Silent Crown

But as the two devoured their food, someone knocked gently on the table. Ye Qingxuan looked up to see a stranger.

The thin young man had a pair of delicate and long hands. He seemed steady and sure. His robe was pure black, bare of any decorations, as if he was going to a funeral. But there were no funerals at this school, and he seemed out of place.

After he appeared, the cafeteria seemed to get colder, and the vague commotion became muted, as if they had become distant.

“You’re that Easterner?” he stared at the youth, studying him.

Ye Qingxuan nodded. “That’s me.”

“I’m Richard.” He reached out for a handshake. His hand felt cold like steel. Pointing at his clothes, his expression was still calm. “Student council, executive office. I bet you don’t like people who wear this.”

Charles kicked Ye Qingxuan under the table, hinting at him to be serious. Of course Ye Qingxuan was serious. He knew what the executive office did.

If the seven-hundred or so school rules was the law, then the executive office was the department that executed them. The students did not like those people because they wore all black, showing that they stood opposite of the students. They carefully watched those that thought of breaking school rules, and would swoop in and capture them as soon as they crossed the line. The chief that had been fired last semester for using opiates had been because of the executive office.

In recent years, the student council insisted on letting the executive office oversee the school rules. The principal tried to stop them, but they still did it. They were not close to anyone, were stubborn, and did not care about anybody’s feelings. They would not let anyone get in their way.

In the short five days since the start of school, more than ten new students had already been locked in their room. Ye Qingxuan did not want to be their next tally, so being careful around them was the best solution.

As if he were used to the sudden cautiousness, Richard did not seem to care. He put a piece of paper on the table and said quietly, “The student council recently sent out notifications. The grace period for tuition has ended. Is Bai Xi here? You need to pay the tuition within two days.”

Ye Qingxuan froze. Charles’s expression changed too.

Their dirty tricks had finally appeared.

—

As the only senior, Charles obviously knew that Ye Qingxuan had not paid the tuition yet. He had been taking care of the paperwork for the delay too. But there should have been one more month for him to pay it. Why had the deadline suddenly been moved up?

Ye Qingxuan’s financial issue was clear to Charles. His pockets were cleaner than his white hair! After buying necessities over the past few days, he only had around ten pounds left. Even their meal had been Charles’ treat. How could he pay the tuition?

The Academy’s tuition had always been high. At sixty thousand per year, you could buy a nice house in the heart of Avalon City! Suddenly asking him for both his and Bai Xi’s tuition was practically kicking them out of the academy.

“Wait.” Charles stopped the youth from speaking and looked up. “Isn’t there still one month?”

“What you did on the first day of school forced the school board to reconsider your request to delay the payment,” Richard replied nonchalantly. “The elites have great power. Many people don’t like Ye Qingxuan’s attitude.”

“Attitude?” Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brow.

Richard nodded, his expression neutral. “I knew the first time I saw you that you’re the type to cause trouble all the time. I know what you’re thinking—getting provoked is trouble too.”

“Then should I apologize?” Ye Qingxuan asked, expressionless.

“My brother is in the first year, and he was dragged into this too.” Richard pointed at his calf. “He was hit here and still can’t get up.”

Ye Qingxuan froze. After a long time, he sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“He told me it was the most fun he had in a fight,” Richard said, shaking his head. “So I’m going to let it go.”

Ye Qingxuan and Charles both gaped, not knowing what to say. They did not really understand these brothers’ logic.

“I brought the notification over, so this doesn’t have anything to do with me anymore.” Richard nodded and looked toward Charles. “Also, your debtor has already reported you to many people. If this keeps going on, not even Abraham can save you.”

Charles’s expression changed. His usual infuriating smile on his face froze, and he finally turned helpless. “Research requires investments. I shouldn’t have to pay them back if they suffer losses, right?”

“You can keep thinking that.” Richard did not agree nor disagree with him. Glancing toward Ye Qingxuan, he asked, “I heard that you argued over the school rules with Professor Ben on the first day?”

“Yeah.”

Richard nodded. “Our Head likes your style. Are you interested in joining the executive office?”

Ye Qingxuan gaped again. He felt like he did not have enough brainpower. Under the table, Charles kicked him, hinting at him to hurry up and accept, but Ye Qingxuan was hesitant.

Finally, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have time.”

“Oh.” Richard turned and left without feeling disappointed.

Ye Qingxuan watched him leave the cafeteria and could not help but say, “He’s so weird.”

“Who cares about him? What’s wrong with you?” Charles buried his face in his hands. “That was such a good chance to make connections and you let it go. If you joined the executive office, then I could get away with drinking in the future! Uh, okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. What are we gonna do about your tuition?” He realized that he was too loud and lowered his volume. His expression serious, he said, “We can’t keep dragging it out. Two days! We can’t get that much money even if our lives depend on it!”

Ye Qingxuan blanched and scratched his head. “Right. That’s a problem.”

“No sh*t! Of course!” He grabbed his hair, freaking out. After counting his fingers, he nodded.

“You can borrow some from the professor. It won’t be much though, maybe twenty thousand. I can get five thousand and take you out to borrow more. With your credit, you should be able to get around thirty thousand. There’s nothing to do about Bai Xi. She can only leave school temporarily. Hurry and help her apply for the government’s scholarship, and next year…”

“Can’t find enough money?” A mocking voice from behind them made Charles’ features twist.

The guy who had challenged Ye Qingxuan on Edmund’s behalf, Bart, had appeared beside them. He looked down at the two and whistled.

“Seeing you two so frustrated, ah, how do I put it? It’s pretty interesting.” He muttered in amazement. “You’re like a dazed duck just over this small amount of money.” Here he quacked like a duck, his voice dripping with mockery.

“You need something?” Ye Qingxuan gazed at him. “Leave if you don’t.”

“Hey, why are you so unfriendly? But I suppose it’s natural for downtown rednecks not to have any manners.” Bart sighed dramatically. Purposely looking for trouble, he pulled a chair over and sat down. He swiped the tabletop with a finger and his face twisted in disgust. “I don’t want to be in this smelly place either, so let me just get to the point.”

Ye Qingxuan remained silent and gazed at him coolly. His eyes reminded Bart of Ye Qingxuan’s calm and cool demeanor when he had been fighting the other day.

Bart was taken aback. He could not help but snort. Ye Qingxuan was still proud, but it would be a different story in a few days. “Edmund said that if you’re willing to apologize at the public lecture, he will consider forgiving you, and let you go.” Bart paused, his lips curling into a taunting smile. “The kind of apology with kneeling. You understand, right?”

“Really?” Ye Qingxuan still did not react and just said, “How about this? If he’s willing to kneel and apologize to me, I can consider letting him go too.”

Ye Qingxuan’s calm voice entered Bart’s ears and his smile froze, and gradually turned menacing. “You don’t know who you’re messing with. I’ll tell him exactly what you said.”

“Maybe he can come personally next time,” Ye Qingxuan suggested genuinely. “I mean, I can’t carry a brick with me wherever I go.”

“The lower class is always so lowly. Do you know who you are? You want the Adrian family to look you in the eye? You don’t qualify!” Saying this, Bart glanced over at Charles. “You’re going to disgrace the academy too, especially if you keep hanging out with the academy’s embarrassments.”

Ye Qingxuan froze, but Charles’s expression changed. Seeing it, Bart realized something and his smile became even more vicious. “Oh, you didn’t tell him yet?”

“None of your business,” Charles said through his teeth.

“It’s okay, I understand. You’re afraid of him knowing that you’re useless?” Bart looked at Charles and snickered. “It’s our first meeting, but I’ve heard of you. The legendary genius who reached Rhythm Level in one month, but was stuck there for more than ten years, getting held back until now. You’re not even a musician! You’re still here after all these years. It’s shameless! Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

Charles did not reply, the smile on his face was fading away.

“What, did I say something wrong?” Bart’s confidence grew. “Don’t forget, you also…”

Ping!

There was a sound on the table, and a flash of silver flew past.

Cut off, Bart looked down in surprise and was stunned. He saw the youth slowly open his fist, the handle of a fork shaking on the tabletop. But the fork was right between his fingers! When the fork shook, he could feel the metallic coldness, bits of pepper and salt on his skin!

“Since it’s our first meeting, you shouldn’t try to make conversation if I haven’t introduced you to him,” Ye Qingxuan said lightly. “Otherwise, it’s impolite and you’ll seem uncultured. Do you understand?”

But Bart could not hear him. He could only stare at the fork’s shadow. A fork! A fork! A fork! The shaking silver light flashed in his eyes until he finally processed everything. Stumbling back, he almost fell flat on his back. His expression changed from fury to embarrassment, his face finally turning white from fear. “You—you dare to fight me?”

“Why not? I still have a knife here.” Ye Qingxuan looked down at the metal in his hands. He twirled the knife on his fingertips and suddenly stopped. “I don’t know if you’re worthy enough to look it in the eye.”

“You’re going to regret it. I swear,” Bart growled from between his teeth and left in anger.

—

Watching as Bart stalked out the door, Ye Qingxuan pulled the fork out from the table and put it back on his plate. “What date is it?”

“August 17th,” Charles replied listlessly.

“Oh, it should be alright.” Ye Qingxuan nodded. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he rose. “Let’s go.”

Charles blanched. “Where?”

“To get some money and pay the tuition. We can pay back your debtors too.”