Chapter 141: Moral Character Unqualified

Jinling University Teaching Building.

In a classroom designed to accommodate two classes simultaneously, fewer than one full class of students showed up. This infuriated the teacher standing at the podium.

The course was titled "Ideological and Moral Cultivation and Legal Basics," commonly known as Ideology and Morality. In the second year, it evolves into Marxist Theory, and by the third year, it becomes Mao Zedong Thought, making it a crucial political course in the university curriculum.

The teacher at the podium was Gu Xiaoqiu, an elderly man. Upon seeing that only about twenty students were present, he immediately flew into a rage.

"If I’m not mistaken, this class is supposed to be a combined session for Business Class One and Business Class Two. Whose students are these here?"

The room fell into complete silence.

Gu Xiaoqiu continued, "Then I’ll take roll call."

Soon, he finished calling out over eighty names, and made a startling discovery: only one student from Business Class One had shown up—Zou Qingshu.

Zou Qingshu had fainted twice during a class meeting, and one of his dorm mates had helped him to the campus clinic. He then returned to his dormitory to rest and was not invited by Zhou Xiaoyu to join lunch.

As a result, he was the sole student from Business Class One attending class. The others were either at the police station or in the hospital—certainly unable to attend.

Even many students from Business Class Two were absent. The gunshot incident that had caused such a stir had drawn them away to watch the commotion.

Gu Xiaoqiu trembled with anger. This was the first class of the semester for these freshmen, and so many were absent. Ideology and Morality was considered an important course for first-year students, and in his twenty years of teaching, Gu Xiaoqiu had never encountered such a situation.

"Very well. Those who didn’t come today will fail the ideological and moral course this semester!" he announced furiously.

Zou Qingshu smiled smugly from below. Luckily, he had attended. Causing the teacher to lose his temper on the first day of class and being marked as failing was a rare and bizarre occurrence at Jinling University.

...

Qin Xuan and Dongfang Qingwan had no idea that they, along with others, were marked as failing.

By the time they returned to the campus gate from the hospital, it was already past four in the afternoon. The Ideology and Morality class had long since ended, and even the second major class of the afternoon was finished.

The second class was Advanced Mathematics, but the teacher, aware of the midday shooting incident, said nothing and allowed students who came to self-study before casually leaving.

Qin Xuan stood at the campus gate and called Liu Qianqian.

"Hey, girl, where are you?" he asked.

"Oh, it’s you, Qin Xuan. I’m still in class. This lesson doesn’t end until 5:15..." Liu Qianqian replied softly, with the faint sound of a lecture in the background.

"Okay. Call me when class ends. By the way, did you encounter any strange people at noon?"

Qin Xuan inquired.

"Yes! About ten people dressed in black suddenly attacked me!" Liu Qianqian said bitterly, "I don’t know how they got so bold—I was just eating in the cafeteria..."

"Were you hurt?"

Qin Xuan asked with concern.

"Pfft. You underestimate me, Qin Xuan. Do I look like someone who gets hurt easily?" Liu Qianqian snorted in dissatisfaction. "If I couldn’t handle these guys, I might as well drown myself."

"Hmm, I know you’re tough. Glad you’re okay."

Qin Xuan quickly ended the call.

"Let’s wait here a bit. Once Qianqian finishes class, Brother Fu will come pick you up," Qin Xuan said, remembering he still had a duel with Watanabe Ye that evening.

This was a contest against the Solar Nation, and no matter what, he could not miss it—or lose. Otherwise, the prestige of the Chinese swordsmanship school would be completely ruined. Moreover, as an heir of the Shushan Sword Sect, how could he stand by and watch the Solar Nation’s swordsmanship dominate Jinling University?

Qin Xuan not only had to defeat Watanabe Ye and the Solar Nation’s swordsmanship but also shatter their myth and destroy their so-called sword club.

Dongfang Qingwan knew he would be late returning to the villa that night and nodded obediently.

The two sat down on a stone bench not far from the campus gate, looking quite like a couple. Qin Xuan glanced at the campus security guard and shook his head.

The security guards at Jinling University definitely needed replacing.

At the hospital, Zhao Long and Su Mubai had called one after another to inquire. Qin Xuan briefly explained the situation and posed a question: How did those two vehicles get into the school?

Zhao Long’s investigation revealed the answer: "Vehicles coming from outside need a pass or relevant proof to enter. Li Tianyuan managed to get some engineering permit from somewhere, claiming those two groups were here for a tree transplanting project..."

Tree transplanting project?

Qin Xuan nearly laughed at such a flimsy excuse allowing them access to the campus.

As for that engineering permit, it was authorized by the Li family’s influence within Jinling University. Now that a shooting had occurred, the person who signed and stamped the permit was utterly stunned, fearing they would lose their position. Zhao Long had previously refrained from targeting the Li family members involved in academics at Jinling University, but now it seemed action was unavoidable. The Li family’s influence was once again facing a thorough cleanup.

As Qin Xuan pondered this, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure approaching the campus gate—it was Zou Qingshu.

Originally, it was Advanced Mathematics class time, but since even the mathematics teacher had left, the students had all left by around three o’clock. Zou Qingshu had stayed behind for an extra hour to show his dedication, but eventually, he was the only one left in the classroom, feeling a bit foolish.

So, although it wasn’t yet class dismissal time, he decided to return to the dormitory.

Zou Qingshu saw Qin Xuan and Dongfang Qingwan sitting together from afar. He frowned briefly but soon remembered something, and his expression relaxed.

"Haha, Qin Xuan, Qingwan, what are you doing here?"

Zou Qingshu seemed unaware of the shooting incident at noon—a sign of his dullness. He didn’t browse forums, didn’t go out much, and rarely communicated with others, leaving him woefully out of touch. During military training, he had been inseparable from Yang Guang and Zhao Xu, but since classes started and they were in different classes, they rarely saw each other.

"Oh? Zou Qingshu, just back from class?"

Qin Xuan smiled, not paying much attention.

"Haha, I have some bad news for you. You failed your ideological and moral course this semester."

Zou Qingshu said with a hint of schadenfreude.

"What happened?"

Qin Xuan frowned. Although the course wasn’t particularly useful to him, being marked as failing without reason was irritating.

"Who told you to skip the first class? I was the only one from Business Class One who showed up. It’s a rare spectacle. Teacher Gu said he wanted to teach you all a lesson."

As he spoke, Zou Qingshu glanced gently at Dongfang Qingwan. "But Qingwan, don’t worry—I asked the teacher to excuse you. Only you and I didn’t fail."

Qin Xuan and Dongfang Qingwan exchanged a glance and smiled.

Qin Xuan found Zou Qingshu amusing. With so many failing, the guy only helped Dongfang Qingwan get excused—clearly trying to curry favor. But how could Qingwan ever look at him?

Dongfang Qingwan smiled at Zou Qingshu’s dullness and the Ideology and Morality teacher’s obliviousness. Such a major campus shooting, and they had no idea?

This clearly showed how swiftly and effectively the school leadership had sealed off information.

...