Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Zhao Youyue had even consulted her stupid mom regarding the Student Council matters. She did not even attempt to conceal her own wild ambitions.

Wang Hua was the Assistant Dean of the Literature Department – an extremely important figure in Jiangnan University. Zhao Youyue would not have to worry about failing a subject. With her study skills, it was practically impossible to fail any subjects.

Such students were not altogether uncommon in the world. They would not just be working hard in their studies, they would also be working hard on improving their interpersonal relationships. This way, the idiom, ‘When difficulties arise in one place, aid pours in from everywhere’ could be applied to their exams. Even if their abysmal scores were impossible to justify – they could choose to contact their lecturers and send them some gifts. They would beg, clawing the earth for the borderline sixty marks. As long as the lecturer had a heart made of softer materials than stone, any lecturer would help out.

Of course, this was only a possibility, provided that the student was in a good relationship with the lecturer. If not, the lecturer would not even spare the gift a second glance.

Afterall, no student would throw gifts to their lecturers unconditionally. Even then, such students were highly sparse. Even if many students knew of the benefits they could earn from bootlicking their lecturers, a majority of them would not do it. Firstly, their hides were not that thick. Secondly, they were too lazy. Gaming in their dormitories was a better use of their time.

Lazy university students would sleep on the teacher’s desk if provided the opportunity. But there would be varying degrees of laziness. One type would be failing subjects to the left and right, while the other would always graze through with borderline scores.

Both types of lazy students would retort with the identical – “Study? What’s the use of that!” However, the end result would be completely different.

Unsurprisingly, Wang Hua was a highly popular goddess professor at Jiangnan University. Some otaku fanboys would even confess to her, “Mrs, I… I like you.” Her failure rate was also practically non-existent. After all, literature was a ridiculously simple subject. Write some bullshit, fill your paper with ink; who is to stop you from passing?

Pure literature carried no truth of its own. People could interpret and fabricate their own truths from any angle possible. The two of you would see the same object, but your mind would cast a different light on it, and a different shadow would be produced. It was nothing like those science-based examinations. You can only be wrong, or right – it was binary. This was why science majors failed most of the time…

Wang Hua was an awful writer, but a semi-decent lecturer. She was knowledgeable and had the most creative methods of getting her points across. Most importantly, she was beautiful. After all that, it would be very odd to be unpopular!

Being the daughter of her stupid mom was a trump card in itself. If used at a crucial juncture, it would be a game-changer – especially during the election…

However, there was a need for her to hide her identity for now. Showing her hand too early would only turn her into a half-wit.

“Lazy egg, are you serious?” Wang Hua finally noticed something. She had always been slow to the uptake, but she would eventually get there, regardless. While peeling an apple for her daughter, she peered over her shoulder and saw her daughter researching the previous Student Council Presidents. Even that wealth of information had failed to satisfy her little sloth, and that sloth was actually probing her for even more details…

Wang Hua initially thought that her daughter was just caught up in the heat of the moment. As things were right now, her daughter had clearly set her heart on it. That scheming, devious little sloth…

“Of course I am serious. I did not know that university-level Student Councils would be this awesome.” Zhao Youyue, said sounding hurt. Her mother was always underestimating her.

“I think you’re overestimating them. Even if the Student Council President position is as powerful as you’re making it out to be, nobody could remain there for long. It’s precisely because of that brief candle, that the officials have no qualms giving them that much power. They’re counting on that short career to restrict what the Student Council President could do,” Wang Hua went on, “The Studen Council President is almost always a junior student. Retaining power for a single semester would already be nothing short of a miracle. So what if you burn brightly if it’s too brief for anyone to take notice? It’s an illusion of real power.”

“Well, let me ask you a question. If a person becomes the Student Council President, could they abolish any clubs or associations at their own discretion? For example, the Newspaper Club or something like that, hehe” Zhao Youyue seemed to just breeze over that club’s name, using it as an example.

“Only in theory, but no Student Council President would abuse their powers like that. The most they could do is choke their fundings out… The Newspaper Club is a major club. They work closely with the Student Council’s Publicity Department. The President of the Newspaper club could even use this as a springboard to directly join the Student Council, conveniently becoming the Assistant Department Head of the Publicity Department. All things said, no Student Council President would mess around with the Newspaper Club. It almost has the Student Council at its mercy. If anything, they would only increase their funds. After all, the school newspaper and magazine, ‘Jiangnan Style,’ is highly popular among the students. It is even circulated in other Jiangnan Province universities. Can you imagine how much backing the Newspaper Club has?” Wang Hua explained in detail.

She was on rather good terms with the Newspaper Club. At times, the magazine would invite Wang Hua – the ‘popular pure literature author’ to contribute to the magazine. The payment would something like RMB 2000 for one thousand words. This classified them as nothing more than short stories. The editors of the school-run magazine had never actually considered asking her for full-length novels.

Wang Hua could see through their intentions like clear glass. They were simply expressing their goodwill to her, giving her face…

“Tsk. Looks like the Newspaper Club is pretty impressive. No wonder…” Zhao Youyue’s smile only grew.

She had initially wanted to become the Student Council President, earning its special privileges and the power to do whatever she desired. Then she would ‘kill off’ a particularly narcissistic senior. Now that she had learned more about the situation, it would not be as easy as she thought.

But this was the exhilarating challenge she lacked in life, right?

“Wait a minute. Mom, you said that the Newspaper Club President could join the Student Council’s Publicity Department in some way and become its Assistant Head Department? Does this mean that as long as you are the President of a Club, you could become an Assistant Department Head of a department in the Student Council? Doesn’t this immediately make that person eligible to run for the Student Council President election?” Zhao Youyue asked, as if she had seen a new light.

Wang Hua opened her mouth to deny it. She haltingly changed her mind, settling for a nod instead. “Well, here’s how things work. In theory, a President of a Club is equivalent to an Assistant Department Head of a Student Council. But we only see that in clubs that the Student Council keeps close to its heart. What chances would Presidents of tiny clubs have? Furthermore, many Department Secretaries and Officials would have their eyes on the Assistant Department Head position. That particular club’s President has to be well-liked and highly capable in order to heads and shoulders above his counterparts and be picked for the position.”

Wang Hua’s remarks had made it clear to her lazy egg – life had no simple shortcuts. The Student Council valued experience above all else. She should join the Student Council and start on the first rung. This was the Kingly way [1]!

However, Zhao Youyue was not Bai Yunshan. She had no respect for law and order.

Translation note:

[1] “Kingly way” (王道) refers to ‘the pathway of a King.’ It means choosing the correct procedures and methods.