45 - Chapter 41

Sa Bina made it to school just in time. The mornings were really dragging out especially after a late night spent baking. Her first lesson was advanced economics, but she was not looking forward to spending time with Hou Bao. As much as she had been told that it was all a test, she had not been convinced that was the only motivation her economics professor possessed.

Still, she would see how he behaved in the first lesson. As she entered the class, she was ignored by her professor. She took the same seat that she had taken the last time and waited for the lecture to begin. Though, from the looks Hou Bao directed at her, she could tell that he was not happy to have her in the class, it seemed that Hou Bao was not looking to start another debate in this class.

She sat through the first half of the class where he went over the topic of the class. Then for the second half he asked them to work on some scenarios. He even mentioned to the other students that they should avail themselves of Sa Bina’s support should they need help. Sa Bina could feel his passive aggressive attitude, but it was still better than open aggression. She had long since learned to deal with microaggressions in professional settings and it really did not bother her. She made sure to take her time and help the few students who came to her for support. She even smiled to herself when she noticed that her lack of reaction seemed to be winding the professor up. All in all the class was anticlimactic.

At the end of the class she was happy to move on to her advanced mathematics class having made a few more acquaintances.

Wei Bolin’s behaviour was the exact opposite of Hou Baos. She was welcomed to the class and reminded that she was going to be one delivering the lecture today. Sa Bina had forgotten that Wei Bolin had asked her to be ready for that today. Still she had taught enough in her past life that she did not feel the need to have prepared.

“What topic were you intending to cover today, professor,” she asked Wei Bolin.

“I was going to continue with algebra,” said Wei Bolin. “I am sure you can cover that topic?”

Sa Bina was not worried in the slightest. She spent a few minutes converting the formatting from the original to the way they taught it here. She also waved to Jia Yun as she entered. By the time all the students had arrived and were seated, she was more than ready to proceed.

“Greetings class,” she started. “As I am sure you all remember, Professor Wei Bolin has asked me to teach the class today. We are going to be continuing with algebra. I will go over the theory, then work through a few examples with the whole class before asking you all to work on a number of problems by yourselves.”

With that Sa Bina launched into her lecture. She used every technique she had perfected in her two decades of teaching to make the topic easy and fun.

The students reacted to her style with a mix of responses. Some enjoyed the change, and found that the topic was much easier to understand. Others found her style jarring as they were used to the more traditional style of the professor. Yet no one could complain that Sa Bina did not cover the topic in depth. She used various examples to drive home her lesson, then wrote up a bunch of problems on the board for the class to attempt to solve by themselves. She circulated amongst the class helping students as they worked on the problems.

The class flew by and soon it was time for lunch. She left the class casually chatting with Jai Yun as they headed towards the cafeteria.

“That was certainly an interesting style of teaching,” said Jai Yun.

“No need to be polite,” said Sa Bina. “I know my style will not suit everyone, but it will help some who don’t necessarily learn best from the traditional style.”

“I suppose I can see that,” said Jai Yun. “Though I think it will work better in the lower groups. In the advanced classes, most students are used to the traditional methods and will find your style strange to adapt to.”

“I can use a more traditional approach if I need to,” mused Sa Bina. “Though it is not my preference.” Sa Bina had once again made the mistake of falling into teaching styles from Earth, and not taken into consideration the differences in cultures. Though to be fair to her, it was hard to break habits built over years and decades. It was interesting how automatic certain actions became.

“I think you will find that staying with the normal methods would be better for the students,” said Jia Yun. “I mean no one doubts that you know the subject, but style is an important component too.”

“You are right,” said Sa Bina. “I really do need to think about how to approach the students here. Though I am glad that you at least found my performance amusing.”

Stolen novel; please report.

They had made it to the cafeteria and claimed their usual table. Again they were joined by Qin Ai and Cheng Jiang. Jia Yun took no small pleasure in telling them both about Sa Bina’s performance in her attempt to teach the class. The boys both laughed as Jia Yun selectively quoted Sa Bina. Sa Bina for her part took the ribbing in stride, as it was obvious that the three were teasing her good naturedly and were not being malicious.

“I would like to see you three trying to teach a class,” said Sa Bina. “I am sure it would be even funnier to watch than my performance.”

“I am sure it would,” said Qin Ai. “That is why you will never catch me doing it.”

“If I had passed out of a class,” said Cheng Jiang. “Then I would make sure not to have to suffer through that class, and take that time to do other things. Why would I waste my time teaching others? That’s what the professors are paid for.”

“I would rather use the time in private study,” said Jia Yun. “That way I could catch up on the subjects that I was behind in.”

They had ordered their meals, and the aromatic plates had been brought out for their culinary pleasure. They all dug into their food as they talked.

“So what is the normal schedule for the fifth day?” asked Sa Bina. “I know that we don’t have classes, but I understand some people are still here for their clubs?”

“Yes, though that is normally for the older students,” said Qin Ai. “Mostly it is for those who are either falling behind their cohort, or have already started cultivating. The rest of us usually spend half the day in private classes from our families, and the other half socialising.”

“Socialising is just as important as classes,” said Jia Yun. “After all, when we will be involved in house politics, we will need allies and connections. That all starts now. Also some of what we are taught by our families relates to the specifics of what we will be expected to manage once we take on duties as part of the house. A lot of that would also have crossover with inter house relations and politics.”

“That is the one area I find myself at a complete loss,” said Sa Bina. “Being new to the city, I don’t have the connections to even know where to start. I don’t suppose you could recommend a tutor that could help me with an understanding of the prominent houses in this city and an overview of the local political scene?”

“You are not from the city?” asked Cheng Jiang. “I thought your family had just home schooled you and that's why we haden't seen you at any social events.”

Sa Bina did not want to lie, but also did not want to give away her secrets. She decided to be a little vague. “I suppose you could think of it like that. The family did not have a base in the city, but wanted me to attend the academy, so they sent me here. I think they were only thinking of my studies.”

“That seems a little short sighted,” said Jia Yun. “I guess your family is one of those that do not involve themselves in the local politics?”

“Something like that,” said Sa Bina. “So how would I go about changing that?”

“Without a local family to effectively sponsor you,” said Jia Yun, “it would be very hard to learn. This is something that is kept internal to families. Do you have any families that you are allied with?”

“No,” said Sa Bina. “I am pretty much all alone in terms of support.”

“Don’t tell me that your family sent you here without any support structure,” said Qin Ai. “That would be so irresponsible.”

“Well, my local support is from the Green Mountain Sect,” said Sa Bina. “Though that is not the same as a local house.”

Her friends were a little stunned when they heard that. To have support directly from the sect for a noble house meant that the house was either primarily a military house, or that there was a special reason for the sect to get involved in house businesses.

“Well if the sect is willing to vouch for you,” said Jia Yun. “Then I can speak to my family about finding you a tutor. Though to get a sponsor would require you to meet with a head of house. No one else would be able to make such a decision.”

“Just the tutor would be fine for now,” said Sa Bina. “If you could help with that, I would really appreciate it. I think I need to learn about the local currents before I step into them.”

“That is certainly an interesting way to phrase it,” said Qin Ai, with a smile. “You certainly have a way with words.

“Though not wrong,” said Cheng Jiang, laughing. “The undercurrents can drown someone who steps wrong.”

They spent the rest of the lunch break making small talk. As they spent more time together, they began to treat each other a little more informally.

After lunch, it was back to the classes. Advanced management was a boring class for Sa Bina. She had not yet received the books, so had not caught up on her reading. She spent the class following the lecture. It was not that she did not understand the topic, it was more that she did not agree with the methodologies being taught. Again she was reminded that she was not on modern day Earth anymore. The societal norms were significantly different here, and if she tried to stick to the methodologies that she had been used to, then it could lead to some negative reactions.

In light of her minor epiphany, she spent part of the class re-examining her actions since she had come to the city, and what potential consequences she could face due to those very same actions. The nobles ruled, and the laws and systems were designed to validate their decisions rather than to hold them to account. The only ones that could hold nobles to account were other nobles or royalty. She would need to learn a lot more about how inter house politics worked to understand the risk to her own fledgling house. Another item added to her to-do list.

After attending the last class of the day, basic geography, she made her way to the gate to meet her retainers. It was high time she found healers for her house, and fixed the glaring hole in her origin story. She directed her driver to the sect inn. Hopefully, they had found her some suitable candidates.