Top Scholar

Chapter 90 Chun Ge Gets a New Job

As the saying goes, "money makes the world go round," and Cheng Chengcheng's money really made a difference. This time, the higher-ups acted quickly; in less than a month, the notice to send new teachers to the community school came down.

Upon hearing the news, Scholar Cheng felt a mix of emotions. It was certainly excellent that things didn't drag on and on; but wasn't this a bit too abrupt? Why didn't they try to persuade this old man to stay?
Although he voluntarily withdrew, the fact that a new gentleman was sent so quickly suggests that they had been waiting for him to leave.

There's no way around it, scholars just tend to overthink things...

But scholars value dignity above all else. Regardless of any lingering resentment, Scholar Cheng still hoped to see things through to the end.

Before officially leaving the school, he returned to the community school to explain the situation to his disciples, instructing them not to bully newcomers, to continue to respect their teachers, and to study hard.

With a lingering look in his cloudy eyes, Cheng Xiucai said to the thirty-six students, “Your studies are your own, not for the teacher’s benefit. Most of you won’t have many more years to study, so you must cherish every day in the school, or you will regret it for the rest of your lives.”

"Yes, sir." The disciples responded, sobbing. Although Master Cheng was usually too strict and often resorted to corporal punishment, he genuinely cared for them.

"Sir, could you please not leave?" the children asked.

“I’m too old to teach anymore.” Scholar Cheng shook his head and sighed, “The sooner we get a new teacher to take over, the better, so it won’t interfere with your preparations for the academy entrance exam.”

After saying that, she choked up and said, "get out of class dismissed."

"Thank you for your teachings, sir." The children all stood up and wept as they saw their teacher off.

~~
The tenth day of the sixth lunar month was the day the new husband arrived.

Early in the morning, Scholar Cheng, leaning on his cane, went to the village entrance to wait. But he waited until the sun was high in the sky, and still didn't see the gentleman.

It was the hottest time of the year, and even people under the shade of the trees were drenched in sweat. Cheng Xiucai's robe was completely soaked, as if he had been pulled out of the water, and he was on the verge of heatstroke.

"How can you be late on the first day of class?" he said, extremely annoyed. "How can a teacher like this teach well?"

"I guess the higher-ups couldn't find a suitable candidate right away, so they just picked someone to fill in," Cheng Chengcheng said, fanning him with his fan. "Dad, shall we go back?"

"No, I'll wait here. I want him to feel utterly ashamed!" Cheng Xiucai insisted.

"Sigh..." Cheng Chengcheng sighed. He didn't know if the other person was ashamed or not, but he was about to faint.

After waiting for a while, Cheng Wantang, who was now an unemployed youth, came running from the village and shouted, "Grandpa, hurry back, the teacher has arrived."

"How is that possible? This is the only road into the village." Cheng Chengcheng said incredulously, "Did that gentleman grow wings or something?"

"No, because that gentleman is from Erlangtan," Cheng Wantang revealed the answer.

"What? Could it be Su Youcai?!" Cheng Chengcheng asked in surprise, "That's not right, didn't he already resign from his job and go work for your aunt?"

“It’s not him, it’s his nephew, Su Man, who came in third in this year’s county exam!” Cheng Wantang said.

"Isn't this ridiculous?" Cheng Xiucai felt his dizziness flare up again, and he was furious. "How can you hand over my students to a 'pig intestine' grandson? Has he even grown his hair yet and he's already a teacher?!"

"Yes, how can our Cheng family's children go to school?" Cheng Chengcheng said with deep concern.

"Go take a look!" As Cheng Xiucai sat on the sedan chair, two farmhands quickly came over to carry him.

"At worst, I'll open a clan school myself. I just can't let the children fall into that brat's hands!" Scholar Cheng gripped his cane tightly, wishing he could break it in two.

Cheng Chengcheng thought to himself, "Good heavens, it's our turn to run the clan school again..."

He certainly didn't want to abandon the existing community school and spend money to start anew. Besides, the clan school couldn't charge tuition fees from the clan members, which would be a huge expense every year.

~~
Erlangtan Social Studies.

There were almost twice as many students in the classroom today as usual. That's because all the young children from the Su family came to school...

Actually, according to Chun-ge'er, it would have been better to wait until he had established himself firmly before letting the clan's children return to school.

But the elders of the clan could no longer hold back. They immediately closed the clan school and ordered their children to reclaim the land that belonged to them, so that the Cheng family would experience what it was like to not be able to go to school!

So, having received their orders, the Su family children rushed into the long-missed community school early that day, carrying their desks and chairs. If Su Man hadn't stopped them, they would have thrown all the Cheng family children's desks and chairs outside…

When the original students arrived, they were completely dumbfounded. The normally spacious lecture hall was crammed full of tables and chairs, making it difficult to even find their seats.

They were confused and saw that the new teacher had a cold face and seemed difficult to get along with, so they had no choice but to sit down and start class, but they were in a daze all morning.

The Cheng family members were filled with anxiety. How could they have chosen someone from the Su family as their teacher? How could they possibly live like this?

Halfway through the lesson, a commotion suddenly broke out in the lecture hall. The Cheng family members all looked out the window and saw Old Master Cheng standing there with a flushed face, exuding a murderous aura.

"The teacher is here! We're saved..." The Cheng family children were overjoyed, almost ready to spread the news. Su Man was teaching the "Thousand Character Classic" to the younger students in the front row when she heard the commotion from the older students in the back. She looked up to scold them, but then she saw the old man's red face, which looked like he was about to suffer from heatstroke.

He couldn't help but think to himself, what's meant to happen will happen...

"Study on your own first," Su Man instructed the students, took a deep breath, and calmly came out to meet Cheng Xiucai.

"This junior pays his respects to the senior." Chun Ge'er bowed respectfully.

"Truly, the younger generation is formidable." Scholar Cheng showed him no kindness whatsoever, snorting, "They managed to keep it a secret so well! I had no idea that the one succeeding me was Su Dacheng's grandson!"

"I only just learned of this matter myself, and I was just planning to pay my respects to you after school." Chun Ge'er remained unmoved and said calmly, "Who would have thought that you would come first? I am truly sorry for your rudeness. Please forgive me."

"You've been rude in so many ways!" Cheng Xiucai couldn't contain his resentment any longer, slamming his cane into the ground and kicking up dust. "In the sweltering heat, you made this nearly sixty-year-old man wait for you at the village entrance for ages!"

"Really?" Chun Ge'er said in surprise, "How can a senior greet a junior? I thought you would stay at home and wait for the junior to come and pay a visit."

"How was I supposed to know it was a junior?!" Cheng Xiucai muttered. He coughed again, too lazy to waste any more words.
"You're not suited to teaching community school; you should resign voluntarily."

It's obvious they're taking advantage of his youth and trying to intimidate him.

But Chun-ge'er was arrogant and proud! Since the other party didn't take him seriously, he wouldn't be polite. So he said seriously:
"As the saying goes, 'If one's will is not strong, one's wisdom will not be achieved; if one's words are not trustworthy, one's actions will not be successful.' Since I have agreed to be this teacher, I will definitely overcome all difficulties to take on this role, and I will definitely do it well!"

He paused for a moment, then added with a hint of sarcasm, "Don't worry, senior, I won't be prejudiced like before. Everyone who comes to study is my student, no one else is."

"Hmph, that sounds nice." Cheng Xiucai's weakness was hit, and his arrogance faltered. The thing that had been most criticized about him over the years was that he only taught the Cheng family and not the Su family's children.

Moreover, he couldn't say it was because he was worried about Su Man's abilities. A third-place finisher in the county examination was more than qualified to teach elementary education.

In the end, Cheng Xiucai could only bring up Chun Ge'er's age. "I'm worried that you're too young. Teacher, teacher, only the mature and steady can be a teacher. You haven't even grown your hair yet, how can you keep those kids in check?"

"Senior, you are overthinking it. Not to mention that Gan Luo became prime minister at the age of twelve and Huo Qubing was ennobled at the age of eighteen, age has never been a problem. Moreover, there are rules in a school. As long as I strictly enforce them, there will be rules to restrain the students."

"Very well, I didn't expect you to be so quick-witted." Scholar Cheng nodded and sneered, "Then I'll wait and see."

After saying that, he got into the sedan chair and left.

Su Man shook his head, returned to the lecture hall, and said in a deep voice, "Continue the lesson."

"Yes..." The Cheng family member was inevitably disappointed, thinking that the old gentleman was going to kick him out.

~~
"Dad, are we just leaving like this?" Cheng Chengcheng asked, following beside the sedan chair.

"He was, after all, a tutor officially appointed by the higher authorities. To kick him out on his very first day is just too arrogant." Scholar Cheng leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "Making trouble out of reason is not the behavior of a gentleman... so only when you are in the right can you not forgive others."

"Yes." Cheng Chengcheng nodded, then suggested, "How about we keep the children from going to school for now?"

"We absolutely cannot drop out of school!" At this moment, Cheng Xiucai calmed down and said in a deep voice, "If everyone drops out, won't the community school become the Su family's?"

"Yes, we can't make the same mistake the Su family did back then." Cheng Chengcheng suddenly realized, then said with a troubled expression, "But if we let that kid gain a foothold, our Cheng family's children will suffer in the future. How will they study hard to take the academy entrance exam?"

"Gaining a foothold? It's not that easy," Cheng Xiucai sneered. "It wasn't that I didn't want the Su family's children back then. But the two families were like oil and water, and so were the children. They simply couldn't get along. How could they be in the same classroom? So we had to separate them."

“Now he’s mixed up the children of both clans again. Just wait and see what happens. If things get out of hand, I’ll naturally kick him out…” Cheng Xiucai finished speaking and closed his eyes in anguish.

"What's wrong, Dad? Is your vertigo acting up again?" Cheng Chengcheng asked with concern.

"No, I think I have heatstroke." Cheng Xiucai felt dizzy, nauseous, and irritable.

~~
Cheng Xiucai, as expected of a veteran educator, made an accurate judgment.

The Su family children have been resentful for so many years, and now that they've finally become a member of the returning delegation, they'll definitely take the opportunity to mock the Cheng family's children.

After being bewildered for two days, the Cheng family children returned to normal and began to fight back defiantly.

Soon, just like the rest of Erlangtan, the school was divided into two opposing camps, each clearly distinct. Even minor frictions could escalate into brawls, quickly turning into mass fights.

Moreover, both sides went all out each time, fearing that if they lost, they would get beaten up at home...

Su Man had only been working for five days when two children had broken their heads, five lost teeth, and countless others had bruises and swelling on their faces. Parents were constantly blocking the door, yelling at him for not watching their children properly!
That's right, parents send their children to community schools for two reasons: first, it's free, and second, it's a place where their children can be looked after for free. As for what they'll actually learn, they don't really care...

P.S. Thank you everyone for your support! There will be four updates today! But I haven't checked the last two chapters yet, so please wait a bit...

(End of this chapter)