Both Mo Bei and Fang Zheng were sitting in the classroom, looking for all the world like overworked salarymen.
Chi Chen, however, was quite happy and chipper as he approached the two of them. "Hey there, Fang Yuan's lapdog #1 and lapdog #2, how's it going?"
Both of them glared at him- his happiness and smiling face was really pissing the two of them off!
"Am I lapdog number 1 or 2 in this scenario?" Fang Zheng asked.
"Really? Is that what your first question is?" Mo Bei asked. "And as for you, all you are is salty that you didn't get the vice-president position!"
"Nah, it looks like heaven favored me in not getting it after looking at you two," Chi Chen said. "Also, why don't you two stand up for yourselves? Scared of Fang Yuan?"
"I'm not scared, I can't complain because of my family," Mo Bei said. "Fang Zheng is the one who's scared."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
Fang Zheng got up and stood indignantly. "I am not scared of him! What is he? Just because he can spout a few nonsense poems, he thought he was a big shot, didn't he- heh. Look at him now! All he is is a B-grade talent who likes bullying the weak! People keep talking about him being nice and all, but that's just a façade! I know how he's really like! He's just jealous that he couldn't be A-grade, so he's doing all of this on purpose to suppress me! He might wear a mask of being nice, but he's just a big grouch! He got so pissed off he started drinking like some wastrel, and then by dogshit luck managed to get an inheritance and now everyone praises him as if he did something great when he all he did was get wasted! He knows that if he didn't have the Liquor Worm I'd end up beating him, which is why he's out to get me! I'm the A-grade talent, he's just a B-grade knockoff! And another thing, he bullies women for no reason. Everyone thinks that he's great but he's just a stuck-up loser! And... and... he's standing right behind me, isn't he?"
Mo Bei and Chi Chen had deathly pale expressions on their faces, so Fang Zheng could think of only one reason they'd be like that.
"Was there anything else you'd like to say, vice-president?" Fang Yuan's voice came from behind him coldly.
"Uh... I uh... eh... I mean..." Fang Zheng said, slowly turning around. His brother did not look angry, still keeping that calm and indifferent expression. "I uh... managed to write a poem! I thought you'd like to read it!"
Thinking that he wanted to show Fang Yuan up one day, and so had thought that one field in which he might be able to beat Fang Yuan might, ironically, be poetry.
"Oh, let me see," Fang Yuan said, snatching the paper from Fang Zheng's hands.
"I was hanging outside with my crew,
When we decided to refine some Gu,
We worked when the sun was up,
And when it was night too."
Fang Yuan stared at the poem for two seconds before ripping it up right in front of Fang Zheng's face.
"You know, it's good that you never volunteered to recite anything back when we were younger," Fang Yuan said. "The crowd might've beaten you to death as punishment if they had to hear something like that. Tell you what, since you seem so hot-headed, I think you should take three laps around the academy to cool your head down."
Fang Zheng grit his teeth. For one, he was constantly being outshone by Fang Yuan, even now. And to have his work humiliated right in front of his face! And in front of the entire class!
But he could do nothing but curse as he went outside to start running.
The academy elder walked in. He had heard everything, though pretended not to notice.
He was perturbed by Fang Yuan's actions against an A-grade talent, but at the same time, couldn't tell Fang Yuan off. Fang Zheng, had, in badmouthing Fang Yuan, also badmouthed not only him but the clan head in a way as well! He would have to talk to Fang Zheng later. The punishment, having him run three laps, was more than adequate in his opinion though. It cemented Fang Yuan's authority, while also not causing any major problems for Fang Zheng.
Chatter was already echoing regarding what had happened.
"Wow, the relationship between those two brothers is really bad..."
"I thought twins were supposed to be close..."
"Yeah, I heard that twins could not only read each other's minds but also finish each other sentences!"
"I heard that if you hurt a twin, the other one feels pain too!"
"Yeah, but those too are nothing like that..."
The academy elder told Fang Zheng off later, in private, and the boy understood that he had crossed a line.
Over the next few days, the academy elder watched as the students began to slowly segregate themselves into groups.
There was Mo Bei's faction and Chi Chen's faction; these were students whose families were also aligned with them.
Then there was Fang Zheng's faction, mainly composed of students who backed the clan head.
These 'factions' were more of cliques at this point, and were rather amorphous and students went in and out of them, not being fixed- though these were the seeds of the future political groups in Gu Yue village.
As the year progressed, the factions would become more solidified as students realized who they wanted to support.
These usually emerged towards the latter half of the year, but there was a reason why they were forming sooner.
Normally, a class would have at most one or two B-grade talents. This time though, there were three B-grade talents and an A-grade, all of whom had the potential to be great leaders in the clan! The competition was fiercer this year, and it had precipitated in this hastened self-segregation into groups.
There was a problem though, which was greatly bothering the academy elder.
Why was there no Fang Yuan faction?
At first, he thought it was because Fang Yuan was the least illustrious of the four candidates. He was a B-grade talent unlike Fang Zheng's A-grade talent, and did not have the backing that Chi Chen and Mo Bei had.
But, he realized there was a different reason for the same.
It was that Fang Yuan was rejecting anyone who wanted to come under him to form a faction!
It was as if he were oil and the clan's social system was water. He refused to mix it at every opportunity. Even though he was class president, it was as if he had only dipped his toe in the water.
People would naturally not follow a leader like that!
That disturbed him more than anything else - it was odd. There had been students who had caused problems in the past, though Fang Yuan was not one of them.
And yet, he irritated the academy elder in a way no one else had done.
Who could live alone? Everyone needed the clan's help to survive in the future.
These actions of Fang Yuan also contrasted with his rumored generous nature that he had heard of from some of the villagers. Why was he so warm and helpful at some times, and so cold and distant at others?
The academy elder could not wrap his head around it.
Maybe, with enough time, Fang Yuan would slowly dissolve into the clan's social system. There was still much of the academic year left, after all.
And on that note, he had a flash of inspiration.