Of course, all of the above were just Ma Lu’s speculations.
But it didn’t matter if he guessed wrong; losing Xu Shoujing was no big deal. Other schools might have been desperate for such a well-known and connected teacher, but Ma Lu himself wasn’t too fond of Xu Shoujing.
What he planned to be was a despotic principal, Hou De’s dictator and tyrant; what he needed were people willing to listen and work, not an education expert who meddles in everything.
Having quickly dispatched Xu Shoujing, Ma Lu turned his attention to the remaining six candidates.
Those six candidates were also sizing up the young principal, assuming that Ma Lu would ask them to introduce themselves next, discuss their education and work experience, and their teaching specialties, followed by a professional assessment.
Typically, this was the process for schools recruiting teachers, and indeed, Cao Youyi had prepared a set of test questions for Ma Lu.
But Ma Lu tossed them aside and asked, "Who among you knows Hou De’s current ranking at the Ministry of Education?"
Although the question was a bit abrupt, the six people below who came to apply for a teaching position at Hou De had obviously done their homework on this matter.
Soon a woman wearing a silver-gray jacquard satin tube skirt spoke up, "Hou De is ranked 167th at the Ministry of Education, out of the current 168 Charm Master universities... it’s the second to last.
"But in fact, Jiangling Women’s Charm Master College, which is ranked last, has lost its qualification to operate this year because it did not recruit enough students. It is just waiting to finish reassigning its current students before closing down, so..."
The woman in the silver-gray jacquard satin tube skirt did not go on, and Ma Lu finished the sentence for her.
"So now we are truly the last one. Staying like this won’t do."
Ma Lu slammed the table and said, "Before his death, Mr. Cao entrusted the school to Mr. Ma. If I can’t achieve anything significant, wouldn’t I betray Mr. Cao’s trust in me?" Your next journey awaits at Freewebnovel
Everyone knows how to speak beautifully, but no one sitting there was a fool; they all knew the situation at Hou De.
The students were the leftovers from other schools, and so were the teachers. Just when someone with a bit of reputation came along, Ma Lu had driven him away.
There was no one to ask for help and no money to spend; thinking about a revival was easier said than done.
However, when the future leader spoke, everyone still had to show some respect, and many voices of agreement were soon heard in the classroom.
A plump, fair-skinned man wearing a blue vest said, "Principal Ma speaks well. If we are fortunate enough to become educators at Hou De, we will definitely work hard with Principal Ma to teach and cultivate students and revitalize Hou De."
"Very good," Ma Lu was quite satisfied with the attitude of the candidates and then threw out another seemingly random question.
"Who ranks 157th?"
"It should be... the Church’s Lingnan Education College," the woman in the silver-gray jacquard satin tube skirt replied after a moment.
"Since we want to revitalize Hou De, we naturally need a target. Mm, let’s be pragmatic. For a start, how about we aim to surpass this Church’s Lingnan Education College?"
Ma Lu took the teacup handed to him by Cao Youyi, blew on it, and said.
Improve the school ranking by ten? Indeed, this was a clear and practical goal; while difficult, the good thing was Ma Lu was still young and had time on his side.
While everyone was thinking this, they saw Ma Lu stop Cao Youyi, who was serving the tea, and say, "If I remember correctly, to initiate a ranking challenge between schools, one must notify the challenger at least a week in advance, right?"
"That’s right," Cao Youyi nodded.
"Excellent. Then help me inform the Church’s Lingnan Education College; we challenge them. This way, our students can compete against theirs next week."
After finishing, Ma Lu turned to the six candidates and said, "Gentlemen, with this in mind, develop a student improvement plan so that we can defeat the Church’s Lingnan Education College in a week."
???
The classroom fell silent in an instant, and all six candidates who had come to apply for the teaching positions were stunned.
They had not expected Ma Lu’s goal to be set weekly.
The Church’s Lingnan Education College might be weak, but that was only in comparison to the schools at the top of the rankings.
For Hou De, which was actually at the bottom, Lingnan’s strength was not lacking at all.
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.
The school had a total of 11 teachers and more than one hundred students.
Among them was a student with a Grade B qualification named Luo Hengyi, whose strength was considerable.
Luo Hengyi was not a freshman like Cao Jiajia, he was already in his third year, had completed tasks cleaning up disaster zones by himself, had been featured in newspapers, and had merchandise made of him.
It was said that four of the top ten famous schools had offered him admission, but in the end, he chose to attend the obscure Lingnan.
According to Luo Hengyi’s own words, it was because he heard the voice of the Lord at the last moment of decision.
In any case, Lingnan Education College had picked up a great bargain.
And with Luo Hengyi, they were undeniably a tough bone to chew; with this round of university reforms pushed by the Ministry of Education, the Church’s Lingnan Education College must have also been thinking of leveraging Luo Hengyi’s strength to advance further.
However, they probably had not expected to be targeted before they even made a move.
And the one targeting them was none other than the laggard, Hou De.
"A week... This time frame is too short. By then, you won’t even be able to recognize all the students in a class, let alone teach them anything," the man in the blue vest said cautiously.
"Moreover, Lingnan is not an ideal choice," added an old man with a white beard, wearing a grey cloth gown.
"The training of talismanic magic is measured in months at the least, and expecting to see results in a short time... is difficult."
The woman wearing a silver-grey jacquard satin tube skirt was also skeptical of Ma Lu’s plan, "Moreover, this could very likely lead to spoiling the growth, especially detrimental to the new students’ solidifying their foundation."
Her words received agreement from many.
Ma Lu took a sip of tea, "I know all that you’ve said, but I’m just asking what you plan to do. Don’t rush to answer now."
Ma Lu glanced at the Traveler’s Bracelet on his wrist, "In a while, I’ll take the students to clean up a disaster zone, and I estimate we won’t be back until after dawn, which means you have at least six hours to answer.
"I will decide who can become a teacher at Hou De based on the final answers you submit, so please think it over carefully before responding."
"Cleaning up a disaster zone? There haven’t been any disaster zones reported near Ping City recently," a man in a suit murmured softly.
"Oh, it’s in Hanjiang City, the disaster zone is inside Hanjiang City," Ma Lu stood up.
"Hanjiang? But... that’s more than three hundred kilometers away from Ping City."
"That’s right, which is why I had Teacher Cao help charter three planes," Ma Lu said.
The money from the last material sale was almost spent, but according to the new rules, cleaning up disaster zones now comes with additional cash incentives from the Ministry of Education.
Last week, Ma Lu led a team to clean two disaster zones, one was a Level 1 Disaster Zone and the other a Mutated Disaster Zone, earning rewards of 500 and 2000 respectively.
Plus, with the sale of half the Song Stone obtained, as requested by Cao Youyi, the school’s available funds on the books had already crossed the significant threshold of 5000.
Chartering three planes was not a difficult task.