Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Lu Rong easily dealt with Fang Chang and then went on to win over the fujoshi (female fans of BL).
He poked the back of the fujoshi in front of him with his pen cap: “You, run for Minister of Literature and Art.”
“Huh?” Xiao Zhuqing turned around, “I don’t want to. Do I look like someone who can become a party leader in the student council?”
Lu Rong: “Yes.”
Xiao Zhuqing: “Get lost. I’m too busy shipping couples to have time.”
Lu Rong said calmly: “I’ve already nominated you.”
In the first round of class internal recommendation, everyone had the right to be elected. Just like Fang Chang led people to vote for Lu Rong, Lu Rong led people to vote for Xiao Zhuqing.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhuqing threw her Kindle on the table, turned around, leaned out, grabbed his neck, and shook him violently: “You— are— looking for— death—”
Lu Rong, the school bully of Chengnan, was being shaken around by the neck by a crazy woman without any class.
Sure enough, God sent this crazy woman to jinx him.
But if she had already been sent, why send Ji Wenfeng as well?
Lu Rong, having experienced a near-death experience at Xiao Zhuqing’s hands, pondered this ultimate question of life.
Having vented her frustration, Xiao Zhuqing tossed the tattered Lu Rong onto the table, pulled a Pocky stick from her desk, and popped it into her mouth: “Heh, I won’t waste my precious life on such meaningless things. Even if you vote me in, it’s useless; I won’t even participate in the competition— I won’t even make a campaign video! I’m not interested in bureaucracy; I just want to live a peaceful life, shipping couples, writing fanfiction, and reading erotica.” She maintained her elegant smoking posture as she spoke, then snapped the Pocky stick in half with a snap.
Fang Chang walked by, pointing a finger: “You fujoshi, are you wearing nail polish? It’s so shiny and disgusting.”
“That’s nail polish! Nail polish!” Xiao Zhuqing bit into a piece of Pocky, stood up, and started hitting him.
When Xiao Zhuqing returned after finishing her beating of Fang Chang, Lu Rong slumped onto the table, catching his breath.
He looked up coldly: “There’s a reason I had you run for Minister of Arts. Ji Wenfeng is in the student council.”
Xiao Zhuqing gasped: “And you’ll be his secretary! Hmm…” She pulled out another Pocky stick, her eyes gleaming, “That means if I join the student council, I can ship you two up close! Ship you every day, for real!”
Lu Rong weakly said: “No… I’m not his secretary.”
Xiao Zhuqing chuckled: “Man can’t fight fate.”
Lu Rong’s words opened her eyes. To make sure it was a worthwhile deal, she pushed Lu Rong back, opened his desk, and took out his student council roster.
Lu Rong was shocked: “…What are you doing?!”
Xiao Zhuqing quickly glanced through the list, muttering to herself: “Ji Wenfeng, Fang Chang, Ling Ren, Chen Yu, Deng Te…” The more she read, the more her brows relaxed, until finally a shrewd smile appeared on her face as she squinted at Lu Rong. “Hmm, not bad.” The student council members Lu Rong had handpicked were all handsome guys.
Lu Rong sensed danger in Xiao Zhuqing’s wolfish gaze and felt a chill run down his spine.
Xiao Zhuqing crossed her legs and waved the list in her hand: “I’m very satisfied with the ‘tops’ you picked for yourself.”
“Tops my foot!” Lu Rong snatched the list away.
Xiao Zhuqing turned away contentedly, changing her mind.
She decided to try running for that damn arts and literature minister.
After all, a student council full of handsome guys could create quite a few couples, even if it wasn’t all-Rong…
Now that the list was finalized, Lu Rong began meticulously planning the campaign strategies for all the candidates.
Lu Rong: “The most important thing before the election is the televised speech. This is the only officially designated election segment where candidates can freely express themselves. We must help our candidates establish their personas, attract the most votes, and help them ultimately win.”
Li Nanbian pasted photos of Ling Ren, Fang Chang, Liang Wendao, Deng Te, Shen Yu, and Xiao Zhuqing onto the magnetic blackboard.
Lu Rong divided these people into two groups: “Shen Yu and Xiao Zhuqing, these two don’t need much effort in publicity, especially Xiao Zhuqing.”
If Xiao Zhuqing wanted to run, she could directly convert her highly loyal group of female fans into a vote bank.
As for Shen Yu…
Lu Rong had already thought of his campaign slogan: “If you don’t vote for me, I’ll beat you up!”
The other four were more of a headache.
Lu Rong: “Fang Chang has high name recognition, but he lacks intimidation. People can hang out with him, but they can’t trust his leadership. What’s a good way to make him famous quickly— his campaign fund is 2000 yuan.”
Yan Gou quickly offered a plan: “A 12-meter-long banner, hung from the fourth floor to the first floor, with Ling Ren’s campaign slogan, budget 80 yuan. Print posters and distribute them at the school gate, budget 400 yuan. Insert advertisements into the radio station, broadcasting Fang Chang’s award-winning experiences for the next week to increase his name recognition. Post small advertisements on the cafeteria tables; scanning the QR code leads to his personal profile.”
Lu Rong: “Add a ‘Ling Ren x Fang Chang’ CP (couple) marketing strategy to attract female fans of BL (Boys’ Love) drama.”
Yan Gou: Boss’s ideas are really ingenious. That way, Ling Ren’s votes are also secured.
Lu Rong: “The competition for the Organization Minister position is fierce. Ling Ren is in the same class as Ji Wenfeng, so the road ahead is fraught with danger. Simply creating a CP (couple pairing) with Fang Chang won’t work; we need a more cunning campaign strategy. Ji Wenfeng has a whopping 98% female supporters, but there are quite a few men who are dissatisfied with him. Therefore, we should arrange for Ling Ren to stand on the opposite side of Ji Wenfeng, creating a ‘Ji Wenfeng rebel’ persona. He should oppose whatever Ji Wenfeng supports and support whatever Ji Wenfeng opposes, even openly criticizing Ji Wenfeng’s rule and contradicting him. This way, his stance will resonate with many male netizens. What do you think of this idea?”
Yan Gou led the applause.
Lu Rong was truly shrewd in packaging candidates.
Next, Lu Rong’s gaze fell on Liang Wendao: “You’re a top student, already well-known. Everyone’s heard about all your honors to the point of exhaustion.”
Liang Wendao puffed out his chest.
“To win this election, you need to make everyone feel that your excellence is something they can all share. What you need to give them is— empty promises!” Lu Rong’s eyes gleamed. “In your televised speech, just say one thing: ‘If elected, I will reveal my study methods and guarantee that everyone’s final score will increase by 30 points!'”
Liang Wendao frowned, sensing that things weren’t so simple: “I don’t have any study methods.” He was purely intelligent. “And I can’t guarantee that everyone’s final score will increase by 30 points either.” If he could do that, why would he still be studying here? He should be a specially appointed high school education expert by the Education Bureau, giving nationwide lectures.
Lu Rong pressed down on his shoulder: “It’s alright. When Hoover came to power, he told the American people that he would guarantee they would have pork for every meal by the end of the year. Did you see any pork? Khrushchev also said he would give all the Soviet people chicken. Did you see any chicken? If the US president and the Soviet chairman are like that, what does it matter if you, a mere Minister of Education, boast and break your promise? As long as we get elected, that’s all that matters.”
Liang Wendao’s fragile moral barrier collapsed, and his eyes flashed with the same cunning light as Lu Rong’s: “Okay, I’ll go lie!”
After brainwashing Liang Wendao, Lu Rong moved on to Deng Te.
Lu Rong scrutinized Deng Te, whose only remaining right eye drooped shyly.
Lu Rong: “Hmm…”
Deng Te: “…”
Lu Rong rested his chin on his hand: “…”
Deng Te: “…”
Lu Rong took a few steps back to examine him closely: “…”
Deng Te: “…”
Lu Rong reached out and lifted his long bangs, and Deng Te trembled slightly as the seal on his left eye was lifted.
Lu Rong nodded in satisfaction: “Chuang Wang, you’re quite handsome.”
Deng Te blushed slightly.
Lu Rong: “Since you’re so handsome, use your looks to gain fans— Yan Gou.”
Yan Gou: Yes.
Lu Rong: “Write a short biography for Deng Te that’s both true and false, portraying him as a tragic hero with an unhappy family, unwavering dreams, passionate love for boxing, and a strong, resilient spirit— Deng Te, you and Yan Gou can work on the script together.”
Deng Te nodded coolly.
“No problem.” Lu Rong patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry.”
After arranging everyone’s campaign strategy, Lu Rong handed over the specific execution to the villain team. Yan Gou had planned several campus public relations campaigns and was very experienced in both online public relations and offline promotion, so Lu Rong wasn’t worried at all.
After the meeting, he went home feeling relaxed.
As soon as he left the school gate, he ran into Ji Wenfeng. As usual, Ji Wenfeng was surrounded by a large group of people, and as usual, he spotted Lu Rong in the crowd at a glance.
But instead of his usual sneaky maneuvering to hide behind a tree Lu Rong would pass by and cover his eyes when he wasn’t looking, he didn’t disappear suddenly, only to find Lu Rong staring intently at him when he turned around. He didn’t even wink at him in the crowd or lick his lips discreetly.
Ji Wenfeng snorted, turned his face away, and his expression turned sour and irritated.
Lu Rong: “…” Here we go again.
Sitting in Lao Song’s car, Ji Wenfeng snorted again, crossed his legs unhappily, pulled out his Switch from his bag, and pretended to put on his headphones, indicating he didn’t want to talk.
Lu Rong had no choice but to take out his phone and start listening to English.
Ji Wenfeng looked at Lu Rong’s reflection through the window, gritting his teeth.
When they got home, Ji Wenfeng went upstairs with his hands in his pockets. Lu Rong finished his homework, reviewed the advertising plan and budget sent by Yan Gou, and glanced at the clock on the wall.
Today was Wednesday.
It’s the expiration date for their cross-strait and Hong Kong/Macau Calabash Brothers service package.
They initially agreed on a weekly service every Wednesday. But it was already nine o’clock, and Ji Wenfeng in the next room still hadn’t made a sound. Normally, he’d stay here as soon as class was over.
Lu Rong felt inexplicably irritated. After hesitating for a while, he got up, opened the door, strode into the hallway, and pushed open Ji Wenfeng’s door.
Ji Wenfeng was applying Thai foot patches to the soles of his feet.
Since losing his ability to drive due to foot odor, Ji Wenfeng had bought a bunch of products to treat athlete’s foot, trying them out on himself.
Odor-resistant socks, odor-resistant insoles, and dampness-removing foot patches.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, foot odor was caused by excessive dampness, and applying foot patches every night to remove dampness would help improve the condition.
Seeing the user reviews on Taobao saying that there was a lot of discharge the next day, Ji Wenfeng was skeptical, after all, he was an American science guy with a systematic scientific education.
But the foot odor problem was urgent, reaching a point where nothing could be done.
So tonight, in the spirit of scientific inquiry, Ji Wenfeng decided to conduct a personal experiment.
“The patch on the sole of the foot is the experimental group.”
“The patch on the thigh is control group a.”
“The patch exposed to air is control group b.”
“If all three groups have water on them when I wake up tomorrow morning, it means the foot patch is a lie. The ingredients inside will release water even when exposed to air.”
“If the experimental group and control group a have water on them when I wake up tomorrow morning, while control group b is dry, it means the foot patch is a lie. It will release water no matter which part of the body it’s applied to.”
“If only the experimental group has water on them when I wake up tomorrow morning, while control groups a and b are dry, then it means the foot patch really did absorb some liquid from my feet.”
“I’ll continue recording the results to see if the foot odor improves…”
Ji Wenfeng diligently lay on the table, writing down detailed experimental steps on his foot odor thesis.
Just as he was seriously and earnestly treating his foot odor problem in the spirit of science, Lu Rong barged in.
Ji Wenfeng hurriedly put on his slippers and pulled down his trousers to prevent Lu Rong from seeing the foot patches.
This was his last shred of dignity.
He maintained his haughty and aloof demeanor, snorted, and glared fiercely at Lu Rong: “What are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me?!”
Before Lu Rong could even speak, he choked her, his almond-shaped eyes widening: “…Are you planning to continue like this?”
Ji Wenfeng didn’t want it to be like this either. But Rong Rong’s comment about his smelly feet had truly shattered his pride as the dominant one.
He was at the most sensitive age, always the pride of the family, everyone adoring and admiring him, yet the boy he admired complained about his smelly feet. The thought of it made Ji Wenfeng feel utterly humiliated.
Yesterday, he had kept his smelly socks in Wang Xiufen’s laundry basket and smelled them, finding them not too bad, but Lu Rong simply didn’t like them.
Ji Wenfeng had nightmares all night, replaying the scene of Lu Rong calling his feet smelly.
A man’s smelly feet, like a man’s baldness, were both fatal flaws.
No matter how rich or handsome he is, if his feet stink, he should die! He doesn’t deserve to be in a relationship!
Ji Wenfeng gave Lu Rong a deep look and said quietly, “I won’t get back together with you until you agree.”
He had already secretly vowed that he would never reconcile with Rong Rong until he praised the fragrance of his feet.
He didn’t want this kind of charity love!
Lu Rong looked at his cold profile and chuckled, “I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.”
In his view, Ji Wenfeng was undoubtedly angry because he hadn’t done it for him yesterday.
He’d always said the cold war wouldn’t last more than 24 hours, but now he was saying he wouldn’t make up unless he did it.
Men are all such jerks.
Listening to Lu Rong’s sarcastic accusations, Ji Wenfeng felt a pang of heartache, but he still forced a straight face and resignedly said, “You…didn’t you already know yesterday?” He was just that kind of person with smelly feet.
Lu Rong couldn’t take it anymore and stormed out. Damn Ji Wenfeng! What a liar!
Ji Wenfeng stared at Lu Rong’s retreating figure, his eyes filled with heart-wrenching pain. Only when Lu Rong turned away did he dare to reveal his true feelings.
Because when Lu Rong so openly rejected him, he had already deeply understood: Lu Rong didn’t love him.
So many men in this world have smelly feet; their women endure it, but never say anything.
Men, they have pride, after all.
But Rong Rong, the Rong Rong he doted on, uttered those three words so easily!
Ji Wenfeng was angry with him, and even more so with himself. He couldn’t help but lift his legs onto the bed and pound them a few times: “How can you smell so bad!”
A loud slam of a door came from next door. Ji Wenfeng was heartbroken for a moment, then put on a transparent bio-mask, used tweezers to pick up his smelly socks, and put them into a sealed bag.
Yesterday’s smelly socks hadn’t been washed either; they were all sealed in the bag and labeled with the date.
In order for the experiment to succeed and for the efficacy to be verifiable, Ji Wenfeng was trying to quantify the stench.
Ji Wenfeng set a goal for himself: if he could reduce the stench to below 30%, he would go back to Rong Rong. Otherwise, he would only become more and more repulsive to him, and eventually, their relationship would not last.
During this period of smelly feet, the relationship ended.
A man with smelly feet doesn’t deserve love. Love with smelly feet won’t go far.
He, Ji Wenfeng, was determined to break the curse of smelly feet and rekindle his sweet first love!
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