Chapter 104: The Great Battle with King Beard

The days of becoming Wukong’s junior disciple—no ads

“Has Cinderella finally found her prince?” Yu Xiaowei teased softly.

“Yeah, something like that. How about you? Did you manage to take care of Zhang Juan during the break?” Liu Yunfei replied.

“Done and dusted! For a handsome guy like me, that’s a piece of cake. Whenever I show a little interest, there are plenty of girls throwing themselves at me,” Yu Xiaowei bragged again.

“Well, congratulations. May you have children soon,” Liu Yunfei said with a sly grin.

“Liu Yunfei.” The English teacher was a man in his thirties, sporting a full beard that made him look at least fifty. Strangely, he often came to class early with bits of sticky, white porridge clinging to his whiskers, which sparked some rather ambiguous thoughts.

“Hey,” Liu Yunfei responded reflexively.

“Don’t talk during class. You’re in your final year now; you need to focus. If you keep chatting and daydreaming, do you even want to get into university? Time is tight. This semester, we have to finish all the material; next semester is for review.” The bearded man tried to instill a tense atmosphere in the classroom.

“Yes, sorry. I won’t speak again,” Liu Yunfei admitted his mistake.

“I’ve already told your homeroom teacher: apart from your grades, your character is a complete mess. If you’re not careful, you’ll grow up to be a high-IQ criminal.”

Liu Yunfei’s temper flared. Did he have a grudge against me? Other teachers think well of me, but this bearded guy always targets me for no reason. I might have tolerated it before, but not anymore.

He immediately stood up and said in English, “I accept criticism for talking during class, but you must not make personal attacks. I’m your student, not your enemy. If you call me a criminal, please provide evidence, or I will file a complaint with the Education Bureau. Everyone here can testify.”

The bearded teacher was caught off guard. Liu Yunfei, who was usually poor at spoken English, now spoke fluent American English like a native. The teacher didn’t even recognize some words but grasped the general meaning. Seeing a student openly challenge him, he couldn’t back down and responded in English, criticizing Liu Yunfei for disrespecting authority and violating classroom discipline so brazenly.

Since Liu Yunfei had stood up, he was determined to outmatch the bearded teacher. They exchanged arguments with sharp tongues, like a heated English debate, each countering the other. The whole class was dumbfounded, unable to understand most of the conversation, catching only a few familiar words here and there.

Liu Yunfei’s English grew more fluent, even sprinkling in American slang and local New York dialect. The bearded teacher realized this student was tougher than he imagined—his English level was beyond that of a typical high schooler. Many words were unfamiliar to the teacher, who increasingly struggled to comprehend and could only repeat what he had already said, making pronunciation errors in his flustered state. Fortunately, since most students didn’t understand well either, he avoided complete embarrassment.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yunfei switched to French: “I’ve recently taught myself French. I heard the teacher’s second foreign language is French, so I’m showing off a bit.”

The bearded teacher had once been proficient in French, but since becoming an English teacher, he had long abandoned the language and almost forgotten all the words. Hearing Liu Yunfei speak French made him furious and ashamed. He slammed shut his materials, threw down a sentence in Chinese, and stormed out: “If you’re so capable, you teach them. I can’t handle this class; my level’s not enough.”

The class erupted again—first baffled by the incomprehensible debate, then stunned by Liu Yunfei switching languages, as if his tongue was clashing with his teeth. The bearded teacher’s retreat was shocking. Though students knew teachers cared about their futures, there was always an element of rebellion in the student-teacher relationship. Having “defeated” the bearded teacher, the classmates hailed Liu Yunfei as a hero. With the teacher gone and no classroom discipline, everyone gathered around Liu Yunfei, and the girls’ eyes sparkled like stars.

“Liu Yunfei, you’re amazing!”

“So cool! You’re speaking German now, right? My cousin just came back from Germany and talks like that.” This girl clearly loved to show off.

Perhaps women are naturally vain, but some, due to fate or background, never dared to reveal their vanity. Such girls often carried a hint of insecurity—like Zhang Xiaoli now. Watching the girls crowd around Liu Yunfei, sensing their flirtatious glances and teasing smiles, her heart burned with jealousy and anxiety. It was as if a treasure once hers alone was being snatched away.

Yet she didn’t join the circle; she stood quietly, gazing at that impetuous young man, feeling a growing distance between them. Despite the many surprises Liu Yunfei brought today, she couldn’t feel joy. The better he shone, the more insignificant she felt. Even if he declared she was his girlfriend, it was clear they belonged to two different worlds. She might as well settle with the thug her parents arranged for her—perhaps that was fate.

The homeroom teacher of Senior Class 3, Teacher Zhu, felt overwhelmed today. First, the morning assembly was chaotic—students from her class were late, noisy, and even fighting. After scolding Liu Yunfei, she was summoned by the principal for a severe reprimand. The principal, taller than her, spat and shouted so much it felt like an unpleasant, free facial treatment. Just as the principal’s energy waned, the bearded English teacher stormed into the office, furious.

“Teacher Zhu, you’re here. Perfect timing. You’d better find someone more capable. I can’t teach that class; my level isn’t enough.”

“What’s going on?” Zhu thought, worried. The bearded man’s mood meant some student was misbehaving again.

“There’s an English prodigy in your class. I can’t stand it anymore. Let Liu Yunfei teach them,” the bearded teacher flopped into a chair as if he wanted to break it.

“Liu Yunfei again? Teacher Zhu, how do you manage this class? Why so many problems? Can you even be a homeroom teacher?” The principal, who had already been tired, suddenly sprang up like he’d taken expired Viagra.

Teacher Zhu felt like throwing Liu Yunfei out of the fifth-floor window. “Liu Yunfei was a pretty good student before. He even ranked seventy-eighth in exams.”

Hearing this, the bearded teacher grew even angrier. “I’ve told you—his grades might be okay, but everything else is terrible. Even if he were first, what good is that? Teaching a student to kill his teacher—that’s what kind of character is that? They need more ideological education, not just academics.”

“Teacher Wang, watch your language. Don’t forget you’re a teacher, not a hooligan.” Who wasn’t angry? The principal had scolded the bearded teacher for a long time; now she was angrier still. Teacher Zhu dared not argue with the principal, thinking, ‘Who am I to defy a subject teacher?’

“It’s because you have such a teacher that you get such students,” the bearded teacher said, pointing at Teacher Zhu, his and his beard trembling with rage.

Teacher Zhu retorted sharply, “Don’t forget, you’re his teacher too.”

“Alright, alright,” the principal stepped in to break up the fight between these two key staff members. “Stop arguing. Teacher Zhu, investigate Teacher Wang’s situation. You go rest here a bit.”

Generally, teachers remember both the highest and lowest achievers in their classes. Liu Yunfei was rare—most teachers in the school knew him even if they didn’t teach his class. Their impression was mostly positive because Liu Yunfei greeted people proactively and was humble—except, of course, for the big-bearded Teacher Wang.

But today, Teacher Zhu was truly exasperated, forgetting the sight of spit flying on her face as she hurried downstairs. She had once found Liu Yunfei likable—not mainly because of his grades, but because smart kids naturally attract teachers’ goodwill. Plus, he always called out “Director Zhu” from afar, which pleased her vanity. As deputy head of the Chinese teaching and research group, she was human and vain too. The Chinese officialdom mindset valued titles, and she was no exception.