The two of them chatted for a while longer, and the topic soon turned to the stories of the Church. Baiyi repeated the story to Joseph, and then he carefully observed Joseph's reaction. Joseph's expression was calm, as if he was listening to an ordinary story. His attitude toward Baiyi was neither overbearing nor obsequious; there was no change in his demeanor at all.
'Every sorcerer is prideful,' Baiyi thought to himself. Then, in a more subtle way, Baiyi revealed his true reason for looking for Joseph. He hoped that Joseph would be willing to teach at his Academy in the future, and he offered him a salary of 100 gold coins per month. Although it was not as extravagant as Aya's 200 gold coins per month, it was still twice the average monthly salary of a lecturer.
After all, there was a huge gap between the two of them, and the dragon-lady was one of his own; there was bound to be a gap.
When he heard Baiyi's offer, Joseph's expression finally changed. A look of surprise appeared on his face. He did not expect Baiyi to offer such a high price! It was not that he had never encountered such a poaching offer in the past, but the highest he had ever received was 50 gold coins per month, which was half of Baiyi's offer. The offer, which was equivalent to his father's annual income, was too tempting for Joseph to accept. A conflicted expression appeared on Joseph's face, and it was obvious that he was struggling internally.
In the end, however, Joseph's expression gradually calmed down, and he replied firmly, "Thank you for your offer, but please forgive my refusal. That promise … is one that I must keep!"
"Are you serious?" Baiyi was slightly taken aback. He did not expect the young man to be able to resist such a level of temptation. Giving him two more points in his heart, he changed the subject and said, "My students are all very cute, and each of them is more beautiful than the last."
Joseph smiled calmly, but he still shook his head and replied, "Thank you for your offer, but my students are very cute as well. Forgive me for being blunt, Mr. Hope, but with your reputation and your offer, you could easily find a teacher who is better than me. You don't have to persuade me otherwise."
Baiyi was silent for a moment. Do you know how valuable this salary is if you know that this kid used that kind of method? Do you know how many people are fighting for this position? I'm afraid that this kind of low-level words won't work, and feeding him chicken soup will definitely be useless. Therefore, he didn't say any nonsense and directly put a bargaining chip that Joseph absolutely couldn't refuse.
"I allow you to work part-time here."
As expected, Joseph fell into silence.
"I believe that my conditions should be extremely tempting to you, but I also respect your promise and persistence. I will allow you to come to my academy after you fulfill your promise." Baiyi looked at Joseph, who was once again caught up in his own thoughts, and continued, "As for your academy … Forgive me for being blunt, but in my opinion, the moment an academy can no longer recruit students is the moment its mission ends. What do you think?"
In fact, Baiyi had already found out from their previous conversation that the Ivy League Academy no longer had anything left except for its name. The school's land and buildings had already been mortgaged more than ten years ago. Now that the students had been repossessed, Joseph had no choice but to set up his classroom in his own house. With such an academy, there was no way it would be able to recruit new students.
Thus, the reason why Joseph was so stubborn in the face of the temptation of a high salary was partly because of his promise, and partly because he was responsible for the remaining 30 students.
Baiyi continued, "Currently, my academy is still in the preparatory stage, and I'm sure you know how long it takes to establish an academy. It's a long process, so it would be inappropriate for me to formally invite you to join me before it's established. In that case, why don't you just work part-time here? When you graduate this batch of students, your mission and promise will be fulfilled, and my academy will be officially established. It's the best of both worlds, isn't it? "
His words had basically convinced Joseph. He really could not think of any reason to reject the offer. Although his academy was located in Waterdeep City, an important city in the southern part of the empire, which was very far from Arfin City, once he obtained his Legendary-level certification, he would be able to use the Sorcerer's Association's teleportation portal for free, so the distance would not be a problem anymore. All he had to do was plan his schedule properly.
In fact, it was very common for sorcerers to work part-time in society. Many sorcerers worked as teachers in academies, consultants to noble families, or participated in all kinds of projects in the Sorcerer's Association, or even ran alchemy workshops. Sorcerers were not teachers. Sorcerers spent a lot of money on equipment and materials, so how could they not work hard to earn money?
A sorcerer who did not know how to earn money was not a good sorcerer. Sorcerers like Joseph, who worked hard as a teacher, were rare. It was no wonder that Baiyi thought so highly of him and was willing to offer him such a high salary.
Finally, Joseph nodded, his face full of gratitude. He gripped Baiyi's hand tightly and said in a sobbing tone, "Thank you, Mr. Hope. Thank you so much …"
'After all, he's a hot-blooded young man from a humble background. Looks like it won't be easy to find another employee like him,' Baiyi thought to himself.
After that, the two men chatted for a while about academics before they both had to go home to take care of their children. After exchanging email addresses, Baiyi said that he would mail the class schedule to Joseph soon.
"After Grace Day, you'll be able to start your classes. It's best if you manage your schedule well before then," Baiyi said.
"Alright, I understand, Dean," Joseph replied sensibly.
'Smart, huh?' Baiyi chuckled inwardly and waved goodbye.
Joseph remained where he was, watching Baiyi's figure disappear from view. Then, with a smile of relief on his face, he said, "As expected of the Great Sage, Hope. You've really brought hope to me. Thank you so much, Mr. Hope …"
To be honest, Joseph's words were quite infuriating. Fortunately, Baiyi did not hear it.
When Baiyi reached home, he saw Aya had gathered her students in the courtyard and was preaching something. After a while, the students were divided into two groups. Mia and Mordred were riding on the back of the fox, and Laeticia was standing beside them with the owl perched on her shoulder. The other group was led by Tisdale, with Attie, Nota, and Vidomina, who was carrying a sunflower in her arms, following closely behind her was Attie, Nota, and Vidomina.
Then … the two groups started a tug-of-war?
Well, tug-of-war was not a big deal. It was a basic subject to train teamwork, and it cultivated teamwork and teamwork.
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