Wei Suo was taken aback. 

How am I supposed to carry on the conversation like this? 

He found something else interesting to continue with. “Speaking of which, what color is Principal Jiang’s stocking today?”

Zu An thought about Jiang Luofu’s long and shapely legs, and he subconsciously answered, “Nude-colored~”

Wei Suo swallowed. “As expected of my goddess. Ahh, I’m so jealous of you. You were able to meet her twice despite having just arrived a few days ago. I haven’t even gotten a chance to meet her once thus far!”

Zu An burst into laughter. “You’re so obsessed with her even though you have never met her before?”

“You don’t understand. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. From the moment I caught a glimpse of her on the street, I was captured by her charms. My heart and body belong to her,” said Wei Suo, lovestruck.

Zu An shook his head in disdain. 

Heart and body, my ass. As if she would be interested in your body.

“Speaking of which, who is this teacher who keeps putting on airs?” Zu An took this opportunity to gather some information.

As expected of a true gossip master, Wei Suo immediately offered an answer. “His name is Yang Wei, Brightmoon City’s Civil Affairs Administrator. He’s in charge of collecting agricultural taxes in the city. He’s also our arithmetic teacher.”

“Ohhh, arithmetic teacher,” Zu An murmured contemplatively.

“Zu An, get up and stand at the back of the classroom!” Yang Wei bellowed from the podium all of a sudden.

His voice was a peal of thunder, jolting awake the students who had just barely fallen asleep once more. Some nearly peed their pants at the scare.

What the hell are you up to? Can’t a student get some proper sleep here?

Everyone turned to look at Zu An, curious to know just what dastardly deed had earned the teacher’s wrath. Some of his classmates had grown quite impressed with him. Ever since he’d enrolled in the academy a few days ago, he had crashed headlong into trouble after trouble. 

It had only been several minutes since the class started, but the teacher had already shouted at him twice.

Zu An frowned. He knew that Yang Wei was hostile toward him, but he didn’t expect the latter to act up so quickly.

“Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me telling you to stand at the back of the classroom?” Yang Wei stepped down from the podium to glare at Zu An with a darkened face.

Zu An sneered coldly. 

You aren’t even offering me any Rage points. It’s obvious that your anger is feigned. 

So, he replied leisurely, “If I may ask, why are you punishing me?”

“Instead of paying attention in class, you started chatting with the classmate next to you. Tell me, should I not punish you for that?” Yang Wei said haughtily. 

This was the privilege of having higher standing. If a teacher was determined to punish a student, he could easily find an excuse for it, and no one could fault him. Besides, Zu An hadn’t been listening to the lesson, which spared Yang Wei the trouble of having to think of an excuse to deal with him.

Zu An’s eyebrows shot up. The Yellow class was filled with the worst students in the academy, and hardly anyone was paying attention to the lesson. He’d seen a third of them sleeping and another third of them chatting. There were even a couple secretly playing cards at the back of the classroom.

Instead of dealing with those clowns, he chooses to come after me instead… 

Zu An had spoken to Wei Suo without looking at him earlier, to avoid giving Yang Wei a reason to flare up. However, it made no difference. Since Yang Wei was determined to get him, he could have no complaints if Zu An reacted accordingly.

“Teacher, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re saying. I’ve been listening intently all this while, and I haven’t talked to anyone. Do you have any evidence to prove that I haven’t been paying attention?” asked Zu An.

His rebuttal left Yang Wei speechless. 

Dealing with a mere student was supposed to be a walk in the park. He just had to find a reason to punish him before blowing the matter up and having him expelled. Without the protection of the academy, those lords would have an easier time dealing with him.

Who would have expected Zu An to talk back to him? 

Due to the significance of the academies in this world, respect for the teachers was paramount. It was unprecedented in the history of the academy for a student to talk back to a teacher.

No matter—he could turn this situation around to his advantage. He was still struggling to find a legitimate excuse to have Zu An expelled; after all, he was just an ordinary teacher. While he could dish out punishments to students, having them expelled went beyond the scope of his authority.

However, if Zu An went against propriety and openly challenged him, it would be the perfect excuse to drive him out of the academy.

“I saw you chatting away with the person seated next to you. Are you telling me that my eyes are playing tricks on me?” Yang Wei said hotly.

Zu An countered sharply, “If you saw the two of us chatting with one another, shouldn’t you call both of us out? Why single me out? It can’t be that a respected teacher is picking on one of his students, can it?”

“I don’t know what that student’s name is, that’s why I only called you out,” Yang Wei hurriedly explained.

Zu An burst out laughing. “Oh? That sure is weird. I don’t recall introducing myself when I walked in earlier. I’ve only enrolled in this academy a few days ago, and this is my first lesson with you. Yet, you actually knew my name… I’m positive that you’re intentionally picking on me right now.”

The other students who were watching the exchange narrowed their eyes. None of them were fools. Something weird was going on.

While none of them was fond of Zu An, they detested their teachers much more. This was especially true for scrawny middle-aged men who combed their hair into awful center-partings like Yang Wei. 

If teachers were truly intentionally picking on students, any of them could be next!

With all eyes on him, Yang Wei shifted uncomfortably. He quickly clarified, “Who in Brightmoon City hasn’t heard of you, Zu An? You got into a conflict with a fifth rank senior, and you gambled in the Silverhook Casino and won seven-and-a-half million silver taels. How could I not know who you are?”

I nearly fell into his trap! 

Yang Wei had been duly warned of Zu An’s sharp mouth, but he hadn’t expected him to be this formidable. He reminded himself to keep his guard up, lest he got done in like Mei Chaofeng.

Zu An nodded slightly. “Well, even if you do know me, I wasn’t talking earlier. As a teacher, you shouldn’t slander your own students.”

“Rubbish! I saw you chatting with the classmate next to you with my own eyes! Do you think that I, as a teacher, would wrong you?” Just a moment ago, Yang Wei had been pleased that he hadn’t had to falsely accuse Zu An. And yet, the rascal had the nerve to start lying outright?

“That’s hard to say. As they say, a huge jungle is home to all kinds of weird birds.” In the face of Yang Wei’s open hostility, Zu An felt no need to hold himself back. “Since you claim that I was chatting with the classmate next to me, why don’t you present some evidence then? Otherwise, I’ll sue you for defamation!”

You have successfully trolled Yang Wei for 666 Rage points!

Yang Wei nearly fainted from anger. He had always been the one to fabricate false accusations against others. And yet, the one time he’d caught someone in the midst of wrongdoing, he found himself unable to mete out justice!

How the hell am I supposed to find evidence for this? It’s not like there’s a recorder around!

“You have evidence, right?” 

Yang Wei was unwilling to throw in the towel. He turned to Wei Suo and demanded sternly, “Speak! Did you talk to him earlier?”

Wei Suo blinked his eyes innocently. “Teacher, I didn’t.”

Zu An secretly flashed Wei Suo a thumbs-up. He had been prepared to remind him not to give him away, but the lad apparently knew how to read the room. 

Young lad, you have potential!

“I…” Yang Wei was so angry that he had trouble even forming words. 

The academy’s culture is really deteriorating. Each batch of students is worse than the previous one!

Fortunately, Yang Wei had come prepared. He wouldn’t trip over something as minor as this. 

Hah, all you have is your mouth. I shall show you the absolute difference between us!

Yang Wei took a deep, calming breath. “You claim that you have been earnestly listening to my lesson. In that case, you should be familiar with what I’ve just taught you, right?”

Many of the other students found Yang Wei’s demand unreasonable. After all, arithmetic was not a simple subject. Even a diligent student would find it difficult to fully understand what was being taught right away. To them, it was clear as day that Yang Wei was picking on Zu An.

Some of them felt compelled to speak up for Zu An—they were still young and hot-blooded, after all. However, to their shock, Zu An agreed to the challenge without any hesitation. “Indeed I am. The content you are going through is too easy for me. Of course I know it.”

While this world had a mystical element of cultivation, it lagged behind Zu An’s modern world when it came to other fields of study.

Who do you think I am? I’m a university student who has been through the torture of the National College Entrance Examination! Your arithmetic questions are a child’s play to me! 

Yang Wei was delighted. 

You could have chosen to back down, but your arrogance has gotten the better of you! 

“This is my first time seeing such an arrogant student! Very well, I’ll come up with twenty questions. As long as you can answer any of them correctly… No, I mean three of them correctly, I’ll believe that you weren’t lying. How does that sound?”

He was confident that Zu An wouldn’t be able to answer even one of them correctly, but the incident at the Silverhook Casino had taught him the value of being conservative. While Zu An might be able to get one right by some stroke of luck, there was no way he could answer all three correctly!

Wei Suo felt a deep sense of worry at how the situation had unfolded. 

Yang Wei’s arithmetic class was notoriously difficult. When it came to other subjects, students could still get by through memorization, but the same trick didn’t apply to arithmetic. In a previous test, Yang Wei had upped the difficulty of the questions, and everyone had ended up flunking it. Now that he was intentionally picking on Zu An, he was bound to set the hardest questions. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to answer any of them.

Just as Wei Suo was about to warn Zu An, the latter confidently accepted the challenge. “Sure, that’s fine by me. What if I manage to answer all of the questions correctly?”

“Answer all of the questions correctly?” Yang Wei burst into laughter, as if he had heard the most hilarious joke in the world. “If you can get all of them correct, I’ll resign from the academy and let you take over my position!”

Zu An’s eyes lit up. “It’s a deal then!”

“Deal!” Yang Wei smirked, secretly wondering if Zu An was out of his mind. 

Do you think that the questions I set will be easy? As a Civil Affairs Administrator handling taxes, I have been dealing with arithmetic for decades now! With my experience, I reckon there’s no one in the entire prefecture who can surpass me in this field!

That fool must have only seen the papers I have set in the past. Let me tell you this… I have been dumbing down the questions for the sake of the students! I shall go all out this time and show you how terrifying arithmetic can be!

“What if you can’t answer at least three questions correctly?” Yang Wei challenged Zu An provocatively.

“Since you’re willing to put your career in the academy on the line, it’s only fair that I do the same too. If I’m unable to answer three questions correctly, I’ll leave the academy on my own accord,” replied Zu An.

Yang Wei’s joy was complete. 

You’ve jumped straight right into my trap! Since that’s the case, you have no one to blame but yourself!

The tense standoff between teacher and student got the rest of the Yellow class riled up. No matter which world they’re from, everyone loves a good commotion. Besides, hardly any students in the Yellow class actually cared about their studies. To them, gambling was much more fun and productive.

They crowded around, anxious for the show to start.