The Ultra-Alpha School Hunk Has Transmigrated into a Cannon Fodder Omega! - Chapter 31

Ji Cenzhou snatched the backpack from Jiang Mosen’s shoulders and said, “I will carry it myself, alright?”

Jiang Mosen shot a displeased look at Monkey, thinking to himself that this guy truly enjoyed meddling in other people’s business.

A lackey asked Monkey, “Boss, are we still going to fight?”

Monkey’s expression was incredibly grim as he barked back, “Fight for what? We are clearly the ones in the wrong. Not only are we failing to admit our mistakes, but you want to start a fight too? Do you want me to look completely unreasonable?”

“Then what do we do now?”

Monkey’s face soured even further. What else could he do? He had to apologize to Black Bear. He blamed himself for not keeping a tighter leash on his subordinates.

The lackey with the scar on his eyebrow was now acting as timid as a quail, terrified that his boss might deliver a sudden slap. Monkey grabbed him by the ear and hauled him forward. “What were you thinking? I have given repeated orders not to bully schoolmates or collect protection money. You have quite the nerve to treat my words as a passing breeze!”

The scarred lackey replied somewhat aggrievedly, “It is only because you have been short on money lately, Boss.”

Monkey froze. It was true that he had been low on cash recently. He was pursuing his goddess, and his allowance had long since run dry from buying flowers and gifts every day, so he had borrowed some from his subordinates.

“I am short on money, but I never told you to go out and rob people for me! Are you trying to pin this on me now?”

The lackey said quickly, “No, no! How could I dare to blame you, Boss?”

Monkey never expected the root of the problem to be himself. Feeling even more guilty now, his confidence wavered as he turned to Black Bear. “Black Bear, how do you want to handle this?”

Black Bear looked at the Academic Representative, who summoned his courage and said, “Give me my money back!”

Ji Cenzhou added, “And apologize.”

The scarred lackey was reluctant, but Monkey pressed his head down and forced him to apologize. With that finished, only the matter of the money remained. Without a word, Monkey pulled out his phone, only to see that his WeChat balance was not even three digits.

His heart sank. He had not been keeping track of his spending on flowers and gifts. Now, he was truly broke. He felt miserable. Not only was his money gone, but he had yet to win over the goddess. He had truly lost both his “wife” and his soldiers.

With a dark face, Monkey turned and roared at his followers, “Which of you has money? Lend me some! I will pay you back as soon as I have it!”

The lackey who had brought the wrong equipment earlier, eager to make up for his mistake, pulled out his phone. “Boss, I am only keeping five yuan for lunch tomorrow. I will give you the rest.”

Monkey was deeply moved. Behold the golden bond of brotherhood! He waved a hand grandly and said, “Keep ten yuan so you can eat a decent meal tomorrow!”

The subordinate’s eyes welled with tears as he replied, “Boss, I will follow you even if I have to work like an ox or a horse for the rest of my life.” He transferred his balance while speaking.

Monkey was also nearly moved to tears until he looked down at his phone. The WeChat notification showed a received payment of 3.58 yuan.

Monkey was silent. He delivered a swift slap to the back of the lackey’s head and shouted, “Are you playing with me?”

Three yuan and fifty-eight cents! Those eight cents felt like a blatant mockery!

The subordinate cried out, “Boss, that is truly all of my savings! I misunderstood you yesterday and thought we were going to have a final battle in an online game. I spent all of this month’s allowance on a high-end keyboard. Do not be angry. Should I transfer the five yuan for my lunch to you as well?”

Monkey’s face shifted through a spectrum of colors. Seeing his subordinate’s sincerity, he could no longer stay angry. “Keep it! I already told you to eat well tomorrow. Why would you transfer it to me?”

Monkey then turned to the scarred lackey. “Exactly how much did you steal?”

The scarred lackey whispered cautiously, “The five hundred yuan I stole has already been given to you, Boss. You can check the transfer records if you do not believe me.”

“Check what? There is nothing to check right now! How much money do you have on you at this moment?”

Seeing a chance for redemption, the scarred lackey said excitedly, “I am much richer than him! I have ten yuan!”

Monkey was speechless. Was he the leader of a beggar gang? Why were his subordinates so poor? He felt a wave of guilt. As their leader, he had not led them to wealth and instead let them spend their money on his romantic pursuits. They were all getting poorer.

The dozen or so people who had come with Monkey managed to scrape together less than two hundred yuan.

Black Bear looked at the two hundred yuan and said with a complicated expression, “How are you people so poor?”

Monkey, unable to save face, snapped, “Save the talk. I will transfer the rest to you as soon as I have it.”

Ji Cenzhou, who still held a grudge, asked, “And when exactly will that be?”

Monkey’s expression shifted. “Do you think I am the type of person to dodge a debt? You underestimate me. I am a man of my word. I will pay you back once I have the money!”

Jiang Mosen cut in, “Then pay it back now.”

Monkey asked, “How?”

“I saw a shop on the snack street that is hiring. If you go work there, you can earn the money back, right?”

Monkey froze, thought about it, and finally said, “Fine.”

Jiang Mosen added, “You do not need that many people. Just the six who stole the money plus you will be enough.”

Monkey agreed and told the rest of his crew to head back. They were reluctant to leave, fearing their boss might be bullied by the larger group. However, Monkey had different thoughts. He had worked jobs before, and he did not want his subordinates watching him get scolded by a boss. That would be too humiliating.

Monkey chased the others away like a hen herding chicks and followed Ji Cenzhou with the remaining few. They arrived at the small shop and fell into silence as they stared at the A4 paper posted on the door. At the very top, in large letters, it read: Dishwasher Wanted.

One subordinate muttered, “I do not want to wash dishes.”

Monkey raised an eyebrow and delivered a slap. “You do not want to now? Why did you want to collect protection money then? Even I am going to wash dishes with you! If anyone dares to complain again, you are looking for a beating!”

The subordinate immediately shut up and followed Monkey inside. After explaining their intent to the shop owner, the owner looked at Monkey suspiciously. “Can you handle it?”

Monkey, having worked many jobs, was a veteran. “Boss, we are experienced. There is a small restaurant at the end of the snack street where I worked an entire summer. The owner’s wife praised me every day for my diligence.”

The owner recalled that the woman in question was known for her sharp tongue and fierce personality. If Monkey had satisfied her, he must be capable. The owner was reassured about Monkey but remained skeptical of the clumsy-looking young men behind him.

“They are fine,” Monkey insisted. “They do chores at home all the time and are very quick. If we break a plate, I know the rules. We will pay triple the compensation.”

Satisfied, the owner led them to the kitchen. Upon seeing a sink full of dishes floating in grease and food scraps, the subordinates immediately wanted to retreat. If it were not for Monkey, they would have fled instantly. Once the owner left, Monkey taught them one by one how to wash quickly and cleanly. Seeing their boss working, the subordinates felt too ashamed not to try their best.

Ji Cenzhou peered through the window at the group working hard and said with satisfaction, “That is more like it.”

“Brother Jiang, why are you here?”

Ji Cenzhou turned to see Wang Hao and Li Tianrui sitting at their table. He went over and explained the situation. Upon hearing the story, Wang Hao and Li Tianrui were red with rage. “This is too much! To bully our Academic Representative! Just watch how we deal with them!”

“Waiter!”

When the waiter arrived, Wang Hao asked, “Which of your dishes use the most plates and bowls?”

The waiter was stunned. “What did you say?”

Wang Hao repeated the question. The waiter looked at him as if he were a fool and listed a few dishes.

“Great! We will take those!”

Wang Hao then called over the Academic Representative. “Come and eat some, Academic Rep! Perhaps your dishes will be the last straw that breaks their backs!”

The Academic Representative initially thought this was a bit childish, but the more he thought about his grievance, the more he agreed. “Let us use the spirit of solving the final math problem on an exam to create more dishes!”

Black Bear watched from the side, utterly bewildered. He whispered into Ji Cenzhou’s ear, “Is this the world of top students?”

“Our world is more than just this,” Ji Cenzhou said as he pulled a physics book from his bag. “Jiang Mosen, let us continue with yesterday’s problem.”

Black Bear was speechless. Looking at the two of them studying together and the other three attacking their food with academic fervor, he felt like an ugly duckling that had wandered into a flock of swans. He felt lonely and helpless.

Seeing that Black Bear was bored out of his mind, Ji Cenzhou tossed an English book to him. “You might not know the rest, but surely you can memorize some vocabulary.”

“I choose to go supervise the dishwashing,” Black Bear replied.

After nearly an hour, the group in the kitchen finally finished. Their wages totaled exactly three hundred yuan. The Academic Representative took the money and excitedly thanked Black Bear, Ji Cenzhou, and Jiang Mosen.

Ji Cenzhou smiled and put an arm around the Academic Representative’s shoulder, whispering, “Do you want to make it so these people turn and run whenever they see you in the future?”

The Academic Representative was surprised. “Can I really do that?”

Ji Cenzhou smiled meaningfully. “Of course you can.”

Near the school, there was a small garden where elderly people usually exercised. However, today, it was filled with the sound of rhythmic reading. Six delinquents sat in a row, their posture as obedient as primary school students. Each held a Chinese textbook and was struggling through a classical prose text.

They stumbled through the lines of “Xiaoyaoyou,” mispronouncing words and skipping characters they did not know. The Academic Representative stood before them like a little teacher. “That is ‘ao’ in the fourth tone, and ‘e’ in the fourth tone, not ‘yu’.”

“Alright, I will now explain the meaning of the key terms. You will translate them back to me later. If you get it right, you can leave.”

The delinquents looked defeated. One thought, “Do not explain. Just kill me instead. Death would be less painful than this.”

Monkey watched from the side, terrified. He whispered to Black Bear, “This move is too cruel. It is a silent kill. My six brothers are surely depressed to death. Studying is more painful than dying for them. They will definitely have nightmares tonight. I once dreamed a math problem was chasing me and woke up in a cold sweat.”

Black Bear replied with lingering fear, “This little brother’s ideas are vicious. He knows exactly how to hit our weak points. Making them wash dishes for another hour would not have been this painful.”

Monkey agreed, “Our lives as underachievers are truly miserable!”

One of the boys tried to catch Monkey’s eye, hoping for a rescue. Before Monkey could notice, the Academic Representative caught him. “What is wrong? Is something wrong with your eyes?”

“No,” the boy replied. “I think some sand got in them.”

None of them could figure out why this little four-eyed guy was so intimidating when it came to studying. If he were always this fierce, they would never have dreamed of robbing him.

“Fine, then I will continue,” the Academic Representative said. He went on to explain the different grammatical uses of the word ‘er.’ The underachievers were stunned. It was just a simple conjunction! How could it have so many different meanings?

“Do you understand?” the Academic Representative asked.

Facing the sharp gaze behind the glasses, the six underachievers nodded quickly. “We… we understand.”

“Good. Then I will pick someone to translate.” He scanned the row and pointed to the scarred lackey. “You translate it.”

The others breathed a sigh of relief. The scarred lackey felt the bond of brotherhood had reached its end.

“You do not know how?” the Academic Representative issued the “death question.”

The scarred lackey scrambled to reply, “I do, I do! I am just preparing my emotions.” He braced himself and began a nonsensical translation about a happy little bird that could not fly high and eventually ended up a thousand miles away.

The Academic Representative’s brow furrowed. “That is completely wrong. This is how it is translated.”

The six underachievers wanted to cry. The text was still so long! They could recognize the individual characters, but when put together, they understood nothing. It was infuriating. Since they had no foundation, they still could not learn it even after several explanations. The normally good-tempered Academic Representative finally lost his patience. He rolled up the book and smacked each of them on the head.

“How can you still not translate it? I have translated every single word for you! Surely you can form a sentence? You clearly were not listening!”

“We were listening,” a lackey whispered.

“Then how can you not know it? Do not tell me you are stupid. There are no stupid students, only lazy ones. Do not belittle yourselves!”

The lackey felt wronged. He had studied harder today than he ever had before his final exams. “It is not just us. Even our boss does not know how to do it.” He was so desperate that he dragged Monkey down with him.

Black Bear and Monkey were stunned. The Academic Representative shoved the book into Monkey’s arms and said with full authority, “You are their boss. You translate it and set an example for them.”

“Which sentence?” Monkey asked.

“I will find an easy one for you,” the Academic Representative said. “This one: Small knowledge is not as good as great knowledge; a short life is not as good as a long life.”

Sweating profusely, Monkey looked at the classical text that seemed like a secret code. Under the sharp gaze, he ventured, “Knowing a little is not as good as knowing everything. Also, celebrating the Preliminary New Year is not as happy as celebrating the Lunar New Year!”

A lackey praised him sincerely from the side, “As expected of our Boss! The translation is so fluent and creative! I never would have thought of that!”

Monkey acted proud. “If you were better than me, you would be the boss! Learn from this; it is called talent.”

The Academic Representative let out a cold laugh. “Celebrating the Lunar New Year? Why don’t you just say that Student Preliminary New Year is not as tall as Student Lunar New Year? Why are you just standing there? Get over here and study! What kind of nonsense is this translation? Is this how you repay your teachers?”

He then turned his gaze toward Black Bear. Black Bear flinched and, to avoid humiliation, quickly said, “I do not know either! I request to join the class!”

The six delinquents and the two school bullies trembled under the reign of the Academic Representative. Even when he smacked them with the book, they did not dare to make a sound, only rubbing their heads and listening in fear. The eight of them, who were so fierce on the outside, were like eight tiny quails before him.

The sky had turned dark by the time they finished half the text. The Academic Representative packed his book. “That is all for today. I will continue when I have time.”

Black Bear nearly lost his mind. “No, do not trouble yourself, Brother Xue! I will just study on my own when I get back!” The others nodded frantically.

“Fine then,” the Academic Representative said. “Study well on your own. Next time I see you, I will quiz you on your progress.”

The eight students were nearly moved to tears as he prepared to leave. They shouted in unison, “Goodbye, Brother Xue!”

As Monkey watched the departing figure, he said in pain, “I swear I will never set foot near the First Middle School again for the rest of my life. You can enjoy the follow-up quizzes on your own.”

Monkey’s subordinates nodded in agreement. Black Bear felt truly abandoned. Waa, everyone is bullying me!

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