Pei Lu sighed softly, her smile tinged with helplessness. "I won't tease you anymore. With no strong contenders in Shu, Yu Xiangyang still took first place with a score of 73, a barely acceptable mark. Lou Shu came in second with 50. The rest of the students scored below 40."
"Last night, I had a meeting with the other substitute teachers in our class, and we were all very disappointed with you. Compared to students from previous years, your level is far inferior. The army cannot entrust the lives of so many soldiers to a bunch of mediocre talents like you. Even calling you mediocre is being considerate of your self-esteem; you are all little dunces," Pei Lu said. "Even Yu Xiangyang, the top student, can only be considered passable."
As Pei Lu was about to continue, the screen on the podium suddenly lit up.
She looked down at the message that popped up on the screen, her face instantly filled with surprise, and she looked up at Yu Xiangyang.
"The academic affairs office has notified that Yu Xiangyang, you need to come with me to the principal's office," Pei Lu said. "Students, please study on your own. Class monitor, distribute the answer keys. Make sure you understand all your mistakes during this class, and I'll come to quiz you during morning reading tomorrow."
Yu Xiangyang stood up with a snap, tidied his belongings, and prepared to leave.
The entire class stared at Yu Xiangyang in shock, various expressions flickering across their faces, constantly changing.
The academic affairs office was notifying him to go to the principal's office?!
Who was the principal?
Jiang Ye!
Could it be that General Jiang had come to the school?
Several students suddenly gasped. Could it be that General Jiang had come specifically for Yu Xiangyang?
Jiang Ye Star Officer University was founded by Jiang Ye himself many years ago, and Jiang Ye had always been the principal.
In reality, the school was managed by several vice-principals. Jiang Ye was too busy with work to come often, but when Jiang Ye personally visited, it was always a major event worthy of news.
Yu Xiangyang followed Pei Lu out of the classroom. Pei Lu was heavily pregnant, so she walked rather slowly, and Yu Xiangyang patiently kept pace beside her.
After the two had walked away, the classroom was filled with whispers.
"The principal's office is usually locked. General Jiang must have come to the school!"
"Could it be that he came specifically to see Yu Xiangyang?"
"No way? Why would they ask our teacher to go too?"
"Maybe they want our teacher to talk about Yu Xiangyang's performance. After all, Yu Xiangyang is here for advanced studies. We got into school through hard work, but Yu Xiangyang was sent here for training by Chief Commander Jiang. It's different."
"Are those rumors true? Yu Xiangyang killed tens of thousands of surrendered enemies on the front lines?"
"My cousin is in the army on Wheeler Star. He came back on leave last month and said that Yu Xiangyang did kill surrendering soldiers, but he didn't know how many. The fighting on Wheeler Star was extremely brutal."
"This should be true. The version I heard is that Yu Xiangyang was incredibly fierce in the battle on Wheeler Star, making the Gant Army bleed from their asses. They couldn't stop him at all. Chief Commander Jiang originally wanted to promote him rapidly, but upon careful investigation, he discovered that Yu Xiangyang had been killing surrendering soldiers while fighting. Enraged, he directly stripped him of his official position and sent him here to study."
"Brother Yu is indeed a formidable person. His exam scores are always double mine. I'm convinced."
...
Outside the principal's office.
Two guards stood in the hallway.
Seeing Pei Lu and Yu Xiangyang approach, the guards immediately went to knock twice on the principal's office door and then opened it a crack.
Pei Lu and Yu Xiangyang entered the principal's office one after the other.
Behind the desk sat a young man in plain clothes.
Yu Xiangyang snapped his heels together and saluted, "Greetings, Principal!"
"Don't call me Principal; it feels unlucky," Jiang Ye said.
"Greetings, Chief Commander!" Yu Xiangyang changed his address.
Pei Lu also stood straight and saluted, "Greetings, Chief Commander!"
Although Pei Lu was a teacher, she was merely an ordinary deputy division commander in the army and had seen Jiang Ye very few times.
Furthermore, Jiang Ye had undergone age-reversal surgery, making him look much younger. Thus, when Pei Lu first saw Jiang Ye, her mind went blank for a moment and she didn't react.
Although Yu Xiangyang was a student, he had had a long conversation with Jiang Ye at close range, and his memory was still clear. He recognized him immediately upon seeing him.
"Oh my, Teacher Pei Lu is pregnant, and you're still teaching?" Jiang Ye suddenly stood up. "Please, have a seat, have a seat!"
"Thank you, Chief Commander. It doesn't really affect me. Staying home all the time is tiring, so it's better to come and teach," Pei Lu said with a smile as she sat down.
Jiang Ye picked up a cup, poured a glass of warm water, and handed it to Pei Lu with both hands. "I won't give you tea. I haven't been here in so long, I forgot what kind of tea is stocked in my office, and I don't know if it has any effect on the fetus. Just drink some plain water."
"Thank you, thank you," Pei Lu said, accepting the cup with a touch of flattery. "Chief Commander, you are too kind."
"Xiangyang, you wait in the hallway for a moment," Jiang Ye said, looking up. "Your teacher and I will chat first, and then I'll call you in."
"Yes," Yu Xiangyang turned and walked out, closing the door gently.
Jiang Ye sat down. "Teacher Pei Lu, you've worked hard. I want to ask you about Yu Xiangyang's performance. The door is soundproof, so no one outside can hear us. I want to know your opinion of Yu Xiangyang, the more detailed the better."
"This student, Yu Xiangyang, has changed quite a bit," Pei Lu said after thinking for a moment. "We have many courses that require students to speak in class or write lengthy essays, which we use to understand each student's level and thoughts. When Yu Xiangyang first arrived, he often said astonishing things that were quite frightening."
"Frightening in what way?" Jiang Ye asked.
"For example, when discussing the topic of massacre, other students' answers were all against it, for various reasons. Some cited the psychological trauma of their own soldiers, some mentioned contagious diseases from corpses, some spoke of 'surrounding the enemy but leaving an escape route,' some discussed inducing enemy surrender, and others talked about political public opinion. But regardless of the angle, the fundamental attitude was to prohibit massacre." Pei Lu recalled.
"Yu Xiangyang's view was that it was permissible?" Jiang Ye frowned.
"He didn't say it was permissible. He listed a lot of pros and cons and analyzed how to proceed in different situations," Pei Lu said. "Overall, Yu Xiangyang believes that massacre is an effective means, and it should be used decisively when necessary. He has no reverence for life, nor any sense of guilt. We teachers all feel that he is too heartless, like a general from the cold weapon era, with a very strong wild and beastly nature."
Jiang Ye felt a familiar headache coming on.
He had already realized this problem when he spoke with Yu Xiangyang face-to-face.
Yu Xiangyang had too much killing intent.
"There are many other issues that also reveal Yu Xiangyang's personality," Pei Lu thought for a moment. "For example, when discussing the task of a military strategist, other students' thinking is that achieving strategic goals is sufficient. Yu Xiangyang's thinking is to put strategic goals aside first and focus on eliminating the enemy's effective strength. Once the enemy loses its ability to counterattack, the strategic goals will be easily attainable, and there will be no worry of future troubles."
Jiang Ye continued to have a headache and listened attentively.
"Several of our teachers have had long private conversations with Yu Xiangyang, and we feel that this student is a bit resentful, having grown up in a very harsh environment and cultural influence. We looked up the information on Wheeler Star and found that his experiences are indeed different from ordinary people. His family has been on the battlefield for several generations, so having some violent thoughts is normal," Pei Lu said. "However, after this period of courses, he has undergone a great transformation."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Jiang Ye's spirits lifted.