The Inescapable Celibate Heir Chapter 98: Counting

Both sides quietly fished for a while. With only half an hour left, Ethan pulled Nick away to who knows where.

Ella counted the fish on both sides. The snooker club had caught at least fifteen fish, plus the three Victoria and her team had caught earlier, making it eighteen. 

The dance club had only caught fifteen fish in total. No matter how she counted, Victoria's team was winning. 

She stomped her foot in frustration. "What are we gonna do? If this keeps up, we're gonna lose!"

Jasmine looked at her empty bucket and sighed, staring up at the sky. Her luck was terrible; she hadn't caught a single fish in over an hour. 

Suddenly, she had an idea and whispered to Ella, "We don't have enough fish. What if we add some from other people? We could quietly buy a few."

Ella glanced around. Besides their two clubs, there were a few individual participants, not many, but enough to make a difference. 

Seeing that everyone was focused on fishing and not paying attention to them, she nodded slightly.

Ella then called over a few girls she was close with, pretending to change spots but actually making deals with the individual participants. 

Most people who came to the charity event were friendly. Even if they didn't agree, they wouldn't report them to the student council. 

Some people, knowing they wouldn't earn points, were tempted by Ella's offer and secretly put their fish into her bucket.

When the whistle blew to signal the end of the game, Ella had just added her fifth fish. 

The crowd gathered at the counting point. Many people hadn't caught any fish, so the counting went quickly. 

Jagger, a senior in charge of counting, called out, "Time's up! No more delays!"

Victoria and Mira handed their bucket to Jagger. "These are all under Elise's name." 

Jagger counted the fish and announced loudly, "Elise from the snooker club has a total of twenty-one fish. Walter from the dance club has seventeen fish. Is there anyone who hasn't turned in their fish? If not, I declare..."

Walter stepped forward, interrupting him. His face was stern. "I have an objection. As far as I know, only Victoria, Mira, and Elise signed up for this event from the snooker club." 

"But all the snooker club members are here, and they put all their fish under Elise's name. Isn't that against the rules? If she can do that, I could have brought more people to help me fish too!"

Ella put down her bucket and added, "Walter is right. Even though this is a game, we still need to follow the rules. Their participation should be disqualified, or at least their fish count should be reduced."

The students watching nodded in agreement, feeling that the game should follow the rules. They looked at Elise and Victoria, who were at the center of the discussion. 

Jagger sighed and asked, "Victoria, how do you explain this?"

Victoria smirked and looked at Ella playfully. "You have a point. Breaking the rules should be punished..."

Before she could finish, Ella's face lit up with a smile. 

She said lightly, "Victoria, remember to follow the rules next time. Otherwise, you'll end up like today, bringing so many people for nothing and still losing to me."

"I meant that those who didn't sign up shouldn't be counted. But all our snooker club members did sign up." 

Victoria smiled confidently. "Don't believe me? You can check my registration form."

At this moment, Dennis walked over and shook his head. "No need to check. I've seen it. Victoria did sign up all the snooker club members. Even my name is on the list, but I didn't participate today to avoid suspicion."

Seeing him support Victoria again, Ella bit her lip in frustration.

Elise laughed triumphantly. "Didn't expect that, did you? Victoria got all the snooker club members to help me. Walter, did you think all men are as petty as you? You deserve to lose to me!" 

Walter's face turned pale with anger, but he couldn't argue.

Jagger was about to announce Elise as the winner when Ella suddenly raised her hand. "Wait, my fish haven't been counted yet." 

She lifted the lid of her bucket, revealing five fish.

Everyone was shocked. Elise pointed at her with wide eyes. "Impossible! I saw you had no fish earlier. How did you suddenly get so many? You must have cheated!"

Ella remained calm. "I got lucky later and changed spots a few times, catching fish each time. You just didn't see it."

Walter backed her up. "Do you have any proof? With Ella's five fish, I win."

The snooker club members looked at each other. They had no evidence.

Ella pretended to be aggrieved. "Jagger, I caught these fish during the game. Our club members can vouch for me. How can they not count? You can't favor the snooker club just because Dennis is one of them."

The students murmured among themselves, wondering if the student council would handle this fairly. 

Jagger glanced at Dennis, feeling conflicted. They had held several charity events and never encountered cheating. 

Dennis frowned; he couldn't openly show favoritism, so he leaned in and whispered something in Jagger's ear.

Jagger then announced, "Alright, Walter now has twenty-two fish. However, due to the complexity of today's situation, we will extend the counting time by five minutes. If anyone has fish they haven't turned in, please do so now. After five minutes, no more fish will be counted."

Elise asked anxiously, "Does anyone on our side still have fish? Five minutes isn't enough to catch more fish."

Victoria shook her head helplessly, but she noticed Ethan had been missing for a while. Where did he go?