NOVPUB
Chapter 483: 473
"I’m sorry, I don’t know any Mr. Yoshida, and you might have the wrong person. Besides, I believe my abilities are limited and may not meet the expectations of international friends, so you’d better find someone else," Shen Yunfang said, looking down at her watch, "If there’s nothing else, may I go back to class?"
She had no idea what this Yoshida was all about, but his manner of showing up and the way he looked at her made her very uncomfortable. She really didn’t want to have anything to do with such people.
Mister Yoshida Hidemitsu stood up from the sofa, slightly bowed his head, and slowly spoke a string of Japanese.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t understand what he was saying; her foreign language skills were limited to English, and she didn’t know Japanese. However, she could sense arrogance in his tone.
A man standing nearby came over, bowed his head to listen to Yoshida Hidemitsu, then turned to Shen Yunfang and said, "Please wait a moment, classmate. Mr. Yoshida has some matters to discuss with you. He has come all the way from Japan specifically to see you, and we hope you can give Mr. Yoshida a bit of your time so we can sit down and have a good talk."
"Of course, since Mr. Yoshida has come from so far, as hosts, we definitely need to treat him well. Please rest assured, Mr. Yoshida," Vice Principal Tao pompously pontificated in front of Shen Yunfang. "Shen Yunfang, what are you doing? Hurry up and come over, Mr. Yoshida has questions for you." The difference in tone before and after was evident to anyone listening.
Shen Yunfang ignored him and turned to look at Teacher Zhu. In such circumstances, she would have just walked away, but she had to consider Teacher Zhu. She could leave easily enough, but she didn’t want to cause any trouble for Teacher Zhu.
After all, as a regular student, as long as she didn’t make trouble, even school leaders couldn’t do much to her. But Teacher Zhu was a teacher, working under someone else’s authority. If they wanted to make things difficult for him, they had plenty of reasons to do so.
Vice Principal Tao was very displeased with Shen Yunfang’s attitude. After all, he was Teacher Zhu Zhengqi’s superior and held a much higher administrative position, so how could Shen Yunfang ignore him and only consider Teacher Zhu? Therefore, he said angrily to Teacher Zhu Zhengqi, "Teacher Zhu, what’s going on with your student? Didn’t she hear me? As a student of Agricultural University, to show such a lack of responsibility as a host in front of international guests—how do you educate them normally?"
"Vice Principal Tao, you’re mistaken," Zhu Zhengqi retorted, holding back his frustration. "Shen Yunfang, as a female student, does not even know who the person across from her is. How can she be expected to entertain them? Who is she supposed to entertain? She’s a student, a proper university student, not a waitress, and certainly not a social butterfly." Hearing the irresponsible accusations from Vice Principal Tao, he couldn’t help but talk back. 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
"You, what are you saying? What sort of language is that? You’re a teacher! How can you use such filthy language?" Vice Principal Tao was so shocked that he was at a loss for words. These things were supposed to be understood without being spoken; how could they be said out loud? How could one maintain the dignity of a teacher after that?
Zhu Zhengqi snorted through his nose, "I merely verbalized your behavior." It was his nature to be so forthright. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have held just a vice department head title after so many years.
"Enough, enough, both of you say less," Principal Wang sternly criticized them. "I know you both mean well, for the school and the students. But as educators, you should be mindful of your words and actions. Is this the place for you to argue?" Without pointing fingers, Principal Wang managed to chastise both without bias, leaving both reprimanded parties feeling oddly vindicated, each thinking the principal’s words about failing to act as an educator referred to the other. Such is the art of leadership.
The translator, noticing that the two teachers were about to start arguing and fearing that they wouldn’t have the chance to speak to Shen Yunfang amidst the chaos, hastily found an opening to say, "Shen Yunfang, I understand you might have some questions. I can assure you that Mr. Yoshida has indeed come all the way from Japan specifically to find you. He is the president of Japan’s ’March Company’ and would like to discuss the ’Transformers’ matter with you."
Shen Yunfang raised her eyebrows in surprise upon hearing this, as she hadn’t expected that this Yoshida would know that she wrote "Transformers". However, she quickly realized that this Yoshida must have some connection with Joseph, since only Li Hongjun’s comrades knew about this inside the country—they always helped her deal with remittances from abroad. So without much analysis, she understood that Yoshida must have learned about her from Joseph.
"Comrade, you can tell this Japanese person that if he wants ’Transformers’, he can find Joseph. I have nothing to discuss with him," Shen Yunfang assumed that this Yoshida was here to poach her, given that Japan is a major anime country.
The translator really bent down and began whispering into Mr. Yoshida’s ear.
"Shen Yunfang, what’s this transforming thing you were just talking about?" Vice Principal Tao frowned and asked. He hadn’t really understood just now, and he had never heard of this transforming thing before.
Shen Yunfang glanced at him and then turned her head away as if she hadn’t heard. Who did this man think he was? He wanted to know everything, did he have the right to ask?
"What is this attitude? Is this how you treat your teachers, your leaders? Look at your good student, Teacher Zhu..." And he was at it again. He couldn’t keep his own students in line and wanted her head teacher to take over.
This time, even Zhu Zhengqi ignored him, probably thinking that arguing with such a person was beneath him.
"You? You all?" Vice Principal Tao was infuriated and turned his head seeking support, "Principal!" He couldn’t believe the principal wouldn’t want to know what the translator had just mentioned. It was incredibly unpleasant to feel like everyone else knew something that he didn’t, as if he were the only fool.
"Stay calm, if it’s necessary, I believe Shen Yunfang will share with us, her teachers and elders," Principal Wang was quite content, sitting on the sofa and even sipping his tea with a slurp.
Shen Yunfang nodded. The principal was right. If necessary, she would speak up. But for now, it wasn’t.
Mr. Yoshida and the translator had already communicated with each other, and the translator turned back to Shen Yunfang, saying, "Shen Yunfang, you may have misunderstood. What Mr. Yoshida wants to discuss with you can’t be decided by Mr. Joseph alone. It is said that you only gave the foreign publishing rights of ’Transformers’ to Mr. Joseph’s publishing house. Therefore, Mr. Yoshida hopes to have a thorough discussion with you as it could be beneficial for both parties if collaboration is possible. I hope you will consider it carefully," the translator earnestly tried to convey.
In the span of these few sentences, the translator had already felt that this Shen had a bit of a temper and had to act as a lubricant to ensure the completion of his job. While translating back and forth, he tried to keep the meaning the same but made the language a bit more diplomatic—a high difficulty task indeed.
