Instructor, Please Accept This Zhonghua and Tea

Don't call me principal. You're my dad.

"Principal, why are you here?"

"If I hadn't come in now, it'd have been too late."

"Too late for what..."

The principal took a deep breath. "Is this how I usually taught you? Didn't I tell you to be united and friendly in the dorms?"

"Principal, did you get sand in your eyes?"

"..."

At that moment, Yang De spotted the dejected instructor behind him and immediately sidled over with enthusiasm.

"Instructor, you came without giving me a heads-up. About my subsidy this year..."

Uncle Yu's eyes suddenly turned sharp. "Hehe~ A child from a dual-income family within the system still needs a subsidy?"

"Bullshit. Doesn't dating Xiaomei cost money? Doesn't replacing my phone cost money?"

The instructor was already sweating buckets. "Student Yang De, subsidies are for students who are genuinely struggling. Don't just claim one for yourself. There's no share for you."

"But they gave me one for the past three years."

"Shut up! That was because I didn't know the situation and was kept in the dark. Your life is comfortable, yet you still took a subsidy. That's not receiving it—that's stealing."

"Instructor, you..."

"No way! Give up on that idea!"

Yang De's expression stiffened for a moment, then he immediately caught on and smiled. "I get it. I get it now. These are the rules within the system."

"What do you get?" The instructor was a little dumbfounded.

Yang De then took out a paper bag and put Kang Shuaifu Green Tea and toothpaste inside.

"I had this ready long ago... Instructor, please accept this little bit of tea and Zhonghua as a token of my respect. About my subsidy..."

"..."

"Get lost! Take your stuff and get the hell out!"

Yang De wiped the spit off his face, utterly bewildered.

Something was wrong. Very wrong!

It hadn't been like this before. Could it be...?

He looked at Xu Yi, then at Yu Shu standing nearby.

Could it be... the gift wasn't good enough?

--I'm dying. I can't tell whether this guy is serious or just deliberately being absurd.

--Director, about my transfer into the ministry this year... (two bottles of Six Nuclear Bomb Milk jpg)

--There's a case. Go take the fall for it.

Yu Shu shot him a cold glance, then said to the assistant outside the door, "Record this. Accepting gifts in private."

"Don't, don't, don't..."

"Student Yang was joking. What normal person would give toothpaste and drinks as gifts?"

"Right, right, right."

The principal hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over. "Instructor Li gets along with the students, so he loves joking around."

Seeing Yu Shu's expression soften somewhat, the two of them immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, Xu Yi revealed a wicked grin. If you explain it away, how am I supposed to earn Emotion Points?

He then looked at Yang De. "Student Yang, your gift can't possibly be this pathetic, right?"

"Hehe~ You country bumpkin! Of course not. There's something hidden inside."

Instructor Li: "???"

Principal: "???"

Don't do this!

Tension Value +100

Yang De smugly twisted open the bottle cap, revealing the QR code beneath it.

"Instructor, scan it."

"Go on, scan it."

The instructor looked pitifully at Yu Shu.

"Hmph. Student Yang told you to scan it, so scan it. Why are you looking at me?"

"Can I not scan it?"

"Scan it! I'd like to see what secret it holds."

"Ding. Your account has received 888 yuan."

Anger Value +100

Tension Value +100

"My life is over~"

Two streams of tears ran down the instructor's face as he trembled with rage and cold.

He'd still had a chance to clear his name. Now he was truly black as coal.

Student Yang smiled smugly. "See that, country bumpkin? The instructor was so moved he cried."

"Good, very good."

Yu Shu applauded. He had been angered into laughter.

"So this is how the rules within the system can be played. I've really broadened my horizons... And this toothpaste?"

Yang De proudly unscrewed the toothpaste cap and squeezed out a little thick, transparent liquid. "This is Bird's Nest."

Collapse Value +200

"Hey, Instructor, why are you lying on the floor? Wang Liang just spat a thick wad of phlegm there."

The principal's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. "No need to call him instructor anymore. I've expelled him."

Yang De said nothing. He simply took back the bag, pulled out his payment QR code, and said, "Pay me back."

"Xiao Li, don't come to our dorm so often from now on."

"If you do come, remember to split the Secondhand Smoke Money."

"Yeah~ You've been expelled, and you still came to our dorm to collect gifts. The way you carried yourself, anyone who didn't know better would've thought you were the bureau chief."

Li Yi stared at the three of them in disbelief. So this was how they kicked him while he was down? Hadn't he treated them well before?

"Yeah~ And now you're bringing up the past."

"Enough!"

Uncle Yu roared and glared at everyone. "I came here to investigate Xu Yi's usual life, not to watch you play those officialdom games."

"Yeah..."

The principal acted as if facing a formidable enemy and clamped a hand over Liu Yu's mouth. Don't fucking keep saying "yeah."

My life is over~

"Who let you come in? Go stand outside. If I hadn't come to take a look today, I never would've discovered so many problems. This is simply outrageous."

"Yeah, for a relative, you've got quite the loud voice. Anyone who didn't know better would've thought you were the principal."

"Dear god, please shut up." The principal was drenched in sweat.

Yu Shu couldn't keep his face either. After being a leader for so many years, everyone who saw him had always been respectful.

This was the first time a student had sarcastically mocked him—and livestreamed it.

Yang De still hadn't noticed anything wrong. Instead, he assumed the bearing of a leader.

"Enough. Don't mock him like that. He's not within the system, so naturally he doesn't understand the ways of officialdom."

"Hehe~ I'm not within the system?" Yu Shu sneered.

"Since you're Xu Yi's uncle and want him not to be bullied at school, I can handle this. It's just one phone call from my parents."

"Oh? Really?" Yu Shu raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. But I need a little tea to show filial respect to my parents.

"You can also just scan this code directly." Yang De held up his payment QR code.

Xu Yi watched in amazement from the side. Damn, this guy was demanding gifts from the bureau chief himself.

You're really heading for jail!

Yu Shu was angered into laughter as well, but his tone remained gentle. "Actually, I'm from the Education Bureau too. What are your parents' names?"

"You're from the Education Bureau too? Then next year, we'll be colleagues. That makes us part of the same circle.

"Since we're in the same circle, there's no need for gifts. I'll look after Xu Yi.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Yu Shu."

"Yu Shu? How come I've never heard of you? I know pretty much all the uncles and aunties at the Education Bureau. Why don't I remember you?"

Yu Shu patted his shoulder. "Why not call your father? He should know me."

"Sure."

Yang De immediately took out his phone and called his biological father.

"Hello, Dad."

"What trouble did you cause this time, brat?"

"Just now, a student's parent asked me to take better care of his kid, but he was stingy and wouldn't give a gift."

"What the hell? He wants benefits without paying anything? Why does he get to take all the good things?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. But he said he's from the Education Bureau too."

"Don't listen to his bullshit. Who at the Education Bureau haven't I treated to a meal? If there were really something going on, he'd have called me long ago."

Yang De sneered. "Got it, Dad. These immoral bastards really have no manners. With such a narrow outlook, they deserve to be poor."

"Just say that to me. Don't say it to his face. After all, you're still classmates. You'll see each other all the time.

"By the way, what's that person's name? Let me check. I really haven't treated the janitors at the Education Bureau to a meal."

"He said his name is Yu Shu."