She finally snapped out of it and muttered to herself, "No, really. Is he nuts?"
...
Meanwhile, Chen Yuan took the documents and quickly delivered them to the Arts Department.
The sprawling department office was empty. He figured everyone was back in their dorms, and the girls were probably busy fighting over the showers.
He placed the files for the show on Liu Tingyue’s desk, locked the door, and left.
He had a lot of afternoon classes, and they would likely run into the evening. Jiangg Ning hadn’t mentioned anything else, so he figured he could get through the entire evening self-study session peacefully.
Being in a relationship was wonderful, but Chen Yuan hadn’t forgotten his main responsibility. He was, first and foremost, a student.
And he was always confident he could be an excellent one.
He went to the classroom and got his textbook. His other roommates trickled in and took their seats. Chen Yuan opened his textbook and began reviewing the notes he’d taken the day before.
The course was Linear Algebra, taught by the senior professor, Zhang Yanping. He was highly experienced and skilled, and Chen Yuan never dared to slack off in his class, always sitting up straight and paying rapt attention.
Landa University’s physics department was renowned and had produced many talented researchers over the years.
Quan Yafeng, Liu Nan, and the third of their trio were laughing and messing around nearby, discussing a match they had played when they went back to the dorm at noon. Although the three of them never seemed to take anything seriously, they had actually been top-tier students in high school.
Otherwise, they never would have gotten into Landa University’s physics department.
With a single cough, Professor Zhang Yanping entered the classroom with a steady gait, still carrying his signature teacup.
The lecture officially began.
Chen Yuan didn’t dare let his mind wander for even a second. The lecture was 100 minutes long, and aside from the ten-minute break in the middle, he spent the entire time listening intently.
Not every student was like him, but most were indeed studying diligently.
Aside from an occasional yawn from Liu Nan, his other two roommates also put aside their playful mood. They followed Professor Zhang Yanping’s line of reasoning, slowly grasping the somewhat difficult material.
The city of Lanjing was graced by a rare, sunny day. Although the temperature was still quite low, many of the campus cats had come out. They were either sprawled on the grass or lounging on the steps outside the classrooms in alluring poses, squinting their eyes.
They soaked up the warm rays of the sun.
Time passed in a blur.
The old professor, Zhang Yanping, eventually slowed his pace. The blackboard was already densely covered in formulas and definitions. This was a long-held habit of some old-school math lecturers, who seemed unable to teach without writing on the board.
He took a sip of the warm tea from his cup and decided it was a good place to pause.
"I’ll give you all a moment to think. If you have any questions, feel free to come up and ask. We’ll continue in a bit."
Upon hearing this, countless students visibly relaxed, their movements practically synchronized. Liu Nan even put down his pen and vigorously rubbed his face, feeling like his brain was completely fried.
It felt no different from the mental exhaustion of making a comeback in those two Diamond-rank matches the previous night.
Chen Yuan had been waiting for those very words. He quickly stood up, but Li Bing, a student sitting diagonally across from him, was even faster. Notebook in hand, she was already hurrying toward the lectern with small, quick steps.
Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the aisle. The young woman’s skin was so fair it almost seemed to glow, and her eyes, behind round-framed glasses, were crystal clear.
Quan Yafeng’s head shot up, his gaze fixed on Li Bing’s figure with a complicated expression. Since she’d rejected him, he had completely lost any chance to pursue her. All he could do now was keep his distance, watching from afar as she diligently went about her life and studies.
At the lectern, Li Bing quietly asked the professor about something she didn’t understand. She was small and slender, practically swallowed by a heavy down jacket. A fluffy scarf was wrapped twice around her neck, and it didn’t look like it was from the current season.
She wasn’t so beautiful that other girls would feel inferior; in fact, her looks were rather average. The best word to describe her would be "plain."
But her eager thirst for knowledge made her eyes sparkle.
Quan Yafeng stared, dumbfounded. Beside him, Liu Nan and Wei Zhen saw the look on his face and shook their heads in unison, sighing. They knew that in Yafeng’s eyes, Li Bing was the perfect, unattainable girl—and the fact that he couldn’t have her only made her seem even more so.
You couldn’t talk someone out of a thing like that.
The two of them had already given up and decided to let him be.
Having apparently finished her questions, Li Bing walked back from the lectern, notebook in hand, and returned to her seat.
Chen Yuan shot to his feet, afraid someone else would beat him to it. Professor Zhang Yanping’s time was limited; if he didn’t seize the opportunity, he’d have to wait until next time. He’d had a question while doing his homework yesterday, but when he turned to ask Jiangg Yao, he saw she was busy playing a game and immediately gave up the idea.
’Unfortunately, Jiangg is a professor of social sciences and philosophy. She probably doesn’t know a thing about math and physics.’
’Otherwise, he would absolutely make Jiangg Ning his personal tutor and squeeze every last drop of her knowledge out for his own use.’
’An associate professor’s guidance, completely free of charge. He could even make her dress up for the part... Haaa...’
For some reason, he felt the idea appealed to his particular tastes.
He also went up to the lectern with his notebook. He pointed to a section he had marked from yesterday’s homework, where he had gotten stuck. "Teacher Zhang," he asked respectfully, "could you look at this? I can’t figure out why my formula isn’t working."
"Let me see." Zhang Yanping put the reading glasses he had just taken off back on and began to examine the notebook seriously.
Strangely enough...
From the moment Chen Yuan left his seat to the moment he was leaning over the lectern, quite a few girls had lifted their heads, their eyes following his every move.
On the left side of the classroom, a girl with an oval-shaped face, who wasn’t wearing glasses for class, was nudged on the shoulder by the student next to her. Confused, she whispered, "What is it?"