Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Without a hitch, Lady Zhao, the superstar who emanated a Queen-level Actress aura snatched all the attention that the banquet could give. The very banquet that was meant to welcome the new President of the Student Council. That very new President, Zhu Yongnian, was seated at the same table as Zhao Youyue. And that very table housed all the big bosses within the Student Council.

Obviously, Zhao Youyue was not yet the Vice President of the Literature and Arts Department. Somehow, she was seated with the Student Council on equal terms. Her identity and fame had bypassed all formalities and procedures. Sometimes, even the most established and organized of systems would falter before the mighty.

This was similar to the story of how authors of old had often complained about a particular, eight-legged essay[1]. They hated it, for it utterly bottlenecked the entire culture. The talented would be prevented from sharing their works with the rest of the world. True geniuses may still manage to make use of the eight-legged essay and write famous, long handed-down articles. An example of this was the highly-acclaimed Zhang Juzheng[2].

It was at that moment when some of the big bosses came to their senses. What if Lady Zhao decided to run for President of the Student Council? She was still a Vice President, albeit the weakest Vice President possible…

Attempting to compete from that position would usually be a joke, emphasis on “usually.” It was self-deprecation at its finest. No matter how students took this election as a joke, they would never vote for a watered-down, underqualified Vice President. But this was Lady Zhao we’re talking about. Vice President be damned, voters would not even think about her current position. As long as they knew that she was running for President, they would vote for her. If she’s running as President, why aren’t we voting for her already?

Lady Zhao’s high popularity and excellent reputation on campus almost meant that she was President by default. Other candidates might put up a struggle with lots of money and resources. Even so, a mere Weibo post from Lady Zhao would turn them into mush—- —-

Vote for Missy Me!

When Qiao Fei thought of this, she lost all hope. She could only pray that someone like Lady Zhao would not have any interest in anything related to the university. It was best if she overlooked this little Presidential post, or else…

Qiao Fei swallowed her fears and forced a smile, raising her glass in a toast to Lady Zhao. Of course, Zhao Youyue did not have to drink to anything. She could easily ask Han Leng to drink in her stead.

People who approached her for a toast were most likely tipsy already, to say the least, so they were driven by Dutch courage to force girls to drink. Undoubtedly, they were most annoying to deal with.

In the face of Qiao Fei’s cordiality, Zhao Youyue merely nodded slightly and gave her drink a sip. She did not pay any heed to her after that.

Qiao Fei had taken the opportunity to defend herself while toasting, “Actually, all of us from the Discipline Inspection Department had thoroughly misunderstood Lady Zhao before this. I have already personally informed my subordinates that a celebrity like Lady Zhao has to be given special treatment and be treated with more care. I did not expect them to disobey me. Due to this, they have ended up offending Lady Zhao. I hereby, would like to punish myself by drinking three glasses!”

Having said that, Qiao Fei downed three glasses in a row. A flush rose to her cheeks as everyone at the table applauded her. The President of the Discipline Inspection Department really knew how to carry herself. She had not been perturbed by this recent setback. She was aware that her failure to become the President this time was in no small part, due to her underestimating Lady Zhao’s influential powers. She knew the right words to say, the right party to blame. Yes, blame her subordinates so that you can make up with Lady Zhao.

Naturally, the big bosses who were there knew that Qiao Fei was only “inflexibly just and fair” towards her subordinates. Now that she was in front of a missy like Lady Zhao, nothing was surprising about her admitting her defeat.

In fact, if the presidential election of the Student Council were likened to the US general elections, Lady Zhao would be like a powerful plutocrat who controlled the tide of public opinion. How could a president aspirant offend a plutocrat? This was unless the aspirants were also children of plutocrats, born in a filthy rich family…

Zhao Youyue smiled slightly. Her smile had a sense of alienation. It was as if she had seen through everything. She casually said, “Your subordinate? Is that so? I’m not sure who, but a very diligent member of yours has been recording my actions of coming back to the dormitory late at night, countless times. I think that such a responsible disciplinary member is truly praiseworthy. It’s something worth mentioning. Maybe you should give that person a little more work to do.”

The lively dining table went quiet at once. Some of the big bosses looked like they were excited about the upcoming drama. Lady Zhao was clearly not going to let Qiao Fei off the hook that easily. Well, she was Lady Zhao. She was such an influential person. She had been forced to live in harsh conditions in the girls’ dormitory, even though she had properties in every high-end residential area in the Jiangnan Province. She could even choose to live in a five-star hotel’s presidential suite every day – there would be no pressure at all!

Moreover, her words had been so cleverly placed that nobody would take them seriously. What did she mean by giving that person a little more work? It was clear that she wanted Qiao Fei to expel that discipline member who had deliberately tried to get her in trouble. Discharging that person would be the only acceptable option. If a missy like Zhao Youyue was willing to be friends with Qiao Fei just because the woman had punished herself with three glasses of wine, she was way too easy to bully.

The truth could not be any further away. Whether on campus or in society, she was nobility. The law itself made it its best interests to keep nobility pleased.

Qiao Fei was a little embarrassed. She felt a little humiliated, but there was nothing she could do. She had brought this upon herself. When she was just on the cusp of being the President of the Student Council, she had grown too full of herself. Hence, she had naively thought that Zhao Youyue would have no power here. This had only earned her a merciless slap in the face…

If she really became the President of the Student Council, then she might still be able to reverse the situation. She could come up with more tricks to trouble the Lady enough to earn her respect. As of now, she could do nothing but make minor sacrifices to safeguard her greater interests.

However, she suddenly thought of a particular, low-ranking member of the Discipline Inspection Department. Just the thought of it ticked her off. This person was Bai Yunshan.

This disciplinary member had no idea what flexibility was. She got everyone, everything into all sorts of trouble. She was too responsible for her own good, even so far as to check on the important, whitelisted figures. Even so, she was rather popular. She had quickly earned the respect of all the fresh faces in the Discipline Inspection Department. For some reason, many actually believed that Bai Yunshan was the ideal candidate to succeed Qiao Fei. After all, the both of them were similarly “inflexibly fair and just”…

Qiao Fei truly hated inflexible, ignorant robots like Bai Yunshan. So, she said, “That insensible disciplinary member you’re talking about is Bai Yunshan. She’s also a freshman. Her jealousy for you might have overwhelmed her senses. She must be trying to orchestrate your downfall. Well, not just yours. Students who don’t follow the rules by the book are constantly hogged by her. Things are out of control there. Such a person should not be part of the Student Council’s Discipline Inspection Department.”

When Qiao Fei said this, she gave Lady Zhao a hopeful look. She waited for Lady Zhao to approve of Bai Yunshan’s expulsion – the thorn in her flesh.

Lady Zhao only smiled faintly.

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Translation note :

[1] The “eight-legged essay” (八股文) was a style of essay writing that needed to be used to pass the imperial examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

[2] “Zhang Juzheng” (张居正) courtesy name Shuda, pseudonym Taiyue, was a Chinese reformer and statesman who served as Grand Secretary in the late Ming dynasty during the reigns of the Longqing and Wanli emperors.