While everyone was busy congratulating Lin Feilong, his gaze swept across to Shi Feng in the corner of the room, a hint of displeasure in his eyes.
He was the pride of the class, a future star — and this bottom-of-the-barrel student didn't even bother to come and butter him up.
After a round of flattery, Lin Feilong finally let everyone return to their seats.
"Thank you all for your encouragement. Please quiet down — I came here today because I wanted to discuss something," Lin Feilong said.
Hearing Lin Feilong's words, everyone perked up and listened attentively. Only Shi Feng had no interest in whatever Lin Feilong had to say.
But once he actually heard the words, even Shi Feng couldn't help but pay attention.
"It's about the school recommendation quota," Lin Feilong said calmly. "As you all know, I've devoted myself to martial arts, and my grades haven't been ideal, which means the recommendation quota has become a problem. So I'd like to ask everyone to give up one of your spots. The school has already agreed to this, so I wanted to discuss it with you all."
"Brother Long, what's the big deal? You've brought honor to our class — it's just one recommendation spot. One word from you, and anyone in the class would gladly give it up," a sycophantic boy said with a grin.
Though this sentiment got nods of agreement from the whole class, nobody actually stood up to volunteer their spot.
After all, finding a job out there was incredibly tough. Big companies valued this recommendation far more than any so-called diploma. If you gave yours away to someone else, what would become of you?
As for those who had no chance of getting a recommendation in the first place, they naturally had nothing to lose by running their mouths — they kept egging others on like a bunch of hotheads.
Seeing that no one volunteered, Lin Feilong's expression turned somewhat dark.
"Since everyone's so enthusiastic, it's hard for me to choose. How about this — we'll do a show of hands vote," Lin Feilong said with a smile.
"That's a great idea! Brother Long is so smart."
"Let's tally it up then."
The hotheads sprang to their feet, grins of schadenfreude plastered across their faces.
Sitting in his corner all this while, Shi Feng suddenly understood what was going on.
Damn — so it was this guy who stole his recommendation spot.
A surge of fury rose in Shi Feng's heart. In his previous life, he'd been an absolute fool to have cooperated with Lin Feilong. But not this time around. If Lin Feilong wanted to come after him, he wouldn't hesitate to hit back.
Perhaps carrying over from his previous life, the class vote went exactly the same way — straight to Shi Feng's unwanted "throne."
"Classmate Shi Feng, you're so lucky. I'm honestly a little jealous."
"Now that Brother Long has your back, Shi Feng, you should thank us."
The whole class chimed in with their congratulations, as if Shi Feng had just won a five-million-dollar lottery.
"Classmate Shi Feng, thank you so much. After school today, I'll treat you to a round of drinks at the Maple Leaf Bar," Lin Feilong said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, completely dismissive of Shi Feng. There wasn't a shred of genuine gratitude in his words — only contempt. Then he turned to the others and added, "Of course, I'll be treating everyone too. Let's have a good time tonight."
"Hold on." Shi Feng spoke up suddenly.
Every pair of eyes in the classroom snapped toward him. If Shi Feng hadn't spoken up, the others would have probably forgotten he existed by now.