When Sharon and Summer were engaged in a conversation, Janet stared at the table and said nothing.
“Guys, keep quiet, please!” The woman standing on the stage knocked on the podium. “I’m going to brief you on the opening ceremony and military training.”
As soon as she said that, more than twenty students in the class shut up immediately. In an instant, the classroom went silent again.
“My name is Nina Hogan; you can call me Miss Hogan,” said the woman who was standing on the stage. She then turned around and wrote down her name in huge alphabets on the board. As she wrote, she proceeded, “This is my contact information. If you have any problems, you can contact me at any time! Every academic year, the university will hold an opening ceremony. This time, Mr. Goldstein has assigned the opening ceremony speech to the medical school. So, we’ll have to select the most suitable speaker out of all of you. Besides, after the opening ceremony, the military training that will take place for two weeks will begin immediately. Everyone must participate in this training. No one can be exempted unless you have special reasons; otherwise, the university will suspend you!”
Upon hearing that, the students were wailing in distress.
“Seriously? We have an opening ceremony and someone needs to give a speech on the stage?”
“I thought the speech was supposed to be prepared by those from the department of literature. When did it become our responsibility?”
“Yeah. It was always done by the department of literature!”
“Is it because the top scorer is in the medical school, so the principal wants us to do it?”
“But, what the h*ll is going on with the military training? I heard that the university is especially strict this year. I don’t even know if I can survive it.”
“We can’t even ask for a leave of absence. This is going to be so troublesome!”
Nina slammed her fists on the podium and she looked solemn. “Quiet down, please. You guys know who will be responsible for the speech of the opening ceremony, right?”
The students nodded. It was obvious from Nina’s words that the nation’s top scorer would be the one giving the speech. After all, it was an order from Robert.
Smirking in satisfaction, Nina quickly looked at Janet. “Janet, do you understand?”
Janet’s eyes darted back from the scenery outside the window to Nina. She stood up and shook her head. “Sorry, Miss Hogan. I don’t want to do it.”
Her rejection instantly put Nina in a difficult position. “Janet… you’re this year’s top scorer. You’re the most suitable student to give the speech during the opening ceremony. Besides, Mr. Goldstein has decided that you should be the one to do it. You won’t reject his request, right?”
Nina nearly went down on her knees. In the past, no one from the department of literature had ever questioned Robert’s decision. Why do things become difficult when it comes to our department? How am I going to persuade her?
Noticing Nina’s awkward expression, Janet could only nod. “Fine.”
Immediately, Nina replied, “Okay. After class, I’ll prepare a script for you. You only have to read according to the script tomorrow.”
“It’s fine. I have some sample models with me. They might come in handy!” Janet refused her help calmly.
Yet, Nina was overjoyed at her words. Now, I can even save my time! Tsk, tsk, tsk. No wonder she’s the top scorer. I don’t even need to worry about her.
At that moment, every student in the class was bewildered. Isn’t Nina Hogan known as one of the five most frightening teachers? Did she just laugh… To see her smiling on my very first day… Did I run into a ghost?
Finding her students frowning and looking confused, Nina quickly held back her smile. In a blink of an eye, her expression went stony like before. “As for the military training, that’s all I’ll say about it for the moment!”
