After deciding to give up, he started to gain popularity

Her eyes were dull and her brain was about to shut down, but she still subconsciously closed the door, thinking that things shouldn't be like this. She should have seen the seniors working diligently and setting an example for her. Why did she see a half-naked man... with his butt facing her?

Is this an illusion? ...

Yes, it must be an illusion! Because I was too excited last night and didn’t sleep well, so I had an illusion just now!

How could this happen?! She should cheer up and work hard to become a qualified student union member! She was half naked facing something... How could such a ridiculous thing happen!

Considering the personality of the president, he should be sitting in front of the main seat responsibly, drinking tea and correcting documents, right?

Thinking of this, Iino Miko slowly opened the door again and took a look.

Ah, that's right.

It was just as she thought. The respected student council president was clearly sitting on the main seat, neatly dressed, handling official business very seriously. He was not as terrible as she had imagined.

"Good morning, good morning, President..." Holding the cardboard in both hands, Iino Miko's pretty face turned red, and she looked very embarrassed.

Just now, she did something very unfair to him, imagining him as a self-generated person in the sacred student union room...

Anyway, I am very sorry! I am sorry for the misunderstanding!

"..." Natsukawa Kanade did not reply, and seemed to be immersed in busy official duties. It was not until Iino Miko raised her voice and called out several times that he raised his head, looking as if he had just woken up from a dream.

"Oh, it's Iino-san, good morning..."

"Yes! Good morning, President..."

085. Iino Miko's Outburst

"President, is there anything you need me to do?" Iino Miko asked softly.

It has been at least 10 minutes since she entered the student union room, but apart from chatting with the president for a few words when she first came in, she hasn't heard him speak since. Plus, she didn't know what to do so she could only sit on the sofa in a daze. Iino Miko felt a little restless.

"Anything! As long as I can help."

Xiachuan Zou raised his head and looked at her, but was interrupted just as he was about to say something.

"Strange...weird things are definitely not allowed! Everything else is fine..."

"..." Xia Chuan Zou was silent for a long time before he slowly uttered a few words, "Then give me those documents on the coffee table."

At first, I thought Iino Miko was fooling around with her expression, but when she suddenly said something like that, she was discovered, right? But he was really just changing clothes, not doing anything weird, he just didn't wear any underwear.

It seems that the other party was not deceived at all, but just pretended nothing happened in order to appear less embarrassed.

Well, she's a good kid, Iino Miko.

"I remember you have a part-time discipline committee member, right? Don't you have to stand guard today?" Xia Chuanzou asked.

Since the other party is so sensible, there is no need for him to pretend. Just treat it as an accident and let nature take its course and get along with him as it should be.

"It was Senior Fujiwara who asked me to come here. She said that as a new member, I should report in. She said she would do the work for me." After handing him the document, Iino Miko stood beside him very obediently, as if she was ready to observe his work from a close distance.

"Uh... is it okay to give it to her?" He was too lazy to complain like "Ah, it's Fujiwara Chika's fault again." He just didn't expect that the other party would trust Fujiwara so much. Could it be that she was completely unaware of her true nature?

"Of course, because that's Fujiwara-senpai! He won the gold medal in the Pythia Piano National Competition!"

"That was when I was in fourth grade..."

"Not only that, Fujiwara-senpai knows five languages! He's a linguistic genius!"

"But my Chinese language scores are so poor..."

"And he's a scholar with very ordinary grades in Shuzhiyuan!"

“Isn’t this a shortcoming…?”

"In short! Senior Fujiwara is amazing, a very powerful person, and someone I respect very much!"

"..." Natsukawa Kanade could only nod woodenly, and had a new understanding of the other party's innocence. As expected, she was just a poor child who was completely deceived by Fujiwara Chika's appearance.

"Although I have a lot to say, I still want to give you a reminder - no matter who it is, don't expect the other person based on your subjective assumptions. Maybe she is not what you think..."

What he said was relatively subtle. After all, he had also experienced the confusion and disappointment after seeing his dreams shattered, so he wanted to give a warning to the person who admired Fujiwara Chika so much. They would be spending a long time together in the future, and if he found out in the process that the "Fujiwara-senpai" she admired was actually a person with that kind of personality... she might become autistic.

"Don't expect it..." Iino Miko frowned and looked at him in confusion, "What does the president mean? Could it be... that he wants me to not misunderstand Senior Shinomiya?"

"...Ah?" Natsukawa Kanade was really confused. Wasn't he talking about Fujiwara Chika? Why did he suddenly jump to Shinomiya Kaguya?

"But Senior Shinomiya did propose that kind of deal to me. I saw it with my own eyes... No! How did you know that, President? Could it be... that it was actually you who ordered it?!" Iino Miko, who had been looking at him very respectfully, suddenly changed to a look as if she was facing a great enemy. She took several steps back and looked at him angrily.

"As expected! I knew it! As the vice-chairman, Shinomiya-senpai suddenly proposed that kind of deal to me. There is no way you, the guild leader, didn't know about it! It would make sense if you were the one who ordered it!"

"That's why you said that to me. You want to clear yourself of the charges, right?! I'm so sorry, I will never go along with you guys! It was right not to agree to join the student union before! This student union with dirty tricks..."

"No, no, no, wait a minute. I didn't understand a word you said." Xia Chuan Zou had a headache.

In his eyes, this first-year girl was inexplicably excited. She was pointing fingers at him and even started criticizing their student union.

He really couldn't understand it. They were just talking about Fujiwara Chika, so why did the topic suddenly turn to this direction?

"Calm down, let's talk about it from the beginning. At least... let me understand what's going on first."

"..." Seeing Natsukawa Kanade's confused look, Iino Miko still doubted whether he was pretending, but thinking that it was no big deal to just ask a few questions, she nodded and agreed.

"Okay, just ask."

"Well, first of all, what is this so-called 'deal'?"

"Well... that happened last week. Senior Shinomiya invited me to talk, and then asked me to give up the student council election. The reward is that you will help me become the student council president after you are promoted to the third year..."

"Is that so..." Natsukawa Kanade nodded slightly. It turned out that not only the various clubs, but even the candidates wanted bribes. Should I say that she is worthy of being Kaguya Shinomiya? She is completely worthy of the reputation of the Shinomiya family.

"You just said, 'It was indeed me who ordered it'. Do you think I was the mastermind behind this?"

"……Correct."

"Okay, I understand." Natsukawa Kanade nodded slightly, and had an idea in mind, "Next is the last question... Iino-san, have you ever lied?"

"Huh? Does this have anything to do with what we talked about?" Iino Miko frowned.

"Of course, you just need to answer yes or no."

"Have……"

"Very good." Xia Chuan Zou nodded. He had indeed taken the initiative in the conversation. "I won't ask about the specifics. I just want to know one thing. Are your lies...for yourself or for others?"

Since he has already stepped into the trap, it doesn't matter how the other party answers. If it is the former, he can just accuse the other party of bad character and use this as an excuse to get rid of what Kaguya did. If it is the latter, it is easier to solve. He can even be more direct and take all the responsibility on himself and then use a "sincere" apology to dispel her vigilance.

"..." Iino Miko was silent for a long time before she spoke slowly.

"It's for others..."

086. Join the Student Council, Iino Miko

Iino Miko was not a completely good child, at least - she had lied.

In her opinion, a completely "right" person should be rule-abiding, moral, sincere and serious...so lying is not allowed and it is not the right behavior.

Even though... her lies were to reassure her busy working parents - she had seen and encountered all kinds of bad things since she was a child, being labeled, treated badly, and even threatened, etc., but she would never reveal her cowardly side to her parents, would not let them worry, and never gave up on becoming a "right" person, because she was proud of her parents.

"It's for others." Iino Miko's attitude became firm.

"It is precisely because of others that I will not feel ashamed. I am sorry that your plan failed."

"No, you misunderstood." Xia Chuan Zou shook his head, not caring about the other party's naked malice at all. "What I want to talk about is not that kind of shallow stuff."

"Do you think lying is a good thing? Even a white lie for someone else?"

"Of course it depends on the situation. Although it is essentially a lie, it depends on the heart."

"In other words, you recognize the feeling of giving for others? Even if it is in a bad way?"

"…What exactly do you want to say?"

"You seem very hostile to me, but we are having a debate now, right? Please think calmly."

"..." Iino Miko took a deep breath and slowly replied, "It is certainly worthy of recognition to sacrifice for others, but you cannot do it through crooked means!"

"It just seems that way to you." Natsukawa Kanade's voice was a little low. The other party's resilience was beyond his imagination. It seemed that his and Kaguya's status were not high enough in the other party's heart. If Fujiwara Chika had enough favorability, she would have seduced her long ago.

Therefore, a different approach must be adopted.

"Take your conventions for example. Do you think the mandatory requirement of shaving your head is right?"

"Of course it is right! Because it is conducive to ..."

"So I said, you just think that." Xia Chuan Zou shook his head and continued to refute her: "What about other students? What about their parents? And what about the school teachers? Have you done a questionnaire survey? If so, how many people agree? Is it more than half?"

"If in yesterday's election, some people voted for you just because they thought it was interesting, and you were elected president by chance, would you continue to issue policies according to your own ideas or determine your intentions through various surveys?"

"..."

"You just think that 'shaving your head' can help students develop discipline and improve the school's atmosphere, but have you ever thought about another possibility - that students protested because they did not obey this discipline, and even threatened to 'suspend their studies', which made the school's atmosphere worse?"

Since ancient times, any policy or rule will breed a group of rebels. He naturally understands this, but he is exaggerating it a little now.

“But some people also said they would support me…”

"What about the number of people? I'm afraid it's not a lot. Since elections are based on the number of votes, this should also be consistent. But you don't seem to have done any research? In other words... all this is just what you think."

Iino Miko is a person who does not know how to adapt. He had previously seen this from Ishigami's words and the school rules she advocated, but now he has a deeper understanding of this.

However, to put it nicely, it is called inflexibility, and to put it bluntly, it can be described as stubbornness and a refusal to understand each other.

She may have never thought about things from other people's perspectives, so her thoughts, words and deeds are filled with strong personal will. She judges things based solely on subjective assumptions. She cannot be called a "correct" person.

Even Yukinoshita Yukino, who also pursues "correctness", would not do such a thing.

"I actually admire you, Iino Miko." The harsh rebuke was followed by a kind smile.

He didn't want this to happen, but the other party was a bit of a rough diamond.

"I have seen many people like you, but they are all guys who flaunt their noble character but do dirty things behind the scenes. But you are different. I believe you will set an example and practice the conventions you put forward."

"But that's not enough. If you only want to practice what you think is right, that's far from enough. You must go deep into the masses, investigate, understand everyone's intentions, and then determine the best plan. That's what you should do as a 'student union president'."

“……”Iino Miko looked a little shaken.

Then it’s time for him to show his Yuchang sword to the other party.

"Your father is a judge, right? I wonder if he has ever told you about some 'unfortunate cases' - people who were well-intentioned and well-meaning, but were punished because of improper means. Even in the law, such people can still get a chance to reduce their punishment..."

“No matter which world it is, it is not black and white. There is also a delicate gray line.”

"For example, the Yakuza organizations in Japan, you clearly know that they are definitely not the right ones, but they are still recognized because they are needed and have a reason to exist."

"Of course you can criticize them from a moral high ground, and criticize those things you think are 'incorrect', but you have to learn to accept it, and even learn to coexist with it. Then, whether you want to blend in or be a pure lotus that emerges from the mud without being stained, that is your choice."

This world is neither correct nor gentle, so excessive pursuit of "everything is right" will only put yourself in pain. Unless you have the power to change the world, you can only ride on a small boat and let the waves hit you.

"I'm not trying to excuse anyone, I just hope you can understand that the so-called means are only necessary to achieve the goal. If the original intention is acceptable, then it's not a bad idea to slightly break the rules."

"..."

Xiachuan Zou never thought of himself as a good person. He knew very well that he would only care about the people he wanted to care about, and everything else had nothing to do with him.

"When it comes to good intentions, we judge by the heart rather than the deeds. It is rare to judge by the deeds. I believe that during my tenure, I have not done anything to let down the school or the students' trust. I have also managed the school well and fulfilled my duties as the student union president conscientiously."

"And Kaguya Shinomiya must have trusted my leadership ability, so she was willing to use that method to ensure my election success. Her original intention was naturally good to me, but the method made you feel a little inappropriate. Here, I would like to express my sincere apologies to you on her behalf." Seeing that the time was almost right, Natsukawa Kanade bowed deeply to the other party, asking for forgiveness.

He could have avoided doing all this, and could even have told the other party that he was completely unaware and shirked responsibility, but he couldn't do that.

Firstly, Kaguya did those things for him, so he had to make corresponding efforts, at least to prevent this schoolgirl from being dissatisfied with her and creating a rift with her, or even spreading such things in private...

Maybe given the background of the Shinomiya family, no one would say anything to her face, but it is inevitable that some people would discuss these things in private, which would cause some damage to Shinomiya Kaguya's reputation, so it would definitely be best to avoid this situation.

"Of course, you may not be able to trust us, or even forgive us, but it doesn't matter. Inviting you to join the student union this time is also a test for us. If you can't trust us, then use your 'correct' qualities to monitor this student union, right? If there are any illegal actions, you can feel it directly, right?"

"..." Iino Miko was silent for a long time before she slowly uttered a word, "Okay."