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It was undoubtedly an agonizing night for Liu Shang.

His stomach churned violently, a burning discomfort that lasted almost the entire night, leaving him vomiting.

In the end, Liu Shang moved a chair and stationed himself in the hallway outside the bathroom.

To avoid worrying Jiang Ruolin, he had turned off his phone early, claiming he was going to sleep.

He only started to feel a bit better as dawn broke, and then he managed to lie down and fall asleep.

When he woke up the next day, the others in the dorm had already finished their morning routines and were preparing to leave.

Given Liu Shang's current condition, going to work was out of the question. So, after getting up and changing, he decided to accompany them to class.

Still feeling nauseous in the morning, he only managed to drink some water, not daring to eat anything.

Having learned via text message that Liu Shang was going to class, Jiang Ruolin, who had no classes that morning, found Liu Shang's classroom with breakfast and some stomach-soothing medicine.

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

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

The next morning, she took out seven thousand [currency unit not specified] from her private savings. No matter what, she had swiped Liu Shang's card last night, and she wanted to return the money to him personally.

So, the two of them came to the classroom door, waiting for the class to end.

When they arrived outside the classroom, the atmosphere inside Liu Shang's class was incredibly tense.

Due to Liu Shang's continuous absences, he had already been blacklisted by several of his professors.

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

After some time into the class, Li Wenzhong finally reached his limit and waited for the questioning segment.

"We will now begin questioning. What is surfactant micellization?"

"Liu Shang! Is he here?"

Then, amidst the laughter of the other students in the classroom, Liu Shang slowly stood up.

At this moment, Li Wenzhong, standing at the podium, nodded at him.

"So you are Liu Shang? It's truly rare to see your actual self today!"

"I assume you have significant objections to me, which is why you never attend my classes."

"Or perhaps you've already mastered everything I teach and find it too easy?"

"Then please answer this question, so we can all witness your true knowledge!"

As Li Wenzhong finished speaking, the people in the classroom chuckled. Liu Shang's friends, who were close to him, slapped their foreheads, waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Actually, their laughter wasn't malicious. It was likely that any student who skipped class every day would react this way when called upon by such a teacher; it was almost comical.

Seeing the scene inside the classroom, and hearing Li Wenzhong's booming voice, clearly restrained from full anger, Jiang Ruolin, standing outside the classroom door, frowned, her eyes filled with worry.

Seeing her like this, Zheng Jiao, standing beside her, sighed softly.

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

"I heard that many teachers have a very bad impression of him now. I'm afraid he'll have a terrible time during the final exams."

"If you have the chance, you should really try to persuade him. He might be excellent in terms of ability, conversation, and other aspects."

"But if he frequently fails classes, can't graduate normally, or even has to take a leave of absence, there will definitely be no future for the two of you."

"Honestly speaking, before yesterday, like everyone else, I thought you two were very unsuitable for each other, and that he was definitely not good enough for you."

"However, after last night, I might be able to understand why you chose him."

"I'm also very curious what will happen a few years from now, when university is nearing its end. Will you two actually end up together?"

"So, if you have the chance, try to advise him not to focus on the trivial and neglect the essential, and not to aim too high while neglecting his duties."

In fact, Zhou Liang and Tan Feng, among others, already knew that Liu Shang's frequent absences had put him in the bad books of many teachers.

They were just waiting for the right moment, when this bomb was about to explode, to deliver a fatal blow to Liu Shang through Jiang Ruolin.

Because her impression of Liu Shang had changed, and she detested the despicable behavior of Zhou Liang and the others, Zheng Jiao kindly decided to burst this bubble early.

However, to her surprise, after hearing her words, Jiang Ruolin kept shaking her head. "No, Liu Shang is definitely not someone who aims too high while neglecting his duties!"

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

"Ruolin, none of us are ostriches burying our heads in the sand."

"Some things, some problems, will eventually have to be faced."

As they were talking, Liu Shang inside the classroom gave a wry smile. Then, to everyone's surprise, he actually managed to answer Li Wenzhong's question.

Perhaps because this moment was too astonishing and abrupt, the classroom became even quieter. Li Wenzhong at the podium couldn't help but frown and directly asked a second, more difficult question:

"Liu Shang, please answer this: What are the hydrophobic groups 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."

"Um, and fluorocarbon compounds should also count."

Once again, to everyone's surprise, Liu Shang answered the question with incredible fluency and accuracy.

However, a few of the top students in the classroom frowned slightly. What were these Fluorocarbon Compounds that Liu Shang mentioned?

The teacher hadn't mentioned them before.

Fluorocarbon Surfactants were also a type of surfactant that would become widely used several decades later.

They were exceptionally effective at reducing surface tension, though slightly less so at altering interfacial tension between oil and water.

Even the lecturer, Li Wenzhong, wasn't very familiar with this cutting-edge technology. So, when he heard Liu Shang mention it, he was momentarily stunned.

"Heh, I must say, your answer was quite good. Perhaps you read ahead before coming to class today."

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

Following this, Li Wenzhong made a grand gesture and wrote a problem of extreme difficulty on the blackboard.

Just looking at it, let alone attempting to solve it, was enough to give anyone a headache and make them dizzy.

To solve this problem, one needed not only a thorough understanding of relevant chemical formulas and theories but also a very high level of proficiency in advanced mathematics.

Upon seeing the problem, even the students generally recognized as the top scholars in the classroom could only shake their heads in resignation.