28: Chapter 28: The Math Teacher's First Physics Lesson – The Result Was...unpleasant.

Teacher Wen Ruyan rolled her eyes at him, pulled over a chair from the side, sat down, and casually helped him flip one of the reference books to the page that Class 18 was supposed to cover today.

"I borrowed this from Teacher Zhang in the class next door; it has her prepared mechanics analysis diagrams and problem-solving steps."

"You're usually so sharp-tongued, why did you have to go and provoke the Vice Principal of all people?"

"Now, the teachers from the neighboring classes are all waiting to see you make a fool of yourself, waiting to see how you'll embarrass yourself on the podium today."

Fang Jiming looked at her sharp-tongued but soft-hearted demeanor, and his heart warmed slightly.

This woman was clearly concerned about him, yet she insisted on putting on a haughty facade.

He leaned over and scanned the page Teacher Wen Ruyan had opened. Looking at those force analysis arrows that looked like hieroglyphics, he felt like his head was about to explode.

"Teacher Wen, this material is great, but my Physics level is still stuck at the junior high stage of calculating gravity. Looking at this high school pulley system force analysis, I'm completely lost."

Teacher Wen Ruyan tapped the table with her finger, looking at him with exasperation.

"Even if you don't understand it, you have to bite the bullet and go up there. Copying the steps of the example problems onto the blackboard and letting them copy it down is better than just standing there blankly."

"Fang Jiming, I'm warning you, don't try to act tough and lecture blindly. If you teach the concepts wrong and mislead the students, I'll be the first to report you to the Academic Affairs Office."

After saying this, she stood up, clicked away in her leather shoes, and left in a rush, turning back to glare at him when she reached the door.

Fang Jiming watched her back, then looked down at the pile of Physics materials on the table and let out a long sigh.

It seemed he couldn't avoid this bitter task of being forced into a role he wasn't ready for today.

At 10:00 AM, inside the classroom of Class 18, Grade 12.

The autumn rain outside the window tapped against the glass, making a faint, pitter-patter sound.

Fang Jiming, holding the Physics lesson plan book Teacher Wen Ruyan had lent him, bit the bullet and stepped onto the podium.

The thirty-some students in the classroom were stunned to see that their homeroom teacher had walked in.

Qian Duoduo stuffed the phone he had been hiding under his desk into the drawer and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Brother Fang!"

"Isn't today Old Liu's Physics class? Did you walk into the wrong classroom?"

Fang Jiming slammed the lesson plan book onto the podium with a crisp sound, sending chalk dust flying.

Fang Jiming: ( × ω × )

He looked at the pairs of confused eyes below and gave two dry coughs to cover up his lack of confidence.

"Old Liu is sick, so I'll be covering these two Physics classes today."

"Everyone, turn your textbooks to Chapter 54, 'Comprehensive Application of the Momentum Theorem and Pulley Systems'."

A faint commotion rippled through the room below.

A Math teacher substituting for a Physics class was a first in the history of No. 19 Middle School; it was rarer than an iron tree blossoming.

Fang Jiming turned around, picked up a piece of white chalk, and began drawing that complex pulley force analysis diagram on the blackboard, following the example in the lesson plan book.

He drew very slowly, his lines crooked and wobbly; several times he drew the gravity arrow in the wrong direction and had to erase it with the blackboard eraser to redraw it.

The chalk squeaked harshly against the blackboard, a sound that made one's ears numb.

With his back to the students, he felt cold sweat breaking out on his back.

He finally finished the drawing, but when he turned around to explain it, he found he couldn't even find the entry point for the first step.

"Um, students, look at this diagram."

"Under the action of the pulling force F, the force situation of this object A is relatively complex."

He stammered out nonsense, his eyes darting between the formulas in the lesson plan book and the diagram on the blackboard, his mind going completely blank.

He flipped through two pages of the book, trying to find an easy-to-understand explanation, but found that those professional Physics terms were like a tangled mess that only got more chaotic the more he tried to untangle them.

Not a single student below laughed at him.

Lu Zihao sat in the last row, arms crossed over his chest, watching his awkward appearance on the podium. For the first time ever, he didn't cause any trouble, just silently watched the blackboard.

Zhang Ming and Qian Duoduo exchanged a look, then silently took out their phones again, heads bowed, and continued playing games.

Most of the students were doing their own thing; those sleeping were sleeping, and those reading extracurricular books were reading them.

They had absolutely no consideration for Fang Jiming's predicament; they were purely expressing their abandonment of this class with an indifferent attitude.

Since they couldn't understand it anyway, and the teacher wasn't professional, they might as well just not listen.

This silent disregard was even more painful for him than being mocked to his face.

Fang Jiming stood on the podium, clutching the broken piece of chalk, feeling as if his self-esteem had been thrown on the ground and trampled on.

He let out a breath, threw the chalk back into the box, and patted the dust off his hands.

"Alright, I haven't even figured this problem out myself, so I won't stand up here pretending to be an expert."

"For this class, everyone just read the example problems in the textbook on your own. Mark down anything you don't understand, and wait for Old Liu to come back to explain it to you."

After saying this, he felt like a defeated deserter, tucked the lesson plan book under his arm, and walked quickly out the back door of the classroom.

Just as he stepped over the threshold of the back door, he saw Teacher Wen Ruyan leaning against the corridor wall.

She didn't know how long she had been standing there; clearly, she had watched that disastrous Physics lesson from beginning to end.

Fang Jiming scratched his head awkwardly, not daring to look into her eyes.

"Teacher Wen, I've made a fool of myself."

"My Physics level is truly rotten wood that cannot be carved."

Teacher Wen Ruyan turned her head to look at him, her clear, bright eyes devoid of mockery or that usual haughtiness.

Teacher Wen Ruyan: ( • _ • )

She straightened up and looked at him.

"It was indeed taught very poorly."

"The diagram looked like a spiderweb, and the formulas were applied in a complete mess."

"But at least you didn't just tell them to study on their own the moment you walked in; you tried to teach."

"In a place like No. 19 Middle School, there aren't many teachers left who are willing to stand on the podium, flipping through books, wanting to teach them something."

She reached out, took the lesson plan book Fang Jiming had tucked under his arm, and held it in her arms.

"You are a good teacher, Fang Jiming."

"You just need to practice your fundamentals more."

After saying this, she turned, her leather shoes clicking as she walked back to her own office.

Fang Jiming stood in the chilly corridor, ruminating on Teacher Wen Ruyan's words just now, feeling as if his chest had been gently bumped.

He turned his head and glanced at the Class 18 classroom.

Those children with their heads down, having given up on learning, along with the frustration of his own helplessness on the podium just now, ignited his deepest self-esteem like a fire.

He didn't want to be this kind of substitute teacher who was looked down upon.

He had a system, he had 100 million in daily funds; he was going to unlock all the teaching superpowers.

He, Fang Jiming, was going to become an unquestionable, all-around master teacher in this worst of schools.

He was going to win back the face he lost today, with interest, from that old bastard Vice Principal Sun Yaozu.