The moment she stood behind the lectern, the temperature in the entire classroom seemed to drop several degrees.
"What are you all doing? If you don't want to attend class, you can drop out!"
Her very first words were explosive.
Everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter and hurried to find seats. Huo Yuhao lowered her head too and was about to walk toward a corner, but Wang Dong caught her wrist and pulled her straight to a desk by the window.
"Sit here."
Huo Yuhao froze. Before she could react, Wang Dong had already sat down beside her. He casually pulled an oilpaper parcel from inside his clothes and pushed it into her hands. "Bought these this morning. Eat them while they're hot."
Huo Yuhao looked down and saw two meat buns still steaming. Her nose stung, and she whispered:
"Thank you..."
At the lectern, the elderly woman swept an expressionless gaze around the classroom and spoke:
"My name is Zhou Yi, and I'm the homeroom teacher for your Freshman Class One. I don't care what status or background you had before. Now that you're at Shrek Academy, you will follow Shrek Academy's rules. In my class, there is only one rule... either get stronger or get out. Is that clear?"
"Yes!" came the scattered replies around the classroom.
Zhou Yi's gaze swept over them before she suddenly spoke again. "Oh, right. Has anyone gotten into a fight on the first day?"
The classroom instantly fell silent.
Everyone's eyes fell in unison on Dai Huabin's battered, swollen face.
Dai Huabin's expression turned utterly thunderous.
Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Dong stood right up.
"I did. I gave him those injuries." His voice was quiet, but it carried clearly throughout the classroom.
"Because he was asking for it. If I had another chance, I'd hit him again."
The entire classroom instantly became so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard. Everyone stared at Wang Dong, dumbstruck. Even Zhou Yi froze.
In all her years of teaching, she had seen troublemakers and students who refused discipline, but she really had never seen someone like this. Admitting to fighting of his own accord was one thing, but how could he sound so righteous, so proud?
His tone and demeanor made it seem as though he had performed some glorious deed worthy of commendation.
Zhou Yi laughed in anger. Narrowing her eyes, she looked Wang Dong up and down and sneered.
"Fine. You've got guts. Since you have so much energy to fight, forget class. You are all one unit. The entire class will go outside and run one hundred laps now, with a two-hour time limit. Whoever finishes last will be expelled on the spot."
At those words, the classroom erupted in wails.
"One hundred laps?! Isn't that way too much?"
"One hundred laps in two hours? How could anyone finish that?"
"Isn't this just forcing people to drop out...?"
Everyone went pale. For most freshmen, one hundred laps was simply an impossible task.
One lap around Shrek Academy's field was a full four hundred meters. One hundred laps meant forty thousand meters. To finish within two hours, they would have to maintain an average pace of under three minutes per kilometer. How was that something students could do?
Even Soul Masters couldn't withstand that drain on their Soul Power.
Huo Yuhao's face went even paler. Her Soul Power was only rank eleven, and her constitution was practically the weakest of them all.
Forget one hundred laps; she would probably collapse halfway through. She bit her lip as a sense of helplessness welled up inside her.
Dai Huabin, on the other hand, looked indifferent, with even the faintest hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. He was a three-ring Soul Elder, with a constitution far beyond that of ordinary people. Although one hundred laps would be somewhat strenuous for him, he could grit his teeth and finish.
He glanced at Wang Dong and thought to himself, That's what you get for being so arrogant. Let's see how you get out of this now.
Wang Dong stood in the classroom, inwardly ranting furiously. He had already disliked this Zhou Yi immensely in the original novel.
All that talk of high graduation rates, high Inner Court admission rates, high rates of successful students... utter bullshit.
She casually expelled students and ruined their entire lives. Of course the percentages went up when there were fewer people, but what good students could that kind of teaching produce?
A truly good teacher could turn struggling students into top students, rather than simply kicking the struggling students out.
But none of that was the most important thing. What mattered most was that Huo Yuhao was far too weak right now. She simply couldn't manage the run. He absolutely couldn't let Huo Yuhao run.
"Shrek Academy does not give a teacher the authority to expel students at will."
Wang Dong spoke unhurriedly, but every word was clear.
"If you think you can expel students whenever you please, Teacher, why don't we go ask the dean to settle this? Before I even started school, I heard that Teacher Zhou Yi liked expelling students, dressing it up as selecting talent for the academy.
"But what's actually happening? Students are expelled because they can't keep up in a run. They haven't learned anything yet, and they're already labeled trash... is that a problem with the students, or with the school?"
"We didn't come here to practice running... you ruin someone's life so easily. Is that really right?"
When he finished, the classroom was silent. Huo Yuhao instinctively began to clap, the crisp applause especially loud in the quiet classroom.
When she realized what she was doing, she blushed and hurriedly lowered her hands, but her bright eyes remained fixed on Wang Dong's back.
The others gradually came to their senses too. What young person didn't have some fire in their blood? Stirred by his words, quite a few of them began to stare with blazing eyes.
"Exactly! What gives you the right to expel people whenever you want?"
"It wasn't easy for us to get into Shrek either. Why should we be expelled just because we can't keep up in a run?"
"If we have to, we'll all sign a joint complaint!"
For a moment, indignation surged through the classroom. The way quite a few of the girls looked at Wang Dong changed. They felt he was handsome and responsible, practically glowing from head to toe.
Zhou Yi's face alternated between livid and pale. She had intended to establish her authority on the first day, only for this troublemaker to defy her in public and stir up the entire class against her.
In all her years of teaching, this was the first time she had encountered anything like this. Looking at the boys and girls before her, united as one with their eyes blazing, she suddenly felt something unusual stir within her.
She began to question her teaching philosophy. Could... I really have been wrong? She had always believed that only strictness could produce talent, and only elimination could leave the elite behind.
Yet the looks in these children's eyes made her waver for the first time.
She remained silent for a long time. Finally, she took a deep breath and backed down.
"...Fine. We'll let it go this time. But the fighting can't just be brushed aside. Wang Dong, Dai Huabin, both of you must be punished."
Wang Dong knew when to quit while he was ahead and immediately put on a sincere expression. "You're right, Teacher. Fighting really was wrong. Dai Huabin and I have the courage to admit our mistakes. How about this? We'll run double, two hundred laps, to set an example for our classmates!"
Zhou Yi paused. Looking at Wang Dong's sincere face, she momentarily found herself at a loss for words. This brat... he had just defied her in public, and now he was volunteering to admit fault and increase his punishment, his attitude so sincere that she couldn't find anything to criticize.
She suddenly felt that although this brat was a troublemaker, at least he dared to take responsibility for his actions. He was much better than those who played clever little tricks behind people's backs.
She nodded, her tone softening somewhat. "Fine. Two hundred laps, then. Until you finish, don't bother attending class today."
Dai Huabin stood beside him, completely bewildered. What the hell? When had I said I was going to admit fault? When had I said I was going to run two hundred laps?
Before you continue