So, gritting his teeth, Fu Hao Xin said, "I want to learn how to become a janitor from Senior Mu."
Di Tou: ??? Do I have hearing problems now? He WANTS to become a janitor?
But thinking about it, this seemed like a good opportunity to fish for some information… Di Tou suddenly had a sneaky thought. What if he fished for information through the pretense of interview questions..?
"Do you know a janitors duties in this place?"
"Ah? I suppose… I don't really know." Fu Hao Xin felt a little disheartened. Here he was, resolving himself to become a janitor in order to learn from Senior Mu… And it seemed like Senior Mu despised him. And worst of all, it seemed like it was justified!
Fu Hao Xin had always felt like he was a relatively contentious and down to earth youth, but now that he thought about it, he didn't really know what janitors or other staff members did as their jobs.
Sure he could say something superficial like, "They clean" but in a certain sense that was worse than not having an answer at all.
D*mn it, was he really such a wastral, was he not even good enough to become a janitor?
Hmm, Di Tou couldn't help but frown a little, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to get an answer to all his questions that fast.
"Do you know where to dump trash?"
Fu Hao Xin couldn't help but feel a little excited. This he knew! Unlike those pampered young masters that had people do everything for them, from sharpening their swords to taking out their trash, as a poor youth, at the very least he knew where to dump the trash.
"I do, I do!" Blushing a little, feeling embarrassed at the enthusiasm he showed for such an easy question, Fu Hao Xin answered, "There's a disposal building over by Fu street. Although as far as I know only mortals use it nowadays."
Di Tou's eyes shone. Fu street, disposal building. Good, he could work with this.
"Do you know what happens to trash after it's thrown away?"
"Ah? That's obvious it gets… It gets…" Fu Hao Xin couldn't help but fall into thought again. What a profound question, what happened to trash after it's thrown away? He knew there were designated waste spots within the city, but where did the waste get transported from there? Senior Mu was really impressive indeed, being able to point at such a profundity from such a simple question, it seemed like he still had a lot to learn.
Di Tou couldn't help but feel bad. F*ck, another unknown job description. Was disposing of the trash afterwards even his job? He didn't know, but he figured he might as well know, otherwise if trash started piling up in the disposal building eventually somebody would come look for who was responsible.
"Ah, forget it." Di Tou gave up, he'd have to figure out his job description later. One step at a time.
On the other hand, Fu Hao Xin couldn't help but feel panicked. Instantly jumping out of his chair, he tried to start kneeling again, only for his knees to buckle on him, and he ended up sprawled out on the floor.
"Please, senior, give me another chance."
Di Tou: ??? Oh right, he thinks I'm testing him.
"Don't worry Xiao Fu. I just think you aren't destined to become a janitor, there are many other paths in life."
Translation: It's okay, I don't know what I'm doing to begin with, how am I going to teach you, how about you give me some information on other things instead.
"Oh… That's alright." Fu Hao Xin couldn't help but feel dejected, it seemed like he had over thought the situation. Senior Mu must have been casualy helping him along the way.
Originally when he had heard that senior Mu wanted to meet again, he had held out hope that maybe the Senior had seen something in him that he hadn't.
"I've overstepped, I'm sorry for bothering you senior." Standing up Fu Hao Xin was kicking himself in his head. "Why was I so confident? Who do you think you are Fu Hao Xin? Do you think you're a young master?"
"Ah, Xiao Fu? Why are you leaving, I'm just saying you aren't fated to be a janitor." Di Tou said.
Mumbling inwardly, Di Tou continued, "I wish I could say the same about myself, you should count yourself lucky."
"Ah?" In an instant it was like he had been elevated from hell to heaven, Fu Hao Xin let out an excited, "YES senior!" before sitting back down like an overexcited puppy.
Seeing Fu Hao Xin like this, Di Tou couldn't help but feel a little guilty. It seemed like he was manipulating an innocent child, ah?
Well… He'd try to get the kid some benefits, so it'd be alright, right?
"Tell me about your understanding of cultivation. Start from the basics." Di Tou commanded.
"Ah? Senior, are you sure you want me to recite this? I'm afraid I don't have any unique insights, all I can really offer is to repeat the basic information that's told in class."
"That's alright, just try to summarize the basics of cultivation for me." Di Tou felt awkward, it wasn't that he didn't know that this was a weird question, ah! It was simply that he couldn't go an attend the classes as an 80 year old man who allegedly worked at the Academy could he?
A little bit confused, Fu Hao Xin in the end decided to just acquiesce, after all who was he to question Senior Mu?
Trying to compose his thoughts, Fu Hao Xin thought back to a lesson that he had attended at the beginning of the year. He personally hadn't been paying all that much attention at the time, as Li Chang Yin was a rather dull speaker, and he already knew a little bit already as he had already stepped on the road of cultivation at the time.
"In cultivation, there are 9 main realms. Every three realms can be considered a set, with a significant change in one's level of life between sets…"