Chapter 6, played on the screen, Zhou Yi: Those who don't fight are mediocre.
The dark world caused an uproar across the entire continent.
As Zhou Yi's words fell resoundingly from the sky, the entire dark world seemed to have been hit by a bombshell.
Is this really something a teacher should say?
Even in the Douluo Continent, where martial arts reign supreme, respecting teachers and educating people remain the mainstream values.
Teachers are regarded as a sacred profession of imparting knowledge, teaching skills, and resolving doubts.
But this old woman in front of me keeps using words like "trash," "useless," and "get lost." Where is there even a trace of a teacher in her eyes?
She's even more vicious than a shrew from the streets!
"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"
Inside the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, an elderly professor, well past seventy, was so angry that his beard trembled, and he slammed his pointer hard on the table.
"To educate people, one must first educate their character! How could such vulgar words come from the mouth of a teacher at the top college on the mainland? This is a trampling on the dignity of education!"
"Exactly! These children are only eleven or twelve years old! It's the perfect time for them to build self-confidence. Isn't she afraid of destroying their self-esteem by completely negating them right off the bat?"
Many parents from ordinary families were terrified watching this, hugging their children tightly and saying with relief, "Thank goodness we didn't go to that Shrek Academy. If we had, we would have been scolded as trash by the teachers every day. Even good people would be ruined by such scolding!"
Or in teahouses and taverns across the country, voices of condemnation against Shrek Academy rose and fell.
However, in a large forest, you'll find all sorts of birds.
While most people were outraged by Zhou Yi's words and actions, a small group of Shrek Academy's "die-hard fans" and "spiritual shareholders" jumped out and went against the tide of public opinion to whitewash her.
"A bunch of ignorant bumpkins, do you even know what 'a strict teacher produces outstanding students' means?"
In a plaza of a major city, a young man claiming to be a failed student from Shrek Academy stood on a high platform, spitting as he shouted at the surrounding skeptical crowd:
"Is Shrek Academy for ordinary people? It's a monster academy! Since it selects monsters, the methods must be unconventional!"
"Teacher Zhou Yi called them trash to ignite their fighting spirit! To make them feel ashamed and then strive harder!"
"You ordinary people only see the rudeness on the surface, but you can't see the good intentions behind it!"
"That's right!" someone else chimed in.
"As long as we can train a strong person, what's wrong with scolding him a bit? If it can make my son a Title Douluo, I'd be happy to beat him up every day, let alone call him trash! We're looking at the result, not the process!"
This kind of "victim blaming" and "outcome-first" mentality, though it sounds harsh, has actually fooled some people in the Douluo Continent, a place that reveres power.
Many parents who were still hesitant began to waver upon hearing this: "Yes... after all, they are the number one in mainland China. Maybe they really do have some special teaching secrets? Perhaps... we are just too naive?"
...
Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.
Despite the commotion outside, Xuanzi, who was munching on a chicken leg, seemed unconcerned and even showed a hint of admiration.
"Hmph, those people outside don't know anything."
Xuanzi mumbled indistinctly and casually tossed a bone onto the table:
"I think Zhou Yi is pretty good! She has personality! That's the kind of domineering spirit we at Shrek Academy need! Those fragile, useless people should get lost as soon as possible, so as not to waste the academy's resources."
In Xuanzi's view, Shrek's glory is earned through fists, not through gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and humility.
Zhou Yi's "survival of the fittest" approach, though radical, suited his taste perfectly.
However, not everyone is as oblivious as Xuanzi.
Mu En, who had been reclining in a deckchair and looked like he was on his deathbed, suddenly showed a deep worry in his cloudy old eyes.
He looked at Zhou Yi, who exuded a fierce aura in the sky, and then at the children in the classroom who were silent and trembling with fear in their eyes. His brows furrowed slightly.
"Too much rigidity...makes it easy to break."
Moon sighed inwardly.
As the master of the Sea God Pavilion, he knew better than anyone that Shrek Academy had indeed "changed its nature" in recent years.
While Shrek Academy used to only take in monsters, Flander's generation focused more on unlocking children's potential and guiding their natural instincts.
The Shrek Academy of today seems to be going to extremes, taking the concept of "survival of the fittest" to an overly blatant and ruthless level.
Can treating students like trash really cultivate so-called "monsters"? Or will it only produce a group of cold-blooded machines that will stop at nothing to become stronger?
Moon didn't speak, but the gloom in his eyes grew even deeper.
...
The scene continues above the sky.
The classroom was deathly silent; no one dared to provoke Zhou Yi at this moment.
Zhou Yi's hawk-like gaze swept across the room once more before she coldly posed her second question:
"Anyone who's been in a fight since we started registering, stand up!"
The moment this question was posed, the audience in the dark world perked up.
Even those who were just criticizing Zhou Yi for her low character couldn't help but nod in agreement, realizing that they might have misunderstood something.
"Oh? It seems this teacher isn't entirely unreasonable after all."
"Is this a crackdown on discipline? Well, it's only been a few days since school started and they're already fighting. They really need to be disciplined. If these troublemakers aren't disciplined, who knows what kind of trouble they'll cause in the future."
"It seems that the 'trash theory' just now might have been a provocation? Now they're emphasizing school spirit and discipline, and fighting is definitely wrong."
"Hmm, that's more like a teacher. Although he's a bit sharp-tongued, at least he has a sense of right and wrong."
Public opinion began to subtly shift.
After all, school bullying and private fights are strictly prohibited in any world.
When a teacher investigates a fight, everyone thinks that the teacher should criticize and educate the students, or even severely punish the fighters.
[In the scene, upon hearing Zhou Yi's words, most of the students in the class shrank back, thankful that they were the good students.]
Only Huo Yuhao, who was in the corner, stood up almost without hesitation, or rather, without any doubt.
[Wang Dong, sitting next to him, saw Huo Yuhao stand up. Although a hint of reluctance flashed across his face, he disdained to lie, so he slowly stood up as well.]
In the vast classroom, with a hundred students, only these two stood there all alone, appearing particularly out of place.
"good!"
The audience in the dark world cheered when they saw this.
"These two kids were wrong to fight, but at least they were honest! They dared to take responsibility for their actions!"
"Now it depends on how the teacher handles this. Hopefully, it will teach them a profound lesson and show them that classmates should be united and friendly."
Everyone was looking forward to what would happen next: Zhou Yi would severely criticize the two students, even making them write self-criticisms and call their parents, in order to rectify the class atmosphere.
However--
The scene that followed was like a slap in the face to billions of people in the dark world!
They were beaten senseless and their worldview shattered!
[Zhou Yi looked at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, who had stood up, and surprisingly, a satisfied smile appeared on her usually tense and grumpy face, which seemed to owe her millions of gold soul coins.]
Although the smile appeared somewhat ferocious on her aged face, it was undeniably an expression of satisfaction.
"Only two?"
Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with regret, before her words shifted sharply:
"A bunch of useless trash!"
[boom--!]
This statement wasn't directed at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, but rather at the ninety-eight law-abiding students who weren't fighting!
Zhou Yi pointed at the students who had sat down, spitting as she spoke, and roared:
"Only two people fought? You bunch of useless trash! Don't you know what it means to be 'a coward who doesn't dare to cause trouble'?"
"At Shrek Academy, those who don't cause trouble are considered cowards! And those who are cowards are all mediocre! They're all trash!"
[Then, Zhou Yi made a decision that left everyone speechless:]
"Except for those two, everyone else, stand up! Get out on the track and run laps! Run one hundred laps! Anyone who doesn't finish is expelled!"
(End of chapter)