Tsundere Campus Goddess and Rogue Master

C32 – Tcm Is Declining

Upon hearing those words, Soong Ming, Feng Lee, and Lin Hua all sported grim expressions, but recognizing Shi Qiang as their teacher, they held their tongues.

Wang Xiao, standing to the side, furrowed his brow, ready to interject, but Soong Ming grabbed his arm and shook his head. “Let it be, Third Brother.”

Shi Qiang was their academic advisor, and with the university opening ceremony just concluded, they faced four more years under his guidance. Crossing Shi Qiang could make those years unbearable.

Wang Xiao clamped his mouth shut at Soong Ming’s anxious glance.

“Haha, what’s the matter? You disagree? Look at yourselves in those military uniforms—you don’t look like soldiers, nor do you look like students. You’re a disgrace!”

Shi Qiang, emboldened by their silence, intensified his taunts. Pointing at Wang Xiao’s nose, he led the way, his voice dripping with scorn.

This kid had the nerve to flirt with Ding Mengqi; Shi Qiang wouldn’t let him off easily. A thorough shaming was the least he could do to quell the resentment burning within him.

Feng Lee, unlike the composed Soong Ming, came from a wealthy background and had a streak of defiance. Yet, he maintained a semblance of tranquility among his peers.

“Teacher Shi, we are your students after all. Please, don’t be so harsh!”

Feng Lee couldn’t stand Shi Qiang’s verbal abuse. His fists tightened as he spoke out in anger.

Beside him, Lin Hua’s gaze was equally indignant as he watched Shi Qiang.

“Haha, too harsh? Am I wrong? I’ve seen plenty of bad students like you. Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re in university. I’m telling you, that’s not going to fly!”

Shi Qiang’s sneer persisted as he continued to jab a finger at Wang Xiao’s nose.

“As long as I, Shi Qiang, am the counselor for the Traditional Chinese Medicine System, I’ll make sure life isn’t easy for you!”

With Ding Mengqi absent, there was no need for him to feign gentlemanly decorum. His words were as venomous as he pleased.

“I suggest you take your finger off my nose,” Wang Xiao warned.

Wang Xiao’s eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at Shi Qiang with a detached expression, his voice deep and resonant.

Tong Waner, if present, would have recognized that her Big Brother Wang Xiao was getting upset.

“What’s the matter? What if I’m calling you out? You think you can hit me?”

Shi Qiang let out a scornful laugh upon hearing Wang Xiao’s challenge and responded icily, “Just so you know, I’m your counselor. If you so much as lay a finger on me… Ah!”

Before Shi Qiang could finish his threat, Wang Xiao had seized his finger and twisted it with a violent jerk.

A sharp crack sounded as Shi Qiang’s finger was brutally broken by Wang Xiao.

A wave of excruciating pain surged from Shi Qiang’s finger, making him howl in agony. His complexion turned ashen, and his forehead beaded with cold sweat.

He hadn’t anticipated Wang Xiao’s swift and decisive action—the readiness to strike without hesitation!

Shi Qiang, a physically unimposing male teacher, had never endured such torment. The pain nearly brought him to his knees.

Had he actually knelt, the freshmen encircling the square would surely have turned their attention to the disturbance.

But Wang Xiao, in the moment he snapped Shi Qiang’s finger, seized his arm and hoisted him up, denying him any chance to kneel.

Shi Qiang’s cries of pain were swallowed up by the bustling square, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.

Soong Ming and the others watched the scene unfold, involuntarily gasping in shock, their eyes wide as they stared at Wang Xiao.

“Old Three, you actually hit the counselor?”

This was brazen beyond belief, wasn’t it?

Yet, why was there a sense of secret satisfaction welling up inside?

“Wang Xiao, you dare to strike me? You must not care about your future at this school. To think you’d hit a counselor—I’ll have you expelled!”

Despite the pain that turned his face a sickly shade of green, Shi Qiang’s eyes glinted with malice as he glared at Wang Xiao, his words seething through clenched teeth.

“Oh, really?”

Wang Xiao replied with a faint smile. In the next instant, his clear eyes blazed with a bloodthirsty gleam, and a formidable presence, sharp as a dagger, surged towards Shi Qiang.

Boom!

Feeling the onslaught of Wang Xiao’s predatory gaze and overwhelming aura, Shi Qiang’s mind reeled as if it had been blown apart.

Lost in a daze, it seemed as if an ocean of blood materialized before his eyes. Wang Xiao loomed like a colossal demon, swelling rapidly within this macabre expanse. His eyes, blood-red and chilling like crimson lanterns, fixed on him with an icy stare.

In that instant, Shi Qiang thought he could detect the stench of hell itself.

He shook his head fiercely, and the vision before his eyes flickered away, revealing the bustling conference square at Forest City University, alive with the energy of camouflaged-clad freshmen. It was as though the horrifying sight he had witnessed was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

Such a petrifying look!

Could this young man truly be just a regular freshman?

Terror seized Shi Qiang’s heart as he gazed into Wang Xiao’s fearsome eyes. His knees buckled, and he found himself kneeling on the ground, pleading reflexively, “Don’t kill me!”

“Hehe, Teacher Shi, what’s gotten into you?”

Wang Xiao couldn’t help but let a slight smile play upon his lips as he addressed the kneeling man.

The commotion caught the attention of the other freshmen, who began to whisper and point as they saw Shi Qiang prostrate before one of their peers.

It dawned on Shi Qiang that he had been cowed by Wang Xiao’s daunting gaze, and the act of groveling was a deep embarrassment.

“Hmph, Wang Xiao, this isn’t over. You’ll see!”

He rose from the ground, his eyes icy as he glared at Wang Xiao. Humiliated before a crowd and with a finger broken by Wang Xiao, Shi Qiang harbored thoughts of vengeance.

But with the watchful eyes of so many freshmen upon him, lingering would only add to his disgrace.

If his own students were to recognize him now, it would be a severe blow to his reputation.

With a final, threatening remark, he hung his head and made a swift exit.

“If you’re up for a game, I’m more than willing to play along!”

Wang Xiao watched Shi Qiang’s retreating figure, hands casually spread, his demeanor unruffled.

Soong Ming, Feng Lee, and Lin Hua exchanged bewildered glances, still trying to piece together the events that had just unfolded.

“Mo, what on earth did you do to Teacher Shi? One moment he’s threatening to expel you, the next he’s terrified you’ll kill him?”

At that moment, Lin Hua couldn’t contain his curiosity and turned to Wang Xiao with a questioning look.

Soong Ming and Feng Lee also nodded, their faces alight with interest, as they fixed their gaze on Wang Xiao.

“Perhaps it’s because I naturally possess a kingly presence. I bet when I flexed my muscles, it sent shivers down his spine,” Wang Xiao quipped, his lips curling into a slight grin as he addressed Soong Ming, Feng Lee, and the others.

Soong Ming, Feng Lee, and Lin Hua simultaneously rolled their eyes, their expressions clearly conveying a “Yeah, right, as if we’d believe that” sentiment.

They refrained from pressing further, understanding that everyone has their own secrets they’d prefer to keep under wraps.

Wang Xiao certainly wasn’t about to divulge to Soong Ming, Feng Lee, and the others that he had employed a subtle soul-capturing tactic on Shi Qiang, overwhelming him mentally, instilling a deep-seated fear, and compelling him to kneel and beg for mercy.

Noticing that Lin Hua and the rest tactfully avoided further questioning, Wang Xiao’s smile broadened.

They quickly located the Traditional Chinese Medicine System’s class group, and it was quite evident that there were a significant number of female students. The gender imbalance was stark, with girls vastly outnumbering boys. Including Wang Xiao and his three companions, the male contingent of the Traditional Chinese Medicine System barely surpassed twenty, and the girls were notably impressive.

This delighted Lin Hua and the others to no end. Their eyes gleamed with excitement as they struck up conversations with the female students nearby, under the guise of fostering class camaraderie.

“Fatty Lin, have you noticed that the Traditional Chinese Medicine System seems to be overrun with girls and short on guys?” Wang Xiao inquired, pulling Lin Hua away from his lively chat with a classmate.

Interrupted, Lin Hua looked annoyed, but upon realizing it was Wang Xiao asking, he quickly offered an explanation: “Third Brother, it’s because Western medicine has been on the rise in recent years, casting Traditional Chinese Medicine in a less favorable light to the average person, akin to quackery.”

“Besides, studying TCM involves memorizing an extensive list of medicinal materials and theories. Just tackling the ‘Materia Medica’ is enough to make our heads spin. When it comes to rote learning, women just seem to have a knack for it—a fact you’re probably well aware of.”

Reaching this point in the conversation, Lin Hua sighed helplessly towards Wang Xiao.

Wang Xiao nodded in response. It wasn’t that boys had poorer memories than girls; rather, boys were naturally more restless, and the tedious task of rote learning was something only the more naturally serene girls seemed to stick with.

Lin Hua went on to explain, “Additionally, there’s less job competition in Western medicine nowadays, and the pay is better. So for guys, studying Western medicine can provide a more stable income. That’s why, in our school, the Western medicine department has more males than females, the opposite of the Traditional Chinese Medicine System.”

“Then why did you choose to study TCM?” Wang Xiao asked, his curiosity piqued.

Lin Hua chuckled, “Well, it’s because I heard that the Traditional Chinese Medicine System has a higher female-to-male ratio, lots of beautiful women, and lower admission scores. That’s why I went for TCM.”

Lin Hua gave his nose a rub and offered Wang Xiao a sheepish grin.

Wang Xiao was dumbfounded. He had thought that Lin’s primary reason for attending Forest City University was because of his ex-girlfriend, Jia Jia. Now, it seemed Fatty Lin wasn’t such a stand-up guy after all!

With a better grasp of the situation, Wang Xiao encouraged Lin Hua to keep chatting with their female classmates. Meanwhile, he stroked his chin, muttering to himself, “TCM is in decline, and petty troublemakers are on the rise. It looks like my descent from the mountain has come at the right time.”

“Anyway, now that I’m here, it’s time to restore the glory of Chinese TCM and drive those scoundrels from the Rebirth Camp out of China!”

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