People at the practical education center only want to drop out.

"Spoils of war?" Hirata asked, his face full of doubt.

Kushida blinked: "It means..."

"Give me money?" Horikita Suzune tilted her head back slightly.

"Huh? Isn't that my compensation? Do you want to split it? Oh right!" Karuizawa was taken aback at first, then seemed to remember something, quickly crossed his arms, turned his head away, and said with an arrogant expression, "I just want to clear my name. These points were all earned by you and your team. Hiring a lawyer outside also costs money."

You can decide how much to charge.

Anyway, I didn't do anything, I won't say anything if you guys divide it up yourselves.

It is said that "wealth can move people's hearts".

Faced with this enormous sum of fifty million, no one present could easily suppress their inner greed.

No matter how much Karuizawa tried to maintain his aloof demeanor, he couldn't help but eventually develop a slight interest in the huge sum of money.

But it's only "a little".

Karuizawa didn't dare to think too much. In her opinion, even if Bai Lan casually gave her a percentage point, it would be enough for her to squander for a long time.

Karuizawa dared not think of anything more, and even if Bai Lan were willing to give her more, she would not accept it.

On the one hand, she was embarrassed to accept it. After all, without Bai Lan, she would either be bullied, revealing her true colors as someone who was all bark and no bite, or she would be expelled from school.

Throughout the entire process, she won effortlessly.

Bai Lan not only protected her, but was also willing to share money with her...

Thinking about this, Karuizawa even felt embarrassed to take the money.

On the other hand, she dared not take it. As the saying goes, "A common man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure." If others found out that she had so many points, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble.

Although Bai Lan said she would protect her, she also said that this protection would not be permanent, but would gradually weaken.

What if the protection ends one day and Bai Lan stops protecting her?

Instead of doing that, it would be better to ask for less, or even none at all, and put those points directly with Bai Lan to improve her favor and continue paying protection fees.

"Well, I don't need it." Hirata spoke up, looking embarrassed. "I didn't help for the points, and besides, I didn't really do anything."

"I don't need it either," Horikita Suzune said. "I didn't help for the points, and besides, I didn't really do anything."

In fact, this matter was under Bai Lan's control from the very beginning.

All the evidence I used was sent to me by Bai Lan.

Judging from the time and technique used in taking the photos, Bai Lan had already mastered the solution from the very beginning and didn't need us at all.

"I'm here to learn rather than to help."

I learned a lot and gained a lot from this experience.

As for compensation, actually, compared to what I gave and what I received, I should be the one paying the compensation.

Upon hearing this, Hirata exclaimed in surprise, "So that's how it is!"

So it seems that Horikita was right.

I learned a lot and gained a lot from this experience.

For example, I learned a new way to protect my classmates. Although this method is a bit too difficult for me to implement, it has at least broadened my horizons.

In addition, I think the class leaders also successfully cooperated in this matter and strengthened their relationship with each other. I was very moved by everyone's hard work and efforts for Karuizawa.

I think that's the greatest reward I got from this.

In my opinion, this is something that no amount of points can buy.

“Um… well.” At this moment, Kushida also spoke up: “Then I won’t ask for payment.”

Meanwhile, Kushida was internally ranting: "Actually, I kind of wanted a share. Although I know this whole thing is definitely under the control of the shrewd Bai Lan, I did contribute, but you guys are all too noble. It seems like none of you want a share. Whether it's Horikita, who contributed the most to Bai Lan, or even Karuizawa, the person directly involved, everyone's like this. How can I possibly say 'I want some'? If I do, wouldn't that make me look like the worst person? I'm supposed to be the little angel in our class, this is going to ruin my image!"

Kushida has made up his mind; he'll complain about this to Shirai in private later.

In Kushida's opinion, since Bai Lan was so insightful and could see right through her thoughts, there was no point in hiding them from her. She might as well just say it out loud to avoid feeling uncomfortable and getting nowhere.

When she complained to Bai Lan about this, her main purpose was to vent, so as not to drive herself crazy, rather than to earn points.

If Bai Lan is willing to share some with her, that would be good. If not, Kushida doesn't mind; she can just consider it tuition.

After all, she did learn a lot of useful things from Shirai, just like Horikita and Hirata.

Moreover, through this incident, Kushida and Horikita had many interactions beyond just bickering, and even friendly interactions, which made Kushida feel that their relationship had improved considerably.

Based on what Kushida had learned about Horikita over the past few days, he discovered that although Horikita didn't have many close friends, she wasn't a cold person. The main reason she didn't have friends was that she took relationships too seriously, to the point of being "obsessed."

Kushida felt that as long as he maintained a good relationship with Horikita, Horikita would eventually remember his dark past and, considering their "friendly" relationship, would be more inclined to keep it a secret for his friend.

This made Kushida feel somewhat at ease.

Of course, these are things you can't just tell anyone.

Thinking of this, Kushida added, "After all, I've also gained a lot."

Seeing that all four of them said they didn't want the money, and it seemed like she had inexplicably gained some goodwill, Bai Lan was unhappy and quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"What? I'm giving you money, and you don't want it?"

What do you mean?

If you don't want points, do you want me to owe you a favor so you can use that favor to get back at me later?

Is she trying to use a feigned retreat to advance, saying no but actually hoping I'll give her a larger share? Huh?

Bai Lan grinned, adopting the shrewish expression of a petty swindler, and said, "Don't even think about it! 10 each, okay, okay, Horikita, you're being dramatic, I'll give you an extra 3, that's it, that's all. This is the maximum price for your work, the rest is mine! Mine!"

The others were alright, but Karuizawa was immediately startled and almost reverted to his original form. Fortunately, he managed to regain his composure and nodded with feigned strength, saying, "If you insist on giving me an answer, I... have no objection. After all, they wasted a lot of time, so it's only right that they give me some compensation, hmm!"

139. Midterm exams are coming!

After dividing the spoils, Bai Lan and her group left the teaching building.

Because of the upcoming midterm exams, all club activities have been suspended recently, so school is over now.

Halfway there, Horikita still felt some doubts about what had happened not long ago, and couldn't help but ask Bai Lan, "What happened with the leaked exam questions?"

Since things had been pretty much exposed, Bai Lan had no intention of hiding anything and directly told her about the archaeology questions.

Horikita expressed great surprise at this, finding it hard to believe that the school secretly "encouraged" cheating, which she considered an "honest person."

But after Bai Lan's explanation, Horikita understood the logic and nodded, saying, "Indeed, when the school recruits students, not to mention anything else, they give each student 100,000 points right away, plus two sets of school uniforms made of relatively high-end materials with high manufacturing costs, as well as other supporting facilities such as cell phones and student IDs. All of these are quite valuable."

Even before enrollment, the school had already invested at least several hundred thousand yuan in each student.

Even if students have to be expelled, their expulsion should generate value exceeding those costs.

Otherwise, all these costs will be wasted.

Given the enormous cost, it's unlikely that so many students would be expelled from school so easily based on a single exam.

If a normal exam were to be held, a large number of students in the CD class, which is full of underachievers, would definitely be eliminated.

Even if the goal is to create a sense of urgency among other students by having some drop out, there's no need to have so many drop out at once.

This is a huge waste.

Even if it's just a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, if the losses from killing the chicken outweigh the benefits from teaching the monkey a lesson, then it's not worth it at all.

Furthermore, if Classes CD are eliminated too quickly, Classes A and B will lose the pressure of competition early on.

Therefore, in order to allow the C and D classes, which are full of underachievers, to "survive" longer and put pressure on the A and B classes, the school deliberately left a glimmer of hope for the underachievers.

It turned out to be the case.

besides......."

Horikita then continued, "Can serious incidents like this, such as 'framing classmates for bullying,' 'causing substantial personal injury,' or even involving 'criminal charges,' be resolved privately?"

As far as I know, this situation cannot be resolved through a private settlement, right?

Even if Karuizawa, as the victim, were willing, the school wouldn't have agreed, right?

After all, it's not just Karuizawa who will be harmed by what the other party did. Once this gets out and other students find out, it will cause a stir, and even the school's reputation will be damaged.

To give an extreme example, a murderer cannot escape legal accountability by settling privately with the victim's family and incurring costs.

After all, no one can accept a dangerous individual remaining among the people, even if he has been forgiven by the victim's family or even the victim himself.

To uphold its reputation and quell the students' anxiety, the school should severely punish the perpetrator.

Bai Lan: "In principle, it is naturally impossible to settle this privately, but if both of us withdraw the charges and then collude to describe the matter as a 'misunderstanding,' the school can't do anything about it."

At this moment, Kushida couldn't help but interject, "But didn't the student council members all see us discussing the terms of the settlement? If we suddenly change our minds, isn't that blatantly lying?"

Bai Lan explained, "The student council is just a 'buffer zone' between students and the school. Although it can represent the school to some extent, it is not directly the school."

If handled properly, even violations of the rules will be overlooked; this is the hidden rule, or unspoken rule.

The purpose of rules is to solve problems, maintain order, and deter disruptive elements who attempt to undermine it.

If we can successfully resolve the problem, deter unruly individuals, and stabilize order, the outcome will be positive. Even if there are some irregularities, there's no need to make a big deal out of it; there's always room for maneuver.

Although this case involves very serious issues such as 'personal injury', 'framing', and 'bullying'.

But look at the outcome of this matter for yourselves.

Karuizawa, the person involved, is completely unharmed; those who get into trouble are the ones who want to harm others.

Therefore, overall, it did not cause any serious consequences, and the victims received substantial compensation, while the perpetrators also suffered severe consequences.

Very popular!

Fifty million!

Isn't this much more serious than making the other person drop out of school?

Keep in mind that waiving the expulsion fee would only cost 20 million.

Not to mention, plus cleaning toilets for a whole semester.

Those who caused harm have learned a profound lesson.

Although the punishment method is different from that in the school rules, the purpose has been achieved.

If we really delve into it, it will only increase the workload and the cost of maintaining order, and it will also cause all sorts of unknown problems, which will have an adverse effect on the already stable order.

Of course, if it's a formal setting, in front of the school, in such a "courtroom" situation, then it must be handled officially and strictly according to the school rules and regulations.