“There was indeed some effect, but the main thing is that I got paid today. Otherwise, no matter how effective it is, I’d only be able to drink alcohol on an empty stomach.” Edward Brooks said grumpily. Eating with Old Elder always felt like going to war—if you weren’t quick, you got nothing. He had only taken a few bites, and all that was left was some soup.

“If it’s working, keep at it. Mmm, the food at this place is really good. Next time, if there’s a chance, I want to eat here again.” Unknown Elder said, rubbing his slightly bulging belly and shaking his head contentedly.

“Better not. With your appearance, if you walk into their restaurant, you might scare all the customers away.”

It wasn’t just his messy look—his way of eating, like a starving ghost reincarnated, would scare off plenty of people. Besides, even if he wanted to eat, he’d have to wait until next month’s paycheck. Today’s meal cost Edward Brooks several dozen yuan, enough to cover five regular meals.

For the next month, Edward Brooks went back to the dorm early every night to sleep, diligently practicing the simplified version of the Turtle Breathing Technique. After a month, the results were quite good—now Edward Brooks had already removed one of the cotton balls from his ears.

By now, Edward Brooks was extremely proficient in this Turtle Breathing Technique, which was tailored just for him. As soon as he went to sleep, he would naturally start practicing. As for his hearing, he discovered he could actually adjust it, just like a pair of tweeters with a volume knob—he could make it louder or softer at will.

Now, in the dorm, if he wanted to hear what was happening in the classroom, he could; if he didn’t want to, he could block it out. He could control it however he liked. Unlike before, when every sound would rush into his ears whether he wanted to hear it or not.

To achieve such results in just a month made Edward Brooks overjoyed. He now knew that the Turtle Breathing Technique couldn’t make his hearing return to that of a normal person, but if he practiced enough, he could control his hearing to be like a normal person’s. He didn’t know how long it would take to reach that level, but as long as he kept practicing, he believed he’d get there one day.

Chapter 11: Heard Something He Shouldn’t Have

During this period, Edward Brooks was getting plenty of sleep every night and never skipped his morning exercise. Compared to before, his complexion and energy had improved dramatically. Plus, with his outstanding academic performance in class, David Clark had praised him at both big and small meetings. Both physically and mentally, Edward Brooks had made a qualitative leap.

He’d been at the school for several months now, and the teachers all knew that this officially certified college student was indeed quite capable. He barely had to manage his class, yet their discipline was the best among all twelve classes in the school. Whether it was morning or evening self-study, his class was the only one that didn’t need a teacher to supervise. The subject teachers for his class had the easiest time—they didn’t have to worry about discipline and could teach smoothly. Gradually, Edward Brooks also became more amicable with the other teachers at the school. Of course, as for those few teachers from the teacher training college, even if Edward Brooks wanted to get along with them, they kept him at arm’s length.

This week was a “big week”—meaning the Sundays of two weeks were combined into one break. There were no classes on Friday afternoon, and students had Saturday and Sunday off. Some students at Shumuling Middle School lived more than thirty li from the school, so this arrangement saved them a lot of travel time. The two days off also gave teachers a chance to take care of their own affairs.

On these big weekends, only Edward Brooks and David Clark’s family stayed at the school; the other teachers all took the opportunity to go home. Most of them were from the southern villages of Shumuling, with only a few from neighboring villages. David Clark had moved his family to the school because his wife had a leg problem, while Edward Brooks lived too far away—just getting back to Furong County took a whole day, and with no buses in the afternoon, if he went home, he could only stay one night before having to rush back early the next morning.

By Friday, the school cafeteria stopped serving lunch, and the cooks had already gone home early. So on this day every week, Edward Brooks would head to Sanqing Daoist Temple early, just in time to have lunch with Unknown Elder.

But today, Edward Brooks had something to do, so he kept one student behind—the one who had always ranked at the bottom of the class, Matthew Hall. During the fourth period, maybe because he was too excited about having two days off, Matthew Hall kept talking to his deskmate about his weekend plans.

“You know why I kept you behind, right?” Edward Brooks asked, looking at Matthew Hall, who had his head down. Students these days were still very simple—being called to the office by a teacher was a very serious punishment, and they feared teachers far more than their parents.

“I was talking in class,” Matthew Hall said in a low voice.