"Has sothing happened that I don’t know about?"
The professor on the podium crossed his arms, biting on his pipe, eyes squinting with a smile. He gestured for Jiang Yu to return to her seat while looking around, "... It seems everyone had a really pleasant holiday. Just looking at your faces, each one of you looks radiant and full of energy. Soone who doesn’t know might think you’ve all gotten married over the winter break!"
The classroom imdiately erupted in a low, amused laughter.
Zheng Qing felt he couldn’t hear those two words right now.
He sensed the strange gazes directed at his seat were increasing, and knew he had to do sothing.
"Professor!"
The young scholarship student decisively raised his hand, interrupting the professor’s small talk on the podium, and loudly asked, "During today’s registration, the schedule showed that the Thursday afternoon course couldn’t be selected... Everyone’s asking if there’s a problem with the course selection system."
Tang Dun scratched his head—originally, this was his task, but he wasn’t sure why Zheng Qing had taken it over—but it wasn’t a big deal, anyone could ask.
Old Yao looked at Zheng Qing with a peculiar expression.
"I can understand if others ask about this issue, but when you ask, I don’t understand." He tilted his head and patted the lecture notes in front of him, "I still have your schedule here. Which course can’t you select?"
If he had been questioned like this when he first entered the university, Zheng Qing would surely have turned red and beco incoherent. But after a year and a half of honing, his skin had grown thick enough to cover this level of embarrassnt.
"I’m asking for other students."
The warlock cleared his throat and lowered his voice a little.
The professor took a puff on his pipe, releasing a cloud of bluish-white smoke, "We’ll discuss the course selection matter later. For today’s eting, we have a few things to talk about..."
Having achieved the goal of diverting attention, Zheng Qing naturally didn’t want to stand out anymore and quietly retracted his neck, closing his mouth, staying silent in his corner.
On the podium, Old Yao talked about a few routine matters first.
For example, the winter vacation howork must be submitted in the first week of school, and unqualified work would result in daily point deductions; for example, the Bell Lake Fishman, quiet for the winter, might beco slightly active due to seasonal changes, so classmates should avoid going near the lake at night; or like around the ti of Insects Awakening, there are more insect beasts, so take precautions against bugs and poisons; and for instance, late winter and early spring, Beta Town might be affected by the Black Tide from the Silent Forest, so everyone should stay safe, and so on.
"... Although because of last year’s Winter Hunting, the school cleaned the forest outskirts thoroughly, coupled with several trips in and out of the forest last year, there shouldn’t be any issues with this Black Tide, but just in case."
Old Yao crossed his arms, holding the pipe, pointing upwards, "In this world, no one can guarantee ’everything will be fine’, not you, not , not the school... so, always stay vigilant, don’t go on a date in Beta Town, eating hotpot with your girlfriend, singing songs, and then get bitten by Houdou when you turn around..."
The classroom imdiately filled with a sowhat repressed laughter.
Zheng Qing could clearly feel that since Old Yao advanced to a legend and his identity was exposed, classmates had beco much more reserved around him. Originally, after months of getting used to it last sester, that reservation seed to dissipate gradually, but after a month of winter vacation, a subtle distance reopened between them.
Old Yao might’ve sensed this, or maybe he didn’t, but he didn’t mind.
He waited generously for the laughter to subside before speaking again, "The last matter for today’s eting concerns the inability to select the Thursday afternoon course... hmm?"
His voice suddenly stopped as he raised an eyebrow, looking surprised at the first row.
Jiang Yu leaned out of her seat, saying sothing softly that Zheng Qing couldn’t hear, being too far away, but he distinctly felt the students in the first two rows stiffen up as if hearing sothing terrifying.
This made him sowhat annoyed.
"Next ti, we should sit a little closer to the front too," he muttered, his feather pen poking at the desk, leaving a string of tiny black holes in the wooden desk board.
"This matter has nothing to do with ’us’," the fat wizard’s ears twitched slightly, then he turned his head and chuckled, "You wanting to sit next to the monitor is your own business..."
Zheng Qing kicked his chair again to make him shut up.
Thud!
Thud thud!
The thudding sound of chair legs hitting the ground mixed with the sound of Old Yao tapping the lectern with his fingers, resembling the intimidating sound before an ancient county court session, adding a bit of solemnity to the classroom.
"Sorry, almost forgot."
Old Yao cheerfully apologized while flipping through the stack of materials on the lectern, "Student Jiang Yu just reminded that the final exam results are out... because everyone did so well last sester, I nearly forgot..."
Zheng Qing finally realized why the people in the first two rows had suddenly stiffened, for the students of Jiuyou Academy, there’s no news more important than exam results.
"... Last sester, the class’s average GPA was 4.15, an improvent over past sesters. Among those with good results, there are student Xiao Xiao, student Liu Fifi, student Jiang Yu, student Zheng Qing... They all have papers with perfect scores in individual subjects. Of course, other students perford very well too, worthy of encouragent, hmm, everyone give yourselves a round of applause." Old Yao formally put down his pipe and clapped his hands.
The room imdiately filled with enthusiastic applause and cheers, sweeping away the previously cautious and stifled atmosphere.
"And then, the last thing I ntioned just now." Old Yao raised his hand to quiet everyone, then put the pipe back in his mouth and blew out a smoke ring, "The reason you can’t select the course on Thursday afternoon is that the academy has arranged an extracurricular teaching plan for you... Since it’s not a course within the system, it can’t be selected."
As he spoke, he exhaled another thick cloud of smoke.
The two smoke clouds mingled together, gradually forming a soft line of big words—Volunteer Service.
"Normally, volunteer service is arranged in the third year. It’s part of the practical courses. But due to the importance of this year’s volunteer service task, which is very, very important, the academy deliberated repeatedly and chose you."
Old Yao said ’very’ three consecutive tis, making his tone appear very solemn, yet he suddenly shifted, the familiar smile reappearing on his face, "As to why you were chosen, naturally because I’m your counselor... I spent an entire afternoon in the office thinking about it, deciding that the most important thing of the sester should be entrusted to our own people for peace of mind."
He seed to want to make the decision-making process sound amusing.
But Zheng Qing felt it was counterproductive—included himself, everyone in the room tensed up collectively, holding their breaths, uncertain about what Old Yao ant by ’the most important thing of the sester’.
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