I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

For a time, only Miyako Amane, the representative of Class 2A, had not yet revealed her stance.

Her remarks will also play a crucial role in this meeting.

So everyone's eyes turned to the girl who was still leisurely eating an orange.

Chapter 51: You're still the troublemaker.

Just as Tianyin was about to pick up another peeled orange and put it in her mouth, she stopped involuntarily.

She was initially enjoying watching Longyuan and the first-year students bickering, but suddenly everyone in the conference room turned their attention to her.

Even though Tianyin had a thick skin, she couldn't continue eating and drinking like that with so many people watching. She had no choice but to awkwardly put the oranges back on the plate.

Is there something wrong with everyone looking at me like that?

Seeing that Amane had no awareness that she was still in a meeting, even Asahina looked annoyed. This was a student council meeting that was almost a school-wide event, so Amane should have been more serious. But judging from Amane's relaxed demeanor, she was probably just about to lie on Karuizawa's lap and have someone feed her fruit.

Perhaps only Tianyin could live such a carefree life in this place.

Asahina thought with a hint of envy, but she quickly realized that she was still in a meeting and didn't have time to be envious.

"Ahem, just now, Ryuen, as the representative of Class C in the second year, expressed his opinion that the rules of this special exam are unfair. On the other hand, the first year believes that the rules are not unfair, and that the seemingly biased behavior in the rules is actually a compensatory behavior for the first year. So, Miyako, as a second year student, what are your thoughts on this?"

In fact, Asahina is already leaning towards the first-year students, because the second-year students in Class B and Class D have chosen not to give up the debate, which shows that they have no complaints about the current exam rules. This means that more than half of the students believe that there is no unfairness in the special exam rules.

In other words, the rules are all within the acceptable range for everyone. Since that's the case, even if Class 2-C feels that the rules are unfair, according to the principle of majority rule, Asahina can only conclude that the rules for the special exam do not need to be changed.

Amane saw through Asahina's thoughts, and she also knew that the so-called unfair rules were just a convenient excuse and reason for Ryuen to submit a blank paper.

It's clear that the school has accepted his reasoning and doesn't suspect that Long Yuan chose to submit blank papers collectively to stand up for his classmates. As a result, the punishment for Long Yuan's class submitting blank papers will definitely be reduced considerably.

Now that the goal has been achieved, whether the rules are appropriate or not is no longer of great significance to Long Yuan. All he needs to do is put forward his own views and make people understand that he submitted a blank paper to protest against unfairness, nothing more.

After understanding the interest groups each person represented and their thoughts, Tianyin thought of something very interesting.

As things stand, as long as Tianyin believes the exam rules are fair, the first discussion will immediately reach a conclusion, and then the first-year students will basically dominate the discussions in all subsequent meetings, since the first round of discussions on whether the rules are fair has already resulted in a fair conclusion.

Under the premise of fair rules, Longyuan's act of submitting a blank paper is unforgivable. Although Tianyin guessed that Longyuan might still have some trump card up their sleeve, the more lively the discussion of such matters, the better.

Tianyin revealed a smile that appeared to others like that of a demon.

"So, the current situation is that the second-year students think the exam rules are unfair, while the first-year students think the exam rules are fair?"

Tianyin's statement was very vague. Although everyone in Class B and Class D knew that they would never support Longyuan, Tianyin made their camp clear as soon as she opened her mouth.

This isn't about taking sides on whether the special exam rules are fair or not, but rather about first-year and second-year students taking sides.

After these words were spoken, even if Class B and Class D were unwilling, they could not abandon the second-year students' camp to support the first-year students' side.

So Class B and Class D chose to remain silent. In the current situation, silence was tantamount to admitting their position, and the situation was immediately balanced by Tianyin.

"That's about it. So, Miyako-kun, what are your thoughts on this?"

Asahina mistakenly thought that Amane was planning to support Ryuen after Amane's speech, and felt a bit of a headache. No one would choose to back down on something that concerns class points and personal interests, so the final result would probably be an endless argument between the first and second year students.

But Tianyin has never said that she supports Longyuan.

"Since neither side can compromise, how about trying a different set of rules?"

Replacement rules?

"Could you please explain in detail how to replace the rules, Miyako-san?"

"First of all, we must make one thing clear: the fairness of a rule should not be determined by whether it is beneficial to oneself or unfair to oneself."

Tianyin's words were recognized by everyone participating in the meeting because they were quite fair. Fairness means that neither side has a clear advantage or disadvantage, rather than showing favoritism to one side. Only in this way can it be called fair.

Tianyin's opening statement made everyone agree with her first point of view, and then she began to elaborate on her own thoughts based on that point.

"In that case, judging whether this rule is fair or not is actually very simple: just interchange the exam rules for first and second grade. If first graders can accept the rules for second graders, and second graders can accept the rules for first graders, then doesn't that prove that this special exam is fair? Otherwise, it is unfair."

Upon hearing Tianyin's words, all the first-year students except Jiang Yan changed their expressions.

Anyone with a normal mind can see that the rules of this special exam are biased towards first-year students, essentially giving them a novice protection period to adapt. The first-year students are well aware of this. The reason they came up with so many reasons to refute Longyuan was seemingly to prove that the rules of this special exam were fair, but in reality, it was just to protect their own vested interests.

If the exam rules are changed for first and second graders and they have to take the exams again, wouldn't that be like taking their lives?

Although I haven't heard of any first-grade classes having any failing students this time, that's only possible under conditions of complete lack of pressure. If the rule were changed to expel students for failing, who knows how many first-grade students would suddenly start failing.

In an instant, sweat began to seep from the foreheads of several class leaders.

Since no one objected to Tianyin's understanding of fairness when she spoke her first sentence, it means that everyone agreed with Tianyin's point of view. If they were to stand up and object now, it would be difficult to convince others without a suitable reason.

Just as everyone was racking their brains, Nanase stood up.

"I think Miyako-senpai's suggestion is absolutely correct."

After hearing Nanase speak up in support of Amane, several people cast unfriendly glances at Nanase, except for Baoquan, who looked at Nanase thoughtfully.

"Unfortunately, this special exam has already ended and the exam content has been leaked. Even if we take the exam again, it's unlikely that any students will fail. In that case, it's impossible to judge whether the exam rules are fair."

Nanase's words sounded quite plausible.

However, both Tianyin and Longyuan showed smiles.

"Nanase, don't worry. You're new to this school, so you probably don't know much about it yet. When preparing for exams, the school prepares two sets of test papers, A and B. This is to prevent the test questions from being leaked or to prevent any objections to the test content. However, generally, the easier set of test papers is used for the exam, and the other set is sealed away. If the exchange rule is met, the sealed set of test papers can be used for the exam. In this way, there is no situation where it is impossible to determine whether the rule is fair."

Amane's answer immediately blocked all escape routes for Nanase and the entire first-year class.

Now, the first-year students are left with only two choices: first, to admit that the exam rules are unfair and wait for the rules to be revised before taking the exam again; second, to insist that the exam rules are fair and then exchange the exam rules with the second-year students before taking the exam.

Regardless of the choice, the power of discourse in this discussion will shift to the second-year students.

After seeing how effortlessly Tianyin took control of the entire meeting, the other three class leaders in the first grade felt even more wary of her.

Apart from Jiang Yan, who was still looking at Tianyin with admiration, the others looked extremely ugly.

“Vice President Asahina, I think there are still some problems with Miyako-senpai’s suggestion. For example, the exam content is still disadvantageous to us first-year students. Even if the rules are switched, it won’t eliminate our disadvantage…”

“Utsunomiya, what you’re saying might not be a problem in other schools, but what kind of place is this? A school founded on meritocracy, and you’re talking about individual fairness? This only shows that you’re completely unprepared to be students here. Do you expect us to wait until you’ve all mastered the knowledge before we take the graduation exam together? If you graduate and are interviewing for your dream company, would you require all other interviewees to have the same qualifications as you to even be eligible to compete? Don’t joke around here. Survival of the fittest is the main theme of this school. If you think you’ll fail the exam, why don’t you just drop out as soon as possible?”

After interrupting Utsunomiya's decision to bypass Amane and directly seek support from Asahina, Amane demonstrated the true nature of the school and the principle of meritocracy to these first-year rookies for the first time.

Utsunomiya was so shocked by Amane's words that he couldn't utter a sound. Seeing this, Tsubaki Sakurako quickly stood up to help Utsunomiya out of the predicament.

"Miyako-senpai's words are far too alarmist. If it were like this, how many people would drop out of school every year? Moreover, it is unreasonable to expel someone just because they failed an exam. It is too cruel to treat someone who may have just had a bad day."

When Chun Yingzi realized that she could not refute Tianyin from the perspective of fairness and rules, she decisively chose to take another approach and tried to persuade Tianyin with reason and emotion.

However, she did not notice that Tianyin's gaze had become much colder.

"It seems you also don't understand what meritocracy is. About a year ago, when we were in Class D, five of us dropped out because someone failed an exam. In total, 11 students dropped out throughout the year. But that wasn't the highest number. The year with the most dropouts was 19 students, which is almost half the class."

Amane left her seat and slowly walked to Tsubaki Sakura's side.

"Aren't there any students here who just happened to underperform? Aren't there any innocent people who were expelled? Aren't there any outstanding students who excelled academically and morally? The answer is yes, there are all of them. But their fates all tell all those who come after them that whether you are expelled here depends entirely on your 'value' and not on what is 'reasonable' or 'unreasonable.' Do you understand?"

Tianyin's words completely shattered the last resistance of the first-year students.

"Been taught a lesson."

Tsubaki Sakura sat down, somewhat numbly.

She believed that Tianyin wouldn't joke about something like this, meaning that even someone as powerful as Tianyin couldn't prevent someone from being expelled from school.

This suggests that the second-year students were probably mentally prepared to be expelled for every special exam, so the first-year students naturally had no reason to be dramatic.

Seeing that all the first-year students remained silent, Asahina's eyes widened in surprise. The argument that she had imagined between the first and second-year students did not happen. Amane's realistic and cruel reality left the first-year students with no right to retaliate.

If you're not good enough, then you have to drop out. If you can drop out in the second year, why should a first-year student have special privileges?

Undoubtedly, although Amane did not explicitly state that her purpose was not to help Ryuen, she did indeed reverse the disadvantage of the second-year students and made Ryuen's claim that the special examination rules were unfair accepted.

"Since no one wants to speak, we will now proceed to the voting stage. Please note that abstentions are not allowed. Voting will now begin. Those who agree that the special examination rules are unfair, please raise your hand."

Baoquan and Utsunomiya exchanged a glance. If the final decision was still based on voting, then even if they couldn't win against Amane, they could just grit their teeth and vote, as long as the exam rules were fair, right?

Having made up their minds, the two nodded in tacit agreement. Yagami, who was standing to the side, also guessed what Baoquan and Utsunomiya were planning. He didn't think much of the two of them to begin with, but since it was a competition between grades, Yagami reluctantly decided to cast a fair vote with them later.

To their utter surprise, after all four second-year classes raised their hands simultaneously, arguing that the exam rules were unfair, Miyako Masahiko also raised his hand.

"Five votes were cast that the exam rules were unfair. I will record that and inform the school of the voting results after the meeting. The council will then decide whether to change the special exam or the exam rules. If a re-examination is required, we will notify you then. Now let's move on to the next topic."

Asahina felt a sense of relief after reading the results aloud, because the vote did not result in a four-to-four tie, which would have made it impossible to reach a decision.

In fact, it is unreasonable to have eight classes participate in the discussion and vote, because it is an even number. Unless someone is biased towards other grades, there will definitely be a situation where the number of supporters and opponents is the same.

However, the school's tacit acceptance of the student council's arrangement must have its reasons.

Asahina, who chaired the meeting, actually held the crucial vote that could change the outcome.

However, Asahina does not want to antagonize either of the two grades, so there is hope that a direct judgment will be made, thus avoiding her having to play the villain.

Furthermore, the next issue is clearly going to be more controversial. Asahina hopes to save this trump card for last, otherwise both sides might deliberately create a situation where she has to judge right and wrong.

That would still make her the villain, which doesn't align with Asahina's philosophy of life. Therefore, Asahina hopes that she can use her crucial vote when she truly needs to make a judgment.

But what Asahina didn't know was that her trump card had been accidentally revealed to Amane by a kind-hearted white-haired girl from the very beginning.

Chapter 52: The Unlucky Guy Who Broke Down

Asahina cleared her throat and began to announce the second item on the agenda, which was also the most controversial item in the meeting.

Should the school punish the student who submitted a blank exam paper, and should the first-year student who was the partner also be punished?

This issue seems to be closely related to the other two, but in reality, it is composed of two completely different parts.

First of all, all the students who submitted blank papers were second-year students. If it were just a fight among second-year students, then other classes would probably unite to make Class C, which had exposed such a huge flaw, suffer.

But it's clear now that this is no longer a battle between classes. If they're still thinking about fighting amongst themselves and getting defeated from within by the first-year students, they'll just become a laughingstock.

As the competition intensified, all the second-grade classes defended Class C's decision to submit a blank paper, thus sparing Class C from punishment.

The first-year students will try to find ways to minimize the impact of second-year students submitting blank papers.

It seems that both sides want to avoid harming the interests of their respective grades, and they would certainly hope to exempt the students who submitted blank papers from punishment.

But it would be a big mistake to think that way. It is true that both sides want to avoid their own interests being harmed, but that does not mean that their goals will not conflict.

The first-year students' performance in the gymnasium and Baoquan's arrogant attitude just now have aroused the second-year students' resentment. In addition, the second-year students have been coerced by Tianyin to take sides. Regardless of whether they are willing to plead for the students who handed in blank papers, they must firmly stand in support of the second-year students and Class C. The reasons are of course the same as before.

If the second-year students are defeated by the first-year students because of internal strife, they will really lose face. They might even become the worst class ever, which would not only damage their reputation but also greatly reduce the value of this year's high school students.

So even though they didn't really like Longyuan, they had to grit their teeth and stand on the same side.

Needless to say, the second-year students were completely different. Due to Longyuan's indiscriminate harassment, the second-year students were seen as enemies by the first-year students. Whenever there was a situation where the second-year students could be punished or embarrassed, the first-year students would definitely be willing to help them out. In particular, if a student who handed in a blank paper could be punished, almost the entire second-year C class would be expelled.

The thought that they would have the opportunity to expel an entire class of second-year students in less than a month since they enrolled ignited a fierce competitive atmosphere among the first-year students. It was a tense situation on both sides. Although Tianyin had cleverly used a positional exchange to gain an early advantage and save face for the second-year students, the fact that they had failed to answer the second question was already a fait accompli, putting the second-year students at a significant disadvantage.

It's a foregone conclusion that Class C of Grade 2 will be punished for submitting blank papers. The only question is how to punish them. The goal of the representatives from all Grade 2 classes, including Tianyin, is to avoid large-scale expulsions as much as possible.

For first-year students, emphasizing school rules and the rules of this special exam will almost certainly lead to a dropout in Class C of the second year, which is a huge advantage. The only uncertainty for first-year students is that guy who is always clinging to his sister.

"Now let's move on to the second topic. I believe everyone has heard about the recent situation where Class 2C of Grade 2 collectively submitted blank papers. After investigation, it was found that Class 2C chose to submit blank papers because they were resisting unfair rules and treatment. However, there is actually a more lenient approach. The school judged that the situation of Class 2C collectively submitting blank papers was too extreme, so punishment was inevitable. The next topic is to discuss how to punish Class 2C. Everyone is welcome to speak freely, and I will record all suggestions."

Asahina first set her sights on Ryuen.

Since Longyuan must bear the greatest responsibility for this incident, it is most reasonable for him to start first. Many people also intend to listen to how Longyuan wants to punish their class before deciding on their own remarks.

However, just as everyone's attention was focused on Longyuan, a sudden, abrupt sound of a table being slammed came from the direction of the first-year students.

"Is there even a need to discuss this? Of course, we should expel all those second-year students!"

Baoquan deliberately shouted loudly.

When Kanzaki heard Hosen's arrogant remarks, even though his sharp edges had long been smoothed away by Amane, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

“Baoquan, your statement itself is problematic. What do you mean by expelling all of them? Based on the results of the first issue, I think it is very likely that the exam will be retaken, which means that all the results will be invalid. Since everyone’s results are invalid, why should the students in Class C of the second year be expelled?”

Kanzaki couldn't help but reveal a mocking expression as he spoke.

"Also, Baoquan, I hope you'll think before you speak. If the school's intention is to expel them all, what's the point of our discussion? The reason the school wants us to discuss this is to hear about punishments other than expulsion, and then use that as a reason to avoid large-scale expulsions. If you can't even understand this... Hmph, I advise you to just drop out as soon as possible. Grab your bananas and hurry back to the woods. Humans are very cunning creatures, hahaha!!"

"you!!"

The moment Baoquan suddenly stood up, his speech was interrupted with a 'snap'.

"sit down!"

Jiang Yan reprimanded Bao Quan in a commanding tone.

Baoquan's face turned bright red in an instant. If it were someone else who scolded him, he would have let it go, since he was the one who deliberately provoked the fight first, so being scolded wouldn't be a big deal. But... he was actually being scolded by Miyako Masahiko.

Why does he speak to me in such a commanding tone?

Moreover, even if someone criticizes Jiang Yan, they have no right to do so! No matter how arrogant Bao Quan is, he is only standing up for the first-year students. As the leader of Class A of the first year, Jiang Yan has completely sided with the second-year students. He even wants to stop him from fighting for the interests of the first-year students and saving face. How could Bao Quan and Chen tolerate such a thing?

"Miyako-kun! I hope you will clarify your position before you speak."