E-Scum Gong Chapter 23
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 23
The order of the speeches was determined by drawing lots. While the head teacher of the senior year was speaking, students were called to draw their numbers.
It was the first time the class representatives had seen Lin Xu up close. Even the most studious students, who usually kept to themselves, couldn't help but take a second look at him. They thought he was a very pleasing vase, and not at all annoying.
After drawing lots, Lin Xu stood in the corner, checked the number on his slip of paper, and saw that he had drawn number 15.
In other words, he was the last to speak.
Typically, being the first or last speaker carried more pressure. Especially if the last speaker performed poorly, it would make people feel that they were unworthy of closing the event.
Despite this, Lin Xu felt no anxiety. He returned to his seat at the front of the class and settled in, showing no concern about the speech itself.
His homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang, who was sitting next to him, encouraged him, "Lin Xu, just perform as you normally would. Don't put any psychological pressure on yourself. All your classmates will be cheering for you."
Over time, Mr. Wang had come to realize that Lin Xu was a highly diligent student. His outstanding performance in subsequent quizzes had dispelled any previous doubts.
Regardless of the situation, at least their class representative was the most pleasing to the eye.
Given the prestige of the affiliated high school, the annual oath-taking ceremonies always generated a lot of buzz around the city and were live-streamed on the school's website. Class 9 was rarely the center of attention, but this time, people might at least talk about how good-looking the boy from Class 9 was.
Ultimately, the goal was simply to lift the spirits of the students and offer some encouragement!
At this stage, it was mostly about filling in any gaps and stabilizing one's mindset. It was rare for someone like Lin Xu to emerge as a dark horse at the last minute.
Lin Xu nodded. He was actually more afraid that his classmates would go overboard with their encouragement, which would make him feel embarrassed. It was better to just let things happen naturally.
Finally, the first student took the stage.
It was the class monitor from Class 2.
The large screen began to follow him from the moment he stood up from his seat until he reached the microphone. At the same time, the school's official website had already started the live broadcast. The students below no longer had to worry about being filmed. Some even took out their phones and curiously watched the school's live broadcast.
"Wow, I didn’t expect anyone would actually watch our school’s live stream!"
"Isn’t that normal? Don’t underestimate our school. A lot of people watch it every year, mostly parents of students or people who want their kids to get into this school."
Lin Xu watched as every move of the speaker on the podium was captured by the camera. His eyelids twitched as he awaited his turn.
The class monitor from Class 2 shared some of his study methods for science subjects. Although his voice wasn’t very confident, his logic was clear and practical. Moreover, his impressive grades were a testament to his advice, setting a positive precedent.
With fifteen classes in total, listening to each speech could become tiring, especially since not all representatives were skilled speakers. After a few speeches, the students below began to selectively listen.
When students recognized that the speaker was from an experimental class, everyone put away their distractions and focused intently. However, when they saw a representative from a regular class, most students returned to their own activities, believing it wouldn’t be of much help to them.
The same was true for Class 9’s students. While they planned to listen attentively to Lin Xu's speech, they treated the other regular classes with the same indifference.
The live stream on the official website continued at a modest pace, with some parents sharing it in family group chats.
Knowing that people weren't going to pay much attention, Lin Xu had no extra thoughts. He just focused on doing his best. In fact, he felt more at ease with less scrutiny.
Aside from the enthusiastic response when the top student from Class 1 spoke, the reactions were generally lukewarm.
Finally, as the afternoon approached, and after everyone had grown tired of listening, it was Lin Xu's turn to speak as the representative of Class 9.
The camera lens zoomed in on him. Though he was dressed in the same blue and white school uniform as all the other students, he stood out sharply. His tall, upright figure and his refined, almost otherworldly face made him look like a character straight out of a manhua.
"He's from Class 9?"
"Who cares which class he’s from? I just love looking at handsome guys."
Most students were captivated by Lin Xu’s appearance, their attention focused more on admiring him than on his speech. They watched him as he made his way to the podium, bowed with practiced elegance, and took his place at the microphone.
He was giving a speech without any notes.
More than half of the students that day relied on notes, fearing an awkward stumble might be worse than reading from a script. No one had expected Lin Xu, who wasn't considered a top student, to speak without notes.
“Whatever his speech is like, I won’t complain just because of his looks.”
“Wait, I see a lot of people in the comments section of our live stream asking about him.”
“I’ll reply — rarely do we get such a handsome guy from our school.”
Once on the stage, Lin Xu shook off his nerves and threw himself fully into his presentation.
“Respected teachers, dear classmates, hello~ I am Lin Xu from Class 9 of senior year. Today, the topic of my speech is...”
His voice was as clear as morning spring water, carrying a youthful resonance that matched his unblemished appearance.
The high-quality screen in the back allowed everyone to see even the slightest furrow of his brow. Unconsciously, they found themselves drawn into his speech with genuine interest.
Lin Xu’s speech was well-structured and rich in oratory skills. It was neither a rambling monologue nor empty flowery language. Instead, he meticulously conveyed his insights and methods gained over years of study, emphasizing that both mindset and conviction were essential on the path to learning.
It wasn’t until he finished speaking that everyone realized it was over.
“Damn, his voice is so pleasant to listen to. I actually paid attention,” said a student from the experimental class.
“Honestly, I found his talk really inspiring. I was completely drawn into it.”
“The fact that he spoke without notes is impressive! I’ll never underestimate students from regular classes again. To be honest, he was more earnest and his speech was better than our class monitor’s. He definitely has the aura of a top student.”
After finishing his speech, Lin Xu felt his soul return to him. He bowed and prepared to step down. Regardless, he had completed his task with sincerity.
To his surprise, as he descended the stage, the applause that erupted was more fervent than any he had heard before.
The applause wasn’t just for his looks. Everyone genuinely felt that this regular class student had done exceptionally well!
As Lin Xu walked past the other classes on his way back, he heard some bold students call out to him, “You spoke very well!”
He nodded quickly, his earlobes turning slightly red, and hurried back to his own class. He was quite embarrassed by the praise.
After the oath-taking ceremony, the day’s event concluded successfully. They were allowed to go home and enjoy a half-day of rest.
Only then did Lin Xu truly relax. He didn’t notice the quiet discussions about him. He simply returned to the classroom to tidy up his things, went to the gym for a workout, and then headed home.
It was only at this point that Lin Xu decided to check his phone. He hadn't planned on looking at the group chat, but he noticed someone had tagged him. He was curious about what Zhizhi had chatted about today, particularly if he had talked to Zoe. So, Lin Xu began to scroll through the messages from the beginning.
There seemed to be an unusually high volume of messages today. As he scrolled, he came across pictures posted by Zoe. At first, he didn’t pay much attention, but soon, an uproar against him erupted. It was then that Lin Xu realized these were the sources of the edited photos that the original Lin Xu had used.
He remembered that the original Lin Xu's photos had been stolen from his older brother’s Moments, though he didn't know it was a hotel picture at the time. He just thought the decoration looked nice, so he used it.
Lin Xu wasn’t worried about being exposed as a fraud to the group members. His immediate concern was finding Gu Jinzhi.
There was no way to refute this, but he felt a bit relieved that Zhizhi finally knew the truth. He was prepared for any reaction, even if it meant a breakup.
However, he couldn’t delete him from his friend list. He still had to keep an eye on things to prevent Zhizhi from being deceived by Zoe.
Without finishing all the messages, he went straight to a private chat with Gu Jinzhi.
“Zhizhi, I saw the group chat… I’m not actually from a wealthy family.” He admitted it without hesitation, though he felt a bit anxious. He worried that Zhizhi might be upset, considering they had been in an online relationship for so long only to find out that he had been deceiving him.
Gu Jinzhi was not surprised by Lin Xu’s confession. He had already expected it and wasn’t particularly concerned about it. Lin Xu’s willingness to admit the truth without making excuses reassured him that he hadn’t misjudged the person.
Although Amour had initially intended to deceive him, he had not done anything truly harmful afterward, so Gu Jinzhi could forgive him.
“Gege, they’re saying you’ve been scamming people for money and sexual favors. Is that true?” Gu Jinzhi only asked this one question, his heart leaning towards him.
Lin Xu said no, and Gu Jinzhi believed him.
Lin Xu hadn’t realized things had escalated to this extent! Gu Jinzhi’s sudden question caught him off guard, and he even felt uncomfortable saying the words. He quickly and vehemently denied, “I haven’t… I haven’t scammed anyone for money… or sexual favors.”
He had never been in a relationship, so the notion was completely unbelievable to him. Wasn't this something you could only do with a partner? Or perhaps this was the trend among youths nowadays… He certainly didn't want Zhizhi to be exposed to such things, even if it was through someone else's mouth.
Aside from the watch Gu Jinzhi had given him, Lin Xu was sure the original Lin Xu hadn’t asked anyone else for gifts. He looked at his wrist in silence. If Gu Jinzhi wanted to break up, he would return the watch.
With Lin Xu’s assurance, Gu Jinzhi smiled faintly. “That's okay. Actually, I figured out long ago that you’re just an ordinary office worker, but I don’t mind. Also, I’ve been keeping something from you — I haven’t mentioned it, but my family is quite well-off.” Not revealing his wealth was a form of concealment too.
Lin Xu was taken aback and felt a bit embarrassed, thinking it should have been fairly obvious.
But he wasn’t an office worker…
“And I have a few little secrets of my own. I believe you won’t mind.” Gu Jinzhi hesitated, then decided not to reveal he wasn’t a college student, feeling age might be a big deal.
If his older boyfriend preferred younger partners, admitting his age might ruin their future given their current foundation. He thought he’d wait it out. After all, the other person lied to him first, so he could always use that as an excuse.
Lin Xu wasn’t concerned. They were still online friends, so secrets were to be expected.
“Is someone in the group saying I’m scamming…?” Lin Xu was more concerned about this. He needed to clarify the situation. He wanted to confront whoever was spreading such accusations, as it was something he neither did nor could ever do.
Gu Jinzhi casually replied, “It’s alright, it’s already been sorted. They know they were mistaken, and no one in the group is talking about it anymore.” He had already taken care of it.
“They’re now discussing some high school student. They really have no bottom line. They're even targeting a high school student,” Gu Jinzhi complained with a hint of disdain.
Although he had briefly glanced and found the high school boy quite good-looking with a pleasant voice, it had nothing to do with him — he was in a relationship now!
Lin Xu instinctively checked the latest group messages, only to see them rapidly climbing to 99+ notifications. The shared content was a video of a high school boy.
The problem was… the boy looked very familiar.
Lin Xu’s hand trembled slightly, and he felt a surge of anxiety. What was going on? He knew the school would be live-streaming, but he hadn’t anticipated it would have such a wide reach.
“Where did this video come from?” he asked Gu Jinzhi with a troubled expression.
“Ah, it's trending on the hot search now. It looks like it’s from a high school in your city,” Gu Jinzhi said. He was puzzled by his question, but he was now sure Lin Xu wasn’t a sleazy person and was feeling quite pleased.
“Why is there so much fuss about this…” Lin Xu said dryly, his eyelids twitching rapidly.
“Exactly! Now they’re obsessed with these young high school boys. It’s like an old cow eating tender grass. But I’m different — I only care about my boyfriend~ Mature men like you are much more charming!” Gu Jinzhi flattered him.
“Oh, is that so…” Lin Xu wiped his sweat, feeling it wasn’t the right time to say much more.
“Actually, the boy’s speaking voice is quite pleasant too, somewhat similar to yours. Perhaps it’s a common trait among people with nice voices. But I still think my boyfriend’s voice is more magnetic!” Gu Jinzhi showered Lin Xu with praises, clearly enjoying himself.
He was getting better at flattering people. Once Amour was completely enamored, he would likely suggest meeting in person. When their relationship was strong enough, they’d both happily head to work together!