Seizing the Initiative

Lingdang followed Su Li quietly, observing everyone without making a sound. Su Li had already taken the initiative to introduce himself. According to etiquette, these mathematics scholars should have taken the lead to greet the new senior, but now it seemed they had silently agreed to stay silent as a form of resistance, trying to intimidate Su Li.

But it appeared these scholars had privately reached a consensus, using silence as a silent protest to give Su Li a warning.

Now that Su Li had taken the initiative and gained the upper hand, turning the tables, he kicked the problem back to those scholars like a ball: "You all chose to remain silent and ignore me, the new senior scholar, but I've already introduced myself. Let's see how long you can keep ignoring me!"

Su Li remained calm, standing gracefully with his back straight.

At first, none of the scholars dared to be the first to speak. A long, silent tension flowed among them, while Su Li's gaze was calm but sharp.

After a while, some began to sweat nervously, thinking to themselves, "After all, he's the new boss. Isn't it rude not to say anything and refuse to give him face?"

But they also worried that if they broke the silent agreement to give the new boss a warning, they might be seen as traitors and ostracized by the others.

Su Li watched their changing expressions with even more composure.

After a while, breaking the oppressive silence, a small but clear voice spoke up: "I am Zhang Yuan, mathematics scholar from Wutong Academy. Greetings to Senior Scholar Su Yu."

Su Li shifted his gaze to the speaker, an elderly man with gray hair nearing sixty. He nodded politely yet authoritatively, "Greetings, Scholar Zhang."

With Zhang Yuan breaking the ice, the others' expressions grew complicated.

Wang Shili clenched his fists in anger, cursing Zhang Yuan in his heart as a fence-sitter. They had agreed to ostracize the new, inexperienced guy, so why was Zhang the first to betray them?

Liu Bozong was even angrier, glaring fiercely at Zhang Yuan with obvious hostility.

Zhang Yuan ignored the others' looks and cheerfully approached Su Yu, clasping his hands in greeting.

With Zhang Yuan taking the lead, the other scholars who were still hesitant saw they weren't the first and several followed suit, introducing themselves as well.

The awkward silence instantly melted away. Su Li greeted everyone politely, smiling as if he wasn't the least bit angered by the earlier silent warning.

As more people greeted him, the remaining few in the minority were left isolated. Though some were reluctant, they still played their part and exchanged pleasantries with Senior Scholar Su Yu.

In the end, only two people remained standing aside, refusing to acknowledge Senior Scholar Su Yu.

They were Wang Shili and Liu Bozong.

After exchanging pleasantries with the others, Su Li's gaze first landed on Wang Shili.

Wang Shili had previously misunderstood Su Li. Seeing Senior Scholar Su Yu look at him, memories of his past embarrassment flooded his mind, making him feel awkward and ashamed, fearing Su Yu might be a big mouth and expose his blunder.

Wang Shili was nervous, but Su Li merely glanced at him before looking away, showing no intention to speak with him.

Then Su Li's gaze fell on Liu Bozong. The young and hot-tempered Liu Bozong exchanged a glance with Su Yu, snorted angrily, flicked his sleeves, and stormed out in full view of everyone.

Zhang Yuan hurriedly tried to smooth things over, saying to Su Li, "Senior Scholar Su Yu, please don't take offense. Scholar Liu is young and hot-tempered; that's just his nature."

Su Li smiled faintly, scanning the crowd with a meaningful look, "Though I am young, my heart is open. Scholar Zhang, no need to explain for Scholar Liu; I understand perfectly well."

These words carried deep meaning. The crowd broke into a cold sweat, realizing that Su Yu had seen through their little scheme to intimidate him.