Free Web NovelChapter 104: Chapter 104: Conquest
The first day of school was just for handing out textbooks and other materials, not for actual lessons. After the meeting, Su Li calmly and composedly walked away, leaving Zhao Wenming’s sight.
"A country bumpkin dares to dream of being a teacher? Does she think just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can do the job?"
Muttering curses under his breath, Zhao Wenming headed for the fifth-grade classroom.
At that time, elementary school was still on a five-year system, making the fifth grade the graduating class.
As an "elite" graduate of a specialized secondary school, it was only natural that Zhao Wenming would be assigned the most important class—the graduating one.
The first-grade wing was filled with cheerful laughter, while the fifth-grade classroom, in contrast, was deathly quiet.
Zhao Wenming, never one to play by the rules, had them write and submit an essay. The atmosphere in the classroom was, to put it mildly, bleak and dismal.
Listening to the laughter from the first-grade class, they were filled with envy.
But Zhao Wenming just scoffed at the noise. "All that giggling and carrying on... what kind of good students can come from that? She’s doomed to fail!"
The great scholar Zhao Wenming felt a surge of heroic purpose. He was just waiting for Su Li to make a fool of herself so he could crush her, mock her, and drive her out of the school!
Zhao Wenming’s dream was a beautiful one... but in reality...
His beautiful dream failed to come true.
Nearly a month after school started, not only had Su Li not been driven out, but her first-grade class... was doing great.
Su Li was a great teacher. Everything went smoothly. She had completely won over all the first graders and was now in the process of winning over the entire school.
Yes, the entire school.
And by "the entire school," that didn’t just mean the students. It included the teachers as well.
With the exception of Zhao Wenming, of course.
What did Su Li use to win them over?
Her talent? Her beauty? Her wisdom?
NO, NO, it was none of the above.
She used games.
That’s right. Games. It was just that simple.
In that era, toys were pitifully scarce. Games... were even scarcer. You could even say there were practically no games at all.
So-called "play" for children consisted of little more than playing with pebbles or running around like maniacs.
But Su Li had memories from a future era. When it came to games, she had seen more than she could count.
And so, in the first week of school, Su Li used two simple games to conquer the world... no, wait, to win over all the students in the first grade.
Over the next two weeks, relying on her games and the endless stream of stories in her repertoire, Su Li won over all the children in the school, as well as... the teachers.
Who says teachers can’t play games? Everyone loves games, whether they’re adults or children, and teachers are no exception.
And if they weren’t playing games, they were listening to stories. The thrilling, unpredictable tales that came from Su Li’s lips were simply addictive. The students loved to listen, and the teachers were captivated as well. freēwebnovel.com
Because of Su Li, the newly enrolled Little Tang Mo became the most popular student in first grade.
And in turn, the first-grade students became the most popular class in the entire school.
The effects of this, in just a short time, would go on to influence some of them for the rest of their lives.
Some shy, insecure children grew cheerful and confident, making many new friends—some of whom would become friends for life. There was even one girl who, after listening to Su Li’s tales, fell in love with stories and reading.
Later on, she would discover her own talent and grow up to become an accomplished author...
But that, of course, is a story for another time, one far in the future.
With Su Li being so popular, Zhao Wenming, who had also just started, was not looking good by comparison.
Without comparison, there is no pain. Contrasted with Su Li, Zhao Wenming—who had just started his job ready to make a big splash, who was held in high regard and was determined to raise the quality of teaching—looked utterly ridiculous.
He was indeed held in high regard, but there was no sign of the improved teaching quality he was supposed to bring. There was no obvious progress, and none of the students liked him.
No, "disliked" was too polite. His students, the entire fifth grade, absolutely despised him!
"We don’t like him, and we can’t understand a thing he says." This became the fifth graders’ mantra.
It wasn’t just the students. Even his fellow teachers didn’t much care for Zhao Wenming, who acted humble but was actually arrogant and looked down on everyone...
In short, Su Li had completely stolen Zhao Wenming’s thunder.
The first grade was vibrant and making clear progress. The fifth grade was lifeless and steadily regressing.
The fifth graders were dying of envy for the first graders, and behind his back, their parents secretly gossiped that Zhao Wenming was incompetent and had no idea how to teach.
When Zhao Wenming caught wind of this, he nearly coughed up blood from rage.
He was too busy maintaining his intellectual facade to lower himself by arguing or causing a scene. In the end, his mother, Fang Yulan, stepped in to get revenge on his behalf.
To be fair, Fang Yulan had been bottling this up for a long time.
When Zhao Wenming had first returned for the job, Fang Yulan had practically wanted to announce it to the world with a megaphone. She praised her son to everyone she met.
After Zhao Wenming began his job, full of spirit, Fang Yulan sat back and waited to hear everyone praise her son’s competence.
But she didn’t hear a single word about how capable Zhao Wenming was. Instead, all anyone talked about was Su Li.
And not just for a day or two—it was every single day!
The entire village was talking about Su Li this and Su Li that, about how amazing she was and what a great teacher she was. But there wasn’t a single word of praise for Zhao Wenming!
Fang Yulan was incredibly frustrated, but she couldn’t talk to her son about it, afraid he would dwell on it.
She had thought things would improve soon, but instead, the talk turned to how poorly her son was teaching.
That was the last straw. Fang Yulan finally snapped. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
She went to the home of the parent who had said Zhao Wenming was a bad teacher and beat them up.
That’s right... it was that simple and brutal. She charged right into the person’s house, grabbed them by the hair, and started throwing punches.
But anyone who dared say Zhao Wenming was a bad teacher was hardly going to be some meek housewife. Her fighting prowess was a match for Fang Yulan’s.
"I’ll kill you, you bitch! A filthy mouth like yours can’t say anything decent! How dare you say my Wenming is no good..."
"He *is* a bad teacher, you crazy hag! Like mother, like son..."
The two women screamed obscenities at each other as they came to blows, drawing half the village to watch the spectacle.
They were evenly matched, and the fight ended with both of them battered and bruised.
They were covered in black-and-blue bruises, pinch marks, and scratches. There were several bloody welts on their faces, and each had torn out a handful of the other’s hair. It was a gruesome sight.
The incident blew up, and the rumor that Zhao Wenming couldn’t teach was now out in the open.
Zhao Wenming was so furious he nearly spat blood, while the fifth grader whose parent was involved burst into tears.
In the end, the principal had to step in to mediate the situation.
The principal called an all-school assembly of teachers and students to publicly reprimand those involved.
During the assembly, the principal tried to save some face for Zhao Wenming, only requiring him to control his family and make a verbal self-criticism.
The principal had been more than fair, but unfortunately, Zhao Wenming didn’t appreciate it.
He felt utterly humiliated, as if the whole world was against him. He despised the principal, and he despised that student.
And, of course, he hated Su Li.
This was because after the reprimand, the principal had made a point of singling out Su Li and her first-grade class for praise.
How could Zhao Wenming possibly endure such a thing? His hatred for Su Li reached a whole new level.
Less than a month into the school year, less than a month into his teaching career, and he had already caused such a scene and been so thoroughly disgraced. Only someone like Zhao Wenming could manage that.
After the assembly that day, Zhao Wenming stormed out of the school.
He skipped his afternoon classes, and the next day, a Friday, he didn’t show up at all.
Even the principal shook his head at the sight of a grown man behaving so petulantly.
’Sigh... and he seemed like such a sensible young man...’
But in the end, there was nothing the principal could do. He could only ask the fourth-grade teacher to cover the class.
Su Li watched this whole farce unfold from beginning to end. She was torn between wanting to laugh and simply being speechless.
Regardless of the drama they caused or what the people of Xinghua Village were saying, Su Li simply stuck to her routine and did her work.
The next day was the weekend. Early that morning, Su Li left Xinghua Village and headed for the county seat.
