Author: Angelina

Translator: Clapkingle

Proofreader: KainGuru

Sheng Jie University’s student council existed with absolute power. They manage student events, all the clubs, and daily affairs. Not only did they have their own independent floor in the building and a closely-interconnected department, but the members of the student council also received preferential treatment in all areas. Even though the threshold for getting in was high, there was still a ceaseless number of applications. First year students needed to wait until their next semester before having the right to apply; therefore, during these past few days, a popular craze for applications rose among the entire first year cohort.

Having undergone a semester of transformation, the stronghold was almost completely different in its appearance, thanks to Ying Xiujie’s widespread and aggressive plundering. Whenever he saw something good outside, he would take it with him, so the previously empty school building now resembled a luxurious suite. Zhi Li laid on the stronghold’s sofa, resting with eyes closed in a relaxed position, with one arm hanging by his side, while the other one was placed on top of his eyes to block the sunlight. Su Youyan sat barefooted with folded legs in the corner of the sofa while reading, Zhou Xinhe was muttering to herself as she read a cookbook, Gong Zhu was sitting on an executive chair and reading BL manga, Ying Xiujie had taken off his shirt and was punching a sandbag, and Chu Haoyu was holding some female celebrity’s new photobook while giggling foolishly. The whole school building fell into outrageous laziness—a group of degenerates. Ke Bu spurned them in his mind with his eyes half-closed. And what was he, who was spurning others, doing? He was lying on a hammock beneath a fake tree, with cola and snacks next to him, holding a PSP and playing games. One of his legs was even dangling down, swaying to-and-fro.

The door opened and an African aboriginal [1] walked in with long oily hair that hung down, as well as a laptop wedged under his arm. It was only because of the laptop that they could recognize who the person was. Gong Zhu pinched his nose. “Zhang Luo, how long have you not showered?”

([1] This is a metaphor to describe what Zhang Luo looked like at that moment. We apologize if this sounds offensive and racist. We only translated it as it is.)

“It’s only been a month.”

Ke Bu sucked in a mouthful of cola. “What’s this? Does this get up mean that you’re planning to go to Africa for development?”

“Art requires sacrifice. I didn’t come here to talk about this. According to my reliable source of information, this month, the student council will be inspecting all the clubs. Those that don’t meet the requirements will be replaced.” After Zhang Luo finished speaking, the group of people continued busying themselves with their own things. Ke Bu tensed up his brows as he looked at the PSP. “It’s been so long, why hasn’t there been any dropped equipment?”

“Do you want me to take a photo of what you guys look like right now? The first one to be wiped out will be us. In other words, we won’t be able to keep this school building.”

Ying Xiujie halted his movements and angrily said, “On what grounds? We worked really hard to grab this place. If the student council dares to touch it, I’ll dig up their ancestral graves!”

“The student council isn’t the same as the Taekwondo Club. They have abundant people and power. If we go hard on them, we’ll be the ones to suffer the losses.” Zhang Luo’s analysis was very accurate. Whatever the case was, no matter how much more outstanding these eight people were, they were merely new first year students. Whether in the domain of people, authority or force, them wanting to challenge the tremendous student council was like moths pouncing onto flames. Ke Bu continued playing his game without the slightest bit of worry. “Isn’t Youyan here? You need to see who the owner is before beating the dog [2]. Even if it’s the student council, they wouldn’t make things difficult for the club that the headmaster’s daughter is in.”

([2] 打狗也要看主人 [da gou ye yao kan zhu ren] ‘see who the owner is before beating the dog’ is an informal saying that refers to considering the power that is behind a person/group and protecting them before creating conflict with the said person/group. Kind of like the English idiom of choosing your battles wisely with the added implication of recognizing the authority that stands behind your opponent.)

“Ke Bu, don’t you have any other analogies that would sound nicer?” Dissatisfied, Chu Haoyu continued speaking, “And you’re not entirely correct. The headmaster already hates that Youyan is interacting with you guys who are a bunch of bad influences. Plus, that time last year when you stirred up trouble for him, he definitely hates you guys to the bone.” Chu Haoyu’s words were not much nicer to listen to either. He also did not include himself among them.

“Why don’t we assign a spy to enter the student council.”

“That’s a bit difficult. The prerequisites for getting into the student council requires that your grades are ranked within the first fifteen in your class, and you must also comprehensively be of high quality. These are only the basic requirements. Spill some pee and look at your reflections, who’s fitted?”

Everyone shifted their gaze over to the two people on the sofa and hesitated for a moment before shaking their heads. Forcing these two to do something they disliked had serious consequences. Gong Zhu laughed. He employed his smile, which had the consistent effect of soothing people’s hearts. “Don’t think too much. Everything will be fine [3]. It’s time to eat now.”

([3] 船到桥头自然直嘛 [chua dao qiao tou zi ran zhi] literally means when the boat gets to the pier-head, it will go straight with the current, it’s a proverb that means everything will be alright when the time comes.)

“You’re right.”

“I’m also hungry.”

“I’m gonna go back to the dorm to shower first. Help me order some good dishes.”

This group never had any awareness for suffering. Su Youyan closed her book and stared at Ke Bu who was at the back. “You, get Zhi Li to wake up.”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“Otherwise, what other value does your existence have?”

“Is the value of my existence just because of Zhi Li?!” Ke Bu leapt down from the hammock, retorting indignantly.

“Is that not enough?”

Su Youyan’s words made Ke Bu unable to talk back. He could not speak out a reply that was untrue to his heart. He quirked his mouth. When everyone had left, Ke Bu crouched in front of the sofa, propped his chin up with his hand, and gazed at Zhi Li’s child-like sleeping face. Zhi Li’s chest gently rose and fell along with his breath. He was sleeping so soundly. Ke Bu slid his fingers over Zhi Li’s face and lingered on his lips. Ke Bu pursed his lips. A strange impulse controlled his brain. He leaned closer and closer, then he drew his lips closer to Zhi Li’s ear. His voice was so faint that it almost could not be heard, “Hey…Zhi Li?”

“Zhi Li? You’re really asleep?” Reassured, Ke Bu once again leaned closer until he was almost within kissing distance. He liked touching Zhi Li more than he imagined. Two kinds of heartbeat; two kinds of feeling. When Zhi Li touched him, his heart would tremble incessantly. At times, what felt like intense surges would make him feel like he was choking. When he touched Zhi Li, he felt tranquil and unperturbed, with an affectionate feeling of not wanting to let go. Before, Ke Bu believed that the world was flawed, cruel, and full of imminent danger. Even now, he still believes this. But…but, he pressed his hand against Zhi Li’s chest. “In my eyes, you’re the most beautiful part of the world even though your temper’s sometimes awfully bad, you’re always teasing me, you pretend not to know things when you actually do, you hide many things from me, you owe me 1.50 and still haven’t paid it back, there hasn’t been even the slightest bit of improvement in your drawings, and you’re always skimping on things with me. Zhi Li, I have a lot of opinions about you. You’re simply vile to the extreme.” After he spoke quite a lot of words in one go, Ke Bu paused for a moment. “Zhi Li, Zhi Li, Zhi Li, Zhi Li, Zhi Li, I love you.”

“I heard it.” Zhi Li moved his arm that was blocking his eyes. The sudden voice made Ke Bu ashamed and unable to show his face. He lifted his head up and asked, “When did you wake up!?”

“When did I say I was asleep?”

“What I said just then doesn’t count, none of them count.”

Zhi Li propped up his head and looked at Ke Bu. “Do you wanna say it again from the start?”

“That’s not what I mean!!”

Zhi Li lifted Ke Bu’s chin with his other hand, then he drew closer with his lips enticingly close to Ke Bu’s. His voice teasingly provoked Ke Bu’s heart, “Then what did you mean, Ke Bu?”

Sure enough, you’re the slyest. You easily capture my weakness. Everything has become biased.

The few people waiting in the dining hall had already become impatient. They crossed their arms and said, “You guys are so slow. There’re already no seats left on the first floor. Let’s go to a private room on the second floor to eat.”

“Oh, so extravagant.” Ke Bu shrugged indifferently. The few of them walked to the second floor. Ying Xiujie kicked open the swing door outside the second floor while looking back to talk. He was completely unaware that there was a male student standing on the other side of the door. The door hit the male student directly in the face. On the other side, Ying Xiujie said, “Why can this door only be pushed open a little bit?”

“It’s probably too old and broken. Kick harder.”

Ying Xiujie kicked harder again several times. “It’s not working. Is there something behind it that’s jamming it?”

“There shouldn’t be.” Chu Haoyu joined in. The two of them ferociously exerted themselves to push the door open inwards. Zhou Xinhe got a bit flustered. “Did you guys hear something strange?”

“Stop, stop…!” A loud roar came through from inside. Ying Xiujie and Chu Haoyu let go and the door finally opened. A boy who was covering his nose appeared. His face was red from stifling rage. He opened his eyes wide and glared at Ke Bu and the others. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry. We didn’t know you were behind the door,” Gong Zhu apologized sincerely.

“First years?” The male student’s eyes and tone both revealed his disdain. This contemptuous attitude could make people angry. It was as if, in his eyes, first year students were inferior people.

“So what if we’re first years, Senior…?” Chu Haoyu prolonged the last syllable.

“Do you understand what manners are? All of you, apologize.”

Zhi Li crossed over the male student like nothing had happened, preparing to enter the private room. The male student grabbed his arm. “Nobody can leave without apologizing.” Zhi Li looked back coldly and glared at the hand that grabbed his arm. “Let go.” The male student looked distracted for a moment and instinctively let go. He quickly got even more furious from his own cowardly action. “You first years, open your eyes and look clearly. What’s this?” The male student pointed at the badge that was hanging on the left side of his chest.

Ke Bu took a glance at the shiny silver badge. “A dog tag?”

“You people!! This is the symbol for the student council. Do you understand now? I [4] belong to the student council. You people, this bunch of first years, do you know who you’ve provoked?”

([4] He used laozi in here to refer to himself.)

He kept on repeating the words ‘first years’ in every mouthful of words he said. It was like racial discrimination. Ying Xiujie wanted to take on this person, but he was held back by Zhang Luo.

Zhi Li tore off the badge on his chest and held it in his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Didn’t you ask me to look at it?” Zhi Li threw the badge in his hand onto the floor. “Student council? What plaything is this?”

“I told you to normally listen properly to people when they’re speaking!” Ke Bu shouted from behind Zhi Li.

“Wanna fight? Is that it? Bring it on! See my dragon fist, praying mantis fist, swan fist, rat first, cockroach fist!” Ying Xiujie said. Why did it feel like each fist’s name sounded worse than the one before it? The male student saw that there were many of them, so he inwardly felt a bit scared.

“Alright, let’s quickly go eat.” Zhou Xinhe pushed Ying Xiujie from behind. A few of them walked toward the private room. The male student continued to howl from the back, “You people, you don’t know what’s good for you [5]! I’ve never seen you before, what are you?”

([5] 不知好歹 [bu zhi hao dai] is an idiom, meaning not knowing good from bad. Used to reproach some person/group for being ignorant, amoral or ungrateful.)

“Us? We’re first years.”

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