Chapter 104: Joss founded the Peak Club
After the morning meeting, the Elite Club was shrouded in an eerie silence.
In the conference room, Rachel sat at the head, and all members of the Elite Club were present.
“How about I go home, find a couple of guys, stage an accident, and make her disappear?” a guy sitting at the table suggested.
“To stage an accident, we need to wait a while. If we act now, any mishap will only draw more attention to us,” Carl said grimly.
“And she intentionally pixelated the video, keeping a trump card. If we make any rash moves, she’ll expose everything,” another person added.
“What do we do then? I can’t even go back to the classroom now. I heard nothing but ridicule and sarcasm on the way here,” a girl said despondently.
Rachel sighed softly, “After the Senator Clarke incident, I should have been more cautious. She’s too adept at manipulating public opinion… I was too naive. Inviting her was my mistake, and now everyone is suffering because of it.”
“What does that have to do with you? She’s just too cunning, pretending to be your friend, accepting your invitation, then stabbing you in the back. This person is utterly disgusting,” Carl said
Someone walked in from outside, carrying a stack of flyers and handing them out one by one, saying, “Right after the meeting, Nick started distributing these flyers with a group of people. Joss has founded the Peak Club, aiming to establish a real IQ club.”
That was her true intention…
Rachel took one, the flyer simple and straightforward.
Featuring Paige’s painting “The Pyramid,” it bore a simple message:
“Where is your peak? It’s not for others to decide. You have to define it for yourself!”
Carl slammed the flyer onto the conference table. “I don’t believe anyone would join. Anyone who does is going against us! Asking for trouble!”
Rachel looked down at the flyer in her hand. “This painting ‘The Pyramid’ is so powerful, filled with despair and passion. It’s going to stir up a lot of people, especially those decent students who are usually squeezed out by us. They’ll push back even harder.”
“From Paige’s unsuccessful attempt to join the Elite Club to her idea of founding the Peak Club, she’s just waiting for today to explode.”
Nancy’s act of stealing the painting caused such a commotion that the school decided to expel her. This punishment was not only a consequence for her actions but also served as a warning to everyone.
“It also says here that as long as you have the ability, she’ll provide resources equivalent to those of the Elite Club,” someone pointed out the key message on the flyer.
“What a pipe dream. What resources can a commoner like her provide? Just in our competitions alone, she can’t even meet the threshold. The registration fee alone would scare her off,” Carl retorted coldly.
“But now over a dozen conglomerates and companies have invested in Joss’s Peak Club,” the student distributing the flyers added. “Even the Lautner family from the borderlands is on board. Unless Joss is bluffing, but that’s easily verifiable. She wouldn’t tarnish her own reputation like that, right?”
Rachel glanced at the back of the flyer and indeed, a long list of sponsors was meticulously detailed.
“How does she have so many sponsors?” Rachel was deeply puzzled. None of these were assets under the Gustin Group, so it wasn’t Enrico’s doing. But how could Paige alone achieve this?
“And many emerging big companies, like this DataMap app that’s been booming lately, even temporarily outperformed the Gustin Group’s gaming app on the overall sales charts,” Carl continued, astonished. “This transfer student managed to pull in such sponsorships?”
“With so many major companies sponsoring, the Peak Club won’t lack funds. Are we really going to go head-to-head with a bunch of commoners?” a nervous girl asked, her anxiety affecting several nearby. Running the Elite Club was about proving they had not only the lineage but also the intelligence. But the real measure of intelligence…
If the Peak Club truly takes off, the fate of the Elite Club… Rachel pursed her lips. “A club without the school’s official stamp will ultimately be irregular and may not gain traction.”
This woke Carl up. He stood up. “I’m going to see the principal. Let’s see which leader dares to give the green light to the Peak Club.”
After Carl left, everyone saw Rachel’s face pale and rushed to comfort her.
“Rachel, don’t be too upset.”
“Yeah, the Peak Club, I can guarantee it’ll be a flash in the pan.”
“She’ll only become a laughingstock across all of Capital University.”
Rachel sat there, her gaze melancholy. In the short term, they, the Elite Club, were the laughingstock, and who knew when the heat would die down. This Paige, she really shouldn’t be underestimated…
…
In the classroom, Nick excitedly held a stack of registration forms. “Paige, this is amazing! So many sign-ups already this morning!”
Paige sat nearby, peeling a mint and popping it into her mouth, not as excited as he was. In a calm tone, she said, “A lot of people just signed up on a whim. The people I want must have talent, determination, the ability to win, and the courage to compete. Quality over quantity.”
The world is unfair, and if resources didn’t come to her, she’d create her own. She planned to set a variety of tests to select the truly elite from the applicants. Sitting at her desk, she scrolled through her phone, looking at questions from various world-class competitions to pick some suitable ones.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Nick, looking at the application forms, suddenly thought of something. He glanced around, then whispered to her like a conspirator, “Paige, did you make up all these sponsors? Do you want me to get you some fake certificates from big companies? I’m really good at that.”
Paige looked up at him, “These sponsors are legitimate. No fake certificates needed.”
“Seriously?” Nick looked at her in disbelief. “Paige, did you really get all these sponsors? When and how did you manage to do that? These are big companies.”
Paige thought: ‘How else? A phone call to Kevin did the trick. After all, she was the real boss behind those companies.’
A new message popped up at the top of her phone screen.
[Enrico: I bet you’re missing me by now. ]
Paige was so busy with her career, she dismissed the message and continued looking at questions, but another message popped up.
[Enrico: I bet you should call me. ]
Paige thought about turning off her phone, but then another message appeared.
[Enrico: I bet you miss me so much that I’m coming to your school.] Paige looked at the message and felt it was a threat. If she didn’t call him, he would come to her school to find her… She decided to call him.
She thought for a moment, stood up, turned around, and walked out. Suddenly, she turned back to Nick and said, “You handle these application forms. From today, you’re the vice president of Peak Club.”
Nick stared at her, wide-eyed in surprise. “Vice president? Paige, do you really think that highly of me? You’re letting me in without an interview?”
Although he had been admitted to Capital University based on his abilities, he was still far from being top-tier.
“What are you thinking?” Paige said nonchalantly, “It’s just a position for odd jobs. I’ll pay you.”
“Oh,” Nick was a bit disappointed but quickly became excited again. “I’m happy to do odd jobs for you. I don’t need a salary…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a card was thrown to him. He watched her leave without giving him a chance to refuse.
Nick picked up the card and scratched his head. The playful smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a complicated expression.
Sometimes, he wondered if Paige knew about his family’s financial difficulties and was trying to find ways to give him money. Last time, when his father needed surgery, he had worked day and night to forge documents to barely make the surgery payment. Coincidentally, Paige asked him to do a task and paid him just enough to cover the cost. Now, the money on this card would probably cover his father’s post-surgery recovery expenses.
Besides admiration, Nick also felt a deep sense of gratitude towards Paige. He was determined to do a good job for her. Wherever Paige went, he would follow.