Ch 5: How To Be A Good Lackey (QT)

With a mop in each hand, both freshly “baptized” in the toilet, Shao Ye strode back to the dance studio. The door was half-closed. In just that short time, the students inside were already fighting fiercely.

Shao Ye stepped forward and shoved the door open with his chest. Inside was utter chaos. Punches and kicks flew everywhere, groin strikes, sweeping legs, eye gouging, fingers in noses, slaps, hair-pulling. Those with weapons swung them; those without relied on fists and feet. Every underhanded move imaginable was being used. At this point, it wasn’t just the poorer students who had abandoned all decorum. Even the nobles, who usually carried themselves with such arrogance, had completely lost their composure. Tables and chairs flew, crashing loudly. Some had their pants nearly pulled down yet still clamped their teeth onto their opponent’s arm.

Spectacular. Truly spectacular.

Watching the scene, inspiration struck Shao Ye. He brought the two mops together, freed one hand, pulled out his phone, and aimed it at the crowd to record a short video.

Step one to protecting campus peace: post on social media.

Caption: Stop fighting!

After that, Shao Ye put away his phone, gripped the mops tightly, took a deep breath, centered himself, and with the momentum of Zhang Fei at Changban Bridge driving back a million troops, he roared at the fighting students, “All of you, stop!”

His voice rang out like thunder, briefly overpowering the noise.

They all turned to look at him, though their fists and kicks didn’t stop. Seeing Shao Ye standing at the door, they couldn’t help but wonder, who is this guy telling them to stop? Holding two mops like that, did he think they were assault rifles? That if they didn’t listen, he’d just mow them all down?

They turned back and continued fighting.

Lu Yiheng, however, immediately recognized him as the guy who had saved Jiang Yan the night before. Maybe he had even reported him to the school. He signaled to his friends. Forget everyone else, he was going to pin this guy down and beat him senseless to vent his anger.

Four or five people moved toward Shao Ye at the entrance. Under normal circumstances, dealing with them would take some effort. But today was different. Shao Ye felt it was necessary to make them understand, as quickly as possible, who was in charge here.

Looking at them, he slowly raised the mops in his hands. The approaching students hesitated, wondering if this was some strange pre-fight ritual.

Then they heard Shao Ye clear his throat and shout loudly, “Attention, everyone! Attention! These two mops I’m holding were just rinsed in the toilet. When I start swinging them, they won’t have much aim. If any of you want a taste, feel free to keep fighting!”

The few who had been about to step forward froze mid-step. The once-deafening dance studio fell silent in an instant. A large empty space opened up in front of Shao Ye.

Everyone stared at the mops in his hands as if they were looking at a demon. Was he insane? He might as well have brought an assault rifle.

Shao Ye clicked his tongue and walked forward. With every step he took, the students around him stepped back. The crowd parted like the Red Sea, automatically splitting to either side and leaving a wide path for him. No one wanted to provoke him at a time like this. If he went crazy and swung that mop into their face, how were they supposed to show themselves at Golden Laburnum afterward? How would they even get a girlfriend?

Holding the mops, chest out and head high, Shao Ye walked down the path like a victorious general returning from battle.

He stopped in the center of the studio and slowly turned in a circle, as if giving everyone a full display of his weapons, which were only moderately dangerous but highly humiliating. His gaze swept across their faces as he said in a low voice, “Alright, those with Lu Yiheng, stand on the left. Those who aren’t, stand on the right. Don’t even think about running. Anyone who touches the door, I’ll smack them with this mop first. I mean it.”

Such a large-scale brawl would definitely earn major disciplinary punishment. Thinking of running now? Dream on.

Wary of the mops in his hands, no one dared resist. They obediently split into two groups.

Shao Ye nodded in satisfaction, pulled out his phone again, found a good angle, and took a group photo, plus a selfie.

Then he posted again.

Caption: Another day maintaining campus peace 💪💪💪

“Who exactly are you?” a short boy in the crowd asked.

Shao Ye put away his phone, lifted his chin, and said, “Since you’ve sincerely asked, I’ll graciously tell you.”

The others glared at the boy. Why did you even ask?

Shao Ye continued, “To protect the world from devastation, to unite all peoples within our nation, to uphold the evils of truth and love…”

“Cute and charming villain?” someone muttered, recognizing the famous line from Pokémon.

Shao Ye immediately shot back, displeased, “Who’s the villain? Say clearly, who’s the villain?”

Who else could it be?

What kind of “hero” shows up holding something like that?

“My name is Shao Ye, Class Five, second year,” he declared, giving both his name and class. “Anyone have the president’s contact? Give it to me.”

Someone gave him the number, but Xi Guanming didn’t answer. After a moment’s thought, Shao Ye tried contacting the principal, who had left with him.

The principal, upon hearing there was a mass brawl at school, nearly had a heart attack and immediately rushed back with Xi Guanming and the school leadership.

After hanging up, Shao Ye leaned his elbows on the ends of the two mops and looked at the bruised and battered students in front of him, scolding them in frustration, “The president’s not at school for one night and you all go wild? Do you even have any respect for him?”

The crowd fell silent once again. Whether they fought or not had nothing to do with whether the president was on campus. Translated on Hololo novels. Even if Xi Guanming had been there, the fight would still have happened, and probably even more fiercely. Who would have thought they’d run into someone like Shao Ye, such an absolute fool.

Though reason didn’t depend on who spoke louder, at the moment, reason was clearly in the mops he held. No one dared argue. One by one, pale-faced, they listened as Shao Ye rambled on without end.

Normally, Shao Ye wasn’t particularly talkative. But once he started talking about Xi Guanming, he couldn’t stop. He went on and on, not feeling thirsty in the slightest, as if he could keep talking all night.

God above! Why hadn’t the principal come back yet? Even if the principal didn’t come, security should have arrived by now. If they didn’t show up soon, they were really going to be brainwashed.

“…Just look at yourselves. Can’t you give the president a bit less to worry about? When he’s here, you should follow school rules and study properly. When he’s not, you should be even stricter with yourselves! You have to live up to the uniform you’re wearing and the ground you’re standing on!”

Everyone’s eyes glazed over as they listened, half asleep, suffering endlessly. Was he really talking about the president? Shouldn’t that be the principal?

And besides, if he followed discipline so well, why was he here at this hour?

When Xi Guanming arrived with the school leadership, they happened to hear Shao Ye’s speech. Xi Guanming paused slightly, then stepped forward as usual and pushed open the door. Inside, Shao Ye stood in the center of the crowd, wearing his workout tank top and shorts, his exposed arms and legs lined with well-defined muscles. Like a dragon guarding its treasure, he stood protectively over the two mops, his expression passionate, his tone forceful.

Hearing the door, Shao Ye turned around. The moment he saw Xi Guanming, his eyes lit up instantly. “President, you’re here!”

What a bootlicker!

The others cursed him silently.

The principal followed in behind Xi Guanming. Over fifty, with graying hair, his eyes were brimming with emotion. On the way over, he had already learned that the situation had stabilized, so he had only stationed security outside. The students inside, too busy listening to Shao Ye passionately praising Xi Guanming, hadn’t even noticed.

The principal patted Shao Ye on the shoulder. “Shao Ye, right? Very well done, very well done.”

Shao Ye stared at Xi Guanming and said foolishly, “It’s all thanks to the president.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Xi Guanming said truthfully.

“No need to be modest, Guanming. I’ve always trusted your work,” the principal said, pressing a hand to his chest with a sigh. “When I heard there was a group fight on campus, I nearly had a heart attack.”

“The matter has been resolved,” Xi Guanming reassured him. “There’s no need to worry too much.”

“Thankfully it was handled in time,” the principal said, wiping nonexistent sweat from his brow as he glared at the students. Then he turned back to Xi Guanming. “I’ll leave the follow-up to you.”

Xi Guanming acknowledged him. After the principal and the others left, he glanced at the mops lying in the center of the room, then calmly led the dejected students into a cleaner room.

Seated behind a desk, he produced a fountain pen from somewhere and began recording the names, classes, and student IDs of everyone involved. Translated on Hololo novels. When he finished, he said, “It’s late. Go back and rest. Come to my office tomorrow morning.”

As they were about to leave, he added, “I hope no one causes any more trouble tonight.”

For some reason, though his tone was perfectly ordinary, a chill ran down everyone’s spine.

Before long, only Shao Ye and Xi Guanming remained in the room. Xi Guanming set down his pen, raised a hand, and rubbed his forehead without speaking.

Silence spread through the room. Seeing this, Shao Ye hurried to pour a cup of hot water and ran over, holding it out with concern. “President, does your head hurt?”

Xi Guanming lowered his gaze to the list on the paper, still saying nothing.

Shao Ye continued on his own, “They were really too out of line. Causing trouble the moment you’re not here. You should definitely teach them a proper lesson tomorrow, so no one follows their example.”

At last, Xi Guanming lifted his head. He looked carefully at Shao Ye. Under the light, his honey-colored skin appeared smooth and almost glossy. As he leaned forward, the loose black tank top hung open at the chest, revealing sculpted, full muscles beneath.

After a moment, Xi Guanming pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and let out a soft laugh. “Yes… truly very out of line.”

…

Author’s note:

[Why does the show make us guess who will win in the end? Why not guess who gets eliminated first?]

: No. 6. I’m voting.

: The president’s smile tonight looks so dangerous

: No. 6 in danger danger danger danger

: Don’t know who wins in the end, but at this rate, No. 6 probably won’t last a month

: That was intense just now. Streams 1 through 5 were chaos, people calling ambulances, and No. 6 settled everything with two mops

: To be precise, toilet mops

: Do we even need to guess who gets eliminated first? Just wait. The president is definitely going to play No. 6 like a fiddle. The kind where he gets sold off and still helps count the money

: Really curious what No. 6 does in real life. With that brain, there aren’t many jobs he could handle

: What’s wrong with his brain? If his brain was bad, would he come up with using toilet mops to dominate the whole scene?

: Fair point, can’t argue with that

: Why are there people shipping No. 6 with the president? The president clearly finds him annoying

: Where’s the annoyance! The president totally loves—

: There are actually people shipping them? Where’s the love?

: Love buried deep, hard to express—

: Lmao

: Let them have it. No. 6 is about to get eliminated anyway, what’s wrong with letting them ship a little

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