Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation-Chapter 34 Intelligence Equality

September 13th.

First official day at Fourth Middle School.

Students received their new books, excited and energetic at their shiny new school and classmates.

Jiang Ning sat in the second to last row, by the window.

Ma Shicheng was to his left, side-chatting with Guo Kunnan behind him.

"Today's first class is English, I hope our English teacher is a pretty female," Ma Shicheng hoped ardently.

Guo Kunnan agreed wholeheartedly, "My middle school English teacher was really attractive, alas, my English grades let her down."

"If I had another chance, I would definitely study hard."

Ma Shicheng earnestly clasped his hands together, "Grant me a beautiful female teacher, please!"

At that moment, a chubby middle-aged man with a balding 'Mediterranean' hairdo appeared at the door, somehow reflecting a blinding light under the eastern sun's rays.

"Holy shit, don't tell me this bald guy is my English teacher!" Ma Shicheng screamed, covering his eyes in horror.

Actually, the bald man was indeed the English teacher for Class 8 Grade 1. He entered the classroom, spoke fluent English, and then repeated it in Chinese.

Ma Shicheng was heartbroken, and the looks on the faces of Guo Kunnan and Dan Kaiquan were also sour. They were bad at English and had hoped for a pretty teacher to motivate them to strive harder.

Jiang Ning chuckled quietly. This English teacher was Chen Haiyang, known for his good teaching skills but notorious for his short temper, occasionally physical with students, leading to frequent complaints from parents.

However, whenever Chen Haiyang presented his resume, the parents would shut up. With his calibre, he could be teaching at Yuzhou Second Middle School, but Fourth Middle was his alma mater, hence he stayed.

Here was a teacher with true dedication.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please introduce yourselves in English, so I can remember you."

"You start."

Chen Haiyang pointed at Xue Yuantong, signaling her to go first.

Xue Yuantong had no choice, being short and seated at the front.

Introduction was easy for Xue Yuantong; she stood up and delivered a smooth stream of English.

Chen Haiyang was, to his surprise, impressed. He originally taught English in two advanced classes, but then one was removed, and a regular class was assigned to him by the administrative office, which had mildly upset him. Unexpectedly, the quality of this batch of students was excellent, not any worse than the advanced classes!

However, the subsequent introductions immediately brought down his slightly improved mood, notably when it was Ma Shicheng's turn. They stuttered and spoke with a weird accent, making Chen Haiyang frown.

After everyone finished their introductions, Chen Haiyang had a preliminary understanding of Class 8's English proficiency. Apart from a few standout students, the rest were far behind the advanced classes in terms of level.

He needed to adjust the teaching pace for the future, otherwise Class 8 students definitely wouldn't be able to keep up.

He didn't rush to start the lesson but instead posed a question to everyone:

"Class, do you think learning English is useful?"

Below, Dong Qingfeng raised his hand.

Chen Haiyang said, "You answer it."

Dong Qingfeng responded with a smile, "English is definitely essential because it's a subject in the college entrance exam, and in the future, English is a tool for global communication. Many scholarly documents are written in English, so mastering it helps in absorbing a wide range of knowledge."

"Please sit down," Chen Haiyang gestured downward, looking at the entire class,

"Anyone else?"

Ma Shicheng's eyes darted around, his brain heating up, and he too raised his hand.

Chen Haiyang requested him to stand as well.

"Teacher, I think English is useless because for most of us, we won't use it after graduation. Like my middle school math teacher, his English was surely poor, yet he could still be a useful person to society."

Hearing Ma Shicheng's words, Dong Qingfeng felt disdain; that was just the excuse of a poor student. Only those who were bad at English would deem it unimportant. Unlike him, he could barely understand English, which allowed him to enjoy many games that didn't have Chinese versions.

Although Ma Shicheng offered a negative view, Chen Haiyang remained calm,

"Please sit."

Then he asked everyone, "Who do you think is right?"

Before anyone could respond, he continued,

"Both students are correct. English is very important but also not important, as one can still live very well in society without mastering it."

"That's undeniable."

"But..."

"For us students, mastering English is a must, as it counts for one hundred and fifty points in the college entrance examination. If you lose these one hundred and fifty points, you won't even have the chance to attend college."

"Whether we will use English in the future is not something students should be concerned about what we need to do is to learn English well!"

Chen Haiyang intensified his tone, "Understood?"

His tone was stern:

"I have low expectations for you all you need to do is achieve the scores I set. If it doesn't interfere with other students' learning, I'll allow you to brazenly use your phone during my class!"

"I won't say a word more!"

"If you can't meet my standards and you disrupt my class, don't blame me for being rude!"

His eyes glared at the class, his fingers gestured, and Chen Haiyang, being bald and burly with strong forearms, looked more like a thug than a teacher.

The entire class was so intimidated that they didn't dare breathe.

Meanwhile, some students pondered over Chen Haiyang's recent statement, wondering if doing well in English really meant they could freely use their phones in his class.

Was there really such a good deal?

Ma Shicheng was delighted, already fantasizing about the joy of playing games during Chen Haiyang's class, and found himself growing fond of Chen Haiyang's shiny bald head.

…

The second period was a math class.

The math teacher was a gentle woman, whose soft-spoken words were very soothing.

Hu Jun was captivated.

"Quick, look at Hu Jun, look at Hu Jun," Ma Shicheng nudged Jiang Ning, then whispered to both Guo Kunnan and Dan Kaiquan.

Everyone sneakily looked to see Hu Jun glaring fixedly at the math teacher, unblinking.

"This guy has a problem... the math teacher is already married!" Dan Kaiquan cursed.

"Really? How do you know?" Ma Shicheng asked.

"I was walking around the school yesterday and saw the math teacher with a girl, probably about seven or eight years old."

…

The third period was a Chinese language class, and the teacher was a thin middle-aged man who introduced himself by saying:

"Hello everyone, I I I I, I am Dai Yongquan, the Chinese language teacher for class 8 of junior year one."

Below, Ma Shicheng mocked in a mimicking tone:

"Hello hello, hello everyone, I am Ma Ma Ma… Ma Shicheng."

"You freaking stutter," Guo Kunnan laughed out loud.

"What if our Chinese teacher stutters during lectures?"

Jiang Ning said, "He won't during lectures, or else he couldn't be a teacher."

Indeed, the Chinese teacher usually stuttered in conversation, but when he lectured formally, he became very fluent, especially when reciting classical Chinese with great emotional depth.

The main subject teachers were the same as in his previous life, and there was no butterfly effect due to Jiang Ning's interference. It seemed that the elective subjects would be no different.

While attending classes, Jiang Ning didn't forget to practice the Star Transformation Technique.

He had previously worried that school might delay his cultivation, but now it seemed a good time to refine Elixir Pills.

Perhaps dropping out and focusing solely on cultivation could speed up his progress, but having spent hundreds of years in seclusion in his past life, he was fed up with that kind of life.

To live a reclusive life of cultivation for hundreds of years, then die again under the Divinity Transformation Tribulation?

Meaningless, so meaningless!

Without experiencing mortal life, how could one undergo Divinity Transformation?

Jiang Ning followed the Chinese teacher, flipping through the textbook. High school courses were challenging, but as a cultivator with strong Divine Sense and nearly photographic memory, he might not compare with top geniuses, but getting into a prominent university was easy for him.

Thinking this, he couldn't help but sigh. While cultivation could enhance Divine Sense, memory, and neural response speed...

it was hard to improve intelligence, which couldn't create the gap seen between humans and animals.

Like modern technology, which is advanced countless times beyond the ancient, modern humans can't claim to be smarter than those from a thousand years ago; the only advantage is a broader perspective.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

For cultivators, the comparison holds similarly.

Some things are inherently determined and difficult to change, such as intelligence and cultivation aptitude.