(Please favorite and recommend aaaahhh...)——————————"Hey, bro, what's your name? What major are you? You're not from our School of Mathematics, are you?"
Xiao Yi walked over to another seat and sat down, finally finding some peace. No one else came to disturb him, telling him the seat was taken. In fact, as soon as he had sat down, the bell for class rang and the teacher came in to start the lecture. So, it was unlikely anyone would get the chance to bother him.
Having breathed a sigh of relief, Xiao Yi reopened his textbook, ready to listen to how the teacher would conduct the class. But before he could make sense of what he was hearing, the guy sitting beside him nudged him with his elbow. The chubby-faced fellow with tiny eyes that squinted into a smile looked over at him.
"My name is Xiao Yi, and I'm from the School of Mathematics."
Though Xiao Yi was slightly annoyed at being interrupted, as the saying goes, don't hit a smiling face. Given the fatty's radiant smile, he had no choice but to respond.
"Not a freshman?"
Upon hearing Xiao Yi's answer, the chubby guy asked in surprise.
"Yes, I'm a freshman."
After answering, Xiao Yi knew that the fatty was probably curious because of the earlier incident, so without waiting for more questions, he took the initiative to explain, "I'm in Applied Mathematics Class One. Because something happened at home when school started, I only arrived at the campus to register yesterday, so I'm not very familiar with the school."
"Oh, I see, no wonder you didn't even know about Zhao Yuhua's reserved seat, and it seems like you don't even know Young Master Gao. I thought you were another suitor from a different major who came because of Zhao Yuhua's fame, heh heh."
The little fatty said, realizing.
Then, as if he had remembered something, he looked at Xiao Yi in astonishment, "You're from Applied Mathematics Class One?"
"That's right."
Xiao Yi nodded, his gaze briefly flicking towards where the tall and handsome guy had been, a cold smile playing at the corner of his eye. Young Master Gao, huh? Consider yourself lucky today—I'd better not cross paths with you again. Otherwise, I don't care what "master" you are, I'll leave you missing a few parts.
"Damn, bro, you wouldn't happen to be the one from our dorm who hasn't checked in yet, would you?"
The little fatty exclaimed, slapping his thigh and gaping at Xiao Yi.
"Maybe."
Xiao Yi was somewhat put off by the fatty's outsized reaction, which had already drawn the attention of the teacher at the lectern. He responded absentmindedly while staring at the blackboard.
The little fatty himself realized that he had overreacted and gave Xiao Yi an apologetic smile. He quickly picked up his math book and pretended to study intently. But in just a moment, he leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Brother, aren't you in Dorm 602?"
"Seems like it."
Xiao Yi's mind whirred. Since he hadn't planned on staying in the school dormitory, he hadn't paid much attention to the arrangements. However, when he had received his housing slip, he vaguely remembered it mentioned something like building number 602.
Could it really be such a coincidence? He had chosen a random seat and ended up next to a dorm-mate?
"Wow, that settles it, brother, we are really fated. We are even neighbors; your bed is right next to mine. Hey, why didn't you come to the dorm yesterday?"
The little fatty asked again, his face lighting up with excitement.
But this time, he set the book upright, blocking the direction of the podium, thinking that the teacher above wouldn't be able to see him.
Xiao Yi found his action completely baffling. Did he not know that even if he plastered his face against the desk, his height would still exceed the upright math textbook? More than half his face was outside the book. The teacher wasn't blind; how could they not see him?
"I'm staying at a relative's place for now, so I probably won't be staying in the dormitory. Be careful, the teacher's going to call on you."
No sooner had Xiao Yi finished speaking than the teacher started calling out from the podium, "The student sitting in the corner on the left, answer this question."
University classes, especially these big public lectures, rarely involved the teacher calling on students to answer questions, except when the teacher on the podium became utterly intolerable.
The two lads in the corner hadn't stopped their antics since the class began, which had already irritated the teacher on the podium. Luckily, the skinny kid sitting on the outside was somewhat honest, making small movements while still minding himself, which at least showed some recognition of their teacher's authority. But this fat kid was just unbearable—he hid behind this stupid method, babbling to himself as if they were idiots, blind, or deaf. Damn it, it was tolerable for an uncle but not for an aunt.
So, the teacher decided to throw a problem at the annoying student.
"What?"
The fat kid clearly hadn't expected the teacher to actually call on him. But, having been primed by Xiao Yi's warning, he managed to stand up quickly, scratching his head and looking bewildered once he was on his feet.
"Teacher, I... I'm sorry, I fell asleep just now and didn't hear your question."
Feeling everyone's eyes on him, the fat kid's face flushed red, but it wasn't obvious due to his chubby cheeks. After a few seconds, his eyes darted and he hastily made a timid excuse.
"..."
Xiao Yi was utterly speechless at the fat kid's excuse. Was he talking in his sleep just now?
Did he really think the teacher hadn't seen what he had been doing? Wasn't this just flagrantly masochistic to so blatantly lie?
Besides, was falling asleep really such a good excuse?
As expected, the teacher's face turned sour at the fat kid's words and, with a raise of voice, said, "I don't care if you were sleeping or doing whatever; answer my question. If you can't answer my question today, you will copy the multiplication table a hundred times when you get back!"
The teacher was so angry that words burst out without thought, even suggesting a punishment they'd give to a child who had just started elementary school, without realizing anything amiss.
This was infuriating. The teacher had clearly seen him talking, and here he was, blatantly lying to them. Did he have any respect left for the teacher at all? Did he seriously think the teacher was an idiot or blind?
Damn it, sleeping in class. Was sleeping in class something to be proud of, mentioned so loudly? Did the teacher ever say it was okay to sleep during their class?
It was all because the teacher had been too lenient before, not waking him up when seeing him asleep, as it didn't seem to bother anyone else. The teacher inwardly resolved that from now on, they would not allow anyone to sleep during their lectures, and would call out anyone they caught dozing off.
"..."
Xiao Yi was completely at a loss for words. The fat kid was impressive, but the teacher was equally astonishing, imposing a multiplication table punishment on a university student.
All the students in the classroom were speechless upon hearing the teacher's method of punishment, all thinking this calculus teacher was incredibly forceful and talented.
But, speechless or not, to avoid seeing his relatively fated desk-mate—who, incidentally, wasn't a dorm mate—sadly copying multiplication tables, he carefully nudged the fat kid under the table and pointed to the textbook, hinting at the question the teacher had just asked.