Chapter 48 - 48 Graduation Photo
Pan He Garden, Lin Yao’s home.
At this moment, Lin Yao’s room looked as if it had been burglarized.
The huge wardrobe was flung open and tossed into disarray, with countless clothes, pants, skirts, shoes, and socks scattered all over the floor, bed, and chairs.
In stark contrast to the messy room, Lin Yao sat neatly dressed in front of her makeup mirror, her delicate light makeup applied with precision.
Ordinarily, Lin Yao didn’t wear makeup because she was naturally beautiful. Both her features and skin condition were excellent, so she didn’t need makeup to enhance her beauty.
But today, she had no choice but to apply it.
She had been somewhat insomniac the night before and hadn’t slept well, leaving her complexion and skin looking slightly worse for wear.
Even so, Lin Yao could still outshine the entire Wuyue Advanced Middle School, making all the female cultivators lose the nerve to even lift their heads in her presence.
However, she was currently in the midst of a critical period in her struggle with Jiang Cheng.
This was not the time for any slip-ups.
She had to face Jiang Cheng in her best condition!
Just thinking about Jiang Cheng made Lin Yao feel uncomfortable all over.
From last night until now, every time she thought about soon seeing Jiang Cheng, she found her mood profoundly unsettled.
And it wasn’t just her mood.
Even parts of her body, such as her breathing, heartbeat, and blood flow, seemed inclined to surrender to Jiang Cheng and obey his commands.
Sitting in front of the makeup mirror, Lin Yao looked at her stunning reflection and bit her lip gently.
Her appearance was, without a doubt, still incredibly beautiful.
As long as she kept her wits about her, and with her beautiful features, she was fairly confident she could win over Jiang Cheng even if her body had partially surrendered to him!
The goal of completely controlling Jiang Cheng, which she had initially aimed for, was now something Lin Yao scarcely dared think about.
She decided to go easy on Jiang Cheng, not aiming to completely control him.
Instead, she set a more modest goal, to have Jiang Cheng confess his feelings for her!
That shouldn’t be too hard, right?
It was nearly time for school to open its doors, and Lin Yao walked to the entrance of the residential complex and hailed a taxi, quickly arriving at the Advanced Middle School.
Jiang Cheng was in Class Three, while Lin Yao was in Class Four; the two classes were next to each other, making it inevitable to pass by the next-door classroom’s corridor.
Lin Yao was already a focal point at the Advanced Middle School, turning heads wherever she went.
She never cared how others looked at her, though.
But today, as she passed by Jiang Cheng’s class, Lin Yao deliberately walked a bit slower.
She tried to make sure Jiang Cheng saw that she had arrived at school.
However, Jiang Cheng unexpectedly hadn’t shown up!
Given Jiang Cheng’s character of being a stickler for rules, Lin Yao didn’t think he would be late.
Something must have happened.
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Yao stood at the entrance of Class Three and called out, “Cao, could you come out for a minute?”
Cao Wang pointed to himself, “Me?”
“Yes.”
Cao Wang was puzzled, but the person calling him out was Lin Yao, and he saw no reason to refuse.
Lin Yao was indeed beautiful, the kind whose beauty had no bad angles, whether one looked from afar or up close.
Standing in front of Lin Yao, Cao Wang subconsciously felt nervous, and if he hadn’t recently lost all secular desires, he might have struggled even to speak properly in front of her.
“Cao, didn’t Jiang come today?”
Cao Wang: ?
He asked in surprise, “Why are you too asking about Jiang Cheng?”
Too?
Lin Yao’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
“Has someone else been asking about Jiang too?”
“From our class, Xie Linshan.”
Xie Linshan?
She seemed to be the universally acknowledged school beauty of Class Three.
Lin Yao’s eyes moved past Cao Wang and into the classroom of Class Three.
As expected, nearly everyone in Class Three was watching her conversation with Cao Wang, and naturally, that included Xie Linshan.
Lin Yao didn’t shy away from Xie Linshan’s gaze; instead, she locked eyes with her fiercely.
Xie Linshan couldn’t hold her gaze in front of Lin Yao for even a second before she had to lower her head and avert her eyes.
The silent yet fierce clashes between female cultivators were just like that.
Lin Yao smiled gently and appropriately.
However, inside she was discontent: “Humph, what worthless weeds, daring to covet my Jiang?
“Cao, where on earth did Jiang go?” she asked gently.
Cao Wang was utterly captivated by Lin Yao’s soft voice, and he filled her in on Jiang Cheng’s whereabouts in complete detail.
“Jiang Cheng said he has some new task and might not be able to make it to school today.”
Lin Yao nodded, feeling a twinge of regret over not being able to see Jiang Cheng, but more than that, she felt a pride welling up within her.
While many clueless high school students were still giggling in the classroom, Jiang Cheng was already making acquaintances with high-ranking cultivators and embarking on Talisman tasks.
These high school brats didn’t even qualify to carry Jiang Cheng’s shoes for him.
“Cao, could Yao’er ask for your communicator number? You are after all Jiang’s good friend. Yao’er admires you quite a bit, Cao.”
Holy shit!
What’s it like when the only goddess every high school male cultivator dreams of asks for your number?
This is just too freaking amazing!
As soon as Lin Yao asked, Cao Wang dared not refuse, hastily giving his number with a flattered look on his face.
Even after Lin Yao bid him goodbye and returned to Class Four, Cao Wang still couldn’t believe it.
Lin Yao had asked for his contact info? And she said she admired him a lot?
If this were before the college entrance exams, it would’ve been something he couldn’t even dream of!
In Cao Wang’s wildest dreams, he only imagined holding Lin Yao’s hand. He had heard of her reputation; countless people in advanced middle school pursued her, and among them were plenty of eligible, wealthy, and handsome men, but no one succeeded in getting her to agree to date. Nobody had even managed to hold her hand.
So, for Cao Wang, dreaming about holding Lin Yao’s hand was already incredibly bold.
But soon after, Cao Wang fell into a dilemma.
If Lin Yao liked him, should he betray his good brother and accept Lin Yao’s feelings?
Love on one side, brotherhood on the other, what a difficult choice!
There’s not much serious business for high school students returning to school after their college entrance exams.
The main tasks are only three:
Teacher version: Release college entrance exam results. Student version: The scholar show-off convention is live on-site.
Teacher version: Issue high school diplomas. Student version: Plan a meal after school, where the wealthy kids show off their prowess.
Teacher version: Take a high school graduation group photo. Student version: Casual wear playtime starts now! Short sleeves! Skirts! Shorts! Sandals! Long live the summer!
Cao Wang could handle the first two tasks for Jiang Cheng, but for the last one, the graduation group photo, he couldn’t split himself to pose for Jiang Cheng.
The graduation photo is a quite ceremonial activity for graduates in advanced middle schools.
Basically, every graduating class takes one.
And it’s necessary to have all the subject teachers and school leaders join in as well.
Most of the school leaders are grade directors and vice principals, as Principal Yang Lingbao usually prefers not to show up outside of teachers’ conferences.
But today, Yang Lingbao made the rare decision to attend the teacher-student group photo session. His abnormal behavior caught many teachers off guard.
Although the class advisors were somewhat nervous and busy, having the principal come still made it seem more presentable.
What was supposed to be a happy and harmonious event for everyone turned into a surprise when it came to Class Three of senior year.
Jiang Cheng didn’t show up!
The principal, vice principals, several subject teachers, and the whole class were all waiting for Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng’s class advisor, Ma Yu, was about to lose his mind trying to alleviate the awkwardness, and he led the principal and other leaders to Class Four for photos first.
But this was only a temporary delay.
All other classes had finished taking their photos, leaving only Class Three. Still, Jiang Cheng hadn’t arrived.
As a crowd of people waited for Jiang Cheng to take photos, Ma Yu, anxious like an ant on a hot pan, said, “Cao Wang! Have you contacted Jiang Cheng yet? Is he coming or not?”
Cao Wang was worried too: “Jiang Cheng went to take on some task, he said he would be here soon.”
“What task could he possibly have that’s more important than returning to school after graduation? This is preposterous!”
After Ma Yu burst into a rage, he quickly whispered to Cao Wang, “Get Jiang Cheng here fast; our principal is not someone to be trifled with! Hurry him up!”
Yang Lingbao had a formidable reputation among the teachers and was additionally a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage with a boundless future ahead.
If Jiang Cheng’s action angered him, it’s likely that his newly acquired diploma would encounter an untimely little mishap.
But unexpectedly, Yang Lingbao, who had been waiting under the sun for Jiang Cheng, didn’t reprimand Ma Yu or the absent Jiang Cheng. Instead, he cheerfully said, “It’s pretty normal for students to be a bit late because they have things to do. Look at you, Mr. Ma, you can’t keep your composure.”