What kind of nonsense did Bibi Dong feed Hu Liena to turn her into such a fool? You Chen treated every student equally, sharing his knowledge openly with all.
Yet, after becoming the Pope's disciple, Hu Liena started causing trouble for him regularly.
Considering her character in the original story—someone driven by emotions rather than logic, who betrayed the Spirit Hall due to her infatuation and leaked vital information to Tang San, the Hall's enemy—it's perhaps unsurprising she'd backstab him without reason.
It was likely Bibi Dong's usual tactic of elevating one while trampling another. She might have praised her beloved student while accusing You Chen of plagiarizing Yu Xiaogang's work and scheming against the Spirit Hall.
And Hu Liena, without questioning or seeking verification, likely believed Bibi Dong's words without a second thought.
You Chen wasn't wrong in his assumption...
Bibi Dong had indeed told Hu Liena that You Chen twisted facts, claiming he plagiarized Yu Xiaogang's work but took credit as the first author. She accused him of gathering allies within the Spirit Hall and plotting against it.
It was a blatant reversal of justice.
Pure hostility wouldn't bother You Chen so much. After all, their opposing positions naturally led to mutual disdain.
But concocting baseless, self-righteous accusations to justify her stance was truly disgusting.
Absolutely absurd!
Hu Liena, likely blindly loyal, cared only for her seemingly grand and beautiful female role model, and would believe whatever Bibi Dong said.
In theory, You Chen had greatly benefited the new generation of Spirit Hall spirit masters.
After all, he had contributed "The Uses of Whale Glue," and the Spirit Hall had strategically purchased whale glue in advance.
The contemporary Spirit Hall spirit masters were all beneficiaries.
Particularly the Golden Generation trio, who, based on their talents, enjoyed the finest whale glue before the Pope's special training, achieving thousand-year second rings.
Step by step, they secured ten-thousand-year fourth rings.
Even if Bibi Dong attempted to downplay You Chen's achievements, these events were recent, and she only assumed power six years ago.
The full truth might not be known immediately, but it couldn't be hidden for long.
Thus, many young spirit masters in the Spirit Hall remembered You Chen's contributions.
Currently, his accomplishments were still in the textbooks.
Although Bibi Dong relegated them to elective materials after assuming power, You Chen recalled using those very textbooks in his classes.
Even with her limited intellect, Hu Liena shouldn't forget who was her benefactor for her thousand-year second ring, right?
Hmmm... Could she really forget? Seriously?
At least Xie Yue, the diligent student, surely wouldn't be unaware.
You Chen's gaze quietly passed over Xie Yue, who looked somewhat embarrassed after his sister's lack of decorum.
He sensed Xie Yue's distance.
Indeed, Xie Yue cherished his sister but also revered the Pope. Despite realizing the oddity in Hu Liena's accounts from the Pope, he chose to distance himself from You Chen.
Only Yan, originally Hu Liena's sycophant in the story, still believed in You Chen as a mentor, standing by his side.
Initially, You Chen and Yan had a typical student-teacher relationship.
But when this big oaf sought his guidance after the first class, You Chen thought he had finally recognized the importance of theoretical knowledge. Little did he know... Yan was asking how to make Hu Liena like him.
It left You Chen speechless.
Seriously, the kid was only eight! Eight years old!
You Chen promptly corrected his misguided thoughts!
If they were strangers, it wouldn't matter, but as his student seeking advice, he couldn't let him become a sycophant, right?
After much effort, You Chen managed to transform Yan's mindset, slowly steering him away from being a mere sycophant.
He remembered the conversation that truly enlightened Yan.
Understanding the importance of tailored education, You Chen applied the same to relationship advice.
He didn't outright dismiss Yan's idea of "getting closer to Hu Liena."
Instead, he gently advised Yan not to focus solely on Hu Liena.
"No way! My loyalty to Nana is unwavering! How can I befriend other girls? That would be a betrayal!"
"You two haven't even hit puberty, just good friends, where's the loyalty in that!? I'm just suggesting you make more friends! It has nothing to do with gender! Just stop considering if they're boys or girls!"
"No! No matter what I think, they're still girls! I won't betray Nana! Guh, Teacher, just kill me!"
That day, You Chen once again learned the hard way about the stubbornness of sycophants.
Though it was exhausting, You Chen, being equally stubborn, used every debate tactic to sway Yan.
He simply instructed Yan to use the same approach to make other female friends.
This offered a comparison.
Despite Hu Liena being Yan's friend, her attitude wasn't as welcoming as that of newly acquainted classmates.
Hu Liena even complained about Yan's clinginess.
However, this wasn't enough for Yan to realize.
Did You Chen offer new suggestions then?
No.
He continued encouraging Yan to make more female friends.
Sycophants typically become so due to two reasons.
One is having too few female friends, coupled with a romantic disposition or stage, leading them to pour all their romantic feelings into one person.
The other is excessive emotional investment and sunk costs. People often develop feelings for someone they focus too much on, even with minimal interaction, mistaking it for mutual understanding and advancement, making it hard to detach.
This creates a stark temperature difference; the other party becomes wary, annoyed, or even fearful of your excessive enthusiasm.
The more they dislike you, the more you try to compensate, leading to heavier sunk costs.
You Chen's approach directly addressed these root causes.