Chapter 139: People Like Me (28/72)

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Su Wanli stood silently at the entrance of the Guidance Office, holding a noble and graceful pose, tilting her head at a 45-degree angle as she gazed up at the clear sky above the school.

Something about this felt a bit off!

This was that kind of pleasure that came from occupying the moral high ground, the rational high ground, and an elevated status, where even the high-ranking Guidance Director at the school couldn’t refute her with a single word!

She used to think Meng Huange was just a simple, otherworldly, beautiful, and kind-hearted heroine, but it turned out she could really pull strings, teaming up with her to take on Li Zhengqi—one playing the strict role, the other the gentle.

And honestly, the essence of this plan still relied on her own natural aura of panic at Baiying Academy that day, but now, bringing it straight to the Guidance Office and trying to use authority to pressure others—so long as she could catch and point out the students’ poor behavior, even the Guidance Director would be at a loss for words to defend them.

What’s more, just now, Su Wanli hadn’t acted as an ordinary student at all, but rather as a Shareholder who had invested in Baiying Academy, someone who sincerely hoped for the academy’s continued improvement!

With Meng Huange’s assistance, the words she had just used to advise Li Zhengqi had been so aggressive and full of emotion—any reasonable person would have accepted her proposal.

Yes… that’s right.

To be honest, the only part of the entire plan Su Wanli couldn’t understand was why Meng Huange wanted her to be the one who hoped for Baiying Academy to get better.

After all, as the Number One Gang Leader in Baiying Academy, with more violations than the second place by dozens, and having set the glorious record of being reported for two consecutive weeks, could she really, just by showing her face, make the Guidance Director believe she genuinely wanted Baiying Academy’s atmosphere to improve?

She was clearly the one who led the way in corrupting the school’s morals, and even turned her own Class Three, Year Two into a gathering place for poor students. Yet now she was saying that, because the study atmosphere in Fengyuan was too bad, she had decided to patrol and fix the negative climate there…

Uh, thinking carefully, isn’t this a bit too ridiculous? If Li Zhengqi could actually believe that, then he’d be half a god himself…

As Su Wanli was pondering this, and feeling a bit of self-doubt, the System suddenly whispered in her ear~

[Performance Mode, Rich Host has successfully caught 21 cheaters at Baiying Academy, and passed the list on to the staff. Remaining number: 29. Please keep up the good work and spread your esteemed name throughout the academy.]

Before Su Wanli could react, Meng Huange pushed open the door from the Guidance Office with a gentle smile, nodding at Su Wanli.

“Thank you for your effort, we’ve received Liu Laoshi’s approval.”

As she spoke, she pulled a bright red armband from her school uniform pocket and handed it to Su Wanli.

“He said, although this isn’t officially permitted by the regulations, seeing our good intentions, he allows us to contribute to the school’s discipline after we’ve finished our exams.”

Su Wanli squinted, taking the red armband from Meng Huange and flipping it around to examine the text on it.

It really did have the big characters ‘Discipline Committee Member’ written on it. Meng Huange’s plan, suggested just now on the way over, had succeeded so easily…

Honestly, she really wanted to ask Meng Huange a few direct questions, but she knew herself too well—she was someone who did whatever it took to achieve her goals, and now that she had the armband, she just nodded slightly, no longer caring about these troublesome details.

She flashed a grin, turned her head lazily, took a couple of steps toward the teaching building, but then looked back—

“…Meng Huange, is that Li Zhengqi an idiot? Does he really think someone like me, after seeing others cheat, would be so moved that I’d want to fix Baiying Academy’s atmosphere and make the academy better?”

Behind Su Wanli, Meng Huange just stood there smiling faintly, as if waiting for her to finish.

“…Of course not, Miss Wanli. In this world, no one would easily believe someone with such a bad reputation could suddenly become kind and upright.”

Meng Huange shook her head, pulling out her own armband as well, and unfolded it in front of Su Wanli.

“The reason Teacher Li Zhengqi gave us the armbands isn’t because he believed what we just said—it’s because he compromised.”

…Compromised? So, in the end, he still didn’t want to do it.

Meeting Su Wanli’s questioning eyes, Meng Huange continued,

“Strictly speaking, it was the compromise of someone in authority at the academy.”

“When he saw the videos we recorded, he would definitely understand that, regardless of whether we were just acting on a whim or sincerely wanted to fix the school atmosphere, it posed no real threat to him. At most, it was just a few students running around during exam time to deal with minor issues.”

“And as the daughter of the Big Shareholder of Baiying Academy, he had no reason to upset you over such a trivial matter. The only reason he might have refused you would be to maintain the tradition that supervisory power shouldn’t be given to students.”

“Tradition…”

“Exactly. People in school uniforms shouldn’t be making such demands, let alone taking away any of his authority.”

Meng Huange shrugged slightly.

“So, we just needed to shake that tradition, emphasize our own status, and give him an easy way out. No matter if he truly believes it or not, for something so trivial, he naturally won’t pursue it any further.”

“…I see.”

Having received her answer, Su Wanli licked her lips twice and let out a small sigh.

So, in the end, it was just a simple case of using authority to pressure people?

She thought all her prior careful preparation and rhetoric had made the difference, but all it really did was speed up the process of convincing the Guidance Director, making it easier for both sides to accept.

But whatever, all she wanted was a number anyway, and with this armband, she could openly cheat in the next two exams.

Su Wanli weighed the armband in her hand, then tucked it into her pocket, preparing to return to class.

“…But even if others don’t believe you, I will, Miss Wanli.”

Behind her, Meng Huange spoke in a calm, ambiguous tone.

Su Wanli looked back, her eyes narrowing with confusion.

“Huh? Believe me? Believe what?”

“…I believe you really would feel furious when you see others cheating, and that you’d want to change the atmosphere at Fengyuan, and make Baiying Academy better.”

Wait, wasn’t that the same question she had just asked her? Why emphasize it now?

Su Wanli thought for a moment, then gave Meng Huange a crooked smile and nodded.

“Eh, I don’t have such noble motives. I’m just an Exam Candidate, just wanted to vent a bit. If you have such high expectations for me, it must be because I’m usually too tolerant of you all.”

“Motivation is only the starting point. I believe that, even if you didn’t start out with good intentions when you left the classroom, there must be some belief in your heart that led you to come up with the idea of catching fifty cheaters and reporting them to the Guidance Director.”

Meng Huange looked at Su Wanli with serious eyes.

“At the very least, you must have seen something that made you feel angry or unfair, and wanted to use your status, your unique reputation, to give the whole school a warning—so that, before cheating, they’d have to think twice about the consequences of being caught.”

“Nonsense, that’s not it…”

Meng Huange narrowed her eyes slightly, like a sly wolf—

“Otherwise, as you said, if you just wanted to vent, why specifically pick out the cheaters, and not just anyone at random?”

“Besides, you’re saying this kind of thing again.”

Meng Huange smiled as she walked up to the silent Su Wanli, letting out a gentle sigh.

“—People like you, and people like me.”