521. The Attendance Tally【10/40】
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The attendance situation was looking grim.
Zheng Qian glanced over the lazy students standing before him, furrowing his brows as he bent down to count the names on the roll call sheet.
Seventeen students were missing.
These seventeen had probably gone bungee jumping.
Who knows, several others might have joined them… This risky activity made him, as a counselor, too nervous to allow it, but he never imagined that just a bit of a late wake-up would send this bunch wandering off on their own.
He suddenly recalled Lin Nan from last night, gritting his teeth, “It must be Lin Nan’s fault!”
“Nope, it’s Tu Junhui,” Lin Yuan chimed in, pulling out his phone and expressionlessly throwing his friend under the bus. “He texted us last night saying they were meeting up at nine to head out.”
Tu Junhui?
Right, last night Tu Junhui woke up to use the bathroom, and Lin Nan followed soon after.
That chubby guy was definitely the scapegoat; more likely than not, Lin Nan plotted this whole escapade.
“So, the class president and vice-president both went?” Zheng Qian seethed, nearly crushing the pen in his hand.
“Yep, they’re both there,” Lin Yuan continued nodding.
“Why didn’t you stop them?!” Zheng Qian was shaking with anger.
Lin Yuan thought for a moment and answered matter-of-factly, “I woke up late; otherwise, I would have gone too.”
That was true; for this group of students, bungee jumping was irresistible thrill-seeking.
Even the most timid students wouldn’t pass up the chance to see what bungee jumping was all about.
Thinking like this, Zheng Qian felt somewhat fortunate that only a dozen students were “kidnapped.”
Cursing under his breath, he loudly warned the remaining students present, “Don’t wander off! I have something to do and will be back in an hour—then we can have lunch!”
He felt a bit uneasy, emphasizing one last time, “Seriously, don’t run off!”
The remaining students didn’t seem like troublemakers, and no one dared to argue, so Zheng Qian hurriedly dashed toward the cable car, planning to personally snag these disobedient troublemakers.
Having paid for the cable car ticket, he sat alone in a cabin, his expression dark as he felt the jolt of the cable car starting.
The surrounding mountains and rivers were beautiful, yet he had no mind to enjoy the view.
After a few minutes, he spotted a string of cable cars slowly drifting toward him.
Curiously, he looked over, and in one of the cars, there was Lin Nan, waving at him with an overexcited expression.
“Look! Zheng Qian!” Lin Nan waved at Zheng Qian across the way, then excitedly turned to Chen Yao and asked, “Is he coming to bungee jump too?”
“I think he’s probably here to catch us,” Chen Yao replied, munching on Lin Nan’s leftover sausage.
“Then he’ll end up with nothing,” Lin Nan said with a grin, waving even more enthusiastically at Zheng Qian. “He saw me! He gave me the middle finger!”
Lin Nan then added, looking disgusted, “Our counselor is so crude.”
Seriously, as a supposed intellectual, how could he use such an expression deserving of a mosaic?
Tu Junhui crossed his arms, watching Zheng Qian from a distance. Though he could distinguish who was who through the glass, Zheng Qian’s exact expression was unclear.
Still, seeing Zheng Qian having fun teasing Lin Nan made Tu Junhui chuckle, “Looks like he’s in a good mood.”
Once Lin Nan spotted Zheng Qian, everyone in the cable cars behind them noticed him too.
Some students felt particularly guilty and averted their gazes, while others, like Lin Nan, waved unabashedly at their counselor.
This only infuriated Zheng Qian; he couldn’t shout at them, and unfortunately, with the way the cable cars ran, it would be an hour before he could see these students again.
Fuming and shaking with frustration, he ultimately posted a harsh message in the class group chat.
“Students who went bungee jumping without permission today will lose points for conduct!”
Before long, Lin Nan spotted Zheng Qian’s message in the group and felt a bit dumbfounded.
Back in their freshman year, whenever there were school activities, Zheng Qian used to threaten with the loss of points, but now, in their sophomore year, he had become more cunning. Whether he had the authority to deduct points or not, surely he could at least give the class president a heads-up during attendance—some creative fibbing.
Eventually, Zheng Qian’s threats about points lost their bite.
“What are conduct points?” Lin Nan asked curiously, turning to Chen Yao beside her.
Chen Yao pondered for a moment and replied, “Not useful for you, but it’s kind of a hassle for me if I lose any.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s related to scholarships.”
That put Lin Nan at ease; she was certain she’d never be within a thousand miles of a scholarship, despite having been a model student all her life.
Tu Junhui and Xiong Da couldn’t care less; they skipped classes at every chance, and winning a scholarship was a total joke.
Zheng Qian was probably furious!
As they descended from the cable car, a throng of students made their way back to camp.
Upon seeing them return, the students who hadn’t gone swarmed over, eager to seek the scoop. Lin Kexin was encircled by a group of girls, who kept letting out exaggerated gasps of excitement.
Just as she was about to head toward the tents, Lin Nan heard one girl lament, “Wow! Are Lin Nan and Chen Yao that romantic?!”
It felt like a cockroach was caught in the dark, sending chills down Lin Nan’s spine.
She turned back to the surrounded Lin Kexin, her lips twitching, “Looks like the whole class will know about this now.”
Now she had no face left to show!
Her classmates occasionally threw envious glances her way, flushing her cheeks, while Chen Yao stood proudly, hands on his hips, soaking in the envy from everyone.
That Chen Yao! A little break from hitting him would have him thinking he’s royalty!
Cursing in her heart, Lin Nan promptly ducked into the tent.
Shielded from her classmates’ eyes, she started packing her things and organizing her spoils from the day.
At the bungee jumping platform, when the countdown began, Lin Nan had unlocked a new spell: “Intimidation.” At that moment, she had been so utterly frightened that any higher could have sent her into a coma.
This spell should be especially effective for counterattacks after being assaulted. Even if it’s a low-level spell, she had plenty of magical energy and high quality; increasing her magic output would definitely be effective against foreign world assassins.
Then, while plunging off the platform, though the free fall lasted just two or three seconds, she also unlocked “Flight.” Similarly, while it may be a low-level spell, the more magical energy she outputted, the faster she could fly.
Perfect for escaping in the wild… provided she didn’t expire the moment she got ambushed.
Too bad this spell was too conspicuous; otherwise, she could break out her magic for everyday use. Flying home from school would save a bundle on train fare!
“Nan Nan! I sent the bungee jumping photos!” Lin Kexin suddenly flung open the tent and poked her head in, bursting with excitement. “Did you upload your photos to WeChat? Let me see them too!”
“What photos?”
“The photographer took pictures, remember?”
Lin Nan blinked, opened WeChat, and sure enough, there was a string of photos.
The first one showed her squatting on the jump platform, gripping Chen Yao’s pants, her face perfectly aligned with his… well, you know where.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly snatched her phone back. “I haven’t sent them to me yet!”
