Chapter 79

When Tao Luanxi arrived at the door of her house, Qiu Yi called.

"Where are you?" Qiu Yi asked breathlessly on the other end of the phone. The wind was howling all around. Qiu Yi clicked his tongue impatiently and said, "I should have discovered it earlier. Qiu Mingde knew about it a long time ago, but he just kept silent."

"Yeah," Tao Luanxi lowered her eyes, "He came to see me today."

Qiu Yi suddenly fell silent. The receiver was silent for a long while. After a long while, Qiu Yi finally spoke: "What did he tell you?"

"Fifty million, leave my grandson alone."

Qiu Yi sneered: "Old man, you should have saved some money. If it was 50 million, I could have given it to you. It's too much to choose me."

"Can you give me 50 million?"

"If you want it, I can give it to you." Qiu Yi lowered his voice, "Not only can I give it to you, but I also provide a free bed-warming service. It's definitely worth it."

Tao Luanxi smiled: "You said it, don't regret it. In fact, I made up that sentence just now. Your grandfather didn't say it."

"You don't want to give me a penny? I never thought he was so stingy. So, you should just stay with me." Qiu Yi took a deep breath and said, "The old man's bodyguards are really hard to deal with. I'm coming out and will be back soon. I want to see you."

"I'm going to my home today." Tao Luanxi felt bitter in his mouth. He also wanted to see Qiu Yi, but he couldn't do it now.

"Are you going to school tomorrow? I want to see you, too."

"I'll go."

Tao Luanxi hung up the phone and opened the door with the key. As usual, the silly girl was desperately pushing the door before it was opened. When the door lock was opened, she rushed out and lay on Tao Luanxi, licking his face vigorously.

Tao Luanxi held Silly Girl's head with both hands, rubbing it up and down to soothe it. The aroma of food wafted out of the kitchen, a familiar smell to Tao Luanxi.

Mr. Tao usually sat on the sofa in the living room and read the news on his phone. When he saw Tao Luanxi walk in, he just raised his eyelids slightly and said lightly, "You're back. I've been preparing since your mother left. Wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

Mother Tao came out of the kitchen carrying the last plate of sweet and sour pork tenderloin. Seeing Tao Luanxi, she hurried over and touched her son's face eagerly: "Why do you look so bad? Are you sick?"

"It's fine now." Tao Luanxi held the warm hand on her face fondly, and after a while she let out a long sigh: "Mom and Dad, I came back today to tell you something."

"What are you talking about? Just say it after dinner." Tao's father put down his phone and sat at the table by himself, holding chopsticks in one hand and calling Tao Luanxi with the other hand: "Hurry up, your mother prepared a table of dishes for you to come back, all of which are your favorites."

"This is important, and I want to talk about it now."

Tao Luanxi's expression was serious and earnest. A piece of chicken was already at his mouth. After looking at Tao Luanxi for a while, he put down his chopsticks, clasped his hands together and looked at his son: "You say it!"

"I like someone, a boy."

The room was silent. Mr. Tao frowned, as if considering the truthfulness of Tao Luanxi's words.

"That person, Mom should have met him when she came to my place that day. I think you should have seen something wrong. That person is my current boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Tao's father repeated loudly, and said in disbelief: "Xixi, do you know what you are talking about? How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen. After my birthday this year, I'll be seventeen."

"You're only seventeen, Xixi. Do you understand what it means to like a boy?"

"Gay, I know, but I can't help it, I just like him."

"It's Qiu Yi, right? You and him, when did you start dating?" Qiu's mother pulled Tao Luanxi's shoulders and said, "Are you living together now? You told us that you wanted to move out, so does that mean you want to live with him?"

"I didn't think so at first, but then it became what you saw the last time you came here."

Mother Tao seemed unable to bear the blow and sat dejectedly on the chair, holding her forehead.

"I'm sorry, I know my decision will hurt you, but I still want to tell you about this. I don't want to deceive you." Tao Luanxi stood straight and bowed deeply to the couple: "I'm sorry."

The atmosphere at home fell to the freezing point because of Tao Luanxi's words. The meal was barely touched. Neither the Tao couple would use violence. After the meal, Tao's mother lowered her head and went into the kitchen to clean up. Tao's father had a sullen face and said to Tao Luanxi in the best tone he could: "You said this too abruptly. Your mother and I need time to sort out and digest it. Do you understand?"

Tao Luanxi smiled bitterly and nodded. Of course he had no problem with it, but he was just wondering how Qiu Mingde would handle the matter.

"This matter is all my fault, no matter what. I hope you and mom are all right."

Mr. Tao looked at Tao Luanxi quietly. After a while, Mr. Tao reached out and patted Tao Luanxi on the shoulder: "No matter what, you are still your mother's and my child. This will never change."

Tao Luanxi's eyes were slightly warm: "Thank you, Dad!"

The next morning, Tao Luanxi went to school with her schoolbag as usual. The gate of No. 1 Middle School was still crowded with people. The spacious and imposing gate carried the low-key pretentiousness of No. 1 Middle School. On the first day Tao Luanxi came here to study, she felt that the temperament of No. 1 Middle School was exactly the same as hers.

Tao Luanxi took a deep breath, pulled his thoughts back from the past, and walked steadily towards the campus of No. 1 Middle School step by step in the crowd.

The results of the monthly exam were posted on the bulletin board downstairs in the teaching building yesterday. Tao Luanxi passed by and did not stop for a moment. He did not care about the results anymore.

Tao Luanxi unexpectedly felt in a good mood. In the past, he always thought that grades were more important than anything else, but now he has gotten rid of this idea and opened his eyes to look at the world. It turns out that there are many things that are much more important than studying.

Tao Luanxi smiled, glad that he knew it not too late. In the past, Tao Luanxi regarded "being the focus of the crowd" as his first goal in life. Today, from the moment he stepped into the school gate, he has been looked at strangely.

It was obvious that Qiu Mingde had taken action.

Tao Luanxi wanted to thank him. She had worked hard for so many years, but the results were not as significant as Qiu Mingde's.

Walking all the way to the floor where Class A was, before he even got close to the classroom, Tao Luanxi heard a loud crash inside. Tao Luanxi took a look inside and saw Qiu Yi standing on the podium with a dark face. The projection screen used for teaching was torn off and scattered on the ground. Half of the projector had fallen off and was dangling in the air relying on the only remaining wire.

"What are you doing?"

When Qiu Yi heard Tao Luanxi's voice, he suddenly turned his head to look at him. There was still a hint of hostility on his face. Qiu Yi frowned and looked at Tao Luanxi with complicated eyes.

The students in the class were so frightened by Qiu Yi's rage that they hid in the back, not daring to make a sound and just staring blankly at the two people in front of them.

There was a crumpled ball of paper under the desk, most likely Qiu Yi's work. Tao Luanxi picked it up and unfolded it, revealing a nonchalant smile: "Your grandfather's trick was pretty bad, but it's also true."

Qiu Yi stared at Tao Luanxi steadily, his eyes filled with hurt expressions.

In contrast, Tao Luanxi was frighteningly calm. He raised his head, smiled at Qiu Yi, and said loudly, "I like you. Since you are a boy, we are gay, that's right."

Tao Luanxi turned around and looked at the classmates crowded at the back of the class. He looked around carefully, with suspicion, fear, even understanding and contempt. Tao Luanxi smiled and said, "I like Qiu Yi, and he likes me too. This is our relationship."

"But the novel was not written by me. It was written by my sister. She fantasized about Qiu Yi and me. At that time, Qiu Yi and I were just classmates." Tao Luanxi shrugged, with a relaxed expression: "So, whether you have a crush on me or Qiu Yi, you can give up. We are gay and it's not worth it."

"Tao Luanxi, you..." Qiu Yi reached out and grabbed Tao Luanxi's wrist.

"I told my family last night." Tao Luanxi held his hand and said, "I should have told you earlier. Now that I've said it, I feel much more relieved."

"Qiu Yi, I want to hold hands, hug and kiss you openly in school. We are just in love, there is nothing shameful."

Qiu Yi's expression softened, and he pulled Tao Luanxi to put his forehead against his own: "But you shouldn't suffer like this."

Qiu Mingde's method this time did not involve any technical content. He simply brought out the affairs between Tao Luanxi and Qiu Yi and publicized them as much as possible in the student group. At the same time, he deliberately removed Qiu Yi from the matter and made him look like a victim who was innocently seduced.

Tao Luanxi found this quite funny. Even if someone really read the information that Qiu Mingde spread in the school, combined with Qiu Yi's extremely protective attitude towards him in school these days, it is hard to believe that Qiu Yi is just an innocent "victim". Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Qiu Yi obviously cares more about Tao Luanxi.

Without any restraints, Qiu Yi and Tao Luanxi were almost always together in school. Holding hands and hugging shoulders were just trivial matters. If Tao Luanxi had not been unwilling, Qiu Yi would definitely not mind performing a French kiss in school.

This incident caused an uproar in the school. Qiu Yi smashed the projector equipment of Class A and warned everyone with a dark face that he didn't mind the disgusting exclusion of homosexuals, but if anyone dared to use this incident to bully Tao Luanxi, he would definitely send him to the intensive care unit of the hospital for a week.

The effect of saying this was quite obvious. Even if someone really hated them, they wouldn't dare to say anything directly. Tao Luanxi himself felt relieved, but it caused Shen Tan to become so angry that he almost fainted.

They would definitely be scolded and would definitely have to write a self-criticism. Shen Tan crossed his arms over his chest and scolded both of them for an hour without repeating a word. He pointed at Qiu Yi's nose and ordered him to resolve the matter as soon as possible. Until the matter was settled, the two of them were not allowed to come to school.

Shen Tan scolded, and Tao Luanxi listened carefully. After he finished scolding, Tao Luanxi bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you, teacher, for still considering us at this time."

Shen Tan snorted coldly: "If I had to deal with students like you, I would have lived ten years less. I don't want you to show off in front of me because I want to live a few more days."

They listened to the scolding and wrote self-criticisms, but the two of them still reported to school on time every day, and attended classes and studied without a care in the world under the gaze of all the teachers and students.

Tao Luanxi and Qiu Yi both knew that Shen Tan had good intentions in not letting them come to school, but even if they hid, the pressure from Qiu Mingde would not stop, and there was no point in escaping like this.

Qiu Yi has been secretly investigating Qiu Mingde's plan, but there has been no progress. A few days later, Tao Luanxi was invited to the office by the principal without Qiu Yi's knowledge.

The content of the chat was simple, it was just that the matter between Tao Luanxi and Qiu Yi had spread everywhere, and the school had been considering ways to resolve it, and finally agreed that the best option was for one of them to transfer to another school.

"Tao Luanxi, what do you think?" The principal put his hands together and said softly, "If you agree, I will help you solve the school problems. You are a good seedling, but you still need to study hard. There is still a long way to go in the future."

Tao Luanxi smiled and said, "Thank you for taking the trouble to arrange where I will go. But you just mentioned that I am one of the transfer students. I want to ask if Qiu Yi knows about this?"

"Tao Luanxi, this is the unanimous decision of the school directors. You have good qualifications in all aspects. Even if you go to another school, you can still become a top student."

Tao Luanxi nodded: "To be honest, in the past year since I came to No. 1 Middle School, Qiu Yi has been ranked first in many exams and competitions. He also has participated in more competitions. If we really talk about it, I don't think I can compare to him. Even if I go to another place, he is more suitable than me."

"Tao Luanxi, I hope you can obey the school's arrangements," the principal's face turned cold. "If you always have this attitude, we can only expel you from the school."

"Expel me?" Tao Luanxi smiled, resting her hands on the desk in the principal's office. "If I really made a big mistake and need to be punished, there's no need for you to step in. I'll just leave right away. I've always thought I performed well, and you have no right to expel me just because I'm gay!"

The author has something to say: The next chapter will be the ending, and then there will be a sequel.