64: Chapter 64 The Vice President's "Unequal Treaty"

Huang Mao stood in front of the desk, looking at the spirited girl with short hair before him, his mouth twitching slightly.

Although he had heard it many times, he felt uncomfortable every time he heard this title from Jiang Mengshu's lips.

Especially with her current crisp outfit of a white shirt and black trousers, it always gave him the illusion that he was filming some abstract workplace drama.

"Say, Vice President Jiang, can we please change this title a little?"

Huang Mao sighed helplessly, pulled over a chair from the side, and straddled it without any regard for his image.

"President is fine, but where did this shameful title of 'President' come from?"

Jiang Mengshu heard this, but instead of changing her tune, she raised an eyebrow, a hint of teasing amusement flashing in her eyes.

She neatly stacked the files on the corner of the desk, sat back down elegantly in her swivel chair, and crossed her stunningly long legs.

"What? Is this title not good? I think it suits your current temperament quite well."

She leaned forward slightly, the collar of her white shirt loosening a bit with the movement, revealing a section of fair, delicate collarbone.

"Besides, in my view, the President of the Student Union at this school has only ever been you from start to finish."

"As for that guy who barely even comes to the office, he's just a clown, you don't need to worry about him."

Huang Mao rubbed his temples, thinking that this girl's obsession was still as strong as ever; it had been over half a semester and she still remembered.

"Fine, fine, fine, suit yourself. But let's skip the 'President' part, it sounds like some weird workplace cosplay."

He waved his hand, clearly not wanting to dwell on this topic for too long; after all, he had serious business to attend to today.

Jiang Mengshu pursed her lips and smiled, her originally cold and spirited face revealing a touch of water-like tenderness in that instant.

"Alright then, since President... oh no, since President has spoken, I will temporarily remove the suffix."

She tilted her head, her short hair swaying with the movement, looking unexpectedly and inexplicably cute.

"So, former 'class monitor', having specifically deigned to visit me today, do you have any instructions?"

Huang Mao was transported back to high school by her calling him "class monitor"; back then, the two of them were indeed a legitimate pair of lead and deputy partners.

Only, back then, Jiang Mengshu was a quiet girl with long, flowing hair; who could have imagined she would become this spirited after entering university?

"Instructions is too strong a word; I'm here to ask for help. Take a look at this first; I assume you don't pay much attention to this kind of thing, so you probably don't know yet."

As he spoke, Huang Mao took out his phone, opened the pinned exposé post, and pushed it directly in front of Jiang Mengshu.

Jiang Mengshu took the phone, her eyes lingering on the clear candid photo for a few seconds, her pupils slightly contracting.

It was a very subtle look, as if carrying a trace of inexplicable pleasure, yet it was hidden so well by her, or perhaps it wasn't there at all.

"Yo, President, is this your so-called 'serious business'?"

Jiang Mengshu looked up, a look of surprise and unexpectedness on her face, with a tone that held a hint of teasing.

"The Iceberg Campus Belle Leng Qingxuan, she's known throughout our school as a flower that's hard to pick, yet you've secretly won her over?"

As she spoke, she scrolled through the comment section on the screen, the corners of her mouth curling into an amused arc.

"It seems that during the time I wasn't by your side, the President's extracurricular life has been much more exciting than I imagined."

"Tsk tsk, sitting side-by-side in an empty classroom, this atmosphere, this lighting—it's a pity the person who posted this didn't become a photographer."

Huang Mao looked at her expression of enjoying the chaos, knowing that this girl's old habit had flared up again; she loved watching him be embarrassed.

"Don't guess blindly, it's just a normal classmate relationship. I happened to have something to handle in the classroom that day, and I ended up being set up."

He tapped the tabletop, adding calmly, "So, what do you say? Can you help me deal with it?"

Jiang Mengshu put down the phone, rested her chin on her hands, and stared at Huang Mao with sparkling eyes, as if she had discovered a new world.

"I'm not surprised by the post itself, but that you, President, would actually come to me for help for something like this."

"I thought that after you left the Student Union, you hated it to the core, and even put me on your blacklist, intending to never have anything to do with me for the rest of your life."

Her words carried an imperceptible resentment, and combined with that cold voice, it made Huang Mao feel uneasy.

"How could that be? Even if I blacklisted everyone in the school, I wouldn't dare to blacklist you, Vice President Jiang."

Huang Mao chuckled, his tone softening, "Besides, you know me; I'm not the type of person who runs into things worth asking for your help with."

"It's just that when I ran into a problem that was hard to solve, you were the first person I thought of."

Hearing the words "first person," Jiang Mengshu's eyes clearly brightened, and the lines on her face softened completely.

She sat up straight again, her whole person radiating an aura of being in control, much like a female general about to go to war.

"Since the President has said so, then I, as your former 'deputy,' naturally have an unshirkable duty."

Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the desk; she clearly already had a plan in mind.

"Actually, this kind of thing is very simple to handle; the people in the campus forum management department have received plenty of favors from me."

"I'll just have them dox the poster in the backend and dig out their IP and identity information; it's not difficult."

Huang Mao raised an eyebrow, thinking that this was just like her; her simple and violent style really hadn't changed at all, going straight to doxing.

"And after you dox them? You can't just drag them into a dark room and electrocute them with a stun baton, right? This is a law-abiding campus."

He said jokingly, but inwardly he was sighing; Jiang Mengshu's swift and decisive methods were indeed most suitable for the Student Union.

"That's something only someone brainless like Zhao Yu would do; I'm not that low-class."

Jiang Mengshu pursed her lips in disdain, then revealed a slightly sinister smile.

"I'll have people directly 'invite' that student who posted it for a cup of tea, and then point him toward a clear path."

She paused, her tone carrying a hint of confidence in controlling the situation as she began to explain her plan.

"Just have him say that he had some personal grudge against you, and since AI photo editing technology is so powerful lately, and he remembered that you happened to be in the same class as School Beauty Leng,"

"He thought it would be fun, so he casually made one, removed the watermark, and posted it to the campus forum."

"He didn't expect the effect to be so realistic, and it ended up causing such a huge misunderstanding."

"As long as he comes out to post a clarification himself, and also releases the screenshot evidence of using AI, this matter will be settled."

Jiang Mengshu smiled at Huang Mao, "By then, public opinion will naturally reverse, and everyone will just think it was the power of technology."

"Even if some people don't believe it, the comment section will have 'great scholars to argue for me'."

"How about it? Is President satisfied with this 'AI scapegoat method'?"

After listening, Huang Mao couldn't help but give her a thumbs up; this plan was absolutely perfect, preserving his reputation while explaining the source.

"As expected of you, there's really no fault to find with this method. Then I'll have to trouble Vice President Jiang to make a trip?"

He stood up to leave; after all, the sooner this was handled, the sooner he could go back and take a nap on his desk.

However, Jiang Mengshu made no move to see him out; instead, she clicked the mouse a couple of times and sighed softly.

"Oh dear, but look, President, I still have so many files to process on hand; I'm really quite busy."

She looked at the few files on the desk with very exaggerated acting, her eyes clearly saying, "I'm busy."

Huang Mao's steps faltered; looking at her expression and that overly obvious look in her eyes, he knew that this free lunch wasn't going to be easy to swallow.

He sat back down in the chair, arms crossed, with an expression that said he saw through everything, "Alright, stop acting, speak."

"What reward does Vice President Jiang want? Or... what condition?"

Seeing that he had taken the bait, Jiang Mengshu immediately dropped the exaggerated acting, smiling like a little fox that had stolen a fish.

"President really understands me; since that's the case, I won't be polite."

She extended three fingers, white and delicate as jade, and waved them in front of Huang Mao, "For my part, I have three small requests that I don't consider excessive."

Huang Mao looked at those three fingers, his eye twitching involuntarily.

"What is the standard for your so-called 'not excessive'? I don't think you'll let me off easily."

He shook his head with a bitter smile, though inwardly he was already prepared to be "fleeced."

"Don't worry, it's absolutely within your capabilities; I wouldn't bear to make things too difficult for you."

Jiang Mengshu blinked, and beneath that spirited disguise, she rarely revealed a trace of the slyness belonging to a young girl.

"After all, when have I ever dared to 'rebel against my superior'? I've always been very obedient."

Seeing this, Huang Mao sighed helplessly.

"Fine, fine, fine, I agree. Tell me the first one, let me prepare myself mentally."

He sighed, striking a pose of being ready for the slaughter; who told him he really needed Jiang Mengshu's help right now?

Jiang Mengshu's eyes suddenly became somewhat distant, as if passing through the fog of time, returning to a certain summer of cicadas chirping.

She turned slightly to the side, pointing to her somewhat stiff shoulders, a hint of nostalgia in her tone.

"Recently, processing all these trivial school affairs has made my shoulders ache terribly; I feel like I'm falling apart."

She looked at Huang Mao, her eyes flickering with a subtle expectation, as if waiting for some kind of ritual.

"The first request is to ask President to massage my shoulders."

"Just like... when we were in high school."

Her voice lowered, carrying a hint of intimacy that only the two of them could hear, "Can you? Class monitor."

Huang Mao was stunned; there really was such a thing in his memory.

Back then, because Jiang Mengshu was too outstanding, besides her work as deputy class monitor, she had many other things to do.

She complained to him that the immense pressure kept her awake at night, and her shoulders ached.

It made him, who was nominally the class monitor but actually slacked off all day, unable to stand it, so he suggested massaging her shoulders.

He just didn't expect that after so much time had passed, this girl would still remember such a trivial matter.

"What do I know about massage? Back then, wasn't I just messing around?"

Huang Mao shook his head with a bitter smile.

"What if I mess you up? I can't afford to compensate for such a big Vice President."

"It doesn't matter, I like it when you mess around like that."

Jiang Mengshu turned around, her back to Huang Mao, and subconsciously raised her hand, as if wanting to brush her hair forward, but her movements paused.

She didn't have that long hair from back then anymore...

However, she didn't daze for long; she immediately recovered her state and brought her hands to her front.

"Come on, President. This is the reward I deserve; you can't go back on your word."

Huang Mao looked at her slender yet straight back, stood up helplessly, and slowly walked behind her.

Inside the office, the cool scent of cedar seemed to become a bit richer, mixed with a hint of faint ambiguity.