Questions

There was no doubt that this night had been extremely grueling for Liu Shang.

His stomach churned violently, burning with discomfort, and he had spent nearly the entire night vomiting.

In the end, Liu Shang simply moved a chair into the hallway outside the restroom and set up camp there.

Not wanting Jiang Ruolin to worry, he had turned off his phone early, saying he was going to sleep.

Perhaps it was not until dawn broke that he felt a little better, finally lying down on his bed and falling asleep.

When he woke up the next day, everyone else in the dorm had already washed up and was preparing to leave.

Given Liu Shang's condition, going to work was naturally impossible. After getting up and freshening himself up, he went to class with them instead.

Since he was still dry-heaving that morning, he only drank some water and did not dare eat anything.

After learning by text message that Liu Shang had gone to class, Jiang Ruolin, who happened to have no classes that morning, brought breakfast and some stomach medicine to the classroom where Liu Shang's class was being held.

On the way there, she happened to run into Zheng Jiao as well.

After venting her anger at Tan Feng and Zhou Liang, Zheng Jiao returned to the dorm still seething with rage.

Early the next morning, she took seven thousand from her private savings. No matter what, she had been the one to swipe Liu Shang's card the night before, so she had to return the money to him personally.

Thus, the two of them came to the classroom door together and waited for the class to end.

When they arrived outside the classroom, the atmosphere inside Liu Shang's classroom was oppressive to the extreme.

Because of Liu Shang's repeated absences, he had long since been blacklisted by several instructors.

Today, he had happened to run into the teacher who was most dissatisfied with him—Li Wenzhong, who taught Surfactant Chemistry.

After the class had gone on for a while, Li Wenzhong finally reached the limit of his patience and waited for the question-and-answer segment.

"Next, we'll begin with questions. What is Surfactant Micellization?"

"Liu Shang! Are you here?"

Then, amid the laughter of the other students, Liu Shang slowly rose to his feet.

At this moment, Li Wenzhong on the podium looked at him and nodded.

"So you're Liu Shang? It's truly rare to finally see you in person today!"

"I imagine you must have a huge problem with me, which is why you never attend any of my classes."

"Or is it that you already know everything I teach and find it all too easy?"

"Then please answer this question and let us all see what you truly know!"

As Li Wenzhong finished speaking, the classroom erupted in quiet laughter. Those who were on good terms with Liu Shang slapped their foreheads, waiting to see him embarrass himself.

There was no malice in their laughter. Presumably, any student who skipped class every day would seem rather comical when called on by this kind of teacher.

Seeing the scene in the classroom and hearing Li Wenzhong's booming voice, clearly thunderous with rage despite his restraint, Jiang Ruolin frowned tightly outside the classroom, her eyes full of worry.

Seeing her like this, Zheng Jiao beside her let out a soft sigh.

"Ruolin, Liu Shang hasn't been coming to class for a long time now. Or, more accurately, he hasn't been attending any classes at all."

"I heard that many teachers have an extremely poor impression of him now. I'm afraid he'll have a miserable time during finals."

"If you get the chance, you should still try to persuade him. Maybe he's excellent in ability, eloquence, and other aspects."

"But if he keeps failing courses, can't graduate normally, or even has to suspend his studies, then the two of you absolutely won't have any future together."

"To be honest, before yesterday, I was like everyone else. I thought the two of you were terribly mismatched, and that he absolutely wasn't worthy of you."

"But after last night, I may be able to understand why you chose him."

"I'm also curious about what the two of you will become in a few years, when university is nearly over. Will you really make it to the end?"

"So, if you get the chance, you should still tell him not to put the cart before the horse, not to aim too high or waste his time on frivolous pursuits anymore."

In fact, Zhou Liang, Tan Feng, and the others had long known that Liu Shang often skipped class and had already raised red flags with many teachers.

They were merely waiting, waiting until this ticking bomb grew larger and was about to explode, before using Jiang Ruolin to deal Liu Shang a fatal blow.

Because her impression of Liu Shang had changed, and because she detested the despicable conduct of Zhou Liang and the others, Zheng Jiao kindly burst this bubble ahead of time.

Yet contrary to her expectations, after hearing her words, Jiang Ruolin kept shaking her head. "No. Liu Shang is absolutely not the kind of person who aims too high and wastes his time on frivolous pursuits!"

Seeing how certain Jiang Ruolin was in her opinion of Liu Shang, Zheng Jiao shook her head in disbelief.

"Ruolin, none of us are ostriches who can bury our heads in the sand."

"Some things, some problems, have to be faced sooner or later."

Just as the two of them were speaking, Liu Shang revealed a bitter smile in the classroom. Then, to everyone's surprise, he actually answered Li Wenzhong's question.

Perhaps because the moment was so startling and abrupt, the classroom became even quieter. Li Wenzhong on the podium also frowned and directly posed a second, somewhat more difficult question.

"Liu Shang, answer this as well. What hydrophobic groups are commonly found in surfactants on the market?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Liu Shang blurted out, "Hydrophobic groups?"

"Natural Fatty Acids, Petroleum Paraffin, Alkylbenzene, Alkyl Aromatic Compounds, Alkylphenols, Polypropylene Glycol, Silicone Resins."

"Uh, Fluorocarbon Compounds should count too."

Once again, Liu Shang had answered the question with astonishing fluency and precision.

However, several of the top students in the classroom frowned slightly. What exactly were these Fluorocarbon Compounds Liu Shang had mentioned?

The teacher had not brought them up before.

Fluorocarbon Surfactants were also a type of surfactant that would see extremely widespread use several years, even a decade or more, later.

They were exceptionally effective at reducing surface tension, though they were slightly less effective at altering oil-water interfacial tension.

Even Li Wenzhong, the lecturer, was not very familiar with this cutting-edge technology. Therefore, when he heard Liu Shang mention it, he too froze for a moment.

"Heh, I have to admit that your answer this time was quite good. Perhaps you read the textbook in advance before coming to class today."

"Next, I'm going to give you a calculation problem. Use the Debye-Huckel formula to calculate the activity coefficient of a surfactant solution."

Then, with a broad sweep of his hand, Li Wenzhong wrote an extremely difficult problem across the blackboard.

Forget solving it—just looking at it was enough to make one's head ache and vision blur.

To solve this problem, one not only needed to be highly familiar with the relevant chemical formulas and theories, but also needed an exceptional grasp of advanced mathematics.

The moment they saw the problem, even the several top students universally acknowledged in the classroom could only shake their heads helplessly.