Falling Behind

Zhang Hupan sat on the edge of the bed, taking off his shoes and socks. Hearing everyone so excited about the Scottish cow and the School of Economics and Trade, he asked curiously, "Hey, what's so exciting about English class?" In reality, Zhang Hupan had another thought he didn't voice: I'm still worried to death. I just finished memorizing the twenty-six letters and all the phonetic symbols tonight!

"Scram!" Although it was dark and Zhang Hupan had sealed his magic power, he could still feel the contemptuous gazes from everyone in the night.

"Old Fourth! Coming to university isn't just about studying. There's a more important task: chasing girls. Otherwise, you've come to university for nothing! Look at Old Youngest, even though he's a year younger than us, look at his awareness, how high it is! His enthusiasm, how high it is! Old Youngest, give Old Fourth a lesson!" Hu Zhiming said with a tone of disappointment.

"Ahem, ahem!" Chen Youmi cleared his throat and then said with an air of seniority, "Old Fourth, even though you're older than me, when it comes to chasing girls, you can't even compare to me. Like you going to evening self-study on your first day of school, in that situation, even if you wanted to chase girls, you'd only be able to catch dinosaurs. I ask you, which beautiful girl like a celestial being would go to self-study on the first day of school? Only those dinosaurs who think their natural beauty is insufficient, so they have to vent their passion into their books!"

When Zhang Hupan recalled, Old Youngest's words did have some truth to them. The three girls who came in for self-study that night were all pretty much dinosaur-level. However, Zhang Hupan thought carefully, wasn't Old Youngest's analysis essentially viewing his own action of going to evening self-study as a low-level attempt at chasing girls?

Just as Zhang Hupan was about to retort, Zhang Zhipeng also spoke up, putting on his airs as the second eldest: "Look, even though Old Youngest is young, look how thoroughly he analyzes things, how insightful he is! It's simply hitting the nail on the head, spot on. Old Youngest, continue, give Old Fourth a good lesson, lest he embarrass us, the 203 dorm, later!"

"Ahem!" Chen Youping steadied his self-satisfied mood and continued, "Old Fourth, have you ever seen a purebred Scottish cow?"

"No!"

"But you've seen them on TV, right?"

"No!"

"Good heavens, you're too out of touch! Cindy is the most famous Scottish beauty in our school. Her towering peaks can rival a Scottish cow! Her perky hips, slender waist, and long legs, good heavens, if I had the chance to touch that graceful body, what a wonderful feeling that would be..."

As Chen Youmi explained, everyone's breathing involuntarily quickened, and the sound of swallowing could even be heard. And as Zhang Hupan listened to Chen Youping's narration, the figures of two beautiful women from below Wudang Mountain involuntarily appeared in his mind!

Chen Youmi was very satisfied with everyone's reaction and continued, "The School of Economics and Trade is vastly different from our Applied Chemistry. They study liberal arts, and at least half of the class is female. Moreover, I heard that this year's proportion of beautiful girls is very high, and there's even a campus belle!"

"What?" This time, everyone except Zhang Hupan let out exclamations of surprise. Generally, it's rare for new students to produce a campus belle so early, as getting to know each other takes time! So everyone was very surprised, only Zhang Hupan, who didn't understand these things, showed no reaction.

"I heard this beauty's name is Zhao Liya, the daughter of the Zhao Group! Wow, if you could successfully pursue her, you wouldn't only win the beauty but also immediately become a rich young master!" Chen Youmi drifted into fantasy as he spoke.

The dorm fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of rapid breathing. It was estimated that everyone was lost in unrealistic fantasies. Only Zhang Hupan had long ago sent his spiritual sense into the Universe Ring, continuing to study by flipping through books.

The next day, everyone in the dorm woke up early. If someone were to tell Zhang Hupan now that men don't care about grooming, Zhang Hupan would probably use the Thunderclap Technique to blast them so hard they wouldn't recognize their parents. The only full-length mirror in the dorm required queuing, and the entire room was filled with the smell of hairspray and gel. Their leather shoes were so shiny they could be used as mirrors, yet only the pitiable Zhang Hupan put on his ridiculously unfashionable clothes and shoes, merely patting his hair with his hand as a symbolic gesture of having combed it. Everyone in the dorm shook their heads, saying Zhang Hupan was beyond saving.

When Zhang Hupan and the others entered the classroom, they found many clearly well-groomed male students already seated, their eyes fixed on the classroom door. When they saw Zhang Hupan and the others, Zhang Hupan clearly sensed their disappointment. However, he then noticed a strange phenomenon: all the male students were occupying two seats, and Hu Zhiming and the others also tacitly found suitable seats separately. When the first female student entered and found that no matter how she chose, there would be a male student sitting next to her, Zhang Hupan suddenly understood! The seats next to all the male students were reserved for the female students!

With five minutes left until class, and all the male students waiting anxiously, the female students finally entered the classroom in small groups. To Zhang Hupan's astonishment, all the female students merely paused for a moment at the scene before them, a pause that definitely wouldn't exceed one second. Then, as if by agreement, they each chose a male student they found pleasing and sat down. Of course, no female student would pay attention to the unfashionably dressed Zhang Hupan. Naturally, outstanding-looking individuals like Hu Zhiming also wouldn't have any "customers"! Suddenly, Zhang Hupan, who was diligently exploring a junior high English textbook in his Universe Ring, felt the surroundings fall silent. So, Zhang Hupan curiously withdrew his spiritual sense from the Universe Ring and was greatly surprised by what he saw: a beautiful woman was standing at the classroom entrance.

Beautiful, truly beautiful, Zhang Hupan praised sincerely in his heart. Her neat, ear-length short hair was dark and shiny, and beneath her moderately thick eyebrows were eyes like autumn water, with long eyelashes, a delicate little nose, and soft red lips that made one want to kiss them. A top-tier beauty. However, Zhang Hupan wasn't in the mood to ogle the beauty at the door with his eyes like the other male students because he realized that the woman at the door was likely the young lady from the Zhao Group that Chen Youmi had mentioned, and she was the beauty who had sparred with him below Wudang Mountain. Although Zhang Hupan was certain that in his current appearance, and after so much time had passed, this beauty shouldn't remember him, he still lowered his head guiltily, not daring to look at her. (To be continued)