Chapter 358 The Relationship Between the Scholar and the Chrysanthemums
A group of people came into the cla.s.sroom and grabbed a large number of seats from the back rows. After Li Yundong had sat down, he suddenly found Ruan Hongling also sitting in the back row with him and he couldn"t help but wonder aloud, "Why are you also attending this cla.s.s? Aren"t you a junior?"
"I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen to you, so I came here to watch the fun," Ruan Hongling said slowly.
Li Yundong was so gloomy about this that he almost could have spat blood. He rolled his eyes at Ruan Hongling and said to the little foxes sitting in the back rows, "If you dare to make trouble, no one will be allowed to eat dinner when you return!"
The little foxes were shocked. They sat up straight and fell silent immediately.
Feng Na had always been curious about the relationship that existed between so many beauties and Li Yundong. She could see that as soon as Li Yundong opened his mouth, the beauties would become extremely obedient. She couldn"t help asking, "Li Yundong, have you been trafficking human beings these days? Where did you get so many beauties? You could start a modeling agency with this lot!"
"Because I"m so charming, they all flock to me voluntarily!" Li Yundong laughed, his head turning to the sky.
Feng Na didn"t believe him and turned to ask the little foxes, "What"s your relationship with him?"
Scared by Li Yundong, the fox girls didn"t dare to speak a word. Their heads shook like little rattles. Feng Na saw them shaking their heads and realized that they wouldn"t dare to say anything. She sulkily said, "If you don"t want to tell me, then so be it. Li Yundong, you"re such a playboy, aren"t you?"
Li Yundong coughed and thought, "Playboy? I"m still a virgin. Have you ever seen a playboy like me?"
He didn"t want to continue this topic with Feng Na. By this time, the teacher had also come in, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "The teacher is here. Let"s focus."
Feng Na burst into laughter. "What the h.e.l.l? Did you bring your textbooks? No! Where"s your notebook and pen? You didn"t bring them either."
Li Yundong said with an embarra.s.sed smile, "Mr. President, please be merciful. It"s time for cla.s.s! Can"t you see that the cla.s.sroom is full?"
Only now did Feng Na notice that the cla.s.sroom was already full of people and even the aisles were crammed with students. She asked in shock, "Why are there so many people here?"
Li Yundong also smiled. "If I were to sell standing tickets, I"m confident I could make a big fortune!"
Feng Na grinned. "You could also make a lot by selling reserve tickets! However, I think that most of the people here are here for you!"
Li Yundong looked around and saw that many of the people in the room really were looking at him. He couldn"t help laughing and said, "If one day I run out of money, I can open up an exhibition hall featuring none other than myself, and then I won"t starve to death."
"That"s great. Remember to call me at that time. I"ll handle collecting the tickets and do some publicity," Feng Na said with a smile as she covered her mouth.
A thought suddenly flashed through Li Yundong"s mind. "Right, Feng Na could come and help out in the tea room I"ve opened. Should I tell her?
"We"d better talk about it later. Wouldn"t it be shameful if the tea room ended up losing money?"
Meanwhile, the teacher who had come into the cla.s.sroom was also shocked by how full it was. He couldn"t help but get excited. He had been teaching for so many years, and every time the cla.s.s had been nearly empty, not to mention that a lot of the students who did bother to show up would skip cla.s.s half-way through. When had the cla.s.sroom ever held so many people? Today was really a good day for teaching!
What was happiness? Happiness was when you did your job with a full heart!
Wasn’t the teacher’s happiness to be found in having a full cla.s.s of students listening to his lessons every day?
The teacher of the cla.s.sical literature cla.s.s was surnamed Hua. He was an old scholar with a head of silver-grey hair. He was so excited that he had become feverish, as if the youth that had long left his body had been temporarily returned.
Teacher Hua coughed from where he was standing up by the podium, and he said excitedly, "Students, we are starting cla.s.s now..."
The students under the podium were chatting and whispering as if they hadn"t heard him at all.
Teacher Hua was frozen and looked embarra.s.sed. He raised his voice a little, saying, "Students, cla.s.s is beginning!"
But not only was the sound of the students" chattering not weakening, but it was also growing even louder!
Teacher Hua heard everything clearly from above. Some of the girls were chirping, "Hey, which one is Li Yundong?"
"That guy, tenth from right in the back row. You can"t even recognize him? It"s so easy to recognize him! The one sitting among a large group of beauties is him!"
"Ah, it"s true! Now I"ve finally seen him. I couldn"t see him clearly last time on the rostrum, but I heard that he objected to us eating sh*t..."
"Bah, you"re the one who eats sh*t!"
Teacher Hua was very depressed, thinking to himself, “So many students are not here because of interest in their education, but because of Li Yundong?”
"Isn"t this a bit too painful for my self-esteem?"
Mr. Hua felt as if someone had poured a basin of cold water over his head, feeling freezingly cold right in his bones, but he soon felt a change of heart. "No, what is the teacher"s job? Isn"t it to educate students? The more there are, the better I should educate them!"
Teacher Hua regained his confidence on the podium. “I don"t believe that the content of my lecture will not be able to attract you,” he thought confidently.
Disregarding the noise coming from below the stage, he began to speak into a wireless microphone. The sound of his voice was so loud that the students below the stage grimaced in pain. They covered their ears and said to each other, "Sh*t, has the teacher taken drugs today? Why is he speaking so loudly?"
Immediately, a student shouted, "Teacher, your voice is too loud for us to bear!"
Upon the podium, Mr. Hua said leisurely, "If I don"t make a loud noise, how can I win you over?"
The students below the podium burst out laughing, and after a while, the order in the cla.s.sroom really improved.
Seeing this, Mr. Hua immediately became energetic and worked hard on the stage, talking about all sorts of things and spitting saliva everywhere.
Li Yundong didn"t want to listen to the cla.s.s either. He had only attended it to avoid being expelled again for too many absences. It would be too much trouble if that ended up happening.
It was a trivial matter for him to be expelled, but when that happened, his parents would cut off his monthly living expenses, and he had not made any money. If he lost money doing business, there would be no way out for him. At that point, he really would have to take the foxes to open a circus.
Li Yundong was not listening to the lesson at all, but it was the first time for the little foxes to have this kind of cla.s.s, and they all felt very excited, sitting upright and listening very attentively.
Teacher Hua could see clearly from up on the podium who was listening carefully, who was chatting away, who was putting on makeup, and who was sending text messages. He secretly said in his heart: "It"s rare for such beautiful girls to be so attentive in cla.s.s!"
Teacher Hua seemed to be growing more confident, and he started speaking about harder and harder topics. Spurred by the situation, he chanted poems with ease, shaking his head like an old scholar who had taught in an ancient Chinese school.
Although Su Chan had taken several cla.s.ses like this with Li Yundong, she had always envied Li Yundong for having had the opportunity to attend such a big school, so she listened very carefully, especially when the teacher stood on the podium and began to talk about the relationship between ancient scholars and flowers. She grew increasingly enthusiastic.
Seeing that Su Chan was so absorbed, Li Yundong nudged her arm with a smile. "Hey, is it so pleasing to listen to?"
Su Chan giggled. "It is great! I"ve learned a lot!"
At this time, the teacher began talking about the relationship between scholars and chrysanthemums with great fervor. When he talked about the works with chrysanthemums of Tao Yuanming, Lu You, and other famous scholars, he began reciting a poem while shaking his head. "Autumn silk surrounds the house like pottery, the sun all around the fence edge gradually inclines. It"s not that chrysanthemum is preferred amongst flowers, because there can be no flower when chrysanthemums fade."
As Li Yundong listened to his chanting and suddenly laughed. He said to Su Chan with a wicked smile, "By the way, do you know why these scholars love to praise chrysanthemums?"
"Of course I know!" Su Chan said confidently. "Do you think that your little girl has had no education? Chrysanthemums are fresh and elegant. They are the flowers of gentlemen. Therefore, in ancient times, scholars always used chrysanthemums to show their own n.o.ble intentions and gentlemanly heart."
Li Yundong snickered and shook his head. "No, no, that"s so wrong!"
Su Chan opened her mouth wide and asked in confusion, "What? It"s wrong? Why?"
"Why do all scholars love chrysanthemums?" Li Yundong smirked.
Su Chan blinked her eyes and asked, "Why?"
Li Yundong explained word by word, "Because they are all hardcore!"
As soon as Li Yundong finished his words, Feng Na, who was next to him, couldn"t help but burst out laughing.
As soon as she started laughing, she immediately felt that she was being inappropriate. She quickly covered her mouth, turned her head to one side, and laughed secretly, shrugging her shoulders.
Li Yundong put on a fake smile and said teasingly, "Cla.s.smate Feng Na, you actually understand it? Seems like you"re hardcore too!"
Feng Na laughed so hard that her stomach hurt, leaving her no chance to argue with Li Yundong.
Su Chan was confused. She gazed at Li Yundong and kept thinking about his words, "Why is the fact that scholars love chrysanthemums hardcore? What"s the meaning of that?"
Feng Na"s previous laughs sounded very abrupt in the cla.s.sroom and had angered Teacher Hua, who thought, "Why are you being so naughty in cla.s.s? Look at the girls behind you, how attentive they all are!"
Teacher Hua was in a bad mood. After he had finished reciting the chrysanthemum poem, he asked, "Do you have any idea whose poem I recited just now? What"s the name of the author?"
Many students were secretly glancing at Li Yundong and the beauties surrounding him from time to time. Some of them were sleeping; some were playing on their cell phones; some were doing make-up, and only a few were listening to the cla.s.s. For a moment, the room was quiet and almost everyone was looking at each other. In addition to this poem being almost unheard-of, no one knew who had written it.
Teacher Hua snorted and thought to himself, "If you guys don"t listen to the cla.s.s seriously, you won"t be good students. Looking at those students in the back rows who are terrifically attentive, I can tell that they are good students. They must know the answer!"
With this in mind, Mr. Hua pointed to the little foxes in the back rows and said, "The fifth student from the right in the back row, please stand up."
Li Yundong was shocked for a moment. He looked back and saw that there was a little fox from the Fox Zen School sitting in that seat. The little fox glanced nervously at Li Yundong first, then stood up, confused, and looked at the teacher blankly.
Teacher Hua asked kindly, "Do you know where this poem came from?"
"Indeed I know, but the leader told us not to make trouble before!" the little fox thought.
Thus she shook her head.
Teacher Hua was shocked, he looked disappointed and pointed at one of the little foxes next to her. "What about you? Do you know?"
The next little fox also stood up. Seeing that her Shijie hadn"t said anything before, she also felt she couldn"t speak, so she shook her head in silence too.
Teacher Hua became even more disappointed. He asked the little foxes in the row one by one, but they all shook their heads!
Teacher Hua was so angry that he couldn"t help but shout, "Why don"t you know anything? Haven"t you been attending cla.s.ses? You may have beauty, but it looks like your brains leave much to be desired!"
The little foxes felt wronged and thought to themselves, "We"re not your students! We know the answer, but Leader forbade us to talk!"
Teacher Hua was furious up on the podium, his breaths turning shaky from rage. Su Chan was secretly groaning about the injustice of the audience. She thought to herself: ”Isn"t this teacher scolding my sisters equivalent to him scolding me? It doesn"t matter if you scold me, but then aren"t you scolding Yundong indirectly too? He is our leader. If we are scolded, he also loses face. No, I have to win this for Yundong!"
Thinking of this, Su Chan ignored everything as she stretched out her hand and said loudly, "Teacher, I know!"
Li Yundong was shocked and gave her a nudge. "Hey, don"t talk nonsense."
Seeing Li Yundong"s action, Mr. Hua immediately shouted, "Student Li Yundong, if you won"t answer yourself, why won"t you let other students tell me?"
Li Yundong didn"t know whether to laugh or cry. He wanted to tell the teacher that she was his girlfriend rather than a student of the school.
But he knew that the teacher was so furious that he might cause another storm if he spoke up, thus he swallowed his words.
Teacher Hua pointed at Su Chan and said loudly, "Don"t be afraid, student. Stand up and answer the question loudly."
Seeing that Li Yundong was no longer stopping her, Su Chan stood up and said in a bold voice, "This poem was written by Yuan Zhen in the Tang Dynasty. The poem is called "Chrysanthemum"!"
Everyone in the cla.s.sroom looked at Su Chan in unison, talking about her answer with each other.
Teacher Hua felt relieved. "Finally, someone who knows where this poem came from. It"s so hard!"
Teacher Hua was pleased. Seeing that Su Chan had answered the question without hesitation, he was determined to test her again. "Then do you know why ancient scholars love chrysanthemums?"
As soon as Li Yundong heard this, his heart suddenly began to quiver. His mouth fell open in surprise and he thought: "No, it can"t be such a coincidence!"
Hearing this, Su Chan thought, "Ha, isn"t this the question that Yundong just asked?"
The little girl raised her eyebrows with joy and said with unshakeable confidence, "Because they are all hardcore!!"