"What… is this?"
"It's the dropout form, sir. I already filled and signed it."
"You… are dropping out from Tsinghai?"
"Yes, sir."
"That's preposterous!"
Ah, there we go. Yun Hao thought that it was too peaceful. When he entered the gates of the school, the most he got were the usual stares that he had been getting for the past year, even though he painstakingly groomed himself, it would seem that the people from Tsinghai High School were too far gone.
Just what exactly did he do to incur these people's abhor? Now that his focus was completely elsewhere, his thoughts were finally able to align clearly. Sure, he admits to himself that he was somewhat unsympathetic when he was still the school's star athlete more than a year ago, but it was only because his only goal back then was to train and win.
He had no time for anything else except for boxing and… Zhang Angela.
Sure, the students here could have been jealous of him, maybe even loathe him because he was getting too much of the attention while being below the poverty line. But to go so far as to collectively bully him was a tad bit too much, seeing as even the school staff was included, or at least turning a blind eye to it, something else was involved. Or perhaps it was better to say that someone else is involved.
Long Yazhu.
Everything was and is Long Yazhu's fault. He still had one eye left, and yet he was really too blind to see-- the whole school really was under Long Yazhu's paycheck, and the actions of the guidance counselor in front of him were all the more proving that.
"Why would you even drop out!? Have you no gratitude to the school for giving you the chance to become more than you are!?"
"Sir, I don't want any trouble, I am just here to formally process my withdrawal from the school," that was a lie. He was enjoying every second of this.
"You are still under the school's scholarship," the guidance counselor scoffed as he tried to calm himself down, afterward, he looked Yun Hao straight in the eye, "If you really wish to withdraw, then you would need to pay the fee for breaching the contract with the school, as well as the costs sustained during this year. Now be a good boy and go back to class, I see here you just went back from a 2-week medical leave, we don't want you getting ex--"
"How much?"
"Ex...cuse me?"
"How much do I need to pay for me to officially withdraw from the school? I am willing to pay whatever severance fee comes up."
"It's $15,000, Yun Hao, and we both know that you will not be able to procure that much money," the guidance counselor let out another scoff as he took his eyes away from Yun Hao and started fidgeting with his computer, "Now run along, I still have other students to see."
"Do you accept credit cards?" Yun Hao then placed 3 cards on top of the counselor's desk, trying his best not to let out a smirk. He had always wanted to do this in front of one of the people from the school, and it really was worth it seeing the stupefied look on the counselor's face.
"Where… did you get this?"
"I'm actually the son of a hidden tycoon."
"W… what?"
"Or I won the lotto, which answer would you like to hear, sir?" Yun Hao then tapped the counselor's desk, slightly shaking it and causing some of the papers littered on it to slide down, "Please, sign my withdrawal, sir."
The guidance counselor truly was not expecting this kind of situation and he could not help but feel annoyed from the slight arrogance that he was hearing from Yun Hao's voice, "You dare leave the school after all we've done for you!?"
"Like what, sir?"
"What do you mean like what!?" The guidance counselor stood up from his seat as he slammed his palm on the desk, "You were nothing, Yun Hao! You were nothing before we gave you the scholarship and invited you to join our boxing team!"
"Last I checked, your boxing team was the one that was nothing before I came," Yun Hao did not avoid the guidance counselor's glare. Although he was trying his best to hold himself back, the tremble in his voice could not be hidden, "Every prestige of your boxing team…
...came from me."
"We had good boxers even before you came!"
"...Sure. Please sign the dropout form before this gets messy, sir."
"Fine!" The guidance counselor once again slammed his palm on the desk before signing Yun Hao's dropout form, almost scratching the paper with how deep his pen was scratching it, "Go! Let us see how far you'll go as a high school dropout! We did our best, and yet you insist on biting the hand that feeds yo-- !!!"
Before the guidance counselor could finish his words, he felt his vision hindered as the warmth of Yun Hao's palm covered his face.
"W… what are you doing!?" The guidance counselor's muffled screams sipped through the edges of Yun Hao's trembling hand. The guidance counselor was going to say more, but when he saw the somewhat frenzied look on Yun Hao's face, he chose to shut his mouth.
Yun Hao really tried his best not to lose control of his emotions, but with the last words that came out of the guidance counselor's mouth, his hand just moved on its own. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew that he didn't have much control over his newfound strength, then he could have probably killed the guidance counselor here and now.
And if he did kill him, which he didn't want to as he wasn't a bloodthirsty murderer, Yun Hao would probably be killed and subdued by the school's roaming security, which held quite a number of cultivators.
"Please stop this, stop this!"
A familiar voice then entered Yun Hao's ears before he felt his arm being tried to pull away. Yun Hao quickly looked towards the owner of the hands, only to see his former coach, Geng Wei, smiling awkwardly at him.
"Please calm down, Mr. Yun Hao, let's not resort to violence. Remember what I taught you?"
"Respectfully, sir. You didn't teach me anything," Yun Hao breathed as he let go of the guidance counselor.
"Of course I didn't, your potential was above us all," Geng Wei once again chuckled awkwardly as his somewhat sheepish tone slithered to Yun Hao's ears.
"..." Geng Wei was up to something, and Yun Hao definitely did not want to find out what it was as he slowly backed away, reaching for the signed withdrawal form from the desk. But before the tip of his fingers could even touch it, Geng Wei suddenly pulled it away.
"Please, Mr. Yun Hao, let me be the one to hand this over to the Records and Accounting department. It will take a few hours before this gets processed, so there might be a time there that you would change your mind and suddenly decide to stay with us after all."
"...My decision is final, coa-- sir."
"Geng Wei, what are you doing!? Let the bastard go if he want--"
Before the guidance counselor could finish his words, Geng Wei covered his mouth.
"If you do decide to stay, we'll even give you a full refund of everything you ever paid to the school, as well as your own room in the dormitories. What do you say?"
"...No, sir," Yun Hao shook his head as he asked for the paper back, "My decision has been made."
"Alright, alright. Whatever our star athlete says," Geng Wei raised his hands in defeat before giving the form back to Yun Hao, "But it will still take a few hours before the office could process your withdrawal, so why don't you come with me to reminisce around the school? Your brothers in the gym miss you."
"No," Yun Hao wasn't even listening to anything that Geng Wei was saying anymore as he left the room, not even bowing towards the two.
"That… that blatant disrespect! Why are you letting that bastard get away with this, Geng Wei!? Do you want me to recommend a cut in the budget of the boxing team!?"
"He's a cultivator."
"What?"
"Yun Hao…
...he is a Cultivator now."
***
"Please come back in an hour."
"Alright, thanks."
Yun Hao could not help but let out a long and deep sigh as his withdrawal was finally being processed. That was a close call back in the guidance office, if his former coach did not arrive, then Yun Hao didn't know what he could have done. He really should learn how to restrain himself now that he has a lot more strength compared to a normal human…
...and with his new strength, perhaps a bigger appetite was required as his stomach started violently growling. The growling was loud enough to get the attention of the people from the accounting window. Yun Hao quickly tucked in his stomach to stop the sound from going any further; it had been a while since he had done so as he has not been hungry ever since he obtained the unusual amount of money he had and has now.
And so, with that thought, Yun Hao quickly headed towards the cafeteria to get something to eat…
...only to meet the stupid faces of his classmates that he hadn't seen for more than 2 weeks.