My sister never calls me brother.

"Anyway, back when I was still in the Seigaku Club, I was very powerful, so powerful that I could influence everyone's opinion..." Dong Yingxue smiled.

"You also graduated from Jin Teng Academy!? And you were a member of Seigaku Club!" Zhou Han and Miyazaki Airi were both surprised.

"Yes." Dong Yingxue nodded.

“You…you shouldn’t be in a judo club or something like that…” Zhou Han glanced at the cabinet full of honors.

"You mean that..." Dong Yingxue paused and said, "Those are just my hobbies..."

Zhou Han raised an eyebrow, thinking, "To achieve this level just from a hobby? What kind of talent is that...?"

"Oh right!" Dong Yingxue stood up, put on her slippers, and said, "Let me show you a group photo of me from the Seigaku Club back then."

Dong Yingxue walked to the display window filled with honors, flipped through it, and took out a photo.

"Look!" Dong Yingxue handed the photo to Zhou Han and Miyazaki Airi.

The two of them took it and looked at it—

There are more than a dozen people in the photo, each in a different pose.

There was a girl in the middle with short hair. If she weren't wearing a school uniform skirt, Zhou Han would have thought she was a boy dressed as a girl for a prank.

This tomboyish girl had several people patting her head. Although her face was full of dissatisfaction, she did not resist.

"Only a dozen or so people, that's nothing compared to the hundreds of people in the school's clubs..." Miyazaki Airi said what Zhou Han wanted to ask.

"The consistent style of the Qingxue Society is to focus on quality over quantity. Don't underestimate the small number of members; every single one of them is an elite..." Dong Yingxue took a puff of her cigarette and continued, "Back then, an article published by the Qingxue Society could influence public opinion in the school, far more so than the student council. The members of each term brought countless honors to the Qingxue Society."

"Answer?!" Zhou Han was stunned. "I haven't seen even half a certificate in the club..."

“Those things…” Dong Yingxue frowned and said, “I remember your regimental commander burned them all.”

"Ah!?" Zhou Han and Miyazaki Airi exclaimed at the same time, finding it hard to understand why Song Mingyuan would do such a thing.

"What is he trying to do? Why would he burn such a valuable honor?" Miyazaki Airi asked.

“I think… that brat did it so that the new club wouldn’t live in the shadow of its past glory…” Dong Yingxue paused and said, “Although the Seigaku Office is now a continuation of the Seigaku Club, it is still starting from scratch. It will be difficult to move forward without destroying the past.”

"I see..." Zhou Han sighed a little, looked at the photo again, and asked, "Teacher Dong, which one is you?"

“The one in the very middle.” Dong Yingxue raised her hand and pointed.

"This tomboy!?" Zhou Han quickly asked.

"Hey!" Miyazaki Airi nudged Zhou Han with her elbow, telling him to stop talking nonsense.

"It's okay." Dong Yingxue smiled and said, "That's right, I was a tomboy in high school, and I hung out with a bunch of boys all the time."

Zhou Han looked at the photos for a while, then at Dong Yingxue, comparing them carefully. She thought to herself, "The change is too drastic! She's completely unrecognizable! The saying 'a girl changes a lot as she grows up' is no exaggeration, except for her tomboyish personality..."

"Why did you all come together today? Is it because..." Dong Yingxue thought for a moment and asked, "That you live together?"

"Pfft—!" The two of them were startled, like cats whose tails had been stepped on.

"No! No! No!" Zhou Han and Miyazaki Airi retorted in unison.

The two exchanged a glance, pondering how to get through this.

“We are neighbors,” said Airi Miyazaki.

“Yes, yes, we live across the hall,” Zhou Han agreed.

“Really…” Dong Yingxue nodded and said, “I haven’t asked your names yet.”

"Miyazaki Airi".

"Zhou Han".

“Zhou…Han…” Dong Yingxue paused, stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, and said, “It’s you, the one who got into a fight at the gym a few days ago…”

Miyazaki Airi glanced at Zhou Han, then at Teacher Dong.

“No…yes, it’s me,” Zhou Han replied.

“I was planning to have you come to my office after your suspension from school ends, but I didn’t expect to run into you today…” Dong Yingxue smiled meaningfully.

Miyazaki Airi was standing next to her, and for some reason, the relaxed atmosphere suddenly became a little tense.

“I’m not one to beat around the bush, so let me be frank…” Dong Yingxue paused, then said seriously, “I advise you to quit the club, it’s for the good of everyone in the club.”

"Teacher Dong!" Miyazaki Airi wanted to interject and say something in defense of Zhou Han, but he stopped her.

"I'm sorry..." Zhou Han licked her lips and said earnestly, "I don't want to leave."

"Oh?" Dong Yingxue sat in her chair, hugging her knees, and said, "You have good eyesight. Who gave you that confidence?"

"No one gives me confidence, but some people still have expectations of me. I can't give up halfway," Zhou Han replied. No matter what others say, he will continue to stay in the club. If he leaves, all his previous efforts will be in vain.

He was serious about becoming the most reliable person at Jinteng Academy.

"Did that brat Song Mingyuan say something to you?" Dong Yingxue asked expressionlessly.

"Yes...yes." Zhou Han dared not look directly into Teacher Dong's eyes.

“Alright…” Dong Yingxue sighed and asked, “Do you know… who caused the decline of the Seigaku Club?”

Zhou Han shook his head; he really didn't know.

Dong Yingxue earnestly told Zhou Han—

"It was all caused by that brat Song Mingyuan."

Chapter 80 The Bet to Leave the Group

Zhou Han and Miyazaki Airi were both taken aback.

"Your senior Song is the culprit behind the decline of the Seigaku Club," Dong Yingxue said calmly.

"Impossible!" Zhou Han stood up and retorted, "Senior Song is just bad at management; he can't be the culprit behind the club's decline!"

"Oh? Not good at management?" Dong Yingxue rested her chin on her hand, looking at Zhou Han with amusement, and said, "He's very smart, no less so than any previous president of the Seigaku Club, but why did the club decline under his leadership? Do I need to tell you why?"

Zhou Han opened his mouth, wanting to refute something, but then closed it again, because he really wanted to know: if the Qingxue Society was really as successful as Teacher Dong said, how could it have declined under Song Mingyuan's management alone? The discrepancy was too great to believe.

Not only Zhou Han, but even Miyazaki Airi was filled with curiosity.

"Do you know that brat Song Mingyuan? He's known as the 'class fund thief' in third grade." Dong Yingxue asked.

Zhou Han remained silent; he had only recently learned of it himself. Miyazaki Airi shook her head blankly.

“Your senior Song once stole class funds when he was in the first year of high school, so everyone gave him this nickname.” Dong Yingxue took out a cigarette again and lit it.

"No way, Senior Song wouldn't do something like that." Miyazaki Airi covered her mouth. She also found it hard to believe that Song Mingyuan had done such a thing. Although he was usually joking around, he wasn't a bad person.

“Regardless of whether it’s true or not, from the moment the first person said he was the class fund thief, this shame would accompany him throughout his entire high school career. The story spread like wildfire, until eventually no one questioned its veracity; most people simply believed it because the proportion of intelligent people is very small, and many wouldn’t doubt it.” Dong Yingxue paused, then continued, “The rumors, like a butterfly effect, swept through the entire grade, severely damaging his reputation and even affecting his club, Seigaku. Even the club’s own members believed he was the class fund thief, and they started demanding that your senior, Song, leave the club. But the club leader at the time was quite hardline and kept him on. Dissatisfied members left one after another. When the previous leader graduated, he was left alone in the entire club, going to the activity room alone every day, facing the student council’s demand to abolish the club, and still having to force a smile and engage in banter. That’s how he stumbled and struggled his way to where he is now…”

Miyazaki Airi felt a surge of sympathy again, thinking how pitiful Song Mingyuan was.

Zhou Han kept his head down, so his expression was not visible.

“So…” Dong Yingxue extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray and said, “Whether it’s from the perspective of being a senior member of Seigaku Club, or for the sake of that brat who’s been struggling to keep things going until now, I have to protect this budding seedling of Seigaku Club before your situation causes the worst possible impact and make you leave the club.”

Zhou Han fell silent. To be honest, he was a little shaken. He thought that his last chat with Song Mingyuan was just to encourage him, but he didn't expect there to be so much bitterness in it.

Song Mingyuan was under immense pressure and faced enormous risks by keeping Zhou Han in the group; one wrong move could lead to the group's demise.

Miyazaki Airi glanced at Zhou Han, who seemed a little downcast, and felt a pang of sympathy. She said to Dong Yingxue, "Teacher, I think it's too much to make him leave the club because of this."

"Excessive?" Dong Yingxue was stunned for a moment, then said, "Are you really willing to watch your club be destroyed because of him?"

“This…” Miyazaki Airi couldn’t refute it. If she were acting out of selfishness, she wouldn’t let Zhou Han leave, but reason told her that Teacher Dong was right.

“I don’t know what that brat Song Mingyuan said to you that made you so determined to stay in the club; I don’t know why he would take such a big risk to keep you here, but…” Dong Yingxue’s gaze sharpened as she looked at Zhou Han and said, “No matter what he said, he can be emotional sometimes. You have now become a dangerous factor in the club. If we don’t rule it out, you will eventually follow in Song Mingyuan’s footsteps and put the club in crisis. I will not trust you like Song Mingyuan did, so… you must leave.”

Zhou Han kept his head down and remained silent, his expression unseen, and he didn't speak.

"Teacher! Please think about it again, okay? Maybe we can find a way to suppress the negative impact on the club..." Miyazaki Airi said.

"Does your newly established club have the ability to influence public opinion? Like the once-glorious Seigaku Club?" Dong Yingxue retorted.

Airi Miyazaki was speechless. How easy is it to influence public opinion? People have mouths; can you really shut everyone up? Obviously not.

"As expected, your new club also has limited capabilities..." Dong Yingxue smiled.

Miyazaki Airi frowned, surprised that Teacher Dong's personality was actually quite nasty.

"Have you thought it through? Will you leave the club on your own, or..." Dong Yingxue asked, hugging her legs in the chair, "...make me force you to leave the club? To be honest, I don't want to be that ruthless. If you have any self-respect, you should take the initiative yourself."

Zhou Han suddenly stood up, his face grim, and the atmosphere became tense.

Miyazaki Airi looked at Zhou Han with concern, hoping he wouldn't say anything foolish.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Dong~" Zhou Han scratched his head, smiled broadly, and grinned, "What you said does make a lot of sense, but no matter what you say, I won't quit the club, because I want to stay here, that's all!"

"Is that so..." Dong Yingxue's expression turned sour, and she said, "Then don't blame me..."

"Wait a minute!" Zhou Han suddenly interrupted, saying, "The only point I want to object to is the part about forcing me to leave the club."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Dong Yingxue smiled, thinking that Zhou Han couldn't come up with anything interesting.

"I only need one chance! I can turn this unfavorable situation around!" Zhou Han paused and said, "I hope Teacher Dong will grant my request."

"What's your plan?" Dong Yingxue asked with amusement.

“The incident happened in my class. If I can repair my interpersonal relationships in the class, I can stop my negative influence from the very beginning,” Zhou Han said. This was the solution he had been racking his brains for. Although it was direct, it might not be impossible, but the road ahead would be difficult.

"Even if your method works, why should I give you a chance?" Dong Yingxue deliberately made things difficult for Zhou Han, hoping to discourage him.

"Because I genuinely love Seigaku Agency and everyone in the club!" Zhou Han answered without hesitation.

Dong Yingxue paused, stared at Zhou Han's unwavering gaze for a few seconds, sighed, and said, "Alright, I can give you a chance, but if you fail, you must leave the club on your own."

"It's a deal!" Zhou Han said with a grin, full of confidence.

What's wrong with this kid? Does he even know how difficult it is to repair interpersonal relationships? It seems he's either an idiot or overconfident... Dong Yingxue thought to herself.

“Let’s set a deadline. I can’t keep waiting until the situation worsens before I expel you from the club…” Dong Yingxue thought for a moment and said, “How about two weeks?”

When Miyazaki Airi heard the time, she breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Teacher Dong wasn't going to make things too difficult for Zhou Han.

“No…” Zhou Han shook her head, raised a finger, and said—

"I only need a week, that's enough!"

Miyazaki Airi covered her face, thinking to herself, "What an idiot!"

Chapter 81 Showing off backfires