Four Split Personalities

Chapter 2559: Chapter 1208: After the Exhibition Match (2)

No matter what personality he had, Motan never had a tendency for self-harm. It’s just that due to his mental state, he couldn’t find a legal way to make a lot of money, so he just made do.

In short, he wasn’t fond of Principal Qian’s approach of always being so exact in calculations, so he firmly refused.

"Haha, I figured as much."

Seeing Motan’s reaction, Heavenly Dao had no intention to insist and said seriously, "Then, I’ll inform the principal that the main reason you, Silent Brother, agreed to help this time is out of friendship with Jarvis, rather than a simple exchange of interests. Is that acceptable?"

Motan nodded slightly, enjoying the feeling of communicating with smart people without needing to mince words, and smiled, "Then I’ll leave that to you, Teacher Tian."

"But I still hope you can accept this, otherwise I can’t answer to them."

Heavenly Dao changed his tone, like performing a magic trick, and pulled out a universal savings card from the Steam Consortium before Motan could speak, "It has one thousand gold coins, serving as a gratuity for the Woof Woof Team escorting our staff member Jarvis safely to board the plane and return to his post, as well as a food allowance advance for Mr. Anthony, the staff’s relative."

Motan frowned slightly, "This is..."

"Principal Qian is actually much deeper than his first impression suggests, Silent Brother."

Heavenly Dao patted Motan’s shoulder, his expression calm, "So, putting aside the work-study angle, I personally hope you can accept this card."

Motan sighed and didn’t take the savings card, just asked helplessly, "Is this the principal’s PLAN B?"

Heavenly Dao nodded, "You could say that."

"Leaving aside the gratuity."

Motan squinted and softly asked, "An advance food allowance for Anthony... what does that mean?"

"Jarvis is undoubtedly an outstanding and rare teacher, both Principal Qian and I are well aware of this, but ’outstanding’ does not equal ’suitable’,"

Heavenly Dao seemed to enjoy talking with smart people too, so he spoke frankly, without hiding, "At least, being stationed at [Summer Special Research] in the Realm of Innocence doesn’t seem well-suited for him, and given the positive feedback received during this time, what was initially a temporary [Summer Special Research] might likely continue indefinitely."

Motan subconsciously furrowed his brow and mumbled, "After school starts, will evening classes continue too?"

"I know what you’re thinking, Mor classmate."

Heavenly Dao pushed his glasses and said lightly, "I can also guess what Jarvis has been telling you."

"So what?"

"Personally, I believe that everything has two sides, and in various matters, education is perhaps the most representative."

"But as far as I know..."

"I’m not fully aware of what you know, Mor classmate, however—"

Heavenly Dao glanced at Motan and softly said, "I can responsibly tell you that for Shuhai Seventh Middle School now, the school enrollment rate is not important at all."

Motan’s eyes widened in surprise, as he subconsciously exclaimed, "What?"

Clearly, he was taken aback by Heavenly Dao’s words.

"Is it hard to understand?"

Heavenly Dao chuckled, raised his index finger, and lightly shook it, "We are a top-level graduate school, we are the benchmark, model, and leader in the industry. Shuhai Seventh Middle School has long since had no room for further advancement. If we want to maintain our reputation, just keeping the status quo is enough. Objectively speaking, running Summer Special Research only adds additional expenses to the school and discontent among responsible teachers like Jarvis, along with many students complaining, without producing any positive effects."

Motan remained silent because Heavenly Dao had already said what he wanted to express, and judging from the context, there was likely more to follow.

"I admit, even in the field of ’education’, there are transactions of power and money, commercial operations, and a strong business nature. Frankly, it’s not pure at all."

Heavenly Dao sighed softly and slowly said, "And Principal Qian is not a pure person either. It’s said that his childhood in poverty left him always knowing how to make money, and he generally gives people the impression that ’he’s more of a businessman than an educator’, which isn’t exactly false."

Motan nodded slightly, patiently waiting for what he was sure would be a ’but’ from Teacher Tian.

"However..."

Sure enough, Heavenly Dao didn’t disappoint Motan, continuing after a brief pause, "Whatever happened in the past, at least now Shuhai Seventh Middle School has established itself firmly as a top school. And our Principal Qian has already made a substantial fortune, under which circumstances, some higher pursuits become possible."

Motan unconsciously pinched the bridge of his nose, mumbling, "Higher pursuits?"

"What Jarvis sees is that even during the summer, students are forced by parents moved by the Summer Special Research to study, with their sleep disrupted, that’s not entirely wrong, but it’s also somewhat narrow."

Heavenly Dao looked up at the sky, gazing at the night sky over Academy City, far clearer and brighter than the Real World, "Not speaking of grand principles, at least when I was a student, my greatest desire was to ’learn while having fun’, and The Realm of Innocence just happens to meet this requirement."

"..."

"In Summer Special Research, students only need to address two weaker subjects according to the latest simulated exam results, for a total of six class hours, or two hundred and seventy minutes, completing their tasks for the day, while the rest of the time, they can freely do as they wish, whether it be attending NPC lectures, or enjoying themselves in the bustling city of Academy City, without restraint."

"..."

"Jarvis just came back and perhaps doesn’t see it firsthand yet, but actually, most of the kids who initially resisted Summer Special Research have come to like the atmosphere after all, they are indeed in a game, even when they’re learning, it’s part of the game."

"..."

"I don’t know exactly what Principal Qian is thinking, but even if I guess, it’s not related to personal gain or the school, because there’s no benefit, any conspiracy theory crumbles in the face of these three words."

"..."

"Let’s talk about some adult topics, shall we?"

"Huh?"

"Silent Brother, since you didn’t provide me with a bank account number just now, let’s tentatively define you as a student who doesn’t have to worry about living expenses, but not everyone is like you."

"Uh..."

"Whether twenty years ago, now, or twenty years later, the gap between rich and poor won’t be eliminated, and while knowledge and grades aren’t the only ways to change fate, they’re relatively the fairest and lowest-barrier paths."

"Indeed, it’s an adult topic..."

"Skill is certainly important, but that doesn’t mean ’knowledge’ isn’t important anymore, and the most direct way to test knowledge is ’grades’, which decide the future for many."

"..."

"We don’t have to exploit those kids because it doesn’t benefit the school at all. The reason we’re doing this is actually about trial and error, hoping to find a balance between ’being responsible for students’ and ’making students happy’."

"..."

"To sum it up, if a mechanism like Summer Special Research ever became widespread at Shuhai Seventh Middle School, students’ daytime burdens would be at least a third lighter than now."

"..."

"Again, Silent Brother, everything has two sides, but at least in my eyes, the starting point of this project is good, but..."

"But?"

"Honestly, Jarvis isn’t suitable for this project."

Chapter 1208: The End