Chapter 75: First Public Lecture
In the vice-headmaster’s office.
“How are the preparations?”
Zhang Hanfu was drinking tea while casually flipping through a document.
“After tomorrow’s public lecture, I guarantee that Sun Mo’s teaching life in Central Province Academy will reach its end.”
Feng Zewen’s lips curled up. Although Zhang Hanfu didn’t point out a specific name, he knew that the reason the vice-headmaster had called him here was over this matter.
However, vice-headmaster, weren’t you being too insistent on revenge?
“Very good!”
Zhang Hanfu nodded. “Aren’t you stopping too long at being a 1-star great teacher? If you don’t rise up by another star-level, it’d be awkward for me to give you a promotion!”
His words weren’t absolute in the Central Province Academy yet. With An Xinhui and Wang Su around, he was really restricted when doing things. Sigh, when would he be able to kick them away?
At the thought of this, Zhang Hanfu felt displeased. Therefore, he had an even stronger urge to get rid of that Sun Mo, who dared to challenge him. He wanted to let the other teachers know how horrible a plight they would have if they were to offend him.
Knock knock!
The sound of door knocks rang out and Gao Ben walked in.
“I’ll take my leave then!”
Feng Zewen took this opportunity to get up and left.
“Sit!”
Zhang Hanfu was polite toward this teacher whom he had personally recruited. He wore a smile on his face and instructed his female assistant to quickly serve tea.
“Why were you looking for me?”
Gao Ben had his arrogance. It was because he felt that capability was equivalent to confidence, and thus he didn’t feel restricted or uneasy at all. He also didn’t smile or try to curry up to Zhang Hanfu.
“I hope that your first public lecture can be arranged at 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow!”
Zhang Hanfu frowned.
“To deal with Sun Mo?”
Gao Ben was spot on. It was because the school had already put up the announcement for Sun Mo’s first public lecture.
As Sun Mo was An Xinhui’s fiancé, he had a great reputation and the news spread very quickly. At the very least, all the teachers knew about it and there were even quite a number of them who planned on forming groups and attending his lecture.
“Deal with Sun Mo? Does he deserve to be your opponent?”
Zhang Hanfu asked him back.
“Haha!”
Gao Ben burst out laughing and took a sip of tea.
“Then what do you think?”
Zhang Hanfu asked, grinning.
(This old guy is threatening me again!)
Gao Ben cursed in his heart. However he knew that relying on his backing meant that he wouldn’t be able to go against his orders. Therefore, he nodded.
In fact, Gao Ben had wanted to arrange his first public lecture to be at the same time as Gu Xiuxun’s. He would then use the bursting number of attendees for his class to prove that he was superior to her.
The number of participants in one’s public lecture was also an indicator in between the teachers’ competition. If all of their public lectures were full, then they’d be the school’s primary force and would be nurtured carefully.
“Very good. You must let the lecture theater that can accommodate 300 people be full.”
Zhang Hanfu smiled.
...
Three days passed by very quickly, like fine sand that slipped through one’s fingers.
When the morning light shone down into the dorm, Sun Mo got up. He washed up and changed into his azure long robe.
“It’s so beautiful!”
Ludi couldn’t help but exclaim.
The robe was made of cotton and had a simple design. It wasn’t considered beautiful at all. However, it had a great significance as it represented one’s status as an official teacher in the Central Province Academy.
Ludi was moaning at his own fate when he looked at the school emblem on Sun Mo’s chest. He had no idea when he’d have the rights to put on the teacher’s long robe.
Zhang Sheng curled up under his blankets. When he heard Ludi’s words, he couldn’t help but open up a small gap and sneak a peek. He then felt very gloomy.
He had thought that he’d be the only teacher in this dorm who would be able to stay behind. He hadn’t expected that Sun Mo managed to beat him to it. This difference between them made him felt extremely unbearable. It was as if he had thought of the name for the child between him and his goddess, but ended up finding out that his beloved goddess was being embraced and kissed by Sun Mo.
Sun Mo tidied his collar and Zhang Sheng’s eyes twitched.
Sun Mo smoothen out the wrinkles in his clothes and Zhang Sheng’s lips twitched.
There was no other way around it. Sun Mo’s actions made Zhang Sheng feel as if he was seeing Sun Mo’s big tongue probing into his beloved goddess’s mouth, and was stirring around without restraint.
If it wasn’t because Zhang Sheng still had a hint of rationality left in him, he really wanted to jump out and break Sun Mo’s head.
Ludi’s expression seemed conflicted, as if he wanted to say something. It was only until he saw that Sun Mo was about to leave that he quickly spoke up, “Sun... Teacher Sun!”
“Is something the matter?”
Sun Mo frowned slightly.
“I... I’ve braised pig trotters. Do you want to try one?”
Ludi felt awkward after saying this. However, it was like after selling one’s body for the first time, they’d get used to the subsequent times, Ludi started to speak a lot more fluently after that.
“They are cooked in seasoned soup stock and the flavors are well-infused. Even Teacher Zhou Shanyi said that they taste good!”
“Oh, thank you. I don’t like to eat things that are too oily for breakfast!”
Sun Mo rejected.
Ludi heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the door closing. He had finally taken the first step in an attempt to fix their relationship. Thankfully he hadn’t offended Sun Mo like Yuan Feng had did. Otherwise, he could only change to another dorm now.
“Bootlicker!”
Zhang Sheng silently cursed. His limbs then fell down weakly as he lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling in a daze.
The beautiful figure of the goddess in his heart appeared before him once again. However, right now, her face was covered in Sun Mo’s disgusting saliva.
...
After entering the teaching building, Qi Shengjia urged for the fifth time, “Hurry up. If we’re late, then there might be no seats left!”
“What’s the hurry? Sun Mo isn’t famous anyway. I reckon that it’d probably be great if there are 20 students who are here to listen to his public lecture.”
Zhou Xu yawned. He wanted to experience the Ancient Dragon Capturing Hands again and thus came to show support for Sun Mo.
“Did you guys see the announcement? Teacher Gao Ben’s public lecture is today as well. Why don’t we go over and listen to it first? If he takes a liking to us, we might be able to become his personal disciple.”
Wang Hao suggested.
Given his aptitude, it was impossible for him to become a great teacher’s personal disciple. Therefore, he had to go for the second best. Moreover, Gao Ben was a graduate from the Liang Province’s Westshore Military School—a famous school that was part of the Nine Greats. He was very amazing.
“I’m not going!”
Qi Shengjia refused decisively. He was sure to support Sun Mo.
“I’m fine with anything!”
Zhou Xu didn’t mind.
Wang Hao’s eyes rolled and he smiled. “Then I’ll go and find out information about Teacher Gao Ben.”
After saying that, Wang Hao ran off.
“One can only succeed after grabbing onto opportunities. Although Sun Mo’s reputation is great, his reputation is a negative one. Everyone is saying that he’s someone who sponges off a woman.”
Wang Hao mumbled. He felt that even if there were people who went to listen to Sun Mo’s public lecture, it’d be to watch him making a joke of himself.
It was one thing for him to show support if it was any other time. However, Teacher Gao Ben was conducting a class today, so he was sure to go and try his luck over there.
In the lecture theater in the northwest corner on the third level of the teaching building.
When Qi Shengjia arrived, it was quite late. Therefore, he walked very quickly. However, he had just stepped into the classroom and took a look when his neck instantly shrank back. He subconsciously wanted to leave.
Bang!
Qi Shengjia knocked into Zhou Xu, who was behind him.
“What’s... the matter?”
Before Zhou Xu finished his words, his voice softened a lot. It was because there were several tens of teachers seated in the lecture theater.
“What the hell?”
Zhou Xu was surprised. He looked at the last row and saw that even Headmaster An Xinhui was here. Two seats away from her was Jin Mujie, the most famous 3-star great teacher in the school.
“What’s going on? Why did so many teachers come?”
Qi Shengjia mumbled softly.
“How would I know.”
Zhou Xu rolled his eyes. However, as he was born in a family of traders, in addition to the guidance his father had given him since young, he had a wider outlook toward things. He reckoned that these teachers were probably here to give Sun Mo trouble.
It made sense. An Xinhui was the goddess for all the male teachers and students in the school. However, she suddenly became Sun Mo’s fiancée. Of course everyone would be displeased.
There was a segment for questions and answers on the first public lecture. This was an open chance for them to make things difficult for Sun Mo. There was no way that they’d let this chance slip by.
“Sun Mo is in for it!”
Zhou Xu tugged at Qi Shengjia then found a seat for them.
Qi Shengjia felt uneasy. When he saw a 16-year-old guy entering while being surrounded by over ten other students, he felt even more nervous.
“Why is Zhou Yong here?”
Qi Shengjia was very worried. This student was a well-known prick in the school. Just because his father was one of the top ten wealthiest merchants in Jinling City, giving him a very strong background, he thus usually acted arrogantly. He would find amusement in making fools of other students and intern teachers.
He heard that there had been a teacher who had reprimanded Zhou Yong before, but was bullied so badly that the teacher ended up resigning.
However, despite his bad character, Zhou Yong had a good aptitude. Xu Shaoyuan had taken a liking to him. Xu Shaoyuan was a 2-star great teacher.
As it got nearer to the time for the class to start, the students entered in succession. Almost every student who came in were shocked to see so many teachers seated in the back rows. They would either choose to go out or sit down.
Zhou Xu counted. There were over 100 of them.
Out of which, a large majority of them were freshmen. They had no idea that Sun Mo was An Xinhui’s fiancé and only came to have an experience of what classes were like because they were bored.
When Jiang Yongnian came in, he was given a big shock. Why were there so many people? After seeing that the teachers took up half of the participants, he burst out laughing.
Sun Mo was probably going to have it tough.
“Why are you standing here? Go on in.”
A voice suddenly rang out behind Jiang Yongnian, causing him to force back his smile and quickly move to the side. At the same time, he gave his greeting.
“Greetings Headmaster Zhang!”
Jiang Yongnian was a smart person and took away the ‘vice’ from the address.
“En!”
Zhang Hanfu entered the lecture theater and the teachers immediately greeted him. Over ten of them even got up to offer their seats.
Zhou Shanyi shook his head. He had heard of how Sun Mo went up against Zhou Shanyi at the meeting for intern teachers, and had agreed to a duel with Feng Zewen.
The reason Zhang Hanfu came today was definitely not to observe Sun Mo’s teaching capabilities.
...
“There’re so many people. Will things be alright?”
Lu Zhiruo hid behind the door, exposing only half of an eye. She sneaked a look into the lecture theater and then quickly shrank back.
“Cough cough. Seems like our teacher isn’t in a good situation!”
Tantai Yutang covered his mouth with a handkerchief, speaking in an amused tone.
Xuanyuan Po was wiping his silver spear while his gaze landed on Jiang Leng. Amongst the four of them, he felt that this younger martial brother who had a tattoo on his face was the greatest threat to him.
Jiang Leng was expressionless. He sat on the floor and was reading a [Spirit Rune Encyclopedia].
Li Ziqi pinched her forehead, feeling a little helpless. What were all these people that Teacher had taken in?
There was Lu Zhiruo, who was cowardly and hadn’t successfully reached the body-refinement realm. There was Tantai Yutang, who looked so sickly that it seemed as if he was on the verge of death. There was Jiang Leng, whose body was covered in battered spirit runes and clearly didn’t have a good growth potential. There was Xuanyuan Po, whose brain seemed to be filled with muscles, only thinking about fighting every day...
Teacher’s teaching path was really long and arduous!
“Teacher Sun is here!”
Lu Zhiruo reminded.
The five of them immediately stood in a row according to the order Sun Mo had taken them in as his disciple.
Before the class, students had to stand in a row and greet the teacher. This was a rule that applied to every school.
Of course, if the teacher didn’t ask for it, it could be exempted.