The air around was very cold, and the thick water vapor melted into the fog, making people shiver with cold.
Mingqiao lent his shoulder to Shi Xin, chewing a slightly salty biscuit. The biscuit had been sitting there for many days and was a little damp, not as crispy as usual, but after three days of tossing and turning in the library, he was already sleepy and hungry, so he didn't care about these details. Now he just hoped that there would be no more intense exercise in the teaching building, because his physique really couldn't stand it.
He had never slept well in the library. Now that he was out, with Shi Xin beside him, Mingqiao slowly closed his eyes while the morning light was still dim.
However, just as he was becoming drowsy, a hand patted his shoulder.
Mingqiao originally thought that it was Shi Xin who put his hand up, and his eyelashes trembled, but after he reacted, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked up in the direction of the hand.
"Director Jiang?" The owner of the hand had a naive face and a stiff smile, but he looked much more normal than the "monster" Lao Jiang that Mingqiao had seen in the office before.
"Follow me." Lao Jiang said as he walked towards the teaching building, not intending to give Mingqiao a chance to refuse.
Mingqiao sat there without moving.
Shi Xin's head, which was resting on Ming Qiao's shoulder, moved a little, and his soft hair rubbed against the skin of his neck and chin, which was a little itchy.
"If you want me to go with you, you have to give me a reasonable explanation first." Mingqiao said, looking at Lao Jiang's back.
Lao Jiang stopped walking, turned back, and spoke without a trace of emotion: "You know, you were supposed to be an NPC."
"If I was supposed to be an NPC, why am I here?" Ming Qiao said, "It was what happened in the office that caused your plan to go awry, right?"
There were subtle changes in Chiang's expression, all of which were seen by Mingqiao.
"The girl named Jiang Wen in the office was the 'regularization assessment' you left for me. At that time, she had violated the rules and attracted the monster that was neither human nor ghost. If I were an NPC, I could take the opportunity to kill this burden and let the monster tear her apart and eat her, but I chose to save her. Even if the monster would eat me, I would not let it hurt Jiang Wen again. This interrupted your plan and meant that I failed the assessment." Ming Qiao narrowed his eyes, and his originally dark pupils were now deep and bursting with a dangerous aura: "So later, wherever I went was my assessment site. You wanted me to become an NPC at all costs, because you knew that as long as I was alive, I would definitely save people. But if I became an NPC, I would be completely under your control, and naturally I would not interfere with your selection of talents through this life-threatening exam. The damned students would die, and the ones left behind are what you need."
"I don't know that."
Mingqiao felt like he was hitting cotton when he saw his stubborn look.
If Lao Jiang had not come here today, Mingqiao might not have made such speculations at all - he was the one who pushed him into the office in the first place, and he was the one who came to find him now, so it was inevitable that Mingqiao would connect this series of events.
"Follow me." Lao Jiang repeated.
Mingqiao still didn't move.
If there weren't more attractive conditions, he wouldn't abandon a bunch of "teammates" here and take the risk alone.
Lao Jiang's body trembled. He seemed to be trying his best to restrain some of his instincts, but his pupils still turned gray and white uncontrollably, as if he wanted to blend into the fog. He spoke slowly: "You can only truly live if you become an NPC."
Mingqiao was surprised at Lao Jiang's change and sudden change of heart. He looked suspiciously into those empty eyes and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Come here and tell me in detail."
Mingqiao lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then gently moved the head off his shoulder.
Now everyone was still asleep, no one noticed that he had left. When Ming Qiao stood up, he staggered a bit due to muscle pain, but he stood up quickly again: "Let's go."
But Mingqiao never imagined that what he would see after following Lao Jiang to the principal's office would be this scene: the old principal and Sun Guiping were standing in the open space in the middle of the principal's office, pulling each other's gray hair and cursing at each other.
"Your precious student is here!" The old principal glanced at the door and suddenly started shouting.
"Old man, stop lying to me!" Sun Guiping also shouted.
Mingqiao was standing at the door looking a little dazed. He considered himself lucky to have seen these two people pulling each other's hair in his lifetime.
"Teacher Sun." Mingqiao called out.
The two people in the room stopped what they were doing, and Sun Guiping turned around and looked over.
Mingqiao nodded to him as a greeting: "Teacher Sun, are you okay?"
Sun Guiping was the first to let go of the other person's hair. He stood up straight, adjusted his crooked glasses, and smiled at Mingqiao: "Good boy, come here quickly."
Mingqiao stood where he was, his eyes calmly passing over Sun Guiping and looking at the computer behind him.
Originally there was only one computer in the principal's office, but now another one has been added, placed back to back with the original computer. At this time, the screen of the new computer is facing the door, allowing Mingqiao to see it clearly.
There were rows of letters and various symbols on the computer screen. Even Mingqiao, an outsider, could tell that this was some kind of program.
"What are you doing?" Mingqiao asked.
"Examination." Sun Guiping finally noticed Mingqiao's gaze and said, "Would you like to take a look at what your old principal invented?"
"No." Mingqiao focused his gaze on him again, "Just tell me what you want me to do."
Sun Guiping and the old principal looked at each other. After a moment of silence, Sun Guiping compromised and chuckled twice: "Originally, I wanted you to do us a small favor. After all, you are the only one in this school. I didn't expect you to make such a big noise. Well, those children don't need you to save them at all. They are not going to die. I asked you to come here to be an invigilator and help keep order. After the exam is over, we will all be safe."
Mingqiao didn't believe his words and went straight to the point: "Are you using the test to select the good students in your mind, right or not?"
Sun Guiping quickly waved his hands back and forth between himself and the old principal: "We, we."
Ming Qiao was speechless: "You are selecting the good students in your mind in this way."
"Yes." The old principal nodded while tidying up his messy sparse hair: "Selecting good students and letting them take the college entrance examination will inevitably lead to an increase in the enrollment rate."
Ming Qiao was furious: "What about those kids with poor grades?"
"Naturally..."
"Don't they even deserve a chance?" Mingqiao asked softly.
"Yes." Sun Guiping gave an affirmative answer calmly and as a matter of course.
Mingqiao continued to ask: "You called me here to control me?"
"That's not what I think." Sun Guiping waved his hand quickly: "I just want you to help me. The one who wants to stop you is your principal."
When Mingqiao first connected the clue with the name "Sun Guiping", he was excited. He was also happy when he saw Sun Guiping for the first time. But he didn't expect that now that the bloody facts were revealed in front of him, his most respected teacher would give him such a big surprise.
"Teacher, you are confused. No matter what your purpose is for calling me here, I will not stand on your side." Mingqiao said weakly and tiredly: "Examination is not the only purpose of our teaching. We teach students, people, normal people. They are not machines, not crazy people. They have their own thoughts and do not need you to screen them. They should get every opportunity fairly."
"It's a waste to give them a chance." Sun Guiping spread his hands indifferently: "Mingqiao, I thought you would understand what we are doing."
"I thought you would understand me, teacher." Ming Qiao sighed, "If you were me today, watching your favorite student struggling between life and death, would you feel as powerless as I do? And if you saw your favorite teacher was the instigator of all this, would you feel the same pain, shame, and hatred as I do?"
Sun Guiping rarely showed a conflicted look. He pursed his lips and stared at Mingqiao for a long time: "I thought you were still the same as before, as non-aggressive as your appearance."
"Yes, in your eyes, I am weak and timid. I am the student around you who is least likely to resist you and stand up to everything." Ming Qiao said seriously: "Yes, I am weak and timid, and I am powerless. But if I don't stand up, who can stand up? If I don't stand up, the students I teach will not stand up. In the end, I will let you create such an exam to destroy and insult their thoughts."
"It's not an insult! How can you speak so harshly, kid?"
For a moment, the atmosphere reached a low point. Mingqiao and Sun Guiping looked at each other coldly, and neither of them could convince the other.
"The exam is about to start." Old Jiang, who had been standing aside silently, reminded.
"Oh, yes, look at me, I forgot everything." The principal took a work card from the side and stuffed it into Mingqiao's hand: "You go to supervise the exam first, and we can discuss other things later."
"I won't go." Mingqiao stuffed his work badge into Lao Jiang's hand without even looking at it.
"Aren't you going to escort that journalist friend?" Sun Guiping asked angrily, "What will be his reaction when he wakes up and finds you missing? Will he come to the teaching building to take the exam? If you don't go to invigilate, then just stay here with us two old guys tinkering with computers and don't see anyone else."
Sun Guiping knew how to find Mingqiao's weak spot since he was in school. After he finished talking, Mingqiao had to go even if he didn't want to.
"Class 12." The principal said, "The child studied in both junior high and high school here. His file can be retrieved easily."
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