After the meal, Huai Shi walked Kiyoshi Kusaki to the izakaya's entrance. The two parted reluctantly, having already become good friends and brothers.
As Kusaki left, Lin Nineteen, who had witnessed the entire process of their teacher controlling this stubborn fool, could only silently marvel at how terrifying his teacher was.
Once Kusaki was out of earshot, Huai Shi bent down to stub out his cigarette and mused softly, They're just a bunch of kids. They try to deceptively praise someone only to tear them down later, but they do it so crudely—can I only say they're short-sighted?
"Then, Teacher, should we respond now?" Lin Nineteen asked.
According to the Wood Cottage's thinking, since they had a lead, they should strike like lightning. This would crush the group before they could fully form, avoiding future trouble and the risk of the tail wagging the dog.
However, Huai Shi remained calm, simply shrugging. "They're still parading around as my admirers, so how could I make a move against them? The most ardent anti-fan can appear as a supporter, and the most fervent supporter can appear as an anti-fan... That's the trouble with being an idol."
Lin Nineteen was taken aback. "Does that mean we just watch them tarnish Teacher's reputation?"
"Let them tarnish it then; it's not time to worry yet. Besides, I suspect some people would be delighted if I reacted now, eager for a chance to capitalize on it."
Huai Shi pinched his chin, pondering.
It wasn't that he was considering how to counter, but rather wondering—where had all this deviousness in him come from? It shouldn't be like this, right? Why did he always unconsciously slip into the role of the villain? And why did he always feel that these little brats were incompetent, sneaky, and would never amount to anything?
Was something wrong somewhere?
But as he pondered, he didn't lose focus. Instead, he turned back and asked, "Did you hear what Kusaki and I discussed just now?"
"Loud and clear," Lin Nineteen nodded.
"Good."
Huai Shi studied Lin Nineteen's deceptively harmless appearance and raised an eyebrow. "There's something I need you to do..."
「It was as if nothing had happened.」
The dispute that night seemed merely a delusion. Not much later, Kiyoshi Kusaki proactively went to the school affairs office to pay a fine, calling the incident a misunderstanding.
Huai Shi's routine remained unchanged.
He ate when it was time to eat and taught when it was time to teach, unconcerned by the occasional dissatisfied hisses from the audience. He allowed the situation to fester, and for a time, a clamor arose.
The large-scale club recruitment quotas had already ignited the dissatisfaction of most students, drawing many elective classrooms into the turmoil. In the faculty office, some teachers had already expressed their displeasure with Huai Shi; hardly anyone showed him a friendly face anymore.
Then, on Monday of the second week, just before the Classical Music Classroom was due to start on Tuesday, a notice from the teaching research office finally arrived.
Teacher Huai Shi, the main lecturer of the Classical Music Appreciation Classroom, had submitted a request. After deliberation, the teaching research office, considering the need to maintain teaching quality, decided to formally approve his request.
Henceforth, the Classical Music Appreciation class would prematurely close registration and no longer accept new members.
That was the end of it.
After Huai Shi's selection, a total of over seven hundred thirty students were approved. All were chosen by Huai Shi based on their classroom performance and homework completion.
If anyone genuinely liked the class but lacked a prior foundation, Huai Shi wouldn't turn them away. However, if homework wasn't completed on time, or if they hadn't attended class even a week after school started... who would believe they truly liked it?
Over seven hundred people—not a huge number, but not insignificant either.
For elective courses in the teaching research office, achieving such numbers was quite good. It wasn't dismal, nor was it so inflated with one or two thousand students as to be staggering.
With Huai Shi's swift and decisive cut, the tumultuous situation suddenly stalled.
Those who were still using Huai Shi's name to forcibly assign club quotas, along with the student council members involved, could only sit awkwardly amidst the surrounding suspicion.
The previously escalating debate, after a brief hiatus, took an incredible new turn: Huai Shi was supposedly scared by the public outrage and trying to calm the situation. Did he think this would end it? Dream on! He must come forward and publicly apologize! Otherwise, we will never agree!
This time, when the thoughtless detractors raised their banners, the original fervent fans curiously remained silent...
Because the Paradise Prince Fan Club had started investigating people.
Anyone who used Huai Shi's name, claimed to be his fan for club recruitment purposes, or had been particularly disruptive in the debates...
There were over a hundred such people.
Each one was checked for membership status, merchandise ownership, monthly support contributions, and their ID and level in the fan groups.
No membership? How about merchandise? Never contributed support? Surely you joined the fan groups, right? Can't afford the limited silver card? You must have the copper card, which costs just over two hundred, right?
Nothing at all?
Then what the hell kind of fan are you? Do freeloaders even have the right to claim they're fans? Get outta here!
Thanks to the fans' spontaneous actions, the exposing operation was terrifyingly efficient. Only after they were thoroughly investigated was it discovered that out of those making the most noise, more than eighty out of a hundred were unidentified freeloaders.
The thoughtless fans who had blindly participated were taken back by the fan club for re-education. Meanwhile, the freeloaders' names, photos, and details of their actions were all exposed, posted on the Ivory Tower forum, and highlighted in red.
Among them were even student council members and their affiliates.
To varying degrees, they all bore the label of Purebloods.
Conspiracy theorists, whistleblowers, and those seeking to stir the pot kept emerging. There was such an abundance of scandalous stories—whether true or fabricated—that it became difficult to keep up.
At the same time, Morgan of the Fred Family, one of the Howlers, was already feeling the immense pressure.
It could be said he was stuck riding a tiger he couldn't dismount.
As a Pureblood, his conflict with Huai Shi wasn't just about helping his cousin, Martin, secure the only classroom spot for the year.
It had started even earlier, with resentment brewing since the Group Star incident.
He had two older sisters and one younger brother. In the Duke's division of assets, that part of the Group Star was precisely the inheritance being prepared for him.
Yet, he hadn't expected that, just half a month before he came of age, the Group Star suddenly vanished.