“Discipline Master Lu, I’d say that it was more of a contract than a gamble. I believe that you’re exaggerating this matter. Contracts have binding power, and since Zu An won, it was only right for Yang Wei to fulfill the end of his promise,” replied Jiang Luofu with an air of finality.

Lu De was unwilling to drop the matter. “But…”

Jiang Luofu looked at Lu De calmly. “Are you questioning my words?”

Lu De’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly lowered his head and said, “I dare not!”

Zu An was thrilled at this exchange. The domineering aura of the gorgeous principal is amazing! Even the fierce Lu De is nothing more than a mere hatchling in her eyes. Tsk, tsk, tsk, it looks like I really have to hold on tight to her wonderful thighs.

The surrounding crowd bobbed their heads in unison, firmly on the principal’s side. Yang Wei had started the conflict in the first place, and he’d had it coming. Lu De’s intervention had been absolutely unnecessary.

That being said, no one had dared to step forward to speak up for Zu An, out of fear of offending Lu De. They weren’t friends with Zu An anyway, so there was no reason for them to stick their necks out for him. All in all, the principal’s verdict was still a satisfactory conclusion to the incident.

Of course, there were some who were unhappy at this, with Yuan Wendong, Hong Xingying, and Ye Chenliang among them. To them, the principal had arrived at a bad time. It seemed that every time Zu An got into trouble, there would always be someone around to clean his backside for him. What’s with his goddamned luck?!

You have successfully trolled Yuan Wendong for 444 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Hong Xingying for 444 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Ye Chenliang for 444 Rage points!

… 

While Zu An welcomed the inflow of Rage points, he was left unsatisfied by the relatively small amount. I should really try to enrage a few more short-tempered prodigies during my time here.

Jiang Luofu still had more to say. “Since Yang Wei has been fired, our academy is short of an arithmetic teacher. It just so happens that the contract between Yang Wei and Zu An specified that the latter would take over the position if the former lost. Until a new arithmetic teacher is appointed, all arithmetic classes in the academy will be taken by him.”

A queer silence descended upon the crowd. All eyes turned toward Zu An. Lu De, Bai Susu and Shang Liuyu all wore various quizzical expressions, and their confusion was clearly shared by the rest of the students. 

Even Pei Mianman, who was still giggling at the situation, felt her smile freeze in place. What’s going on? Doesn’t that mean that I’ll have to call that fellow ‘teacher’ from now on?

Being unceremoniously thrust into the spotlight was hard to bear even for the thick-skinned Zu An. His gaze subconsciously drifted towards Jiang Luofu, and she winked at him. He suddenly remembered his request to become an honorary teacher for seven-and-a-half million silver taels earlier that morning. She had rejected it without any hesitation earlier, so why change her mind all of a sudden?

He put the thought to the side. The most important thing now was to exploit this situation to earn a huge wave of Rage points!

He gave a slight cough and turned to Lu De, Bai Susu, and Shang Liuyu. “Well, I guess we’ll be colleagues from this day onward. Please take good care of me.”

You have successfully trolled Lu De for 999 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Bai Susu for 999 Rage points!

How in the world is this fellow worthy of the same position as the rest of us?!

Zu An felt a twinge of regret that Shang Liuyu didn’t offer him any Rage points. It seems like she has a pretty good impression of me.

Having earned his due from his fellow teachers, he turned to the students around him and sighed deeply. “I would love to keep a low profile too, but it’s a pity that my talents and skills don’t permit me to do so. Since that’s the case, I have no choice. From today onward, I’ll have to ask all of you to call me Teacher Zu.”

A huge uproar broke out there and then.

Why is this fellow acting so smug? I want to beat him up!

You have successfully trolled Yuan Wendong for 999 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Hong Xingying for 999 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Ye Chenliang for 999 Rage points!

What the hell is going on? Have I gone mad, or is this world bonkers? How could this piece of trash become a teacher in the academy?

You have successfully trolled Student Spectator A for 222 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Student Spectator B for 222 Rage points!

… 

The massive inflow of Rage points delighted Zu An, who thrived on such schadenfreude. Ahh, my classmates sure are cute. Really, there’s no need for you all to be so kind!

That being said, their murderous gazes were still pretty terrifying. Zu An ducked behind Shang Liuyu and asked her, “Big sister Shang, you’ll protect me if these students were to pick on me, right?”

Shang Liuyu took a deep breath before answering, “I honestly want to give you a beating too.”

It was also at this point that Lu De finally snapped out of his shock and exclaimed in horror, “Principal, how can we appoint a student as a teacher?!”

“Is there anything wrong with it?” replied Jiang Luofu calmly. “In the history of our Great Zhou Dynasty, there are plenty of outstanding students who decided to stay on in their academy to teach their juniors.”

“But those are outstanding students, talented individuals who possess capabilities far surpassing others. How could Zu An be put on the same pedestal as them?” questioned Lu De.

If he weren’t standing before Jiang Luofu, he would certainly have resorted to even more extreme words to vent his frustrations.

Bai Susu also belatedly returned to reality, and he chimed in with a coy smile, “Discipline Master Lu, your words don’t make much sense. He’s being appointed as an arithmetic teacher, not a cultivation teacher. Whether he’s strong or not has nothing to do with this. Zu An has already proven his outstanding talent in arithmetic in his earlier competition with Yang Wei. With the ability he has displayed thus far, I don’t see anything wrong with appointing him as our arithmetic teacher.”

To be fair, Bai Susu agreed that appointing Zu An just like that was a slap in the face to all teachers. However, Lu De’s vehement opposition to Zu An’s appointment swiftly changed his mind. He had clashed with Lu De innumerable times over the years, and neither of them could stand the other. Thus, whatever Lu De opposed, he would support, and vice-versa.

Lu De’s face turned grim. “Bai Susu, now isn’t the time for us to be arguing with one another! Are you really okay with a student like him becoming a teacher of our academy? That would make our academy the laughingstock of the world!”

“How would it make our academy a laughingstock?” Bai Susu said with a dainty wave of his hand. “If anyone dares to mock us, we can challenge them to an arithmetic competition, with Zu An to represent us. We’ll silence them all with our true capability!”

Lu De could find no way around Bai Susu’s argument. Even he had to admit that Zu An was a prodigy at arithmetic. Yang Wei was publicly known to be the most talented arithmetician in the surrounding municipalities, but he had still ended up suffering such a tragic defeat. He would be hard-pressed to find someone who could match Zu An’s skill.

Jiang Luofu stepped in to calm the waters. “You need not worry about that. He’s just filling in for the time being. He isn’t an officially employed teacher, and his details will not be recorded with the Ministry of Rites. Once the Ministry of Rites appoints a new teacher here, I’ll relieve him of his position. Also, aside from teaching arithmetic lessons, Zu An, you’ll continue to attend lessons like any other student. Any objections?”

This fellow sure is a troublemaker. Right after I appoint him a position, he immediately begins parading around like a proud cat with its tail stuck in the air. It literally took him mere moments to offend the entire academy. I’m finally starting to see why he has been slacking off all of these years. Given his affinity for troublemaking, his enemies would have sent real experts to assassinate him a long time ago if he hadn’t feigned weakness.

Zu An obediently replied, “I have no objections.”

Do I look like I have no objections? You’re just using me as an unpaid part-time worker!

Of course, there was no way Zu An would dare to voice his objections out loud. He was not one to go around offending people indiscriminately. He could sensitively discern who were the ones he could offend and who he couldn’t. One person that he absolutely couldn’t offend at this point was Jiang Luofu, his greatest backing. He still planned to cling tightly onto her smooth, luscious thighs for the foreseeable future, so it made sense not to excessively annoy her.

Lu De sighed with relief upon hearing that his appointment as a substitute teacher was a temporary one. This was still a tolerable outcome. Thankfully, there was no need to publicly go against the principal. The rest of his hair might have fallen out because of the stress.

With no one voicing their opposition, Jiang Luofu nodded and said, “This matter is settled, then. All of you should return to your classrooms. Break time is already over, so none of you should be congregating here.”

At the direct order of the principal, the students swiftly dispersed.

In contrast to Yuan Wendong and the others, who looked as if they had shoveled shit into their mouths, Chu Huanzhao was in a merry mood. Her excited expression clearly indicated that there was much she wanted to say to Zu An. However, under the stern watch of the teachers, she had no choice but to return to her classroom. Nevertheless, she constantly snuck glances at Zu An as she walked away.

Pei Mianman let herself be swept away by the crowd, the tiniest fraction of a smile on her lips. This lad actually managed to become a teacher of the academy. This is getting more and more interesting.

Shang Liuyu summoned the students of the Yellow class back into the classroom and started on her foreign language class. As usual, the students were excited to attend her class. Waaa, Teacher Shang’s class is so beautiful… interesting! I mean, interesting!

Zu An started to head back into the classroom with his fellow classmates. He wasn’t lusting over Shang Liuyu’s beauty, but was honestly curious about the languages of the other races in this world. This topic was much more interesting than the nonsensical law and etiquette classes he had attended thus far. 

Unexpectedly, Jiang Luofu stopped him. “What do you think? Your seven-and-a-half million silver taels weren’t spent in vain, right?”

“Yes, indeed. What I got was worth every tael,” replied Zu An obsequiously. 

While the humongous inflow of Rage points was great, he was excited just imagining how all students of the academy would have to respectfully address him as ‘Teacher Zu’ from now on. Yup, I should try that on my honey next time and have her call me ‘Teacher Zu’ too.

“When you turned me down earlier, I thought I had lost my one and only chance. Who knew that you had follow-up arrangements ready?” 

Zu An fought off the urge to express his gratitude by diving forward and hugging her thighs. He knew that she would more than likely scorn him as a pervert.

“It was indeed a hopeless cause earlier this morning. No matter how much money you threw at me, there was no way I could possibly have you appointed as a teacher. I never imagined Yang Wei would challenge you to a bet, much less offer to have you replace him if he loses. By proving your worth before the entire academy, you gave me the opportunity to push things along.

“Even though you aren’t registered as an official teacher yet, rest assured that you’ll still be accorded the privileges of one. I’ll have someone lead you over to the staff’s exclusive dormitory later. If you need a place to rest, you can head there whenever you want to. You’ll also be paid monthly stipends as well. Since you’re a temporary teacher, you’ll only be paid eighty percent of the usual wages. I trust that won’t be a problem?”

“Of course not!” Zu An was overjoyed.

There’s actually an exclusive staff dormitory! It looks like there’s no need for me to get Cheng Shouping to buy a house outside anymore. Living in the academy is so much better—there are youthful female students and gentle and beautiful teachers here!

Zu An suddenly remembered something vital. “Speaking of which, now that you’ve managed to get me appointed as a teacher, what about the dungeon slot we discussed earlier?”

Jiang Luofu blinked a couple of times as her mind worked. A playful smile slowly crept onto her lips. “Since you’re even capable of taking down a teacher, I trust that a simple qualification examination shouldn’t be a problem for you.”

Without waiting for a response, she waved in dismissal and walked away, leaving a dumbfounded Zu An in her wake. What do you mean, ‘it shouldn’t be a problem for me’? Does that mean that she’ll make arrangements for me, or does she intend for me to win the selections with my own strength?

“You’re close with Principal Jiang?”

His musings were interrupted by a pleasant voice right beside his ear. He turned to see Shang Liuyu standing right behind him.