His eyes were swollen to mere slits, his cheeks ballooned up high, turning red to a purplish hue… He looked like he’d gained more than a few pounds.

“What the heck, you’re still at school?!” Song Xinghui hastily covered his face again, his voice sounding different, more muted than usual.

“Did you get into a fight? Looks like you lost.” Su Yuchen walked over. “It’s not even an hour after military training ended. Who did this to you?”

“Don’t mention it!” Song Xinghui glanced around, pulling Su Yuchen aside. “It’s all because of love.”

“Yae Mitsuha?”

“Yeah.” Song Xinghui pointed at his swollen face. “I just greeted her, and she asked if I wanted to date her… I couldn’t say ‘no,’ could I? Then!”

He gritted his teeth. “She beat me up and left after saying ‘you’re not worthy’… She hit me hard!”

“You didn’t fight back?”

“I did, but it was useless!” Song Xinghui touched his swollen cheek. “I never expected her to be an advanced Yin-Yang Master.”

“In the whole Xuanqing Empire, how many can reach the level of an advanced Yin-Yang Master at this age?” Song Xinghui sighed heavily. “No wonder many students support her. They must be impressed!”

“Isn’t this a good opportunity?” Su Yuchen remarked casually. “She maliciously harmed someone; report her to the disciplinary committee. If she receives a warning, she probably won’t become a class president.”

“Isn’t that embarrassing?” Song Xinghui widened his eyes. “Being beaten up by a girl like this, how could I still complain to others? It’s so humiliating!”

“Is being a class president more important than saving face?”

“‘You’ve been beaten up by a girl!'” Song Xinghui took a deep breath. “Others will definitely say that. It’s too embarrassing.”

“Alright, it’s up to you.” Su Yuchen shrugged. “I’m heading home.”

“Okay,” Song Xinghui added, “Don’t tell anyone that I was beaten up by her. If the students from our department find out, they’ll definitely mock me.”

“Got it,” Su Yuchen nodded. Though the Xuanqing Empire and the Sun Moon Country were peaceful now, their historical enmity prevented genuine mutual respect. For him, there was a strange sense of a strong déjà vu in their relationship.

“There’s another way,” Su Yuchen spoke up. “You could let others who want to run for class president also get beaten up one by one, that way nobody will mock each other… and it surely won’t spread outside our class. Then, all of you can accuse her.”

“Why are all your ideas so tricky?”

“I’m just looking out for you if you want to be a class president.”

“Well, I could give it a try… Can’t just have me getting beaten up; everyone should share the embarrassment.”

“Okay, I’m leaving.”

As Su Yuchen walked away, he had gathered quite a bit of information from their conversation. This was an opportunity to exploit.

There were six classes in the Magic Engineering Department; it was impossible for every class to have a student from the Sun and Moon country as a class president. Surely, in one class, the Xuanqing Empire students held the advantage. They would be more than happy to keep Yae Mitsuha from becoming a class president.

Next, it would be interesting to see how Song Xinghui tricked others, enabling students from other classes to gather evidence of Yae Mitsuha’s malicious behavior.

If she received a school-wide warning from the disciplinary committee, not only the class president position, but also other class committee roles would be out of her reach.

From the current performance, Song Xinghui seemed to be a bit more ‘stupid’ than Yae Mitsuha.

“The situation in other classes… I’ll find an opportunity to ask Senior Tia about it. Can’t let her just drink my blood for nothing.”

…

Returning home, Su Yuchen quickly took off his sweat-drenched military training uniform and tossed it into the washing machine before taking a refreshing shower himself.

Uh… well, it couldn’t be called exactly refreshing because he still had to be cautious of the ‘misfortunes’ that might occur at any time.

Wrapped in a bathrobe, he emerged from the bathroom, wiped his hair, and settled onto the couch, noticing two missed video calls.

They were from Tia Yufei.

Just as he was about to respond, a third video call invitation popped up. Su Yuchen thought for a moment, removed the towel from his head, maintaining his messy, damp hairstyle, and accepted the video call.

“Junior Yuchen, what were you doing just now? Why didn’t you—” On the phone screen, Kristia’s voice abruptly ceased. Her delicate pink lips parted slightly, and behind her glasses, her golden eyes blinked at Su Yuchen.

Gulp.

Involuntarily swallowing.

Not only were girls attractive right after a shower, but guys also looked handsome. Especially now, as Kristia considered Su Yuchen her possession, even without catching his scent, she was captivated by his current appearance.

‘My taste is pretty good.’

Thinking so, Kristia cleared her throat. “Why didn’t you pick up the video call earlier?”

“I-I just finished bathing.” Su Yuchen put on a look of not daring to look directly at the screen—Kristia’s attire in the dorm was indeed rather revealing.

She wore a navy blue shirt from her undergraduate days, with the top two buttons unfastened, subtly revealing her delicate collarbones and the slight indentation in the middle, exuding natural beauty.

Kristia smiled, though not too brightly—wearing only a shirt was an attempt to tempt the virgin freshman, but unexpectedly, she, too, was attracted to him for a few seconds…

But his current shy demeanor satisfied her nonetheless. 

“Just showered as soon as you got home?”

“Uh… yeah.” Su Yuchen’s gaze remained unfocused, but his fingers swiftly took a screenshot using both the volume and power buttons.

He’d appreciate it later after the video call ended—it wouldn’t be fair if she were the only one openly appreciating his ‘after-bath photo.’

“Nice, cleanliness is a plus for guys.” Kristia praised. As she leaned back, the shirt suddenly became taut around her.

Pressing the buttons even faster, Su Yuchen nervously blurted out, “S-Senior Tia, aren’t you feeling cold wearing so little?”

‘He’s a virgin junior after all, obviously wants to look but feels embarrassed.’

“Not at all, the dorm’s quite warm.” Kristia smiled softly at him. “Junior Yuchen, your living space seems pretty big.”

“Just… alright.” Su Yuchen stopped taking screenshots. “Senior Tia, did you need something from me?”

“Of course.” Kristia sat up straight, leaning on her desk with both arms, the hefty small pomelo resting on one arm. “For tomorrow night’s party, does Junior Brother have suitable clothes to wear?”

Su Yuchen pursed his lips. “Suit and tie…?”

“That’s too formal.” Kristia said softly, “If you don’t have any, how about Senior Sister accompany you to buy something?”

“N-No need to trouble yourself.”

“Hmm?” Kristia inquired nasally, lowering her body, causing the pomelo’s shape to change, “Junior Yuchen, I’ll give you another chance to answer.”