Chapter 420: A Colleague Seeking Guidance

Ludi’s emotions were like the withered vine tree in winter. He was filled with a sense of bleakness, with no anger at all.

The Central Province Academy had ascended to the ‘C’ grade. Other than feeling happy, he also felt a huge sense of pressure. It was as though surging waves were crashing over, wanting to drown him under.

Ludi was very clear of his own situation. His strength and talent were ordinary. He had wanted to join the faculty as a new teacher. However, after the school had ascended a grade, the requirements toward intern teachers would be even stricter. In that case, his hope of joining the school as a teacher felt even dimmer.

Hu~

Ludi drew in a deep breath. He carried his basin of braised pig trotters and went to look for Sun Mo. No matter whether it would succeed or not, he had to give it a try. After all, this concerned his future.

“Sigh, how good would it be if I had built a good relationship with Sun Mo back then?”

Upon thinking of this, Ludi’s heart was filled with regret.

Bracing the cold wind, Ludi went to the villa. When he saw the luxuriously magnificent building, as well as the beautiful scenery in the surroundings with the tranquil atmosphere, Ludi felt even more depressed.

Why was he so much more inferior than Sun Mo given that they were newbies from the same batch?

(If you told me Sun Mo was a graduate from one of the Nine Greats, I would just admit my inferiority. However, he’s clearly a graduate from an ordinary school!)

Ludi stood at the villa’s door. He didn’t knock on it but tried peering through the windows instead.

Creak!

The door suddenly opened.

A beautiful woman walked out. She had an elegant demeanor and a pretty face, and her casual actions revealed a sense of nobility from major clans.

“Who are you looking for?”

Dong He asked.

This man was staring at the villa nervously. Hence, Dong He had to make things clear and ascertain if he was bad or not.

In any case, her master was present. If Sun Mo was alarmed, he might come out and beat this fellow up so badly that this fellow would piss his pants.

“M…my name is Ludi, I’m Sun Mo, eh, Teacher Sun’s colleague and we once stayed in the same dorm together. I heard that he won the championship and I specially came to congratulate him!”

Ludi stuttered a little.

There was no solution to it. He had never spoken with such a beautiful and elegant woman before. Hence, he was nervous as a result.

“Damn, I should have washed my shirt before coming today!”

Ludi was silently vexed. After that, he felt worried. Would he be rejected by Sun Mo? Actually, he wanted to say that he was Sun Mo’s friend, but he didn’t have the courage to do so.

What if Sun Mo didn’t feel the same?

“Please wait a little, I’ll check with my master!”

As a maid, Dong He naturally didn’t have the authority to make a decision for Sun Mo. Passing on messages was a part of her job.

“M…master?”

Ludi was astonished, he had initially thought that she was Sun Mo’s friend or relative. He didn’t expect that she would actually be a maid.

However, she was so pretty. Why did she have to be a maid?

In his heart, Ludi was wailing in agony. The seeds of love that had just sprouted were now ruthlessly trampled under a large foot.

“Being rich is so damn good!”

Ludi sighed ruefully. He couldn’t help but straighten his posture, and his expression was no longer so humble. No matter how low his social status among his peers was, he was still an intern teacher. At the very least, he didn’t need to speak so humbly before a maid.

A few minutes later, Dong He came out.

Ludi’s waist almost bent again. He also squeezed out a smile on his face.

There was no solution to this. Since he came here for a favor, he naturally couldn’t put on any airs. Although the other party was a maid, she was Sun Mo’s maid. Hence, things were different.

“My master invites you to enter, please come with me!”

Dong He then led the way.

After stepping past the door and walking for a certain distance, Ludi arrived at the living room. He could see Sun Mo was currently speaking with an extremely beautiful woman.

“It’s Jin Mujie!”

Ludi’s spirits stirred. He subconsciously put on his most perfect attitude. This was Headmaster An’s very good friend and a famous 3-star great teacher in the school. If she admired Ludi, he would be able to join the school as a teacher and have a relatively good future.

“Teacher Lu!”

Sun Mo stood up. “Dong He, serve the tea!”

“I don’t dare to, I don’t dare to! Teacher Sun, it’s better if you just call me Ludi.”

Ludi hurriedly spoke. It wasn’t that he was humble but rather, this was an unspoken rule in the great teacher world.

For intern teachers who hadn’t officially joined the faculty, they could call each other with their surname and add the word ‘shi’ (short form for the word teacher) behind. But it was different for formal teachers. They had to respectfully call formal teachers with the word ‘teacher’ (lao shi)!

After all, there were so many intern teachers and at least half of them would eventually fail to make the cut.

“Teacher Lu!”

Jin Mujie stood up and nodded.

“Teacher Jin!”

Ludi hurriedly bowed. Jin Mujie actually stood up to receive him? This made him feel as though he was extremely favored. However, he understood that the reason for Jin Mujie’s politeness was entirely because of Sun Mo.

“Sit!”

When Sun Mo first came to Jinling, three other people stayed in the same dorm as him. Yuan Feng had already left, and it seemed that Ludi was still braising pig trotters. Sun Mo then asked, “Where’s Teacher Zhang?”

“He resigned long ago.”

Ludi sighed.

Zhang Sheng had a minor conflict with Sun Mo. He had worked hard and wanted to surpass Sun Mo, but who knew that the disparity between the two would keep widening with time? This was especially so after he attended one of Sun Mo’s medical cultivation lectures. He then completely conceded and left the Central Province Academy.

“Oh!”

Sun Mo was merely asking and not concerned about a minor character like him. His current opponents were famous teachers like Liu Mubai and Ming Xian.

“Teacher Sun, you should be participating in the 1-star great teacher exam that’s going to be held two months later, right? Let me wish you success first!”

Ludi smiled. When he saw Dong He bringing the tea over, he hurriedly stood up and took the cup of tea.

“Thanks!”

Sun Mo smiled lightly. “Is Teacher Lu also going? You can just call me Sun-shi* or Sun Mo. There’s no need to call me Teacher Sun.”

“I’m also hesitating. Can you help me make a decision?”

Ludi mentally mused that the main topic was here. Other than to improve their relationship, the other reason why he came to look for Sun Mo was because he wanted to ask Sun Mo for advice regarding his current situation.

After all, Sun Mo had the God Hands. Ludi had long since wanted to try it.

“Shouldn’t you consult a great teacher regarding this?”

Sun Mo frowned.

“Hehe!”

Ludi bitterly smiled and involuntarily snuck a glance at Jin Mujie. (I also want to, but I’m like just a transparent guy in front of them. How would I be acquainted with major characters like them?)

(But as for you, you are casually chatting with Jin Mujie, the dream lover of all the male teachers in school. And from the looks of things, the private relationship between the two of you seems pretty good. If this matter was to spread out, I wonder how many guys would die from jealousy?)

“Teacher Jin, why don’t you share your opinion?”

Sun Mo rejected. After all, not only were he and Ludi of similar ages, but they were colleagues as well. It was one thing if he gave Ludi some suggestions in private. However, since they were before Jin Mujie, Sun Mo had to give her some face

“Teacher Lu, where do you think you rank among the intern teachers?”

Jin Mujie didn’t decline.

At the same time, she felt a trace of good will toward Sun Mo in her heart. This was a man who knew how to think for others.

One must know that Ludi came here for guidance.

Because Jin Mujie was talented, had a high status, and was beautiful, there were simply too many men pursuing her. These people would never give up any chances to display their brilliance before her.

If these men heard Ludi’s question, they would definitely speak frankly with assurance to solve his question so they could display how outstanding they were, wanting Jin Mujie to view them with admiration. However, Sun Mo didn’t do so.

Ding!

Favorable impression points from Jin Mujie +30. Respect (3,360/10,000).

Sun Mo stared at Jin Mujie in bewilderment. (Why did you contribute favorable impression points? Did you want to eat Ludi’s pig trotters?)

“Above average I guess?”

Ludi smiled bitterly.

“Since you know yourself clearly, it depends on what you want to do then. If you wish to accumulate experience and ‘fight’, to increase the probability of you joining the school as a teacher, you should participate in the 1-star great teacher qualification exam. If you are confident in your future and feel that you will definitely be able to join the school as an official teacher no matter what, you can wait one or two years more before you participate in the 1-star great teacher qualification exam!”

Jin Mujie imparted her experience.

Sun Mo was also thinking of this. Honestly speaking, if Ludi didn’t display a good performance, there was an 80 to 90% chance that he wouldn’t be able to remain in the Central Province Academy.

However, if he went for the 1-star great teacher examination, he would have to face the risk of failure.

In the great teacher world, there was an unspoken rule. For schools at the ‘B’ grade or above, they would only hire teachers who passed their 1-star great teacher qualification exam in one attempt within two years of their graduation.

In other words, it meant that if you failed once, even if you obtained full marks during the second time, you wouldn’t gain any recognition.

Ludi was conflicted. How would anyone who aspired to become great teachers not want to teach in one of the Nine Greats! Even if they knew they had a very low chance, they would fantasize about it. But if they failed during their first 1-star great teacher qualification exam, their hope would be extinguished completely.

“Teacher Lu, the passing rate of the exam isn’t differentiated by the marks you get. Rather, for each province, there’s a passing limit of 300 people.”

Jin Mujie reminded him.

The Saint Gate set this rule to control the quality and number of great teachers.

Every year, no matter how many people participated in the exam, you had to be in the top 300 before you could get a qualification certification.

Ludi’s expression immediately grew unsightly. He felt that his future was dim.

This rule basically meant that many teachers would fail. Ludi’s opponents were no longer newbie teachers of the same batch. Many veterans who tried and failed many times before would also be included.

Naturally, if one took the exam five times consecutively and still didn’t pass, their right to take the exam again would be stripped from them. It also meant that they wouldn’t be able to become great teachers their entire lives.

Ludi glanced at Sun Mo and discovered that Sun Mo’s expression was calm. He showed no signs of panic or unease. (Sigh, this must be how geniuses feel!)

“Teacher Sun, I have a favor to ask of you. Can you please use your God Hands on me and see how I should develop myself in the future?”

As Ludi spoke, he stood up and gave a deep bow.

“Teacher Lu is too serious, there’s no problem at all!”

Sun Mo didn’t reject the request. He walked over and placed his right hand on Ludi’s shoulder. Actually, he didn’t need to touch Ludi. He could already obtain Ludi’s information through Divine Sight.

Ludi, 20 years old. Second level of the blood-ignition realm.

Strength: 23. Due to you braising pig trotters since you were young, the strength of your upper limbs is pretty high.

Intellect: 24. You won’t be fooled and you won’t be able to gain any easy benefits from others.

Agility: 23. Ordinary, it can be trained further.

Endurance: 25. You once braised pig trotters for five days without sleep or rest.

Will: 21. Dispirited, you are feeling lost about your future path…

Potential value: Above average.

Note: Your braised pig trotters are very nice to eat!

Sun Mo was somewhat taken by surprise. Ludi’s potential was unexpectedly not bad. But was this potential value referring to his potential as a teacher or potential for braising pig trotters?

[1] 師 (shi) vs (lao shi) 老師. If we break them down by the characters, shi can mean teacher and lao shi can mean old/senior teacher.

Basically intern teachers, when conversing mutually with each other, can call each other with their surname followed by the word ‘shi’. But when they are addressing official/great teachers, intern teachers have to use the words ‘lao shi’.

Just for your information, when intern teachers like Ludi are referred to as ‘Teacher Lu’, the Chinese raw for it is ‘Lu-shi’ when he is speaking with fellow intern teachers.

For official/great teachers, when they speak to each other, people with equal statuses, they address each other with their surname followed by the word ‘Shi’ as well. For e.g., When Gu Xiuxun speaks to Sun Mo, she would refer to him as ‘Sun-shi’.

For the ease of readers, I translate both shi and lao shi as teacher. I’m writing this footnote to clear the confusion, if any.