Li Lu, You Have Graduated

The student in front of Duan Peng returned to his seat, and he immediately became excited, patting Li Lu beside him, "Let's go, let's go, it's our turn!"

"You go check, I'm too lazy to check." Li Lu sat on his chair, unmoving.

"The Class Teacher is watching outside, aren't you going to check?" Duan Peng urged, "Hurry, hurry, what if?"

Li Lu reluctantly lifted his butt and followed Duan Peng to the podium.

There's no 'what if' about it, Li Lu was very clear. Why would such a great opportunity be randomly given to ordinary citizens? How much attention would the first batch of Teacher Bai attract, how much premium would it bring, and how much profit could be maximized by secretly selling at high prices and then internally deciding on candidates!

Even if there was no internal decision, there must be something fishy about the lottery rules. Why was there an option in the registration questionnaire to investigate whether the Volunteer had the ability to buy Teacher Bai in full? Anyone could guess that only those who could afford to buy it in full would have a chance to be drawn. Otherwise, if a bunch of poor ghosts were drawn, wouldn't the Brain-like Chip Company have to pay for the testing? What's the point?

The fact that the list of Volunteers drawn was not made public was even more obvious. They weren't even pretending. If it was really a fair lottery, why not just publish the list directly and make everyone go to the trouble of checking themselves?

Li Lu's mind raced with thoughts as he watched Duan Peng nervously enter information, a mocking smile on his lips for the fool. His Roommate was just too naive.

"Pa!"

Duan Peng hit enter, and a prompt popped up on the screen.

[We regret to inform you that you have not won in this round of the lottery!]

Duan Peng was obviously quite disappointed, and even moved the mouse to refresh, as if refreshing would re-draw the lottery. However, he stopped and didn't actually refresh, laughing self-deprecatingly, and closed his query interface.

Li Lu stepped forward and casually entered the information. Duan Peng didn't leave, but stood aside to watch.

"Pa!"

With a tap of the enter key, a prompt popped up on the screen.

Li Lu subconsciously wanted to close it, but suddenly realized that the prompt was not quite right. Why was it so long?

Taking a closer look, he was stunned.

[Congratulations, you have won a spot to experience Teacher Bai. Please keep your phone unblocked. Staff will contact you within 48 hours to discuss the Volunteer conference schedule.]

"Holy shit!" Duan Peng shouted out of control, "You won!"

The students in the entire classroom raised their heads in unison, staring at the stage with wide eyes. Most of them hadn't reacted yet, but some students looked suspicious, their first reaction being that Duan Peng might be messing around.

The Academic Overlords in the front row immediately rushed to the podium to look at the screen, all screaming strangely, grabbing Li Lu and shaking him, "You won, you won! Li Lu, you're taking off!"

The class discipline instantly collapsed. The students couldn't remain calm about such a big event. A group of people rushed up, squeezing and scrambling to watch the winning prompt on the computer screen. After reading it, they all grabbed Li Lu, shaking him and congratulating him. The scene was extremely lively!

Li Lu allowed himself to be grabbed and shaken by the students, his expression dazed!

He won?! How did he actually win?!

Shouldn't the Volunteer candidates be internally decided? How could it be a real random draw? When he registered, he clearly chose that he couldn't afford to buy Teacher Bai in full. How could he still be drawn...

Countless question marks destroyed Li Lu's brain like a storm. He completely crashed, and hormones were spraying wildly throughout his body.

"No, why did you win?" Duan Peng came back to his senses, a little collapsed, his face twisted with jealousy, Looking Up at the ceiling, "The number one Song He hater actually won? The Heavens are unfair! Why didn't I get drawn! I'm clearly a Song He fan! Please Heavens, distinguish between the loyal and the treacherous!"

Many students in the class also knew that Li Lu was a Song He hater, and for a time they were a little collapsed. The wails of "Please Heavens, distinguish between the loyal and the treacherous" rose and fell.

The onlookers suddenly separated, and Ban Jianye walked over, his face shocked as he looked at the screen. It took him several seconds to recover from his daze. He never expected that the one in a million probability would actually happen to a student in his class!

For a moment, Ban Jianye even suspected that he, the Class Teacher, had a bit of metaphysics about him, producing a Super Genius like Song He and a lottery jackpot winner like Li Lu.

"Take your phone and come with me." Ban Jianye patted Li Lu's shoulder.

Li Lu blankly grabbed his phone from the podium and followed the Class Teacher out. Hormones were still coursing through his body, his heart beating faster and faster, and he felt a strange unsteadiness as he walked.

His expression at that moment was as if his brain had been hollowed out by a Zombie. The moment he won the lottery, the values he had accumulated over the past decade were shattered to pieces. His mind was as blank as if it had been bombed by a Hydrogen Bomb, and he followed the Class Teacher downstairs like a walking corpse.

The teachers' Offices for each subject were on the first floor, with the Math Office being the first room.

Ban Jianye pushed open the Office door and led Li Lu inside. "Call home and tell them about the situation. I'll take you home later. Discuss it with your family and wait for Song He's Secretary's call. Come back to class after you've discussed it. Anyway, with your grades, you can't count on the National College Entrance Examination. When luck comes, seize it firmly."

Li Lu's head was buzzing. He picked up his phone and called his parents, not even realizing what he was saying. But hearing the extremely surprised shouts from his parents on the phone, he knew he had probably made himself clear.

Ban Jianye was also quite efficient. After sitting down, he started writing leave notes, writing a whole stack of them for Li Lu in one go. The scale was like an expulsion. There were so many leave notes that he could almost stay at home until the National College Entrance Examination.

"Take these." Ban Jianye stuffed the leave notes into his hand.

Li Lu dazedly took the leave notes, stammered a thank you to the teacher, and followed Ban Jianye out the door, heading towards the parking lot.

It was currently the break between Evening Self-Study classes, and many students were wandering around. The two Master and disciple walked through the crowd, hearing almost all the students discussing the same topic. The speed of gossip spreading on campus was always faster than light.

"I heard someone from our School won Teacher Bai's lottery. What kind of heaven-defying luck is that!"

"A guy in his third year of High School. I heard he's a Song He hater, but he was the one who won. The other students in his class are so jealous they're grinding their teeth!"

"Can it really be that coincidental? Could he be a distant relative of Song He? Song He is also from Jinghai!"

"I heard the guy who won is surnamed Li, but just because he's not surnamed Song doesn't mean there's no family relationship. Let's inquire later for other news."

"I'm so jealous! I want to win the lottery too! If I win, I don't have to stay up all night doing practice questions, I can just lie down!"

"What's the difference between this and finding a hundred million? What did that guy do in his past life?"

Li Lu felt a little dizzy. He felt no joy, only fear. He was going to be famous throughout the School. Since entering High School, he had always been an insignificant character, the doorkeeper in the back corner of the classroom. He had thought he would graduate from the National College Entrance Examination so plainly and unsuccessfully, but he never imagined that he would suddenly become a campus celebrity!

As he was feeling dizzy, they arrived at the parking lot. Ban Jianye took out his car key and pressed it, and the car lights lit up in the darkness.

Ban Jianye's car was a luxury SUV worth millions. Campus rumors said it was a gift from Chenghuang Company, but it was unknown whether it was true or not. But with Ban Jianye's salary level, he definitely wouldn't be willing to buy such an expensive car.

Li Lu had never been in a million-dollar car before. He felt a slight shiver when he reached out to pull the car door. He secretly calculated how many air conditioners his old man would have to install to be able to afford to repair even a small scratch on the car, and how many months his mother would have to work to earn that much.

He got in the car and sat down obediently, fastening his seat belt.

"Where do you live?" Ban Jianye asked.

"Jinghai Garden." Li Lu was a little restrained. "I'm troubling you, Teacher."

Ban Jianye drove out of the School, revealing a smile. "Don't be so polite. It's just a twenty-minute drive. There are drinks on the door, drink if you want."

Li Lu was slightly stunned. He had never seen the Class Teacher be so kind to him in his three years of High School. The relationship between teacher and student had always been like a cat catching a mouse. The Class Teacher's tone had suddenly become so friendly, which was quite unsettling.

"Don't be so restrained." Ban Jianye said with a sigh, suddenly becoming talkative. "I'm usually strict with you in School because I want you to get into a good School and have a good future. Teachers and students are never enemies, but rather in the same trench. At class reunions ten years later, teachers hope that every student is radiant and happy, rather than living in a mess and crying after drinking too much. No teacher can stand that kind of discomfort."

"Li Lu, your grades were okay in the first year of High School, but they plummeted in the second year. The teachers of each subject repeatedly tried to save you, but couldn't." Ban Jianye recalled, "When the mock exam results came out, I thought it was over. Li Lu would have a hard time in the future. I didn't expect you to have such good luck. Winning Teacher Bai's lottery means you basically don't have to worry about anything in this life. From now on, you are completely liberated from the bitter sea of High School and enter the life of an adult."

Li Lu listened in a daze. His nervousness gradually disappeared. After winning the lottery, the Class Teacher's attitude towards him completely changed. There was no longer a teacher-student confrontation, but a subtle relationship of being both teacher and friend.

His three years of High School had ended early. He no longer needed to endure the torment of the National College Entrance Examination, and his life's fate had completely reversed.

The car window was open, and the refreshing night breeze poured in. The streets near the School were surprisingly deserted at night, with almost no pedestrians or vehicles, only neat rows of dim yellow streetlights.

"I'm sorry, Teacher. Looking back now... I really was muddle-headed for these three years, and I failed to live up to your expectations." Li Lu said, almost involuntarily, "It seems... at the very beginning of my second year of high school, I only fell behind a little, but trying to catch up was very painful. I wanted to work hard to make up for it, but every time I couldn't help but think, I'll study in the next class, I'll study tomorrow, I'll make a comeback during the holidays. Before I knew it, I was falling further and further behind, and by the second semester of my second year, I was in despair."

"Poor self-control, poor psychological endurance!" Ban Jianye criticized, but his tone wasn't harsh, just earnest.

"High school is a period of forging. Many qualities need to be honed during these three years. Everyone is struggling, fighting against their own distracting thoughts every day. All kinds of distracting thoughts and inner demons constantly emerge. Eighty percent of a person's success or failure in life depends on whether they can defeat their inner demons in time."

"Small inner demons, like playing around in this class as you said, and studying in the next class. And various big inner demons, such as secretly loving a female classmate and being unable to focus on studying, such as falling behind too much to face it, such as fake studying, writing with your hand but not engaging your mind, copying the answer once and feeling like you've studied hard, such as the arrogant and inferior emotions brought about by rising and falling rankings, so many!"

"If a person overcomes an inner demon, that inner demon becomes a stepping stone for you to move to a higher place. But if you can't overcome it, you become a slave to the inner demon." Ban Jianye said, "This is the so-called, 'He who conquers others has force; he who conquers himself is strong!'"

Li Lu's eyes suddenly turned red, and he choked slightly, "Teacher, I heard these words when I was very young, but hearing them now feels completely different."

"Seeing a revolving lantern before your eyes, right? The three years of high school flashing vividly?" Ban Jianye said, "Li Lu, you've graduated!"

Suddenly, a phone rang. Li Lu took out his phone from his pocket. It was a number from out of town!