13 This is reality (1/2)
After much thinking, Ren Xiaosu still felt that being a teacher was the easiest way to gain the gratitude of others.
However, he had neglected one problem. While he was very eager to learn and was very thirsty for knowledge, it was because he was born into abnormal times that lacked knowledge. This was what caused him to be so hungry to learn.
The more one lacked something, the more one desired it.
However, the things that he desired were not necessarily the same as what the students desired. The students who could attend school in such an era were mostly from families with a rather good background. All of them were living with the blessings of their parents.
These kids had been attending school for several years now, and the most annoying person to them would be their teacher, since he would make them recite from textbooks and give them homework. During students' teenage years, teachers were their mortal enemy most of the time.
Even though Ren Xiaosu was teaching them their favorite survival lesson, the students were far from feeling grateful to him.
Ren Xiaosu thought that perhaps with a few more lessons, the students would finally be grateful to him for teaching them?
Usually, the school in town would let out at 4 PM. Starting from 6 AM, the stronghold's clock would ring every two hours to signal the time. Under normal circumstances, Zhang Jinglin would never prolong his lessons.
However, today, in his attempt to gain the gratitude of the students, Ren Xiaosu was teaching them almost all of his experience in wilderness survival. Once he got started, he continued talking all the way until 5 PM.
As it was late autumn, it started getting dark at 5 PM. The students stared blankly at him and thought to themselves, 'This son of a bitch just keeps on fucking going.'
Even Zhang Jinglin couldn't bear it anymore. He went out to the yard to chop up a cabbage and made dinner.
A student who could not stand it any longer, said, ”Son of a… Teacher, if you're not going to end class soon, it'll be dark out, and it won't be safe to be in town.”
The student was still a little afraid of this person who was well-known in town for being ruthless. That was the reason he did not dare to challenge him directly.
Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. He thought, 'Instead of showing your gratitude, you're asking the teacher to end class?' However, he understood that safety came first. So when Ren Xiaosu saw the sky darkening, he could only helplessly wave his hand and say, ”Class dismissed.”
”Thank you, Teacher!”
”Thank you, Teacher!”
The students started swarming out of class. When two of the students thanked Ren Xiaosu for saying ”class dismissed,” they were truly thankful! If class still didn't get dismissed, it would have become unbearable for them!
Ren Xiaosu suddenly noticed two more gratitude tokens appear in the palace and was overjoyed.
Like he knew what the students were thanking him for. All he felt was that he done a great job teaching them!
Ren Xiaosu thought to himself, Looks like my loving efforts have not gone to waste. After such a long lesson, he felt that the students were still actually very grateful to him.
Yan Liuyuan said as he pulled a long face, ”Can you stop making the lessons run late?”
Before Ren Xiaosu could say anything, Zhang Jinglin walked in with a bowl of rice that he was eating from. He controlled his tone and said, ”Xiaosu, I know that you're passionate about teaching, but it's bad to make the class stay behind for such a long time. Also, what if you overextend yourself by working too hard?”
Ren Xiaosu was having none of it. Was he making the class stay behind? No, he was just ensuring that he would earn the sincere gratitude of the students, which in turn meant making money from them!
”No,” Ren Xiaosu said righteously, ”I'm willing to devote my entire life to the cause of education, so it's fine with me if I have to teach a little longer!”
Zhang Jinglin coughed, choking at Ren Xiaosu's words. But when he saw Ren Xiaosu behaving like that, he did not bother to argue with him. ”Alright then.”
The two students who thanked him did not even know that by saying ”thank you, Teacher” they had brought a major disaster upon themselves.
A proverb for situations like this went: Loose lips cause trouble.
…
On the way back, Yan Liuyuan was sulking and ignoring Ren Xiaosu. He had originally planned to stroll around town with Ren Xiaosu after school. But in the end, it wasn't to be.