3 1.3

Back in the academy headmaster's office, Zhao Cui sat leisurely behind the desk while Headmaster Feng stood across from him, reporting on what had happened in the school within the last month. The headmaster trailed off after some time, and Zhao Cui smilingly offered him a shot of whiskey.

Right as Headmaster Feng released a breath of relief and was raising the glass to his mouth, Zhao Cui's questioning tone rang out, making the headmaster's hand shake uncontrollably so that a few drops of amber alcohol spilled onto the white carpet. "Oh, it seems the headmaster missed something?"

"Ah?" Headmaster Feng frantically searched in his mind for anything he'd left out, but he couldn't identify what he'd forgotten. A sheen of cold sweat gleamed on his forehead. The normally lofty headmaster bowed low and requested, "Please instruct me, Master Zhao."

Nominally, Zhao Cui's grandfather was still the head of the Zhao family that dominated many countries' military and political circles, but everyone understood the position had basically already been assumed by Zhao Cui. Although Zhao Cui himself rarely appeared in public, those in the know were conscious that he was the mastermind behind who rose and who fell.

Thus, even top government officials didn't dare to insist on calling Zhao Cui by his technical title of "Young Master," not to mention a mere headmaster of an elite boarding school. Headmaster Feng especially had no standing, because the chairman of the academy board was a branch member of Zhao Jia. But who knew what wind suddenly blew this tyrant here?

Zhao Cui murmured, "Hm, wasn't there a new hire in the music department recently?" When he heard the mention of music, Headmaster Feng felt an uncontrollable twinge of regret that he'd had to cut his dinner date with Liu Yao short because of Zhao Cui's early arrival. Seeing that the headmaster was distracted, Zhao Cui's voice lowered dangerously. "Was I mistaken?"

Headmaster Feng shuddered and hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, of course not Master Zhao. Now that you mention it, there is indeed a new music student teacher, surnamed Shao. Thank you for your reminder, sir."

"Shao..." Running his finger along the whiskey bottle's curves, Zhao Cui repeated.

Flustered by the show of interest, the headmaster rushed to assure him, "If he offended you in any way, I will take care of him right away, Master Zhao."

Hearing this, Zhao Cui narrowed his sharp eyes, but ultimately said nothing. After a brief consideration, he'd understood that while this Teacher Shao had appeared to be caressing his fingers, in fact his sole interest had been in their musical potential. Besides, he'd only stopped by this small investment project on a whim after directing X country's budget for the next few years; he had no intention of interfering much. In fact, he'd asked the headmaster for a rundown on the last month's happenings to keep him alert, not for any significant purpose.

"No need," he stood and shrugged into his suit coat. "Carry on as usual."

Headmaster Feng bowed in acknowledgment and subserviently escorted this great god to the car waiting at the campus gates. When the car drove out of view, he finally raised his head and gazed in the direction Zhao Cui had left with cold eyes. He didn't want to admit his powerlessness, but in his heart he reminded himself to keep an eye on that young teacher Shao. He had to be ready to cut the other side off if any sign of trouble appeared.

---

In his apartment, Chen Yu had no idea that he'd been marked by the headmaster, but he wouldn't have cared even if he knew. Instead, he was busy putting the final touches on the video he'd recorded.

To prevent a premature derailment of the plot, which would decrease the emotions he could harvest and, more importantly, ruin his enjoyment, he'd angled his face downwards throughout his performance as if he was focusing on his fingers, so that only his swaying soft hair and brilliant pair of eyes were left visible.

Reviewing the film, Chen Yu tilted his head, trying to decide whether the effect of wrapping his lean bare legs around the cello while appearing to be naked underneath a large shirt was too obscene.

"Well...this might have an interesting effect too," he soon murmured and clicked to upload the video onto all of the most popular sites he'd already hacked into.

Once he became famous, he could make a site dedicated to his videos, but first he had to attract attention. As for how the music-obsessed Shao Li's videos could be inserted so skillfully into major, well-guarded media networks, he'd naturally prepared an out. With a fake identity, Chen Yu posed as a hacker who'd secretly invaded and used Shao Li's computer to film and post clips of him.

"Done!" Satisfied, Chen Yu yawned and stretched before undressing and rolling into bed.

While Chen Yu slept soundly, thousands of netizens had already begun commenting on his music video.

To generate interest, Chen Yu had chosen to play international band Jack and Jill's "Sweet Darling," one of the current generation's most well-known pop songs. It had a fairly conventional theme of a boy falling in love with a girl and describing how much he wants to pamper her—reading the lyrics, Chen Yu directly rolled his eyes and pronounced it cliched dog food.

But transposed to his cello, he expertly imbued the notes with the torment of one-sided love, followed by anxiety, satisfaction, and jealousy, all overlaid with tenderness. Combined with his clearly overwhelming technical expertise, the video gained fans everywhere. Faced with such an explosive reaction, the media that initially wanted to remove the clip decided to wait and see.

Laughing_Baby: "Ahhh!!! Who is this?! My teeth are falling out from the sweetness!"

Ninth_Layer_Immortal: "Wow wow, never heard such emotional instrumental music!"

Fox_Fairy: "Pretty baby, come love this big sister ah, I'm waiting for you anytime (╯✧▽✧)╯"

Xiao_Meimei: "Yes, did anyone else notice how cute and tiny the player is? Like a doll!"

A series of netizens immediately responded +1.

Cloud_and_Waves: "You blackhearted women, so impure! Why are you harassing the poor boy instead of appreciating the music?"

Emperor_Without_Clothes: "Fellow brother, I have to admit...my little brother woke up a bit watching this..."

Cloud_and_Waves: "..."

A few minutes later, Cloud_and_Waves posted, "Actually...me too...orz"

Skimming through the comments on his phone during his commute to the school, Chen Yu stalled on comments like these and his mouth twitched. Looking down at his body, he sighed, "Ah...just too seductive, what can I do?"

When he arrived on campus, he checked the time to make sure he wasn't too early and hitched up the backpack on his shoulder. Chen Yu smirked and rubbed his lips in anticipation. Looks like it was time to play with that trash girl a bit.