Chapter 248

Therefore, it is acceptable to take many courses in addition to the basic courses, or to simply study only one course or not take any more.

For Hua, nowadays, due to her "qi" (vital energy), her memory and thinking have far surpassed what ordinary people can understand, which is why she has the confidence to say such things.

After all, if it were just rote memorization, I would be confident that I could defeat anyone in school with my photographic memory.

The three chatted for a short while when Ai Yue suddenly sensed something and looked outside. Soon, a head popped out from outside the door. "Ahua, and Brother Yue and Sister Niya, you're all here?"

How did you find your way here?

Ai Yue looked at Pardofelis with some surprise, "Have you had enough fun?"

"Actually, not yet,"

Pardofelis's ears twitched, and she explained, "But I heard that Ahua also came to the Morning Sun Academy, so I thought I'd come and visit her... I knew she would be here!"

As one of the few people of the same age, coupled with their shared past experiences, Pardofelis and Hua had a very good relationship, even beyond that of ordinary friends. After all, strictly speaking, Hua was actually Pardofelis's master, and Pardofelis learned both martial arts and qi from her.

"You guys have fun, Aponia and I will go explore somewhere else."

Ai Yue nodded in agreement. "By the way, come to the cafeteria for lunch. Kalpas will be in charge of cooking."

"Really? Yay!"

After leaving the training area, Aponia finally brought Ai Yue to the teaching area. The two walked into the tall comprehensive teaching building and then stopped in front of an office.

Guess who it is this time?

Aponia didn't rush to open the door, but turned to Ai Yue and said, "Just a heads up, these are sisters."

Sisters? I don't know many sisters.

Ai Yue got the answer after a moment's thought, but before he could speak, the door opened by itself.

"Oh, don't worry, this is Morning Sun Academy, Miss Aponia's territory. The Doctor won't find her so easily."

A woman with long hair, dressed in blue and white, stepped out of the door. "You're worried about this kind of thing as if you're afraid of running into Ai Yue..."

Her words came to an abrupt halt, for the person she had spoken of was now standing before her, offering her a gentle smile, "I didn't expect you to come here. Sōgen — Mobius released them so easily?"

Sōgen froze, her hand still in the motion of pushing the door open. After a moment, she suddenly retreated and locked the door, keeping Ai Yue and Aponia out.

The next second, Sōgen's voice came from inside the room. "Danzhu! I really saw Doctor Ai Yue! What should we do? Is Dr. Mobius really going to rush over and take us away?"

"Sister, are you alright? You can't joke like that."

The door opened again, and this time a woman emerged who looked exactly like Sōgen, but was dressed in red and black. "Doctor Ai Yue is very busy with official duties, how could he possibly..."

Danzhu's voice also stopped abruptly, because she also saw the figure smiling at her.

After a moment of stunned silence, Danzhu also shrank back. "It's over, Sister Sōgen, are we about to die?"

"What kind of nonsense is this?"

Ai Yue finally couldn't help but push the door open and enter, only to find the two sisters hugging each other. "I'm not here on behalf of Mobius. Besides, if Mobius really had feelings for you, would he have waited until now?"

Hearing this, Sōgen and Danzhu breathed a sigh of relief and gradually calmed down.

So, what exactly happened?

Looking at the two of them, Ai Yue couldn't help but turn his gaze to Aponia, "You wouldn't have poached Mobius's girlfriend, would you? That would be really unethical."

"It has nothing to do with Miss Aponia; we came here voluntarily."

Before Aponia could explain, Sōgen, who had come to his senses, spoke up, "We have already left the First Research Institute and are now teachers at the Morning Sun Academy."

"That's right, I was quite surprised when the two of them came to me."

Aponia nodded. "But after you hear their reasons, you should understand."

Ai Yue then turned his attention to the two sisters. He was indeed very curious as to why the two of them had come here.

After all, in theory, the First Research Institute's benefits should be much better than those of the Morning Sun Academy. It is an important institution within the Moth to Fire. As one of only two of the four people in the entire institute, why would he abandon the generous benefits there and come here to be a teacher?

"The reason is actually very simple: Dr. Mobius doesn't need us anymore."

In response to Ai Yue's question, Sōgen answered bluntly, "In the past, we could at least lend a hand and do some odd jobs for the doctor, but now, we can't understand what Dr. Mobius is researching at all."

"Moreover, now that the threat of Honkai has disappeared, we no longer have to live in constant fear like before,"

Danzhu continued, "In that case, why not do something you want to do and are capable of doing, right?"

"So that's how it is."

Ai Yue nodded, indicating his understanding. "So, what are you responsible for teaching here?"

"My main focus is research, but I can teach some basic courses,"

Sōgen said, "I am very interested in money, or rather, the economic system. As the utopian society you described is gradually realized, the current financial system will inevitably change to adapt to the changes of the times. This is the part I study."

"I'm an art teacher!"

Danzhu said energetically, "Painting, poetry, or pottery, flower arranging... anything is fine, I'm good at it all!"

That's right, how could you not be good at it? The legendary Crimson Kite Immortal is your creation.

Recalling the statue that was so different from the real thing, Ai Yue couldn't help but smile subtly.

"Everything is fine,"

He quickly gathered his thoughts and asked, "But it sounds like you're worried that Mobius will come and arrest you? What exactly is the situation?"

He was actually quite curious why, despite both of them coming from Mobius's lab, neither of them pursued a career related to biology. But he quickly realized—even if these two were willing to teach what came from Mobius's lab, how many people could actually learn it?

It's important to understand that the Moth to Fire is a world-class organization established with the goal of saving the world. It recruits elites from all walks of life. Even though Sōgen Danzhu could only work as an assistant in Mobius's laboratory, he was still a genius who had fought his way out from countless competitors.

The professional knowledge they possess is something that students from the Morning Sun Academy could never acquire.

Moreover, being able to find a job based on one's own interests is one of the basic characteristics of a harmonious society, and Ai Yue at least agrees with their decision.

It just sounds like Mobius isn't happy about it.

"Well, how should I put it..."

Sōgen and Danzhu exchanged a glance, then stammered, "We didn't actually get Dr. Mobius's permission—we submitted our resignations and ran away without waiting for her approval."

Ai Yue's expression became complicated. "You two are quite bold..."

Ai Yue had been wondering before that, given Mobius's personality, he probably wouldn't let these two useful tools leave so easily. He thought they had a fight and parted on bad terms, but he didn't expect the two sisters to be even more daring than he thought, actually acting first and asking questions later!

"There's nothing we can do about it. You know Dr. Mobius's temper..."

Sōgen gave a bitter smile, then suddenly took two steps closer and looked at Ai Yue with pleading eyes, "Doctor Ai Yue, now that things have come to this, only you can help us!"

"Please find a way to Dr. Mobius and get her to agree to our resignation!"

Chapter Fourteen: I laid you off.

"This wasn't something you planned all along, was it?"

Only after leaving Sōgen Danzhu's office did he ask, "Was everything before just a decoy? This is the key."

Faced with Sōgen and Danzhu's request, Ai Yue naturally had no reason to refuse, but he knew very well that he probably didn't need to help at all.

Because Mobius simply couldn't hold Sōgen Danzhu accountable later. After all, although that guy usually appeared cold and ruthless, he was actually quite protective of his own. If Sōgen Danzhu left the First Research Institute through normal procedures, even if Mebius said some harsh words, he wouldn't actually make things difficult for her.

However, given that Sōgen and Danzhu used this method to withdraw from the First Research Institute, Ai Yue couldn't predict how Mobius would react.

"That's not quite right. I was just trying to put the two ladies at ease."

Aponia said with a smile, "And I think you also bear some responsibility for how things turned out this way, Ai Yue."

Why am I involved?

"According to Sōgen and Danzhu, the work at the First Research Institute was already extremely arduous, but at that time, the two of them were still barely able to keep up,"

Seeing the doubt in Ai Yue's eyes, Aponia continued, "But ever since Mobius started studying with someone, the difficulty of the research institute's work has increased by more than one level."

"The two of them chose to run away because they couldn't handle the immense pressure."

Ai Yue was speechless.

After all, the source of this pressure came from himself.

"So what do we do now?"

After a moment of silence, Ai Yue spoke again, "Although it should be fine to leave it alone, I feel that there shouldn't be such a rift between them in the first place."

In the original storyline, Sōgen Danzhu and Mobius also parted ways in the end, but that was because of their differing ideologies, an irreconcilable conflict. If such a conflict were to occur in the current timeline, Ai Yue would probably have no choice but to accept it.

After all, it's really hard to tell who's right and who's wrong when ideologies clash. It's only because humanity was already on the verge of collapse that the two sides might have developed into enemies after such a storyline.

However, in the current timeline, due to the influence of Ai Yue, Mobius not only underwent a change in ideology, but also became less radical in his methods, even becoming quite humane. Under such circumstances, Ai Yue thought he could avoid the same ending, but unexpectedly, Sōgen Danzhu still chose to leave the First Research Institute by a twist of fate.

Although Ai Yue did not intend to persuade the two to return to the First Research Institute, he also did not want to see the two sides lose contact because of this incident.

But to be honest, relationships between women are so complicated, it's really not his area of expertise. In comparison, relying on Aponia is much simpler.

"There's no need to worry. The difficulty of this problem lies in who solves it."

Aponia said with a smile, "If someone can take the initiative, the problem will naturally be solved."

"So the key question is whether she can put aside her pride and status to be the one to take the initiative and reach out?"

"There's no need to worry about that."

With Aponia's prompting, Ai Yue naturally realized something, and then revealed a confident expression, "I think she would definitely be willing now."

A few days later, the carefully prepared opening ceremony for the new semester was finally held, and the once quiet college became lively.

Although it's officially called an "opening ceremony," it's actually more like a three-day open day event planned by Aponia. During these three days, each professor will prepare a course to showcase their expertise to the new students.

Students will receive a certain number of popularity votes upon enrollment, which they can cast for courses they are interested in. At the end of the semester, teachers will receive different rewards based on their popularity.

Of course, this competitive mechanism is only meant to increase everyone's enthusiasm, so the rewards won't be too many. Besides that, the most important thing is actually the activity itself.

As the first opportunity to showcase course content to students, the teachers' performance at the opening ceremony directly impacts students' willingness to enroll. Therefore, many teachers, especially those teaching niche courses that have difficulty recruiting students, meticulously prepare for these few days of activities.

Of course, there are exceptions—such as Sōgen.

Courses related to economic systems are actually somewhat beyond the curriculum for the Morning Sun Academy today. In addition, the existing economic system is foreseeably to collapse under the impact of the utopian society. Therefore, this course can even be classified as history—it's all useless stuff.

Not to mention that Sōgen herself had just arrived, so she simply gave up her own activities and went to her sister Danzhu's classroom.

Compared to Sōgen, Danzhu's preparations were much more extensive. After all, the art courses she offered didn't have high entry requirements, and Danzhu herself had a wide range of interests. Therefore, at Sōgen's suggestion, she simply held a handicraft class.

Painting, paper cutting, sculpture, flower arranging... If it weren't for the limitations of space and props, Sōgen had no doubt that Danzhu would have brought out the pottery wheel as well.

Danzhu's course was unsurprisingly popular – after all, people are naturally more interested in this kind of entertaining course compared to other courses, and the comics Danzhu hung on the outer wall were also very eye-catching, so it even became one of the most popular courses on the first day.

Incidentally, the most popular course that day was Kalpas's cooking class. After all, when it comes to attracting people, the aroma of delicious food can naturally stand out from the crowd. Even if people are not interested in cooking themselves, they cannot resist the opportunity to taste delicious food for free.

"Ugh, I'm so tired—"

When the day's classes finally ended, Danzhu slumped onto the table, saying, "Why does it feel like it wasn't much easier than when I was at the First Research Institute?"

Be content; at least you're doing what you love right now.

Sōgen, without even looking up, said, "Besides, weren't you smiling quite happily when those kids were calling you 'teacher'?"

"Oh dear, I never thought I'd be the one educating others one day."

Recalling what had just happened, Danzhu couldn't help but smile. "By the way, what were you doing?"

"It counts as popularity votes."

Sōgen sorted through the tickets in his hand again. "We really made a killing today. If this momentum continues, we might even be able to stay in the top three by the end of the event!"

"As expected of you, you even scheme about something like this."

Danzhu looked speechless. "But are you sure this is okay? Isn't this already a kind of business transaction?"

Danzhu's classroom is not large, and because the course content is quite time-consuming, she can't accommodate many students in a day. However, the popularity votes she receives rank among the top in the whole school, which is naturally because Sōgen used other methods.

Since Danzhu didn't prepare many materials, everyone who came to experience the art class only had one chance to try. After finishing or failing, they had to queue up again. However, Sōgen prepared extra materials, and as long as you put in a popularity ticket, you could get an extra chance to try.

In this way, almost every student who came to experience it cast their vote, so their vote rate was quite high.

"Don't worry, I've studied the rules, and there's no explicit rule against doing this."

Sōgen shrugged and said nonchalantly, "After all, this is the first time Morning Sun Academy has held such an event. There are many loopholes in the rules, and everyone is taking advantage of them. It won't make a difference if we're one of them."

"That's true, but you really don't need to do that, since popularity votes can't be used as currency,"

Danzhu looked at her sister, then shook her head. "Do you really want the top three reward?"

"You just don't understand, do you?"