Age of Legends

Chapter 298 Lecture Topic
Strangely enough, although Huang Huifen lost the textile factory and Liu Qi won the "land king" title after acquiring the land on the west bank of the Shahe River, Xuhui Real Estate still managed to catch up with the city's development platform. Meanwhile, at school, Zhang Chen noticed that his homeroom teacher, Zhou Ming, was becoming increasingly polite to him.

Several times in class, after explaining a problem, Zhou Ming would stop and ask, "Zhang Chen, did you understand? Did you understand three points?"

Zhang Chen was extremely embarrassed, and after class, Zhou Ming even called him to his office. In the office, Zhou Ming offered him further encouragement, praising his progress and attentiveness in class, and urging him to continue.

To be honest, Zhang Chen's progress is among the best in Yude, and he deserves to be praised. It may be too early to call him "Yude's biggest dark horse", but his current speed of improvement is indeed in the first tier.

Zhang Chen might have been completely unaware of Zhou Ming's obsequiousness if he hadn't witnessed Zhou Ming's true colors in his previous life. Now, however, he truly understood that Zhou Ming's behavior towards him had little impact on his grades.

Zhou Ming, however, had remarkable self-control and did not mention his parents at all throughout the entire conversation. He didn't even hint at wanting to ask for anything in return.

This is what Zhang Chen found strange. In his previous life, Zhou Ming determined his attitude towards students based on the amount of gifts received. In this life, however, he hadn't given any gifts, just like in his previous life, yet he still received even better treatment than Li Runjia, the top student in the grade. Was this the influence of money?

Zhou Ming's overt flattery annoyed some classmates, who gave Zhang Chen strange looks. Of course, some rumors also circulated within the class.

Zheng Xue turned to Shen Nuoyi and asked, "Have you heard? Zhang Chen's mother's real estate company is doing really well. They only spent over 100 million to buy a piece of land. They're really big bosses now. Do you know how much money they've made?"

Although Zheng Xue and Zhang Chen worked at the same company and their families had a good relationship, Zhang Chen's mother hadn't been working there that year, and Zheng Xue herself was busy, so she hadn't exchanged many words with Zheng Xue's mother, Secretary Wang. Therefore, like everyone else, she was in the stage of believing everything she heard about Zhang Chen's family situation.

On the contrary, Shen Nuoyi might be able to find out, since the two have a special relationship.

Shen Nuo glanced at Zhang Chen, then turned back to Zheng Xue and shook her head, "How would I know about their family's affairs?"

Zheng Xue's eyes were full of gossip: "Didn't Zhang Chen tell you? His parents are so capable now, doesn't he brag to you?"

“We don’t discuss these things between us,” Shen Nuoyi said calmly.

Indeed, just as she told her father, Shen Mingbo, she didn't care about Zhang Chen's family background; whether his family was rich or poor was none of her concern.

"That's true!" Zheng Xue said enviously, "Your dad's business isn't bad either!"

Shen Nuoyi pursed her lips and stopped talking.

Today, in Zhou Ming's class, he was reviewing exam papers again. His throat was dry from talking, so he took a sip of tea and slowly strolled down the aisle, his gaze landing on Zhang Chen. As a teacher specializing in moral education, Zhou Ming had a wide social network and a high social standing. Although he hadn't received any gifts from Zhang Chen's family, he had already used their connections to his advantage in many gatherings with relatives and friends.

He was keeping a close eye on Huang Huifen and Zhang Zhonghua's every move. Huang Huifen's Lanyuan project was booming, and at several dinner parties, Zhou Ming had repeatedly either directly promoted it or subtly mentioned that it was a project owned by one of his students' parents, always garnering compliments from the guests. He had even guaranteed that if anyone wanted to buy a house in Lanyuan, they could get a discount by contacting him.

Of course, Zhou Ming didn't think it was just an empty promise, because if he really asked Huang Huifen through Zhang Chen, he probably could still get it.

Therefore, Zhou Ming was happy to maintain this momentum, and thus took good care of Zhang Chen at school.

His gaze was fixed on Zhang Chen, and the more he looked, the more he felt that this young man was extraordinary. How did his family rise to prominence? He used to think Huang Huifen was an "oddball," how could there be such a stubborn woman in the world? But he never expected that she would achieve such a great success. This made Zhou Ming reflect on whether it was necessary to have this kind of personality. If one didn't suffer setbacks in society, one could achieve great things.

Zhou Ming felt it was worth observing.

"Teacher Zhou!" At this moment, a girl next to him timidly raised her hand, interrupting his leisurely thoughts.

"Teacher Zhou, I'm having some trouble figuring out this function problem. Could you take a look at it for me?"

Zhou Ming looked over and saw that the girl who spoke was named Qin Yan. She usually ranked in the bottom 20 of her class, despite her hard work. Now at the bottom of high school, she was anxious and had finally mustered the courage to ask Zhou Ming. Normally, she was someone Zhou Ming would frequently ridicule. While Zhou Ming's system of awarding gifts determined student treatment, this was only the first principle of his hierarchy of contempt. Besides gifts, naturally, students with good grades received better treatment. Qin Yan's family was poor, so she didn't give gifts, placing her a level below him. Her poor grades further lowered her position. But beyond these two levels of contempt, there was a third: Qin Yan was a girl.

Yes, Zhou Ming clearly favored boys over girls. He might pay more attention to girls with good grades and good family backgrounds, but he would completely ignore girls like Qin Yan who had poor grades and poor family backgrounds.

So when he saw Qin Yan timidly muster up the courage to ask the question, Zhou Ming leaned over and looked down at the question, then casually said, "Think about this question again. You can do it. Don't always try to take shortcuts. It's better to understand it yourself than to have it explained a hundred times!"

Qin Yan's face visibly turned red with embarrassment. She felt both frustrated and ashamed, as well as embarrassed by Zhou Ming's nonchalant tone and demeanor.

Over the years, everyone in the class has been aware of Zhou Ming's actions. Some people are now looking at him with dissatisfaction and disdain, but they are helpless to do anything about it.

No one dared to challenge Zhou Ming's authority.

Li Runjia glanced over, seemingly unsurprised by Zhou Ming's behavior. Self-preservation was ingrained in the intellectual psyche, and Li Runjia, being the top student in his grade, never meddled in other people's business.

Shen Nuo looked over, and Zheng Xue's voice rang softly in her ear, "Why is Zhou Ming like this..."

Zheng Xue has never liked Zhou Ming and used to feel sorry for Zhang Chenming, but she could only talk badly about him among the girls in private.

Shen Nuoyi did have a plan to explain the problem to Qin Yan herself after class.

There was an inexplicable atmosphere and awkwardness in the classroom.

Suddenly, a hand moved horizontally and then vertically.

Zhou Ming was wondering who had inexplicably increased his workload today, and why there was no end to it, when he saw that it was Zhang Chen who raised his hand. His impatience vanished instantly, and he suddenly smiled. He quickly walked two steps to Zhang Chen's seat behind Qin Yan, and approached with a bright smile: "What's going on?"

"Teacher Zhou, I don't quite understand this problem. Could you explain the thought process to me?"

"Oh, okay," Zhou Ming replied almost instinctively.

Amidst Wang Shuowei's enigmatic smile, Zhou Ming was taken aback when he saw the test paper handed to him by Zhang Chen.

Qin Yan didn't turn around. In fact, seeing Zhou Ming quickly walk past her to explain the problem to Zhang Chen, she felt a sense of humiliation, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

But the next moment, she suddenly stopped.

Because Zhou Ming's expression changed slightly after looking at Zhang Chen's question, but he quickly returned to normal, he then spoke about the very question that Qin Yan had just asked.

He explained the solution and thought process behind the problem, repeatedly asking Zhang Chen questions about parts where his voice was soft.

After a moment of stunned silence, Qin Yan picked up her pen and began to do calculations in the front row.

Zhou Ming finished explaining the problem completely amidst the sudden silence of the entire class.

(End of this chapter)