DPPM Chapter 57.1 – Affair (1)

Hello, hello~ I’m digging a new pit, this time with a novel that made me cry! If you like reading Fake Slackers (and SVWL), this one is highly recommended for you! Before EAMRF finished, this series will be updated sporadically, though. So expect steady updates next year. 

There’s also several stylistic(?) differences of the tl, such as using “X-laoshi” and not “Teacher X”, not capitalizing “Nanwu” on the W and not italicizing “X-ge” and such… those are just my preferences. 

–Plus, this is edited MTL, and I’m still learning Chinese, pardon my mistakes.  _(´ཀ`」 ∠) _ 

Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, please and thank you~

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II “doesn’t it sound like we are having an affair?”

After Song Yan first heard Jiang Yuanyuan talk about Xia Zhiye’s plan, his first reaction was: ‘How did Xia Zhiye know about it?’

His second reaction was: ‘Since Xia Zhiye knew about this, he must have brought back his phone, why didn’t he contact me?’

His third reaction was: ‘Since he wanted to help, I’ll listen to his plan.’ 

His own plan to record Shang Wei has both legal risks and equipment problems. It was far less direct and impactful than real-time broadcasts. Plus, the latter had a wider range. 

So he’ll listen to Xia Zhiye.

Anyway, he knew Xia Zhiye very well. 

These feelings were foreign – he didn’t have to fight alone against hundreds of enemies. Even after he ran out of breath, he still has someone who’ll wait for him with awards on his hand. It’s as if he had done something good. 

For the first time, Song Yan knew that it was so good to have someone to rely on. Even if this person wasn’t by his side, the knowledge alone was enough to make him feel at ease. 

But between them, the difference in circumstances couldn’t be anymore different. 

Song Yan looked at these two childish certificates, lowered his head and laughed until he only let out gasps of air. All the while, Shang Wei had not recovered from the shock, but Lai Miao had angrily slammed his body against the wall, pulling him by the collar of his shirt. 

“Shang Wei! What do you mean by what you just said? Have you been lying to me for so long?” Lai Miao’s angry expression revealed his stance on the matter at hand. However, the remaining hint of friendship made him ask one final time, a pointless struggle against the truth. 

Shang Wei, who had always been delicate in dealing with things, even panicked. He had no choice but to defend himself. “Lai Miao, it’s not like that, listen to my explanation…”

“Explain my ass!” Chen Rui was originally watching the fun, but after hearing what Shang Wei said on the broadcast, he became furious. “How can you tell such a vicious thing, on top of the many bullshits you just spat? You already framed Song Yan, do you need to talk about his parents? Can’t you at least have some conscience?” 

The onlookers next to him had their anger ignited. They also started cursing at Shang Wei. “That’s right! I was also fooled by you before, to the point of helping you scold Song Yan! It turns out it was all just false accusations, but you had the face to do it so righteously! Where is your dignity!” 

“Why the fuck do you have to bring his mother into all of this? Do you not have a mother?” 

“And what do you mean his name is fitting for how loathsome he is? In ancient times, “Yan” had the meaning of “contentment”! Why is he not likable? I wanted to ask him for WeChat in the past!” 

“Heh, it’s true that gold always shines. Even if his rightful first place was stolen, he can get them back today. Truly unlike someone, who cannot place within top 20 unless he plagiarized other people’s manuscripts.” 

“So are the teachers in your school all blind? This kind of thing isn’t investigated seriously? The organizer also agreed to cancel his award without knowing the full truth? Fuck. If they didn’t give a clear explanation today, then I’ll probably back off. It’s not worth competing in this kind of broken thing.” 

“That’s right, people like you are still appearing in the promotion brochure of the Youth Talent Cup. I’m embarrassed for the organizer. I suggest you drop out of school immediately. Maybe also learn how to be a good person on the side. I think it’s useful for you.” 

…

Teenage youths’ emotions are the purest, and they could easily love and hate something very intensely. Every provocation and snide remark that Song Yan got was returned to Shang Wei in hundredfold this way. 

The teacher who led the team who heard the news. His expression became even more dour once he heard the student’s words. 

Students who did nothing wrong were disqualified from first place.

The student who framed others won first place instead.

Once this incident spreads, be it school or the organizer, they can kiss their stellar reputation goodbye. 

Especially for Dai-laoshi, who had previously assured Shang Wei that Song Yan had a problem. To say his face turned green would be an understatement. 

Other teachers looked at him with strange scrutiny.

Dai-laoshi became the center of everyone’s attention. He could only scold Shang Wei and Lai Miao in order to preserve his dignity. “What are you doing?! Do you want to be punished for fighting?! And Shang Wei, what happened just now?” 

Shang Wei saw Dai-laoshi, and he looked like he found his savior. He quickly said, “Just now, Song Yan deliberately set a trap for me…” 

“Bullshit!” Chen Rui interrupted rudely, “Weren’t you the one who insisted on going out with Song Yan just now? Weren’t you the one who insisted on following Song Yan into the broadcasting room? Those words were also your own. Do you think we are all deaf? Song Yan told you not to follow, and told you to shut up, but you were hellbent on annoying and slandering him. Now you want to put the blame on Song Yan for ‘trapping’ you? Do you have any ounce of shame?” 

Chen Rui is telling the truth. The participating students who were present saw it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears. They can testify for Song Yan.

Shang Wei was unable to defend himself.

Song Yan also resisted Dai-laoshi’s questioning gaze. He lowered his gaze, and said in a low voice, almost a murmur, “This is the first time I have come to Shiwai school’s Academic Building, and I didn’t even know that there was a broadcasting room here. I don’t know which button I accidentally turned on either…” 

Although he said it in a flat tone, people could feel the hint of grievances within it. 

Jiang Yuanyuan also raised her hand in time. She said with an apologetic expression, “Laoshi, I’m sorry. I’m the one who forgot to turn off the broadcasting room after notifying the contestants to come to the conference room in the afternoon. It’s my mistake.” 

Jiang Yuanyuan’s previous attitude towards Song Yan was clearly antagonistic, so she was perceived as someone who wouldn’t defend him. They believed that Song Yan never meant to broadcast this real-time. 

The fourth roommate who watched all the conversations at noon, Cheng Cheng, also said, “Song Yan probably didn’t do it on purpose. But Shang Wei told Lai Miao at noon that he must not let Song Yan win the first place; so I suspect that Shang Wei said those malicious words on purpose! Maybe he wanted to anger Song Yan to hit his mentality, so he would be too emotionally disturbed to perform normally.” 

“Fuck, this is too disgusting!”

As soon as these words came out, the crowd that had just calmed down exploded again. 

Various foul language and curses, that once were thrown at Song Yan, were now intensified and returned to Shang Wei. 

When has Shang Wei, who has always been well-liked by his peers, ever received this kind of treatment? Incredible amounts of shame and indignation poured into his heart, until he couldn’t bear it anymore. He punched the table directly and shouted, “Enough! Stop fucking talking!” 

However, his outburst was met with a sneer from Lai Miao. “Heh, with just that, you crumbled?  Didn’t you used to sell misery in front of us, your friends, who responded by cursing and scolding Song Yan in school to cheer you up? Why don’t you stop us from talking then?” 

“Stop! Don’t talk about it!” Dai-laoshi couldn’t stand this kind farce anymore, and he impatiently shouted. He pointed at the two parties with prejudice. “Shang Wei, Song Yan, you two come here.”

The two were taken to the next office. Once inside, Dai-laoshi turned his back against them and took a few deep breaths. “Shang Wei, what explanation do you want to give?” 

Shang Wei still wanted to explain, but he didn’t know where to start. 

Whether it has legal repercussions or not, a person with a normal mind knows what’s going on. So many students, teachers, and staff in the school have heard it. He would only make himself more like a joke if he stubbornly defended himself. 

So he could only lower my head, with a sad expression, and confessed pitifully to earn sympathy. “Laoshi, I’m sorry…” 

“What’s the use of apologizing to me?! Do that to Song Yan!” Dai-laoshi was so annoyed by him that he scolded him with his arms on his hips. Then he turned to look at Song Yan with an equally angry expression, “And Song Yan, you too. If you are slandered like this, why can’t you confide to a teacher and deal with it privately? Now the trouble has spread so widely, where do you think the school can put its face now?!” 

His tone was even sharper than when he berated Shang Wei just now, as if this was the real big mistake.

This kind of person has no qualifications what-so-ever to be a teacher.

Song Yan didn’t even want to be angry with this kind of person. Just as he was about to coldly answer to his rhetoric, the door was slammed open with a loud “Bam!”. 

Ruan Tian appeared behind the door with a furious expression. She walked inside quickly, grabbed Song Yan, then put his much-taller body behind her. She raised her chin, glaring directly at Dai-laoshi, who was much bigger than her. 

“Why aren’t you embarrassed by your own rhetoric instead? I’m asking you this: if you had handled this matter well before, my student wouldn’t be suffering from so many wrongful accusations back then! When the accident happened before, how did your school respond? Did you even handle this well? Now, my student has become a victim for so long, and you are the perpetrators. Why are you questioning him like this? Aren’t you a teacher? Do you not know what’s correct or wrong?!” 

Dai-laoshi didn’t expect this petite-looking female teacher, who usually smiled sweetly at others, could be so brave at this critical juncture. He was so baffled that he was struck speechless at the moment. 

After roaring angrily, Ruan Tian managed to regain her composure. She took a deep breath to control her outburst, then continued, “I will take my student away. As for what happened, please investigate properly this time. If you need to ask the victim for more detail, contact me, his teacher first.” 

After finishing speaking, she led Song Yan out.

But after taking two strides ahead, she turned back, as if she remembered something. “Oh, yes, one final thing: I saw that a student actually recorded this matter. If you don’t deal with it properly, there’s a non-zero chance that it will circulate on the Internet. It will be even more detrimental to your reputation, so I suggest you deal with it quickly.” 

After giving that ultimatum with a cold face, Tian-mei stormed out. 

When they reached an empty place, she stopped. Then she took a deep breath before turning back to face Song Yan, her expression was rather fierce. “Why don’t you tell me anything? You have suffered so much grievance. At least you can find a teacher to support you! What if you are bullied by the other party again? You… how can you be such a pitiful child.”

Ruan Tian finally couldn’t hold back her emotion. She choked out a sob, the tail of her eyes reddening. 

Song Yan had never been confronted by a crying girl. He was stunned in place once he realized that Ruan Tian was on the verge of crying. 

And she’s his homeroom teacher to boot! 

How can he comfort her?

He had no idea. 

Song Yan, who was able to deal with Dai-laoshi calmly just now, was absolutely without a clue. However, inside his chest, he felt a bundle of warmth spreading amidst all the confusion. 

Thankfully for him, Ruan Tian’s emotions were caused by a short outburst of overpowering maternal love. Once she saw her always-cold, always-smart student suddenly become helpless, she bursted into a short laughter. “Forget it, with a character like yours, you definitely won’t be able to find a girlfriend in the future. But don’t be afraid, Laoshi is just too worried about you. So please tell Laoshi the original story so she can help you with it, okay? Also, don’t forget to seek help from your teachers when you encounter anything in the future, do you hear me?”

In the past, Song Yan, who would refuse such a blatant display of kindness with indifference, looked at this young woman. The top of her head only reached his chin, but her presence was huge – it felt like she would protect him whenever she could. Suddenly, he felt that… maybe, not all teachers in the world are as bad as that surnamed Dai.

Learning to trust someone… it might be a good choice. 

In the end, Song Yan nodded. “Mn. Got it.” 

Ruan Tian said with satisfaction, “Good, that’s more like it.”