Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 20: Skipping Class, It's Been a Week!

Classroom 5381 in Teaching Building No. 1.

When the first rays of sunlight shone in the morning, the classroom was already full, with everyone holding copies of "Mathematical Analysis" and reading aloud together.

"About the Authors".

"About the Authors".

"This sentence means, regarding the author, this is the content introducing the author. Because of time constraints, we will not read it along. Next, let's turn to the first page of the main text, Introduction."

At this moment, Yang Wei held the book in one hand and read it aloud carefully. At the same time, he was extremely frustrated. He had been working until lights out last night, but who would have thought that he had been translating all the unimportant parts at the beginning? Alas, he miscalculated. If he had known, he should have started translating from the main text!

After lights out last night, everyone continued discussing and felt that relying on just one dormitory wasn't enough. They needed to work together with other classmates to translate the book's contents, making it easier to study. So, they came to the classroom before dawn.

Then they discovered that other students had already arrived in the classroom, and everyone had the same idea!

Then, Zhao Xiaoxia arrived, bringing with her a senior from the Foreign Languages ​​Department!
Class 5381 has 28 newly enrolled students, only five of whom are female! And since there are eight people in a dormitory, there are also three students from other classes. I don't know if the school arranged it on purpose, but the remaining three students are actually third-year female students from the Department of Foreign Languages, and they are all studying English!
So last night, Zhao Xiaoxia took the initiative to invite these three senior female students to the class for the price of one breakfast a day. Every morning, they would lead the class in learning English together!
I thought that since it was only the first day, not all the classmates would be able to come, but to my surprise, they all came, except for... Yang Wei's deskmate.

As Zhao Xiaoxia read her textbook, she glanced at the empty seat, seemingly unintentionally. Qin Liang... what was he doing?
After reading until 7 a.m., the senior student left with the breakfast she had bought, and only then did Zhao Xiaoxia ask Yang Wei.

"Yang Wei, where's your deskmate?"

"I do not know."

"You didn't know? Seven people from your dorm came. Why didn't you invite him to come along?"

"He didn't even go back to the dorm last night!"

Staying out all night! Where did Qin Liang go? Zhao Xiaoxia felt that Qin Liang had become even more mysterious.

Everyone's breakfast was pretty much the same: a serving of pickled vegetables and a steamed bun with a large skin and plenty of filling. One bun was enough for the girls, and two buns were enough for the boys, keeping them energetic all morning.

After breakfast, everyone continued studying. After all, the first lesson of the day was advanced mathematics theory, which was based on the English version of the book in front of them. Fortunately, they had read it once in the morning and had a pretty good understanding of the basic meaning.

Some people have even discovered that we don't need to look at those densely packed tadpole-like characters; we can understand some of it just by looking at the formula derivation!

At eight o'clock, an elderly professor walked in carrying textbooks.

"Hello everyone, I'm Zhao Lingcheng, and I'll be responsible for teaching you advanced mathematics this semester..."

Everyone was excited when he said that.

Teacher Zhao!

Northwestern Polytechnical University has many highly respected teachers, and the one in front of us is one of the best. He graduated from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering of National Central University in 1949, and then became a lecturer at East China Aeronautical Institute, and later Northwestern Polytechnical University, where he has been engaged in education ever since.

This experienced teacher is very patient and has top-notch teaching skills, earning praise from countless senior students...

"Hello, boys and girls..." Then, Teacher Zhao started speaking English, and the entire classroom fell silent. It was like listening to gibberish!
In primary and secondary schools, a class is 45 minutes long. In universities, classes usually last for two hours at a time, then the teacher switches to the next subject. What's even more grueling is teaching the same subject all morning, which is usually done in a large lecture hall with hundreds of students...

After one class, everyone felt a headache coming on; after a whole day of classes, they felt like they had ascended to heaven...

However, no one gave up. Even while eating, they would study at the same time. They were all gritting their teeth and persevering, determined not to fall behind. At the same time, there were also some strange things.

Why isn't our class's top student here?

Dormitory 13, Room 308. After the lights-out bell rang, the entire dormitory room became pitch black. Everyone put down their things and continued to silently recite English.

Suddenly, someone spoke.

"Where did Qin Liang go?"

"Yes, he skipped a whole day of class!"

"Do you think he knows them all?"

"How could that be? If he knew it all, why would he need to go to university!"

Bang! Bang! Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Tang Changhong, who was guarding the lower bunk by the door, immediately went to open the door. The lights in the hallway were still on, and he could see the figure.

"Qin Liang, you're finally back!"

"Sigh!" Qin Liang sighed. He had worked hard to get this position, and now that school had started, he couldn't continue sleeping on the desk!
Not even wanting to wash his face, let alone his feet, Qin Liang slapped off his shoes, climbed into bed, and a few seconds later, snoring began.

Inside the dormitory, everyone was speechless.

The next day, Yang Wei rubbed his sleepy eyes and suddenly remembered something. He looked up at the upper bunk, but the bed was empty. Where was the person? When did they leave?
I was planning to ask him to come to English class with me, but he's disappeared again!

Upon entering the classroom, Yang Wei was met with Zhao Xiaoxia's gaze: "Where's Qin Liang? Don't tell me he didn't go home to sleep last night!"

"I'm back."

"Then why didn't you bring him along?"

"He was gone the moment I opened my eyes in the morning!"

"What is Qin Liang doing? Doesn't he know how hard it is for us to get into university?" Just then, someone spoke up from the side.

"Yeah, even if he's number one in our class, that only represents the past! If he continues like this, he'll fall further and further behind... I heard that failing too many courses will lead to expulsion!"

Hearing the students' discussion, Tang Changhong became anxious. No, she had to talk to Qin Liang about this. "We are college students, and studying comes first!"

That night, after lights out, Qin Liang returned home. Before Tang Changhong could say anything, Qin Liang was fast asleep again. When Tang Changhong woke up, Qin Liang was nowhere to be found!
Day three, day four...

A week has passed!

Even on a Sunday with only one day off, Qin Liang was still busy, reviewing what he had learned that week and previewing the material for the next week. When the lights went out, Qin Liang was back!

This time, Tang Changhong couldn't hold back any longer.

"Qin Liang, wait a minute!"

Qin Liang looked at him curiously: "What's wrong?"

Tang Changhong was taken aback. How should she put it? Direct criticism wasn't appropriate. She was the dormitory head, not the class monitor or the academic representative. She couldn't just speak up directly!

Just then, Yang Wei picked up a book: "Qin Liang, there's a question in here that we don't know how to answer. Could you explain it to us?"

(End of this chapter)