Part 2
He nearly lost control of his facial expression, managing only with great effort to maintain his look of utter contempt and disdain.
Lin Qi quickly averted his gaze, refusing to look at Luo Shizhen on the ground. He cleared his throat and shouted his response to the previous question:
“When fighting anomalies, they will ‘reasonably’ refuse to give you a single second of rest. You want three minutes? Don’t be ridiculousâthree seconds is all it takes for a second-rank anomaly to tear through your heart!”
“Alright, your question has successfully wasted one minute of the teacherâs time. Therefore, you only get two minutes of rest. Thirty seconds left! Everyone, prepare!”
Thirty seconds later, every student was trembling, yet everyone stood up, their teeth clenched in unison.
Some people were so weak in their limbs that they nearly fell, but those beside them were quick to support them, earning a low whisper of thanks.
The principal stood on the rooftop looking down. Seeing this scene, his eyes were filled with heartache.
“This is too brutal. I wasn’t even this harsh when I was training that kid Sui An.”
Chen Heyan stood beside him. “The harder they are trained in school now, the higher their chances of survival will be once they leave. Professor Sui and Professor Lin are doing this for their own good.”
He had always been the most gentle-natured of all the teachers, yet he was exceptionally clear-headed now.
The principal sighed. “True. Nothing is more important than surviving.”
“Yo, look at those two supporting each other. Didn’t they used to want to wash their eyes out after just one look at each other?”
Chen Heyan looked down and smiled. “During the last combat simulation, they were deliberately placed in the same squad. They just have somewhat explosive personalities. Since they’ve become comrades-in-arms, their bond has naturally grown.”
“Brilliant!”
The principalâs heartache vanished, replaced by a chuckle. “I must say, your teaching methods these days are quite different from back in our time. Back then, we were all crossing the river by feeling the stones; whether students developed friendships was entirely up to them.”
Chen Heyan looked down at Luo Shizhen, whose legs were trembling as he pushed toward the goal, and suddenly asked:
“Did Professor Sui have any friends when he was in school?”
“Friends? I suppose so. Back then, Sui An, Hua Yi, and Yin Qing were together every day.”
Chen Heyan: “? Their relationship was that good?”
He certainly hadn’t seen any sign of it in the Yongzhou kitchen the other day.
The principal chuckled. “They were together fighting.”
“All three of them were high-sequence, and all were young and aggressive. When they collided, it was like a meteor hitting the Earth.”
Chen Heyan was curious. “Who was the meteor and who was the Earth?”
The principal gave a cold laugh. “The school building was the Earth. All three of them were meteors.”
Chen Heyan thought back to when he first started the jobâas soon as he entered the school, he saw half of a dilapidated buildingâand understood instantly.
The principal gritted his teeth while talking about his former students, but when he looked back at the current batch, he became cheerful again:
“This year’s students are much better behaved. Ever since they were told they weren’t allowed to assault the school buildings anymore, they really stopped.”
Chen Heyan also looked down.
Luo Shizhen was running with all his might, followed by Lu Qiujin and, a bit further back, Wen Hu.
Cheng Yunshao was slightly slower and tripped; Luo Shizhen immediately turned back to help him up.
The four of them then ran together toward the goal.
“Itâs not that theyâre well-behaved…”
Chen Heyan saw through everything. “Itâs that they’ve put the energy they used for fighting into other things.”
The principal looked at his expression. “Professor Chen, don’t you go interfering. Youâre a teacher; itâs not appropriate for you to get involved in student affairs.”
Chen Heyan gave a small smile, took off his glasses, and looked at the sky. “Indeed. I am, after all, Professor Chen.”
By the time today’s training was over, not a single student on the field could remain standing.
Lin Qi had been shouting all day, so his throat was a bit sore. He brewed a cup of chrysanthemum tea and took sips from his thermos, complaining to Sui An.
“I finally understand why every teacher I met as a kid almost always had a thermos. Teaching students is truly exhausting; even an Awakenerâs throat can’t handle it.”
“I have to keep an eye on them, draw their hatred, and say all those harsh things. Sometimes, just as Iâve built up that imposing aura, I see Luo Shizhen and I lose it. That kid… no matter how hard I push him, why doesn’t he hold a grudge?”
Sui An, while drafting tomorrowâs training plan, said:
“Heâs a stubborn soul. Once he knows youâre doing it for his own good, his opinion won’t change.”
The more Luo Shizhen was like this, the more Lin Qi wanted him.
He urged Sui An, “Boss, you should go. Use your mental energy to send him back to the dorms, and better yet, give him a massage. Luo Shizhen might not hold grudges, but he definitely remembers kindness. Heâll be moved by you, and when he graduates, heâll definitely join the Silver Cocoon.”
Sui An shot him a glance. “Why don’t you go?”
“I just finished being the ‘bad guy’; itâs not exactly the best time for me to go up there with a smile.”
Sui An stopped looking at him and continued working on his tablet. “Iâm not going.”
Lin Qi got anxious. “What a great opportunity! You used to go pick him up after normal training. Now that the training has stepped up, why aren’t you going?”
“Itâs not appropriate to go right now.”
Sui An handed the tablet to him and looked down at the students below who were intermittently helping each other up.
“They just shared a common hardship; this is the easiest time for a bond to form. If I go now, Iâll be disrupting his integration.”
Lin Qi came to a sudden realization. “No wonder. I was thinking about how our relationships always got better after you finished training us.”
Sui An raised an eyebrow. “When people have a common enemy, they indeed band together against outsiders, and their emotional bonds deepen.”
“Boss! You have such a spirit of self-sacrifice! No wonder the more I found you eyesore, the better my relationship with the other teammates became. Youâre sacrificing yourself for the greater good; I have to give you a thumbs up!”
Lin Qi gave him a thumbs up.
Sui An gave him a thumbs up.
Lin Qi: “?”
Sui An: “This task is now yours. Good luck.”
Lin Qi: “…”
Oh right, he was the one currently being hated by all the students.
Sui An patted Lin Qiâs shoulder. After checking the relatively harmonious atmosphere among the students and confirming their vital signsâshowing they were just extremely tiredâhe decided to head to the canteen to continue practicing his cooking.
Left alone, Lin Qi shrugged and let out a great shout:
“Alright! If youâve rested enough, stop taking up public space. Everyone back to your dorms! Tomorrow morning at five-thirty sharp, assemble at the training ground. If you think your stamina isn’t up to par and you can’t get out of bed, it doesn’t matterâthe teacher will bring the other students to visit you in a group!”
Almost every student who passed him looked like they wanted to kill him with their eyes.
Being glared at like that, Lin Qi actually felt a bit of a thrill.
This feeling of being hated by everyone was quite stimulating.
Luo Shizhen and Lu Qiujin supported each other as they slowly shuffled over. Lin Qi looked at him expectantly.
The gazes of Lu Qiujin, Wen Hu, and Cheng Yunshao were all tinged with anger; they had all felt that Lin Qi was deliberately targeting Luo Shizhen during training.
Luo Shizhen, covered in mud and looking incredibly disheveled, gave him a smile. “Hello, Professor Lin.”
It was the same attitude as beforeâfilled with admiration and devoid of any negative emotion.
Lin Qi: “…Hello.”
He began to doubt his life. Watching the backs of Luo Shizhenâs group as they walked away, he wondered if Luo Shizhen had realized how exceptionally harsh he was being to him.
It was fine if the other students did well, but even when Luo Shizhen did well, the difficulty was increased. No matter how slow he was, he should have known he was being targeted.
Once the four of them were a certain distance away, Wen Hu said indignantly, “Lin Qi was deliberately targeting you. Iâm going to tell Professor Chen!”
Cheng Yunshao added, “Professor Chen strongly agrees with Professor Lin and Professor Suiâs views. I think it would be better to tell the principal.”
But Luo Shizhen said, “Youâve misunderstood. Professor Lin is doing this for my own good.”
The three were stunned.
Cheng Yunshao said, “I know you think everyone is a good person, but surely you can see it when itâs this obvious?”
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