying you didn’t scam him? ‘One-second bleeding stop’ isn’t a scam?”
“I didn’t lie!” Qian Qi stood up straighter. “If I lied, then I’m your dad!”
The principal almost choked. “You—!”
Then Qian Qi took one step back and dragged her shabby stall to the side like she was protecting it from infection. “Careful, old man. Don’t get so mad you collapse onto my stall. I’m not letting you fake an injury and extort me.”
She turned to Little Wang and asked, “Who is this guy, anyway? You know him?”
Little Wang looked like he wanted to evaporate. “That’s… the principal.”
Qian Qi froze.
“Oh my.” Her face flipped instantly, like someone had spun it on a hinge. She grabbed the principal’s hands with both of hers and plastered on a radiant smile. “So it’s Principal, sir! This student was blind. Please, please, sit—oh wow, I don’t even have a good chair for you!”
She was beaming so hard she looked like a mother-in-law meeting an ideal son-in-law. The thug aura from five seconds ago vanished like it had never existed.
“Principal, listen,” Qian Qi said, practically vibrating. “This hemostatic medicine is something I researched myself. Day and night, no sleep, no rest. The effect is incredible. Absolutely genuine!”
She was thrilled.
This was the principal of Awakeners University.
A walking endorsement.
If the principal personally tested her hemostatic medicine, her sales would explode.
Heaven really did have eyes. She asked for a Rich Little White Rat, and one showed up right in front of her.
“Principal,” Qian Qi said brightly, reaching into her pocket, “let me cut you with a knife.”
She produced a small blade, eyes glowing with hungry confidence. “Don’t worry, it’s new. I sterilized it. You definitely won’t get tetanus.”
The principal yanked his hands back like she’d pulled out a bomb. “Qian Qi! What the hell are you doing?!”
“Aren’t you the one who doesn’t believe me?” Qian Qi’s smile sharpened. “Let me cut you once, then I’ll use hemostatic powder. Then you’ll know whether I’m telling the truth.”
The principal stared at her.
Then: “Why don’t you cut yourself?!”
Qian Qi paused, genuinely disappointed.
She hadn’t expected the principal to be this cowardly.
Tch.
Was Awakeners University really that impressive if the principal was this weak?