The top student's study room was in the same building as the other study rooms, except this one stood at the end of the first-floor corridor. Besides the door knocker with its brass nose ring, the door also bore paintings of Door Gods.
At First University, ordinary classrooms and study rooms almost never displayed Door Gods.
Only after the Door Gods announced their permission did the group enter.
Compared with the damp chill outside, the room was much drier. The tall floor-to-ceiling windows were shut tight, and though raindrops struck the glass, not a sound could be heard.
A row of red flowerpots sat beneath the windowsills, filled with long, slender weeds—or perhaps herbs; Zheng Qing could not tell. In front of them stood a narrow desk, with several red round-backed chairs underneath.
Zheng Qing looked around.
A bookshelf stood on the left side of the study room, rather bare, with only a few books on it. On the right was a small experimental bench, scrubbed spotless, without even a test-tube rack. A large desk occupied the middle of the room. Liu Feifei and Nicholas sat behind it, working through practice problems.
Seeing the guests file in, the study room's owner jumped down from her chair, a delighted smile spreading across her face. "Welcome, welcome... just find any empty seats you like. There's no one here besides us."
"Sorry to intrude." Jiang Yu smiled as she dumped all the textbooks in her hands onto the largest desk in the center of the study room.
"No, no, I'm very happy you came!"
"I brought you a gift!" Li Meng eagerly squeezed up beside Nicholas and Liu Feifei, then raised her hand and stuffed a yellow-skinned frog dripping with muddy water toward them.
The frog bulged its watery eyes and whimpered pitifully,