Chapter 52.2

Editor: SimoB

In the end, it was the mentally tough homeroom teacher who spoke first.

“…Study hard you guys. Ahem. Pay attention to the time, and don’t get too tired, you still have cla.s.ses this afternoon.”

Then, with an awkwardly polite smile on his face, he gently closed the door that had been kicked open.

“Yahoo!!!”

As soon as the door closed, the students, who had been pretending to be prim and proper, cheered. Excited discussions erupted everywhere.

“Did you guys see the looks on their faces just now? Hahahaha, I’m laughing my a.s.s off!”

“I’ve never seen our homeroom teacher speak so kindly to us before! Right Shi-ge, those guys actually dared to try and frame you! Let’s go teach them a lesson after school!”

“Yeah yeah! They should’ve thought twice before messing with our Shi-ge! Let’s give them h.e.l.l!!”

Shi Qing took a big step forward and slapped the two of them upside the head.

“What lesson?! What lesson are you talking about?!! Do! You! Guys! Have! Time! For! That?!”

Each exclamation point represented a blow.

Having finished educating his lackeys, the school bully returned to Zhuo Junli’s side. He leaned against him lazily and declared.

“The university entrance exam is coming up in just over a year. You guys must get into college, or you can’t follow me anymore.”

His lackeys: “…….”

You could tell by the way they dressed that their grades were definitely at the bottom of the cla.s.s.

Besides, most of them were planning on dropping out of the education race after graduating from high school, so why would they even apply to college?

A youth immediately, but cautiously, raised his hand.

“Shi-ge, is it okay if I stop following you then.”

“Sure.”

Shi Qing stretched his hands and cracked his neck. “If you walk out of that door today, you won’t be one of my followers anymore, but my enemy. I promise to have a friendly and cordial conversation with you everyday.”

The lackey: “……Can I just be a pa.s.serby instead of a follower or an enemy?”

“Nope.”

Zhuo Junli stood steady beside him. He watched as the school bully leaning on him said with an overbearing expression, “Either be my follower or my enemy, your choice.”

In the end, after Shi Qing’s ‘friendly advice’, his sixteen lackeys, including Lu Tao, all chose to continue following him. They looked like they had just signed a deal with the devil himself.

There was a time where these lackeys had thorns.

But Shi Qing was just too ruthless, ah. He mercilessly beat up those who were disobedient and discontent. He also knew how to avoid the teachers and ensure that there would be no witnesses.

And Shi Qing was loaded too!

He was a master of both the carrot and the stick. Despite his recent arrival at this school, these people were already firmly in his pocket.

The school bully himself was already a very good fighter, so the only reason he took in followers was to show off. Of course he would choose the more obedient ones.

He had no need for second-rate tryhards that didn’t know when to give in.

Once everyone had agreed, Shi Qing also took a look at Zhuo Junli.

Although the expression on his face was like “Laozi is so bada.s.s”.

The youth could discern a hint of pride from showing off to someone he liked.

His gaze softened and he gave Shi Qing a gentle smile.

The school bully who received the smile became even more proud.

He leaned on Zhuo Junli as he began to list his demands.

“Before the next quiz, each of you needs to get a 10% increase in your grades. You know what’ll happen if you fail.”

The little lackeys trembling with fear, “Isn’t a 10% increase in our average grade a bit too much? How about 5%…”

Shi Qing: “I’m talking about per subject.”

The lackeys: “……”

Now it was Zhuo Junli’s turn to give out some carrots. He smiled and appeared particularly easy to talk to.

“This isn’t as bad as it seems. We’re only in our second year right now. Your grades are low primarily because you’re not putting in the effort. If you go to cla.s.s and pay attention, combined with me solidifying some concepts afterwards, you should be fine. Math might be harder, but with other subjects like literature it’s simple to understand once you memorize.”

Shi Qing picked up the baton: “Did you hear that? It’s simple.”

The lackeys: “……”

Zhuo Junli: “I’ll help you build a foundation first. As long as you listen attentively in cla.s.s, improving won’t be difficult.”

Shi Qing: “Did you hear that? It won’t be difficult.”

The lackeys: “……”

The school bully suddenly remembered something. “Right, hand in your phones. You can’t play with your phones in cla.s.s from now on, so study hard.”

“Don’t try and act smart. I’ve seen your little conversations in the group chat before. Hmph, we’ll see if anyone dares to disobey me.”

The little lackeys were about to burst into tears…

Where were you supposed go find another boss like this!!

Where!!!

But no matter how loudly they wailed or how reluctant they were, their ruthless boss confiscated their phones one by one.

If the emotions of the lackeys could be summed up in a Weibo post right now, it would probably go something like this:

#Dodged the teacher but not the boss#

#Demon boss forcing us to study online#

#Why do we have to worry about grades as lackeys#

In short, they were all very bitter.

But Zhuo Junli wasn’t affected by them at all. He slowly finished going over the basics with his mournful audience and even a.s.signed homework afterwards.

To the lackeys, he seemed like a fox pretending to be a tiger, relying on Shi Qing’s authority with a genial smile.

“You have to do the homework a.s.signed by the school as well. Even if you don’t know how, you still have to finish it ahead of time and hand it to me by that night so I can check it.”

One of the boys became upset.

Listening to their own boss was a given, but why should they let themselves be ordered around by a weakling like Zhuo Junli?

“b.i.t.c.h you can’t tell us- Ah!!!”

He didn’t even get finish his sentence before being hit on the head.

When the little brother looked up, Shi Qing was glaring at him fiercely, “Who are you talking to?!”

That lackey: “…I-I was talking to myself.”

He sat down carefully, his expression filled with a thirst for knowledge.

“That’s more like it.”

The school bully returned to Zhuo Junli’s side and whispered to him, “Don’t be afraid of these boys. Just tell me if they dare to try anything.”

Zhuo Junli looked at him tenderly. His mouth curled up slightly at the corners as he said, “Okay, I’ll be sure to tell you.”

He didn’t know it felt so nice to be protected.

[Ding! Zhuo Junli’s animosity value: 50/100]

His gaze towards Shi Qing seemed to deepen. He took the hand that the school bully just used to hit someone and gently wiped the slender fingers with a tissue.

Shi Qing didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. He watched Zhuo Junli wipe his hand especially self-righteously while viciously yelling at the lackeys who were staring at them.

“What are you all looking at?! There’s so much dirt on you guys that it got onto my hand!”

When the wronged little lackeys lowered their heads, he turned around and stroked Zhuo Junli’s hand with his other hand.

Zhuo Junli was naturally fair, and his fingers were also good-looking. They were long and white and adorned with neatly trimmed nails.

Shi Qing generously touched his fingers one by one while saying seriously, “Your hands aren’t bad. They should feel pleasant in a back ma.s.sage.”

His touch made Zhuo Junli’s heart itch like it was being tickled by a feather. He raised his eyes slightly to look at the eager school bully with a gentle smile.

“I’ll ma.s.sage you when we get back.”

Shi Qing coughed a few times. His expression remained serious. “I hired you to be my tutor. When we get back, you have to supervise me.”

Zhuo Junli: “I can give you a ma.s.sage while supervising you reading the textbook.”

The school bully nodded, “Not bad, not bad. You’re very dedicated. I’ll treat you to some spicy hot pot tomorrow.

Lu Tao, who was the closest to them, cautiously extended his little paws.

“Shi-ge, I can also give you a ma.s.sage while you read the textbook.”

Shi Qing didn’t even dignify that with a reply. He just looked at the boy’s hands with disdain.

Lu Tao understood right away, and withdrew his hand while feeling very wronged.

There was a great sense of crisis within him.

He used to be the undisputed favourite follower in Shi-ge’s heart, but somehow Zhuo Junli had usurped his position.

Now they were the ones eating together, coming to and leaving cla.s.s together, sleeping together and even doing something as horrifying as studying, together!

The number one lackey’s spot was taken just like that.

It’s so tragic, wuwuwuwu.

While Lu Tao felt sorry for himself, everyone else, to be more precise, everyone else except these lackeys, didn’t feel bad at all.

On the contrary, they were all quite happy.

Especially their teachers and parents.

The teachers were saying that, although this kid Shi Qing used to fool around, he was quite impressive when he pulled his act together.

Not only is he working hard himself, he’s also encouraging other bad students to work hard as well!

What kind of spirit was this? It was the spirit of sharing the joys of learning!

They used to think he was a bad apple because he fought and bullied his cla.s.smates. Although they didn’t say it out loud, the teachers had nothing good to say about Shi Qing in their hearts.

But now, the truth had finally come out.

Was Shi Qing fighting? No! He was acting righteously!

Was he bullying his cla.s.smates? No! He was helping them!

How was this a school bully or a bad student?

He was clearly a righteous and helpful good student who studied hard to improve himself everyday!