Chapter 207: Li Wu's Counterattack
Chapter 207: Li Wu's Counterattack
Li Wu struggled to calm himself down and asked, "What's going on?"
Zhao Kai Ming hesitated, "Well, I just discussed the team leader position with Old Zhang, and everything was settled. But then Old Li intervened, and the deal fell through."
Kai Ming felt embarrassed, almost apologetic. He started by throwing someone under the bus, and then proceeded to explain the situation to Li Wu.
In short, the team leader position for next year's University League was already promised to someone else.
It wasn't a case of backdoor favoritism.
If anything, Li Wu was the one who benefited from such practices.
Li Wu was determined to become the team leader of Jiangnan University, while the promised leader was someone the university begged to take the role.
After all, Jiangnan University had been struggling recently.
For several consecutive years, their rankings in the University League were abysmal, causing the university's overall ranking to plummet.
On top of that, the university was facing financial issues.
If Jiangnan University couldn't perform well in next year's league and secure more resources, they might be swallowed up by Northern Jiang after the year was over.
So, to protect Jiangnan, Vice Chancellor Li Ming Rui pulled all the strings he could and spent a lot of effort to find someone he believed could help the university in next year's competition.
How could they possibly give up the position just because Li Wu wanted it? Furthermore, although they had confidence in Li Wu, it was still about his future. Li Wu hadn't even enrolled yet, and they couldn't possibly entrust such an important role and task to him.
"So, Old Li's suggestion is for you to gain experience for a year, and the team leader position will be yours next year!"
Zhao Kai Ming carefully explained everything.
Meanwhile, Li Wu had already calmed down by the time he finished listening.
"Alright, I understand the situation," he said.
In fact, if Zhao Kai Ming hadn't initially guaranteed that he could handle it, the matter would have been simple for Li Wu.
It was just an obstacle in Li Wu's path to becoming the team leader of Jiangnan University.
Li Wu was prepared for such hurdles, and removing them was a straightforward task.
However, for now, the team leader position had to be put on hold.
At the very least, he would have to wait until the start of school to meet this obstacle face-to-face.
With some time before the semester began, Li Wu decided to use it to tackle the issues of debt evasion and plagiarism.
Hanging up the call with Zhao Kai Ming, Li Wu rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
These two matters seemed troublesome, but Li Wu knew they were actually quite simple to resolve.
He had numerous ways to deal with them.
However, his mood wasn't the best, so he chose the most satisfying method for himself.
...
As Li Wu pondered his approach, far away in the Northern Jiang Vocational Cultivation Center, someone was in high spirits.
His name was Shi Ying, the director responsible for verifying cultivation programs at the center.
His job was lucrative, and with courage and meticulousness, he often found opportunities for promotion and wealth within his work.
Recently, he had seized an opportunity to make a small fortune, and perhaps even greater prospects awaited him.
Some time ago, an order came from above to suppress a cultivator from Jiangnan, and the task fell into Shi Ying's hands.
As an exceptional bureaucrat, Shi Ying might not excel at everything, but when it came to suppressing others, he had his methods.
Coincidentally, the targeted cultivator had submitted a cultivation program, so Shi Ying immediately took it and left it untouched, intending to cause trouble.
Initially, Shi Ying only wanted to pressure the cultivator, but to his surprise, they remained calm. Even when their program was withheld, they didn't react, and when Shi Ying tried to provoke them, they didn't take the bait."
Eventually, when the program was returned, they didn't rush to resubmit it, giving Shi Ying another chance to suppress them.
This made Shi Ying, who already felt he wasn't doing enough to suppress the target, very uncomfortable.
So, he changed tactics and found an amateur cultivator to submit the program first.
Shi Ying quickly approved it, claiming the program's reward before the original cultivator could react.
This was a disgusting move and a severe violation of regulations.
But Shi Ying didn't care.
On one hand, he was suppressing the target as instructed by a higher-up.
Moreover, he had used a proxy, so any investigation wouldn't lead back to him.
Furthermore, seeking justice for such a cultivation program was extremely complicated. Even if the cultivator complained to the Vocational Center headquarters, without sufficient evidence, it would only lead to a drawn-out dispute.
Even if they had enough evidence to bring him down, it wouldn't matter. Shi Ying would take all the blame, as it wasn't a significant issue, and headquarters left the matter for the Northern Jiang side to handle.
Shi Ying was serving the bigwigs of Northern Jiang, so the final outcome would likely be a subtle promotion.
He had already thought this through.
Whether the cultivator chose to endure silently or make a fuss, it wouldn't affect Shi Ying. It might even provide him with an opportunity to climb higher.
So, Shi Ying secretly hoped that Li Wu would blow this matter out of proportion, giving him a chance to prove his loyalty to the big shots.
And this very idea of Shi Ying's was not lost on the big shots he was working for.
They intentionally turned a blind eye to Shi Ying's actions, even subtly encouraging him from behind the scenes.
The reason was simple: they wanted to bully Li Wu.
The Jiangbei side had ample reasons to pick on Li Wu. On a smaller scale, they blamed Li Wu for Team 001's failure to make it to the top eight, and on a larger scale, they believed Li Wu had interfered with Jiangnan University's plans.
Furthermore, Li Wu's recent acquisition of a stepmother added fuel to the fire.
But the primary reason was Li Wu's innate talent.
Since Li Wu's emergence, his information had been in the hands of the Jiangbei leadership.
A year ago, Li Wu was just a poor student.
His academic performance always hovered around the passing line, but after summoning the Little Skeleton, it was as if a light bulb had turned on in his head.
Within just six months, he had reached the level of a professional cultivator.
Li Wu's breeding programs for goblins and little skeletons impressed cultivators in the field, but what was even more astonishing was that he seemed to have already mastered the evolution plan for little skeletons. The Jiangnan side had been verifying this very plan all this time.
Once this verification was successful, the Jiangnan side would likely take the opportunity to promote Li Wu to the position of a master cultivator.
This was something the Jiangbei side did not want to see.
Therefore, they had to suppress Li Wu.
They didn't aim to completely crush Li Wu but to ensure he would be ineffective for the next year.
To achieve this, the Jiangbei side prepared a comprehensive plan specifically for Li Wu.
What Li Wu saw now was just the first step.
In the office of the Jiangbei person in charge, Jiangbei Feng, who had been removed from his position, revealed his entire plan to the principal of Jiangbei University and the head of the Jiangbei Cultivation Center, Lin Huai.
"According to the information we received, Li Wu has already returned from the Heritage Ground.
He just called to demand payment, and at most, it will take a day, or perhaps he has already discovered the plagiarism.
Based on my understanding of him, he has an extremely small heart.
First, Jiangbei avoided payment, and now this incident happened. With his personality, he will definitely not let it go.
So he will definitely make a big fuss, as big as he can.
And I have already prepared a plan for him here, just waiting for him to make a scene."
Jiangbei Feng paused for a moment, and the principal, Lin Huai, was a good straight man, quickly asking, "What plan?"
Jiangbei Feng smiled, his mouth curling up.
"You tell me, if someone tells you that a teenager has become a master-level cultivator in just one year, wouldn't you be surprised and a little suspicious?"
"What do you mean?" Lin Huai caught on.
Jiangbei Feng lifted his chin, "I don't mean anything. I just want to provide a possibility to the public.
Is it possible that this genius persona is fake?
Is it possible that many of his research works are plagiarized?
Did he use someone's influence to take credit for others' work?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Huai couldn't help but gasp.
Jiangbei Feng's move was not just a simple threat.
Jiangbei Feng wanted Li Wu to make a big fuss about the plagiarism, and then he would follow up with his own actions.
He would gather evidence and manipulate public opinion.
He would turn the tables and throw the blame back on Li Wu.
Rumors are easy to spread, but clarifying them is not so simple.
And Li Wu is just a teenager, his character not yet fully formed. If he is seriously injured by these rumors and unable to clarify them, he may never recover and be destroyed by this incident.
"Based on my understanding of him, rumors won't destroy him, but they will make him suffer.
In the short term, he won't be able to move on from this incident.
The most important thing is that with these rumors as a foundation, even if the Jiangnan side verifies the evolution plan for the Little Skeleton Mage after some time, we will have an excuse to prevent Li Wu from becoming a master.
As long as we can delay it for a year or two, by then, Jiangnan will have become a part of us in Jiangbei, and Li Wu's achievements will not only have no impact on us but will make us even stronger.
Jiangbei Feng's tactics are as dirty as ever.
After dirtying the high school league, he is now dirtying Li Wu.
However, as dirty as these tactics are, the big shots in Jiangbei still like them.
Lin Huai immediately agreed, giving Jiangbei Feng full authority over this matter.
And this was exactly what Jiangbei Feng wanted.
He had messed up the high school league in Jiangnan, losing 50,000 points, which caused many in Jiangbei to have opinions about him.
He even lost his original position as the director of admissions.
But temporary setbacks don't matter.
As long as Jiangbei Feng can handle this matter, he can not only make up for his previous mistakes but also move forward.
Thinking about it, Jiangbei Feng couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Just as Jiangbei Feng was getting excited, his phone rang. He picked it up, and his expression changed, cursing, "Damn you, Li Wu..."
(End of Chapter)
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