Chapter 154: Getting To Know Liu Hong (1)
On the 5th of August, classes began in the academy. All the new students had finished picking their faculties. The teachers had also finished accepting their personal students. As for the students who still didn't have a teacher, that simply meant that they had not caught the eye of any teacher. They could only rely on themselves.
...
The night before, Su Yu received the class schedule from the block committee. The new students were split into three classes: junior, intermediate, and senior. Su Yu was going to the intermediate class.
...
.
Character Faculty. Intermediate Class.
When Su Yu arrived, he saw that a lot of people had already arrived in the large classroom. The Character Faculty was the largest faculty in the academy. That was understandable as Divine Characters were too mysterious. Although a cultivator could progress faster cultivating willpower alone, Divine Characters held a lot more attraction to the students.
Of the 2,000 new students this year, at least 1,000 of them had joined the Character Faculty. And around 600 of them had been assigned to the intermediate class. Their first lesson was going to be held inside a large classroom.
The classroom was massive, but there were also a large number of people in it. Su Yu kept to himself and sat down silently at a corner after arriving. As he scanned his surroundings, he finally saw a familiar face, Liu Yue. She was a genius from Nanyuan, someone with over 20 percent willpower.
He wasn't surprised to see her in the intermediate class. He did not see any other Nanyuan students around. They were probably all in the junior class. Those people were even worse than Su Yu even though Su Yu was only at 10 percent willpower during Bai Feng's visit.
Shortly after, Su Yu saw another familiar face. Kong Cheng. Su Yu had a good memory. This was one of the eight guest students in Zhou Tianqu’s group he had met during the examination in Nanyuan. Including Wu Lan, only three out of the nine had been accepted.
Wu Lan and Zhou Tianqi were definitely among the three. And this Kong Cheng was most likely the third accepted student. Su Yu still remembered that this fellow had obtained 150 marks in the language test.
In a place like Nanyuan, that could be considered a great result. Kong Chen was also looking around the class. When he met Su Yu's gaze, his expression instantly changed.
Su Yu!
He feared meeting Su Yu in the academy the most. This fellow had threatened to make their life difficult in the academy. As for Zhou Tianqi, he had directly applied for the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy instead. Kong Chen was unwilling to do the same so he had ultimately decided to join the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.
And he had even selected the Character Faculty after entering. When he saw Su Yu, his heart thumped nervously. But he soon calmed down after telling himself that this was the academy. There was no need for him to fear Su Yu here. Sure, Su Yu had been accepted as Bai Feng's student, but so what? There were plenty of teaching assistants in the academy.
Was Bai Feng going to trouble a mere student like him for Su Yu's sake? Thus, Kong Cheng stopped panicking and looked away from Su Yu. As more and more students arrived, the classroom became more and more noisy.
Regardless of whether the students already knew each other or not, they started conversing among themselves. Small cliques formed all over the classroom. That was especially true for the common dormitory students who had gotten the chance to know their roommates better before this. Su Yu, on the other hand, looked rather lonesome by himself.
He had been staying alone prior to this. Subsequently, he stayed in the research center. Thus, he only knew two students in the entire classroom. Liu Yue was busy chatting away with the other girls, so Su Yu did not join their group. In fact, even if Liu Yue took the initiative to approach him, Su Yu wouldn't have anything to say anyway. They weren't really that close.
While he was sitting alone, a cough rang out from outside the classroom. All the students looked over and saw a young man walking into the classroom. The newcomer had a warm smile on his face and a book in his hand.
He walked to the lectern at the front of the class and flashed a wide smile, "Hello, everyone. I am the Character Faculty's head counselor for the intake of year 350. Simply put, all the new students this year will be under my supervision regardless of class. My name is Liu Hong."
Boom!
That created a small ruckus in the classroom.
"Assistant Liu Hong? The same Liu Hong who is 14th in the Teaching Assistant Ranking?"
"I think so. He's so young. I didn't expect to get a head counselor like him!"
"I heard that these genius teaching assistants rarely get involved in the regular classes. In the past, some old junior researchers would be the ones holding this position."
...
These new students had clearly been busy during the past few days. They had spent the time learning about the academy. Most of them were already aware of who Liu Hong was. Meanwhile, Su Yu's expression changed.
Liu Hong!
This was a name Su Yu had heard some time ago. Liu Hong's little brother, Liu He, had even challenged him when he first arrived at the academy. Although Liu He had only uttered a few provocative words, Su Yu had still decided to remember Liu He.
And now, the culprit behind Liu He had appeared. This was Bai Feng's opponent in the academy. And now, he was going to be Su Yu's opponent as well. After all, Su Yu was already Bai Feng's student.
Liu Hong was all smiles as he allowed the students to speak freely. When the students were almost done talking, he said, "If everyone is done talking, can I speak now?"
Instantly, the students sank into silence.
"As your head counselor, I don't really have a lot of things to do. I will mainly be in charge of the random daily tests, the monthly exams, and the seasonal exams. Additionally, I will also be in charge of an assortment of small tasks such as student promotions. As intermediate class students, you will need to receive a test from me if you want to be promoted into the senior class.
"This is your first class in the academy. Thus, all of you have been gathered here together. Today, you will learn about your upcoming assignments and tasks. That way, you will have something to work toward in the academy. Of course, you're also gathered here so that we can get to know the new students better."
Liu Hong had a friendly smile on his face. This was not the Liu Hong Su Yu had imagined. In his imagination, Liu Hong was someone with a sinister and gloomy face, looking like someone who despised the entire world. He was dark, cunning, and treacherous. That image had been shattered when he saw the real Liu Hong.
He was a handsome young man with a bright smile on his face. Many of the young women in the class were totally smitten. He was handsome, strong, and young. Someone like him was the target of infatuation of many young women in the academy. For many people, Liu Hong could very well be their ticket to a better life.
Liu Hong did not care about how the students were looking at him. He opened the book in his hand and said, "Interesting. This year's intermediate class is different from the previous years. We actually have a high-high student in our class. This has never happened in the past years. The closest case we have was the high-low student that had joined the academy three years ago. Is Student Su Yu around?"
Liu Hong looked down from his lectern. Sounds of discussion erupted in the class.
Su Yu's expression changed several times before he stood up, "Teacher, I'm Su Yu."
"I see. Very good." With a wide smile on his face, Liu Hong nodded and said, "I hope you can enter the senior class soon. The intermediate class is not that suitable for you. After all, you're a high-high student. By no means am I looking down on the other students here, but I'm only worried that being the classmate of a high-high student will bring you too much pressure."
Liu Hong then waved his hand and said, "Sit back down. Don't be so nervous."
When Su Yu sat down, Liu Hong said, "Student Su Yu, since you're in this class, you shall be the class monitor. You need to take responsibility for the class and grow strong together with your fellow students."
Su Yu frowned. He raised his hand and stood up, "Teacher, I don't think I'm a suitable option. I don't know the academy too well. Maybe we should—"
"It's fine. You'll be the class monitor." Liu Hong smiled, "Student Su Yu, don't shrink from your responsibility. The greater the strength, the greater the responsibility. You can also benefit from this position. You can get three merit points per month. Many people want this position, but since you're a high-high student, it will be yours. That way, the other students don't need to waste their time competing for the position."
The faces of many students fell. Some of the students who knew more about the position and had been intending to compete for the position looked disappointed.
One of them couldn't help but to ask, "Teacher, are we not voting for the class monitor?"
Liu Hong said, "We have been doing that for the previous years, but things are different this year. We have a high-high student among us. To speak the truth, he can stay competitive even in the senior class. If I'm being blunt, this is a cultural research academy. Here, strength means everything. If he doesn't take that position, nobody will be able to comfortably take that position. None of you will be able to convince all your classmates. He will be the class monitor."
Liu Hong looked at Su Yu and smiled, "Student Su Yu, be sure to do your job well. If you fail, then I can only blame myself for making an error in judgment."
Su Yu felt somewhat uneasy. What was this teacher trying to do? Was Liu Hong here to give him free benefits? If this was any other teacher, he would happily take the three merit points per month. But this was Liu Hong. He wasn't comfortable accepting anything from Liu Hong.
But three merit points per month wasn't a small number. Su Yu might be spending money generously right now, but he was not the standard all the other students should be measured at. For many of them, that was a number they could only earn by killing a seventh-stage Great Strength cultivator.
But being a class monitor, they would be able to easily earn three merit points each month. Thus, that was a very attractive position for many students.
"Is he trying to make more enemies for me?"
Su Yu guessed. But then again, all this seemed pointless. Doing this in the intermediate class was useless since who in the intermediate class could actually trouble him?
The smile on Liu Hong's face grew wider as he said, "Alright, we now have our class monitor. Making him the class monitor saves a lot of time and trouble for all of us. As for the responsibilities of a class monitor, Student Su can go to the instructor's office of the Character Faculty later and check with the intermediate class' head instructor."
"Next, I'm going to tell all of you about your course schedules and the academy rules..."
...
Liu Hong shifted his attention away from Su Yu and started seriously giving the new students an introduction to the academy. Almost all of the students thought that Teacher Liu Hong was genial and approachable.
Su Yu was the exception. He kept feeling uneasy. The head counselor had directly made him the class monitor right after the class started. Was Liu Hong not aware that he was Bai Feng's student? That shouldn't be the case, right?
...
Before long, two hours passed and the class was over. Some of the students looked reluctant, seemingly wishing to stay in Liu Hong's class longer.
As the students dispersed, a few approached Su Yu. One of them laughed heartily and said, "Congratulations, class monitor. I'll be under your care from now on."
"High-high student? Incredible!"
"Class monitor, let's get to know each other. I'm Liu Wu."
...
Some of them started trying to build a relationship with Su Yu. He was after all a high-high student and a class monitor. It wouldn't hurt to be cordial with him. Su Yu conversed with them politely, but he was still feeling rather uneasy. After leaving the classroom, Su Yu went to the instructor's office. He was completely confused as to what he needed to do as a class monitor.
Behind him, someone called out, "Su Yu, congratulations."
Su Yu looked back and saw that it was Liu Yue. He nodded and forced a smile on his face, "That's really not a big deal. I'm on my way to the instructor's office. Let's speak again next time."
"Sure. See you."
Liu Yue smiled and left without saying anything else. Su Yu took a deep breath and continued heading toward the instructor's office.