Chapter 249: Sullen Victors (3)
Living room.
The room wasn't too luxurious, but it was decorated tastefully. It was also very clean and neat.
Seeing the clean living room, Su Yu only found his respect for Liu Hong increasing. An old scoundrel like him was indeed different from Bai Feng. Just his home alone was already much cleaner than Bai Feng's. With one look at his place of dwelling, one could see that he was a good man...just kidding.
Liu Hong sat down on the couch. When he saw that Lin Yao wanted to sit down as well, he smiled and said, "Lin Yao, I'll talk to Su Yu. You may return."
"Teacher..."
"Spend more time on your cultivation. Learn from Su Yu. This kid...has reached the fifth-stage Great Strength Realm long ago. You're too weak. This won't do."
"..."
Lin Yao was stunned. When he looked at Su Yu, Su Yu said with a humble expression, "Teacher is too kind. I had to use up Brother Lin's merit points for my cultivation. I'm truly sorry, Brother Lin..."
Lin Yao was stupefied. Fifth-stage Great Strength Realm. He was too stunned to do anything apart from nodding blankly.
Liu Hong smiled, "Return these things to Su Yu. Don't be too narrow-minded. I have prepared something for you. Since you're already here..."
He took out something from a drawer of a side table.
"This is an earthly source fruit. Don't use it immediately. Wait until you're breaking through before using it. With this fruit, you can borrow the momentum of your advancement and open an additional acupoint or two. You need to reach the second-stage Great Strength as fast as possible or even enter the third stage. You need to narrow down the gap between the two of you."
He gave Lin Yao the fruit with a wide smile on his face before removing the bundle and tossing it back to Su Yu. He then said, "Why are the two of you so courteous to each other? Su Yu, you won the fight so you deserve the merit points. Lin Yao is able to accept his defeat. He would only be an embarrassment if he can't even accept his defeat."
Looking at the earthly source fruit in his hand, Lin Yao grew excited. At the same time, he was feeling very touched by the care his teacher was showing him. He said, "Thank you, Teacher. You're right. I can accept my defeats. I won't embarrass you, Teacher. I will catch up with Brother Su as soon as possible. Even if I can't, I will still grow strong enough to not drag you guys down!"
Yes. He was already saying "you guys" now. He was already viewing both Su Yu and Liu Hong as family. Meanwhile, Liu Hong was having the urge to whoop his student's ass. Damn it! If it wasn't for that bundle this stupid student of his was holding, why would he bother giving that fruit out?
"It's fine. Go back earlier and return to your cultivation. This is the perfect age for cultivation. Don't waste any of your time."
"Yes!" Lin Yao said in excitement, "Teacher, Su Yu, I'll be taking my leave first. Don't worry. I won't embarrass you guys! Su Yu, you're already a fifth-stage Great Strength cultivator. But I will catch up to you!"
With the exact same smile as Liu Hong, Su Yu said, "That is only natural. I believe in you, Brother Lin. I am but a clumsy bird that has the benefit of flying early. I have merely taken that step earlier than you. We still have a long road ahead of us."
"You're right!" Lin Yao was getting even more excited. With a satisfied smile, he left.
His teacher had finally acknowledged him! Why would his teacher give him such a valuable gift otherwise?
Suddenly, Liu Hong's voice rang in his ears, "Don't tell anyone about any of this. After all, he is still a member of the multiple character faction. Some people in the academy are still trying to bring me down. Do you understand, child?"
Lin Yao's heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Teacher. I won't even tell my grandpa about this!"
"Good. Go back. I'm looking forward to seeing you enter the Top 100 Ranking. When that day comes, I will have another gift prepared for you."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Lin Yao was both joyous, excited, and nervous as he walked away. He was extremely moved. His teacher was such a good person.
With Lin Yao's departure, the atmosphere turned awkward. The laughter and warm atmosphere in the room vanished.
Silence descended.
After a while, Su Yu smiled, "Teacher, I've decided. Tomorrow, I'll be giving you a tablet with the following words on it: Multiple Character Faction's Benefactor". Thank you for all your help in recent days, Teacher. I will never be able to return the favor..."
Looking at Su Yu, calm returned to Liu Hong as he said, "Do whatever you want. This is an obvious strategy of sowing dissent. I refuse to believe they would fall for it."
Su Yu smiled, "So what if they know that this is a scheme to sow dissent? Someone would still need to take the fall. Are you telling me that Manager Zhou will be taking the fall?"
"Manager Zhou is Faculty Head Zhou's student. They even share the same surname. They are probably related. Having Manager Zhou take the fall is the same as having Faculty Head Zhou take the fall. Teacher, do you think that they will let Manager Zhou take responsibility?"
Liu Hong frowned, "You sure know a lot."
"Not at all." Su Yu humbly said, "I am nowhere as knowledgeable as you, Teacher. You even know that the data is fake. I truly admire you. I thought I did very well. I even fought Zheng Yunhui without holding back and produced a drop of usable blood essence on the spot. Even after all that, you still suspect me. I have no choice but to admire you."
Liu Hong nonchalantly asked, "Are you recording this conversation? Are you perhaps trying to set another trap for me? I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You misunderstand me, Teacher. How would I do something like that?"
Su Yu then smiled and fished out a sound recorder from his pocket. He also fished out a sound talisman from a different pocket. Finally, he patted his pockets and solemnly announced, "That's all."
"..."
Liu Hong wanted to punch someone in the face.
"You...Did Liu Wenyan teach you all this?"
Why was this kid so treacherous? He was completely unlike Bai Feng!
Su Yu had a silly smile as he said, "Teacher, poor kids grow up faster. You know my background. I am too poor. If I only have talent and no resources, I still won't be able to grow into anything. I am different from you. I must fight for some things myself. If I am unwilling to fight for those things, how am I supposed to grow strong?"
Liu Hong nodded in agreement, "You're right. We need to rely on ourselves. Outsiders can never be fully relied on."
"In that case, I believe we're speaking the same language." Su Yu smiled, "I don't want to make things difficult for you. Of the 60,000 merit points you took, give me half. Out of the 80,000 merit points you guys get from your faction, we only received 20,000 merit points. Zheng Yunhui swallowed more than half of that, giving us only 5,000 merit points. I can't accept that."
"..."
Liu Hong looked at Su Yu in stupefaction. After a while, he clenched his teeth and asked, "You...only received 5,000 merit points?"
"Yes. If I lie to you, may the heavens strike me down."
Su Yu took out his merit card and said, "Therefore, I can't accept this. I used so much effort to set up such a plan. In the end, I ended up with the smallest share. Only 5,000 out of 80,000 merit points. How can I accept this?"
"Teacher, I am not being greedy. But I do deserve more than that, right? Zheng Yunhui insisted that he had worked hard as well. And since he is from the Zheng Family, I can't afford to provoke him. I have nothing to say since he insisted on taking 15,000 merit points. But you took 60,000 merit points for yourself. That is too excessive."
"..."
Liu Hong was feeling very tired.
He had thought that Zheng Yunhui would be able to give enough to satisfy Su Yu. With 40,000 merit points in hand, Zheng Yunhui should have given Su Yu at least 10,000 merit points, right?
But he ended up only giving 5,000 merit points. And that fellow had even exposed that 80,000 merit points had exchanged hands in the transaction. In that scenario, it was impossible for Su Yu to stay silent.
If he was in the same position, he wouldn't be able to accept it either. That was too small a share.
Liu Hong was starting to feel aggrieved. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. He said, "If I tell you that I have only taken 40,000 merit points and Zheng Yunhui has swallowed the rest, would you believe me?"
Su Yu softly said, "Of course. Even if I don't believe you, I would have no choice but to believe you."
Liu Hong felt even more aggrieved.
Damn it! He wasn't lying this time! He was speaking the truth!
But Su Yu basically had an expression saying "Sure, whatever" on his face. Liu Hong felt very sullen. He finally had the chance to experience the same sensation of winning yet feeling terrible that Zheng Yunhui had enjoyed. Damn it! He had only taken 40,000 merit points, not 60,000!
"Zheng Yunhui!" Liu Hong clenched his teeth in anger. For the very first time in his life, he felt outsmarted.
Why were there so many crafty foxes around nowadays?
Su Yu, Zheng Yunhui, Xia Huyou, Jia Mingzhen...just what kind of students had the academy accepted this year?