Chapter 30: Saying Goodbye to the “Little Fool”
“I want to introduce a child to you.”
Leon’s father, Ernst von Löwenstein, had graduated alongside the current Principal of Floriman Academy thirty years ago.
One entered the courts to become the youngest judge in history, while the other followed family arrangements to enter parliament. Although they parted ways, meeting at the peak of their careers years later meant they could still be considered “bosom friends.”
This old man, who had witnessed the fickleness of the world from the High Court, did not look as kind and polite as his son, Leon. He resembled Zhou Xie more closely—meticulous from head to toe, with a stern face that commanded authority even without his judicial robes.
Leon wanted to introduce Wen Rong to his father. Wen Rong came from the common class, was intelligent, and likely very hardworking. Just like the candidates who passed the 0.01% acceptance rate exams every year, he had the potential to become an excellent judge in the future.
Ernst asked, “What kind of person?”
“A child born in the outer districts, but very well-behaved. And very smart.”
“Children who are too well-behaved aren’t suitable for the courts.”
“He grew up in a welfare institute and hasn’t really been taught by anyone yet. Perhaps with some guidance, he won’t be as docile as he is now. You’ll understand when you see him; he’s the kind of child who is naturally likeable.”
Under Leon’s persuasion, Ernst grew curious about this “well-behaved child.” He took the initiative to follow his son toward the cafeteria. The other school directors trailing behind him followed in a daze, and the group marched grandly into the dining hall.
Just as Leon was reaching for his phone to contact Wen Rong, thinking that perhaps Wen Rong could solve the Zhao Zeryang issue through conversation, a chaotic commotion suddenly erupted in the distance.
Dozens of students were wrestling in a tangled brawl. Tables were slammed with loud crashes, plates shattered on the floor, and food was mashed beyond recognition.
Everyone: “…”
Leon, spotting Wen Rong throwing the fiercest punches in the crowd: “…”
“Is this the ‘very well-behaved child’ you mentioned?”
Leon refused to admit defeat. “At least he looks well-behaved. I didn’t even need to tell you who he was; you found him yourself.”
Ernst was amused by his son. “He does indeed look like a good child who naturally draws people in.”
The battle was intense. It took several security guards to finally pull everyone apart. Wen Rong, being at the very center of the combat, had half a sleeve torn off. His shirt was pulled out of his trousers, hanging longer than his jacket, and his glasses hung wretchedly on his face. Yet, when he pushed them up and locked eyes with Leon, he wasn’t afraid. Instead, there was a faint look of pride on his face.
In comparison, Zhao Zeryang looked much more tragic. His face was a patchwork of red and purple, and the wound on his forehead had split open again, blood streaming down.
There were few moments when Leon couldn’t control his facial expression, but this was one of them.
He took a deep breath, carefully recalling his conversation with Wen Rong yesterday. He reviewed every sentence to see where he had deviated, leading Wen Rong to come up with the method of “brawling” to get Zhao Zeryang expelled.
He had clearly meant for Wen Rong to be ready to report the situation to the school directors.
During those few minutes of complicated emotions for everyone, the academy teachers finally rushed to the scene.
“Why are you fighting?!” The teacher with the Mustache saw the dozen or so battered students and nearly passed out. Then, spotting the line of school leaders, his mustache quivered with rage. “As students of Floriman Academy, brawling in a group… you are simply disgracing the school!”
The dozen students looked at each other, then unanimously pointed at Wen Rong. “The Special Recruit started it.” “It was him.”
Mustache looked at Wen Rong. He paused, vaguely recalling that the Special Recruit didn’t look like this, but the nametag hanging precariously from the jacket indeed read “Wen Rong.”
He asked, “Did you start it?”
Wen Rong nodded calmly. “I started it.”
“You Special Recruits never bring anything good. Why did you hit people?”
“Because I am dissatisfied with every student in this school.”
“You’re making trouble out of nothing.” Mustache turned his head and shouted, “Take this Special Recruit to the security room first.”
Wen Rong slowly turned his head to look at Leon—and Ernst von Löwenstein standing beside him.
There was a few seconds of hesitation in his eyes, but soon, he seemed to confirm something. His voice rose sharply. “I want to report to the school leaders that the school spirit of Floriman Academy is corrupt.”
The firm, clear voice echoed through the cafeteria. Everyone froze. The only sound was the bubbling of boiling water behind the serving counter.
Leon was stunned too.
He thought Wen Rong would accuse Zhao Zeryang, but he hadn’t expected Wen Rong to expand the target to the entire school.
This was a massive deal.
Yet, a rare smile appeared on the lips of the old judge, Ernst. He said to Leon, “Not a well-behaved child, but very smart. There have always been people among the directors coveting the Principal’s position. Now that someone has escalated a fight into an issue of school ethics, it’s the perfect opportunity to attack the Principal.”
Leon looked behind Ernst and, sure enough, saw looks of excitement on some faces.
Mustache said hurriedly, “What nonsense are you spouting? You’re a lunatic. Hurry up and take him to the security room!”
Taking someone to the security room at a time like this was tantamount to a guilty conscience.
Judge Ernst and the Principal had been friends for many years. Facing accusations against his friend, he naturally stepped in to help. “Security, stand down. I spent the best seven years of my life at Floriman Academy. I am very curious why this little classmate says the school spirit is corrupt.”
“He… there’s something wrong with his brain! Don’t listen to his nonsense.”
Ernst pointed at Mustache and roared, “Take this person to the security room! Call the Principal and the other directors. We will resolve this little friend’s complaint right here and now.”
The imposing aura of one of the Federation’s Seven Great Judges was unmatched. Security personnel quickly dragged Mustache away, and the secretary who had accompanied Ernst into the campus took out a phone to contact the Principal.
Ten minutes later, all the leaders who had spoken or appeared at the opening ceremony arrived at the cafeteria.
The scene remained untouched. The dozen students involved in the fight stood a short distance away from Wen Rong. Zhao Zeryang, their leader, pressed his hand against his wound, barely staunching the blood.
The Principal, accustomed to the storms of parliament, calmly asked Wen Rong after hearing the summary of events, “Is it you who wishes to complain about the corrupt school spirit?”
Wen Rong first bowed to the crowd. “Good afternoon, leaders and Principal. I am a Special Recruit who just enrolled this year. Although I have not systematically studied law, I know that the internet is not a lawless place, nor is freedom of speech an excuse for anyone to unleash malice wantonly on forums. On the anonymous ‘Black Pigeon’ forum of Floriman Academy, many students have posted about using forceful means against me, wanting to kiss me, and wanting to hold me. if the leaders do not believe me, you can log into the Black Pigeon Forum to see.”
“…”
“…”
No one disbelieved him.
They didn’t even need to open the forum.
Because everyone had eyes.
The boy with disheveled clothes possessed an unquestionable beauty. He looked as lovely as a flower growing coldly and purely in a temple.
It was a very special temperament, so holy that it made people want to enshrine him.
Several boys nearby hurriedly explained, “We didn’t, it wasn’t us.”
Wen Rong pressed, “How can you prove you didn’t?”
“…” The boys were stumped.
The Black Pigeon Forum was anonymous; even they couldn’t find their own past posts.
Zhao Zeryang spoke up. “Principal, the Special Recruit’s words are too severe. We are simply bold and passionate in our pursuit of love, so we posted some comments online expressing our affection for him.”
Wen Rong looked at Zhao Zeryang again. “If you think there is no problem with those words, do you dare to ask the school to publicize the real names behind all the anonymous avatars on the forum?”
“Wha—” Zhao Zeryang choked. If the real names on the forum were actually made public because of this, Wen Rong would be dragging him down to offend everyone in the entire school!
“You are afraid, which shows that you also think the comments inside are wrong.” Wen Rong raised his voice. “This is the world’s top aristocratic academy. Every student here will be a leader in various industries in the future. Yet, beneath these glamorous identities are beasts who want to commit criminal acts against their classmates.”
Zhao Zeryang said hurriedly, “Does this have anything to do with you suddenly hitting people just now? I never said on the forum that I was going to do anything to you.”
“It does have a connection.” Wen Rong bowed to the Principal once more. “Principal, I searched on the forum and found that three years ago, a Special Recruit at Floriman Academy was expelled for fighting with a classmate. However, I discovered that the day before that Special Recruit fought, many students had already posted threads clamoring for his expulsion. One anonymous account even solemnly guaranteed to everyone that they would grant their wish.”
“On the second day, Zhao Zeryang broke the Special Recruit’s leg, and the post about the Special Recruit’s expulsion appeared, with everyone in the thread clapping and cheering. Therefore—I judged that the Special Recruit was forced out by a premeditated plan.”
“Because of this precedent, I concluded that I would be next.”
Zhao Zeryang: “Is this your reason for hitting people?”
Wen Rong nodded frankly. “Yes.”
“Because I am just a commoner with no parents. If my legs are broken, I cannot support myself. Furthermore, Zhao Zeryang has a record of smashing me with tennis balls. My counterattack was based on my judgment of his malicious conduct.”
Dead silence.
The students couldn’t refute it because the posts on the anonymous forum couldn’t be deleted; the ironclad evidence was there.
The school leaders couldn’t speak either because the Principal hadn’t stated his position yet.
Clap, clap, clap.
Ernst broke the silence with slow applause. He praised, “The opening ceremony is also a new beginning for the school year. It is the perfect time to clean up the school spirit and correct the students’ conduct… I recall that the school forum has always been managed by the Student Council. Why don’t we call the Student Council President over to discuss this matter together?”
Student Council President—Zhou Xie.
A chill ran down every student’s spine.
Except for Leon.
His father had accepted Wen Rong’s accusation while skillfully shifting the target from the Principal to Zhou Xie, the Student Council President. The visual effect was obvious: everyone would now think Zhou Xie was incompetent. Zhou Xie feared losing power the most. That night, just because Shi Ye said, “I wish for your early abdication,” Zhou Xie had called to curse at him all night. Now, if he wanted to sit firmly in the President’s seat, he would have to catch a scapegoat to take the blame.
And since Wen Rong had brought up the Special Recruit from three years ago and had fought Zhao Zeryang today, the target for the scapegoat was already very clear.
With a single speech, he had cleverly incited a conflict among so many powers. Wen Rong surely did this unintentionally—
Wait.
Leon quickly looked at Wen Rong, shock filling his azure eyes.
Wen Rong’s face was calm, without ripples, just like the composed expression he had after hitting Zhao Zeryang at the recruitment fair.
On the day of the review, he said he wanted to contact the media, which meant he had already considered everything when he struck.
Fighting a group brawl to attract attention, elevating the conflict with Zhao Zeryang to a school ethics issue, and then dragging in Zhou Xie, forcing Zhou Xie to make a move against Zhao Zeryang.
Had he… planned all of this?
A different kind of emotion was born in Leon’s heart. Wen Rong’s growth was frighteningly fast. It seemed that in just a few short days, inside and out, he had become unlike the “Little Fool” he first met.
The weather was clear and refreshing.
Shi Ye finally escaped from a pile of old fogeys and returned to his villa. He was calling the school directors who hadn’t come to school today, one by one, requesting in his own name that they expel Zhao Zeryang.
“Brother Shi! Brother Shi!”
Shi Ye put a finger to his lips. “Keep it down, I’m on the phone.”
Qi Yuan continued to scream, “Wen Rong got into a group fight with over a dozen students in the cafeteria, and Judge Ernst bumped right into it!”
Bang.
The phone fell to the ground. From the receiver came a repeated “Hello? Hello?”
It took Shi Ye a few seconds to come back to his senses. “One person… fought more than a dozen?”
What the hell?
Wait, didn’t Wen Rong say he would just let Zhao Zeryang beat him up? Why did it turn into a dozen people beating him up?
With that small frame of his…
Buzz—
Qi Yuan’s phone and Shi Ye’s phone rang simultaneously.
Black Pigeon System Notification: [From this moment on, the Black Pigeon Forum is temporarily closed.]
Black Pigeon System Notification: [It has come to our attention that multiple students have posted inappropriate comments on the forum. The internet is not a lawless place. The school will determine responsibility for these students in accordance with school regulations.]
Qi Yuan: “Brother Shi, I heard that all of Zhao Zeryang’s posts in the forum were exported by the Student Council. Because the circumstances were too severe and there was suspicion of corrupting the atmosphere, he is about to be processed for expulsion.”
Shi Ye: “……”
Wen Rong, what on earth did you do?!
Qi Yuan looked at his phone again and said, “War report from the front lines: The school is establishing an investigation team to re-examine the incident regarding the expulsion of the Special Recruit three years ago.”
Shi Ye grabbed his jacket, putting it on as he walked out, and quickly jumped into his car.
He desperately wanted to know what Wen Rong had done. How was this different from that clumsy plan he mentioned yesterday?
Wasn’t he supposed to let Zhao Zeryang beat him? Wasn’t he supposed to let Zhao Zeryang get a Red Card? How did the forum get closed, and how did the three-year-old case get reopened?
Shi Ye dialed the number he had just added yesterday.
—No answer.
Fck!*
Shi Ye called Qi Yuan. “Where are Zhao Zeryang and the others now…”
The red sports car left a blurred afterimage on the main road.
When Shi Ye arrived at the cafeteria, he saw students leaving one after another.
He grabbed a random person. “Where is Wen Rong?”
The student, facing school penalties because Wen Rong had dragged him down, looked impatient. “Who knows where he—”
After complaining, he realized the person grabbing him was Shi Ye, and his voice instantly softened. “Brother… Brother Shi.”
“Where is Wen Rong?”
“Up… upstairs, probably…”
Shi Ye threw the person aside and strode quickly toward the staircase.
Bodyguards brought by the leaders were lined up guarding the “door.” Shi Ye passed through on face recognition alone. He went up to the second floor and immediately saw Wen Rong inside a private box.
Wen Rong had his back to Shi Ye. Directly in front of him was someone taller.
It wasn’t hard to see that Wen Rong’s face was extremely close to the person in front of him. From this angle, Shi Ye could only vaguely determine it was a man with blond hair.
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