Chapter 31 (1/2)
“Do you know what this sentence signifies?”
Sun Mo felt a little touched as he looked at the papaya girl in front of him who was wearing green clothes and had a pair of innocent eyes.
Lu Zhiruo still had her head lowered and spoke as soft as a mosquito, “I know.”
In Middle-Earth’s Nine Provinces, it was a tradition to honor and respect your teacher. Once a student had acknowledged a master, they should not change their affiliation easily. If they were to acknowledge multiple masters, they would be condemned universally.
Because of this tradition, as long as the teachers had some ethics, they would not take personal disciples easily. But once they took a student in, they would teach with patience.
“Be happier, I am not so pathetic to the extent where you have to sympathize with me!”
Sun Mo rubbed Lu Zhiruo’s hair. Under normal circumstances, internships had to last a full year before the school decided whether the intern teacher stayed or left.
As Gu Xiuxun’s performance was overly superior, the school had promised her that as long as an intern teacher could recruit five students, they would be able to become substitute teachers and join the faculty officially. In the past, intern teachers like Sun Mo would never be qualified to recruit students at all.
“But… But.. You are a nice person!”
Patter! Patter!
Tears dripped down Lu Zhiruo’s eyes. She would never forget the day when she lost her money pouch. The memory of how she sat alone for two days and one night amid the pouring rain was still vivid.
She was staring blankly at the Qinhuai river in front of her; the whole world seemed to have turned dark. At that moment, she had planned to jump off a few times at least.
It was Sun Mo, the teacher with a good-looking smile, who gave her a sweet osmanthus cake, some piping hot meat buns, and a shelter over her head.
As Sun Mo was a kind man, Lu Zhiruo didn’t want to see Sun Mo end up empty-handed.
“I know you are worried about me, but you don’t have to give me a good person card, you know?”
Sun Mo opened up the wrapper of a pear blossom candy and stuffed the candy into her mouth.
“Ah!”
Lu Zhiruo was at a loss.
A young man with a big nose came over. After looking left and right, he then lifted his shirt placket and said, “You are a teacher, right? Do you want some students’ information?”
Sun Mo almost lifted his leg to kick the guy had he not spoken fast enough. Sun Mo thought that they had met a pervert as there had always been a flasher near No. 2 High School who harassed female students after their self-study sessions at night.
Lu Zhiruo was startled when she saw a stranger come near. She quickly ducked behind Sun Mo and clenched onto his sleeve tightly.
When the big-nose guy saw Sun Mo’s unfriendly gaze, he didn’t dare to spout any nonsense and went straight to the point. “Do you want this? Five hundred taels of silver for one booklet. It has a record of every famous child in Jinling city and its nearby area.”
Sun Mo was speechless when he saw how people came up with such methods to earn money.
The big-nose guy flipped open a booklet and presented it to Sun Mo. “Here, you can see their surnames, hometowns, capabilities, and even what they are famous for.”
“How many people are there?”
Sun Mo reached his hand out for the booklet, but the big-nose guy took it back just as fast.
“Five hundred people.” After his reply, the big-nose guy quickly explained further, knowing that the number was too little. “The student recruitment meet only lasts for three days, and it’s already considered good if you manage to interact with two hundred students. Hence, even though the name list is short, it’s sufficient.”
“Too expensive!”
Sun Mo shook his head.
“Oh, my great teacher, you can earn money easily by teaching a few classes. But we? We have to run our legs apart to collect these names, and all we hope is to earn some cash these few days!”
The big-nose guy complained tearfully.
“One hundred taels of silver!”
Sun Mo bargained.
“That’s too little, four hundred and fifty taels of silver!”
The big-nose guy requoted a price.
“One hundred taels of silver!”
Sun Mo was persistent.
“Four hundred taels of silver! Look how much weight I lost this year by living on the streets and having nothing to eat!”
The big-nose guy insisted.
Lu Zhiruo stared with her jaw dropped. She was swept off her feet after hearing how the price was bargained to one hundred and fifty taels.
She wished she had such bargaining skills!
She could have saved some money here and there to buy more pear blossom candies!
“One hundred and twenty taels of silver! It cannot go any lower than this.”
The big-nose guy cried out.
“Forget it then!”
Sun Mo turned and walked away.
“Eh?”
The big-nose guy was stunned. How could Sun Mo not have persisted? He was almost removing his pants, but Sun Mo still wanted to leave. Thus, the big-nose guy could not let this go and chased after Sun Mo.
“Fine fine fine, one hundred taels of silver!”
The big-nose guy put up a performance where he shed tears.
“Fifty taels of silver!”
Sun Mo continued to re-quote the price.
“You…”
The big-nose guy trembled with rage. He would have spat on Sun Mo’s face if he was not in the territory of Central Province Academy. He thought to himself. Sun Mo might as well kill him if he wanted to bargain to this extent.
“I’ll take it for one hundred taels of silver.”
With this timely interruption by a middle-aged man, the big-nose guy’s raging expression started to beam. He received the money and went away.