Chapter 8

Huang Jingyao's second target was Zhang Linlin, an art student who ranked second to last in Chinese among the girls in the monthly exam, scoring 47 points.

For the entire morning self-study period, Huang Jingyao strategized for Zhang Linlin.

She was a little girl who dreamed of becoming a star, relying on her somewhat sweet appearance and a bit of family wealth, often boasting in class.

After calling out the unimpressed little beauty, Huang Jingyao decisively asked her what she thought of the current female celebrities in the entertainment industry. Zhang Linlin was taken aback, stunned for a long time before coolly replying, "Not much, they're all hyped up."

Huang Jingyao then asked if even the hyped-up celebrities were very beautiful, and none of them could compare to the top students in the county's best high school.

Zhang Linlin,不服气 (unconvinced) and depressed, retorted, "They're all plastic surgery and makeup, what's so great about that?"

Then things became simpler. Huang Jingyao rationally and orderly analyzed that Zhang Linlin's appearance and temperament were not bad, and she had a good chance of becoming a female celebrity in the future. He skillfully flattered her, satisfying her pride and arrogance, before proposing a "more tempting" plan.

For example, Zhang Linlin wasn't ugly, but she wasn't particularly beautiful either. If she wanted to become famous in the future, plastic surgery would make her just another face in the crowd. Instead, she could use her natural beauty as a selling point, and her sweet and fresh appearance would be a good asset.

But this was too单一 (singular) and common. After all, she was just above average, and her foundation wasn't particularly good. There might be many new stars like her in the future, and she wouldn't have any advantage.

If she could also develop sufficient talent, she could take the highbrow route of a talented woman, which was relatively scarce in the entertainment industry today, and her chances of success would be greater.

Then, he increased her Chinese talent from 3 to 5, matching the top student in Class 5 from the last monthly exam.

This time, after a week of recharging and conducting various experiments with Wang Hao, Huang Jingyao had a certain foundation. At least he was sure that Zhang Linlin wasn't as confused as Wang Hao was the first time, but was filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

"In the future, strengthen her a few more times. Once she feels she has mastered a lot of new knowledge through learning, occasionally give her a little more."

Back in the dorm, while eating breakfast and recharging, Huang Jingyao checked his remaining literary energy, which was down to 410 points. This meant he could only increase talent by 41 points, enough to boost the talent of over a dozen students.

As long as he used good conversation techniques and understood the inner state of these young people, by the next mid-term exam, they should have made some progress.

But he wasn't sure how much literary energy they would provide him, or even if it would be enough to sustain his consumption.

The replenishment of literary energy wasn't necessarily tied to exams. It would be provided whenever his targets made significant progress and received widespread recognition.

After all, literary energy was the power of human civilization, which required mutual recognition and interaction to manifest.

For example, if someone knew how to make fire by drilling wood but didn't share this skill, and only they knew about it, would human society still enter the civilized era? Similarly, with printing technology and other innovations, they were only promoted and developed after being displayed and recognized.

Exams were a common way to gain external recognition.

In the following week, Huang Jingyao gradually identified all his targets, a total of 14, plus Wang Hao and Zhang Linlin, making 16, nearly 20% of Class 5.

These targets all had poor foundations and poor grades. In the last monthly exam, they didn't even pass, scoring below 70.

In terms of Chinese talent, the strongest was on par with Wang Hao at 4, while the weakest was a pitiful 2.

Huang Jingyao increased their talent, boosting the 2s to 3s and the 4s to 6s. He was so busy that he only slept three to four hours a day, preparing lessons, teaching, self-studying psychology, and setting various traps to continuously deepen the learning motivation of the 16 students.

Three weeks before the mid-term exam, he noticed that all 16 targets had made various progress, so he quietly continued to increase the values for those who were still at 3.

Because of this increase, those whose talent was originally 2 occasionally asked him why they found Chinese so difficult before, unable to remember or understand the content, but now it felt easier.

Huang Jingyao responded with a catch-all answer: "You're more focused now. You're not stupid, you just didn't work hard before." When they said they had tried hard before but it didn't work, he would smile and counter, "Did you really try your hardest?" This usually shut them up.

One time might not erase their doubts, but three or four times would.

"Three weeks. Their foundation is too poor, and no matter how hard they work, they can't catch up to Zhang Ting, let alone the top student in Class 6. But a significant improvement compared to before is certain. Now we just have to wait."

While waiting, Huang Jingyao was completely unaware that Luoquan No. 1 High School was experiencing serious internal power struggles at the upper levels.

...

"Bang!"

In the principal's office, a middle-aged man in his forties was drinking tea when he suddenly slammed his cup on the desk, his face dark and gloomy.

"Principal Liang." The man sitting opposite him stood up in shock, looking embarrassed.

"It's nothing." Principal Liang waved his hand, took a deep breath, and forced a smile.

He had been at No. 1 High School for almost a month. As principal, he should have been the supreme authority on campus, but Liang Cheng found that someone was not cooperating with him at every turn, trying to marginalize him. One person wouldn't matter, but a group of them was a problem.

But it was understandable. Blocking someone's path to wealth was like killing their parents. He had blocked someone's path to the principalship, and that person was now trying to marginalize him. He had barely won the competition for the principal position with great effort, and now that person was trying to sideline him.

In the past half month, he had only managed to win over one middle-level official, while more were still观望 (on the fence), and a group was united around that person. He even sensed a conspiracy.

One misstep, and certain things could cause him to stumble. But dealing with that person wasn't easy, as they had almost no weaknesses or significant loss of prestige that he could attack.

"Principal Liang, there's something I'd like to report." When Liang Cheng was feeling depressed, the middle-aged man opposite him smiled and spoke.

"Don't be so formal. Feel free to speak your mind." Liang Cheng's smile grew wider, and the man opposite him said, "In Class 5 of the senior year, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Wen, is getting old and often can't keep up with the workload. He has mentioned several times that he wants to step down as homeroom teacher. I think we should consider it."

"Oh? Director Li, do you have any candidates in mind?"

Homeroom teachers were usually determined by the grade director, except for special cases. The man opposite Liang Cheng was the grade director for the senior year, Li Mao.

"I think Mr. Huang Jingyao, the Chinese teacher for Class 5, is a good choice. Although he's young, he was directly recruited into the city's No. 1 High School after graduating from Anshi University, a prestigious university in the province. He later returned to our county to contribute to his alma mater. Such a young person should be strongly supported." Li Mao smiled brightly.

Liang Cheng frowned, then suddenly understood, giving Li Mao a meaningful look. "I'm still not very familiar with the school's situation, so I won't comment on this matter."

Li Mao had only recently been won over, and few people knew about it. Officially, Li Mao was still on the other side.

Huang Jingyao? He vaguely remembered that he had entered the school through that person's connections. Normally, this wouldn't matter, but it was unusual for a new teacher to be assigned to teach the senior year. He had already heard some teachers grumbling, but due to the unclear situation on campus, many things weren't being done openly.

If this controversial connection suddenly became a homeroom teacher, it would be more than just unusual; it would be outrageous.

Such an outrageous and easily questioned move would cause dissatisfaction and anger. If the other person then messed up Class 5, the fun would be even greater. It would be best if something embarrassing happened, like teacher protests and parent dissatisfaction. These things weren't significant on their own, but if he pushed hard, they could be very effective, undermining that person's prestige!

"Look at how you appoint people based on personal connections and what you've done to the school. Are you treating the senior year students, who are about to face the college entrance exam, like this?"

A principal wouldn't easily play with the school's college admission rate, which was the foundation of the school. But Class 5 was a special case, the worst group of students in the entire senior year's liberal arts class.

The homeroom teacher was too old and lazy to manage, and other teachers were just going through the motions. There was no future for these students, so it was worth a try.

As for whether Huang Jingyao would mess up Class 5 after becoming the homeroom teacher, a new teacher with no experience, teaching the senior year for the first time, and taking on the role of homeroom teacher for the first time, it would be strange if he didn't.

He wouldn't really let Huang Jingyao stay until the end of the senior year. As long as the mid-term exam and the next monthly exam showed a decline in Class 5's performance, he could launch an attack, undermining that person's prestige and using other means to seize power and completely defeat them.