"Li Su!"
"Li Su!"
"Li~! Su~!"
An angry voice rang out.
In his sleep, Li Su seemed to hear someone calling his name. Still groggy from drinking too much the night before, he slowly opened his eyes.
"Who's that? Calling my soul back this early in the morning?"
Wearily, Li Su slowly opened his eyes. He'd finally finished all his social obligations and could take a couple of days to rest, but before he'd even had enough sleep, someone was already shouting beside him.
Huh?
Li Su opened his eyes, still bleary, and couldn't help shuddering at the unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings before him.
A classroom.
Blue-and-white uniforms. From his memories, it looked like the high school he'd attended.
Was he dreaming?
Li Su looked puzzled and rubbed his eyes. He'd graduated from university ages ago, so how had he suddenly returned to high school?
Had he been reborn?
While he was still baffled, a piece of chalk came flying through the air from the lectern.
Thwack!
The chalk hit Li Su right between the eyebrows, knocking him backward and leaving him dizzy.
Then a cool, crisp voice rang out. "If you dare fall asleep in class again, you can stop coming to lessons."
Hiss!
Li Su sucked in a sharp breath. The intense pain snapped him fully awake. This clearly wasn't a dream.
But why?
He knew that cool, crisp voice. He should say he would never forget it for the rest of his life: Yi Qinglian, his homeroom teacher in his senior year of high school. The Devil Teacher, the person in the whole school who most loved talking to parents, and the nightmare of mischievous kids like Li Su had been in his youth.
Over his three years of high school, she'd summoned his parents thirty-nine times.
Damn, thirty-nine times! What kind of grudge did she have against him?
Even after graduating from university, Li Su shuddered whenever he thought back on it. He'd lost count of how many times his parents had beaten him together. They'd broken three belts and bamboo rods on him.
If he hadn't been so sturdy, he might not have made it.
He looked up and met her eyes.
No mistake. It was the Devil.
Li Su instinctively lowered his head. She'd left an incredibly deep impression on him.
But why?
Once his fear subsided, a trace of confusion rose in Li Su.
Though Devil Yi loved summoning parents, she had one very clear trait: she would never lay a hand on her students, no matter how angry she got. And when she called parents in, it wasn't to get them to beat their children, but to talk things through. Most of the reason Li Su had been beaten so badly was that his parents believed in "Spare the rod and spoil the child."
And did it really have to hurt this much?
Li Su touched the spot between his eyebrows. It felt as if the blow had turned his brain to mush.
He hadn't realized how bad it was until he touched it. His fingers came away with a chunk of something.
It was chalk residue. The impact had pulverized the piece, and it had stuck to his forehead. (Huh? Don't know what that looks like? You can try it yourselves. Go find some mud in your neighborhood, shape it into a lump, then hurl it hard against a wall. Wet mud works best. Even better, try it at home. I used to do this all the time as a kid. You'll see exactly what I mean.)
How much force did it take to make something like this happen?
Li Su was a little stunned. Devil Yi might have a devilish personality, but that was another matter from her strength. A piece of chalk shouldn't have this much force—not even a blackboard eraser. And besides, he was sitting in the sixth row, a good five or six meters from the lectern.
It was just a tiny piece of chalk. Fine, she'd thrown it that far. But how could it still hit with such force?
"Li Su!"
Just as Li Su was puzzling over it, Devil Yi's voice rang out.
"Present!" Without thinking, Li Su stood straight up. He was loud and clear. Even though he didn't understand what was going on, the memories in his body and soul had told him more than once: when Devil Yi appeared before you, there were only three things to do—listen, listen, and listen.
"Tell me: why did Murong Fu, one of the legendary figures of Northern Song history in the last century, born into the Murong Clan, with a face as handsome as jade, an elegant bearing, both literary and martial talents, a carefree grace, and a sharp, clever mind, one of the Twin Peaks known as 'Murong of the South,' suffer repeated setbacks until he ultimately lost his mind?"
Huh?
Li Su had been extremely nervous, certain he'd be doomed if he couldn't answer. He couldn't help widening his eyes and staring blankly at Devil Yi, his face saying, Are you fucking kidding me?
History of the last century?
Murong Fu?
Was this really something to talk about in class? And history of the last century? Was that even a historical era?
Seeing Li Su standing there dumbfounded and unable to speak for a long time, Devil Yi shook her head and turned to the other side. "Ai Lin, you answer."
"Yes, teacher!"
A girl with a golden ponytail and blue eyes stood up. She was clearly different from the gentle beauty of the East, with a distinctly Nordic appearance.
"Murong Fu had exceptional martial talent, but his political acumen was mediocre. He lost sight of the greater good for the sake of small gains. Though his ambitions soared to the heavens, they were castles in the air. Not to mention that people of the time had rallied to the Song, while several stronger powers surrounded them, watching covetously. There were countless experts, leaving him no room to seize the moment..."
Her Mandarin was so flawless that Li Su felt ashamed of himself. And her analysis was so clear and logical that there was no doubt the girl had studied this novel thoroughly. Her descriptions, comparisons, and summary were all so apt that by the end, Li Su couldn't help nodding in sudden understanding.
But was it appropriate to discuss wuxia novels openly in a high school class at such an important point in their lives?
And wait a minute! Just wait a minute!
Were there Westerners in their class back in high school? How come he didn't know?
"Very well said. Murong Fu had talent and learning, but ultimately failed in obscurity. The fundamental reason was that he never started from reality. If someone wants to reach great heights, they need a goal, but they also need to pay attention to the ground beneath their feet. It's no use talking about lofty dreams if you don't actually take steps toward them. Even someone with Murong Fu's talent and ability failed. What chance would anyone else have?"
Devil Yi nodded, a satisfied look on her face. "Very good, Ai Lin. You've grasped this point thoroughly. Keep it up."
The golden-haired girl smiled happily, shot Li Su a proud glance, and sat back down like a little peacock.
"Now, let's continue with the next part. Everyone turn to page nineteen of your textbook. Last class, we covered the Twin Peaks of Northern Song. Today, we'll move on to the next lesson: the legendary Demon Master Pang Ban, who shook the world during the Ming Dynasty in the history of the last century, roamed the martial world for over sixty years, perfected the Heavenly Demon Art at the age of one hundred, and finally shattered the void and departed after his final battle."
Standing in the classroom, Li Su listened blankly to Devil Yi's endless lecture at the front and watched everyone below listen with great interest. For a moment, he couldn't help questioning his entire existence.
Had he been reborn???
No. Even if the teacher was joking and the students were playing along, treating wuxia as history at such a crucial point in their senior year was going too far.
What's more, Devil Yi didn't teach history. She taught Chinese.
And he still had the class group photo from high school. From time to time, he took it out to reminisce about his youth.
There wasn't a single golden-haired Western classmate in it.
What the hell was going on???