Chapter 35: The Director's Kindred Spirit

  My god, I'm seeing a ghost, how could it be him? Qian Dabing rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen wrongly.

  But with a vision of 1.5, he clearly told him that the middle-aged man surrounded by school leaders was the guy who had scolded and kicked him before coming to the library.

  Hearing Principal Zhang repeatedly addressing this person as Director Ma, Qian Dabing suddenly felt a chill all over his body and the sky spinning around him. He knew he was in trouble.

  Director of Education Bureau!

  The scoundrel I taught was actually the director of the Education Bureau, the superior of the school leaders!

  Qian Dabing was momentarily stunned, as if standing on a bundle of explosives, feeling anxious and uneasy. He knew that once the other party recognized him, it wouldn't be just a matter of losing his rice bowl.

  Yes, can't let him recognize, absolutely can't!

  Qian Dabing could no longer afford to entangle with Qin Lang, for the time being, he had to hide and avoid his opponent's eyes. The school was so big, and the other party was not clear about his identity, as long as he avoided the storm, and didn't let the other party bump into him face to face, the problem wouldn't be too big.

  He ducked down, lowering his head, and with a frantic gaze began searching for cover.

  Unfortunately, as he looked around, the library was almost devoid of any good hiding spots. Even if there were excellent hiding places like toilets or bookshelves, they were all too far away from him. If he tried to make a move, he would surely be discovered.

  What's going on? What's happening?

  Qian Dabing was anxious and turned around in circles.

  "Huh, what's wrong with this guy?" Seeing Qian Dabing's abnormality, Qin Lang looked thoughtfully at the middle-aged man who was surrounded by a crowd of stars. He instinctively felt that the source of Qian Dabing's sudden change in expression was on this person.

  An idea suddenly occurred: could it be that this guy had an affair with someone else's wife? Otherwise, even if the other party was a leader of the Education Bureau, Qian Dabing wouldn't be so afraid.

  Just as Qin Lang was secretly speculating, this group of people who had rushed in, after a brief exchange with Old Man Zhu, actually began to turn around inside the library.

  The library's currently open area is just this big, Qin Lang's position is in an inconspicuous corner, but these people will eventually pass by this location after circling around.

  The situation was already pressing for Qian Dabing. He could no longer care about many things, and directly got down on his hands and knees, crawling under a chair beside Qin Lang like a dog.

  The chairs in the library were fully considered for comfort and aesthetics when purchasing, so not only are the seats covered with thick sea-soft cushions, but also the surrounding fabric hangs down to cover up the space under the chair legs.

  Such a setup was originally meant to look good, but now it has become Qian Dabing's only lifesaver.

  Qin Lang was taken aback, seeing Qian Dabing with his butt sticking out, burrowing under the chair like an old sow rooting in a haystack. He shook his head and burst out laughing.

  "That chair leg is broken, you might want to drill somewhere else, or just retreat back into your shell." Qin Lang joked.

  Qian Dabing's body, which was struggling to move forward, stiffened slightly and then retreated a bit, as if he wanted to crawl out and change positions.

  Seeing Qian Dabing's movements, Qin Lang suppressed his smile and shook his head, "It's too late, they're about to come over, I'll help you out instead."

  He suddenly stretched out his leg and kicked Qian Dabing's butt.

  "Grass!"

  Qian Dabing cursed in a low voice, and with Qin Lang's help, he finally managed to drill under the chair, getting into a crawling position.

  When he finally managed to turn around with difficulty from under the chair, facing Qin Lang's direction, his appearance was as if he was kowtowing to Qin Lang.

  "Wait for me." Qian Dabing slightly lifted the cloth curtain and glared at Qin Lang.

  "You seem to have forgotten your situation?" Qin Lang smiled and said, "Guess, can I tell that you've offended Director Ma? Are you very afraid of running into him? Guess again, if I were to point out to Director Ma that there's a ninja turtle hiding under this chair, would he be interested?"

  Qian Dabing's face turned pale, he had just been excited and forgot his own situation, and even more so, he forgot that Qin Lang was now holding his lifeblood, and could expose him at any time. As long as Director Ma found out about his existence, there would be no need for Qin to say anything else, his good days were over.

  He cursed inwardly at this fool who was getting harder to deal with, but on the surface he put on a pleading expression, shaking his hand at Qin Lang, signaling him not to speak rashly.

  "Kneel properly, lower your head, and pull down the cloth to cover yourself. Let me see how you behave, then I'll decide whether or not to remind Director Ma." Qin Lang waved his hand and said calmly.

  Qian Dabing is now a man under the eaves, he can't help but lower his head, he's holding back his anger, suppressing his rage, and pulling down the curtain, but in his heart, he's anxious and uneasy.

  The crowd that came to inspect turned around and walked towards Qin Lang, getting closer and closer, their voices growing louder.

  "Director Ma, currently the library is only open on this floor, but we are preparing to open all floors within half a year." Zhang Zhiqiang accompanied Director Ma with a smile on his face, occasionally introducing the situation of the library.

  He knew this was a rare opportunity, and Chen, the principal, happened to be away on a business trip. He managed to get the task of accompanying Education Bureau Director Ma on an inspection tour. If he could win over Director Ma, his chances of being promoted to principal would increase significantly.

  However, what made Zhang Zhiqiang somewhat perplexed was that he had previously inquired about this newly appointed Ma Director, who was said to have a strong background. He knew that this was a man with a decent temper, always speaking with a smile on his face. But today, for some reason, from the moment he appeared until now, Director Ma had been frowning and hadn't uttered a word, which made Zhang feel somewhat uneasy.

  Was the rumor wrong? Or was this new Director Ma dissatisfied with No. 1 Middle School? Zhang Zhiqiang was thinking hard in his heart. Suddenly, he thought of when he welcomed Director Ma today and found that he had already arrived at school without coming together with other colleagues from the Education Bureau.

  This can't be Director Ma making a low-key private visit, coming to the school early by himself and seeing something that displeased him, right? Zhang Zhiqiang's heart grew even more apprehensive.

  "How did so many books pile up there? And that table fell to the ground, why didn't anyone lend a hand?" Director Ma suddenly spoke up, making Zhang Zhiqiang's heart skip a beat.

  As soon as he saw where Director Ma was pointing, Zhang Zhiqiang immediately turned his head and glared fiercely at Old Lady Zhu who was following in the crowd.

  Mr. Zhu knew that if he didn't explain himself at this time, he would definitely be framed by Principal Zhang later on. He hastily said: "Those books were all borrowed by students to read. This student likes to borrow many books at once and sit among the stacks of books to read, so it's not easy to notice him at first glance. The overturned desk was broken, I just asked Teacher Qian to fix it, but in the blink of an eye, he ran off somewhere."

  Qian Dabing became Zhu Dajye's scapegoat.

  This Qian Dabing is really incompetent. Zhang Zhiqiang cursed in his heart, if it weren't for the fact that Qian Dabing's annual tribute was quite generous, he would have fired this guy long ago.

  "Oh? Borrowing so many books at once, can this student finish reading them?" Director Ma seemed to have taken an interest in Old Man Zhu's words and walked over.

  Zhang Zhiqiang immediately criticized Zhu Dajye: "How can you be a librarian, lending so many books at once? This is not reading, it's clearly causing trouble! Students like this will not be allowed to enter the library next time. What a mess!"

  Zhu Dàyé's face was bitter, just wanting to explain, but Mǎ Júzhǎng, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

  He looked at Zhang Zhiqiang in the morning and hummed softly.

  Zhang Zhiqiang's heart started racing, unsure what Director Ma meant.

  He didn't know that Director Ma was also a bookworm when he was studying, and had the same habit as Qin Lang. He liked to borrow a pile of books from the library at once and read them slowly. It was precisely because of this that Director Ma became interested when he saw students with the same habits as himself back then.

  Zhang Zhiqiang criticized Qin Lang like this, and when it reached Director Ma's ears, it was naturally like scolding him. How could he still have a good face for Zhang Zhiqiang?

  Walking up to Qin Lang, Director Ma looked at the stacks of books on the table and finally had a smile on his face. He kindly asked Qin Lang, "Excuse me, what book are you reading now?"

  "Evolution Theory!" Qin Lang replied calmly and confidently.

  As he spoke, he glanced at the chair beside him and saw that it was wrapped in a faintly trembling blanket, and couldn't help but shake his head in amusement.

  "Evolution Theory?" Director Ma was taken aback, then smiled and said: "Indeed, the student surpasses the master! You're so young and already reading Evolution Theory, can you understand it?"

  Zhang Zhiqiang, who was standing beside him, heard this and hastily made eye contact with Qin Lang, signaling to him not to answer blindly.

  Qin Lang didn't respond, nodding his head and saying: "Generally speaking, I can understand it, but usually I first memorize the content of the book and then digest it."

  "Oh?" Director Ma's eyes lit up, Qin Lang's habit was exactly the same as when he studied years ago. His advantage lay in his strong memory, so he would often borrow many books at once, but most of the time he would first memorize them and then slowly ponder over them later. Suddenly, he felt a sense of affinity with Qin Lang.

  "Mind if I test you?" Director Ma asked.

  Zhang Zhiqiang hastily said: "Of course, I won't mind. Being considered by Director Ma is an honor for this student." As he spoke, he desperately made eye contact with Qin Lang.

  Director Ma looked at him with displeasure and said, "I didn't ask you." Only then did he turn his head to look at Qin Lang.

  Qin Lang glanced at Zhang Zhiqiang without looking at him, shook his head and asked in return: "Why should I be tested by you? Or, if you test me, what's the benefit if I don't make any mistakes?"

  "How dare you speak to the leader like that?" Zhang Zhiqiang's face changed in an instant, scolding Qin Lang while carefully smiling at Director Ma: "Director Ma, this student doesn't understand the situation, please don't take it to heart."

  Director Ma waved his hand, and in his heart he became more and more disgusted with this garrulous Zhang Zhiqiang. He smiled at Qin Lang and nodded: "Well said, students should have spirit, they should dare to refute, dare to challenge authority, dare to express their own thoughts. If one only tries to please others, then they lose the dignity of a student. I appreciate you."

  Zhang Zhiqiang heard these sarcastic words and smiled awkwardly on his face, not daring to speak out of turn again.

  Director Ma suddenly pulled out a business card from his pocket and gently placed it on the table. "This is my business card, if you can pass my test, this card you can take away. In the future, whatever happens at school, you can come to me directly. How's that?"

  The school leaders around and even several followers from the Education Bureau, upon hearing this, began to envy Qin Lang. Director Ma's business card was not something that could be easily obtained, having one was equivalent to having a protective umbrella in the entire Ping'an City education system.

  They all looked at the business card with envy, wishing they could replace Qin Lang and agree immediately.

  Unfortunately, they were not Qin Lang, and they couldn't wait to nod immediately. Qin Lang, however, had no interest in this business card at all.

  However, Qin Lang is no longer the old Qin Da Shuai. He rose from obscurity to become a powerful master in the Dan Ding Continent, so how could he not know that the enemy of his enemy is his friend?

  Since Qian Dabing is so afraid of Director Ma in front of him, then pulling strings with Director Ma would be an excellent move to restrain Qian Dabing, who currently has no ability to protect himself.

  "Alright." Qin Lang nodded, "However, I haven't finished reading this 'Origin of Species' yet. All the books on this side are ones I've already read, you can pick any one to test me."

  Director Ma smiled, thinking that this young man was a promising talent. When he handed over his business card, he was still somewhat worried that the student would reject him and lose face. But the other party accepted it, which showed that the student was not just a naive youngster, but knew how to handle things tactfully.

  "Alright, I'll just pick one randomly." Director Ma casually pulled out a book from the stack that Qin Lang had pointed to.

  But as soon as he took out this book, Director Ma was stunned, and everyone standing beside him was also stunned.

  Because on the book were written in bold three big words: Golden Lotus!