The Salamanders - Chapter 36 - 2.18

I’m in a secret, bad romance with a love dependent student—「Having a secret meeting with a student one is in charge of at school… Isn’t it exciting?」The special relationship with Kirihara that no one can know about began when I took up my post at Mori Kawara High School as a teacher.At school, she’s the serious student council president who has earned a lot of trust from other teachers, but when it’s just the two of us, she becomes mischievous, clingy, and jealous.On weekends, I cook meals at her place, play games together, and pamper her as if we were lovers.Unable to reject her because she knows my weakness, and despite knowing it’s wrong, we continue to pile up secrets little by little every day…「Sensei, my feelings of liking you have grown very strong.」As Kirihara openly confronts me with her feelings, the emotions I’ve been holding back grow even stronger.Even though it would all be over if it were exposed, that sense of immorality ironically only accelerates things further—

Despite having found Mingxi, the Zhao family continued to favor the fake daughter, saying that Mingxi was not as kind nor as graceful as Zhao Yuan.

Mingxi didn’t mind. She continued to work hard to please her family although they would always say that she was trying to rob their attention away from Zhao Yuan.

Until she died because of a terminal illness.

It was then that she realized that Zhao Yuan was the actual lady blessed by luck while she was merely this novel’s evil supporting character with a tragic ending.

Zhao Mingxi who was given a second chance at life was bitterly disappointed. She no longer cared about her family. Screw her family and her fiancé. She immediately packed her bags and left home, off to complete the task given by the system named ‘Becoming Friends With Fashionable and Valuable Characters’.

After she left, the house suddenly became cold and quiet.

By right they should feel at ease, but–

Her parents, her indifferent elder brother, her brash younger brother, Chen Liyao who was used to her pursuits were all successively feeling… unused to it?

Aubree descended the mountain and became the real young miss of the Aubree family in River City.No one in the Aubree family liked this little Buddhist nun who came out from deep mountains. They gave the fake daughter their utmost care while warning the real young miss to discard all ideas of replacing the fake daughter's place.Aubree did not fight. She ate vegetarian food and read Buddhist scriptures every day—void of lust and desires.Her younger brother got caught in a huge lawsuit. Mrs. Aubree went through a lot of trouble to invite the First Lady to plead for mercy only to receive merciless ridicule. “I'll give you a second chance on Master Aubree's account.”Mrs. Aubree, “?”Mr. Aubree's company was in a crisis and was in desperate need of money. In his attempt to gain the richest man's favor, the rich man merely responded with a gaze full of despise. “You tend to take fish eyes for pearls. I think you've developed an acquired taste in your investments.”Mr. Aubree, “?”The fake daughter wanted to ruin the real daughter's reputation at a banquet. Eventually, everyone ended up realizing that the real young miss of the Aubree family was as beautiful as a fairy with a kindred heart.Fake daughter, “?”The crown prince of the wealthy, Qu Feitai, was also a top celebrity in showbiz. Being at the center of attention, he could summon a tempest whenever he wanted.When he participated in a variety show, a frail female guest appeared. She chopped wood with her left hand and pulled noodles with her right hand. Steaming, boiling, and cooking; everything was a piece of cake to her. As someone horrible at maintaining an orderly life, he was dumbfounded.During the live broadcast of the International Junior League finals, his cousin, who was known as a genius in Go, was extremely anxious. On the other hand, the familiar-looking beautiful girl opposite him was calm and composed, ending him in one move.His high-flyer best friend cried to him, “After your goddess transferred over, I can never surpass being in second place anymore.”Qu Feitai, “How many surprises do you have that I don't know about?”Until one day, he actually saw her discussing scriptures and Buddism with a group of old monks at an international Buddhist exchange. As she started to speak of Buddhist Dharma, Qu Feitai panicked…“You keep your six senses pure and saw through the vanity of the world, but I insist on dragging you here for a walk in the mortal realm. Worse comes to worst, you'll ascend to nirvana and I'll end up in hell.”

Have you heard stories of love, love that would never waver for years, decades, centuries or even millenniums to come?But can you really call it love?To keep loving someone forever and ever can't be anything less than crazy, can it?This is one such story.A story of a crazy love.And it's also a story of ...Someone somewhere who wished to be saved.Someone somewhere who wished to be free.Someone somewhere who wished to be able to someday make a wish.It's a story that was supposed to be a fairytale but it turned too ugly, too twisted, and far too wretched to be called one.