I'll Raise Your Wife, Your Son Will Inherit Your Title; Next Double Ninth, I'll Bring Your Family to Toast You

The next day.

Bai Yu entered the classroom.

Several student groups who were good at labeling people instinctively drew their boundaries tighter, their eyes seeming to catch sight of something unclean.

Everyone's gaze involuntarily flicked toward him for a moment before quickly shifting away again. A subtle, bizarre atmosphere spread rapidly through the air.

"Good morning, everyone."

Bai Yu greeted them briskly, glanced at Horikita Suzune, who was reading, and walked over to his seat.

He casually stuffed his bag beneath his desk, turned to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had arrived early, and asked, "Ayanokoji, how was your rest yesterday?"

"Not exactly comfortable, but I can adapt."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka replied flatly and slowly shifted his gaze away.

"Oh, oh." Bai Yu nodded naturally, casually branching off into another topic. "Ayanokoji, did you see that just now?"

"What?"

"Everyone's enthusiastic gazes upon me."

Bai Yu summed it up. "I think it's all thanks to my successful self-introduction yesterday. My classmates are gradually forming a deep impression of me. As expected, only the right opening can secure a favorable start."

Are you serious?

Ayanokoji's gaze was forcibly dragged back. He truly hoped he would never possess such piercing attention for the rest of his life.

He tactfully said, "I don't think their 'enthusiasm' has much to do with your self-introduction yesterday. It might be more closely related to your public speeches... um, in places like shopping malls."

"Ayanokoji really is good at making excuses for his failures."

Bai Yu expressed regret. "Rather than facing the problem, you choose to avoid it. You even nitpick and criticize someone who handled the same challenge better than you did. It'll be hard to make progress that way."

"Oh..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had no strength to fight back. All he could do was let Bai Yu have his fun.

Bai Yu further supported his argument with the difference in their results. "Look, Ayanokoji is just as lacking in presence today as you were yesterday, right? As a comparison, doesn't that prove my strategy has indeed worked?"

So it doesn't matter what others think of you—as long as you're infamous, you're still famous?

The expressionless boy felt oddly conflicted. He had better not casually try such forbidden arts.

Bai Yu ignored Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's increasingly awestruck gaze.

He continued on his own, "I'd say that today, aside from me, no one else will come up and speak to you, Ayanokoji."

After saying that, Bai Yu revealed a pitying expression.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka immediately gave up all pretense and struck back. "And how are you any different, Bai?"

"So far, our situations have been nearly identical. In fact, you and I are both practically invisible in this class..."

Bai Yu's lips curled slightly upward. His gaze shifted to the group of girls chatting animatedly nearby, and he corrected him, "I'm different from you. Someone will be coming to speak to me soon."

"?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could not help raising his head to look. It was that girl named Kushida from yesterday... She seemed to have been cheerfully appointed as a friendly ambassador for promoting class unity. After saying a few words to excuse herself from the girls' group, she walked over with a bright smile.

"That doesn't count."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka protested. "I suppose I know her too."

"That's right, through me, the intermediary." Bai Yu retorted with a smile.

That is a rather hurtful way to put it.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka silently grumbled to himself, his eyes briefly meeting those of the friendly ambassador who had just arrived before them.

"Good morning, Bai, and..."

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, at your service."

She did that on purpose.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was utterly certain of it. The ambassador had quite a terrible personality. She was definitely not as kind and approachable as she appeared.

"Good morning, Kushida."

Bai Yu, seated behind him, followed suit with a polite greeting. "How was your rest on your first day at school?"

"Very comfortable." Kikyo Kushida answered with an amiable smile. "The school dorms are much roomier than I imagined, and the beds are large and comfortable too. It feels like even two people sleeping together wouldn't be crowded at all."

"Oh?" Bai Yu smiled faintly, displaying a practical, truth-seeking attitude toward life. "Then let's verify that together some other day. Going by feeling alone isn't convincing at all."

"Eh? Oh, stop it. So Bai is the type who's good at sweet-talking girls?" Kikyo Kushida said shyly.

I think he genuinely wants to verify it, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka inexplicably felt.

The Abstract Minister's thought process was beyond the ability of ordinary people to predict.

Thinking back on everything that had happened over the past two days, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt that not only could he not understand the other person at all, the things confusing him were only growing more numerous.

People seemed to have moments when their brains short-circuited, but this guy seemed to short-circuit every day.

After a few simple greetings and pleasantries, Kikyo Kushida lightly turned away in front of him and naturally moved to the next desk.

She seemed prepared to continue her "card collecting" business.

She offered an enthusiastic greeting to the girl reading alone, her attitude clearly far more preferential.

"Good morning, Horikita!"

"..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt as though he had seen a seagull freely soaring across the sky, while below it lay an iceberg struck by the Titanic.

The sudden silence was impossible to ignore, yet too unbearable to face directly.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka silently averted his gaze and turned toward the window, preventing anyone from noticing the slight upward curve of his lips.

Well done!

Horikita, let Miss Kushida, who thinks she can handle everyone, experience the pain of being an outsider too.

By chance, he glanced sideways and noticed Bai Yu lowering his head and writing something on paper, which made him somewhat curious.

Meanwhile, Kikyo Kushida forced a smile and helplessly swallowed the awkwardness, occasionally turning back to look at her support group behind her.

Everyone wore sympathetic expressions, as if they could not bear to blame her.

One or two people even muttered among themselves, standing up for the gentle and kind Kushida.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka withdrew his gaze from Kikyo Kushida as she walked away after hitting a wall, only to notice a subtle change in Horikita Suzune's expression.

She wore a look of confusion and distress, her brow faintly furrowed and her expression solemn. Even in the face of another person's enthusiasm, she mercilessly maintained her usual cold attitude...

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was glad he had not continued deepening his misunderstanding with her.

"This is my battle plan!"

During lunch break.

Bai Yu summoned the two people who had discussed the plan yesterday to a dim corner of the hallway, where they conducted their shady, unspeakable conspiracy.

"Kushida, after school, you do this and this first. Then Ayanokoji does this and this, then this and this again, followed by this, and finally this and that..."

Hey, hey.

Ayanokoji's workload has already far exceeded the limit. Under labor law, Minister, you could be sentenced for this.

As usual, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wanted to interrupt with a complaint, but Bai Yu's wickedly charming gaze stuffed the words back into his mouth.

"Please let me optimize this tactic, no matter what."

With the resolve of a man heading to his death, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wanted to increase his chances of surviving the battlefield as much as possible. He proposed, "At least have Kushida invite one or two more people from the class. Otherwise, such a coincidence would be far too deliberate and clumsy. I'd be sacrificed for nothing."

"Indeed."

Bai Yu nodded gravely, granting the soldier's final wish.

"I understand your request. I have already settled your family. After your death, I shall raise your wife, and your son shall inherit your title, completely removing all your worries..."

"Setting aside whether I even have a family," Ayanokoji Kiyotaka swiftly seized the chance to complain, "I'm merely an ordinary foot soldier under your command. If my son inherits my title, wouldn't that just mean he gets sent to the front lines to work himself to death for you too... Also, Minister, your intentions are way too naked. Even the Cao family wasn't this blatant."

Bai Yu was not listening at all.

He decisively pointed toward the girl in the classroom, then solemnly chanted like a commander rousing his troops before battle:

"Warrior, charge forward without fear and attack the enemy's castle."

"For the glory of our Service Club, blood and sweat are but an inevitable path!"