Chapter 36 – Thank You (1/2)
Chen Chang Sheng stood up, looked at the teacher from the Heavenly Academy, remaining wordless. Luo Luo was very angry, but she saw that he did not speak, so she could only remain silent as well – since master did not speak or suggest anything, as his student, she should not do anything on her own.
The man who stood by the library said two very rude and seemingly meaningless sentences. But upon hearing the words “Ivy Festival,” Chen Chang Sheng recalled what Tang Thirty Six had said. He understood the implications of the festival.
He never realized that the Ivy Festival was related to him because he, like many others, forgot that the Tradition Academy was one of the Six Ivies. However it was obvious that not the entire world forgot about this fact, especially after he joined the Tradition Academy.
Chen Chang Sheng looked toward the middle-aged man who was wearing a robe. He was standing next to the teacher of the Heavenly Academy. Chen Chang Sheng recognized the teacher. He was Officer Xin from the Department of Traditional Education. Although they had not seen each other in a long time, the officer was responsible for the rebuilding of the Tradition Academy in the recent days.
Officer Xin sensed his sight and nodded back, but he looked somewhat embarrassed.
He looked towards the teacher from the Heavenly Academy and said, “Before the Tradition Academy didn’t have any students so it obviously didn’t have to participate. Now that it has a student, it should participate in the Ivy Festival. Both the government and the Tradition already permitted its entry. Mr. Peng, please finish your work and leave.”
The Heavenly Academy was the most important school of the Tradition in the recent years. It had a very high status and therefore, the teachers from the Heavenly Academy possessed high statuses. He was simply a Officer in the Department of Traditional Education. If under different circumstances, seeing the teacher behave in such way, Officer Xin would definitely follow up. But in this case…he understood it more clearly than anyone else. The seemingly normal youngster only had hints of a very strong background, how dare would he offend the teacher. Therefore, he had to try his best to find a compromise between the two.
“Are you sure you want such useless trash to participate in the Ivy Festival?” The teacher whose last name was Peng said coldly.
Officer Xin said helplessly, “This is the rule. I can’t do anything about it, can’t I?”
“Rule? Everything needs rules? Then let me talk about some rules!”
The teacher from the Heavenly Academy laughed contemptuously and said, “According to the rules in the previous years, the Ivy Festival modeled the format of the Great Trial. There were two types, civil and military. Two students from each school each have to pick a test to take. Now, this broken school only had this trash, how will it participate?”
Officer Xin was wordless, recalling that the Ivy Festival actually had this rule. Before he came, he was solely focused on how to come up with a compromise between the teacher and Chen Chang Sheng. He had completely forgotten about this. He felt a little anxious, thinking to himself, why didn’t you[Mr. Peng] mention it before?
“In order to participate in the Ivy Festival, at least two students are required…now that there only one trash, how do you want me to give them permission to participate?”
The teacher from the Heavenly Academy said expressionlessly, his voice was filled with contempt, “Officer, do you really think I come here because I can’t resist the pressure from the Department of the Traditional Education? No, I simply want to come and see how long the joke of the Tradition Academy will make me laugh!”
He stood at the door of the library, looked at the silent school which still had some broken places after the repair and sighed coldly, “The Tradition Academy…..back then it had such great fame! But now? It’s simply a dead graveyard!”
“No matter how much you repair it, this is still a graveyard!”
The Heavenly Academy teacher’s voice got colder and colder, “Recently, there is a rumor in the capital saying that the Pope is going to revitalize the Tradition Academy. Not to mention how crazy this rumor is, but even if it’s real, you still have to consider the voice of the elders!”
He turned around and looked at Chen Chang Sheng. There was fire burning in his eyes as he yelled, “I just want to tell people, a rumor is just a rumor! The falling Tradition Academy is just a wasteland! Trash is just a trash! No one can restore this rubbish!”
The Tradition Academy was completely silent, behind the building there were wild grasses that were not entirely cleaned out. A deserted feeling spreaded.
Chen Chang Sheng looked silently at the teacher from the Heavenly Academy and suddenly took a step forward.
Useless trash….joke……garbage land…….graveyard.
These words were still flowing around the silent library.
He did not know why this teacher resented the Tradition Academy and him so much, yet he knew one thing – he was a student of the Tradition Academy — the only student. He did not live here for a long time, but because he was the only student, this entire Tradition Academy was his, the flowers, grasses, trees, bricks, stones, all were his. He worked to revitalize this place, he studied here quietly, here was his fairyland, not wasteland.
He did not like to get humiliated by others and more so, he did not like it when others humiliate the Tradition Academy.
He recalled the humiliation he encountered after arriving at the capital, recalled Shuang Er who had just left and decided to do something.
“I will participate in the Ivy Festival.” he said.
He looked at the teacher from the Heavenly Academy and said, “I don’t know why you have to have such a big resentment against me and my school, but if you want to prevent me from going to the Ivy Festival, I can tell you that you will not succeed because of your impolite attitude.”
The teacher from the Heavenly Academy said coldly, “In order to participate in the Ivy Festival, you need two students, or …two trashes. Even if you are dare to participate, I can tell you that you will not succeed because in the entire continent, there won’t be anyone, besides an idiot like you, that is willing to go to the Tradition Academy.”
Officer Xin did not say anything, but he knew that the teacher’s words were true, no one would dare go to the Tradition Academy. Chen Chang Sheng was probably placed here by someone of very high status or he was responsible to something. There won’t be another person like him.
The library was very silent.
Chen Chang Sheng looked at the black and bright floor and suddenly asked, “Do you still insist?”
An immature but determined voice came up, “I insist.”
“I can’t teach you much.”
“You already taught me a lot.”
“As a student of the Tradition Academy, you probably will face a lot of hate from others.”
“Master, I am very good at contempting others.”
“You probably…will have to bare a lot of humiliation.”
“Master, no one dares to humiliate me.”
This conversation was over.
Chen Chang Sheng smiled, looked at the side and said, “I still don’t know your name.”
Luo Luo’s eyes were extremely bright, her left hand tightly grabbed to his sleeve. She was very worried that he would regret his decision and said, “Master, my name is Luo Heng.”
Chen Chang Sheng held her left hand, then looked at the teacher from the Heavenly Academy, “You see, now we are two people.”
Luo Luo felt a bit shy, leaned on his right arm and repeated like a parrot, “We are two people.”
Officer Xin was dazed.
The teacher from the Heavenly Academy became extremely angry and yelled in disbelief, “How dare you! How will such a broken place get another student! Who do you think who you are! You think just because you say she is a student here, she is?!”
Chen Chang Sheng ignored him. He indicate to Luo Luo to take out a roster, a brush and ink.
He wrote Luo Luo’s name on the roster very seriously.
Luo Luo lifted up the document and turned it towards the sun. She breathed in air and blew on the document very hard to dry it up quickly.
Under the sunlight, the roster shined very clearly. There were only two names, but two names were enough.
“I have the roster. Anyone can be the Tradition Academy’s student, as long as I write their names up.”
Chen Chang Sheng pointed to the roster, looked at the Heavenly Academy teacher and said, “Even if you are the Pope, you still can’t change this fact.”
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