"Don't worry, Shuyao. I'll definitely do well on the exam! For myself, but even more for you!" Spurred on, Wei Qi gazed affectionately at Tong Shuyao as he spoke.
Just then, an ill-timed voice rang out.
"You're blocking my way. Move aside." Jiang Fan rose from his seat.
The atmosphere he had worked so hard to create had been disrupted by Jiang Fan, leaving Wei Qi seething with anger again.
"Jiang Fan, don't think I really don't dare do anything to you! I can't lay a hand on you in public, but I can absolutely kill you when no one's around. Do you believe me?"
"Oh."
Faced with Wei Qi's provocation, Jiang Fan merely gave a nonchalant response.
"Hey, you-"
Before Wei Qi could lash out, Jiang Fan interrupted him.
"Teacher Lu told me to come see him in the office. What, are you sure you want to stop me?"
Wei Qi had only just received a severe dressing-down from Lu Yi. He didn't dare risk another lecture from Lu Yi over Jiang Fan, so in the end, he could only swallow his anger and step aside.
Watching Jiang Fan leave, Wei Qi narrowed his eyes, then turned to a few male classmates he was close to.
"Zhou Qiang, Wang Qi, Li Chengyu, come teach Jiang Fan a lesson with me after school. Jiang Fan happens to be on cleaning duty today. There'll be fewer people around then, so it'll be easier for us to teach him a lesson."
No matter how Wei Qi thought about it, he couldn't swallow this insult. If he didn't give Jiang Fan a proper beating, he definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
That was why he had come up with this plan: have Zhou Qiang and the others do the hitting, so it wouldn't affect his martial entrance exam.
"Okay, we'll help you." After exchanging glances, Zhou Qiang and the other two agreed.
Wei Qi wasn't just their good buddy; he was also a promising candidate for a martial school. If they stuck with him, they would surely have bright futures.
Tong Shuyao, standing nearby, heard every word, and a sinister smile showed in her eyes.
Jiang Fan, you brought all of this on yourself!
Completely unaware, Jiang Fan had already arrived at the office.
"Teacher Lu."
"You're here." Lu Yi stopped working and adjusted the glasses perched on his nose.
"I asked you here mainly to discuss your future. Although you have no future in martial arts, you're eager to learn, and your academic grades are very good. I still hope you can get into a good academic university."
At this point, Lu Yi hesitated for a few more seconds. After arranging his words, he continued, "About your family... as your homeroom teacher, it isn't really my place to pry. Since you've already been kicked out of your home, you need to study even harder, rise above the crowd, and be your own pillar of support."
Yes! Be my own pillar of support.
Jiang Fan wholeheartedly agreed with those words. He himself firmly believed the same thing.
"You haven't come to class these past few days, so you don't know the new material and concepts the subject teachers have covered. I specifically borrowed some notebooks from a student with good grades. Take them back and copy the notes. Remember to return them to her when you're done." Lu Yi took several notebooks out of a drawer and handed them to Jiang Fan.
"Thank you, Teacher Lu."
Jiang Fan was deeply moved. In his previous life, Lu Yi truly had been a guiding light in his short existence.
After taking the notebooks, Jiang Fan was surprised to discover the name written on them: Lan Shengxue.
These were Lan Shengxue's notebooks?
He opened one and looked through it. The handwriting was neat and elegant, looking almost printed at first glance.
Not only that, every page was spotless, without a single dirty mark.
It reminded him of the beautiful figure he had glimpsed outside the window earlier. The saying that handwriting reflected its owner really wasn't wrong at all.
Just as he was thinking this, Qi Huai, the homeroom teacher of Class 7 next door, walked over. After glancing at the notebooks in Jiang Fan's hands, Qi Huai curled his lip.
"Honestly, Lu Yi, you really must have nothing to do all day. Going to all this trouble to borrow Lan Shengxue's notebooks for a student who can't even set foot on the martial path. You've been working for over a decade, yet you still haven't figured out your priorities? This is an age that values martial arts over academics. So what if you produce a top scorer in the academic college entrance exam? No one will think any more highly of you, and you won't get a single extra cent in bonuses. So take my advice: stop bothering with this piece of trash whose qi and blood is only 19 N, and pay more attention to the promising martial students in your class."
Hearing this sent Lu Yi's temper flaring. "Qi Huai, how can you talk like that as a teacher? Calling a student trash right to his face-just look at yourself! Do you have even a shred of a teacher's bearing?"
"What a joke. You're saying I don't act like a teacher? Have you forgotten the assessment requirements? Every homeroom teacher must produce three students admitted to martial universities every five years. That's the minimum standard. This year happens to be the fifth year, and so far, only that Wei Qi in your class is certain to get into a martial school. Once the college entrance exam is over, you'll fail your assessment, lose your teaching qualifications, and get kicked out of the school."
Qi Huai paused here, casting a contemptuous glance at Jiang Fan before continuing in a mocking tone, "One kicked out of his home, the other kicked out of his school. You and your student will be brothers in misfortune then. Hahaha-"
Lu Yi's expression grew uglier and uglier. "Qi Huai, you're going too far!"
"Oh, oh, oh! Angry, are we? We're all colleagues. Why get angry over a little difference of opinion? You're far too petty. Honestly, I'm only saying this for your own good. I tried advising you years ago, but you wouldn't listen. I told you to focus your work on the students preparing for the martial entrance exam, but you insisted that every student deserved a future and that teachers shouldn't play favorites. Well, look at you now. Five years, and you've only produced one promising martial student. Now look at me. I've already produced three. Tong Shuyao in our class just reached the level of an early-stage martial apprentice two days ago. Although her talent is limited, as long as I train her properly and concentrate all the resources meant for the other students on her, I believe she still has a chance of getting into a martial university. Never mind a first- or second-rate martial university-even if she gets into a third-rate one, she'll still be a martial university student. Then I'll not only meet my target but get an extra bonus too."
The more Qi Huai spoke, the smugger he became, his chin practically lifting into the sky.
Seeing Lu Yi's face flush red with pent-up anger, Jiang Fan knitted his brows slightly, then turned to Qi Huai.
"Who says Teacher Lu can't meet this year's assessment requirements?"
Qi Huai hadn't expected Jiang Fan to speak, much less say something so baffling.
"What do you mean by that? Who in Ancheng No. 9 Middle School doesn't know that Class 8 only has one middle-stage martial apprentice, Wei Qi? How is your Teacher Lu supposed to meet the requirements? In his dreams? Even if your Teacher Lu gets lucky and some student in his class suddenly has an explosion of good fortune and becomes a dark horse, that would still only make two. He'd still be one student short of the assessment requirements."
Jiang Fan said nothing. Indeed, even if he, this dark horse with an explosion of good fortune, got into a martial university, Lu Yi still wouldn't meet his teaching assessment requirements.
But there were exceptions to everything.