After Transmigrating for the Third Time, the Real Young Master Decides to Slouch - Chapter 10

The morning reading bell did not last long, but Chen Xiangdong had been caught completely off guard and had the sharp ringing poured straight into his ears. By the time silence returned, his head was already dizzy, and his ears were ringing.

He saw Jiang Zao across from him lower his hands and say something with a smile.

Chen Xiangdong did not hear clearly. He shook his head hard. “What did you say?”

Jiang Zao smiled and repeated himself. “Does Teacher Chen not know? Lu She was the one who brought up the class transfer with School Director Rong himself.”

The implication was that Jiang Zao had no say in this matter.

Chen Xiangdong had only just recovered from the ringing in his ears. Hearing Jiang Zao’s words, his brows furrowed, and he said, “I know that. Teacher Jiang, what I mean is that I hope you can persuade Lu She to bring up returning to Class 1 with School Director Rong again.”

“I see. It seems I misunderstood.” Jiang Zao understood what he meant and nodded seriously. “This is an agreement reached between the two of them. Even if it is changed, it should be renegotiated by them. And my task is to persuade Lu She to change his mind, since his own intention is the key here. Is that right?”

Chen Xiangdong appreciated how quick he was to understand and revealed a trace of a smile. “Yes.”

Jiang Zao pinched his chin, seemingly deep in thought.

Chen Xiangdong had thought he would agree readily. A teacher newly entering the school had no deep foundation. There was no need to offend the head of his own subject’s teaching and research group over a student. Even if the position of teaching and research group leader was not very high, it still happened to sit just above ordinary teachers. Whether in terms of emotion or reason, the request he had made should not be refused.

But the other party was hesitating. This made Chen Xiangdong feel very bad. “Teacher Jiang, what are you thinking about?”

Jiang Zao smiled and said, “I’m thinking, if Lu She’s intention is changed through my persuasion, then is it still his intention?”

“What?” Chen Xiangdong’s brows furrowed tightly.

Jiang Zao’s smile took on an apologetic note. “Sorry, was that too roundabout? Then I’ll put it more simply—before I persuade him and after I persuade him, which one is Lu She’s true intention? If both are his intentions, then which intention should we prioritize?”

Chen Xiangdong did not speak. He looked at him with an unhappy expression.

Since the other man did not speak, Jiang Zao continued on his own. “Teacher Chen, I haven’t been a teacher for very long. From my point of view, although educators have the responsibility to point students toward a path, during this process, shouldn’t we also respect the students’ own intentions?”

Chen Xiangdong revealed a smile. The young educator in front of him seemed to be holding on to a heart full of unrealistic ideals and attempting to use these ideals to challenge the experience of older people like them.

Fresh out of the thatched hut. Admirable courage.

But this place was not the ivory tower of his dreams. It did not need this kind of challenge to prove one’s principles!

“Teacher Jiang.” Chen Xiangdong smiled. “I admire your thoughts. If possible, I would also like to do as you say and respect Lu She’s intention. Unfortunately, the choice made according to his intention is itself a mistake. As educators, we cannot watch helplessly as he walks down the wrong path and do nothing. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“A mistake? The wrong path?” Jiang Zao repeated these two phrases, then smiled faintly. “How can you tell?”

Chen Xiangdong’s expression cooled. This Jiang Zao—after the conversation had already reached this point, he was still insisting on his own view. Was he too stubborn, or did he simply not know what was good for him? No matter which it was, he was rapidly exhausting Chen Xiangdong’s patience.

“How can I tell?” This time, it was Chen Xiangdong repeating Jiang Zao’s words. He pointed at the window of the classroom beside them. The glass was clear and clean.

He said, “It is obvious at a glance.”

Jiang Zao followed his line of sight and looked over. Through the window, everything inside could be seen clearly. The classroom was a complete mess. Even with two teachers standing outside the window, they did not restrain themselves in the slightest. Eating, drinking, playing, making noise—there was endless chaos.

Jiang Zao fell silent.

Chen Xiangdong revealed a smile. Young people always thought too highly of themselves and could not see reality clearly. They thought ideals could always stand above reality, but in the end, they would only fall until their bodies shattered and their bones broke.

In the end, the profession of teaching always made people develop a vague, illusory sense of responsibility and mission. They could not save those hopeless poor students. All they could do was forcefully drag the excellent students forward. This was reality.

In the end, Chen Xiangdong could not bear it. He saw his past self in this young man, making him still want to pull Jiang Zao back, to stop him from sinking too deeply into that sense of mission. But just as he was about to speak, Jiang Zao spoke first.

“Teacher Chen, you’re right. What this class is like is obvious at a glance.” Jiang Zao turned his head, his expression still carrying a calm smile. “You saw it. I saw it. I believe Lu She could not have failed to see it or understand it. But even so, he still chose to join this class.”

Chen Xiangdong looked at him coldly.

“Whether he did so willingly, or whether it was a rebellious impulse, no matter what the reason is, this is a choice he made himself.” Jiang Zao raised his hand and pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, smiling as he said, “Then let us respect his choice and allow him to stay here.”

“He will rot like that!” Chen Xiangdong said, word by word.

“Then let him rot.” Jiang Zao said it lightly, his tone even cold enough to be called indifferent. “At their age, they can already bear responsibility for their own choices.”

His glasses had been pushed up, revealing part of his eyes not covered by the lenses. Chen Xiangdong’s heart suddenly sank, and an indescribable shock washed through him.

Jiang Zao let go, and the glasses fell back onto the bridge of his nose. He smiled. “Teacher Chen, morning self-study has already started. Shouldn’t you return to your own class? I’ll go in first. See you later.”

Jiang Zao waved the test papers in his hand, then turned and walked toward the front door of the classroom.

Standing at the doorway, Jiang Zao secretly nodded. Everyone was present. There was no need to take attendance. Sensing that someone was looking at him, he turned his head and asked, “Do you need something?”

Dai Chu withdrew her gaze and lowered her head to continue reading. Just when Jiang Zao thought she would not answer, he heard her voice.

“Chen Xiangdong is hard to deal with.” She turned a page in her book. “There’s no benefit in offending him.”

He was very surprised that she would actually remind him. Jiang Zao only remembered her as a somewhat cold girl. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Thank you for your concern, but it’s fine.”

Dai Chu slowly lifted her head. There was no emotion in her amber eyes. “I wasn’t concerned about you.”

“All right.” Jiang Zao smiled. “Still, thank you.”

After nodding at her, Jiang Zao walked up to the podium.

Dai Chu’s gaze shifted slightly. Her deskmate changed from lying face-down on the desk to turning his head sideways.

Fang Han looked at Dai Chu with a teasing smile. “School Beauty Dai, have you taken a liking to him? No way. He’s really tacky. He doesn’t fit your taste at all.”

Dai Chu looked at him with disgust and moved farther to the side. The already large distance between the two of them grew even wider.

Jiang Zao stood on the podium for ten seconds, but the class below was still noisy. The noise made his brain ache.

He looked down at Jiang Tong. “Class monitor, manage the discipline.”

Jiang Tong looked terrified. Asking him to manage discipline? Was his brother trying to get him killed?

Lu She stood up. His tall figure stood out among the classroom like a crane among chickens.

“Quiet.”

Lu She’s low and powerful voice spread through the classroom. The noise gradually stopped.

Jiang Zao secretly sighed. What a useless younger brother.

“Lu She, sit down.” As Jiang Zao spoke, he raised the test papers in his hand. “Everyone, put down what you’re doing and listen to me.”

Everyone’s gaze gathered on him, as well as on what was in his hands.

Meeting these gazes, Jiang Zao said calmly, “Next, we’ll have a little start-of-term quiz. The time will be from morning self-study until the end of first period. I’ll hand out the papers now. Pass them backward.”

After seeing that everyone had received a test paper, Jiang Zao said, “Begin.”

Once he said this, half the class picked up their pens and started writing. The other half directly pushed the test papers away and lay down to sleep. Among those who picked up their pens, most also lay down after writing their names. Jiang Zao scanned the room. Only five or six people were still writing.

Jiang Zao said nothing. He moved a chair onto the podium, sat down, and began spacing out.

Time with nothing to do was hard to endure. After Jiang Zao got tired of spacing out, he stood and made a round through the classroom. Only three people were still writing: Jiang Tong, Lu She, and Dai Chu, who kept filling in answers on the answer sheet.

Jiang Zao did not stop at anyone’s seat. After circling once, he sat back down to space out again. Once he got tired of spacing out again, he got up and made another round. This cycle repeated until there were ten minutes left before the end of first period.

Seeing that everyone had stopped writing, Jiang Zao cleared his throat and asked, “Is everyone finished?”

“Fiiiii-niiiiished!”

The drawn-out voices were especially sarcastic. Jiang Zao did not mind and continued, “Please raise your heads and look at the screen. These are the answers to this test paper. Compare your papers against them and grade them yourselves.”

On the multimedia screen were the answers he had prepared in advance. Now they were displayed clearly and plainly in front of everyone.

Someone below was dissatisfied and shouted, “Shouldn’t you be the one grading the papers?”

This statement received many responses. They had gone out of their way to make trouble for him, filling the answer sheets with messy scribbles. Even if it would not make someone have nightmares at a glance, it would definitely strain the eyes and hurt the brain. But in the end, he was telling them to grade the papers themselves?

Jiang Zao did not take it seriously. “This is to let you understand your own level so you can determine your future study goals. So please grade them yourselves.”

Understand their own level? Someone laughed from anger. What level did they have? The level of handing in blank papers?

Amid the wave of dissatisfaction, Qiu Shao, who had been sleeping the entire time and had not opened his eyes, rubbed his eyes sleepily. He grabbed a pen and drew a huge checkmark on the completely blank answer sheet, then wrote 100 in the score column. He pushed the person in front of him and handed the answer sheet over.

The person in front took it, looked at it, and laughed. He immediately called the others over to look. Everyone else was pleasantly surprised. They could do that?!

Fine. Since you told us to grade them ourselves, then don’t regret it.

Author’s Note:

Teacher Jiang’s class has one main theme: slacking off.