Part 2
Leon said, pretending it was unintentional, “They changed the chef. It’s not the same as when we were kids.”
Zhou Xie: “…”
The old chef died. Didn’t you attend the funeral?
Li Ao couldn’t figure out why Leon suddenly brought this up.
“About Wen Rong’s Red Card penalty…”
Oh, so he waited until the dinner table to remember to ask Cousin to remove Wen Rong’s Red Card. putting on a pleading stance.
“You forbid anyone from helping him. You went too far.”
Zhou Xie: “Was it excessive?”
“Since everyone is sitting down to make peace, go back and find a reason to cancel the Red Card.” He added, “I’ll cooperate with you.”
Li Ao twitched the corner of his mouth, knowing it was time to play his cousin’s BGM.
“Canceling the Red Card is fine. But he needs to compensate for the financial losses caused by the press release, and he needs to get everyone whose interests were damaged to forgive him. How will you cooperate? By going door-to-door to apologize in his place?”
His cousin sneered and continued mocking, “Is he your biological son? You have to wipe his ass for everything.”
Makes sense.
Li Ao kept a straight face and hummed an “Mm” in agreement.
“Hey.” Shi Ye slammed his chopsticks down. “Are those people important? Screw them—”
Zhou Xie interrupted him. “How are they not important? If you trace the network of those people up seven or eight levels, they all have connections to the old men in the Council. Don’t forget, those old men have to agree on how much money your family gets each year.”
Not finished yet, he turned to Leon. “Leon, even for the scarce materials you need, I have to beg those old men to nod.”
Finally, he pointed casually at Wen Rong. “In what way are these people not important? In what way are people who could crush him with a yawn not important? My giving him a Red Card and making him wear women’s clothing was just opening a vent for these people. Otherwise, who knows where he would die or what pile of trouble he’d cause.”
After he finished, Li Ao marked a huge “KO” in his mind.
Cousin: 1
Shi Ye & Leon: 0
Cousin’s considerations were always right.
“No one will change their mind because of a news article.”
In this silent victory, the person in the corner spoke up again at an inappropriate time.
“Shut up!”
He didn’t: “You say many people suffered financial losses. Actually, they were already being questioned. Being able to make money against their conscience is only because many people are as cowardly as you.”
“You—”
“You’re afraid of death.”
Li Ao saw his cousin’s body sway. It seemed like an illusion; when he blinked, his cousin was standing straight again.
Diagonally across from him, Wen Rong said, “I understand you. You possess a lot, so you don’t want to die, and you want to protect what you hold in your hands. But you being right doesn’t mean I’m wrong. We just have different standpoints. I stand on the side oppressed by you.”
“What standpoint? Just tell me what use you have.”
His cousin didn’t wait for Wen Rong to answer and shouted angrily, “Even your grades barely rank in the middle. If not for the Special Recruitment, you wouldn’t be fit to enter Floriman Academy at all.”
At the mention of grades, Wen Rong’s momentum clearly weakened by half, but he quickly charged back up. “Why must one have top grades to be considered useful? If the idea for the science software was useless, you wouldn’t have directly stolen our results.”
Stolen.
Software.
He really… dares to say it.
Why did he have to say it out loud?
“Without me pulling strings behind the scenes, that software would have only rotted in your hands.”
“Without us making the software, you wouldn’t even have had the chance to pull strings.”
Stop talking about the software.
Li Ao applied force with his fingers, practically gripping the chopsticks into his hand, poking a visible hole in the center of his rice.
“What’s this about the software?” Shi Ye inserted himself into the argument.
“The software should have been made by Li Ao.” Leon looked at Li Ao. “Do you still need to steal other people’s software?”
I…
Li Ao stopped moving his hands. Even his breathing stopped.
The sensation of suffocation made his head swell.
Fortunately, his cousin’s voice didn’t stop. “Is a software developed using the school’s brand something you can control? You don’t even know what business competition is, nor do you know how big software companies like Bluebook will maliciously splash dirty water to damage the school’s reputation.”
“It hasn’t happened yet, so how do you know I can’t handle it?”
“You can’t even get the school’s funding application approved. What can you handle?”
“That’s because you rejected our application without reason.”
“I have the power to reject you without reason.”
His cousin’s voice was almost a roar. “Do you think only I have this kind of power? Everyone you provoked has this kind of right. To get a version number, the approving unit needs the old men in the Council to nod. To list an app, major companies need to sound them out. Do you think just making it is enough? Hah, stop thinking about the software and think about yourself. You are remembered by these people now. Wait until graduation—you’ll suffer… Can you even graduate smoothly? For the third-term practice, no place will want you.”
Wen Rong was about to speak when Leon suddenly reached out and tugged his sleeve.
Wen Rong immediately bit his lip and lowered his head.
“Go play in my room.”
“…” He was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, Senior.”
Leon smiled. “Why apologize to me?”
“I…”
Wen Rong hesitated, left the words unspoken, gently got up from the chair, gently pushed the chair back to the table, and gently went upstairs.
Li Ao finally recovered from the argument, briefly forgetting about the theft, and slowly stuffed rice into his mouth.
Chewing, he thought, Wen Rong is so childish. How could Leon and Shi Ye fall for him?
Recalling the scene just now carefully, recalling that face…
Mm, a very commoner face.
Full of clarity. One glance and you could see that naive, foolish heart in his chest.
If this were hundreds of years ago, he would definitely be one of those hot-blooded youths charging at the very front, brain not working too well.
Of course, there were many such hot-blooded youths, but not many people remembered their names. Because they were too stupid, they all died.
Too strange.
Shi Ye liking him was one thing, but what did Leon, who loved watching from the sidelines so much, see in him? Just the face?
Click.
The sound of a slightly louder door closing came from upstairs.
It didn’t sound like a slam of anger; rather, it was like a signal, telling them, “You guys talk secrets. I have completely left the arena.”
“Zhou Xie—” Leon spoke as soon as he received the signal. “He learns very fast. I told him things aren’t black and white. Today, he clearly understood that what you said wasn’t wrong.”
His cousin raised a hand to adjust his collar. “If he really learned fast, he would know what it means to assess the situation.”
Leon lowered his head and laughed. “Before criticizing him, you might as well hear me out.”
“…”
“You aren’t the problem. Following order isn’t the problem. Catering to those old men in the Council from your position isn’t a problem either. Undeniably, one day in the future, Shi Ye and I will also walk your path. You’re just walking ahead of us right now.”
Perhaps these words really touched his cousin’s heart, as Li Ao heard his cousin’s snort sound louder than before.
“It’s just that history is fluid. Every era has its own needs. The old set of rules doesn’t apply anymore. Look… everything has to wait for the agreement of those few old men in the Council. You have some power in school, I have some scientific research results, but we still have to cater to those few old men.”
“We discussed the consequences of this when school started. Technology has stagnated for 70 years. The upper class of the Federation is holding on tighter and tighter, birthing more and more idiots who control wealth and power.”
“Is Wen Rong really the only ‘Special Recruit’ at Floriman Academy? How many people are actually qualified to enter?”
“The little idiots born to those idiots occupy resources in the school. When they graduate, they rely on their alumni status to occupy wealth and status. Those who truly entered the school on merit can only be dogs for them.”
“Because we are the best friends in the world… Heh.” Leon drank some water to moisten his throat. He probably felt that saying this was cheesy and funny, so the corners of his mouth quirked up. “Because it’s you guys, I’m speaking my mind at this table: What is needed now is change.”
“As for the reason, it’s probably what Wen Rong told me the day you asked me to give him the ballot box.”
“I said Zhao Zeyang being the Tennis Club President maintains stability. He said, judging by the voting results, if Zhao Zeyang continues to be President, only Zhao Zeyang is happy. Most of the members are unhappy. This will trigger chaos sooner or later.”
“Do you think those people who were proud for 18 years, only to be forced to be dogs after entering Floriman Academy, are happy? They are the majority. They urgently need a vent.”
“I’m very sure Wen Rong will be that opening. In the future, 99% of people will be behind him. What smart people should do is conform to the trend of the times and follow the new leader to purge that 1%.”
The sound of the wind was suddenly very distinct, strange just like the first time Leon expressed a biased opinion.
Only those who grew up together knew how shocking this was.
It was like Shi Ye suddenly becoming full of evil schemes, or his cousin suddenly practicing truth, goodness, and beauty.
“Looks like you really like him.”
His cousin voiced his inner thoughts.
“Saying ‘like’ is too shallow. I would dedicate my life to follow him.”
“Hah—”
“I also want to go sit in the Council.”
Leon lowered his head and stirred the curry. The thick liquid was hard to dissolve. The light on the silver spoon was slowly covered by the liquid, just like the words spoken just now, shaking the dark light in Zhou Xie’s eyes.
Li Ao knew his cousin was moved.
The lunch continued in deathly silence and ended in deathly silence. Leon went upstairs. Li Ao’s room was next to Shi Ye’s. While he played games in his room, the noise of a cat bell shaking kept coming from next door.
So annoying.
Li Ao: [Can you stop shaking that broken bell of yours? It’s affecting my gaming.]
Shi Ye: [You don’t wear headphones when gaming?]
He’s right. I didn’t wear headphones.
The screen went black, and the respawn countdown began. In the bottom left corner, a teammate was cursing: [0-7, I could play better than you with my feet.]
Right, I played too terribly.
A message popped up in the bottom right corner. His proposal for robot production was rejected by the Principal because a smart robot company was already preparing to make them, and that company didn’t need competing products.
Too true. Wen Rong will definitely have 99% behind him.
Because they had been oppressed for too long, their hearts were full of the desire to charge at the 1%.
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