In fact, after the information is refreshed, they always want to attack me!

Kikyo Kushida: ...Eh? I just wanted to make friends with everyone, it wasn't just about being kind!

Kikyo Kushida: Um...actually, don't let my appearance fool you, I have my own little ulterior motives too! Like that deal last night...

Kikyo Kushida: If I absolutely had to go on a date with a boy, honestly, Shimizu would be a better choice.

Akira Shimizu raised an eyebrow, watching as she quickly sent a large number of messages. Sure enough, the topic shifted to the main point the next second.

Kikyo Kushida: Um... actually, because I recently collected class fees, I borrowed points from several people in order to raise the 80,000 points for this event!

The girl's subtext couldn't be clearer: Since I'm broke, shouldn't I at least show some appreciation with my 80,000 points?

Akira Shimizu could almost see the virtual dialog box popping up in the chat window: I desperately need points! I really, really want my 80,000 back!

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to be direct: Well, your 80,000 points are very useful to me, so in short, I can't possibly give them to you.

Kikyo Kushida remained silent for a very long time this time.

Kikyo Kushida: You're not even giving me 30,000 points?

Akira Shimizu: Yeah, I can't give it to you.

Kikyo Kushida: I understand.

He could almost hear the sound of Kikyo Kushida's mental abacus beads scattering all over the floor.

However, Shimizu Akira couldn't help but chuckle softly.

See? He's right! Even so, the other party isn't planning to get angry or lose face.

Chapter 69: 068 Finally, they got the surveillance rights.

Akira Shimizu no longer had time to pay attention to Kikyo Kushida's reaction, because Manabu Horikita finally sent the text message he had been waiting for.

Horikita Manabu: Call me right now.

The brief message conveyed its usual crispness and efficiency.

Akira Shimizu's eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, he got up and left the classroom, quickly heading towards the relatively private space of the restroom.

After the call connected, Horikita Manabu's signature calm voice came through the receiver: "The school has approved your application, which is basically in line with my prediction."

"Four classes, eight surveillance cameras, the rental period is three weeks, starting this week, and will expire completely at the end of this month." Horikita Manabu paused, "However, the school has added four conditions."

"First, because there is no monitoring data from last week, the class points that your four classes lost in the first week cannot be changed."

"Secondly, regarding the rental rights for surveillance cameras, you can only rent them to the class where the camera is located, not to other classes. You can only sell them within three days. If you still hold them, the school has the right to revoke these rights. The school's buyback price is 40 points per camera."

"Third, you need to pay a rental fee of 120 million points."

"Fourth," Horikita Manabu's voice held a hint of amusement, "the chairman is very interested in you and hopes to speak with you personally. You should be able to accept these conditions, right?"

On the other end of the phone, Akira Shimizu's lips curled into a slight smile.

"can."

The cost was much lower than he had anticipated.

It seems the president's judgment was wrong.

He originally thought the school would approve a one-month lease, but in the end they only granted him three weeks.

However, after calm reflection, Shimizu Akira realized that the school's considerations were not unreasonable—if the surveillance covered the entire month, the point difference between the four classes would likely be greatly reduced, which would render the competition meaningless.

If the school truly allows students to completely eliminate violations through surveillance, it may ultimately have to pay a hefty reward of 100,000 points to each of the 160 new students.

This is clearly an unbearable burden for the school's finances.

The deduction data from the first week alone is enough to determine which classes are in Grade A and which have fallen to Grade D.

"So, Class D is probably still at the bottom!" Shimizu Akira immediately realized this.

Thinking about it carefully, Class D had dozens of instances of being late or absent during the first week of school.

However, considering that this is only the first week, the class points should still be more than half of what they were before they are all deducted.

As for the second condition, the school's intention is quite clear:

They hope that students will earn points in moderation, rather than treating other students as objects of surveillance, and certainly not affecting the normal study and life of others.

The implication is: please, Haoziwei Juice, make the most of these three days of sales and stop thinking about monitoring other students, otherwise the school will revoke your monitoring privileges.

However, the school's buyback price is 40 points per unit, so overall, he still makes a profit.

In fact, Akira Shimizu never intended to retain control of the surveillance operation for long.

Making a profit is enough; there's no need to do anything extra.

As for the rent, it's 120 million points, which isn't actually that much.

"The chairman is right next to me. He wants to talk to you. Are you on your end?" The student council president's voice came through the receiver again.

Akira Shimizu paused for a moment, then said, "Of course."

Although he didn't know why the chairman of the board was looking for him, the chairman was the principal after all, and he had no right to refuse.

"Hello, Shimizu-kun. I am the chairman of the board of directors of this school, Sakayanagi Shigemori."

The voice on the other end of the phone was gentle and refined, carrying the kindness and generosity characteristic of an elder.

Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow slightly—it was quite unexpected for the chairman of the board to introduce himself so humbly to a student.

Whether this warmth was genuine or not, at least for this moment, he felt a slight liking for this chairman he had never met before.

"Hello, Chairman Sakayanagi, I am Akira Shimizu from Class D, Grade 1." He responded with just the right amount of politeness, his voice neither humble nor arrogant.

"It's been over a week since Shimizu enrolled, right? Are you adjusting well to school life?" Sakayanagi Shigemori's tone was like that of an elder concerned about a junior.

Akira Shimizu smiled slightly, fully embracing this kind of leader-like pleasantries: "Thank you for your concern. The school environment is excellent; I've completely adapted."

"Really? By the way, how have you been lately? Is anything bothering you?"

"I've always been in very good health. To be honest, I've never even had a cold in my entire life."

"Oh?" The chairman let out a meaningful sigh. "It's truly rare for a young person to have such a good physique. Speaking of which..." He suddenly changed the subject, "You must also have a habit of jogging in the morning, right? A few days ago, I saw you running on the track from my office window. If I'm not mistaken, you run at least ten kilometers every time."

"Yes, this is one of the habits I developed from childhood."

Akira Shimizu was taken aback—the chairman's office window did indeed overlook the entire playground. But the question was, how did the other person recognize him?

Being seen by chance is one thing, but being recognized and remembered by the chairman at a glance means that you are already on his list of key people to watch.

He didn't think he was anything special that warranted such attention from the chairman of the board.

"Maintaining exercise is a good habit!" On the other end of the phone, Narumi Sakayanagi's voice suddenly became more genuine. "As parents, our greatest wish is for our children to grow up healthy and safe..."

Akira Shimizu keenly sensed the barely concealed melancholy in the other person's tone. This was no mere politeness—this chairman seemed to have an unusual obsession with "health."

(Could it be... that he is in poor health? Could it be...?)

He decided to test the waters: "Excuse my intrusion, Chairman Sakayanagi. I know a student named Sakayanagi Arisu, I wonder if he is related to you..."

A soft gasp came from the other end of the phone, followed by a bitter laugh: "She's my daughter...she's always been a sickly child."

Akira Shimizu's eyes widened immediately.

My father, the chairman of the board?

Wait a minute, Sakayanagi Arisu also has a chairman's father!

"Shimizu-kun, there's no need to worry," Sakayanagi Narumori's voice regained its composure. "I've always advocated fair competition and will not interfere in class affairs because of personal relationships."

"Shimizu-kun, I thought you were a student who wasn't doing very well in school, but it seems I was very wrong. I hope you can keep up this pace." After a brief explanation, Sakayanagi Shigemori ended the call abruptly.

Shimizu held her phone, feeling a sense of unease.

The other party didn't even ask about the surveillance footage.

Instead, they asked him about many trivial daily matters in great detail. This overly concerned way of asking questions inexplicably reminded him of blind dates arranged by his elders.

"I guess I'm overthinking it..." Shimizu shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket.

After all, aren't all older people like this, rambling on and on?

Chapter 70: 069 Longyuan, are you planning to spend millions of points to rent your class's surveillance cameras?

"Ibuki-san?"

A gentle call pulled Ibuki Mio back from her chaotic memories.

Before she knew it, a silver-haired girl was standing beside her desk, her voice filled with concern: "Are you... alright?"

Shiina Hiyori, a classmate, spoke in her usual gentle tone, which made Ibuki Mio subconsciously tense up.

"Ah! It's nothing!" She straightened up abruptly, deliberately tilting the chair back with a soft creak. "Don't forget, I've practiced martial arts."

She swung her fist with a hint of smugness, but unexpectedly it aggravated her still-healing wound, causing her lips to twitch almost imperceptibly.

"You... still haven't paid your dues, have you?" Shiina's voice was as soft as a sigh. "Even Ishizaki and Yamada, who were the most rebellious against him back then, are now..."

Ibuki Mio suddenly turned her head and scanned the classroom, only then noticing that those troublemakers from the past had gone out to do things with Ryuen Sho as usual.

It's ridiculous that those two people inexplicably became Long Yuanxiang's henchmen.

"What a joke..." Her fist, hidden under the table, clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. "How could I possibly give in to that kind of scum..."

On the third day of school, Long Yuanxiang ordered the entire class that each person must hand over 8 points as class fees this month.

Many people initially disagreed, but he managed to defeat them one by one.

Days passed, and by the second week, even Yamada couldn't hold on any longer, but she was the only one who kept going.

"This is ridiculous! Those student council members actually want evidence from me? They won't even do the most basic investigation!" Ibuki Mio slammed her foot hard on the desk, the dull thud causing the students in front of her to turn around in fright.

"You actually went directly to the student council to report Ryuen..." Shiina Hiyori's voice was extremely low, "If he finds out..."

The back door of the classroom was suddenly kicked open violently.

Long Yuanxiang strode in like a beast surveying its territory, with Ishizaki standing beside him like a guard.

"Heh...he's really putting on airs like a king." Ibuki Mio deliberately raised her voice.

Ryuen Sho's steps came to an abrupt halt in front of their table. "King...that's a fitting title." His gaze sharpened, fixing on Ibuki Mio. "As for you, you seem more like a rebellious subject."

"you--!"

Ibuki Mio clenched her fists tightly, her eyes blazing with anger, but Shiina Hiyori gently tugged at her sleeve.

Hiyori shook her head slightly, her eyes calm and restrained, signaling her not to act impulsively.

"Hmph, get lost!" Long Yuanxiang sneered, his gaze sweeping contemptuously over the two of them. "I'm in a good mood today, I can't be bothered with you." With that, he lazily took out his phone and began rapidly tapping on the screen.

Ibuki Mio paused, looking down at her phone screen—a new message had popped up in the class group chat:

Long Yuanxiang: Everyone, get to the classroom and assemble within ten minutes! Don't wait for me to personally "invite" you.

Ibuki Mio instantly understood.

That man... has probably found some crucial information again.

She gritted her teeth and had to admit the truth—despite Long Yuanxiang's despicable methods: violence, coercion, verbal deception, and secret recording... all underhanded tricks.

Sadly, these underhanded tactics are indeed effective.

(Otherwise... apart from me, the rest of the class wouldn't have obediently handed over those 80,000 personal points...)

Less than half a month into the start of the semester, almost everyone both hated and feared Long Yuanxiang, but had to admit his strength.

Ibuki Mio's gaze was fixed on the classroom door.

Sure enough, after seven or eight minutes, the previously sparse seats were completely full.

"From today onwards, everyone—" Long Yuanxiang crossed his arms, his sharp gaze sweeping over every student below the stage, "Be on time for class! No lateness! No cell phones! No fighting! And absolutely no sleeping in class!" His voice pounded in the classroom like a hammer, "Any violation of school rules, put it away!"

An eerie silence instantly fell over the classroom.

All the students stared wide-eyed at the figure on the podium in disbelief—this problem student who usually led the way in breaking discipline and advocated violence was now reciting the most standard "Three Good Student" code of conduct.

"...I see." Shiina Hiyori widened her eyes slightly and murmured thoughtfully.

"Huh?!" Ibuki Mio blurted out, her face filled with disbelief.

(That Ryuen guy... has he lost his mind? He's actually acting like a model student?)

"Hmph, I knew that apart from Shiina, you bunch of idiots wouldn't understand at all." Ryuen Sho sneered disdainfully, then snapped his fingers.

"Ishizaki! Release that one!"

"Understood!" Ishizaki Daichi immediately understood and quickly took out a voice recorder.