The Fake Girlfriend is Online - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Calling the Parents
The outdoor wind blew colder and colder. It was thought that this week would pass as ordinarily as any other, but unexpectedly, by Friday, news of the shouting match between Li Yulan and Mu Jinxuan had spread throughout the entire grade.
“Hey, Xuan-Ge hasn’t come out yet?” Luo Qi asked Qing Mo Ran worriedly.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you go check again?”
“Forget it. I went to the office earlier, and Li Yulan’s glare almost made me pee my pants.” Luo Qi instantly turned coward.
“Little Qi, I knew I couldn’t count on you,” Hu Hai mocked from the side.
“Crap! Big Head, if you’ve got the guts, you go look!”
“I’ll go! Whoever chickens out is a dog!”
Qing Mo Ran watched as Hu Hai marched out of the classroom aggressively, then turned to see Luo Qi covering his mouth and snickering.
“Little Qi… Hu Hai is way too easy to provoke…”
“Why else do you think we call him Big Head? Simple mind, strong body.”
With that, the two leaned over their desks and laughed.
During the thirty-minute long break, they waited and waited, but Mu Jinxuan did not return; even Hu Hai failed to reappear.
“Damn, is the Rakshasa’s office some kind of demon cave? How come neither of them can make it back?” Luo Qi clicked his tongue. He wasn’t actually worried about Big Head—at most, he’d get caught and scolded like himself—but Xuan-Ge had been called to the office the moment she arrived at school and still hadn’t returned. It was likely about more than just writing a self-reflection.
It wasn’t until the third period began that Hu Hai returned, looking disheveled and defeated. Regardless of how much Luo Qi winked at him from the front, he walked straight to his seat in the back.
Luo Qi didn’t give up. He wrote a note and had it passed from the third row all the way to the second-to-last row. Hu Hai took the note and wrote: “Li Yulan wants Xuan-Ge to call her parents, otherwise she’s never getting out of that office.” Then, he filled the entire back of the paper with insults directed at Luo Qi; he was furious at himself for being provoked into eavesdropping at Li Yulan’s door.
Meanwhile, Qing Mo Ran glanced at the bedraggled Hu Hai and continued flipping through her textbook, seemingly indifferent to her deskmate’s plight. As she read the concepts and listened to the teacher, she felt she had a good grasp of the material and turned to the exercises at the back of the book. During the two months before school started, she hadn’t wasted her time; she had spent half of every day self-studying. The points being taught now hadn’t even reached the limit of her progress.
While doing her homework, her eyes drifted toward the window. She caught sight of a familiar figure, but when she turned to look closer, the person was gone.
Not long after, Qing Mo Ran found out exactly who she had seen.
A man in a brown coat tapped politely on the door of Class 1. Every eye in the room instantly shifted toward him. A simple coat paired with jeans and high-top canvas shoes; standing over 180cm with a clean, sharp aura, he possessed a temperament rarely seen in kids who spent all their time on campus. The boys and girls in the class immediately began whispering about him, but his stern expression gave off a “don’t mess with me” vibe.
Qing Mo Ran recognized him at a glance—it was Gu Qing from the West District clinic.
Gu Qing knocked and inquired politely, though his expression looked like he was there to pick a fight. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m looking for Mu Jinxuan.”
The class turned in unison toward Qing Mo Ran—or more accurately, toward Mu Jinxuan’s seat. Gu Qing’s gaze followed theirs and landed on the seated Qing Mo Ran.
“Xiao Qing?” Gu Qing asked uncertainly. He remembered Mu Jinxuan saying this girl’s surname was “Qing” (Green/Azure).
Qing Mo Ran massaged her temples. Xiao Qing? What am I, the Green Snake from Legend of the White Snake?
The teacher finally realized this must be Mu Jinxuan’s guardian. “Oh, you’re Mu Jinxuan’s parent/guardian? She’s still in Director Li’s office. Qing Mo Ran, why don’t you lead him over?”
“That would be a help,” Gu Qing said, making himself right at home.
Having been assigned a task out of nowhere, Qing Mo Ran desperately wanted to refuse. Had she known, she would have kept up the “crippled” act; at least they wouldn’t make a person on crutches run errands. But as a “good-girl academic star,” she had to agree to the teacher’s arrangement.
Though reluctant to wade into these muddy waters, she kept a polite smile on her face. “Uncle Gu, this way.”
Gu Qing stumbled at the title, barely suppressing a curse in front of the high schoolers. As Qing Mo Ran led the way, Gu Qing followed closely, his eyes fixed on her legs without any pretense of looking elsewhere.
“Uncle Gu, what are you looking at?”
“Am I really that old? ‘Uncle’?” Gu Qing tilted his chin, his tone blunt. “Mu Jinxuan calls me ‘Brother.’ Does that mean you’re going to call Mu Jinxuan ‘Auntie’?”
Qing Mo Ran found herself unable to argue. She could only obediently call out, “Brother Qing.”
Having won that small victory, Gu Qing gave a light snort. “Mu Jinxuan mentioned your leg injury was cured by your mother’s folk remedy?”
Hearing this, Qing Mo Ran muttered under her breath: “Ni ma de” (Your mother’s / D*mn it).
“What?”
“Nothing. Why do you ask, Brother Qing?” Qing Mo Ran suppressed the profanity and asked with a smile.
“I just wanted to see if it’s convenient for you to show me the recipe.”
“Mhm?” Why does he want that?
Perhaps realizing it was inappropriate to ask for a family secret from someone he’d only met twice, Gu Qing fell silent for the rest of the walk.
Qing Mo Ran tapped on the office door. Hearing Li Yulan’s “Come in,” she signaled to Gu Qing that she was leaving. Gu Qing nodded his thanks and pushed the door open, but Li Yulan called out the moment she saw Qing Mo Ran.
“Wait, Qing Mo Ran. You come in too.”
Ever since Gu Qing showed his face, the atmosphere in Class 1 had been unusually high. Teachers said they had never seen the students so active, but clearly, the focus wasn’t on the lessons.
“Holy crap, was that Xuan-Ge’s parent?”
“D*mn, he’s dangerously handsome. Is he a boy band idol or something?”
“Right? He looks a bit like that rising star who’s popular lately.”
“But looking at his age, he can’t be her dad, right?”
“Maybe her brother?”
“Then how does Qing Mo Ran know him? Were they already friends before they were sat together?”
As the saying goes, “three people make a tiger”—rumors are born from many mouths. By the time class ended, there were several different versions of the story involving Qing Mo Ran, Mu Jinxuan, and Gu Qing.
Luo Qi immediately ran to Hu Hai, once again trying to goad “Big Head” into eavesdropping.
“No way! Not even if you kill me! You just want to get me in trouble and inherit my fifty-cent estate,” Hu Hai said resentfully.
“Get lost! Who wants your fifty cents? Unless you add a dime to it. But aren’t you curious why Qing Mo Ran hasn’t come back after a whole period?” Luo Qi rubbed his chin, brainstorming ways to overhear.
“I’m curious, but I want to stay alive,” Hu Hai shot back. “If you’re so brave, you go find out.”
“Wait, Big Head, I have a brilliant idea! Let’s go together. We’ll find another teacher in the office as an excuse, and then listen in on Xuan-Ge.” Luo Qi stood up abruptly, pulling Hu Hai toward the door.
Hu Hai clung to his desk like his life depended on it. “Scram! Go by yourself. Don’t drag me into your death wish. If Li Yulan catches us, we’ll both be writing self-reflections.”
“And you call yourself the sports rep,” Luo Qi mocked, though he sat back down. He figured Xuan-Ge was so capable that she’d surely be fine.
Just then, a commotion broke out in the hallway.
Mu Jinxuan glared fiercely at the crowd surrounding them. The onlookers shrank back in fear of the “Bully,” but it didn’t stop their whispering.
“It’s true! That guy is so handsome. Could he be her boyfriend?”
“Are you stupid? Who has the guts to hire a boyfriend to fake being a parent?” The crowd considered this. They certainly didn’t have the guts, but the School Bully? You never knew.
The three people being discussed all looked terrible. Even Qing Mo Ran, who usually maintained her “good girl” image, had a stiff, dark expression.
“Mu Jinxuan, don’t you ever call me for this kind of thing again. If the school calls me again, I’m throwing my phone away!” Gu Qing, who had just experienced his first-ever “office tea session” with a teacher, was furious.
“It’s not like I called you,” Mu Jinxuan snapped back. Gu Qing was so irritated he stopped responding and marched away.
This left Mu Jinxuan and Qing Mo Ran standing awkwardly in the hallway.
“Deskmate, sorry, I…” Before Mu Jinxuan could finish, she saw her deskmate ignore her completely and turn back into the classroom.
Accompanied by Qing Mo Ran’s low-pressure aura, the students didn’t even dare to speak loudly as the two walked in. One could understand Bully Mu’s mood—she’d been stuck with the Rakshasa and forced to call a parent—but why did “Academic Star Qing” look so terrifying?
The sound of a chair screeching across the floor was jarringly clear. Qing Mo Ran sat down and flipped open a workbook to start working, otherwise, she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t hit Mu Jinxuan.
Earlier in the office…
“Qing Mo Ran, I remember you were first in the entrance exams, right? Since you two are deskmates, you will be responsible for tutoring Mu Jinxuan in Physics. I want to see results by the final exam. If she doesn’t meet the standard, both of you will write a self-reflection and read it in front of the entire school next semester.”
In the office, the three of them were stunned by Li Yulan’s “collective punishment” tactic. Gu Qing watched the drama unfold; Qing Mo Ran’s expression darkened as she mentally cursed; and Mu Jinxuan tried in vain to talk her out of it. The result was predictable.
Having seen a different side of Qing Mo Ran, Mu Jinxuan didn’t dare provoke her now. Anyone would feel unlucky to be saddled with this, especially because of someone else.
Seeing Luo Qi and Hu Hai nearby—silent but eyes gleaming with curiosity—she briefly explained the situation. She stared at the usually clever Luo Qi, hoping he had some trick up his sleeve.
Luo Qi just gave her a “Black Man Question Mark” face, clearly shocked by Li Yulan’s move. He shrugged as if to say: “Good luck with that.”