"Alright..."
Though a little regretful, Qiu Xi still agreed, "Let's continue the class."
Everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay."
"..."
Why is this happening?
The three of them were utterly confused!
Was this a dimensional crushing that was being done so openly?
"I think I'd rather just be a tool!"
Watching the group obediently start the lesson, Zhang Shu felt it would be more practical to review their assignments, which would also lighten Qiu Xi's load.
"Since you've said that, I should just buckle down and be a worker bee!"
Hearing Zhang Shu, Li Du immediately joined in with self-deprecation.
"Well, we can't help it, who asked us to have such a 'super brain' here!"
"That's true..."
Despite their wry smiles, the three of them sat down and listened.
This was something the three of them had only recently discovered. They weren't sure why, but every time they listened to Qiu Xi's lessons, they always gained new perspectives, even if they had heard the content before.
If Qiu Xi knew this, she would probably think, "The system's skills are really effective!"
...
"Qiu Xi, why don't you take charge of this from now on? We'll just listen from the sidelines."
As soon as the training session ended, the three of them approached to complain after everyone else had left.
"That sounds good."
"Then..."
Qiu Xi paused her packing, tilted her head, and smiled, "You can just dream about that..."
These rare free helpers, how could she let them slip away so easily, especially all three of them?
"..."
"Alright, let's go to Old Yan's office."
Since the conference room would be used by others shortly, Old Yan had moved the location of the regular meeting to his office.
So they had to go there for a meeting.
"Then let's go..."
Zhang Shu, whose goal had not been achieved, was already feeling a bit down. Hearing this, she felt even more powerless.
She just wanted to study hard!
...
"Old Yan, we're here."
"Come and sit down."
"Mm."
As soon as they sat down, Old Yan routinely inquired about the students' progress. "How are things? You've just finished your session."
Speaking of this, Zhang Shu's spirits lifted a bit. "Old Yan, let me talk to you about something."
"Mm, tell me."
Hearing this, Zhang Shu reiterated the suggestion she had made to Qiu Xi. "It's just that..."
Seeing that Old Yan didn't speak, Ning Feiyu and Li Du also felt there might be a chance and nodded vigorously.
Only Qiu Xi watched, wanting to laugh but not daring to.
"You guys are so amusing! Come, tell me first."
The gossipy Old Yan was at it again, this time with great enthusiasm.
"No, Old Yan, the three of us were saying..."
"Oh, that doesn't matter, tell me first."
"Fine, I'll tell you first."
Unable to refuse Old Yan's eagerness, Zhang Shu had no choice but to start explaining.
"Mm... not bad, not bad..."
"I indeed didn't misjudge you!"
"I didn't expect you guys to be doing such a good job already."
As he spoke, Old Yan began to praise them profusely, not sparing any compliments.
"Old Yan, it's not like that, it's all thanks to Qiu Xi..."
"Hey! That's not how you should say it, the three of you have also made invaluable contributions, you can't put it like that!"
Seeing this, Qiu Xi could no longer hold back her laughter.
Old Yan was truly something else with his maneuvers.
"That's how it's said, but..."
"Since it's been said, then there's no need for 'buts.' The four of you keep up the good work, Old Yan believes in you!"
"..."
Alright... so all her efforts from earlier were in vain.
She admitted defeat!
Qiu Xi had truly become the dominant force in the Outer Court for freshmen and sophomores.
In their sophomore classes, they often heard this name from teachers, who told them to learn from each other.
The freshmen were no different. During the training sessions, they heard their juniors mentioning Senior Qiu, saying that teachers frequently brought her up and praised her highly.
Admittedly, this "celebrity effect" was truly powerful!
...
"Alright, this regular meeting is to discuss the debate competition for the next semester."
"The speech competition is about to start. I asked you before, and you all said you wouldn't participate, so you must put in more effort for the debate competition next March."
"Especially Qiu Xi..."
As he said this, Yan Baitao glared at her.
He had specifically asked when they were signing up, and she had refused to participate.
"..."
Qiu Xi bore the pressure of this forced attention and felt helpless.
She couldn't help it, she had already participated last year, and doing it again in the same way wasn't particularly necessary.
"Old Yan, don't you trust the four of us?"
Yan Baitao glared at her again. "Trust you? Trust you with what! You were just complaining to me about not being able to keep up with these newcomers, and you expect me to trust you!"
"..."
Feeling a little guilty, Zhang Shu didn't dare to speak further.
"Old Yan, are you holding this regular meeting just to mock us?"
"No, that's not really the case. Mocking you is secondary. The main point is to talk to you about an upcoming exchange conference between our school and Xinian University, which includes English debate."
"Are you going to ask us to participate?"
"The faculty's decision is for you guys to lead the team, and let the freshmen participate."
In fact, the faculty's original intention was that it wouldn't be good for the four champions of last year to attend this exchange conference. This time, it was for mutual learning, and the school intended to "steal teaching skills" and broaden the students' horizons.
The four of them understood and nodded, "Mm."
"However, even though it's the freshmen participating, we can't lose too badly, so you guys need to work hard!"
Yan Baitao sounded troubled as he spoke. He had already explained the theoretical aspects; these children just lacked practice and accumulation, which he couldn't help with, so it still depended on these four children.
"Old Yan, when is this exchange conference?"
Qiu Xi asked.
She needed to adjust the training plan according to the time, otherwise, she wasn't sure if it would work.
"It's not too far off, around the end of November, but the exact date is not yet known."
"Okay."
There was still time, so no need to rush.
"That's all for today's regular meeting. You guys also help to look closely at which freshmen will be participating."
"Don't worry, Old Yan."
"Mm, alright, we're dismissed for today."
"Goodbye, Old Yan."
With that, the four of them left the office.
As soon as they came out, Zhang Shu couldn't help but start gossiping. "This exchange conference will be exciting. I've always heard about the various competitions between our school and Xinian University, but I didn't expect them to be thinking about how to steal each other's teaching skills!"
"Indeed, I'm already looking forward to it."
"Just wait, it's coming soon anyway."
"Mm-hmm."
The four of them chatted as they walked, quite enthusiastically, and thus walked out of the teaching building.