Song Xingqiu smiled and said, “Happy cooperation.”
The following day, Jiang Xing attended class with bruises on the corners of his mouth and forehead. One look was enough to tell that Song Wenyue had been the one to lay hands on him, and no one dared to step forward to offer concern or ask questions.
When Jiang Xing entered the classroom, he quickly glanced toward Song Xingqiu’s seat. Seeing that Song Xingqiu was already there, he immediately averted his eyes, terrified of making eye contact. He kept his head down and walked briskly, taking a long detour around Song Xingqiu’s desk to reach his own seat.
A brand-new desk had replaced the one previously covered in glue at some point. However, the seating arrangement had effectively changed by default, and Jiang Xing did not dare to suggest switching back.
Song Xingqiu paid no mind to Jiang Xing’s minor antics; he was quite satisfied with his current seat. His desk and chair were perfectly clean, without a single smudge. Even his locker was as tidy as new.
Yesterday, Song Xingqiu had not had time to use it, so he had not checked. In reality, the locker had also been targeted and filled with various kinds of trash. Before Song Xingqiu could discover it, the very people in class who had dirtied it had secretly organized and wiped it clean. Today, when Song Xingqiu went to put his things away, he did not find a speck of dust. It had even been sprayed with expensive perfume, and the exterior door was polished until it was spotless.
Song Xingqiu was not surprised. He said nothing and sat down to read. Seeing that Song Xingqiu did not notice anything unusual, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
With Song Wenyue serving as a cautionary tale, they had initially thought Song Xingqiu was a “soft persimmon” they could squeeze. It turned out he was a “Great Demon King” even more terrifying than Song Wenyue!
[Jiang Xing is injured; it must have been Song Wenyue who hit him.]
[This is the first time since enrollment I have seen Jiang Xing so submissive. He does not even dare to look directly at Song Xingqiu!]
[I do not dare to either.]
[Good thing we cleaned Song Xingqiu’s locker before class, or else I would not want to imagine the consequences.]
[So, Song Xingqiu is someone we cannot mess with now, right?]
[You can try if you want.]
The campus anonymous forum was filled with discussions about Song Xingqiu. Since yesterday, he had been flooding the front page. Considering Song Wenyue’s temper, everyone kept their discussions restrained, only daring to express their amazement. The moment Song Xingqiu appeared in the classroom today, the number of replies to the threads exploded. Every move he made affected their moods.
Song Xingqiu, however, was in no mood to play house with these children; he was troubled by his studies. Back when he gave himself a “backdoor” entrance to graduate early, skipping a year to jump straight into the fourth year and successfully tricking Song Cheng, he had indeed been very happy. Now, looking at the content of the fourth-year textbooks, Song Xingqiu was starting to feel a headache coming on.
No one had told him that the curriculum at Axelenia was this difficult! It was on a completely different level compared to what he had studied in the Federation. When he was in the Federation, he had only looked at the difficulty of the Empire’s standard entrance exams, which led him to believe he could handle the fourth year.
He had not expected that, besides the standard content required for the college entrance exam, Axelenia had many of its own supplemental sections. As a cradle for the Empire’s future talent and an institution focused on by major universities, Axelenia would naturally not be at the same level as ordinary high schools. Otherwise, so many people would not be fighting to get in, and it would not be the absolute pride of the Empire’s citizens.
Song Xingqiu had rarely made such a miscalculation. He sighed.
Self-study and listening to teachers in class would definitely not be enough. To be honest, when he listened to the lectures yesterday, some parts sounded like a foreign language to him. He planned to start remedial lessons today.
Finding an off-campus tutor for Axelenia was not an easy task either. The academy enforced a mandatory boarding system where every student had to live on campus. The teachers at Axelenia were the most outstanding in the entire Empire; one could say there were no better teachers than them. The small-class teaching model ensured that every teacher could pay attention to every student.
After class, students in need could go to the offices to find teachers for extra help. The teachers were paid extremely high salaries and would not reject any student’s thirst for knowledge. In the original book, the protagonist Shen Qianyan would often stay in the teacher’s office after class. This allowed him to both study and avoid the constant harassment from others.
However, doing so offered no privacy. Shen Qianyan could go every day, but Song Xingqiu could not. He was certain that, given his current level of attention at school, the entire student body would know his grades were poor if he spent a few days in the office.
Song Xingqiu also wanted to maintain a “calm and effortless” persona. Well, that was not exactly his persona, but if he were facing a profit of several hundred million, or even just several tens of million, he would not blink an eye at dragging his own reputation through the mud. But right now, this concerned his academic reputation at school. It was not worth it.
He had just established his “Great Demon King” image by standing up to Song Wenyue and his lackeys. He did not want to break that character just for a tutoring session. Even for the sake of a peaceful campus life in the future, he had to maintain his persona and image. Song Xingqiu had no interest in becoming a laughingstock for others over tea and snacks, nor did he want to attract more trouble because of such a small matter.
But if he were to find someone else for tutoring.
Song Xingqiu mentally eliminated the impossible options one by one. In the end, only remote online teaching remained. He immediately had someone find him a tutor capable of providing remote lessons.
At noon, Song Xingqiu went to the restaurant. He sat on the east side of the second floor, while Song Wenyue sat on the west side. Everyone in the restaurant ate quietly. The young masters and ladies rarely bothered the scholarship students today, fearing they might trigger the bad moods of those two.
Song Xingqiu ate his lunch. Since yesterday, Song Wenyue had not come to find trouble again, and the other students were also behaving themselves, seemingly having softened and compromised.
Song Xingqiu was surprised by Song Wenyue’s silence. He had thought that after Song Wenyue learned the “truth” from his father, he would come to confront him in a fit of rage. He had not expected him to choose to endure it in silence. It was truly strange and did not fit Song Wenyue’s personality.
Song Xingqiu asked Wu Hongzhou, “Has he caused you any trouble?”
Song Xingqiu did not say Song Wenyue’s name, but Wu Hongzhou guessed who he was referring to in a second. He did not hide anything. “He has not personally. Jiang Xing and Xue Chengyi, however, did come looking for me.”
With Song Wenyue’s arrogant personality, he could not bring himself to run over like a rejected puppy and demand to know why Wu Hongzhou did not want him anymore.
Song Xingqiu was not surprised. “What did you say?”
Wu Hongzhou replied honestly, “I said it is all internal Song family business and told them to stay out of it.”
Song Xingqiu laughed. “You certainly know how to talk.” It was not technically wrong.
To say directly that he had to change masters because his family’s company received an investment from Song Xingqiu would sound quite unpleasant. No matter how much of a follower Wu Hongzhou was, he still had his self-respect. By framing it all as Song family business, Jiang Xing and Xue Chengyi were left with nothing to say. What Wu Hongzhou said was not wrong. As it turned out, the two of them left after he said that.
Wu Hongzhou looked at Song Xingqiu, trying to find a trace of emotional change on his face, but he failed. He could only ask directly, “Do you dislike me speaking that way?”
Song Xingqiu denied it. “No. Some things do not need to be explained too clearly. I like cooperating with smart people. Song Wenyue will know the reason soon enough, so why waste your breath? In the future, you and I will have many more opportunities for cooperation.” He said the last sentence with a deep meaning.
Wu Hongzhou was a pleasant surprise. The cooperation with the Wu family was going very smoothly. Aside from using Wu Hongzhou to deal a blow to Song Wenyue, the value of the Wu family itself was enough to catch his eye. He and the Wu family would have a partnership lasting ten or even dozens of years. The more poised and clever Wu Hongzhou was, the better it was for him. Song Xingqiu was perfectly satisfied with Wu Hongzhou.
Wu Hongzhou pursed his lips. Song Xingqiu had said they were partners. In the past, Song Wenyue would only treat him as a lackey to run errands. Even as a “strategist,” he was only slightly better than Jiang Xing and Xue Chengyi. If those two were not around, he would still be responsible for serving Song Xingqiu tea and water.
He did not know if these were Song Xingqiu’s sincere words or just polite talk. His family had already gained a huge benefit. Even if Song Xingqiu, as a superior, was just being polite, Wu Hongzhou was satisfied.
Song Xingqiu noticed Wu Hongzhou’s slight hesitation. He felt amused. Indeed, no matter how capable, he was still just a high school student; his emotions were not hidden deep enough. He let them show after just a few words.
Then again, how did Song Wenyue usually treat people? He felt he had not even tried to win people over, yet Wu Hongzhou was already this moved. It seemed his nephew was even worse and more malicious than described in the book. No wonder Song Cheng was so anxious that he sent him back to act as a “catfish” to stimulate Song Wenyue.
Song Xingqiu stopped thinking about Song Wenyue. He raised his water glass. Wu Hongzhou, following his lead, clinked his glass against it.
Song Xingqiu said with a smile, “Happy cooperation.”
Wu Hongzhou gripped his glass, let out a breath, and adjusted the frames of his glasses. “Happy cooperation.”