Starting Over (Continued)

Ke Chajing's face lit up with joy, and she was about to blurt out "Okay!" when Hu Jixian interrupted her.

"The president is truly cunning. The vast majority of freshmen know they are not good enough and that even if they try their best, they can't become a regular member, let alone a substitute. They are not victims of the system, but rather bystanders. In fact, from a long-term perspective, they are also beneficiaries. Isn't the voting result obvious?"

Chu Gengyin clicked his tongue inwardly. Sure enough, he couldn't fool this fox. If it were just Ke Chajing, that would be fine. You two aren't a couple, so why do you have to stay together like conjoined twins? Aren't you sick of each other?

"This won't do, that won't do, what will satisfy you all?"

"It's simple. Let the freshmen challenge the martial arts team substitutes, and let the winners vote. Since they are the real victims, if they all agree, we naturally have nothing to say," Hu Jixian smiled. "By the way, we can also take a step back. If the number of votes in favor doesn't exceed two-thirds, then it's considered invalid."

Because of his face shape and squinty eyes, even though Hu Jixian just smiling normally, he still gave people the feeling that his evil scheme had succeeded, which made people extremely annoyed.

Fortunately, Chu Gengyin usually paid attention to cultivating his inner strength, and managed to resist the urge to punch the other person in the face. He put away his gentle expression and said coldly, "It seems you've come here to cause trouble on purpose, without any sincerity whatsoever. But don't forget, the Martial Arts Club to everyone, not to a few of you. No matter where you are, the minority must obey the majority; that's an unchanging rule. If you have any objections, raise them in front of everyone and let everyone judge the matter."

Ke Chajing now understood the trap Chu Gengyin had set, and said indignantly, "What's the use of having more people? Can more people defeat Heavenly Black Imperial Yellow? No matter how many useless people there are, in the end only seven will go up. Chu Gengyin, don't apply your business acumen to martial artists. There's no such thing as a win-win situation here, nor is there any concept of harmony. Only the strong are respected, and whoever has the ability should go up!"

Chu Gengyin closed his eyes and said, "You have your ideas, and I have my stance. No one can convince anyone else, so I'll say it again: the Martial Arts Club to everyone. As long as you can persuade the majority to agree with your opinions, I won't object."

Ke Chajing retorted angrily, "Looks like you're going to resort to shamelessness! Bah! You can make up the rules you want, and I can choose not to follow them."

"As long as you are a member of the Martial Arts Club, you must abide by the rules; this is everyone's will."

"Fine, I'll quit then. I can't be happy for a reason. You play your own game, I'm not playing along!"

Chu Gengyin smiled, confidently advising, "Don't ruin your future for a moment of anger; you'll regret it later."

"You overestimate yourself. Putting on that kind of attitude, do you think everyone's begging you?" Ke Chajing turned sharply and left without looking back, waving her hand casually. "Just wait, I'll send over my resignation application this afternoon."

Si Ming and Murong Qing looked at each other, not knowing what to say. The plot was developing too fast, and it felt like their screen time had been stolen. They hadn't even gotten a supporting role, let alone a lead role. They had only appeared in the background a few times from beginning to end.

Should we step forward and give this chairman a few punches?

It seems the conflict between the two sides hasn't reached this point; the other party probably doesn't even know his name. The new regulations don't harm him either; there's no animosity or conflict of interest between them—perhaps it will arise later, but that's a matter for the future.

Murong Qing helped Nie Wanzhi leave, leaving Si Ming behind. He felt he should say something to make his presence known, as he couldn't just be a bystander.

"I heard that the president likes to practice internal energy cultivation techniques in his spare time?"

Chu Gengyin didn't show any displeasure just because Si Ming was on the same side as Ke Chajing. He still said in a friendly tone, "Yes, Junior Brother, you're interested too?"

"I'm not personally interested, but I'd like to give the president a small suggestion: take advantage of the time now to practice more, it should be very useful in the future."

"Hehe, thank you for your kind words, junior brother. I would also like to trouble you to pass on a message to Ke Chajing: loyalty alone won't get you anywhere. Although I'm not a prime minister, I still have the magnanimity to forgive. You are always welcome back to the Martial Arts Club family."

Chu Gengyin replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, then watched them leave, his manners impeccable, leaving no room for criticism. At the same time, he weighed the pros and cons in his mind: Ke Chajing and Hu Jixian alone couldn't cause much trouble, and the same went for the two freshmen, Nie Wanzhi and Murong Qing. He had read their profiles, especially the prominent freshmen, whom he couldn't ignore. The latter was only among the top four nationally, not even as good as Nie Wanzhi. As for the boy who came with them...

"He was weak and frail, his internal injuries hadn't healed, and half a harmonica was sticking out of his pocket. He seemed more like an artist than a martial artist; he was probably just a music enthusiast and nothing to worry about."

"Hey, so you're saying you don't plan to fall out with that guy surnamed Chu because of the new regulations!"

Upon learning the truth from Si Ming, Ke Chajing covered her face and wailed, "Then why did I even fall out with him?"

Hu Jixian nearby, said in a detached tone, "That's why I told you not to act impulsively, to Zisi through before making a decision."

Ke Chajing didn't stand up for the new rules because she couldn't stand them. She simply arrived at the martial arts hall and found Si Ming and Murong Qing confronting the president. After hearing the discussions of other members of the Martial Arts Club, she connected the two obviously related factors and immediately deduced that the two were protesting to the president because they couldn't participate in the official competition. Without thinking, she stood up for the two and brazenly raised the banner of rebellion against Chu Gengyin.

Ultimately, she's someone who sides with her relatives regardless of right or wrong. If it weren't for Si Ming and Murong Qing, she probably would have done what Chu Gengyin said: felt the new regulations didn't apply to her and chose to stand by and do nothing.

"Uh... I'm still very grateful to my senior sister." Nie Wanzhi said apologetically, knowing she was the "culprit."

Ke Chajing waved her hand, indicating not to take it to heart; she wasn't one to hold grudges.

Hu Jixian taunted, "Why don't you go back and apologize to Chu Gengyin now? Whether he's genuinely magnanimous or not, for the sake of the Martial Arts Club's performance, he'll eventually act like nothing happened."

Si Ming asked, "What are your plans next? Will you participate in those individual competitions under your own name?"

Ke Chajing's academic performance is only average, and she will definitely become a martial artist in the future. Therefore, reputation is very important. Even if the strength is equal, the martial artist with a greater reputation will earn more.

Ke Chajing snorted twice, put her hands on her hips, and said with an air of confidence, "No one says that a school can only have one Martial Arts Club."

She pointed to the crowd. "We already have five people. We just need to find two more. According to the rules of the Martial Dao League, we need at least seven regular players. As for the three substitutes, they're optional."

Hu Jixian said, "We've fallen out with the Martial Arts Club because of the new rules, so don't expect the juniors and seniors to support us. Asking sophomores is also a stretch. Maybe we can use the right to participate as a bargaining chip. It would be best to ask freshmen, of course, all on the premise that we can pass the qualification test."

Ke Chajing said, "We can't just fill in all the useless people. Otherwise, if we participate in the competition but fail to pass the preliminaries, the embarrassment is secondary. What we can't stand is that Chu Gengyin will laugh at us. He will definitely say, 'See? I knew this would be the result.'"

"I can find two talented individuals who haven't joined the Martial Arts Club."

Si Ming immediately thought of Hongdou, Liu Qingqing, and Yu Shuying. Yu Shuying was busy with gang affairs and couldn't be in two places at once, so she might not be willing to participate. But Liu Qingqing and Hongdou were no problem at all. Although Hongdou didn't have a fighting spirit, if she focused on defense, no one below the Spirit Transformation could hurt her. In a sense, she could be called an "invincible ace".

Although it stemmed from a misunderstanding, Ke Chajing had left the Martial Arts Club because of him, so Si Ming couldn't just ignore her. He had to at least give her a future, and besides, beating up a kid might not be so unpleasant.

Ke Chajing said, "Two are enough. We can find replacements slowly. In short, it's better to have none than to have the wrong ones. You should also hurry up and complete your withdrawal procedures."

Hu Jixian reminded him, "We need to act quickly. Before Chu Gengyin can react, we need to apply for a new martial arts club immediately. This guy has quite a few connections at school. If he blocks our way in advance, it will probably be quite difficult to get permission."

As Ke Chajing's "external plug-in," he was responsible for filling in the gaps, making up for omissions, and cleaning up the messes.

"We need to come up with a good name. What should we call it? Martial Arts Club? Ancient Martial Arts Club?"

Si Ming suggested, "How about calling it the Second Martial Arts Club?"

Ke Chajing said with dissatisfaction, "Wouldn't that make us look like the second tier of the Martial Arts Club?"

Si Ming, "That's the most interesting part. If our second-tier team achieves better results in the Martial Dao League than the Martial Arts Club, which is in the first tier, what will outsiders think? And how will the people in the Martial Arts Club feel about it?"