Chapter 42 - I’m Just an Ordinary Person
“No need, no need. I’m too old for that, and you still want me to study? I really won’t be able to take it. Besides, didn’t you promise to take in his son as a disciple last time? I would take a lot of focus from you to teach that kid.”
Lorne looked at Rosen with disappointment in his eyes.
“You really don’t plan to take me as your master?”
Rosen shook his head like a rattle-drum.
“Boss, listen, how about this? I’ll let my good-for-nothing kid take you as his master too. Then, you’ll be the master of both the son of your old friend Charles and old pal Vincent.”
Lorne pursed his lips.
“Sorry, I’m full. I have limited focus, so I can’t teach two people at once.”
“…”
‘Didn’t you just say that you wanted to take me in as your disciple? Why did you have the energy to teach two people just now, but after me offering my son you say that you’ll be tired? Could it be that you, boss Lorne, have already set your eyes on the golden value of the king, the first prince, and now look down on the descendants of the Rosen Family?’
A whole train of thoughts passed through Rosen’s mind like a bullet train, it was unstoppable!
This was too much, it was really too much!
However, before Rosen could express his anger, he was attracted by Lorne’s next sentence.
“Let’s not talk about taking in disciples. Do you want to know how to solve the problem of the Ministry of Education covering up corrupt officials, or not?”
Rosen’s eyes suddenly lit up. How could he care if Lorne was taking in disciples or not? As long as there was an effective way to solve the Ministry of Education’s shortcomings, today would be a great win for him.
“Boss Lorne, why don’t you tell me about it so that I can understand it clearly and have a better idea.”
Lorne picked up a pair of cutleries and started to gesture on the table.
“Let me give you a brief explanation, but this would only be effective for a short period of time.
“That is, the Ministry of Education will implement a rotation system for its officials.
“Of course, this has nothing to do with the higher-ranking officials in the Ministry of Education. They will definitely not be able to change in a short period of time.
“However, the officials of the Ministry of Education, who are responsible for the assessment of the officials under the law according to their status, can be rotated once a year.
“The person in charge of the Central Region’s inspection this year could be transferred to the Eastern region next year, and in another year, they can be transferred to the Southern region.
“This way, even if the officials in these departments want to communicate with the local officials and build a relationship, it will be more difficult.
“After all, if they change places every year, they will have to restart everything before their network is established.
“Honestly speaking, those inspections will then be reported truthfully because the officials won’t be able to establish their dirty connections.
“Wouldn’t this greatly reduce the occurrence of favoritism and collusion?”
As soon as Lorne finished speaking, Rosen could not help but give him a hard slap on the thigh.
“Wonderful! An absolutely great idea! By implementing the rotation system, it will definitely reduce the occurrence of favoritism and malpractice to a great extent.”
As he said this, Rosen could not help but look at Lorne with admiration and surprise.
“Boss, how does your brain function? How can you think everything so clearly? No matter what it is, no matter where it is, no matter if you have experienced it or not, you can still come up with a good idea and analyze it so thoroughly.
“Lorne, I’m serious, how did the heavens give birth to a legendary man like you? Could it be that the heavens have a personal preference? Could it be that you have received the highest love of God?”
With Rosen praising him so much, Lorne’s face immediately broke into a smile, and he even became a little smug. He raised his hands slightly and waved them in front of the older man.
“Sigh, old pal, keep a low profile, keep a low profile! It’s better for us to keep a low profile and not make too much noise.
“Actually, I’m just an ordinary person without any special characteristics. Other than my outstanding abilities, extraordinary abilities, in fact, unique insight, foresight, being proficient in political theory, being well-mannered, having extraordinary temperament, looking extraordinarily handsome, young, rich…
“I really don’t have any other good points. I’m just like an ordinary person. When you see me, you shouldn’t be ashamed of your inferiority towards me. After all, we’re brothers. I’ll be very embarrassed if you do that.
“So, you and I should keep in touch. Don’t feel pressured by my charisma, and don’t feel like a burden when you need to reach out to me!”
Rosen looked at Lorne, who had performed the point of showmanship to a T, and his heart was in turmoil.
He really wanted to give the young man two hard slaps.
‘Lorne, you are such a f*cking big-headed boy. I only spouted some nonsense to you. If you have any praise, just say it in your heart. Now look at you, you’re completely floating into the sky. You can’t even stop yourself from coming down.’
Rosen did not know how to verbally respond to this and kept all this in his heart. He had so many years of experience in learning about politics and in society. Now, he was completely defeated by this young man in front of him. After a moment of pause, he gathered up his thoughts again and spoke up.
“Ahem… don’t worry… I’m sure I’ll treat you the same as usual. There won’t be too much of the burdened feelings involved. I understand now that you’re just a little better than an ordinary person.”
As he spoke, Rosen stuck out his left thumb and index finger, pinching a small gap. With that, Lorne patted Rosen’s shoulder in satisfaction from that gesture.
“Sure, old pal, you know me very well. Don’t go back and tell my old friend Charles that I have so many good characteristics, okay? I’m afraid he won’t be able to comprehend how.
“After all, the few of us still have to sit together and drink wine and eat food. It won’t be good if he praises me too highly in his heart.”
Rosen really did not know how to react to Lorne’s behavior at all!
Was Lorne worried that Rosen would go back and report to the King of Lolan?
It was surely obvious in the way that Lorne acted that he wanted Rosen to share Lorne’s good qualities with Kyle as soon as possible.
When Rosen first accompanied King Kyle to this tavern, he would have never expected Lorne to be such a cheerful and outgoing person.
Rosen reckoned that the boy was just not too familiar with the king and himself back then, so he hid his true nature. Now that they were closer with each other, this cheerful and outgoing personality appeared.
To be honest, Rosen still felt that the good traits that Lorne had mentioned seemed to be all there was to it. He repeated everything from the beginning to the end, and every single one of the traits he mentioned seemed to be true.
Boss Lorne was such an outstanding person and he had countless advantages.
Of course, Rosen had learned his lesson this time. He decided to keep his words to himself and not say them out loud. If he did, who knows, maybe Lorne would end up in space with his inflated ego. Then, he would probably close the shop door and sit there and brag to anyone who would listen..