Chapter 701: Receiving a Friend from Afar with Wine!
After turning a left corner and stepping onto a pathway that led to school, Zhang Pan walked for 700 meters and discovered that the right side was still the boundary wall of the Central Province Academy. Ginkgo trees were towering above the walls. Their leaves were filled with rainwater that hadn’t dried up yet, looking beautiful and glistening with moisture.
“It can’t be, right? The Central Province Academy is so large?”
Zhang Pan was completely stunned. This campus was at least ten times larger compared to his old school. In that case, how many teachers and students could this place contain?
“Calm down, don’t embarrass yourself.”
Liu Tong reminded him. However, he himself was taking out a tobacco pipe with slightly trembling hands. He then stuffed some tobacco into the pipe and used fire to light it up.
Liu Tong would only smoke when he felt jittery. He was smoking this time around to calm his nerves.
(My heavens, I’m going to become a teacher in such a huge campus?)
(It feels a little surreal!)
If it wasn’t for the fact that Sun Mo’s fame was great enough, Liu Tong might even suspect whether Sun Mo was pranking him.
(What capabilities do I have to deserve this?)
Liu Tong felt uneasy. What if he wasn’t able to teach the students well and embarrassed himself?
Finally, after the two of them crossed half the path, they stood before the gates of the Central Province Academy.
Compared to the luxurious campuses of the more famous schools, this school gate seemed a little unpresentable. However, this was a rule set by the previous headmasters.
When setting up a school, being simple and unadorned was preferred as the root of a school was to educate people instead of chasing after benefits and fame. Hence, despite the renovations that occurred through the generations, the school gate had never been touched.
“There are so many people?”
Liu Tong was shocked again.
He knew that now was the student recruitment meet of the Central Province Academy, and there would be many newcomers touring the place. But wasn’t the number a little too much?
The sounds of human voices mixed together into a cacophony, and Liu Tong saw groups and groups of people akin to dumplings being placed into a hot pan, squeezing together.
“W...what should we do now?”
Zhang Pan gulped down a mouthful of saliva and felt very nervous. “T...teacher, w...would I be expelled?”
No matter how big a school was, it was impossible for the school to recruit so many students, hence, there would surely be a prior examination. For a student like Zhang Pan who came from a small and remote place, how could he compete with others?
Zhang Pan knew that these famous schools would always have examinations at the end of every year, and those who couldn’t make the mark would be asked to leave.
Liu Tong fell silent, not daring to guarantee anything.
Mister Qin sat inside the security room near the gate. One of his hands was holding on a teacup, and he would occasionally sip the tea. The other hand was holding a thin paper fan and would occasionally fan himself while feeling complacent.
“Another pair of country bumpkins!”
Mister Qin glanced at Liu Tong and Zhang Pan.
There was no solution for this. The two of them...one was extremely short in stature and had dark skin but very muscular. He was carrying a heavy metal hammer and looked like a grilled potato. As for the other young one, he was a cripple. These two were simply too conspicuous.
“Sigh, it isn’t good to be too famous. Any tom, dick, and harry would want to join the Central Province Academy now. Ze, why don’t they urinate and look at their reflection in the puddle of urine?”
Mister Qin’s lips curled in contempt.
He felt that the style of the school had been dampened by these two people.
However, Sun Mo was truly awesome. With his strength, he revived the school from ‘demise’ within a single year. Now that Mister Qin thought about it, he felt that the old headmaster truly had foresight to set the marriage engagement.
When he saw Liu Tong leading Zhang Pan over, Mister Qin also didn’t dare to sit anymore. He immediately rose and squeezed out a smile on his face.
This was a rule Sun Mo had set. The gatekeeper had to learn how to smile and receive people. He had to be polite.
Honestly speaking, it was very troublesome. Things were different from before when it was extremely carefree. However, none of the six gatekeepers dared to slacken off.
This was because Sun Mo could fire people. The old logistic department head and Vice-Headmaster Zhang were the greatest examples.
Naturally, if there were no previous examples, Mister Qin would also steadfastly execute the rules Sun Mo set. This was because ever since Sun Mo took on the position, the salary of the school staff had increased by 50%. There were even bonuses every new year.
There was absolutely no other job in Jinling that could match this.
“All praise to Teacher Sun!”
Mister Qin cheered in his heart. He took the initiative to ask. “The two of you, do you all need any help?”
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Mister Qin +500. Respect (5,100/10,000).
“May I ask if Sun Mo, Great Teacher Sun, is currently in the school?”
Liu Tong smiled. “If he is present, where can we usually find him at?”
“You are...?”
Mister Qin routinely asked. If it was some wealthy guy looking for Sun Mo, he would surely say he had no idea. But if it was a great teacher, he would naturally bring them over to look for Sun Mo.
“My name is Liu Tong, I got acquainted with Great Teacher Sun during the 2-star great teacher examination.”
Liu Tong took out Sun Mo’s recommendation letter and passed it to Mister Qin. He hesitated for a while but didn’t dare to say that he was here to accept a job offer.
What if he failed? Wouldn’t that be too embarrassing?
“Ah, so you are Teacher Sun’s friend!”
Mister Qin’s smile grew even more radiant, like a sunflower that was about to be harvested. His face was creased together due to his grin.
“Let me bring you there!”
As Mister Qin spoke, he walked out of the room and amiably helped Liu Tong with his luggage.
No matter how ugly this guy was, if he was Sun Mo’s friend, he would be a handsome guy!
“No need, no need!”
Liu Tong hurriedly rejected the help. “How is this proper?”
“It’s fine, it’s what I ought to do!”
Mister Qin almost wanted to scream when he saw Liu Tong being adamant about taking his own luggage. (This is my good chance to gain some good points with Sun Mo, quickly let me take your luggage! Don’t you know that I’m trying to find a chance to make my face more familiar to Sun Mo? Is it so difficult?)
“As expected of a famous school. Even a gatekeeper is so polite.”
Zhang Pan sighed ruefully.
A tiny clue revealed the general trend. Zhang Pan had gone to so many places, but because of his teacher’s figure and his crippled leg, he suffered from plenty of discrimination. However, there was no discrimination here.
“Even if I die from fatigue due to training, I have to stay here.”
Zhang Pan silently vowed.
...
Everyone would know of a famous person like Sun Mo. Mister Qin casually made some inquiries and soon learned that Sun Mo had gone to the darkness illusion dojo.
“That place is a building constructed by Great Teacher Sun using his darkness illusion gemstone. Right now, it’s already a symbolic building of our school.”
Mister Qin introduced.
Liu Tong and Zhang Pan were fascinated when they heard the story. They arrived and looked around, wanting nothing more than to immediately summon a darkness illusion over for a spar.
“Teacher Liu?”
Sun Mo was currently providing guidance for a few students. When he saw Liu Tong, he smiled and came over to welcome him. “You’ve really made me wait a long time!”
Swish~ Swish~ Swish~
Over 400 gazes turned over immediately with a look of judgment in their eyes.
“Who is this? He actually caused Teacher Sun to be so agitated?”
“He’s so ugly!”
“Shh, are you courting death? This person is clearly Sun Mo’s friend!”
The surrounding teachers and students whispered to each other.
Liu Tong immediately felt an overwhelming pressure as heavy as a mountain weighing him down.
“My apologies. My esteemed guest came from afar and I have to entertain him. Everyone, please forgive me!”
Sun Mo expressed his apology to the few students he was guiding.
“I dare not accept your praise, I dare not accept your praise!”
Liu Tong hurriedly waved his hands. The words ‘esteemed guest’ were truly something he didn’t dare to accept.
“Let’s go to the Drunken Immortal Inn, I’ll hold a welcoming reception for you there!”
Sun Mo pulled Liu Tong along.
Liu Tong felt so moved in his heart, but his feet didn’t move. “Teacher Sun, I thank you for your admiration and trust. But I...I’m not sure if I can have a footing here in the Central Province Academy”
After speaking, Liu Tong lowered his head.
Such words were like destroying one’s prestige. But since Sun Mo trusted him so much and if he failed to have a stable footing here, wouldn’t he be throwing Sun Mo’s face away?
“Teacher Liu, I believe you will be able to do it.”
Sun Mo patted Liu Tong’s shoulders and smiled warmly.
(Please, your potential value is extremely high. Also, you are hardworking enough. What you lacked is merely a platform for you to showcase your talent.)
According to this trajectory, there wouldn’t be a problem for Liu Tong to become a 5-star great teacher in the future. By headhunting him now, Sun Mo only had to fork out a little. But after Liu Tong became famous, the price for headhunting him would naturally be very different.
Mister Qin who was at the side was stunned.
(Huh?)
(You are here to work as a teacher?)
(And furthermore, you were headhunted by Sun Mo?)
(Is this a lie?)
(Someone like you?)
(Wrong, this isn’t choosing a husband. It doesn’t matter even if you are ugly, right?)
(It’s fine as long as you are talented!)
(As expected, when compared to Great Teacher Sun, I’m just a shallow man. No wonder I can only be a gatekeeper that looks after the entrance forever. Sun Mo is merely 21, but he is already a 2-star great teacher whose name can shake the entire Jinling!)
“So it’s Great Teacher Liu, I apologized that I didn’t show you enough respect earlier!”
Mister Qin hurriedly greeted Liu Tong again and smiled even more radiantly compared to earlier.
...
Not long after Sun Mo and Liu Tong left the school, the matter of Sun Mo headhunting Liu Tong began to spread like wildfire.
“Did you guys hear it? Sun Mo headhunted a great teacher over. Is he planning to build his own great teacher circle?”
“I don’t know, but why doesn’t he choose members from within our school?”
“Don’t think too much. The requirements to join Sun Mo’s great teacher circle are definitely very high.”
The students weren’t too affected, but all the great teachers were shocked. This was especially so for some teachers. They felt as though they had just eaten a lemon; the sour feeling was so bad that they almost died.
Those powerful great teachers would form their own great teacher circle. Regardless of heading to the Darkness Continent for adventures or exploration, or interviewing at a school for employment, those in a great teacher circle would usually have a higher chance.
Several great teachers had been waiting for Sun Mo to form his great teacher circle. They would then find ways to join it. But now, an outsider had snuck in before them.
Moreover, it was said that the person was very ugly.
How infuriating.
Liu Mubai sat in the office and listened to the discussion of his colleagues. His hand which was holding onto a brush paused.
“Great teacher circle!”
Liu Mubai sighed and felt envy.
Usually speaking, the person setting up a great teacher circle would at least be a 3-star great teacher. As for Liu Mubai, even if he really managed to accomplish the feat of getting 3 stars in a year, he would never dare to think about such a thing.
This was because it was too difficult to maintain the circle. But now, Sun Mo actually wanted to set one up.
“I really can’t win against him!”
Just when Liu Mubai wanted to sigh, something stirred in his heart. (This can’t do. I can’t give up now as I still have a chance. I must turn things around in the 3-star great teacher examination.)
...
When Sun Mo left the campus, a shadowy figure that had been monitoring the school gate outside also silently followed after him.
After seeing Sun Mo enter the Drunken Immortal Inn, the shadowy figure immediately went to inform his boss.
“Sun Mo came out of the school. He is currently in the Drunken Immortal Inn, treating someone to a meal.”
That figure reported.
“Very good, our prey has finally left its nest. Spread the message out! We will move out in full force and claim Sun Mo’s life today.”
The boss wearing a black mask gave the order.
...
In the Drunken Immortal Inn, after three rounds of wine and five dishes were served...
Sun Mo glanced at Zhang Pan.
“T...teacher!”
Zhang Pan nervously put down the drumstick in his hands and stood up.
“Sit down and eat!”
Sun Mo smiled. “Rest a few days first. A week later, I will help you treat your right leg!”
Although he could cure Zhang Pan’s leg now, Sun Mo wanted to use Divine Sight to observe the situation more detailedly.
“Teacher...”
Zhang Pan sobbed with gratitude.
“After your leg is healed, you have to work hard and don’t lose face for your teacher.”
Sun Mo encouraged.
“I will.”
Zhang Pan hurriedly guaranteed.
After drinking a few more cups of wine, Sun Mo glanced at the sky and felt that the time was about right. He then went to pay the bill.
“Let’s go, the hotel should have been arranged.”
Sun Mo stood up.