Chapter 81: Mysterious Code

On the second day, which happened to be Sunday, Lin Yuan went to work as usual.

Meanwhile, within the Qin Prefecture Art Academy, the Department of Fine Arts was in the midst of a collective examination.

The exam spanned an entire day.

Watercolor in the morning, charcoal sketching in the afternoon.

This day's examination not only challenged the students' artistic abilities but also tested the endurance of the fine arts department's mentors.

The mentors needed to grade the students' papers on the same day for the results to be announced the following day.

Time was tight.

After completing the exam, students returned to their dormitories.

However, the mentors from the fine arts department had to stay in the office, working overtime to grade the papers.

It wasn't until nine o'clock in the evening that the mentors in the fine arts department gradually finished scoring.

Inside a spacious office in the fine arts department.

Professor Kong An, who specialized in painting, was in a very cheerful mood. He stretched lazily and said, "Finally, it's over. Have you all noticed that the students' charcoal sketching scores seem to have improved significantly this semester?"

"Yes."

Kong An's words resonated with the charcoal sketching mentors.

Since the papers were graded, they chatted while waiting for the final statistics: "Indeed, there has been quite an improvement."

"I graded a hundred drawings and encountered over a dozen exceptionally good charcoal sketches. In the past, there were at most three to five."

"The adjacent room has started recording grades. I estimate that the average score for charcoal sketching this time will be much higher than last semester. It seems everyone has been diligently studying charcoal sketching lately."

...

At this moment, one of the charcoal sketching teachers said, "Recently, there's a sophomore from the painting society giving paid tutorials on charcoal sketching. I think he contributed to the overall improvement in the fine arts department's charcoal sketching scores this year."

"I heard about that too."

A female charcoal sketching teacher, sipping her coffee, said, "There's a student in our class with a particularly poor foundation in charcoal sketching. After learning from him twice, their skill has significantly improved."

"What surprised me is that the person teaching is actually a student, and not from our fine arts department."

Sipping her coffee, the teacher lamented, "He's so good at teaching; his own charcoal sketching skills must be excellent. Why didn't he join our fine arts department initially?"

"Is that so?"

Kong An couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

As a professor specializing in charcoal sketching in the fine arts department, he rarely taught students personally.

Even when he did, it was in the form of large-scale public lectures, facing too many students. Taking attendance alone would take up half a day, so he was unaware of this situation.

"I heard it from the students."

A charcoal sketching teacher by the window smiled, "That kid seems to be named Lin Yuan, a sophomore in the composition department. He goes to the painting society for paid tutorials every day, and his price is not cheap."

"Lin Yuan?"

Kong An asked, "How much?"

Someone answered, "Five hundred per hour."

Kong An was astonished, "Goodness, I only charge a thousand per hour for external teaching..."

As a professor at the prestigious academy, Kong An's title was there, and he was a respected figure in the art world, so he dared to charge a thousand per hour!

But a student who hadn't graduated yet and was teaching charcoal sketching dared to ask for five hundred per hour?

Was he pricing himself too low?

Or was that student charging excessively?

Is he treating our fine arts students as cash cows?

Noticing Kong An's dissatisfaction, the teacher drinking coffee chuckled, "Compared to someone of your stature in the industry, it's undoubtedly incomparable, but that kid does have some skills. Many students have shown significant improvement after learning from him. In terms of results, I feel that five hundred per hour is quite worthwhile."

Kong An slightly intensified his tone, "Regardless, he's just a student; this kind of trend is not good."

"Indeed, Professor Kong, you must think so too, right?"

Beside Kong An, a male charcoal sketching teacher snorted, "Actually, I don't like this matter much. How about you step forward and criticize it? With your status and position, if you intervene, you can definitely put an end to this phenomenon!"

This male charcoal sketching teacher didn't like Lin Yuan.

Because during a break, he overheard several students discussing that his teaching level was not as good as Lin Yuan's.

As a seasoned sketching instructor, the murmur below questioning his proficiency compared to a sophomore student infuriated him.

"Old Gao, that's not fair."

The coffee-sipping instructor frowned, saying, "It's a fact that students' sketching grades improved after Lin Yuan's class. Moreover, they voluntarily paid for his lessons. There's nothing wrong with that."

"It's just a few isolated cases."

The instructor referred to as Old Gao said calmly, "You don't need to exaggerate that student's achievements. While one-on-one teaching can rapidly improve a student's grades, given a decent sketching proficiency, we are teachers. We have to instruct an entire class of students. This is the broad perspective that sketching instructors should have. Do you teach only one student in your class?"

The coffee-sipping instructor ignored him.

Old Gao felt a bit disheartened, his face showing a hint of displeasure.

At this moment, the door swung open, and a staff member said, "Professor Kong, the grades are ready. Please have a look."

"Okay."

Kong An took the grade sheet, glanced at it, scanned the top fifty of this exam, then suddenly asked, "Is there a problem with the system? Why do all the students have an 'L' after their names?"

"It's not a system issue."

The staff member sighed, "I don't know why, but many students with good grades added this letter to their names. I couldn't confirm by checking student IDs, so I just recorded it as they wrote."

Kong An disapproved, "Nonsense."

The coffee-sipping teacher spoke up, "Let me see."

Kong An handed her the grade sheet.

When she looked at it for the first time, she was puzzled. However, on the second look, she seemed to suddenly understand something. She couldn't help but laugh and cry, saying, "I seem to understand. Take a look, and also claim your respective students."

What's going on? Claiming students? Other instructors couldn't help but be curious, taking the grade sheet and looking. After a few seconds, everyone's expressions became strange.

"What's happening?"

Kong An found it inexplicable.

What's with this letter "L"?

Could it be some mysterious code? A teacher said awkwardly, "The third-ranked student with the added letter is named Zhong Yu, from our class... He seems to have taken Lin Yuan's class several times..."

"The fourth-ranked Pang Bo is also from our class, and he took Lin Yuan's class."

"This sixth-ranked student..."

"And this eighth-ranked one..."

"Cough, also the ninth and tenth."

...

Among the top fifty students, thirty-nine had added the uppercase letter "L" after their names.

Kong An became anxious, "What's going on?"

The coffee-sipping instructor finally finished her coffee and said, "Professor Kong, these students are indeed causing a stir. All the students who added letters to their names have one thing in common—they all took Lin Yuan's class!"

"So..." Another instructor chimed in, "L probably stands for Lin Yuan."

This situation was a bit awkward. Most of the top fifty students in the sketching exam turned out to be students taught by Lin Yuan?

Do we, the sketching instructors, have no face left?

Yet, amidst the embarrassment, everyone was somewhat shocked. Previously, they thought Lin Yuan's teaching, being one-on-one, could only improve the sketching grades of individual students. However, seeing the scale of this now, his teaching seemed to have an unexpectedly wide reach.

"I understand."

Kong An took a deep breath, looked at the grade sheet, and said, "I'll go find the principal."

Sketching instructor Old Gao, upon hearing this, got excited, "We must find the principal! These students are really outrageous, especially that Lin Yuan! It's a blatant disregard for our Fine Arts Department!"

"What are you saying?"

Kong An glared at Old Gao, his expression complex, "To elevate the sketching grades of the entire Fine Arts Department with one's own efforts, I've never encountered such a student in all my years. Even if I have to throw away my dignity today, I'll make sure the principal transfers him to our Fine Arts Department!"