"I don't dare say it!" Chu Feng shook his head repeatedly, his face filled with fear.
"What could there possibly be that you don't dare say? If you don't spit it out today, don't bother coming to my class again!" Xie Bing grew even angrier, her cold and sharp gaze fixating on Chu Feng.
"Well, then… shall I really say it?" Chu Feng stammered hesitantly.
He was the reincarnation of the Alchemy Venerate. While Xie Bing couldn't really teach him anything, if he were barred from entering the classroom and this matter reached his older brother, he would undoubtedly face a beating when he returned home.
"Say it!" Xie Bing was livid. "Not only should you say it, but you must repeat it one hundred times! If you don't, you're out of my class for good."
She just didn't believe she couldn't deal with this troublemaker.
Chu Feng thought it'd be better to leave her some dignity after all. She was their imposing teacher, and if he told everyone in class that the teacher's pants had a large stain suspiciously resembling excrement, it would severely damage her authoritative image.
Chu Feng opened his mouth and started mouthing his words silently.
He hoped Xie Bing would read his lips, realize the situation, and immediately leave the classroom to change her soiled pants.
"Are you mute? Speak louder!"
Xie Bing was still furious and didn't notice anything strange about Chu Feng's expression.
Seeing Chu Feng mouthing words silently and making exaggerated facial gestures, her anger boiled over.
"Teacher Xie Bing's pants are dirty!"
"Teacher Xie Bing's pants are dirty…"
Out of options, Chu Feng had no choice but to say it loudly—and, moreover, repeat it one hundred times as demanded.
Xie Bing froze for a moment before nervously looking down to examine herself. She immediately realized something was wrong. Turning her body to glance back, her icy, beautiful face instantly turned as red as an apple.
Even the base of her neck flushed crimson.
"Ah…" She let out a panicked cry, overwhelmed with humiliation, and stormed out of the classroom.
The entire class, initially waiting to laugh at Chu Feng, thinking he was doomed, never expected the plot to take such a shocking turn.
This waste of a student, last place in grades, not only came out unscathed but managed to mortify the cold and authoritative Teacher Xie Bing, who fled the classroom in utter embarrassment.
A true talent!
The other students now looked at Chu Feng, this delinquent student, with gazes full of admiration. Few could ever get the better of Teacher Xie Bing.
"Chu Feng, what exactly did you just see?" Hong Gang, the muscular and towering son of the Great General, was immensely intrigued by such scandalous mischief.
He gazed at Chu Feng with envy as he asked.
The other boys were also staring at Chu Feng intently, their eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Logically speaking, merely dirty pants shouldn't cause Teacher Xie Bing to bolt from the classroom in such a panic. What kind of stain was it, exactly?
"Her pants were just dirty, that's all!"
Chu Feng admitted openly without hesitation.
"Come on, tell us! What kind of dirt was it?" Hong Gang's face lit up with excitement; he was desperate for more embarrassing details about Teacher Xie.
"Not saying, not saying!" Chu Feng wasn't stupid. How could he reveal such a thing?
If this got back to Teacher Xie Bing's ears, wouldn't she flay his hide?
"Ten gold coins! Just tell us so everyone can hear, and they'll be yours!" Hong Gang's family was exceedingly wealthy—unlike Chu Feng, who though a prince, lived frugally.
In fact, his days were quite financially strained.
"Alright! For the sake of those ten gold coins, I'll spill." Chu Feng needed funds to buy auxiliary materials for refining the Yang Fire within his body into an Abnormal Fire. This money came at the perfect time.
Ten gold coins were equivalent to a hundred silver taels—a substantial sum.
"Haha, well, it's actually nothing too special…"
Chu Feng smiled as he nonchalantly pocketed the ten gold coins.
It was merely a mid-sized gold ingot, anyway.
"Ahem…" Teacher Xie Bing was suddenly back at the classroom door. She had already changed into clean pants. Her face was ice-cold, her piercing gaze sharp as knives.
Chu Feng's expression darkened in an instant; he had been too focused on earning that gold ingot to remember to keep an eye on his surroundings.
It was likely that everything he had just said had fallen squarely into Teacher Xie Bing's ears.
Indeed, Teacher Xie Bing's murderous glare was locked firmly onto Chu Feng. Her icy aura radiated out like piercing daggers, oppressive and menacing.
"Now, let's continue with the lesson!"
"Those whose names I call—come up and collect your test papers!"
Teacher Xie Bing began announcing names and handing out test scores.
"Guo Ying, 87 points!" A petite girl skipped up happily to collect her test paper.
A perfect score was 100; this result was already considered excellent.
"Liu Ping, 95 points!"
The class erupted in admiration and exclamations.
Sitting directly behind Chu Feng, Liu Ping—his head bandaged with a large bump—practically exuded pride as he stood upright and walked up to the podium to collect his paper.
"Liu Ping, your test results this time are outstanding! Second in the class, and twenty-sixth in the grade. Everyone should strive to learn from him."
Teacher Xie Bing showered Liu Ping with praise.
At that moment, Liu Ping became the center of attention in the class. Propelled by this halo of achievement, his arrogance was boundless.
Looking around the classroom, the triumphant Liu Ping stood like a majestic king.
"It's all thanks to Teacher Xie Bing's excellent instruction that I could achieve such remarkable results! Teacher, you've worked hard!" Liu Ping, feeling proud, knew how to flatter, shifting credit to Teacher Xie Bing and expressing his gratitude.
This midterm exam had placed Teacher Xie Bing's class dead last, stirring rumors that questioned her teaching abilities.
Liu Ping's statement caused Teacher Xie Bing to feel gratified, even producing a faint smile on her otherwise gorgeous face.
"Liu Ping, very good. Scoring so high and yet not becoming conceited! Keep it up—I hold high hopes for you!" Teacher Xie Bing lavished even more praise on Liu Ping.
"Thank you, Teacher! I'll work hard! But there's one thing I need to say—I can't keep quiet about it. We all have the same teacher, but how come some can achieve excellent grades, while others rank dead last in the grade?"
"It's not the teacher's fault; instead, it's that some people don't study hard enough. Coupled with being naturally dense, they end up dragging the entire class down."
Emboldened by Teacher Xie Bing's approbation, Liu Ping was intoxicated with arrogance.
He sneered and looked at Chu Feng condescendingly, deliberately humiliating him and using him as a negative example.
"Liu Ping, you're so sensible and absolutely correct. If everyone were as sensible and motivated as you!"
After praising Liu Ping, Teacher Xie Bing proceeded to the next test paper—which happened to belong to Chu Feng. Since their seating was adjacent, their test papers were naturally grouped together.
"Chu Feng, 5 points!"
The entire class fell silent momentarily, then erupted into deafening laughter. Students looked at Chu Feng with ridicule and scorn.
A true marvel—so many multiple-choice questions and true-or-false ones, even by sheer luck, one should score higher than 5 points!
The underperformers were laughing the hardest.
Knowing someone did worse than them brought a sense of comfort and a twisted sense of superiority.