DCTMOAS Chapter 21 [Part 1]

To avoid disturbing Chu Cheng’s performance, Yu Siting closed the consultation room door.

“Anyway, Teacher Chu understands education,” Lu Yan still pressed against the crack of the door. “Does Zhang Xi really want to study art? The road of painting is very long. Without full family support, it’ll probably be very hard.”

Yu Siting agreed: “Then she’ll have to work even harder.”

“But how do you know she’ll definitely succeed? Uncle, don’t forget, there’s also Xue Le in our class applying for the talent student financial aid.”

Lu Yan glanced at him and nodded toward a nearby spot.

In the corridor on the other side, a little girl was slowly helping an elderly person walk.

Her parents had passed away early, and she was raised with great hardship by her grandparents. The girl was very hardworking in martial arts—by fourteen or fifteen, she was already doing staff flips gracefully.

Both Xue Le and Zhang Xi met the standards for financial aid. But because they are in the same class, they will likely compete for the same spot.

“What Zhang Xi’s mother said isn’t wrong—some things just depend on fate,” Yu Siting said. Then noticing Lu Yan still sticking around listening, he coldly asked, “What are you still doing here?”

“Just watching the show!” Lu Yan didn’t realize the danger behind him and replied excitedly, “Teacher Chu’s words were basically lethal, so intense. Don’t you want to listen?”

Yu Siting lost his temper completely, lifted his leg, and kicked the boy’s backside with a dull thud.

“Ah—!” Lu Yan jumped up, stifling a scream, holding his leg and spinning around several times in pain, complaining, “What did I do? I’m going to tell my mom on you!”

“You sure know how to find someone to back you up. If she spoiled her son even a little, you wouldn’t have ended up in my hands,” Yu Siting said leisurely, folding his arms, “You were the one leading the peeping this morning, right? Don’t think I didn’t see you just because you ran fast. Climbing windows, getting on roofs—getting kicked is well deserved.”

Lu Yan smacked his lips, unable to argue.

Yu Siting continued: “Stop wasting time, go back to the class and see how many volunteers are left. Take them to clean and arrange desks and chairs.”

“And you’re the one who wanted to listen? If you said so straight away, I would’ve moved aside long ago… what’s with kicking people?” Lu Yan muttered quietly.

Yu Siting saw him looking both timid and about to start talking, and couldn’t help but scold with a smile, “Get lost, quickly.”

After Lu Yan muttered curses and walked away, Yu Siting stood alone in the stairwell, leaning against the wall as he made a phone call.

“Teacher Yu? What’s the matter?” On the other end was the school’s Academic Affairs Office landline.

Teacher Yu replied, “Yes, Director Yang, I wanted to ask if the spots for this batch of recommended art students are tight?”

“Do you even need to ask?” The voice on the other end didn’t hesitate at all and immediately said, “When has it not been a brutal battlefield?”

“Did you receive the applications submitted by Class 7?” Such an answer was exactly what Yu Siting expected, and it meant his call wasn’t in vain.

There was the sound of papers rustling from the leader’s side, then after a moment he responded, “I just saw them. The application from Zhang Xi, who submitted late, might be a bit difficult. Although it hasn’t been officially announced, all teachers know the unspoken rule—only one spot per class. She and Xue Le ended up competing for the same spot.”

Yu Siting lowered his head, his dark eyes fixed on the floor tiles in front of him. After thinking for a few seconds, he said calmly, “Then please put both of their names on the list.”

The director was silent for a moment, then understood Yu Siting’s meaning: “Alright.”

He showed no objection. The two had cooperated before in the senior year department, so this kind of situation was not new.

“Well, I have nothing else,” Yu Siting finished expressing his thoughts and was about to hang up when the other side suddenly spoke again.

“Wait a moment.”

“Mm,” Yu Siting responded, indicating he was still listening.

The director continued, “Things have been busy lately, so I haven’t had time to talk to you. How’s the new Chinese teacher doing in your class?”

After all, when the school made the arrangement, the head teacher had explicitly opposed it. As the academic affairs leader with control over course assignments, he wanted to hear some feedback.

Yu Siting looked through the stairwell door at the still-closed consultation room, his expression calm and unremarkable as he said, “Not much to say for now.”

The director felt a bit relieved: “If you count by age, Teacher Chu is only 22, still young, with a lot to learn. You should guide him a bit. If he grows up like you, maybe he’ll become one of our two outstanding talents at No. 10 High School.”

“Director,” Yu Siting seemed to disagree and rebutted bluntly without holding back, “I suggest you stop doing useless psychological surveys on the faculty. Spend that time doing some real one-on-one interviews, get to know your staff’s ideals and ambitions better, then talk about those ‘two outstanding talents’ goals.”

Especially for key figures like Chu Cheng. At 22, if he’s already dreaming of retirement, don’t hold your breath.

On the other end, Director Yang laughed. He was used to Teacher Yu’s sharp tongue that challenged everything and everyone and was powerless against it.

“Alright, alright. I get what you mean about the subsidy. Later, either you or Teacher Chu can come by to pick up the materials.”

Just then, the sound of a door opening and closing came from nearby, and a figure passed by the stairs. It must have been Zhang Xi’s father storming out in anger.

Yu Siting replied briefly and hung up, then smoothed the sleeve of his shirt that was leaning against the wall and walked straight into the consultation room.

Chu Cheng was inside, head down, organizing materials, his expression calm and refined.

He had just silenced the student’s father with words, who was at a loss due to lack of education and culture, while Chu himself was calm and collected, as if nothing had happened.

Chu Cheng caught sight of Yu Siting entering and smiled, asking, “Teacher Yu, did you hear me eavesdropping in the corner?”

He had suddenly opened the door but didn’t come in right away—his timing was as prompt as a heroic official rushing to save the day in a TV drama.

Yu Siting lifted his long legs and took a few steps inside. “Are you praising yourself?”

“How dare I?” Before Yu could reply, Chu started critiquing himself, “I know I was acting rashly again. As the teacher in charge, I shouldn’t confront parents directly. At least I didn’t get scolded by the seniors.”

But his tone was playful and insincere.

Yu Siting naturally took off his jacket and said, “I never said that. Besides, those words of yours sounded pretty decent to me.”

Chu Cheng smiled with a sigh, finished organizing the materials, and handed them over: “But what can we do?”

“The parents absolutely refuse to let their child apply for the arts program; no one can force them. I see her mother is still ill, so it’s understandably difficult for them to support her painting. The only way for Zhang Xi to achieve her wish is if she can get the recommended student quota.”

What was handed to Teacher Yu was a stack of discarded sketches abandoned by the parents.

Even though Zhang Xi had never had formal training, each drawing was excellent. Every line carried emotion and imagination, filled with a true sense of rhythm.

It would be a real pity if such talent couldn’t receive professional nurturing.

Yu Siting casually flipped through a few pieces without much comment, then looked at his obviously tired assistant: “Don’t think too much for now. It’s about time to eat.”

Or else…

“Oh right, I have to hurry to the cafeteria,” Chu suddenly interrupted before Yu could finish, remembering a message from Senior Zhou that he still hadn’t replied to.

He quickly grabbed his phone, said “See you later, Teacher Yu,” and hurried out.

Yu Siting watched the swiftly retreating figure and reluctantly swallowed the invitation to lunch he hadn’t managed to say, tidied the materials, turned off the light, and left.

The periodic parent-teacher meetings concluded, and each class began organizing and submitting their lists for arts student assignments.

During the afternoon break, Chu Cheng was assigned to pick up the form for Class 7.

Outside the Academic Affairs Office was truly a great place for eavesdropping. But the wheel of fortune turns — last time Chu overheard Yu Siting complaining about himself, and this time, other teachers were complaining about the senior.

“Director Yang, I don’t understand why Class 7 has two full scholarship slots. Isn’t that against the rules?”

“I can only say the school gives the same number of slots to each class.”

“But there are clearly two names on the documents. I know this matter isn’t public, and I might be overstepping by asking, but I want to know the reason. Even if it’s because his class performed outstandingly and needs to occupy better resources, I wouldn’t have anything to say.”

“I’ve said, there is only one quota for him. That’s indisputable.”

“……”

Although Director Yang insisted on only one thing from start to finish, his firm attitude left that sharp-tongued teacher no room to argue further.

Chu Cheng wanted to listen more but noticed people inside were preparing to leave. As someone involved with Class 7, he politely chose to avoid the situation, hid in the water room on the floor, and only returned after they had left.

“From your class,” the Dean of Studies looked up at the newcomer and took out the relevant file from the drawer.

Chu Cheng deliberately looked over it. Inside were indeed two application forms for the arts scholarship. He couldn’t help but ask, “Director Yang, is there only one quota for recommended students per class?”

The other nodded, “Do you have any questions?”

Chu Cheng said nothing but pulled out the two identical forms and waved them.

Director Yang leaned back into his soft chair, his tone casual: “It’s because the two in your class are both in tough situations, and the kids are sensible. Teacher Yu was also in a bind.”

That statement was quite clear.

Chu Cheng pondered Yu Siting’s personality and suddenly realized: “You mean, Teacher Yu personally paid for one? Then just now…”

Why didn’t he explain that clearly to the teacher?

Chu Cheng felt this was very inappropriate.

Though Yu Siting’s class was excellent in academic performance, he himself had limited seniority and was aloof. This could lead to him being targeted.

“So you overheard this again?” The academic office leader noticed the look on his face and said, “Yu Siting doesn’t want students or parents to know about this. Also, that teacher just happened to see it by accident. The subsidy rules for recommended students are not made public, but she happened to see the documents when she came to get materials from me.”

Chu Cheng didn’t interrupt or say anything further, but the furrow in his brow revealed his thoughts.

Director Yang had to continue explaining: “There are many students in special circumstances in every class. The school can only allocate quotas this way to maintain relative fairness.”

Chu Cheng said, “These words, it seems you should be telling Teacher Yu more than me.”

The director suddenly smiled: “He wouldn’t care about this anyway. If I told him, he’d probably just say I’m nagging. That kid just gave me advice earlier about paying attention to the ideals of subordinates. Don’t you think he’s just looking for trouble?”

“…Not really.” Chu Cheng replied quietly. “He just couldn’t report my ID card.”

Chu Cheng didn’t say anything more. After thanking the supervisor, he returned to the office floor and, on his way past the math department, handed the form to Yu Siting.

“Your expression’s a bit off—what happened?” Teacher Yu was busy preparing for class, but when he noticed the deputy class teacher’s slightly troubled look, he set his pen down.

“I overheard a bit of workplace drama in front of the academic office earlier,” Chu Cheng couldn’t help but recount what had just happened. “I just feel like being misunderstood by colleagues isn’t a good thing.”

Yu Siting’s response was exactly as Director Yang had predicted—indifferent and calm. “Does it really matter what others think?”

“Sometimes, doing more and saying less just brings unnecessary trouble,” Chu Cheng, being someone who normally didn’t like to argue, still knew that in many situations, the idea that ‘the innocent need not explain themselves’ doesn’t actually work.

“Honestly, as long as I don’t care, it doesn’t make a difference how others misunderstand me.”

Yu Siting turned slightly, looking straight at him with a steady gaze, his tone as if he were comforting a child having a tantrum. “Besides, those who should know the truth—or want to seek it—will always find the answer. Like you. I didn’t say anything, but didn’t you figure it out?”

Chu Cheng couldn’t argue with him and didn’t want to keep wasting energy over it. He curled his lips, slightly annoyed. “Playing Zen master now? Where’s all that sharp tongue energy you usually use to roast me?”

Yu Siting chuckled softly. “Maybe one rises as the other fades.”

Seeing Chu Cheng puzzled, he explained, “Two people managing one class—so long as one of them can control the situation, that’s enough. Otherwise, it’d come off too domineering.”

Chu Cheng: “…”

Wow. So now I’m the domineering one?

Chu Cheng silently cursed him in his heart, but curiosity eventually got the better of him. “How much does it cost to forcefully add a full-ride art subsidy student?”

If it doesn’t go through national funding, it must be a lot. Just the final-stage studio training fees are already super expensive.

Yu Siting’s smile didn’t fade. “No need for you to ask.”

Though Teacher Yu meant no harm—it was just his way of saying “You don’t need to worry about paying for it”—his words still packed the same punch as a blunt: You couldn’t afford it anyway.

See? There he goes again.

“Yeah, I guess in a team of two managing a class, having one sucker is enough.” Chu Cheng realized it was pointless to keep the conversation going, slapped the application form onto his desk, and briskly left for home.