Chapter 289: The Four Subjects

“So why can’t you lift yourself up? It seems like a very simple task, but none of you were able to do it,” Ren Baqian looked at everyone and said. There were a total of 49 students, 34 males and 15 females. Their age ranged from 13 years old to 18 years old.

Ren Baqian saw the students looking at themselves with doubt after giving it a try. They did not understand why they couldn’t do it.

Ren Baqian continued, “This is what I want to teach all of you. What is force? How is force transferred? How can force be used so that you can achieve the impossible? For example, lifting something that is a few times heavier than the maximum amount of strength you can exert. Of course, most importantly, I want to teach you the nature and properties of matter and energy. This subject is called physics. All of you should be glad that you’re able to sit here and listen to me talking about this. That’s because this subject explains why the universe behaves in certain ways. Learning physics allows you to truly see and understand this world.””Everyone here should know who I am, but I shall introduce myself once more. My name is Ren Baqian, and I’m the supervisor of Black Bamboo Academy. You’re the first batch of students here and may call me Teacher. You have to display a certain level of respect toward someone who can teach you knowledge and who can determine whether or not you are allowed to stay here. At the same time, you also have to maintain a certain level of reverence toward someone who is a forerunner of knowledge here and is more knowledgeable than any one of you.”

“Do you understand me?” Ren Baqian propped his hands against the table and looked down at everyone.

Everyone understood Ren Baqian’s words, but no one said anything.

“Understood! Teacher!” a youth named Xu Ping said. He was a commoner.

Following which, the other commoners repeated after him as well.

“What about the rest of you? Are you mute? I have made myself very clear and possess the most power in this place. When I ask you something, you had better reply. If you don’t want to stay here, you can go home and be a pet. Now, do you understand me!” Ren Baqian yelled coldly.

“Understood!”

“Understood…”

“Understood!”

Everyone was shocked by Ren Baqian’s imposing manner, and they replied softly.

“Can’t you be louder? Is this a marketplace? Why are your replies so chaotic?” Ren Baqian furrowed his eyebrows with an unsatisfied look on his face.

“Understood!” This time around, the students’ replies grew louder, but they were still very messy. After all, it was quite difficult for these undisciplined and rebellious aboriginal youths to reply at the same time.

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To an Earthling, this was an extremely simple task.

“A nation has national laws, a family has family rules, and a school has school rules as well. Soon, I will tell what can be done and what cannot be done. If you break any of the school rules, you will be punished. The serious offenders will be expelled, like that idiot just now. I believe all of you understand your own situations very well. Most of you can also visualize your own futures. You know you will be worthless and unsuccessful. Right now, you’re merely maintaining the state of being alive. Yes, it’s a state. You might look alive, but you actually have nothing and are hollow on the inside. If I rip off your skin and place it over a wooden frame, it would still look exactly like you now. That’s because you’re empty on the inside and merely look alive. There are many people like this, but do you wish to become one of them? Studying at Black Bamboo Academy is the only way out for you. It will allow you to learn something, do something, and leave behind something in this world when you die. Those who think you’re useless will re-evaluate you and treat you with a brand-new attitude. Therefore, cherish the chance you are being given to study here. This is your only chance,” Ren Baqian looked at everyone and said with emphasis.

Upon hearing Ren Baqian’s words, many students’ facial expressions changed. Anger, resentment, and solemness were written all over their faces.

This was the first time someone talked to them like this and told them these words.

Ren Baqian pointed out their futures. Even though they were unhappy about it, they had no choice but to admit that his words were right.

Their situations were just like what he said.

There were only two individuals that were different from the rest. One of them was Tong Lan. She turned around and looked at everyone’s facial expressions. Then, she shifted her gaze to Ren Baqian. Following which, she turned around and looked at everyone’s faces again, appearing as though she was amused by their facial expressions

The other person was Shi Gan. His eyes were dull, appearing to be in a daze.

After everyone had digested his words, Ren Baqian continued, “School starts at 8AM and ends at 2:30PM every day. Those who are tardy will be punished. Every day, there will be four lessons. Between each lesson, there will be a 15-minute break. You know the consequences, so don’t be late for these lessons. I will be teaching you four subjects. The first subject is written language. The written language that you were taught is too complicated and has to be simplified. This is the easiest subject. It will also include basic moral education. A civilized society must have order and a certain level of moral discipline. Moral standards usually precede laws. For example, one should not bully old people or the weak. The second subject is mathematics. I don’t want to see you using your fingers to carry out the addition or subtraction of numbers. You only have 10 fingers, and they are not enough for you to use. The third subject is physics. Like what I said just now, it is the natural science that studies matter as well as its motion and behavior through space and time. It also studies the related entities of energy and force. The fourth subject is chemistry. It is also a natural science, but is concerned with the substances that matter is composed of, the investigation of their properties and reactions, and the use of such reactions to form new substances. The first and second subjects will teach you the fundamentals, while the third and fourth subjects will teach you about the nature of this universe! There will be an examination every month. Those who can’t pass the examinations will be punished and those who fail the examinations repeatedly will be expelled. Do you understand my words?” Ren Baqian asked loudly.

“Understood!” Even though everyone said this, they were still very confused. What were the third and fourth subjects about? They did not understand Ren Baqian’s words at all.

“We have already learned how to read and write, so why should we learn it again?” Tong Lan raised her head and asked.

“In the future, you have to raise your hand if you want to ask a question. You can ask your question after I permit you to do so,” Ren Baqian said with a deep voice.

Then, he continued, “The written language that you have learned is from Great Xia. It’s words are too complicated and too difficult to write. These two factors make the written language very difficult to both learn and propagate. The written language that I’m going to teach you is completely different from Great Xia’s; it can be propagated and learned easily. I hope more people in Dayao can be literate so that they can read newspapers and understand the news. Right now, 99% of Dayao’s population are illiterate, and they read by guessing the meaning of each word.”

“What is news? What is newspaper?” Tong Lan continued to ask.

“News is a record of events that have occured in this world and it allows people to know of these events promptly. Through the news, you can know what Great Xia is doing now, what is happening in Lan City, and what decrees the government has issued. You will even know that your grandpa fought with Sir Qin at the brothel again yesterday.”

“Pfff!” Just when Shi Gan regained his focus, he heard these words and burst out laughing, causing Tong Lan to cast an angry look at him.