My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 138

"Then please don't ask any further questions."

This statement was made coldly, without any affectation. Perhaps this is Yang Nai's true coldness.

Then she stopped talking.

Haruno always gives off a strong, cheerful image, but when she quiets down like this, she becomes quite like Yukinoshita.

After she closed her mouth, the surrounding noise immediately increased, and I was able to hear everyone talking.

Sagami was particularly lively, with the group of people chatting and laughing.

In the midst of his excitement, Sagami raised his voice and said to everyone:

"Excuse me, could you spare a moment?"

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped talking for a moment.

Sagami stood up from his seat, looked around the room, cleared his throat slightly to prepare himself, and announced with a hint of nervousness, "Let me think about it... We are the executive committee members of the school anniversary celebration, so we should enjoy the event even more. If we ourselves don't have fun, how can we expect everyone else to have fun..."

This sentence sounds familiar...

"To fully enjoy the school anniversary celebration, we need to balance class activities. Since our work is progressing smoothly so far, should we slow down a bit?"

Sagami made this suggestion, and everyone began to consider it. As things stand, progress is indeed being managed quite well. This success is thanks to Yukino's method of identifying and resolving problems one by one.

However, Yukinoshita opposed the proposal.

"Sagamami-kun, your thinking isn't quite right. We're accelerating the schedule now to allow for a buffer period—"

At that moment, another bright voice rudely interrupted her.

"Wow, what you said is really true! When I was the class representative for the school anniversary celebration, everyone was very enthusiastic about helping with the class activities!"

Haruno seemed to be simply reminiscing about the past, and Yukinoshita gave her a reproachful look. However, Sagami felt even more reassured after hearing Haruno's words.

"Isn't that right? There's a precedent for this... That school anniversary celebration must have been quite a success, right?"

Sagami asked her to confirm, but Yukinoshita refused to answer. Sagami then took this as an affirmation and continued talking.

"Good things should be continued; that's learning from the wisdom of our predecessors, right? So we shouldn't let personal feelings interfere; we should think more about everyone."

The senior student listened to this conversation, and a complicated expression appeared on her face.

The other executive committee members exchanged glances, but ultimately accepted Sagami's proposal, offering only scattered applause. It seemed the proposal had been approved.

Thus, the Sagami South's "Return to Farming Edict" (Note 45: part of a reform implemented by Matsudaira Sadanobu during the Kansho era of the Edo period. The shogunate provided funds to encourage farmers who had migrated from the countryside to Edo to return to their villages) – no, the "Return to Rural Life Edict" – officially came into effect.

Since most people agree with this outcome, no matter how much Yukinoshita opposes it, it won't change anything. Sagami smiled contentedly, while Yukinoshita went back to work with a stern expression.

From Sagami's perspective, as the chairman of the school anniversary executive committee, he has finally done something worthwhile.

"She's absolutely right! Hachiman, don't you think?"

Yang asked me from the side.

—She must have some plan in mind for doing this.

I am well aware that it is not good to be skeptical of Yang Nai in everything.

It seems I'm really not good at dealing with this person.

× × ×

Before long, the entire committee underwent changes.

In the days following Haruno's appearance in the meeting room, sporadic absences began to occur. This was the result after Chairman Sagami's order to return to work officially took effect.

Although some people were absent, most of them were only thirty minutes late or had notified the authorities in advance, so it was not enough to cause a major impact.

The average workload per person has increased slightly, but since everyone takes turns resting, it's somewhat like a shift system.

However, as the number of participating groups increased, the media and publicity team had to contact more venues, and the budget had to be recalculated. In addition, there was a lot of other heavy work, and the burden on each group began to become unbalanced.

The work of the health care group and the record-keeping group is mainly concentrated during the school anniversary celebration, so losing a few people is not a big deal.

However, groups such as personnel coordination, media publicity, and accounting auditing have already sounded the alarm about a shortage of manpower.

The staffing shortage in these three groups was temporarily addressed by the executive department.

The main combat force responsible for providing support was naturally the student council officers and Yukinoshita.

The snowfall was undoubtedly a great help, but the work continued to pile up and remained unresolved.

I myself, because I was in charge of recording miscellaneous tasks, suddenly found myself with a lot more miscellaneous work. It's strange, I had heard before that this group's workload was very light…

"Um...can you help me out?"

The head of the miscellaneous tasks group approached me.

Every time I hear someone ask, "Can you help me with something?", I have a strong feeling that the favor can't be done in just "a moment", and alarm bells in my head go off instinctively.

But don't worry, I've already anticipated the situation of being assigned extra work and have prepared a comprehensive response plan in advance. I call this plan "Four Strategies to Minimize Workload When Faced with Extra Assignments".

"Excuse me, could you help me with this?"

Strategy 1: Ignore everything the other party says unless they name you.

"Did you hear me?"

The other person just patted me on the shoulder. Tsk, plan failed!

"Ah, are you calling me? Hehe."

"I'd like to ask you for help with this job."

Strategy 2: When faced with any request, first give the other party a cold shoulder.

However, this team leader also had a strong heart and gave me the same cold shoulder.

"...It's up to you now."

To my surprise, his expression darkened even further, and I ended up at a disadvantage. Damn it, even this tactic didn't work! In that case, let's move on to the next strategy!

"...Sigh...Sigh sigh sigh..."

Strategy 3: Sigh frequently while working.

This tactic will make the other party extremely disgusted, and they will never entrust me with any work again. Not only that, they might even pull out their family heirloom and tell me directly, "If you don't want to do it, you can go back."

In fact, this method has worked before. I did it this way when I was working, and I actually left without looking back and quit the job.

Unfortunately, this team leader didn't seem to care at all, and even pushed up his glasses to ask me:

"Are you done?"

How could I possibly do it in such a short time... If I were that capable, would I still be here being bossed around by you?

Left with no other choice, I had to resort to my last resort.

Strategy 4: Deliberately bang on the keyboard loudly to annoy the other person into complaining, "Why doesn't this guy just get lost?"

The student council lent several computers to the anniversary celebration executive committee. Thanks to this, the efficiency of paperwork was greatly improved, and I could also vent my frustrations by typing on the keyboard.

Click-clack-click-clack... Thump (Enter)!

So what? I've already made it clear I don't want to work to this extent, can you still be so heartless as to give me even more work?

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll be going now. You can go back after you finish. If you have any questions, just ask the implementation department."

"I understand, you've had a tough time too!"

Hmph, he really won't throw anything more at me. I've successfully minimized my workload!

I looked smugly at the pile of work on my desk... Wow! Team leader, you're dumping way too much work on me!

Besides, I clearly only left him with a bad impression; in his mind, I'm nothing more than a rude guy. He just said, "You can go back after you've finished doing this," which basically means, "Don't even think about going back until you're done!" No way!

The lives of office workers are truly miserable, far more so than I expected...

To make matters worse, everyone misunderstood the meaning of "miscellaneous tasks" in the record-keeping group, and even tasks that didn't belong to us were still pushed onto us.

"Um, you're from... the miscellaneous tasks team, right? Could you help me with these?"

"Oh, but these are—"

"The school anniversary celebration is an event for everyone, just like work! So we should help each other out!"

He actually lectured me with such an air of self-righteousness...

Hey, photocopying posters could never be my job, right? And if we're going to help each other out, how are you going to help me?

However, since it was my senior who made the request, I naturally couldn't refuse. I had never hated so much the dormant nature within me, the inherent nature of all Japanese people—the seniority system (Note 46: Japanese traditional corporate culture sets salaries based on seniority and position to encourage employees to serve the same company for a long time, but this also leads to the bad habit of "the older the person, the more important they are").

Others didn't even glance at me, simply raising their teacups high.

"Tea."

"Yes……"

Why me...? Do you feel that it's okay to speak so bluntly to people at the bottom of society? Perhaps you've forgotten that people at the bottom of society are also human beings.

Hey, hey, hey, if I continue working with this mentality, I might end up becoming a great employee. Keep striving, you corporate slave! (Note 47 is adapted from Natsumi Kogyo's work "Keep Striving, Systems Engineer!" "Corporate slave" is a self-deprecating term used by Japanese company employees, referring to themselves as livestock raised by the company, implying a loss of self-will.)

Oh no... If I had known this would happen, I should have taken leave and disappeared immediately.

Whenever something like this happens, the more diligent and hardworking a person is, the more likely they are to draw the worst possible outcome. The work waiting to be done is piling up like a mountain in front of me, far beyond what can be completed in a day or two.

I couldn't help but sigh.

At almost the same time, someone also let out a deep sigh.

I looked up and saw Yukinoshita pressing her temples with her eyes closed, looking like she had a headache.

The reason for her headache was actually quite close at hand.

Yukinoshita was sitting next to her, twirling her pen and chatting happily with her senior.

Yang Nai gathered a group of alumni to form a performance for the school anniversary celebration. She also used practice as an excuse to appear at our school from time to time, and also showed her face at the school anniversary celebration executive committee. She had clearly made this place her own territory.

Not only that, she also completely integrated into the environment.

"Hachiman, I want tea too~"

"Um... I think the 'miscellaneous tasks' in 'recording miscellaneous tasks' doesn't mean doing odd jobs, right...?"

I lacked confidence, and my tone grew increasingly weak towards the end of the sentence. Moreover, as I spoke, both hands were already preparing to pour tea; I truly felt sorry for my overworked, corporate slave mentality.

As the tea from the small teapot gurgled into the cup, Yukinoshita gently put down her pen. Her calm movements only amplified her composure.

"Sister, if you're going to interfere with our work, please go back."

Unfortunately, this trick only works on people other than Haruno. She didn't react at all to Yukino's words. If Yukino is the Ace in a deck of cards, then Haruno is the Joker.

"Don't be so heartless, I'll help you."

"No need, go back quickly."

Unfortunately, Yang ignored Yukino's orders, sipped his tea, and picked up a document.

"Hmm... I'll lend a hand as a return gift for this cup of tea."

"Hey! Hey! Why are you doing this all by yourself—"

Before Yukino could stop him, Haruno picked up the computer and started typing away, making notes in red pen. When she finished, she threw the paper to Yukino.

"Look, the income and expenses don't match up."

"...I was planning to check it myself later."

Yukinoshita squinted unhappily, but still obediently took the paper.

"Yono-senpai, you're still as capable as ever."

Senior student Xun looked at the Yukinoshita sisters with a smile, creating a warm atmosphere. Even I, standing here, could feel that warmth, and my heart warmed as well.

"It's nothing, I'm used to this kind of work. Let's finish the rest quickly too!"

Yang Nai said this and began processing the documents at hand.

This time, Yukinoshita did not do anything to stop her.

But she still pursed her lips, her face expressionless, and continued with her work, clearly unhappy.

Volume 6, Part 5: The Gentle City Patrol Gets Played for a Ridiculous Turn

What kind of thing will never decrease no matter what you do or how much you do it?

The answer is "work".