Prodigal System in the Flourishing City

Chapter 1098: Chapter 1097: Scholars Disparaging One Another

The standoff was in full swing.

Lu Xiaobu walked in.

The students and teachers with varied expressions blocking the doorway immediately backed away, silent as cicadas in cold weather upon seeing Lu Xiaobu.

If Lu Xiaobu’s woman was this brazen, and now that Lu Xiaobu himself was here, wasn’t he just going to demolish the place?!

”Xiaobu, you’re here!” Wu Qianmin was the first to spot Lu Xiaobu and immediately smiled brightly.

”Yes, I’m here.” Lu Xiaobu nodded with a smile.

He hadn’t seen this little girl for a long time, not sure what she’d been busy with recently.

”Teacher!” Zhang Shilin quickly put down the book he was holding and respectfully bowed to Lu Xiaobu!

”Mm. Everything okay?” Lu Xiaobu nodded again, taking a moment to survey the scene.

He wasn’t doing a good job as a teacher!

”Thank you for your concern, Teacher, everything is fine,” Zhang Shilin replied respectfully.

”How can you say that? Xiaobu, I just found out after coming here, Zhang Shilin has been continually bullied by this Ding Jian! He’s not allowed to qualify for any competition, and doesn’t get any prize-winning opportunity! And this time, even his paper got rejected!”

The Little Hot Pepper started to yell: ”Zhang Shilin is your apprentice! You know her talent, and if there’s any opportunity, how could she not gain any reputation?!”

Upon hearing Little Hot Pepper’s words, Lu Xiaobu nodded.

Little Hot Pepper wasn’t wrong. Zhang Shilin might be a bit dull, but her talent was definitely top-notch, and with him as her teacher, if there were any opportunities, there was no way she wouldn’t make a name for herself!

Hence, he turned his gaze to the three sitting behind the table, dug out his ears, and sat down in a chair: ”Go ahead. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance!”

He couldn’t be bothered to find the principal or anything!

This minor issue probably wasn’t even on the principal’s radar, mainly because Zhang Shilin never complained or said anything about her troubles.

”Lu Xiaobu! Don’t you dare...” As soon as Ding Jian saw Lu Xiaobu, all his past grievances surged up, and he pointed at Lu Xiaobu, ready to curse!

”Swish!”

Zhang Meng immediately leaped forward and grabbed Ding Jian’s pointing finger, flashing a cruel smile at him: ”Who allowed you to point at the Young Master with your finger?”

”Crack!”

With a clear snapping sound, that finger bent to an impossible angle for a human.

This was followed by a heart-wrenching scream: ”Ah!”

The onlookers shuddered at the scream, swallowing hard!

These ivory-tower dwellers maybe held some awe for Lu Xiaobu, but they never imagined Lu Xiaobu would go to such lengths!

He’d just shattered a finger!

Reasoning? That only happened on Lu Xiaobu’s terms!

Not only the onlookers, but even the two old men began to sweat profusely!

They initially thought Lu Xiaobu was somewhat part of the literary circle and wouldn’t be as crude as that female student!

But clearly, they overestimated!

The student’s boorishness was nothing compared to Lu Xiaobu’s!

”What, you’re not talking?” Lu Xiaobu ignored the screaming, continuing to gaze at the two old men: ”I told you, you only get one chance.”

”Well, we...” One of the old men opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

It seemed whatever they said wouldn’t be right!

”Not talking?” Lu Xiaobu’s lips curled into a playful smile.

Zhang Meng immediately stepped forward again.

Everyone was terrified!

No way! Lu Xiaobu wouldn’t even spare the old professors?!

This would be downright cruel!

The two old men were so scared, their clothes were soaked in cold sweat.

”Fine, considering your age, and because I respect the elderly and cherish the young, I’ll give you another chance!” Lu Xiaobu twisted his neck and said, ”I ask, you answer.”

The old man swallowed and nodded.

”First, was Zhang Shilin’s paper truly unqualified?” Lu Xiaobu asked the two old men.

Meanwhile, he tapped the armrest of the chair rhythmically, as if each tap struck everyone’s heart, making the atmosphere incredibly tense!

”Qualified!” The two old men swallowed, their mouths bitter, not daring to utter falsehoods, forced to answer truthfully.

”So you did it on purpose, huh?” Lu Xiaobu smirked even more: ”Second question, did this guy usually make things difficult for Zhang Shilin, and you knew about it?”

”Kn...kn...knew!”

The old men were almost peeing their pants.

”Very good.” Lu Xiaobu’s sneer widened: ”You must have received quite a few benefits!”

”No! Really no!”

Upon hearing this, the two immediately denied it.

It was bad enough to make things difficult, if they were taking benefits too, it would be utterly disgraceful!

”Why don’t you tell us?” Lu Xiaobu tilted his head to look at them.

If not for their age, he would have taken action already, who cared about their excuses?!

Beat first, then listen, it was the same!

The two old men exchanged a wry glance: ”Alright.”

It was already a mess, saying anymore wouldn’t change anything!

”What can I say, it was half unwilling yet half willing!”

”Scholars have always belittled each other. Aren’t these two words ’poor and sour’ always associated with scholars?”

”In the past, we really had no income, mostly just getting by!”

”But the more it was like this, the harder it was to get by in the literary circle, trying to stay unique was suicidal.”

”So, when the whole trend was like this, we couldn’t go against it!”

The two old men took turns speaking.

”Was it tough then, and now it’s not?” Wu Qianmin asked suspiciously.

”Young lady, you don’t understand, the economy might be better now, but the circle is tougher!” the two sighed again.

”Everyone was scared of poverty, when there’s finally a chance to make money, who wants to give it to others?!”

”And who is Zhang Shilin? Lu Xiaobu’s student! Just with this title, you can imagine the benefits in our circle?!”

”So, you shamelessly ganged up against the girl, for those invisible benefits, not necessarily yours?!” Little Hot Pepper was furious, wanting to give everyone a slap if not for respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

The two old men exchanged embarrassed glances and nodded: ”You could put it that way, but it’s also the whole circle’s stance, we said going against the flow is tough!”

Of course, the main thing they didn’t say was that they really thought Lu Xiaobu had abandoned Zhang Shilin!

After all, it had been so long, he hadn’t even spoken a word, let alone meet!

”Finished talking?” Lu Xiaobu leaned back, fingers still tapping the armrest.

If they were done talking, then it was time to deal with it!