Chapter 14
Pfft.
Leon tried his best to suppress the corners of his lips, but failed. He turned around, covered his mouth, and burst into laughter.
The students nearby could barely make out from the conversation that a bottom-feeder at Floriman Academy was delusionally trying to join the Student Council. The students further back, however, were confused and began to murmur their dissatisfaction. Someone, annoyed but afraid of being recognized, pinched their nose and shouted, “What is the Special Recruit doing? Can he move aside?”
Zhou Xie stiffly lowered his hand.
He took the tablet from the chestnut-haired boy, feigning calm as he logged into the Black Pigeon Student Council backend system. “What is your name?”
Wen Rong was overjoyed. “My name is Wen Rong. ‘Wen’ as in gentle, ‘Rong’ as in soft down. I am very hardworking—”
Zhou Xie interrupted him. “Not wearing a uniform. That’s one Yellow Card penalty. Get in.”
“But I want to—”
Zhou Xie interrupted him again. “No, you don’t. Get in there.”
Wen Rong sensed the anger and assumed he had done something wrong. He didn’t dare speak again.
He began to doubt himself.
It seemed that taking this kind of initiative was wrong; it lacked propriety and didn’t make others comfortable.
Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder.
It was very, very light, like a splash of warm water, trickling densely over his skin and warming his stiff bones.
Strength returned to his body.
“The Little Fool has a good eye,” Senior Leon said with a beaming smile. “Our Student Council is an organization dedicated to contributing to the academy. Unfortunately, we’ve always been short-handed, so we need enthusiastic and diligent children like you to help. This here is our Student Council President, Zhou Xie, a sixth-year. His nickname is the ‘Mad Dealer’ because he chases students around with school rules every day to deal out penalties… He has made tremendous contributions to our school’s discipline. You’ll have a bright future following him.”
Leon always spoke with a lazy cadence, yet it had a rhythm to it, like classical music playing from a gramophone, mixed with a vintage sense of age.
The music made Wen Rong feel that his actions were approved, and an indescribable joy welled up in his chest.
“Come here, Senior will teach you the experience needed to apply for the Student Council.”
“Mhm!”
“Leon von Löwenstein—”
A cold voice made Leon stop in his tracks.
The corners of Leon’s mouth hooked into a smile. He gave Wen Rong a gentle push on the back. “Go on in.”
“S-Senior?”
Wen Rong looked back only to see Senior Leon waving at him. “Go in, Little Fool. The Student Council is a giant pit, don’t jump in. The New Tennis Club suits you better.”
“But—”
“So annoying. Why are you blocking the way?”
Before Wen Rong could organize his words, he was shoved inside by the impatient crowd.
Leon maintained his waving posture, turning his head to look at this “refined scumbag” who disguised himself so well—brows tightly knit, eyes with visible whites beneath the irises moving slightly from bottom to top, conducting a rather dangerous scrutiny.
Before Zhou Xie could speak, Leon held up his phone. “Ouch, another call. Who is looking for me so urgently? I’ll go take this.”
“Come back after you answer it.”
“I’ve already sent the freshmen inside. I’m going back to the dorm to get busy~”
“…Do you want the materials you applied for last week to arrive on time?”
The school provided excellent students with any resources, but “resources” were purchased and distributed by the Student Council.
Helpless, Leon put his phone back in his pocket. “I’m coming back, I’m coming back.”
Having been successfully threatened, Leon caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of three people sneaking over the fence of the club recruitment site in the distance. He couldn’t hold back and let out a pfft of laughter again.
“Mocking the Student Council President. One Yellow Card penalty.”
“Hey, hey, who’s laughing at you?”
” issuing cards is my power, and I have the sole right of interpretation.”
Leon: “…”
Forget it.
If anyone believed this Student Council President was upright and selfless, they would be the real fool.
Leon looked into the distance, thinking that the gossipmongers of Black Pigeon really did arrive wherever they smelled gunpowder. This club recruitment event featured the “Changing of the Guard between the New and Old Tennis Clubs,” followed by “Which sucker club will accept the Special Recruit,” and now added “Special Recruit wants to join the Student Council.” Truly explosive.
Related posts would probably float on the forum’s homepage for a month.
Inside the venue, Wen Rong stood on tiptoe but still couldn’t see Senior Leon, feeling a bit vexed.
[Why does the Host want to join the Student Council?] The thought was so sudden that even the System couldn’t find the logic.
Wen Rong moved under a tree to make way for other students. “I just guessed that if I could also wear that kind of armband, everyone would like me.”
Wen Rong had zero experience in interpersonal relationships, but he was very good at taking tests. If he encountered a difficult problem he couldn’t solve, he could imitate other people’s answers.
The “Squad Leaders” in elementary school, the seniors in the “Small Class”—they all seemed to hold a position in the school.
But now, a new problem had appeared.
Wen Rong felt a little apprehensive. “Gege, did I make people unhappy again? That Senior from the Student Council seemed very angry just now.”
[Host, that is one of the F4, Zhou Xie. He holds the highest power among all students at Floriman Academy. According to the plot, he will lead the whole school to bully you in the future, so you don’t need to consider whether he is happy or not.]
Wen Rong’s face stiffened. “Is he in the same group as Shi Ye?”
[Currently, the F4 is in a state of disintegration, but after the protagonist enters the school, they will be a group.]
Wen Rong instantly dismissed the idea of joining the Student Council.
He had decided not to silently endure bullying anymore, so he certainly couldn’t rush forward to be bullied.
As for easing relationships with other classmates, he would have to think of another way.
As all the freshmen entered the club recruitment site, the atmosphere gradually heated up.
Wen Rong was attracted by a loudspeaker playing dynamic music. He didn’t know what song it was, but his body moved toward it uncontrollably.
Even though his short stature excluded him from the crowd, the music inspired him to stand on tiptoe, barely managing to peek through the gaps between shoulders—someone was dancing on stage.
The movements were dashing, looking exactly like Michael Jackson, whom he had seen on TV.
Wow!
Seeing it with his own eyes was completely different from seeing it on TV.
The wall of people swayed, everyone raising their hands to dance along with the beat. Wen Rong, who was extremely introverted, unknowingly raised his hands as well, his toes awkwardly tipping up.
He was all smiles, his eyebrows curved, his eyes curved too.
For the first time in his life, he felt like he was part of the excitement.
When the music reached its climax, Wen Rong subconsciously turned his head, wanting to share his excitement with the person next to him.
But when the person beside him saw him, their eyes cast downward, sweeping over his unusual attire, and they shifted half a step away.
Wen Rong’s heels slowly touched the ground. His body froze for a few seconds, unsure of how to react.
Only when that person turned away to chat with someone else did he slightly lower his head and whisper to the System in his heart, “Gege, they are so amazing, how can they dance so well?”
[Because that is a second-generation star who has been on global tours with his biological father since he was ten. The album he released at 16 became the best-selling record globally that year. currently, he has 480 million fans worldwide.]
Wen Rong had no concept of 480 million, racking his brain to find celebrities he had seen on the Spring Festival Gala to help him understand.
Just then, something brushed past the back of his head.
He turned around to see a horse’s butt suspended in the air, a white tail swaying back and forth.
He stared for half a second before realizing it was someone wearing a horse-butt prop on their head. In that moment, the music turned into a man-eating monster. Wen Rong was bitten painfully, and he chased after the horse as if fleeing for his life, arriving at another club.
There weren’t many people here, so Wen Rong was able to stand in the first row.
Besides the horse, there were people dressed in princess and knight costumes performing.
The princess was actually played by a Senior!
Wen Rong, seeing a boy in a dress for the first time, widened his eyes, as if he had discovered a new world.
[There are many interesting clubs further inside. Every year, the club recruitment layout is arranged according to club rankings. The further in you go, the more impressive the clubs are. You can go in and take a look.]
Further in, there were more strange and wonderful clubs.
When passing a screen, Wen Rong stopped.
A video of a sunrise was looping on the screen. It reminded him of the sun rising from behind the orphanage mountain—just as round, just as bright.
Wen Rong couldn’t help but reach out to touch it, but the screen suddenly went black.
He hurriedly retracted his hand, turning to see a Senior standing in the distance, laughing. “Don’t look. Our club requires members to take planes to climb mountains all over the world every week. Can you afford the plane tickets?”
He had never even been on a plane.
Wen Rong left in embarrassment.
Perhaps it was a chain reaction caused by the Senior’s laughter, but as he walked, he inexplicably felt that the Seniors from every club were looking at him. Their gazes were no different from those of the other students on the stairs today.
If he got close, there would be a little more fear in those eyes, as if they were terrified of being associated with him.
Wen Rong didn’t want to immerse himself in the dejection of being “isolated,” so he played the “I am an Alien” game in his mind.
Whenever he walked through traffic lights or other monitored sections, he held his head high, tiptoed higher than usual, pretended the wind was blowing his hair, and coolly flicked his bangs.
Waiting for a future day when scientists reviewed the surveillance on the road, specifically zoomed in on this footage of him, and said, “This person is different from others; he must be an alien from Planet XXX who landed on Earth in a spaceship over a decade ago.”
How cool!
I can’t fit in with others because I am a mysterious alien hero.
Having given himself some courage, he raised his hands and patted his cheeks.
Approaching noon, the sun climbed to the top of his head, scorching his hair until it was hot to the touch.
Suddenly, a black object enlarged before his eyes.
Before Wen Rong could see clearly what it was, his vision was instantly obscured.
Bang—
Crunch.
Wen Rong was knocked flat onto the grass on his butt, his hands pressing hard against his aching nose.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The tennis ball continued to bounce on the grass, the amplitude getting lower and lower until it finally came to rest.
The black uniforms passing by all stopped. A few seconds later, the black lines connected into a patch.
“What happened to the Special Recruit? Is he dead?”
“Hit by a tennis ball.”
“Who hit the ball?”
“Someone from the Tennis Club, obviously.”
From the direction of the Tennis Club, a dark-skinned boy picked up a new tennis ball from the basket.
“Juniors who are interested can join the Tennis Club. I’ll teach everyone how to play tennis.”
Bang—
The new tennis ball flew straight past Wen Rong’s cheek, leaving a burning trail of pain.
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