Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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On that day, the student council ministers’ meeting ended early because the student council president was making a seal on the spot.
With the outcome decided, Lu Rong left the meeting room with a victor’s smile and light steps.
The others also left the meeting, leaving the student council president alone inside clumsily making a seal.
But as Shen Yu was the last one to slip out the door, a deep voice called from behind him, “Hey.”
Shen Yu turned around alertly, “I didn’t do anything today, you can’t hit me anymore!”
“I can hit you if I want, do I need a reason?” Ji Wenfeng asked with a beastly disbelief. Seeing Shen Yu about to run away, he shouted sharply, “Stop, I have something to ask you. Come in, close the door.”
Shen Yu: “Promise you won’t lay a hand on me!”
Ji Wenfeng: “…I just want to ask you some things.”
Shen Yu then carefully closed the door, standing far away in a corner of the room, the furthest point from Ji Wenfeng: “What do you want to ask?”
Ji Wenfeng put down the carving knife and stone seal in his hand, and said in a deep voice, “Tell me, how to do it.”
Shen Yu: “Huh?”
“You’re not a virgin anymore, are you?” Ji Wenfeng’s gaze pierced him like lightning. “What valuable life experience can you share?”
Shen Yu: “…”
Ji Wenfeng frankly described his current predicament: “I’m about to lose my virginity, but apart from theoretical knowledge, I have absolutely no practical experience. My past experiences also show that I’m a bit clumsy in this matter…” The kind of clumsiness where I swallow lubricant. “So I’d like to ask you to share your rich practical experience, the more detailed the better. I want to compile a complete practical operation manual so that I won’t be caught off guard later.”
Saying this, he seriously took out paper and pen.
Shen Yu: “…” An extremely serious virgin!
“Do we really have to talk about this face to face?” Shen Yu scratched his face awkwardly, meeting Ji Wenfeng’s inquisitive and eager gaze. “It’s a little embarrassing…”
“It’s too late.” Ji Wenfeng held a jade carving knife in front of him, the blade gleaming, revealing sharp eyes behind it. “Once I finish carving his name, he’ll let me do it. Time is running out.”
Shen Yu: “You’re lying, aren’t you?”
Ji Wenfeng’s pupils contracted slightly.
Shen Yu couldn’t help but show sympathy: “Those words sounded like he was just trying to trick you into confessing.”
Ji Wenfeng put down his carving knife: “…You also think he was lying to me?”
“Yes. Secretary Lu’s face is full of scheming and ruthless intent, so it’s understandable that he would use such methods. After achieving his goal, he would definitely deny it, saying that ‘offering himself to you’ had another meaning…”
Ji Wenfeng glanced at him calmly: “How do you know so much?”
Shen Yu sat up straight, supporting himself on his knees: “This is also one of my valuable life experiences.”
Ji Wenfeng: “…”
Ji Wenfeng elegantly rested his chin on his hand: “It seems that the sweeter a man is, the more likely he is to lie.”
Shen Yu: “That’s right.”
“But what if? Even if there’s only a 0.1% chance he’ll keep his promise and let me do it, I wouldn’t want to miss it.” The wealthy old man, Ji Wenfeng, slammed his fists on the table, his eyes resolute as he confessed his feelings. “I really, really want to do it!”
Shen Yu was moved by his frankness, abruptly standing up, pointing a finger at him, and loudly reprimanding, “A thousand men, a thousand of them want to do it! But wanting to do it and confessing are two different things! Liking someone and then confessing, the two getting together— everyone says it’s a wonderful thing, but it’s a huge mistake! There’s a clear power relationship between lovers, exploitation and being exploited, giving and being given. Winners and losers, if you want to live nobly, then you absolutely cannot be a loser!”
Ji Wenfeng stared in disbelief: “Minister Shen, how come you know the opening lines of ‘Kaguya-sama: Love Is War’[1] so well?!”
Shen Yu resolutely said: “Simps end up with nothing, only scumb*gs can enjoy the thrill of having a harem of three thousand women while doing it seven times a night!”
Ji Wenfeng was deeply moved, staring intently at the carving knife and seal in front of him: “Then tell me, should I carve this seal or not?”
Shen Yu pondered for a long time, then opened his eyes: “Carve it! But make a fuss about the words you carve.”
He poured out his plan to Ji Wenfeng.
Ji Wenfeng suddenly realized, “Minister Shen, you’re truly a master of manipulating people’s hearts.”
Shen Yu straightened his collar with an air of nobility, “This is the strategic decision-making ability a battle-hardened man should possess.”
Ji Wenfeng grabbed a pen and paper, “Tell me your story!”
….
Outside the window, teachers and students of Chengnan High School passed by the student council office, seeing the student council president and the disciplinary committee member sitting and talking.
One spoke, the other took notes.
Today, President Ji and Minister Shen were also working tirelessly for the construction and development of Chengnan!
Xiao Zhuqing and Lu Rong walked one after the other in the corridor back to the classroom.
“Call by your name, is that really true?” Lu Rong suddenly asked Xiao Zhuqing behind him.
“Ah, I did hear the art teacher say that in the office…” Xiao Zhuqing answered cleverly. It was an unverifiable illusion.
“Hmm.” Lu Rong didn’t pursue whether it was true or false, but simply withdrew his gaze, his briefcase tucked under his arm, and steadily passed by each classroom.
Xiao Zhuqing’s heart, pounding with anxiety, settled back into her stomach. She trailed behind him, like a local official accompanying an imperial envoy on an inspection tour of the people’s conditions.
The two walked for a while, each harboring their own secrets.
Along the way, Lu Rong carefully observed the students passing by in the corridor, eavesdropping on their conversations.
When they reached the door of Class 8, Lu Rong stopped, turned around, and asked Xiao Zhuqing, “Do many people know about this interesting thing?”
Xiao Zhuqing tensed up suddenly. “Uh… I think quite a few.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Lu Rong said coldly, looking at her. “Which of our classmates doesn’t have someone they like? If there were a trend of confessing feelings by carving a seal, everyone in school would be busy carving seals, and the topics of conversation would be nothing more than who carved whose seal, wouldn’t they?”
Xiao Zhuqing’s heart skipped a beat: She’d been seen through!
This was a lie told to encourage them to confess!
Cold sweat broke out on Xiao Zhuqing’s palms.
Unexpectedly, Lu Rong didn’t get angry; instead, he patted her shoulder gently. “Good luck.”
Xiao Zhuqing: “…Huh?”
“Actually, the student council president has been troubled by the students’ lack of attention to assignments in minor subjects for a long time. Our Chengnan High School has long been known for its college entrance examination pass rate, but its holistic education is widely criticized. Physical education, art, and music classes are often taken over, leaving minor subject teachers helpless, and students therefore neglect their assignments. Not submitting, submitting late, and missing assignments are widespread. It’s time to make a change.” Lu Rong spoke nonsense with a straight face. “There’s a love curse behind the art class assignments, which will arouse everyone’s creative desire and discussion. As the head of the arts and culture department, shouldn’t you do your best to spread this message, taking a roundabout approach to rekindle the students’ passion for art?”
Xiao Zhuqing: “!”
How can you be so good at making things up?!
You’re not just the student council president’s secretary; you’d be wasting your talents even as the secretary of the municipal party secretary.
Although she didn’t know what kind of scheme Lu Rong was up to this time, as long as Lu Rong was willing to continue the confession war, it would be entirely beneficial to her. So Xiao Zhuqing eagerly replied, “Yes, I’ll go and do the publicity work right away!”
“Okay, go ahead.”
Lu Rong watched Xiao Zhuqing hurriedly leave, his eyes narrowing as he sent a message to Li Nanbian with a blank expression, his behavior of spreading gossip and love through word of mouth.
Lu Rong: [Let’s start the campus seal-carving business.]
Li Nanbian: [Huh?! What?]
Lu Rong: [This week’s art assignment is seal carving, which is difficult for ordinary people to do. We can provide a seal-carving service. It will be 20 yuan a seal, and the materials will all be distributed by the art class. We only make a profit from the labor cost.]
Li Nanbian: [Art assignment… everyone just slacks off, right? Who will take this assignment seriously? Nobody will buy it.]
Lu Rong: [It’ll be available soon.]
Li Nanbian: [But we don’t have any technical personnel who can carve seals for us.]
Lu Rong repeated: [It’ll be available soon.]
Even through the screen, he exuded a calm and collected, effortless aura of a powerful boss.
Li Nanbian didn’t ask any more questions and quickly posted an advertisement for seal engraving services in the WeChat Moments of everyone who was a villain.
The boss always did exactly what he said; his words were law, so just do as he was told!
Lu Rong finished setting up the scheme and focused on her class.
At lunchtime, she received a WeChat message from Ji Wenfeng with a photo.
Ji Wenfeng’s well-defined fingers were holding a blue seal, and his hands were covered in tiny cuts.
Ji Wenfeng: I need to get a seal engraved, I’m not going to lunch.
Ji Wenfeng: Guess what I engraved?
Lu Rong stared at the photo for a few seconds, put his phone in his pocket, and went to the infirmary.
After buying iodine, cotton swabs, and bandages, Lu Rong happened to see Shen Yu coming out of the cafeteria carrying two lunch boxes. She called him over and handed him the plastic bag: “Here you go.”
Shen Yu: “…?”
Lu Rong: “You’re going to bring him lunch anyway, so you might as well bring the medicine too.” Saves him the trouble of making the trip himself.
Shen Yu: “How did you know I was going to bring him lunch?!”
Lu Rong: “…”
Everyone knows you two had a half-day meeting in the office after work today, but I know a little more than others— I know you were plotting how to deal with me.
After dismissing the pitiful Ji Wenfeng, Lu Rong went into the cafeteria, ordered a bowl of noodles, and sat down in the center of the cafeteria, eating his noodles while eavesdropping.
A cacophony of voices swept in from all directions—
“Whose name are you planning to engrave?”
“Don’t ask!”
“We’ll have to look at it anyway!”
….
“Damn, I can’t engrave her name well…”
“Someone in my WeChat Moments can engrave it for you.”
“Where!”
….
“President Ji must be engraving Lu Rong’s name.”
“So annoying! Why isn’t such an outstanding man mine!”
“Keep your voice down, Lu Rong is sitting right there…”
….
Lu Rong finished his noodles, slowly put down his chopsticks, opened his phone, and asked Li Nanbian: [How many orders?]
Li Nanbian: [Boss, you’re a genius! Over 130 orders, looks like we’ll have to add more. Damn, the fujoshi finally did something good.]
Lu Rong: [Increase the promotion.]
Lu Rong put away his phone, strolled out of the school, walked two blocks, and found the small key-cutting shop on the corner. The small shop was sandwiched between two buildings, its storefront consisting of a white sign with red lettering that read “Key Duplication,” and the words “Seal Engraving” written on it in red on a white background. The owner sat behind a dark machine, dozing.
Lu Rong looked up at the machine’s wiring: “How much for seal engraving?”
The owner replied listlessly, “It depends on the stone.”
Lu Rong: “The cheapest stone.”
The owner examined him: “30.”
Lu Rong, one hand in his pocket, said expressionlessly, “I provide the raw materials. Minimum order is 300 pieces, 5 yuan each. Want to do it?”
The owner stared at him blankly.
Lu Rong said calmly, “You’ll just pay for the electricity. I’ll steal it from the shop next door.”
The shop owner said, “Okay, okay.”
Lu Rong touched the machine: “Can you finish carving this weekend?”
The shop owner said, “Machine carving, very fast.”
Lu Rong said, “Hmm.”
He instructed Li Nanbian to quickly collect the stones distributed in art class and bring them to the shop to do this. With five or six hundred students in a grade, making 15 yuan net profit per order, earning several thousand yuan a weekend wouldn’t be a problem.
Lu Rong gave the instructions and quietly left.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned back to the shop owner, and said, “Wrap your wires with tape. A short circuit while rushing the work won’t benefit anyone.”
The shop owner was taken aback: “Eh?”
He patted his trouser leg and stood up, suddenly feeling energetic.
At the same time, in the student council president’s office…
Shen Yu took out alcohol, cotton, and bandages: “Guess who gave them to you?”
Ji Wenfeng: “…Him?”
Shen Yu: “Yeah.”
Ji Wenfeng’s lips curled up wildly: “He really cares about me now. I guess he can only think about me right now.”
Shen Yu: “Proceed according to plan.”
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[1] Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is a romantic comedy anime and manga about two high-achieving high school geniuses who are deeply in love with each other, but are too proud to confess first.
