Chapter 043 【Morning Exercises】

Breakfast ended in an unpleasant atmosphere. [Author's note: ZUILU]

Yesterday morning, Lin Jiaying thought Gu Feng's breakfast was delicious, but this morning, it felt harder to swallow than poison.

This seemed to confirm the saying: your mood affects your appetite.

When a person is in a good mood, their appetite is strong; conversely, when they're not, their appetite is poor.

Gu Feng was only worried about Lin Jiaying eating her breakfast, not her mood while eating it, so he didn't say anything else.

After breakfast, the two left home one after another, as usual.

Yesterday, while having a meal with Xia Wei, Gu Feng learned from her that homeroom teachers usually check their classroom before morning exercises to see if any students are late. Therefore, instead of going directly to the office as he usually did, Gu Feng headed straight for Class 8, Grade 4.

Walking through the school corridor, Gu Feng noticed that almost all classrooms were quiet. Some students were reading silently, while others were copying homework from their classmates.

As he approached the door of Class 8, Grade 4, Gu Feng didn't hear any noise.

*Had yesterday's class meeting made the students behave?* Gu Feng wondered to himself, quickening his pace toward the classroom.

However, when he reached the door, he realized how naive his thought had been. The classroom of Class 8, Grade 4 was almost empty. Only four students were sitting inside reading—and they weren't reading textbooks, but novels.

When the four saw Gu Feng at the door, they didn't put away their novels; they even smiled at him.

Looking at the empty classroom, Gu Feng checked his watch and was startled to find that there were under five minutes left before the school's official start time.

Gu Feng didn't say anything to the four students. Instead, he stepped out of the classroom and stood by the door, glancing downstairs.

Five minutes passed quickly. During this time, six more students arrived, bringing the total to ten.

There were forty students in the class, yet only ten had arrived on time. A full three-quarters of the class was late!

A few more minutes passed. Students from other classes started to file out for morning exercises, but less than half of Class 8's students had arrived. Even when they saw students from other classes leaving, Class 8's students didn't bat an eye—clearly, they had never had the habit of attending morning exercises.

"Tian Tao!" Gu Feng thought for a moment, then walked into the classroom and called out loudly to Tian Tao.

At his shout, the students in the class looked up and turned their eyes toward him.

"What can I do for you, teacher?" Tian Tao, as always, wore an elegant smile.

"Lead the class out for morning exercises!" Gu Feng said sternly.

"What? Morning exercises?" Tian Tao and the other students stared at Gu Feng in disbelief. Tian Tao asked with a puzzled expression, "Teacher, our class has never had the habit of attending morning exercises..."

"Go for exercises now!" Gu Feng interrupted Tian Tao's next words with a cold tone.

Seeing Gu Feng's unpleasant expression, Tian Tao didn't dare keep joking around. He stood up and waved to the other students, saying, "You heard the teacher! Let's go!"

The students who had arrived before exercises were usually not too rebellious; most of them weren't part of Ling Wei and Yang Bing's circles. Seeing Gu Feng's stern face and remembering how he'd handled Ling Wei and Yang Bing, no one dared argue. They all followed Tian Tao out for exercises.

However, unlike other homeroom teachers who followed their classes, Gu Feng stood at the classroom door, waiting for the other students.

To Gu Feng's annoyance, during the exercise period, not a single one of the remaining students turned up.

About twenty minutes later, Tian Tao returned with the students who had gone for exercises. Unaccustomed to exercise, they were all out of breath and sweating buckets, and some even had flushed faces.

After morning exercises, students usually hung around outside the classroom to cool off. Gu Feng didn't make them go inside immediately.

At the same time, Gu Feng noticed that the students who hadn't arrived earlier were now coming one after another.

When they reached the classroom door and saw Gu Feng, they didn't look the least bit guilty—clearly, they didn't think they had done anything wrong.

"Big Shark, you lot—stop right there. Don't go in!" Gu Feng said to Big Shark and the few students at the front.

Hearing Gu Feng's words, Big Shark was slightly taken aback and asked, "Teacher, we haven't done anything wrong, have we?"

"Zip it and stand there properly!" Gu Feng glared at Big Shark.

Big Shark thought well of Gu Feng. Although he didn't know why Gu Feng was angry, he still did as he was told and stood at the classroom door. Seeing Big Shark stand, the other students also stood together, though they slouched.

"Feet together, head up, chest out, eyes looking straight ahead..." Gu Feng walked over to Big Shark and the other students and assumed a standard military stance.

"Teacher, this is corporal punishment!" one student tried to argue.

"Request denied!" Gu Feng said coldly. "If you're dissatisfied, you can come with me to the principal's office later to report me."

Big Shark, knowing how Gu Feng operated, was the first to stand properly as instructed. The other late students followed suit.

The students in the class who had attended morning exercises saw Big Shark and the others' miserable state and counted themselves lucky they weren't late, or they would have ended up like them.

Over the next few minutes, more late students arrived at the classroom. Seeing Big Shark and the others' strange behavior and Gu Feng's icy face, they fell in line without a word.

The last two to arrive were Ling Wei and Yang Bing.

Ling Wei arrived at the class slightly earlier than Yang Bing. When he saw a row of classmates standing at the door, his face fell. He immediately stood beside the other students and stole a glance at Gu Feng, only to find that Gu Feng wasn't even looking at him.

Ling Wei felt extremely regretful. He worried this would make Gu Feng refuse to teach him kung fu. Along with his regret, he secretly decided that starting tomorrow, he absolutely must not be late.

Unlike Ling Wei, when Yang Bing arrived at the classroom door and saw Ling Wei and the others standing there like posts, he didn't obediently join them. Instead, he swaggered toward the classroom door.

All eyes snapped to Gu Feng.

Gu Feng turned around, coldly glanced at Yang Bing, and said sternly, "Stop!"

"Teacher, do you need something?" Yang Bing asked, playing dumb.

Just as all the students thought Gu Feng was about to hit Yang Bing, Gu Feng said slowly, "You're coming with me for exercises!"

Including Yang Bing and Ling Wei, all the students' eyes widened in disbelief. They exclaimed in unison, "Exercises?"

"All, right face! Forward, march!" Gu Feng commanded sternly, then followed them.

Ling Wei, standing at the front, on instinct turned and started marching upon hearing Gu Feng's order. Though shocked, the other students followed.

At that time, students from other classes hadn't yet entered their classrooms. When they saw Gu Feng leading the notorious troublemakers of Class 8, Grade 4 to exercises, they gaped in surprise.

"Who is that teacher?"

"Yeah, he's a legend! He actually got Ling Wei and Yang Bing to go for exercises!"

"Right, it's so strange. Isn't Class 8, Grade 4 notorious as the 'devil class'?"

...

As they chattered, Gu Feng led the Class 8 students to the playground and started running laps.

Like Tian Tao and the others, except for Ling Wei and a few of the fitter kids, most of these students were gasping for air after the run.

"Form a line and head back for self-study. Keep the noise down on the stairs; don't disturb the other classes," Gu Feng said to Ling Wei and the other twenty students after finishing the exercises. "If you're late again tomorrow, I'll be happy to take you for exercises again. Of course, if you don't mind the embarrassment, it's fine by me."

After saying this, Gu Feng turned and left without another word.

P.S.: How many of you have had to make up morning exercises? If you have, leave a comment in the review section so Crazy can see. Anyway, Crazy has done make-up exercises before...