Fallen Behind

Zhang Hupan sat down on the edge of the bed and started taking off his shoes and socks. Hearing everyone get so excited about Scottish cows and the School of Economics and Trade, he asked curiously, "Hey, what's so exciting about taking English classes?" In fact, there was another sentence Zhang Hupan hadn't said aloud: I'm worried sick! I only finished memorizing the twenty-six letters and all the phonetic symbols tonight!

"Ugh!" Although it was nighttime and Zhang Hupan had sealed away his magical power, he could still feel everyone's disdainful gazes in the darkness.

"Fourth Brother, you didn't come to university just to study. There's another, even more important task: picking up girls. Otherwise, you'll have wasted your trip to university! Look at Little Ninth. He's a year younger than us, but look how advanced his awareness is and how high his enthusiasm runs! Little Ninth, give Fourth Brother a lesson!" Hu Zhiming said in a tone that seemed to resent him for failing to live up to his potential.

"Ahem, ahem!" Chen Youmi cleared his throat, then said in a seasoned, world-weary tone, "Fourth Brother, although you're older than me, when it comes to picking up girls, you couldn't catch up to me even on horseback. Take your going to evening self-study on your very first day of school, for example. Even if you'd wanted to pick up girls under those circumstances, the only ones you could've picked up would've been dinosaurs. Tell me, what beautiful girl who looks like a celestial maiden would go to self-study on her first day of school? Only dinosaurs, who think they were born lacking in beauty, would have no choice but to vent their passion on their books!"

Thinking back, Zhang Hupan had to admit that Little Ninth's words made some sense. The three girls who had come in for self-study that evening had indeed been more or less dinosaur-level. But after thinking it over, Zhang Hupan realized that Little Ninth's analysis seemed to be treating his own decision to attend evening self-study as an inept attempt to pick up girls!

Just as Zhang Hupan was about to argue, Zhang Zhipeng also put on his Second Brother airs and began, "Look, Little Ninth may be young, but look how thorough and insightful his analysis is! It hits the nail right on the head. Little Ninth, keep going and give Fourth Brother a proper lesson, so he doesn't embarrass our Room 203 in the future!"

"Ahem!" Chen Youping steadied his smug emotions before continuing, "Fourth Brother, have you ever seen a purebred Scottish cow?"

"Never!"

"Then you must've seen one on television, right?"

"No."

"My heavens, you're hopelessly behind the times! Cindy is the most famous Scottish beauty at our school. Those towering twin peaks of hers can rival a Scottish cow's! Her perky buttocks, slender waist, and long legs—my heavens, if there were a chance to touch that graceful body, what a wonderful feeling it would be..."

As Chen Youmi described her, everyone's breathing unconsciously grew heavier. They could even hear the sounds of people swallowing. Listening to Chen Youping's account, Zhang Hupan somehow found the images of the two beauties he had encountered beneath Wudang Mountain surfacing in his mind.

Chen Youmi was extremely pleased with everyone's reactions and continued, "The School of Economics and Trade is very different from Applied Chemistry. They study liberal arts, and at least half of every class is made up of girls. I also hear that this year's proportion of beauties is especially high, and there's even a campus-flower-level beauty!"

"What?" This time, everyone except Zhang Hupan cried out in surprise. Generally speaking, it was rare for a campus-flower-level beauty to appear so soon after freshmen arrived. After all, getting to know one another took time! That was why everyone was so shocked. Only Zhang Hupan, who knew nothing about such things, showed no reaction.

"I hear the beauty's name is Zhao Liya, and she's the daughter of the chairman of the Zhao Group! Wow, if someone managed to win her over, not only could he take home a beauty, but he'd instantly become a rich young master!" As Chen Youmi spoke, he sank into his fantasies.

The dormitory fell silent. The only sound was rapid breathing. Everyone had probably sunk into unrealistic fantasies. Only Zhang Hupan had long since sent his Spiritual Sense into the Universe Ring, where he continued flipping through books and studying.

The next morning, everyone in the dormitory got up early. If anyone told Zhang Hupan that men didn't care about their appearance, he would probably blast that person until he no longer recognized his own parents with the Thunderclap Technique. The dormitory's only full-length mirror had to be used in turns. The entire room was filled with the smell of mousse and styling spray, and everyone's leather shoes were polished so brightly they could be used as mirrors. Only poor Zhang Hupan put on his hopelessly old-fashioned clothes and shoes as usual. He merely ran a hand through his hair as a token gesture and called it combing his hair. Everyone in the dormitory shook their heads at the sight and said Zhang Hupan was beyond saving.

When Zhang Hupan and the others entered the classroom, they found that many obviously carefully groomed male students were already sitting in their seats. All of them stared fixedly at the classroom door. When they saw Zhang Hupan and the others, Zhang Hupan could clearly sense their disappointment. Then he noticed something strange: every male student had occupied two seats. Hu Zhiming and the others also tacitly split up and each found a suitable place to sit. When the first girl entered and discovered that no matter which seat she chose, there would be a male student sitting beside her, Zhang Hupan finally understood! So the seats beside all the male students had been reserved for girls!

With five minutes left before class, all the boys were waiting anxiously when the girls finally entered the classroom in groups of three or five. What left Zhang Hupan utterly dumbfounded was that all the girls merely froze for a moment at the sight before them—a moment that definitely lasted less than a second—before, as if they had all agreed beforehand, each chose a male student she found pleasing to the eye and sat down beside him. Naturally, no girl would take notice of their hopelessly unfashionable Zhang Hupan. Of course, someone as striking-looking as Hu Zhiming wouldn't have any customers coming to his door either! Suddenly, while Zhang Hupan was intently exploring the junior-high English book inside the Universe Ring, he sensed the area around him grow quiet. Curious, he withdrew his Spiritual Sense from the Universe Ring and looked up, only to be startled. A beauty was standing at the classroom entrance.

Pretty—truly pretty. Zhang Hupan praised her sincerely in his heart. Her neat, ear-length hair was glossy black, and beneath her well-proportioned dark brows was a pair of limpid, autumn-water eyes. Her long eyelashes, delicate nose, and warm red lips made people want to kiss her just once. She was a beauty, a beauty of the highest order. However, Zhang Hupan had no mood to use his eyes to indulge in the same lewd fantasies as the other boys, because he realized that the beauty at the entrance was probably the daughter of the Zhao Group whom Chen Youmi had mentioned—the beauty he had encountered and exchanged blows with beneath Wudang Mountain. Although Zhang Hupan was certain that, in his current appearance and after such a long time, the beauty before him probably wouldn't remember him, he still guiltily lowered his head and didn't dare look at her.