Chapter 4 Leadership Test Paper

  The girl's shout was like a warning, but she herself stretched her neck and stared at the door with an expectant look. This contradictory action was strange, but no one in the class felt curious.

  Ding Lao Guai was naturally a nickname given to him by the students in private, and on the surface, they still had to respectfully call him Teacher Ding. This man in his thirties or forties, relying on his humorous and witty teaching methods, won over the students' applause, with many male classmates even vowing to recognize Ding Lao Guai as their elder brother; while some female classmates secretly made flirtatious expressions, saying things like "if only Ding Lao Guai were ten years younger, they would do this and that with him". So why did the classmates still call him Ding Lao Guai?

  This... has to do with the study of character. I don't know whose famous saying it is, but people have multiple personalities: those who are happy are not completely happy, they also have sorrow; those who are strong are not completely strong, they also have weakness; those who are passionate are not completely passionate, they also have coldness; and so on.

  But rather than saying that Old Ding is a multiple personality, it's better to say he's an old monster who can turn his face faster than flipping through a book. One second he can make you laugh so hard that you forget about classroom discipline, the next second he'll make your heart tremble as if you've seen the King of Hell. Because of this, many students in school suspect that Old Ding is having a premature midlife crisis and, braving the danger of gunfire and bullets, report to the principal, crying with tears streaming down their face: "Principal, we can't let that old monster stay in school anymore, because he... my heart beats an extra 3,800 times every day!"

  Just then, after all the seats in the classroom were filled, Ding Lao Guai rushed in with his textbook and shouted: "Classmates, I'm Hu Han Shan, back again!"

  Suddenly, the originally noisy classroom was filled with laughter. Zhang Yang and others clapped their hands and shouted: "Come on, sing a song."

  Ding Lao Guai tidied up his textbook, and after the laughter gradually subsided, he said loudly: "First, let's deal with some family matters. I have a good news and a bad news here. Which one do you want to hear first?"

  "Bad news! Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first!" the boys chorused.

  "Good news, Teacher Ding you said it first!" The girl was timid and her voice was soft.

  Mr. Ding smiled slightly and pressed down with both hands, saying in a very windy tone: "Ladies first, this is the basic courtesy of us men, so I'll share the good news first!"

  Then, everyone looked at Ding Lao Guai with expectant eyes.

  Ding Lao Guai took out a stack of test papers from under the textbook, covering the top of the textbook, and said with joy: "After our last negotiation, the class's grades have improved significantly. This exam was very ideal, according to my investigation, there was no cheating at all, I'm extremely happy, this is your true level! So, I will also fulfill my promise!"

  Upon hearing this, classmates suddenly cheered and shouted, with some even standing up excitedly.

  "But...the good news didn't last for two seconds, and then Ding Laoguai continued: 'Next is the bad news.'"

  Ding Lao Guai picked out two papers from a stack, furrowed his brow, and then looked down, saying: "But even under the circumstance where the whole class works together in harmony and strives with effort, there are still a few grains of rat dung that drag everyone's legs back."

  As he spoke, Old Ding's gaze fell on Zhang Yang's face, and then shifted towards Qiu Yuemin.

  "Zhang Yang, Qiu Yue Min, stand up!" Old Ding's sudden loud shout made his face turn ferocious in an instant, and the originally noisy classroom suddenly became unusually quiet, even to the point where one could hear the sound of their own heartbeat.

  Ding Lao Guai glanced at the two of them and then looked at the test papers in his hand, saying lightly: "The whole class only had you two who didn't pass. Zhang Yang got 43 points and Qiu Yue Min got 55 points. Because of you two, the average score of the entire class was pulled down by several points. Are you ashamed?"

  "Report! Teacher Ding, I'm really sorry and also a bit embarrassed. Because of this time's results, I dragged the whole class down, which not only failed your teachings but also tarnished socialism." Zhang Yang's eyes stared straight ahead, his expression sincere, as if making a report.

  At this time, many female classmates also secretly scolded Zhang Yang and Qiu Yue Min in their hearts, but no one dared to show it.

  Ding Lao Guai looked at Zhang Yang in surprise, walked down from the podium and said: "Wow, your attitude is still quite good, but... it's not as serious as you said."

  "Yes!" Zhang Yang's gaze remained unchanged, and he emphasized: "But I'm not a piece of crap! Moreover, I think it's unreasonable for you to suddenly make us review elementary school geography and even have an exam. After all, we won't be tested on geography in the college entrance exams."

  Ding Lao Guai was slightly startled, thinking that the child's self-esteem was quite strong, and he had also spoken too much, so he softened his tone and said: "Just now I was just making an analogy, teacher apologizes to you. However, don't worry about reviewing geography, I have my reasons for doing this."

  Zhang Yang puffed out his chest and said with a straight face, "It's okay, teacher educates us, scolds us for our own good, we all understand that. In our hearts, teachers are the beacon of light in our darkness, they lend us a helping hand when we're lost and helpless, leading us to success. One day as a teacher, lifelong as a father, Teacher Ding is like a father to us, so what's the big deal if he scolds us a few times?" Zhang Yang spoke with flying spittle, pouring on the honey. Qi Yuemin lowered his head, forcing himself not to burst out laughing.

  Everyone loves to hear good words, and as a teacher, hearing Zhang Yang's words is touching. Dean Ding was so moved that he forgot what he wanted to do, and instinctively beckoned Zhang Yang to sit down, saying softly: "Zhang Yang, if every student had the same awareness as you, it would be worth our hard work as teachers! Sit down."

  Zhang Yang's heart was delighted, and he immediately withdrew his true and sincere attitude, with a serious expression, sat down, smiling triumphantly at Qiu Yuemin, with an air of petty gain.

  Ding Lao Guai walked up to the stage with his hands behind his back, still savoring Zhang Yang's praise. As he approached the stage, he suddenly saw the test paper on it and snapped out of his reverie, turning around and saying: "Zhang Yang, it's not over yet, stand up!"

  Zhang Yang didn't expect Old Ding to react so quickly, and he had underestimated his intelligence. As soon as he stood up, he saw Qiu Yuemin smiling at him with a pleased expression.

  "Zhang Yang, Qiu Yue Min, do you still remember the agreement we made before the exam?" Ding Lao Guai cleared his head and decided to strengthen the border defense to prevent the attack of sugar-coated cannonballs.

  "I remember..." they both whispered.

  "Remember, each of you will copy the test paper twenty times as punishment and hand it over to me tomorrow!"

  "Tomorrow? Won't the time be too short... Besides, I scored 43 points, even if we count one point as one copy, it's only 17 copies!" Zhang Yang continued to say, trying to get some advantage for himself.

  Ding Lao Guai glared at Zhang Yang and roared: "Who told you to take a penalty of one point for copying once, just those questions you did, what kind of exam is that?"

  "What's wrong with the questions I did? My memory, this time I can just pass and still have hope to get 80 points. Teacher Ding, don't you want to take another look, maybe you made a mistake with my score?" Zhang Yang refused to give up.

  "Got it wrong?" Old Ding slammed his hand on the podium a few times, as if he was still pounding Zhang Yang's test paper. "Even if I got my own name wrong, I wouldn't get your test paper wrong. The monsters you drew could be taken to a museum for public display."

  "Not that serious?"

  Ding Lao Guai saw that Zhang Yang didn't believe him, so he picked up the test paper and read out loud: "How many continents are there in the world? How many oceans?"

  "Seven continents, four oceans!" Zhang Yang replied decisively.

  "That's not what I asked, but you're right anyway." Old Ding glared at Zhang Yang and continued to recite: "The seven continents are Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, North America, Oceania, Antarctica..."

  Everyone listened and became suspicious, this foreigner didn't write it wrong after all.

  "The four oceans are the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean..." At this point, Old Ding gave a nod, and his classmates listened again, and it was indeed correct.

  Ding Lao Guai smiled coldly and glanced at Zhang Yang before continuing: "Arabian Ocean."

  Everyone was stunned at first, then burst out laughing after a moment.

  "Arabian Sea, Zhang Yang, how do you read this book? You don't even know this basic knowledge. What is the Arabian Sea? Is it a toilet or a swimming pool in your house? I just don't understand, why would you write 'Arabian Sea' on top?"

  Zhang Yang was still honest, muttering: "At that time, I wrote the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, but when it came to the Indian Ocean, I really couldn't think of it. Later, I kept reciting the Indian Ocean in my mouth, and somehow I ended up writing out the Arabian Sea."

  Below, another burst of laughter filled the air.

  As soon as Zhang Yang started that proud tone suddenly changed to a sneer, Qiu Yuemin couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Qiu Yuemin's laughter reminded Ding Lao Guai that there was another student who didn't pass. Ding Lao Guai glared at Zhang Yang with a fierce gaze, then turned to Qiu Yuemin and roared: "You shut up, you're not much better!"

  "It's so unfair, Teacher Ding! My score is higher than his!" Qiu Yuemin said while looking at Zhang Yang behind Teacher Ding, who was making a gesture of poking him.

  "Your score is higher than his, but your test paper is even more monstrous than Zhang Yang's. Take a look yourself, what kind of things did you write!" Old Ding seemed to be even more furious than when he was dealing with Zhang Yang, and hastily grabbed Qiu Yuemin's test paper from the podium.

  "The seven continents and four oceans, I can write them all correctly!" Qiu Yuemin said proudly.

  "That's right, you've written it correctly." Teacher Ding nodded while speaking, then picked up the test paper, paused for a moment, and fixed his gaze on a point, saying in a strange tone: "Located in the northwest of the Nansha Islands, the island that can be called the 'heart of the South China Sea' is..."

  "What is it?" someone below couldn't help but ask in a low voice. Some people looked at Qiu Yuemin, hoping to see an answer that would shock them even more from his face.

  "Chiang Tse-min Island!"

  As soon as the words fell, the classroom suddenly became silent, as if time had stopped. After a second, an explosive laughter burst out from Class 232 on the fifth floor of Building B. At that moment, students from Building B who were having class couldn't help but feel an urge to rush over and see what was going on. They even wondered why their own class never laughed so wildly during lessons?

  The laughter had just subsided a bit when Old Ding picked up the test paper and read out in a murderous tone: "Which European river is the longest inland river..."

  Deng Xiaoping River!