Professor Lilian continued to spend the next 10 minutes reviewing Emma's work. Originally, she thought it was plagiarism and had the work scanned through safeassign, yet the percentage came out was less than 1%. This meant that the work wasn't copied and pasted from elsewhere.
'How could this be? Did Emma suddenly eat a smart fruit?' Professor Lilian glanced at Emma with a disbelief expression. She was ready to scold her again for not doing her assignment, but never did she expect that Emma would give her a completed work that is on par with those with a Ph.D. degree.
A tiny bit of sweat could be seen dripping down on Professor Lilian's forehead. Her throat had some swallowing motion, indicating she was swallowing her saliva from nervousness. Her hands trembled for a brief moment as she closed Emma's laptop.
"Emma, meet me in the office after class, so we can discuss your assignments more thoroughly." Professor Lilian said, keeping a calm composure. She still needed to teach the class, so she couldn't just waste any more time and confront Emma.
Emma nodded her head as she grabbed her laptop and returned back to her seat. While walking up the aisle, she could feel multiple gazes laid upon her, seemingly curious at her assignments.
'Ikaros is really the type to go overboard in things…' Emma thought to herself. Though she really enjoyed his help and was glad to have avoided a catastrophe clash with Professor Lilian. The moment she sat down on her seat, Francesa was constantly whispering to her.
"Psst Emma, show me your assignments. I want to know what you did to make Professor Lilian speechless for the first time. It's a miracle that Professor Lilian didn't criticize any parts, and even asked to see you in her office."
The reason why almost all the students knew Emma passed with flying colors was the fact that Professor Lilian didn't outright scold the student in front of everyone. There was a time when a student was called to show her the assignment and was ruthlessly scolded to the point that they had a mental breakdown.
Emma showed a slight smile as she shook her head. "No can do, Francesa. You should know Professor Lilian's conduct and rules." Instead of outright denying her, Emma cleverly used Professor Lilian's rules as a detour to prevent Francesa from looking at her assignment.
"Ugh, you're so stingy, Emma. I feel like you have changed into another person when you went to use the restroom." Francesa pouted in annoyance. She had her hands placed on her hips and twitched her mouth, creating an image of a spoiled brat.
'Why is she getting more and more irritating at the moment? I wished Ikaros would have just sent this woman to hell.' Emma cursed inwardly. Despite her murderous intention, her outward appearance remained the same.
"I'm not being stingy, Francesa. Professor Lilian had her eyes on us, so you can imagine your fate if I were to show it to you now, right?" Emma said calmly, secretly pointing her finger at the professor to remind her.
Francesa froze for a moment as she tilted her head slightly. Sure enough, she saw Professor Lilian glaring at her with a not-so-delighted expression on her face. She trembled in fear and hurriedly moved back to her seat and sat properly, not daring to pester Emma any longer.
Seeing her flustered behavior, Emma really felt great inside her head. It was well deserved to watch one of her enemies suffer even though she hadn't done anything to her in this current timeline.
Once Francesa had to behave properly in the lecture, Emma was finally free from her annoying talk as she listened to Professor Lilian's teaching. And for some reason, all of her lessons seemed to be imprinted in her mind as she managed to comprehend everything once she heard it once. It was a complete miracle for any students that wanted to learn everything in a snap.
'Holy moly… did I actually become a genius after my rebirth?' Emma thought to herself. Before she could be proud of her newfound intelligence, Ikaros' sound transmission came through her mind.
(You don't have to thank me for raising your intelligence bar. I don't wish for you to be an idiot again and ruin your life with another scumbag.) Ikaros was staring at Emma with his peak pointing up high, clearly teasing her.
Emma twitched her brows and decided to ignore him. She was grateful for his boost, but she was sure that if she had really tried to study, then no one could beat her in grades.
Three hours had quickly gone by from the lecture alone and Professor Lilian had finally stopped talking. "Alright class, that's the end of today's lecture. I hope that everyone studies well because there will be a test upcoming. In addition, you should know my personality well enough to be prepared for any sudden pop quiz."
"Another pop quiz? Not again…" Almost all the students sighed with an exhausted expression. They were just studying business majors yet the course made it seem like they were studying medicine instead.
Who said business was easy to study? Business is so profound and ever-changing that the subject could go on forever.
Alas, no matter how much the students lamented their fate, Professor Lilian paid it no mind. Sooner or later, they will realize the cruel reality of the business world. It could be said that a business competition is even deadlier than wartime.
While Professor Lilian prepared to leave the classroom, she remembered to remind Emma about her previous words. "Emma, make sure to not be late. I have a lot of things to discuss with you in my office."
After that, Professor Lilian left the classroom, giving the students the time to breathe aloud.
"Haaa, Professor Lilian really doesn't hold back at all when it comes to business strategy and tactics. My face is so dry because of the number of materials we have to study. I must quickly apply some moisturizer when I return to the dorm."
"Seriously, my hand is sore already from typing all those keys on the laptop. My nail polish is about to be ruined."
The female students started complaining about their makeup whereas Emma was already packing up her things. She had no time to worry about her makeup nor was she in the mood to dress up beautifully anymore. For her, time is money, and the more time she wasted, the less chance she would have of obtaining her vengeance.
"Wait Emma, are you really going straight to Professor Lilian's office without eating something first? It's a three hours long lecture and I'm starving already." Francesa said. Her eyes were teary, almost like she was on the verge of dying.
Emma was unamused of her fake acting and wanted to slap her across the face for hindering her goal. However, she managed to restrain herself from acting up. After all, it wouldn't be satisfying to slap her right now. She needed to give her the most painful treatment ever. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
"If you're hungry, then go to the cafeteria yourself and order some food. I can't delay the meeting with Professor Lilian since we both know her fiery temper. Anyone that dared to cross her would never have a good end." Emma shrugged her shoulders. She then walked away like a boss, leaving a stunned Francesa behind.
Francesa's face was filled with shock as she wondered if Emma had eaten the wrong medicine today. "Why does it feel like Emma is being cold toward me? Or is it just my misinterpretation?" She muttered.
Meanwhile, Emma had no time to care about what was on Francesa's mind as she made her way toward Professor Lilian's office. At the same time, Ikaros flapped its wings from outside and followed Emma closely.
Sometime later, Emma arrived at her office as she knocked on the door gently. "Professor Lilian, I'm Emma."
"Come in."
Upon hearing her permission, Emma entered the office and stood still. She didn't dare to take a seat down without gaining her approval. She wasn't an amateur to not know how eccentric Professor Lilian was when it comes to etiquette.
Professor Lilian was a bit surprised by her clever behavior but didn't show it on the surface. Instead, she told Emma to take a seat and began to tell her the real reason for calling Emma to the office.
"Emma, the assignments today, did you really complete them yourself or did you hire a professional to write them for you?" She asked in a solemn tone.
"If you hired someone else to do it and tell me honestly right now, then I won't punish you. However, if you tell me you did it personally and failed to answer some of my questions, then you will receive an F for this semester."
Emma remained calm and collected as she answered truthfully. "Yes, the assignments were done by me and solely by me. There are no other people helping me nor did I hire a professional to do my work."
Professor Lilian nodded her head. Her eyes suddenly turned ice-cold as she asked, "Since you said that, then please tell me, what is focused cost leadership and why do some companies enact this type of strategy in business?"
Professor Lilian's gaze was like a hungry tiger, ready to pounce on its prey. It was an intense and dreadful aura, but Emma was magically calm, almost like the gaze had no effect on her.
In fact, Emma curled her lips slightly upward as she began answering her question, "A focused cost leadership is a type of business strategy that requires competing based on price to target a narrow market. Companies such as wholesale and retail types are most likely to impose such a strategy even if it means losing profits in the short term."
Professor Lilian was a bit surprised by her swift response. After all, she had not lectured them about the focused cost leadership in the class. Yet somehow, Emma was able to answer correctly.
"Then Emma, why do these companies enact such a strategy even if it means losing profits? What would happen if the companies that used this strategy ended up losing their stock value? And what would they do if they start to have financial difficulties?" Professor Lilian asked, continuing the pressure.
She was extremely curious if Emma would be able to answer her question that revolved around real-life situations. There are numerous companies that have tried to use a focused cost leadership strategy to defeat their competitors, only to end up backfiring and ending up ruining their own financial situation.
Though there are minorities that have succeeded in using such a strategy, the percentages are really low.
A few minutes passed by, and Emma smiled at Professor Lilian. "If the companies that tried to impose such a strategy, and failed to achieve their goal, then there's only one thing to do. And that is to create a blank company and move all their assets into that company. Afterward, they can file for bankruptcy and begin anew, learning from their previous failure."
"Spoken like a true businesswoman, Emma…" Professor Lilian was dumbfounded by her answer. Although her solution was immoral, it was the best solution if you were to stand from the company's perspective.
"You have truly impressed me tonight, Emma Windsor."