Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 242 - 162: Caring for the Empty-Nester, Old Chen

Chapter 242: Chapter 162: Caring for the Empty-Nester, Old Chen

Jiuyue was very excited these days, bouncing along as he walked, just like a primary school student who couldn’t sleep after learning there would be an autumn outing.

As a direct consequence, Duan Mingyuan also hadn’t been able to sleep well these past few days.

This was Jiuyue’s first time venturing far from home.

The upcoming interstellar travel was bound for a planet very far away from them. To ensure that they had sufficient supplies along the way, the little chef had soaked himself in the school canteen’s kitchen almost every day, preparing many delicious snacks.

The ingredients, naturally, mainly consisted of chicken.

The application that Duan Mingyuan submitted to Principal Mo Song had also been approved, and the school authorities were very supportive of Duan Mingyuan’s actions, regarding the space voyage as attending an academic conference on a cosmic scale.

However, the students at the academy were somewhat less than thrilled.

Ever since "Defence Against Evil Spirits" began, the number of times Duan Mingyuan had taught the class could be counted on one hand, even fewer than the assistant professor, Chen Chou.

But Professor Chen Chou had a bad temper, and his lectures lacked interest, which did not endear him to the students. What was even more unacceptable was that Duan Mingyuan was going to take away Jiuyue, their most popular teacher.

The summit would last a week, and if you include the journey, it would be at least half a month before they could see Duan Mingyuan and Professor Jiuyue again.

In the last "Fantastic Monsters" class, Jiuyue comforted them to get used to such campus life. After all, "Defence Against Evil Spirits" was the most dangerous subject in the universe, and it was normal for teachers to change frequently. Since ancient times, no teacher had been able to teach this course for more than two semesters.

Despite their reluctance, the students had no choice but to keep their protests to themselves in the face of major events concerning the entire universe.

According to Duan Mingyuan’s observations, although Mr. Chen Chou still wore a scowl every day, he thoroughly enjoyed teaching. As a substitute teacher, he didn’t just go through the motions in each class but was incredibly generous with his knowledge, sharing almost everything he knew about Mysterious Techniques. If the academy’s students were able to take it in, it would undoubtedly benefit their futures immensely.

And this was precisely why the students at the academy generally found Chen Chou’s lectures boring.

Professor Chen Chou never joked around with anyone. He didn’t waste a second of class time, and with the profundity of his knowledge points, if the students were slightly distracted for a moment, they would not understand a word he was saying when they snapped back to attention.

Before leaving, Duan Mingyuan had invited Mr. Chen Chou to the library, and the two had a long discussion there, from daylight to dark night, until dawn the next day. When dawn came, they finally established the teaching content for the semester.

"Mingyuan, there’s one thing that has always puzzled me,"

Chen Chou asked with his arms crossed, in a dissatisfied tone, "Why is it that when the same thing is said by you, they’re eager to listen, but when I say it, they can’t take it in?"

The knowledge he and Duan Mingyuan taught was virtually the same, yet he had become the least popular teacher in the anonymous vote.

Chen Chou couldn’t figure it out, and at one point suspected that the students in the academy were guilty of racial discrimination, discriminating against evil spirits.

"First, don’t keep calling others ’child.’"

Duan Mingyuan pointed out the issue with Chen Chou’s approach.

He was good-tempered and didn’t mind how others addressed him, but Principal Mo Song was over a hundred years old. To often be publicly called "child" by Chen Chou, didn’t the principal want to save face?

It was just as well that Mo Song was a kindly and benevolent old man in the style of Dumbledore. If it had been Grindelwald or Voldemort, Chen Chou would have been the victim of an Avada Kedavra long ago.

"I am your elder, if not ’child,’ what should I call you?"

"Refer to titles in the academy."

"Troublesome."

Chen Chou complained dissatisfiedly, just like any other nagging, perpetually grumbling old person you might know.

No wonder nobody liked him.

Chen Chou knew this very well, but that had always been his way of surviving.

From the moment he was born out of the Blood Sacrifice Ritual, he had been imprisoned in the Ghost Prison. What had sustained him was the hatred and the thought of leaving the Ghost Prison one day to take revenge on the company.

Over those hundreds of years, he had met several principals of the academy. He watched them as an observer, from their energetic youth to their gray hair. Occasionally, some would come to the Ghost Prison before their passing, sitting in front of the sealed Array, and they would tell him about things happening outside.

Everything he knew had changed.

When Chen Chou finally emerged from Ghost Prison, the world he knew had long since changed beyond recognition.

He had never heard of the internet, and it was hard for him to imagine that people across Blue Star could transcend the concept of space, talking with strangers at the other end of the planet in a virtual world at any time, anywhere.

He also had never seen vehicles with four wheels that could run on the ground; flying in the sky was no longer considered novel to the people of this era.

The mobile phone was an incredibly magical object, far more wondrous than any Magic Artifact forged from Strange Gates and Devious Techniques that Chen Chou knew of, capable of keeping one informed about anything happening on this planet with just a flick of the fingers.

But the company remained the same company.

After grasping the concept of "the universe," Chen Chou deeply understood how minuscule they were compared to the company.

The universe harbored countless civilizations like Blue Star and had given birth to numerous people just like him.

Left behind by the rapidly advancing era, then submerged in the torrents of history, not even their names would be left behind.

After witnessing the company’s flagship with his own eyes, Chen Chou’s life fell into confusion.

Having lost both his goal and fighting spirit, he didn’t know how to live in this strange new era.

Not long ago, he overheard students from the academy discussing affairs at the Imperial Court. Someone had captured the moment a sword tore through the sky, watching the company’s flagship fall from the clouds. Chen Chou was so excited that he couldn’t calm down for a long time, borrowing a student’s mobile phone to play that video over and over in a deserted corner.

Teaching was the only thing he could do after casting aside his hatred.

But the results seemed less than ideal.

The students didn’t like him, the teachers in the academy kept their distance, and even Chen Chou didn’t know why he always had to put on a sour face and speak in a harsh and aggressive tone; perhaps only in this way could he feel a bit of familiarity.

At least he was still his former self, not optimized by this rapidly changing era.

Duan Mingyuan, who had not slept all night, ordered coffee. Out of politeness, he ordered one for Chen Chou as well.

"I heard that you are going to deal with the company on this trip."

After a long silence, Chen Chou said.

The academy’s students had been discussing this recently, but they were using terms he couldn’t understand.

What was the Sixteen Star Summit?

And what was the Shanqi Commerce Association?

In the era he came from, he had never heard of these things.

"I will take good care of the academy, go with peace of mind, and shoot down all those flying metal chunks from the sky."

Clearly, Chen Chou had misunderstood the purpose of their trip.

But Duan Mingyuan didn’t plan to contradict him; he thought for a moment and then said, "Oh, when I saw Dean Mo Song today, he mentioned you."

"What did he say?"

"He said that the content of your classes has received wide recognition. It’s a bit of a waste for you to just be a substitute teacher or an assistant. He thinks you should become a regular faculty member, or even start your own course in the academy."

"Did he really say that?"

A glimmer appeared in Chen Chou’s eyes, akin to those of an empty-nester finding new purpose.

"Really."

"I knew there was nothing wrong with the content of my lectures!"

His spirits lifted, "Continuing at this rate, by the time you get back, your students might already have switched to my tutelage!"