It was after Lu Mingfei had finished his afternoon classes and dinner.
At this moment, Lu Mingfei was sitting in Professor Manstein's office, facing the silent professor.
Although his own mentor had a good relationship with this professor, facing the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee still made him inevitably nervous, and he couldn't help but wonder what he had done wrong today.
Lu Mingfei was now feeling uneasy under that gaze.
“Hmm…”
Professor Manstein scrutinized Lu Mingfei from head to toe, as if examining a rose about to be given to a loved one, his gaze as sharp as a gardener's shears, hoping the flower wouldn't grow crooked.
The last time Lu Mingfei was scrutinized with such a gaze was when he ranked last in his class, dragging down the class average by a full three points.
“Lu Mingfei, are you interested in joining the Disciplinary Committee?”
Damn it, this was an unexpected turn of events!
Lu Mingfei’s face showed surprise; he hadn't expected Professor Manstein to call him over for this matter, which coincidentally aligned perfectly with his own thoughts.
It seemed he wouldn't need to prepare his 'letter of allegiance' after all.
“I’m interested.” Lu Mingfei stated his true feelings with great restraint; if he weren't in front of the professor, he would have jumped up in excitement.
Professor Manstein frowned, turning his laptop around to reveal two photos stitched together.
“Do you really think so?”
Lu Mingfei focused on the photos.
One photo showed Chu Zihang placing his hand on Lu Mingfei’s shoulder as if entrusting him with something, which was precisely when Lu Mingfei was promised to succeed as president; the other photo showed Lu Mingfei and Caesar raising their glasses in a toast, clearly a candid shot from outside a window, complete with the reflection of the window glass.
Oh my, what a social butterfly!
“The whole College is now spreading rumors that you’re playing the stock market, seeing which president offers you better treatment, and you’ll join whichever society suits you best,” Professor Manstein said, staring at the poster’s name.
“It’s rare that Fingel hasn’t posted about this, otherwise it would have escalated much faster. Right now, it’s only spreading in a small circle.”
Lu Mingfei pondered this; Fingel really did listen to him and didn't stir up trouble, but he also needed to refute Professor Manstein’s accusation.
“Those are two photos taken out of context.”
“Whether they’re out of context, you know the answer in your heart.”
“The Lionheart Society has a deep historical foundation, and following Chu Zihang will teach you a lot; the Student Union is a rising star from the past three years, and Caesar will graduate soon, so you could become president earlier,” Professor Manstein bluntly pointed out the advantages of both for Lu Mingfei.
“That logic holds,” Lu Mingfei said. “But I intended to join the Disciplinary Committee from the start.”
“Why?” Professor Manstein leaned slightly forward.
It's good to shelter under a big tree, Professor! Lu Mingfei thought, but he knew very well that saying so would certainly not be approved, and might even be considered an improper attitude.
“To avoid becoming the shadow of two presidents.”
Professor Manstein’s heart stirred; it was exactly as he had analyzed with Guderian that night. The signs were already appearing—an unwillingness to be subservient, a born ruler!
“A reasonable explanation.” Manstein nodded, “However, even if you are an S-rank, I will not directly recruit you. I need you to provide a piece of incriminating evidence to serve as your performance during the probationary period.”
“The probationary period is one week. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer.”
Lu Mingfei thought to himself, as expected of the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, who manages discipline; he wouldn't even open a back door when both parties were willing. It seemed he would still have to offend the Student Union.
“I have relevant evidence to submit right now.”
“Regarding Fingel?” Professor Manstein immediately thought of Lu Mingfei’s roommate, a master of opportunism, but he had never found concrete evidence to punish Fingel.
It seemed Fingel was already on the Disciplinary Committee’s blacklist. Alas, eight years as a senior.
Lu Mingfei sighed, shook his head, and said, “Not him, it’s a report concerning the Student Union.”
“What?” Manstein was also interested in this. Caesar was also on his mental blacklist; he had always been critical of the Free Day activities, but unfortunately, the principal had interceded for him that day, allowing Caesar to escape punishment.
“It’s about a Student Union cadre bribing a future Disciplinary Committee member.” Lu Mingfei shamelessly changed his title to ‘future Disciplinary Committee member.’
Manstein was somewhat disappointed; it turned out it had nothing to do with Caesar. He took out an application form from a folder, on which was boldly written:
S-Rank Gift Application Form.
It looked like it had been specifically printed out and given to Manstein not long ago, as the ink hadn't completely dried.
“Before I called you in, a Student Union member had already submitted an application. All your gifts are recorded on it.”
Lu Mingfei was dumbfounded. Caesar was so meticulous; could something like this actually be applied for?
“Not only that, your accusation is also invalid. You do not hold any position in the College, so it cannot be called bribery. Strictly speaking, it is merely communication between students,” Professor Manstein explained, spreading out the application form.
“Then I have one more,” Lu Mingfei took a deep breath, preparing to be heartless.
“Wait,” Manstein stopped Lu Mingfei at that moment, “I have a question for you. What do you plan to do with these gifts?”
Lu Mingfei was taken aback. He hadn't thought about this question in detail before, but now that Professor Manstein brought it up, he suddenly realized that accepting these things was also an act of taking sides.
Simply accepting these things without joining the Student Union would probably earn him a lot of criticism.
He was silent for a while, really wanting to use this opportunity to say something mature that would make everyone applaud and say, 'Well done,' but he racked his brain for a long time and couldn't come up with a good idea. He could only scratch the back of his head and sit there silently.
It was then that Lu Mingfei realized that merely changing his mindset wasn't enough; he also needed means, whether it was strength or wisdom, both of which he currently lacked.
Whether it was the adult world or the mixed-blood society, there was still much for him to learn.
He was still just a child, in fact.
He had only started learning to grow up this morning.
“I… don’t know.”
Manstein was astonished. From that sentence, he caught a glimpse into a corner of Lu Mingfei’s heart. Perhaps Guderian was right; Lu Mingfei was still a child.
He had always treated Lu Mingfei like Caesar, but he had never considered that before joining Kassel College, Lu Mingfei had no understanding of the mixed-blood world.
“Go ask Fingel,” Manstein said. “In some aspects, he’s actually quite reliable.”
“I understand.” Lu Mingfei nodded.
“Oh, by the way, what was the other piece of evidence you mentioned?” Manstein asked.
“It’s about an underground romance between a pair of underwater partners. I am certain that Execution Department member Ye Sheng has developed feelings for Execution Department member Shuhtome Yaji.”
Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth as he spoke the heartless words. He had checked: if a relationship wasn't confirmed, meaning no XXOO, the Execution Department's punishment would only be to copy the ideological education manual ten times and re-pair the partners.
It wouldn't prevent Senior Brother Ye Sheng and Senior Sister Shuhtome Yaji from meeting.
Sorry, Senior Brother Ye Sheng.
Lu Mingfei showed Ye Sheng’s chat history.
Manstein was taken aback. In fact, this accusation had just been sent by Noma a few days ago, with Lu Mingfei’s chat history as the reason.
However, because Ye Sheng’s team was currently on an important mission, he decided to postpone it.
Now that Lu Mingfei had explicitly brought it up, it seemed this matter was a bit more serious than he had thought.
“Understood. I will verify it.”