C98 — Advice from the Dean

Although he had learned about Lu Na’s ploy from Adrian, He Yishu didn’t think that it would be so fast.

The next day, when He Yishu went to class, he was stopped by a fellow student in the same major who wasn’t familiar with him, but at first He Yishu didn’t think of this matter towards Lu Na because this student’s attitude wasn’t bad: “He Yishu, this weekend is my birthday; I’m going to organize a birthday party, so why don’t you come along?”

Recently, there were too many people who wanted to get close to He Yishu, so He Yishu didn’t feel too much about this person’s behavior and just politely refused: “Sorry, I already have plans for the weekend, so I can’t go to your birthday party. I wish you a happy birthday in advance.”

But unexpectedly, this student didn’t give up after hearing He Yishu’s refusal: “I invited a lot of students from the same major to my birthday party, and they all agreed, so I really hope you can attend.”

Hearing these words, He Yishu couldn’t help but let out a light laugh: “Are you saying that because everyone else agreed to attend your birthday party, I must also agree? Then, according to your logic, if everyone else doesn’t agree, does that mean I’m not qualified to go to your birthday party? That’s a very illogical thing to say.”

“But…” the other party wanted to open his mouth to argue, but he saw He Yishu waving his hand, stopping his words.

“Moreover, I already have arrangements for the weekend, and I have an appointment with someone, so it’s impossible for me to change my mind on the fly just because you came to invite me out of the blue, right? That wouldn’t be fair to the people I had appointments with before, so there’s really no way I can attend your birthday party.” Since he wasn’t sure if the other party had bad intentions in mind, He Yishu didn’t directly use his usual simple and brutal method; instead, he patiently explained.

However, it was at this time that the other party suddenly glanced towards He Tingting, who was sitting not far away, before quickly withdrawing his gaze; it was this glance that made He Yishu realize where the problem lay.

He Yishu’s gaze flickered slightly, and before the other party opened his mouth, he chose to change his attitude: “But on the basis of you inviting me with such sincerity, I’ll consider it; perhaps I can convince Adrian to go to your birthday party with me.”

Hearing He Yishu’s sudden change in attitude, the other was pleasantly surprised: “Really? That would be great; if Adrian can also join in, I think there will definitely be more people willing to attend my birthday party.”

Although He Tingting always acted like she didn’t have a brain, just in case, so he wouldn’t arouse her suspicion, He Yishu still came up with another twist: “But I can’t guarantee that Adrian will definitely agree, so this matter is still pending for the time being, so I hope that you don’t hold too much hope, okay?”

The other party’s attitude was still very enthusiastic: “I really hope that you and Adrian can attend my birthday party. I hope to see you there!”

He Yishu nodded without saying anything else and walked over to sit down next to Qiao An. He had just switched on his light device and was preparing to prep for the day’s lessons when the light device happened to receive a missive.

This missive was from the official First Academy. The content of the missive was very simple, directly asking He Yishu to go to the First Academy Dean’s office.

Although He Yishu received all kinds of favorable treatment from the professors of various subjects, he hadn’t yet met the dean of the first college; therefore, after receiving this brief letter, he was slightly surprised.

He Yishu thought for a moment, then turned his head and explained to Qiao An: “I just received an official notification from the first academy, asking me to go to the dean’s place. I’m going over right now, so pay attention to the time a little bit. If I’m not back in ten minutes, you can try contacting me or contact Adrian directly.”

When He Yishu said this, he didn’t suspect that the dean of the first academy was going to do something to him; it was merely a precaution.

Qiao An, however, immediately tensed up: “Why don’t I go with you? Just as an extra guarantee.”

“Don’t be nervous; things aren’t as serious as you think; don’t worry so much.” He Yishu patted Qiao An’s shoulder and said, “Have a good time in class; I’ll be right back.”

Qiao An didn’t have time to say anything else; He Yishu had already stood up and walked out. He thought about it and decisively lowered his head to send a brief message to Adrian: “Xiao Shu was called by the dean; I don’t know what’s going on.”

Adrian quickly replied to him: “Thanks, I understand.”

Since the dean’s office was a distance away from the teaching area, He Yishu took the public airship on campus to go there, and after about ten minutes, he finally appeared at the door of the dean’s office.

After politely knocking on the door and walking in, He Yishu saw a young-looking man sitting behind a large desk. He slightly raised his head and looked at him with a smile: “He Yishu, hello, nice to meet you.”

After saying that, the man pointed to the chair opposite the desk and said, “Please have a seat.”

He Yishu sat obediently under the dean’s gesture and nodded politely, “Hello.”

The dean didn’t show much courtesy with He Yishu and got right to the point: “I invited you here today because I want to discuss a matter with you.”

“Please go ahead.” He Yishu’s attitude was polite, and although this man looked young, since he could become the dean of the first academy, he was obviously not a simple figure.

“Regarding the matter of you teaching Han rune cards, the military department already released the notice to me, hoping that I, as the dean of the first academy, will be able to provide you with the necessary assistance.” The man’s hands were casually folded together and placed on his desk, and his voice was slow and soothing. “Regarding this matter, I would like to give you a little bit of advice.”

He Yishu had absolutely no understanding of the man in front of him, but his mind raced. Was this man hoping that he could provide the First Academy with certain facilities in the matter of teaching Han rune cards, or was he hoping that he could provide certain information about Han rune cards?

It wasn’t that He Yishu had dark thoughts, it was just that after coming here, he had already seen too many people with dark thoughts, which made him have to think more when facing people or things he didn’t understand.

However, the dean’s next words surprised He Yishu greatly as he smiled and said, “Although allowing you to remain in the first academy will be of great benefit to the first academy’s enrolment and even its overall development, given that your rune card creation abilities are already far higher than any of the senior professors in the first academy, my advice to you is to graduate early.”

Surprisingly, he was advising himself to graduate early. This answer was indeed beyond He Yishu’s expectations, and he slightly raised an eyebrow, saying, “Although there are indeed precedents in the first academy of people graduating early due to strong personal strength, this shouldn’t include first-year freshmen, right?”

The First Academy was an extremely inclusive institution, and after a student’s strength reached a certain level, the First Academy allowed them to complete their studies early, but the First Academy also clearly stipulated that first year students were not qualified to graduate early.

Of course, this wasn’t because the academy discriminated against the strength of first year students, but simply because the education of a higher academy, in addition to the impartation of professional knowledge, was also an important environment for smouldering personal qualities and adding a sound outlook on the student’s values.

As a studying god with an extremely positive outlook on life, He Yishu agreed with this point. Many experiences weren’t only about how much strength it could bring you, but also about the subtle changes in one’s thinking and mindset that would occur during this process.

“As you said, the First Academy does clearly state that first year students cannot graduate early, but you are an exception,” the dean’s fingertip tapped on the thick desk, and after a moment’s pause, he suddenly asked with a slight smirk “Your light device should be turning on the monitoring function right now, right? ”

He Yishu nodded with a slight sense of embarrassment: “It’s a habit.”

“Now then, would you be able to switch it off for the time being?” The smile on the dean’s face became even more intense, and he even said with a slight flirtation, “Your caution is something that many people need to learn from, but right now I can guarantee that I won’t do anything against you, and at the same time, what I’m about to say next might be detrimental to my own identity and reputation, and thus I don’t really wish for it to be recorded by any surveillance equipment.”

He Yishu seriously considered it for a moment, and cooperatively turned off the monitoring system of his light device: “If you have any ideas, you can just say it.”

“Then I’ll begin,” the dean cleared his throat and said with a smile, “I’ve seen the things you did in the classroom before, as well as the posts you made on the virtual internet, and although I probably shouldn’t say this, I do admire your straightforwardness, as well as agree with your approach to certain people or things you means of dealing with them. For certain people, it is indeed necessary to adopt extraordinary means, or else it’ll be hard to be effective.”

These words made He Yishu feel a lot better about this dean: “Thank you for your approval.”

“Built on such a foundation, I don’t feel that the First Academy’s education can give you better ideology.” As if he thought of something, the dean sighed softly. “If I could, I’d instead very much hope that you could bring others guidance in that direction, but the current education mechanism doesn’t allow us to do so; therefore, I can only regretfully give up on this matter.”

“It’s indeed regrettable,” He Yishu raised an eyebrow and sighed again. “Thank you for affirming me, but I don’t intend to graduate early.”

The dean was also a little surprised at He Yishu’s answer: “Even if you graduate early, you’ll still be able to get the First Academy’s graduation certificate all the same, so this matter won’t have any negative impact on you; instead, it’ll allow you to put more energy into teaching Han rune cards.”

“Dean is overly concerned; there is only one reason why I didn’t agree to this matter, and that’s Adrian.” He Yishu explained with a smile, “Because I wanted to stay in the same place as him, that’s why I chose to remain here. If Adrian wasn’t currently enrolled at the First Academy but somewhere else, I would definitely take the initiative to apply for early graduation; please don’t worry about that, Dean.”

Dean: “…” The feeling of being stuffed with a bowl of dog food was really a bit subtle, but he surprisingly felt that these words made sense, and there was absolutely no way to refute them.

[TN: dog food — public display of affection (PDA)