Chen Yao's lecture continued, and he offered his own views on many historical questions.
They were distinctive and fresh, which naturally made them interesting.
Su Yi listened attentively. By the end of the lecture, Chen Yao had left quite an impression on him.
After finishing the lecture, Chen Yao gave Su Yi a long look, then walked out of the classroom.
"Brother Su, where are we drinking later?" Wang Junlin followed behind Su Yi, as though he had found his direction in life.
"Anywhere." Su Yi did not know any places to drink at all, and Chen Yao was waiting for him around the corner.
The moment Wang Junlin spotted Chen Yao, he smiled sheepishly, nodding and bowing. "Hello, Professor Chen!"
Chen Yao nodded. "I have something to discuss with Su Yi."
"Of course, Professor Chen!" Wang Junlin hurried off, calling back, "Su Yi, we'll wait for you at the Bamboo Grove Bistro."
Naturally, Jiang Biao and the others did not dare linger either and followed Wang Junlin downstairs.
Chen Yao looked Su Yi up and down and smiled. "I never expected you to be a student at our university, let alone a freshman."
"Is being a freshman so strange?" Su Yi laughed. "There's plenty of knowledge you don't have to learn in a classroom, isn't there?"
Of course, Chen Yao did not deny what Su Yi said. He knew perfectly well that a diploma or a degree did not prove anything.
In many genuinely scholarly families, children learned just as much growing up as they did at school, and much of it was even treasured cultural heritage.
Take Su Yi, standing before him: a freshman who could recognize ancient characters that even Elder Yang, the former university president, did not know.
Knowledge could not come out of thin air.
Chen Yao and Yang Zhengcheng had therefore concluded that Su Yi came from some scholarly family.
"Su Yi, may I ask what your father does?" After giving it some thought, Chen Yao decided that rather than asking Su Yi about those ancient characters, he might as well ask his elders directly.
Su Yi smiled. "Sorry, I'm an orphan."
"My apologies." After a moment of distraction, Chen Yao said excitedly, "Then, Su Yi, why are you unwilling to teach former President Yang? Do you know what the events recorded on that ancient stele mean for human civilization?"
Su Yi smiled faintly. "I don't know, and I don't want to know."
"You!" Faced with Su Yi's attitude, Chen Yao nearly fainted with anger. "Su Yi, let me put it this way. If you can translate all the writing on that ancient stele, you'll have made an enormous contribution to the country, and even to the entire world."
"Your name could live on in history. One day, it would appear in textbooks..."
The more Chen Yao spoke, the more excited he became, until his eyes began to shine.
But Su Yi cut him off. "I don't need my name to appear in textbooks, much less live on in history."
"Don't you have even a little ambition, a little something to strive for?" Chen Yao said, frustrated that iron would not turn to steel. "Do you really want to remain this ordinary and unremarkable all your life, like a speck of dust, so that a hundred years from now, no one but your descendants will even know you existed?"
"You clearly have the ability! Why? Why won't you do it?"
Su Yi raised an eyebrow, somewhat displeased. "Are you telling me what to do?"
Chen Yao was instantly speechless.
He had never encountered such an arrogant student before.
What kind of tone was that?
Yet one look into Su Yi's eyes left him unable to say anything.
Su Yi actually gave him a sense of pressure unlike anything he had ever felt.
By the time he came to his senses, Su Yi had already gone downstairs, leaving him with nothing but the sight of his retreating back.
He wasn't giving him any face at all!
The students passing by who had heard what Su Yi said were also scared witless.
Chen Yao was a professor at Qingzhou University. Speaking to him like that, Su Yi was practically trying to soar into the heavens.
Su Yi did not care about any of this. He walked out through the university gates and slowly made his way toward the Bamboo Grove Bistro.
Someone like him could afford not to care about many things.
Having his name live on in history?
That was one of the things he disliked most.
In truth, many people had written him into books and preserved him in poems, but those identities had differed so greatly that later generations had no way of realizing that such an undying immortal existed.
Even now, Yu Guoan and the others did not dare reveal Su Yi's secret.
Wasn't it obvious that even Yu Huiyin and the others knew nothing of Su Yi's true background?
Along the way, Su Yi stayed one or two hundred meters behind Lin Yiyun.
Many times when he awoke, someone who looked exactly like Lin Yiyun would cross his path. It was not merely a matter of appearance. Su Yi knew this was reincarnation!
Lin Yiyun and her friend had just left the university gates when Zhao Yin stopped her.
"Lin Yiyun, what a coincidence! May I buy you a meal?" Having failed to win over Yu Huiyin, Zhao Yin immediately turned his sights on Lin Yiyun, a beauty from an ordinary family.
He couldn't win over a wealthy goddess, but surely he could manage a girl from an ordinary family?
Lin Yiyun paused and frowned. "We don't really know each other, do we? Besides, I saw it on Moments. Weren't you pursuing Yu Huiyin just yesterday?"
Zhao Yin felt a little awkward. He had made such a scene yesterday that plenty of people at the university had posted about it on Moments, so it was only natural that she had seen it.
"Yes! But that was just because I lost a bet with my friends yesterday. Like truth or dare, you know? Whoever lost had to confess to Yu Huiyin." Looking completely at ease, Zhao Yin said, "My name is Zhao Yin. We could get to know each other."
Lin Yiyun took her best friend's hand and started walking. "I don't think that's necessary."
"Wait!" Zhao Yin called out and moved forward to grab Lin Yiyun.
A gust swept past as Su Yi suddenly rushed up from behind, caught Zhao Yin's wrist, and flashed him a grin.
"Holy shit! Where the fuck did you come from?" Su Yi had given Zhao Yin quite a fright.
This was no longer a question of whether his footsteps made any noise. It was as though he had suddenly appeared out of thin air.
"Keep your hands to yourself!" Su Yi had only intended to get to know Lin Yiyun gradually, but how could he tolerate someone like Zhao Yin grabbing at her hand?
"You again? Who the hell are you?" How could Zhao Yin possibly forget that face?
Yesterday, this bastard Su Yi had stolen all his thunder. If Su Yi had not been there, even if he had failed, surely it would not have looked so humiliating.
"My name is Su Yi." Su Yi smiled faintly. "Lin Yiyun is my friend. You'd better not get any ideas about her, or you'll regret it."
"You... I'll remember you, punk!" Zhao Yin badly wanted to rush up and beat Su Yi right then, but he had come alone to avoid giving Lin Yiyun the impression that he was a spoiled rich brat. If they fought, he might not be able to win.
After leaving that threat, Zhao Yin turned and walked away.
Yu Xinghe had cornered Su Yi yesterday, yet here he was today, standing perfectly unharmed. Zhao Yin did not dare act rashly without first investigating his background.