"Ring, ring, ring!"
The morning alarm was always so obnoxious. Setting your favorite song as the ringtone did absolutely nothing to help.
Give it two days, and every ti you heard that pleasant lody, you would fight the urge to smash your phone to pieces.
Therefore, a simple default ringtone was far better suited for a wake-up call.
Yan Huan's phone was no exception.
"Ring, ring, ring!"
Hearing the familiar alarm, Yan Huan imdiately opened his eyes.
His body, not yet fully awake, felt numb and tingly. Even his thoughts were processing on a single thread.
He rely felt warm and cozy all over, incredibly comfortable.
Lowering his gaze, he was t with a fluffy bloom of slightly curly blonde hair right in front of him.
It was Spencer's hair.
He could not see her face at the mont, as she had buried her head into his chest, mostly hidden beneath the heavy quilt.
"Spencer..."
Taking in the sight, Yan Huan's mind cleared a little. Squinting his heavy eyes, he turned his head and grabbed his charging phone.
The numbers 6:50 glared brightly at him.
Knowing it was ti to get up, he shook Spencer's shoulder and spoke.
"I have to get up."
"Mmm..."
In his arms, Spencer let out a muffled groan at the sound of his voice, then reluctantly squird deeper into the covers.
Seeing her bury her head lower and lower with a look that scread 'I do not want to get up at all', Yan Huan sighed in resignation and decided to get up and wash his face first.
However, the mont he shifted his body, his T-shirt was tugged tightly, anchoring him in place.
Yan Huan paused in surprise, finally realizing that Spencer had fallen asleep while gripping his shirt and burying her face against his chest.
"Yan Huan... don't... don't get up... I am so sleepy..."
Listening to her dazed mumbling, Yan Huan rubbed his heavy forehead.
To be completely honest, he was finding Spencer's current situation quite troubleso.
Since she had failed to convince her family to let her stay at Far Moon Academy, Yan Huan could hardly just leave her alone at his house while he went to school.
Regardless, they needed to get out of bed first.
Thinking of this, Yan Huan tried to coax her.
"Spencer, get up. I will make you so breakfast."
In his arms, she tightened her grip on his shirt and shook her head.
A second later, her muffled voice drifted up again.
"Let's sleep just a little longer before we get up... It is so cold out there..."
"...Fine, we will sleep just a little longer, but no backing out when it is ti."
"Mmm... okay..."
Yan Huan sighed, switched off his phone alarm, and settled back onto his pillow.
Feeling Yan Huan settle back under the covers, Spencer happily snuggled closer to him.
She was usually chauffeured everywhere and never had to wake up early to catch the school bus like soone living in the South Ward. It was no wonder she loved sleeping in so much.
He would just sleep for another ten minutes.
With that thought in mind, Yan Huan closed his eyes once more.
"..."
When he opened his eyes again, it did not feel like much ti had passed.
He glanced to his side and, sure enough, Spencer was fast asleep again.
Only this ti, her head was not completely buried beneath the covers, allowing Yan Huan a clear view of her peacefully sleeping face.
Yan Huan studied her resting features for a long mont before finally looking away, planning to check the ti and wake her up.
He turned his head and picked up his phone, only to find the numbers on the screen had seemingly ti-traveled to 9:27.
"Holy shit!"
Seeing those numbers, Yan Huan was instantly wide awake.
He bolted upright and hastily unlocked his phone.
Emails, direct ssages on Plane, group chat ntions...
A massive cluster of red notification dots flooded his screen, causing his expression to stiffen.
He had completely overslept!
"Mmm..."
Just as Yan Huan was covering his face in despair, preparing to reply to the class advisor's concerned ssages, Spencer's soft voice drifted over from beside him.
He turned around to see her sitting up from the covers, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Yan Huan... good morning..."
"...Good morning? We completely overslept."
It was all Spencer's fault!
It was entirely because sleeping next to her was way too comfortable. The heavy blanket was so warm and soft that he lost consciousness the second he closed his eyes!
Now look at them—neither of them was going to school.
Yan Huan finally realized that whenever he hung out with Spencer, he ended up either cutting class or skipping school entirely. He was rapidly being assimilated into a total delinquent.
The pristine reputation of the Student Council President was in ruins. He was firmly on the path of corruption...
Wait, why did this give him a strange sense of deja vu?
Listening to Yan Huan's grumbling, Spencer blinked innocently, slowly catching on.
"Huh? We overslept?!"
"You only just realized?!"
"Well, it is not like I could go to school anyway. Hehe, this works out perfectly! You are not going either. Yan Huan, let
tell you, skipping class feels amazing!"
"..."
See? This was exactly how a yellow-haired delinquent dragged good people down into corruption!
Yan Huan shot a speechless glare at Spencer, who was yawning beside him and clearly debating whether to go back to sleep. He certainly did not share her relaxed attitude.
She thought she had successfully run away from ho, but Yan Huan knew the truth.
The main issue was that Yan Huan genuinely could not figure out what Spencer's family was scheming.
In theory, her family was likely fully aware that she had run away, co looking for him, and even spent the night at his place.
Yet, from yesterday up until this very mont, they had not shown their faces or taken any action. What were they waiting for?
Yan Huan had no idea, but he had the creeping sensation that he was currently sitting in an examination room, being tested.
The invisible examiner was sitting in the shadows, quietly waiting to see the answers he would hand in.
A perfect answer? Perfect score!
An average answer? Points deducted!
A wrong answer...?
"..."
The real problem was that he did not even know what the question was.
Yan Huan sucked in a sharp breath. Lost in thought, he continued to scroll through the ssages on his phone.
"Emails... Just great. I knew the school nurse would refuse."
This morning, the Student Affairs Office had forwarded another set of sex education guidelines from the Linn Education Departnt, even ntioning that they could apply for a budget to cover the costs.
The ssage was loud and clear: they were serious about this.
The problem was that as Yan Huan swiped through his inbox, he saw a wall of uniform emails, every single one starting with "Student Yan Huan, I apologize but..."
Aside from Ye Linna, the nurses at Far Moon Academy were all full-ti doctors from private hospitals in the Kyogo Ward who only worked part-ti at the school. Their schedules were already incredibly tight.
And unfortunately, Ye Linna had just been recalled by the Golden Lion Group.
The nurse's office was probably still scrambling to find soone to cover her shifts. They definitely did not have the free ti to worry about a trivial matter like this.
This was turning into a major headache.
Yan Huan pinched the space between his eyebrows and opened his chat with Yabashi Ki.
He sent a sticker of a waving cat to break the ice, then began typing his ssage.
"Yabashi, there is no way we can just brush off this sex education lecture. The Linn Education Departnt sent down another docunt."
He forwarded the attached file.
Yabashi Ki replied almost instantly. That guy was always sneaking around on his phone during class to play gas and watch videos anyway.
"...Are you kidding? Are those bureaucratic busybodies trying to work us into the grave?"
"We have no choice. I will ask Sakuramiya later to see if she can contact a doctor from outside the school. Once that is settled, can you handle submitting the budget?"
"Um, President, Vice President Sakuramiya did not co to school today either."
"She did not go to school either?"
"Yeah... But speaking of which, President, I actually know soone who fits the requirents perfectly. We could try inviting her."
"You know soone?"
"Yeah. Rember that artist nad Sweet Parfait we ran into at the convention a while back, President?"
"Vaguely. That older girl nad Miyake Fufu, right?"
"Exactly. Before she beca a full-ti manga artist, her actual profession was as a gynecological nurse at a private hospital right here in Kyogo Ward. She should know all about this stuff."
"She managed a career switch like that? That is pretty impressive."
"Right? Sweet Parfait is completely self-taught. She used to draw doujinshi in an online community called Chang Gan Li. She only debuted as a professional manga artist because being a nurse was just way too exhausting."
"Chang Gan Li. That na..."
"It was apparently a forum for fans of childhood romance. She and her boyfriend, Arakawa Kyoshi—or Jiao Tan—grew up together..."
Yabashi Ki was very close with those two artists, so he knew quite a bit about their private lives.
"What do you think, President? Should I reach out and ask her?"
"Sure, go ahead and ask. Let
know if there are any issues."
"OK!"
Yan Huan had completely forgotten about the artist's forr background. After a brief mont of thought, he agreed to the plan.
Since they could get a budget for it anyway, why go through the tedious trouble of hunting down soone himself when they could just hire her?
Having resolved one crisis, the groaning wail of his bed fra suddenly assaulted Yan Huan's ears.
"Creak, creak."
Feeling the entire bed wobble beneath him, Yan Huan turned his head to see Spencer standing up on the mattress, doing stretching exercises.
"...What are you doing now?"
"Yan Huan, don't you know? You have to warm up when you get out of bed in the morning! Otherwise, your body feels all weak and sluggish."
"Could you please not do that on the bed? My bed fra is very fragile. If it breaks, we will both be sleeping on the floor tonight."
Spencer blinked innocently. Then, hopping off the bed with a soft thud, she trotted over to grab a white wallet and hurried back.
Flipping the wallet open, she pulled out a thick wad of crisp 100-dollar bills bearing Benjamin Franklin's face and offered them to Yan Huan.
"It is fine, I have plenty of money!"
He almost forgot. This girl was a filthy rich heiress.
Although Ying Country currency could not be spent directly here, it was practically hard currency in Linn and could easily be exchanged.
Yan Huan tore his gaze away from her sparkling sky-blue eyes. He reached out and pushed the stack of cash back toward her.
"Put your money away. If you don't use the bed as a trampoline, it won't break... However, buying an extra heavy quilt is probably a necessity."
"..."
The mont she heard Yan Huan wanted to buy another quilt, Spencer knew exactly what that ant—once the new quilt arrived, she would be banished back to the floor.
For so reason, she suddenly regretted offering him the money.
Perhaps in her mind, if she had not whipped out her cash, it wouldn't have reminded Yan Huan that they needed another blanket in the first place. "Hmph!"
Letting out an indignant snort, Spencer lowered her head and started trying to stuff the wad of cash back into her wallet.
She struggled for a good while, completely failing to cram the money back inside. Watching her wrestle with the severely overstuffed wallet, Yan Huan asked in bewildernt,
"What on earth do you have in that wallet? I only see one credit card, but you still can't fit a few bills inside."
"I have all my IDs and docunts in here! Every single docunt I need for Linn is stuffed in this wallet..."
"Docunts?"
"Yeah! I used to always forget where I left my things, so my mother told
to keep them all safely in my wallet so I would never lose them..."
Yan Huan paused, staring intensely at the bulging white wallet in her hands.
"Can you let
take a look at that?"
"Oh. Sure."
Although she had no idea what Yan Huan was planning, Spencer generously handed over her entire stack of docunts.
Yan Huan looked down and sifted through them. He found her visa, her official Linn identification card, her household registration...
In short, she had every single form of official docuntation.
Ard with these docunts, he could literally march Spencer down to the Linn Education Departnt and the Far Moon Academy administration office to completely overturn her expulsion.
"Hiss..."
"Could it be...?"
Staring at the stack of credentials in his hands, Yan Huan narrowed his eyes, deeply lost in thought.
"Yesterday, the CEO of Golden Lion Energy appeared before Congress, facing intense scrutiny from parliant mbers head-on."
"The hearing covered multiple critical topics. Insiders speculated that this inquiry was a targeted attack regarding events from several years ago..."
Ying Country, the Capital.
Countless cara lenses were focused on the blonde man, who stood squinting as he absorbed the aggressive questioning from the parliant mbers. Dressed in a sharp formal suit, he proudly wore the golden emblem of the Golden Lion Group on his lapel.
"Click, click, click!"
He waited patiently for the representatives on the floor to finish their tirade, then repeated for what felt like the hundredth ti,
"Representative, the hydraulic fracturing technology used to extract shale oil and gas has undergone several internal iterations and massive upgrades within the Golden Lion Group. We have nurous independent, professional reports firmly endorsing its safety..."
"You are dodging the question, Mr. Benjieming! I am asking you why local residents are able to ignite their tap water with a simple cigarette lighter!"
"..."
Beyond the podium, the frantic clicking of cara shutters echoed non-stop, eager to capture every single detail of this explosive hearing...
Especially the fierce, venomous verbal warfare exchanged between the two sides.
"...The Golden Lion Group has established a complete, robust shale oil supply chain. We have brought thousands of manufacturing jobs and related factories back to the Rust Belt. We have created tens of thousands of new jobs, empowering local residents to beco self-reliant..."
"..."
"Please answer the question: Did the Golden Lion Group engage in improper, under-the-table dealings with Mr. Hafusen during his tenure as Secretary of State?"
"..."
"I must reiterate, Representative, that everything we engage in is purely standard comrcial behavior."
"..."
These intense scenes were being directly broadcasted via a secured signal to a massive room within the Ying Country headquarters of the Golden Lion Mansion.
The Golden Lion Group's Board of Directors.
Inside the luxurious boardroom sat an enormous round table. Several elite individuals dressed in sharp suits were seated around it, casually sipping fine red wine.
They varied in age and were predominantly male, all sharing the sa relaxed, unfazed deanor.
"This wretched investigation is finally drawing to a close. I am sick and tired of seeing those damn investigators' cars parked near my estate!"
"It is far from over. This circus will not end until after the general elections later this year."
"Regardless, you have all done excellently. Especially you, President Elvira."
"To President Elvira. Cheers."
One of the n raised his wine glass, offering a toast to the breathtaking blonde, blue-eyed woman sitting at the head of the table, who had not once looked up from her mobile phone.
The woman's expression remained entirely indifferent. She finally raised her icy gaze, sweeping a glance over the room, and lifted her glass in a silent, perfunctory acknowledgnt.
"Ring, ring, ring..."
Amidst the light clinking of glasses, one of the n had barely taken a sip of his wine when his phone suddenly began to ring.
The mont he checked the caller ID, his expression twisted as if he had swallowed a fly. He abruptly stood up and excused himself from the table.
The remaining mbers watched him leave. One of them leaned over and quietly whispered to the director beside him.
"What is his deal lately? He has been in a foul mood for weeks. He hasn't even shown up to the golf course."
"Hah, you don't know? His precious son has been secretly taking those... what are they called... puberty blockers behind his back."
"Gender transition drugs?"
"Mhm."
The man took another slow sip of his wine and shook his head with a mocking sigh.
"Minors being allowed to undergo gender transitions without even notifying their legal guardians. This is the magnificent legislation those miserable bastards in the Capital pushed through..."
"...Just like Xavier. The kid is completely ruined. He takes my money to screw around in college, and now he is prepared to be dependent on those bullshit pharmaceuticals for the rest of his miserable life!"
"Hey, you are the proud father of a superstar now, didn't you know? The kid got high on drugs and took his sports car up to 220 miles per hour straight down Central Avenue. Koenigsegg should be paying you for the free endorsent!"
"Screw you. I have already washed my hands of that degenerate!"
"Well, it is a good thing you have so many sons. You had better keep a tighter leash on the rest of them..."
"Tight leash, my ass! I am out here staring down the barrel of a gun every single day to protect our empire. If they refuse to take responsibility for their own lives, do they actually expect
to carry them forever?!"
The beautiful blonde woman seated at the head of the table gently traced the rim of her wine glass, silently listening to their heated chatter.
In the crimson reflection of the wine, the faint image of her daughter, Aria Spencer, seed to hover.
Those naive, painfully fragile blue eyes appeared to shatter into pieces, drowning entirely within the scarlet liquid...
Staring coldly into her glass, Elvira raised it to her lips and downed it in a single, smooth motion.
"Gulp."
Setting the empty glass down, she smoothed out the creases of her tailored suit jacket and finally spoke.
"We will conclude things here for today, gentlen."
"What are your plans now, President? Taking a well-deserved vacation?"
Elvira offered a noncommittal smile.
"I am heading to Linn. My private jet leaves tonight."
"So soon?"
The other board mbers leaned back in their chairs, exchanging subtly surprised glances.
Elvira casually unbuttoned and removed her jacket, revealing a sleek leather vest fitted perfectly over her crisp white dress shirt.
She offered a faint, predatory smile as she handed her jacket to the secretary standing diligently beside her. Picking up her mobile phone, she murmured,
"Unfortunately, this requires my imdiate attention."
Elvira lifted her phone. Displayed clearly on the screen was the high-definition security footage of Spencer unceremoniously forcing her way into Yan Huan's bed.
After a brief struggle, Yan Huan had not only failed to escape, but he had ended up pinned down, his wrists firmly grasped by her aggressive daughter.
And then...
She watched the two of them passionately kiss on screen. Even as the situation seed to escalate, Elvira's expression remained entirely impassive.
However, when she watched her idiotic daughter imdiately fall asleep right after stealing the kiss—completely ignoring the heavily flushed, painfully aroused young man covering his face in utter agony beside her—Elvira finally could not help but raise a brow.
"..."
Watching the two of them simply share the bed with absolutely zero follow-up, she finally set her phone down face-first on the table and declared,
"We have been hunted like dogs by the opposition party lately, which left
with zero free ti to monitor that region.
"As a result, Ye International has been allowed to strut around Linn unchallenged, and even the Sakuramiya family has been sending their people over to flirt with our territory.
"It seems... it is ti to send a very clear ssage."
The board mbers leaned back in their heavy leather chairs. Behind them, covering the entire wall, was a massive, glowing map displaying the Golden Lion Group's formidable global reach.
A massive, brilliantly glowing golden lion's head was planted right across the ocean, standing out conspicuously among the countless other territorial markers.
That was the exact location of Linn.
"Then we will make sure they rember..."
The directors exchanged knowing looks, cruel smiles spreading across their faces as they addressed Elvira.
"Linn has always belonged to the Spencers."
Linn, the Sakuramiya Estate.
"How exactly should I dispose of you, little fox..."
Sakuramiya Lily sat elegantly on her velvet sofa, dressed in a silk nightgown and wearing a facial mask.
As she spoke, she threw a leisurely side-eye toward Sakuramiya Hitomi, who was standing beside her, having similarly skipped school today.
At this very mont, kneeling respectfully on the floor before the Sakuramiya mother and daughter, Nara looked absolutely miserable. Beyond tears, she threw a pitiful, desperate glance toward her Eldest Miss.
"Eldest Miss, you have to save ..."
'Who in their right mind openly begged for rcy right in front of the judge?!'
Sakuramiya Hitomi helplessly pinched the space between her eyebrows, forced to speak up to her mother.
"Mother, she has been the one taking care of
this entire ti, so please..."
"Mmm... I can tell."
Sakuramiya Lily picked up her elegant folding fan. Gently lifting the chin of the pitifully aggrieved Nara with the tip of the fan, she smiled and said,
"Without her help, you are utterly useless. So, during the ti I had her pinned down and out of the picture, all you could do was helplessly watch that Spencer girl forcefully kiss the precious President you like so much, and then...
"Rage in absolute, impotent fury?"
Hearing her mother's rciless, rapid-fire verbal assault, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face instantly flushed bright red.
"Mother!!"
It was like this every single ti!
From childhood to adulthood, every minute spent in her mother's presence resulted in her getting completely overheated!
This was exactly why Hitomi's father privately nicknad Sakuramiya Lily his "Little Sun".
It was not rely a term of endearnt. It was because every single ti his daughter listened to her mother speak, she would end up with a "third-degree sunburn".
"Ara ara, the absolute truth is always so difficult to swallow."
"What truth?! This... This is completely..."
"Is it not the truth?"
Sakuramiya Lily flicked open her folding fan, elegantly concealing the lower half of her mask-covered face.
"It seems there are quite a few more people vying for that President's affections than just you and the Spencer girl. I heard everything from our dear Nara here...
"The daughter of Ye International's Ye Lan... that famous young idol nad Bai Yi... and even his precious little childhood sweetheart.
"With so many fierce competitors, what exactly do you plan to do? Just sit back and creepily watch him from the shadows like you always do?"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face burned a darker shade of crimson.
"Of course not!"
But despite being completely flustered, she had not lost her rationality.
After all, ever since this past Sunday—when she had been forced to helplessly watch Spencer...
No. Ever since she had to watch Spencer forcibly kiss the President in front of absolutely everyone, the burning fury inside her heart could no longer be contained.
However, it seed heaven truly had eyes. According to her reliable sources, Spencer was about to be forcefully dragged off the stage and kicked out of the country.
It was highly debatable if she would ever even see that foreign blonde again. Therefore...
"That Spencer girl is effectively expelled. Thus, the only opponent truly worth paying attention to is Ye Shiyu!"
With this thought solidifying in her mind, Sakuramiya Hitomi spoke with absolute conviction.
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Lily paused in slight surprise.
"Only Ye Shiyu? What about the other two?"
"Bai Yi is just a half-baked idol. If she can simply handle the strict pressure from her own mother, it will be a miracle."
"Mhm."
"As for that timid little childhood friend, An Le..."
At the re ntion of An Le's na, Sakuramiya Hitomi let out a dismissive scoff, finally delivering her ruthless assessnt.
"She is completely irrelevant. There is no need to worry about her."
"..."
Watching her daughter's fiercely confident yet unyielding expression, Sakuramiya Lily sighed softly. Hitting the core issue, she asked,
"The problem is not how you evaluate your opponents, but what you actually plan to do about them."
"What do I plan to do..."
Hitomi fell into deep thought as she slowly raised her phone.
Displayed on her screen were the forwarded emails regarding the new sex education lecture arrangents that Yan Huan had just sent to the council group chat, alongside the strict administrative guidelines for the course.
Staring intently at the mandate requiring the entire first-year class to attend this sex education lecture, a rather wicked idea suddenly blossod in her mind.
But a second later, she looked down at her trembling hands, filled with extre hesitation.
"I... I will need to think about it... Mother."
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