48: Chapter 51 Mastering the Arrogant Teacher Wen

When the last class of the afternoon ended, Teacher Wen Ruyan stood in the Class 17 classroom for a long time.

She turned off the old electric fan that had been creaking throughout the entire lesson; the blades spun a few last times before stopping with a screech of grinding metal.

There were three water stains on the ceiling of Class 17, caused by heavy rain last year, and despite reporting them for repairs twice, no one had done anything about it.

The window seals were aged and drafty, and the projector was an ancient relic; anyone sitting from the fourth row onwards couldn't clearly see the text.

The desks and chairs were from the same batch as Class 18 before its renovation; the chairs wobbled from side to side when sat on, and the screws were so loose they could serve as percussion instruments.

Teacher Wen Ruyan packed up her lesson plan and walked out of the classroom, passing by the entrance of Class 18.

The door was open.

She hadn't intended to look.

But as her peripheral vision swept over that warm white wall, her footsteps slowed by half a beat.

The soft light from the eye-protection lamps spread across the brand-new solid wood desks, the silent air conditioning emitted a constant stream of temperature-controlled air, and the 85-inch OLED blackboard was in standby mode, its pure black screen like a massive ink-colored mirror.

A blue indicator light shone on the direct drinking water dispenser at the back of the classroom, and a row of brand-new stainless steel cup holders was neatly arranged beside it.

Teacher Wen Ruyan stood at the doorway and watched for five seconds.

Then she lowered her head to look at the stack of crumpled test papers in her hand, and the capless whiteboard marker pressed beneath them.

Teacher Wen Ruyan: ( Ծ ‸ Ծ )

She turned and left.

She walked three steps and looked back.

She walked another three steps.

She looked back again.

When she reached the stairs, her steps stopped completely.

She stood there, struggling internally for about half a minute, biting her lip as she hugged her lesson plan tighter.

Then she turned around and headed toward the teachers' office on the first floor.

Fang Jiming was in the office flipping through the homework submitted by Zhao Dazhuang. That kid had used quadratic functions to draw three trajectory curves, and even labeled the parameters for initial velocity and gravitational acceleration; half the calculation process was wrong, but the logic was actually correct.

The office door was knocked on three times.

Fang Jiming looked up.

Teacher Wen Ruyan stood at the doorway, clutching her lesson plan, her weight shifting back and forth between her left and right feet, her expression as conflicted as if she had been constipated for three days.

Fang Jiming put down the homework notebook.

"Teacher Wen, why are you standing at the door? You look like you're here to collect a debt."

Teacher Wen Ruyan gritted her teeth, walked in, and sat down on the chair opposite Fang Jiming.

She placed her lesson plan on the desk to straighten it out, smoothed back her bangs, raised her head, and looked directly at Fang Jiming.

"Fang Jiming, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Fang Jiming leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

"Speak."

"That classroom of yours, Class 18."

"Mm."

"It was donated by that charitable The Foundation, right?"

"Correct."

Teacher Wen Ruyan paused, her fingers twisting the corner of her lesson plan.

"Is it possible for that enterprise to donate a little to Class 17 as well?"

Fang Jiming didn't speak.

Teacher Wen Ruyan's usually proud face was filled with reluctance, but her mouth still managed to say the words.

Fang Jiming picked up his thermos and took a slow sip of tea.

"Teacher Wen, are you begging me?"

Teacher Wen Ruyan's back straightened.

"I'm not begging you; I'm asking you if it's possible."

"And what if it's not possible?"

"Then forget it, I'll find a way myself." Teacher Wen Ruyan lifted her chin. "It's just a matter of a few broken desks and a projector; I'll just apply for funding from the Education Bureau."

Fang Jiming laughed.

"How many times have you submitted funding applications to the Education Bureau?"

Teacher Wen Ruyan's mouth shut tight.

Three times, and each time they were returned with the excuse that the budget was limited and to please wait in line.

Wait until when?

Wait until the chairs in Class 17 fall apart, or until the ceiling collapses?

Fang Jiming watched her silent state, pushed his chair back, and rested his hands behind his head.

"Teacher Wen, I'll help you communicate with that The Foundation and see if they are willing to provide another sum of money."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's eyes lit up, but her expression immediately switched back to defensive mode.

"What are the conditions?"

Fang Jiming watched her defensive posture, ready to flip out at any moment, and suppressing a laugh, he took a blank lesson plan template from his drawer and pushed it in front of her.

"The condition is simple: help me create a Chinese Language tutoring plan."

Teacher Wen Ruyan blinked.

"What?"

"A Chinese Language tutoring plan." Fang Jiming tapped the desk. "The average Chinese Language score in our Class 18 is less than fifty, and the essay off-topic rate is seventy percent."

Teacher Wen Ruyan took the template and flipped through it.

"What about reading comprehension?"

"For summary questions, only Lin Xiaoxi in the whole class can get a high score. For the answers the others write, I doubt they even read the same article."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's mouth twitched.

Fang Jiming pointed at himself.

"I teach Mathematics; Chinese Language tutoring isn't my strong suit."

"You graduated from the Chinese department, a high-achieving student from a prestigious university."

"Help me design a Chinese Language score-improvement plan aimed at struggling students, from basic vocabulary to reading comprehension to essay topic analysis, step by step."

He paused and added.

"The kind that's suitable for those brats whose foundations are rotten to the core."

Fang Jiming: ( ≖ ‿ ≖ ✧ )

Teacher Wen Ruyan stared at the blank lesson plan for several seconds.

She thought he would take the opportunity to make her treat him to a meal, or agree to some weird requests.

It turned out he wanted a Chinese Language tutoring plan.

For those struggling students in Class 18.

"Why is a math teacher worrying about Chinese Language grades?"

Fang Jiming shrugged.

"I'm the head teacher; I have to worry about the whole class's grades—Mathematics, Chinese Language, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology—I have to find a way for whichever one isn't doing well."

"Do you think I only need to manage Mathematics? That's called a subject teacher, not a head teacher."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's mouth opened, but she couldn't find an angle to refute him.

She lowered her head to look at the template again, tapping her fingers on the paper twice.

"To what extent is your students' foundation poor? Give me a baseline."

Fang Jiming thought for a moment.

"Zhao Dazhuang last time wrote 'personification' in rhetorical devices as 'beast-ification'; Qian Duoduo's essay started with 'Once upon a time there was a mountain, and on the mountain there was a temple'; Lu Zihao handed in a blank paper but drew an ink wash painting on the back, the technique wasn't bad though."

Teacher Wen Ruyan's expression changed from skepticism to shock, and from shock to a kind of complex sympathy.

"What kind of class are you leading?"

"A failing class." Fang Jiming's tone was very flat. "But a failing class is still a class, and it still has to be taught."

Teacher Wen Ruyan was silent for a few seconds.

"Fine, I'll do it."

She picked up the blank template and stood up.

"Give me three days; the plan will be more detailed than you imagine."

"But you have to keep your word; you must help me implement the renovation of the Class 17 classroom."

Fang Jiming raised his thermos toward her.

"It's a deal, Teacher Wen."

Teacher Wen Ruyan hugged her lesson plan and template and walked to the door, stopping for a moment.

"Fang Jiming."

"Hm?"

"What exactly is your relationship with that The Foundation?"

Fang Jiming's expression didn't change at all.

"Introduced by a friend; the boss is rich and willful and likes doing charity. I'm just helping to pass on a message."

Teacher Wen Ruyan turned her head to look at him, her eyes behind her glasses full of 'I don't believe you, but I don't have evidence to expose you for the time being'.

Teacher Wen Ruyan: ( ㅍ _ ㅍ )

"Fang Jiming, there are more mysteries about you than the math problems you create."

"One day I will figure it out."

She turned and walked out, the sound of her high heels clicking crisply on the corridor floor, getting further and further away.

Fang Jiming watched her departing figure, the corners of his mouth curling up.

He took out his phone and checked the System Panel.

[ Teacher Wen Ruyan Favorability Change: 52 → 55 ]

[ Increased by 3 points (due to breaking through psychological defenses via active seeking of help + being moved by the other party's educational philosophy) ]

Fang Jiming put his phone back into his pocket and leaned back in his chair.

"Fifty-five now."

He opened his phone, clicked into the chat box with Chen Jianhua, and held down the voice message button.

"Old Chen, prepare to launch the classroom renovation for Class 17; the budget is the same as Class 18, two million."

"Teacher Wen's Chinese Language tutoring plan will be in my hands in three days; once the plan arrives, you can arrange for the crew to start."

The voice message was sent; he locked the screen and picked up the thermos to take a sip of the goji berry tea, which had already gone cold.

The sunset outside the window dyed the office walls a warm orange, and the sound of whistles from PE class and the laughter of students chasing each other drifted up from the playground.

Fang Jiming recalled the look of agonizing conflict on Teacher Wen Ruyan's face when she stood at the doorway earlier, having to speak up despite herself, and shook his head with a smile.

"Tsundere."