Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Playing the Victim—Who Can’t?

In the Publicity Department office, several staff members were busy flattering Katherine North.

"Minister, I think you’re definitely going to win the campus beauty contest this time!"

"Anyway, I’ve cast all my votes for you, Minister!"

"Exactly, that girl named Cecilia, don’t even know where she came from, really annoying..."

According to them, Katherine North had the campus beauty contest in the bag, until Cecilia suddenly signed up...

Such a scheming show-stealer, audaciously hiring people to vote for her so-called angelic beauty; no wonder she’d be targeted by Katherine North.

Serves her right.

...

Hearing the compliments from her subordinates, Katherine North’s vanity swelled instantly, a faint smile played on her lips, making her look extremely gentle.

"You all better not say that, wouldn’t be good if Classmate Vaughn came back and heard it."

"Hey, Minister, don’t pretend. We all know about that pile of pamphlets; it’d take four or five guys to lift it. How could a single girl possibly move it?"

"Exactly, the storage room is two whole teaching buildings away from our office!"

"Haha, maybe she’s already crying her eyes out seeing that pile of books now!"

Katherine North didn’t say anything, while the surrounding colleagues imagined that scene and burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.

...

In the storage room, Cecilia Vaughn, who was maliciously speculated to be on the brink of tears, had an emotionless expression as she casually scanned the two heavy boxes of promotional materials.

Such a pathetic tactic, and they actually think it’s okay to use it to trouble a girl.

After a brief consideration, she thought of a solution to move the boxes, though dealing with the books was easy; letting Katherine North’s tactic slide without reprisal was indeed frustrating.

Cecilia took out her phone and noticed several messages on WeChat.

—— Publicity Department take note, the chairman will be inspecting in about ten minutes, don’t be lazy, beautiful ladies and handsome gentlemen.

Upon seeing the student council group notice at the top, her eyes lit up quickly.

Student council chairman... Ian Zane...

Cecilia immediately clicked on the other party’s WeChat profile, discovering he was a junior in the Architecture Department.

She then searched online for comments on Ian Zane by name, finding they were decent, all saying he was fair and righteous.

Hmm, as long as his character is decent.

...

A plan quickly formed in Cecilia’s mind, she opened the school’s micro-help app, selected a $50 commission, and soon several guys came to help her carry the items.

The boys arrived at the storage room and upon seeing Cecilia’s unrivaled beauty, blushed one by one.

"Wow, Missy, how could anyone bear to let you do such laborious work!"

"Exactly, even for four guys, moving these two big boxes to the student council would be exhausting."

"Missy, you’ve got it tough, we’ll do this job for free, we don’t need that $50."

Hearing them, Cecilia knew they mainly offered because of her looks, she shook her head with a calm expression.

"It’s okay, the fee is rightfully yours, just take it, no need to be polite."

The boys exchanged glances; honestly, they had encountered girls relying on their looks to avoid payment, but Cecilia wasn’t like that, increasing their goodwill towards her.

...

With many hands helping, the two big boxes of books were quickly carried up to the student council’s Publicity Department.

The boys, now drenched in sweat, lingered by the office door due to Cecilia, reluctant to leave and hoping to get her WeChat contact somehow.

Meanwhile, everyone in the Publicity Department eyed the two boxes with wide-eyed surprise.

"Cecilia, how did you bring them over?"

A long-braided girl spotted those boys outside the office and immediately made a snarky remark.

"Some people, always using their beauty to flirt around, huh? See, got the guys to do all the work for her!"

...

Katherine North also showed disapproval on her face, ready to exploit the situation further when Cecilia cheerfully cut her off.

"Minister, slander carries responsibility, doesn’t it? I haven’t flirted with anyone."

Katherine furrowed her elegant brows, as if she didn’t believe it one bit.

"Oh, really? Then who are those boys outside?"

Cecilia nonchalantly shrugged.

"Those are the guys I paid to come move the books."

...

The girl paused for a moment, seemingly recalling something as she extended her hand towards Katherine North.

"Right, Minister, the earlier milk tea money and moving the books fee, you can cover the total of 200 from the public fund, right?"

Katherine frowned: "I never mentioned moving the books could be deduced from the public funds..."

Seeing Katherine refute, Cecilia wasn’t annoyed, maintaining her harmless smile.

"Hey, Minister, you asked me to move the books, there’s no way a single girl like me could manage it. You wouldn’t expect me to do it myself, would you?"

"Someone as kind and considerate as the Minister must have meant for me to hire guys to help, didn’t you?"

The words seemed complimentary, yet no matter how you looked at them, they carried an underlying mockery.

Katherine’s face turned shades of red and white; saying yes was wrong, denying was also wrong. Cecilia’s words were truly sharp!

She eventually had to swallow the frustration in silence, reluctantly nodding with a forced smile.

"Alright, Lynch, give Cecilia the 200 bucks."

...

Taking the money, Cecilia felt satisfaction swell within her, directly finding a seat and sitting down, while Katherine grew more discontent the longer she looked at her. Unable to hold back, she tossed her an assignment handed down from above.

"Cecilia, since you seem idle now, how about this, I’ve got a quarterly planning task for the Publicity Department, make one with Excel and another with PowerPoint, and submit them the day after tomorrow."

Cecilia took the assignment casually, glanced over the instructions, and curved her lips into a semi-smile. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

How amusing, should she, a newcomer utterly unfamiliar with the student council, draft a proposal purely based on imagination?

...

Katherine felt a slight tingle in her scalp upon seeing Cecilia’s odd smile.

She wanted to say something more, yet at that moment, a series of footsteps approached the doorway, led by none other than the student council president, Ian Zane!

He’s here!

Cecilia’s eyes brightened, she abruptly stood up, her eyes slightly red, appearing as if she had suffered countless grievances as she voiced her complaints.

"Minister, I’ve put up with being sent to buy everyone milk tea at first."

"Then being tasked with moving these two big boxes of books, how could a girl like me have the strength? I sought help from the guys in goodwill yet faced classmates’ blame from you."

"And now, you’re asking me, a new department member, to compile the quarterly report, is it because you dislike me that you’re persecuting me like this?"

...

As Cecilia spoke, she seemed to reach a breaking point, her tone faintly tinged with sobs.

Ha, playing the pitiful card, as if no one else could!