Chapter 34: I Won’t Be a Homewrecker
Click.
Just as Wen Rong sent the message, the door to Room 100 was pushed open.
Zhang Jincheng entered, squinting his eyes.
Slouching and hunching, he moved slowly to the President’s seat as if he had just learned to walk.
The moment he sat down, he froze abruptly, transforming into a newly charged robot. His body went rigid, and his legs pedaled backward—thump, thump, thump—to the door. He looked up at the doorplate above—100.
His sleepy, confused gaze swept across the small room, finally landing on the garment steamer on the table.
“President!” Wen Rong pulled a towel from his bag. “President, take off your clothes, I’ll help you iron them. I checked; if I use a towel as a pad, it won’t damage the fabric.”
Zhang Jincheng: “?”
Lin Qizheng threw down his mouse and stood up. “Right, we should iron the President’s clothes. That jacket of his looks like pickled vegetables. It doesn’t fit the new look of our News Club.”
Zhang Jincheng instinctively backed away. Zhang Lin and Lin Qizheng, with quick eyes and hands, rushed up to drag him back to the chair, forcibly stripped off his jacket, and threw it to Wen Rong.
The two didn’t stay idle either. Zhang Lin rummaged through the cabinet Wen Rong had organized, found a black bag, took out a razor, and shaved the messy beard growing on Zhang Jincheng’s face.
“President, do I have the honor of cutting your hair?”
“Scram, scram, scram.” Zhang Jincheng was thoroughly startled awake. He pushed the two away and stood up. “What’s going on? Who did you hire to clean?”
Lin Qizheng and Zhang Lin pointed at Wen Rong in unison. “The Youngest cleaned it.”
“Why did you do all this?”
Wen Rong: “We have to clean up for the start of the new semester.”
“…”
Zhang Lin and Lin Qizheng gave him a “you get it now, right?” look.
Zhang Jincheng: “…”
Zhang Lin took the opportunity to press him back into the chair and turned on the razor, attempting to shave off Zhang Jincheng’s messy hair.
“By the way, Seniors, I searched online for the three elements of news: truthfulness, accuracy, and timeliness. I think we shouldn’t publish those untrue gossip pieces anymore. We should publish something meaningful.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Buzz— The razor buzzed against the air after shaving off a lock of Zhang Jincheng’s hair.
The three looked at Wen Rong strangely.
Wen Rong: “W-What’s wrong?”
Lin Qizheng rubbed his temples. “That… Youngest, I can understand that newborn calves aren’t afraid of tigers, but… but… Sigh, Zhang Lin, you say it.”
Click.
Zhang Lin turned off the razor, opened his mouth, looked at Zhang Jincheng, then at Lin Qizheng, and shook his head in panic. “I won’t say it. You say it yourself.”
Lin Qizheng raised both hands to rub his temples. “That… Youngest, everyone only likes reading gossip. No one reads normal news. Besides, where would our school get so much news to broadcast?”
“Should we cater to others like Zhao Zeryang did?”
A slap from spacetime seemed to hit the three of them across the face. The air fell into silence.
Wen Rong thought for a moment, his eyes clear. “Do we… need to write gossip to ‘cut leeks’?” (exploit people)
Zhang Jincheng held his forehead. “It’s not a question of cutting leeks. It’s because the club score is divided into two parts: 60% comes from the year-end school-wide vote, and 40% comes from the awards won by club members.”
Wen Rong nodded vigorously. The System had told him this.
“Our club usually gets about three votes in past years. This year it might rise to four, but we still can’t compare with other clubs. Plus, the three of us are trash and can’t win any authoritative awards, so…”
As Zhang Jincheng spoke, even he felt it made no sense. Even if they wrote gossip, the votes wouldn’t increase!
Zhang Lin: “Doing the kind of news you’re talking about is tiring and thankless. Our News Club has always written gossip, so let’s not change it, okay? Youngest, if you don’t like writing it, let Lin Qizheng do it. He likes it!”
Lin Qizheng nodded furiously.
Wen Rong could see the resistance in the three of them and realized he might be forcing them. So he took a step back. “Then can I try it myself first? Let me try writing real news.”
Zhang Jincheng waved his hand. “Up to you.”
“Thank you, Senior. I’ll go to the library now to look for books on this subject.”
“Go ahead.”
Wen Rong did as he said, packed the garment steamer into his bag, and went straight out the door.
Room 100 fell quiet. Zhang Lin looked at Lin Qizheng, Lin Qizheng looked at Zhang Jincheng, and Zhang Jincheng stared at the door.
After a long while, Zhang Lin couldn’t help but speak. “President, should we find a chance to explain to the Youngest that this place really is a concentration camp for trash? Tell him not to waste his effort anymore; it’d be better to spend that time on professional studies.”
“Seeing him so energetic makes me feel so ashamed.” Lin Qizheng clutched his chest, feigning pain. “How cheerful, how positive… I feel like sooner or later he’ll be pissed to death by the three of us.”
“He didn’t force us to do it with him. Let him mess around by himself. Besides… didn’t he choose mathematics courses? Once classes start tomorrow, he won’t have so much energy to think about the News Club.”
Lin Qizheng shuddered all over. “Holy sh*t, President, I can’t stand hearing the word ‘mathematics’ right now. I want to cry.”
“What’s wrong?” Zhang Jincheng asked.
“Teacher Xu Qiu published a new paper again.”
The class schedule arrived together with Wen Rong’s custom-made school uniforms.
There were currently only six sets of uniforms, including two sets of black uniforms, two sets of sportswear, and two suits.
The class schedule was interesting.
Course selection at Floriman Academy was up to the students, but the schedule was not fixed. Every week, a schedule for the current week would be sent individually to the student’s Black Pigeon System. The schedule didn’t list subject names, only the classroom, class time, and the teacher’s name.
“Brother, is it like this at Tsinghua and Peking University too?”
[It probably isn’t like Floriman Academy.]
[Most teachers here have their own careers and projects. The time they can come to Floriman Academy each week is not fixed, so the courses are scheduled according to their time.]
Wen Rong looked carefully at his schedule for the week. One teacher’s class took up half a day, filling the schedule from Monday to Thursday.
First class today: Teacher Xu Qiu.
Wen Rong changed into his school uniform and checked his items against the checklist: phone, paper, pen, and the laptop the System required him to bring.
He confirmed the location of the teaching building on the Black Pigeon map in advance; it was a ten-minute walk from the cafeteria.
Senior Leon had told him when showing him around campus that the buildings closer to the school gate were older, especially the teaching buildings, which were mostly built hundreds of years ago. Annual renovations only deliberately maintained their original state.
Stepping onto the wooden stairs, Wen Rong heard a creak, like a “groan” from centuries past.
He climbed to the third floor, turned a corner, and found Room 304 from the schedule. A huge mountain jumped into his eyes—it was a lecture hall as big as a basketball court. There were three columns of seats, separated by stairs. Three steps led to each row of long wooden tables.
Each row was half a meter higher than the one before it. The last row was very, very high. Wen Rong guessed that students sitting there must not be afraid of heights.
Directly opposite the seats, several blackboards formed a wall.
“What are you doing at the door?”
Hearing a deep voice, Wen Rong almost rushed forward, but he quickly calmed down. Turning around, he saw Shi Ye, who was also holding a laptop.
Unexpectedly taking the same class, Wen Rong greeted him proactively, “Good morning.”
But Shi Ye frowned deeply.
Wen Rong: “?”
“What did you mean by the message you sent me yesterday?”
Was what he sent yesterday hard to understand?
Wen Rong explained to him, “Mainly, I wanted to thank you for your help. If you hadn’t said those words to Zhao Zeryang, my plan wouldn’t have succeeded.”
A trace of disappointment flashed across Shi Ye’s face. Wen Rong didn’t know if he had misjudged, nor did he understand why Shi Ye would be disappointed that the plan succeeded.
“Don’t try to get close to me.”
Wen Rong: “Huh?”
“Anyway, don’t message me again. I absolutely will not be a homewrecker.”
Wen Rong: “……”
Wen Rong: ?
What a baffling term.
Before Wen Rong could figure out what “homewrecker” meant in this context, Shi Ye walked past him and straight up the stairs.
More people entered the classroom. seeing Wen Rong, their expressions fluctuated unpredictably. Finally, they chose to bypass him and sit in the seats furthest from him.
Wen Rong understood. This was isolation, exactly the same as at the club recruitment fair.
He accepted all this calmly because he had friends with whom he could share happiness. He wasn’t afraid of being isolated.
9:00 AM
A heavy bell tolled inside the old teaching building.
A simply dressed female teacher entered. There was no expression on her face. Her cold gaze swept around the classroom before she walked behind the podium and opened her laptop.
“I will start the class now.”
Wen Rong was stunned.
Class is starting just like that?
Doesn’t the first class usually start with a self-introduction?
[Because she is a renowned contemporary mathematician whom everyone knows, she doesn’t need to introduce herself.]
“Oh, oh.” Lacking experience, Wen Rong looked humbly toward the podium.
Teacher Xu Qiu’s eyes patrolled the classroom again. “A reminder: I don’t like students asking questions in my class. If you don’t understand, research it yourself after class. If you still don’t understand, change your major.”
After speaking, she turned and walked to the blackboard, writing a string of “characters” with chalk.
They were all letters Wen Rong had never heard of. The only things he could recognize were the few “0”s, “1”s, and “x”s, let alone the professional vocabulary popping out of her mouth.
After filling one blackboard, she pulled the wooden strip between the boards, and the blackboards rotated like a slot machine.
For the first time, Wen Rong felt panic while listening to a lecture. He hurriedly asked the System in his mind, “Brother, I didn’t go to the wrong class, did I?”
[No.]
“This doesn’t seem like the first class?”
[Students at Floriman Academy already understand a considerable amount of professional knowledge before enrolling, so the content compiled in books is basically not covered. The teachers mainly lecture on their latest research results. This is also a major advantage for Floriman Academy students; what is learned here is the most advanced content in every industry.]
But I haven’t been exposed to any of it!
Wen Rong covered his mouth with both hands to prevent himself from screaming.
Calm down.
Calm down.
He patted his face to force himself to stay awake and quickly took out a pen and paper to write down everything Teacher Xu Qiu wrote.
[Host, no need to take notes.]
“Huh?”
[Open the laptop. There is a recording function in the Black Pigeon System. Click it, and the AI will automatically generate the course content.]
So this is why I had to bring a laptop.
After class started, Wen Rong, who had deliberately ignored his surroundings, discovered that everyone’s laptop was already open. Shi Ye sat diagonally across from him, his tall figure particularly prominent. He was listening to the lecture with rapt attention, looking relaxed, as if he understood.
He… understood.
Wen Rong’s eyes went wide with disbelief.
Perhaps Wen Rong’s shocked gaze was too obvious. In a corner noticed by no one, their eyes suddenly met.
An inexplicable panic appeared on Shi Ye’s face. He turned his head back quickly, lifting his chin even higher than before.
Wen Rong wasn’t in the mood to guess his thoughts. He knew he was ignorant, but the current situation was still a blow far exceeding his threshold.
He sighed in despair. After opening his laptop, he still used his pen to record every symbol Teacher Xu Qiu wrote on the paper.
The morning passed as quickly as ten minutes. Teacher Xu Qiu left a problem as classwork and left the classroom directly.
After walking out of the teaching building, a huge roar came from the sky.
Wen Rong looked up and saw a helicopter landing on the roof of the teaching building.
[The teacher who just lectured you left.]
Wen Rong: “…”
So the teachers here commute by helicopter.
After his lament, Wen Rong walked straight to the library.
He hadn’t understood a single word in class just now. There was another class in the afternoon, and he guessed the exact same situation would occur, so he had to seize the time to understand what he had just learned first.
He had a vague feeling that not only was the club score fraught with difficulties, but his exam scores were also in danger!
Scrape—
He didn’t know how much time had passed when the chair opposite the table was suddenly bumped.
“I was wondering why I felt dizzy walking here; turns out I smelled a stench.”
“He got someone expelled, yet he can still self-righteously stay in the school.”
It was mealtime, so there weren’t many students in the library. Several boys stood by the table whispering.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
The pen moved rapidly across the notebook, leaving row after row of neat handwriting. Because he was using too much force, the thumb gripping the pen had turned somewhat white.
Wen Rong’s head was slightly buried, focused on studying. His thin, straight back and shoulders trembled with the writing motion.
Snap—
The pen hit the notebook heavily. He finally closed the notebook and looked up. His amber-like eyes couldn’t focus the light, landing loosely on the boys.
“?”
The boys: “?”
“Is something the matter?”
The boys: “…”
The boys looked at each other, hesitated for a few seconds, then turned and left.
Wen Rong: ?
Wen Rong didn’t know that the entire student body was currently in a wait-and-see state.
—Red Card.
It meant they could humiliate Wen Rong like a dog, and using violence against him wasn’t a violation.
But everyone knew Wen Rong’s track record: from being bullied by Shi Ye to knocking Zhao Zeryang unconscious at the recruitment fair, then getting Zhao Zeryang expelled and the forum closed…
No one dared to be the second bird to stick its neck out.
They were waiting, waiting for the Student Council to show its attitude.
Clueless, Wen Rong looked regretfully at their retreating backs. “Brother, why did their expressions look angry and stifled?”
[Didn’t you hear what they just said?]
“What did they say?”
He had just been thinking about understanding what Teacher Xu Qiu taught and hadn’t heard any sound.
[Some words disliking you.]
The System thought Wen Rong would have some emotional fluctuation because of this, at least feeling down. However, his mood value didn’t move at all. He even rubbed his eyes and sighed, “So strange.”
[What’s wrong?]
“Clearly, I could trigger a mission the day before yesterday. Why couldn’t I trigger it just now? Do they not dislike me anymore?”
“That shouldn’t be it.”
[…]
“That’s not right either.”
Wen Rong opened his laptop and searched for “When do people show stifled expressions?”
—Feeling unfairness in their hearts, things not going smoothly, and unable to get support or understanding from others.
It seemed unrelated to the reason they didn’t bully him.
When they bullied him before, they were self-righteous and would strongly support those who bullied him. There was no “stifled” feeling at all.
So troubling. Now he was even more eager to trigger a mission than before.
He wanted mission points! More points! Ideally enough to redeem two mysterious grand prizes: one for Mom and Dad, and one to understand the lessons taught by the teachers.
In the afternoon, Wen Rong continued to attend a class he couldn’t understand. However, he couldn’t rush straight to the library after class. He hadn’t gone to the cafeteria for lunch in order to understand what the teacher taught, so he had to eat this afternoon meal.
Wen Rong hugged his laptop and walked out of the teaching building. The sky was misty, and the wind carried moisture. It felt like being soaked in the deep sea; the distant scenery was unclear, and his body felt sticky and uncomfortable.
Not long after walking out, Buzz—
The phone in his pocket vibrated.
Black Pigeon System Notification: [Thank you, student Wen Rong, for offering valuable suggestions to the Black Pigeon Forum. The Black Pigeon Forum is now rectified and reopened. The anonymity mechanism is cancelled; all accounts are now real-name.]
Black Pigeon System Notification: [Past posts will also appear with real names. We hope every student joins the action to correct the school spirit and actively reports inappropriate comments in the forum.]
At the same time, the long-awaited voice sounded in Wen Rong’s mind.
[Accept Mission Five]
[Mission Flow: Be humiliated in the cafeteria]
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