The Freshman Year's Final Class Meeting

That afternoon, in Classroom 403 of Building A, Class 1 of the 2013 Applied Mathematics program held its final class meeting of the second semester as scheduled.

The classroom was packed with boys when their tall, skinny, bespectacled counselor walked in.

This counselor was named Zhang Wei, a mathematics PhD student. He usually appeared and disappeared without a trace, spending most of his time on his own projects, so the students rarely saw him.

That said, he was quite concerned about class affairs. He basically held a class meeting every month, talking about safety, discipline, study habits, exam conduct, or just chatting with the undergraduates about "when I was an undergrad."

Zhang sauntered up to the podium, clasped his hands behind his back, swept his gaze over the students below, cleared his throat, and said, "Once today's class meeting is over, your first year of university will officially come to a successful close. So that I can still see all of you after summer vacation, I'll emphasize safety once again. That idiot from the neighboring department last time left an immersion heater plugged in and nearly burned down an entire dorm room. He probably went back to retake the college entrance exam this year, right? I wonder if we'll see him after summer break."

The class burst into laughter.

Zhang coughed lightly and said with a smile, "Just joking, trying to lighten the mood. In any case, you must take safety seriously! I know some of you have probably hidden hair dryers, immersion heaters, and other high-power appliances in your dorms, and cleverly avoided inspections. But before you leave, I hope you people check again and again whether everything has been unplugged..."

After talking about safety for around twenty minutes, Zhang paused and moved on to summarize the final exams. "You all did fairly well this time. I hope you keep it up. Also, our class's third-in-command, you need to work harder. Don't think that being the academic representative just means collecting homework and attending meetings. You need to set an example academically too."

The academic representative who had been called out smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

When he had first entered university, he had been a top student. But later, he got too caught up in having fun, and his studies gradually fell behind. He had indeed done poorly this time, especially in Advanced Algebra, where he had only scored 65. He was already preparing to retake the course.

Zhang continued, "Our classmate Luo Rundong did quite well. Ninety-five points, with only a few minor mistakes. Special praise! And our classmate Liu Rui scored ninety-two, also very good! There are only these two people in our class who scored above ninety. The rest of you need to work harder."

Huang Guangming reached out and rubbed Liu Rui's shoulder, whispering, "Brother Rui, you're awesome!"

Shi Shang also reached out and rubbed his other shoulder. "Awesome, awesome! Let me soak up some of that good luck!"

"Get lost, get lost. Aren't you hot?" Liu Rui shook off the hands of the two animals. Though he sounded disgusted, the corners of his mouth still curled upward. Amid his pride, he also quietly let out a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, he had been overthinking it. There were only two people who had scored above ninety: himself and Luo Rundong, the so-called mathematical genius.

As for Lu Zhou...

He was still far behind!

A poor student was still a poor student, even if he put on a show and went to the library a few times!

The class buzzed with discussion, casting envious looks toward the two top students.

This Advanced Algebra exam had not merely been difficult. It had been brutally difficult!

Professor Tang had written the exam himself. Many questions hovered on the boundary of the syllabus. The angles of the questions were not necessarily especially tricky, but they always hit their blind spots in knowledge. Scoring eighty was already extremely difficult. Anyone who scored above ninety was practically a god!

"Also, the person I especially want to praise is our classmate Lu Zhou. Lu Zhou's grades this semester have improved tremendously. He got full marks in both Advanced Algebra and Mathematical Analysis! He even alarmed the university leadership. They sent his papers to the teaching and research group and had them graded again, but the result was still full marks. There wasn't a single flaw to pick at. This is exactly the attitude one should have toward scholarship. He has half the bearing I had back then. You all need to learn from him properly." Zhang looked at Lu Zhou with a face full of approval and nodded.

The air in the classroom instantly froze.

This time, no one even mocked the counselor's bragging.

Luo Rundong, who had been expressionless, widened his eyes slightly and turned back in disbelief. Liu Rui's smug smile also froze completely, and the corner of his eyebrow twitched involuntarily.

Two subjects...

Full marks?

Full marks!

In an instant, it was as if a fuse had been lit, and the classroom exploded.

"Holy crap! Brother Lu is awesome!"

"666666!"

"What do you mean 666? That's 999! He's beyond awesome!"

"Damn, so he handed in his paper early not because he couldn't answer it, but because he'd fucking finished everything..."

Shi Shang and Huang Guangming silently raised their hands. Lu Zhou hurriedly dodged away and warned them, "I'm warning you, don't touch me. I'm not into guys!"

Huang Guangming reached out with a cheeky grin. "Come on, Brother Lu, let us soak up some good luck."

Shi Shang shamelessly echoed, "Exactly, exactly, brother-in-law."

"Get lost!"

"..."

Watching the class descend into chaos, Zhang did not stop them. Instead, he slowly walked over to Lu Zhou and spoke to him alone. "Of course, even though you got full marks in two math subjects, don't get too proud. You still need to keep working hard. What was that nonsense you wrote for Modern History? You were one point away from failing. If you plan to find a job after graduation, I suggest you find a chance to retake that course. If you plan to take the postgraduate entrance exam, you can't neglect politics either."

Lu Zhou said modestly, "I understand."

"As long as you understand." Zhang nodded. "By the way, why isn't your name on the list for the College Student Mathematical Modeling Competition? I know you've been doing some research privately, but this kind of prestigious national competition is something you should participate in if you can. I haven't submitted the list yet, so why don't you think it over? I can sign you up."

"I've already registered. Professor Tang signed me up," Lu Zhou said tactfully.

"Oh, I see." Zhang indeed understood. He nodded and said with a smile, "Then you need to work hard."

"I'll take that as a good omen," Lu Zhou said with a smile.

Once the rowdy students had more or less had their fill of fooling around, Zhang wandered back to the podium, clasped his hands behind his back, cleared his throat, and announced that the class meeting would continue. However, hardly anyone paid attention to the rest.

It was simply too shocking.

Mathematical Analysis was one thing. This exam had not been very difficult, and it had been written by another teacher. Maybe students in other classes had also gotten full marks. But the Advanced Algebra exam had been written by Professor Tang! In the entire School of Mathematics, fewer than thirty people had scored above ninety! And you got full marks? Were the rest of them supposed to just die?

That was without even mentioning handing in the paper early!

As for cheating, no one even considered it possible. Not only had Professor Lu, the department head, been the invigilator, but the score had even alarmed the university leadership. The teaching and research group would definitely retrieve the classroom surveillance footage.

Once the footage was pulled up, there were basically no blind spots. Whether he had cheated would be obvious at a glance. Any normal person knew Lu Zhou had definitely written that exam himself.

Seeing that the students were no longer paying much attention to his speech, Zhang casually said a few things about summer safety and joining the Party next semester, then waved a hand and announced that the meeting was over.

As soon as the class meeting ended, Lu Zhou was unsurprisingly surrounded by a crowd.

"Brother Lu! Do you still need a thigh accessory?"

"Brother Lu, does your mathematical modeling team still need teammates? I can cross-dress and do a loli voice!"

"Brother Lu! For the sake of me buying you sanitary pads during military training, can I reserve a spot for next year?"

Holy crap, could they stop saying things that sounded so misleading? Those things had been for shoe insoles!

After much difficulty, Lu Zhou finally broke through the crowd and ran into the stairwell, fleeing without looking back.

Zhang watched the energetic students with a smile, inwardly sighing that youth was wonderful. He picked up his briefcase, turned around, and left as well.

Liu Rui silently slung his shoulder bag over his back, lowered his head and thought for a long while, then walked over to the class monitor.

"Class monitor, that Mathematical Modeling Competition... can I still withdraw after registering?"

"You can, as long as the list hasn't been submitted yet. You'll have to talk to the counselor." Tian Jun sighed. "Why would you withdraw? You've got a powerhouse right there in your dorm."

Liu Rui forced a smile and said nothing. He did not know what he could say.

Originally, he had signed up for the Mathematical Modeling Competition only because he did not want to be outdone by others.

But now...

That opponent who had made him so suspicious had become the powerhouse in everyone else's eyes.

In the future, when people mentioned Room 201 of Class 1 Applied Mathematics, no one would ask, "Isn't there a top student named Liu Rui in your Room 201?" Instead, they would say in amazement, "Damn, you're roommates with Lu Zhou!"

The gap was so vast that he did not know what expression he should wear to face it.

He had originally wanted to break into the national competition, while others were already aiming for first prize at the national level.

Liu Rui sighed.

The ambition he had so painstakingly built up crumbled in an instant...