Huh?

Is this Smiling Tiger trying to make a big score?!

From Han Lie's understanding of Liu Hong, the more enthusiastic the man acted, the bigger his scheme. The price of his attention scaled accordingly: a stern lecture, delivered with a rigid expression, was free. A calm 'reminder' might cost a carton of Zhonghua cigarettes. A smile and feigned concern could fetch two bottles of Moutai. But enthusiastic 'care and protection'? That would require cold, hard cash.

Han Lie had never witnessed Liu Hong acting like this before; he didn't even rule out the possibility that the man had contracted some serious illness.

However, the other instructors quickly cleared up Han Lie's confusion.

"Yo, is this Han Lie? The young man looks quite spirited!" The first to speak was a middle-aged woman.

"Hmm, indeed not bad!" A middle-aged man holding a teacup promptly followed suit.

"Young Han is doing great. You've made the Business School proud, and Teacher Liu proud too. Keep it up and push on!"

This was the deputy director of the Business School, a man high in office.

Liu Hong's face bloomed like a chrysanthemum, wrinkles joyfully spreading.

"You all flatter me too much, a momentary achievement doesn't represent anything, we all must work hard..."

What the hell does that have to do with you!

Curse after curse went through Han Lie's mind, but his smile remained modest and cautious as he approached Liu Hong's desk.

"Sit, sit!"

Liu Hong proactively pulled over a swivel chair, gesturing for Han Lie to sit and talk.

This treatment was truly rare.

Han Lie figured it out; something had changed.

Last night, Liu Hong had genuinely intended to use the situation to stir up trouble. But after the school's official announcement today, the old schemer had clearly lost his nerve.

If that was the case, it was my turn to fleece you, right?

After a lot of beating around the bush, Liu Hong primarily talked about two things.

First, he wanted Han Lie to apply to join the Student Union.

Second, he demanded that Han Lie must maintain his achievements and bring glory to the Humanities.

Additionally, he fished for all sorts of information, hinting that he wanted to know about Han Lie's background in the Humanities and how Han Lie had trained his skills...

He got Han Lie all mixed up.

I have a background? How come I don't know about it?

Isn't this just the standard publicity for a breakthrough achievement?

But Liu Hong's words had a peculiar undertone, not like normal publicity at all.

He definitely understands the school's style better than I do.

Han Lie grew suspicious and deliberately dragged the conversation. During one of Liu Hong's bureaucratic ramblings, he finally revealed a hint.

"This time the school is paying unprecedented attention. Director Che called me last night to ask about your personal situation, you should..."

Suddenly, Han Lie realized—the timing was wrong.

The publicity and attention had come too early.

Last night when the market closed, Han Lie did indeed secure seventh place on the weekly leaderboard, a seemingly remarkable achievement.

But the problem was, any knowledgeable person should be clear that early rankings don't mean anything.

There are plenty of newbies who go all-in recklessly; how could a day or two reveal any true skill level?

A mere 15% gain truly wasn't commensurate with today's fuss.

If it were after today's market close, and Han Lie had secured first place on the weekly leaderboard, then it would make sense.

So... there was a problem?

With his Intelligence now improved to 70 points, which wasn't low, Han Lie instantly thought of a name—

Pan Ge!

As the school's bona fide princess, she indeed had the power to command Director Che.

Otherwise, if it followed the normal process—today's results come out, Liu Hong reports to the faculty after market close, the faculty inquires tomorrow, reports to the school, the school deliberates, then tasks the PR department, and the PR department dawdles...

For real action to begin, it would take until at least next Monday.

How could it be as swift and forceful as it was now?

And she had a motive.

Yesterday in the cafeteria, he'd offended her quite badly.

Hmm, that spoon was surprisingly useful... No wonder she was so upset about it.

The scoundrel, Han Lie, knew full well it wasn't about the spoon itself, but he enjoyed interpreting it that way.

Anyway, Pan Ge wasn't a nice person; this entire publicity campaign clearly wasn't done with good intentions.

I just snagged seventh place, and you're already hyping it up this much? What are you playing at? Afraid I won't crash and burn spectacularly enough if I fall later, is that it?!

Although the Black-hearted White Lotus was utterly condemnable for her malicious intent, Han Lie was not only not particularly angry, he actually felt like laughing.

How interesting. Trying to use the 'promote-to-destroy' tactic on me? You've certainly promoted me. Now, how do you plan to destroy me? Just you wait. We'll have a proper chat soon!

...

Han Lie gave half-hearted responses to Liu Hong, playing Tai Chi with him for 10 minutes without revealing a thing.

The Student Union was definitely out of the question; even the most valuable Literature and Art Department wasn't much to speak of. The only noteworthy groups within it were the Etiquette Team and the Model Team.

As for the other departments, not even a dog would join them.

And about the Etiquette Team and Model Team... COUGH COUGH. What decent person would actually be eyeing them!

The prettiest girls in those teams were, at best, on par with Fang Feifei. Compared to Naiyun, they all fell short by a good pound. You get what I mean by 'short,' right?

As for his performance, Han Lie was definitely going to give his best—not for the school, forget that nonsense—but for himself.

Although the substantial benefits seemed far off, to be honest, who wouldn't want to be the campus heartthrob?

Even if the 'privilege of mate selection' wasn't particularly useful to him, showing off was still satisfying!

After a session of Tai Chi Push Hands, Han Lie excused himself, using the pretext of needing to review with Mr. Wu.

Liu Hong appeared somewhat helpless but could only grudgingly endure it.

Before leaving, Han Lie said hesitantly, "Teacher Liu, there's one more thing—I've been spending too much time trading recently, so regarding attending classes..."

"No problem! Just focus on the competition!"

Liu Hong was exceptionally agreeable, probably the first time in his life he'd so readily fulfilled a student's request.

"For your regular course grades, I'll talk with the teachers of your various subjects. You'll get full marks in all of them!"

Perfect, successfully fleeced him!

With Han Lie's current level of knowledge, he wasn't afraid of difficult final exam questions. Bring them on. Scoring below 90 would mean I'd wasted all those upgrades to my Level 3 knowledge.

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