Chapter 25: Isn't This Too Pretentious?

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With the approval from Xu Dajiang and the full accompaniment of the counselor Liu Hao, dealing with the university logistics was very smooth, and all the procedures were soon completed.

Originally, Li Jiangao had also planned to accompany them, but thinking of his intention for Qiao Ze to experience university life alongside regular students, he felt his presence would detract from that. Moreover, Xu Dajiang had already made everything clear to the counselor.

So, in the end, he simply emphasized to Liu Hao once more that Qiao Ze's personality was relatively somber and introverted before he let Liu Hao take Qiao Ze away.

To let a child experience a normal life, one must first let go and allow them to try.

At least Li Jiangao felt that Qiao Ze's previous interactions with the professors were quite good, and he already had a foundation for developing towards normality.

He truly didn't hope for Qiao Ze to become an academic machine in the future.

Therefore, before leaving, Li Jiangao left Qiao Ze with one piece of advice.

"Experiencing university life is good, but if someone dares to bully you, call me immediately, understand?"

It was Liu Hao standing beside them who helped answer, "Haha, Professor Li, don't worry, that won't happen!"

...

"Qiao Ze, are you a relative of Professor Li's family?"

Having just arranged the dormitory assignments over the phone, Liu Hao heaved a sigh of relief and also got curious about Qiao Ze's background.

Normal students usually didn't require his inquiry, as various forms were filled out during admission and the information would eventually be compiled for the counselor. A quick look was all it took to know. But Qiao Ze's situation was, of course, different.

The result disappointed him, as Qiao Ze only shook his head without responding.

Liu Hao sighed inwardly, feeling that this kid was truly reserved, but still undeterred, he continued saying, "No? I see that both Dean Xu and Professor Li care a lot about you, so I thought you might be."

To his surprise, this remark elicited a response from Qiao Ze.

"Uncle Li cares about me because he's excessively kind and willing to be good to me without seeking anything in return; Dean Xu cares about me because he thinks I'm very valuable; you care about me because you want something from Dean Xu, so you follow his words closely."

Liu Hao was dumbfounded, mouth agape, unable to string together a complete sentence.

Did this kid think he could see through people too clearly and was too arrogant?

The dean thought he was valuable?

What value could a freshman possibly have?

Of course, these thoughts just circled in Liu Hao's mind and he didn't actually voice them.

Liu Hao would have to be brainless to say such a thing in front of a kid who the dean had repeatedly instructed him to look after.

But it was because of Qiao Ze's words that he gave up on trying to suss out more information.

Now he started to wonder, if not a relative, why would Professor Li be so unconditionally good to this child?

For Qiao Ze, Liu Hao's silence was really quite pleasant, because he genuinely thought that this counselor didn't seem very smart.

And in order to heed Li Jiangao's words and not let Liu Hao notice this, he had to endure quite a bit.

...

"This is the new student Qiao Ze, this is Zhang Zhou, and this is Gu Zhengliang, they are the class president and the group secretary of Basic Mathematics Class One, and from now on, you will be classmates and roommates, so get along well. Oh, and Zhang Zhou, as the class president, you should take the initiative to look after Qiao Ze, helping him to integrate into the class community as swiftly as possible.

Qiao Ze, both Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang are excellent students in the class. If you encounter any problems, whether with studies or life, you can seek their help. Of course, you can also contact me directly on WeChat. Right, Zhang Zhou, remember to add Qiao Ze to the class WeChat group later."

In dormitory 408 of the new male dormitory building, Liu Hao was patiently introducing everyone.

The first meeting wasn't very enthusiastic.

Qiao Ze nodded at the two of them.

His first impression was that class president Zhang Zhou was a chubby guy with a comedic look, and the group secretary was a tall, thin fellow with glasses, looking refined and quite stylish.

As for Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang, they were more curious about Qiao Ze.

In high school, there were indeed some sudden transfers.

But they had never heard of such a thing happening at the university level.

The latter half of their freshman year was almost over, and suddenly a new student transfers in? Where did he come from?

After the introductions, Liu Hao didn't want to stay any longer.

But, remembering the dean's instructions, he still called Zhang Zhou outside the dorm room before he left.

"Zhang Zhou, you are the class president, so the responsibility of taking care of the new student is yours. You need to make the new student feel the unity and warmth of our Basic Mathematics Class One big family. If anything happens to Qiao Ze, it's you I'll be asking!"

The bewildered freshman could feel the hidden pressure behind that heartfelt talk, looking at the counselor he said, "Counselor Liu, what's the story behind this Qiao Ze student? I've never heard of someone transferring into a university like this."

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Liu Hao really wanted to say that it was a good question, but to never ask again.

But he just gave Zhang Zhou a stern look and said, "Why worry about such nonsense? Just take responsibility as the class president. By the way, where's Chen Yiwen? Why isn't he in the dormitory?"

"Chen Yiwen went straight to the cafeteria after class, saying he would study there for a while before having his meal."

"Fine, when he returns, tell him to take good care of the new students too. That's it, I'm off."

...

When Zhang Zhou returned to the dormitory, he saw Qiao Ze already beginning to make his bed, with Gu Zhengliang silently helping beside him.

Actually, it wasn't much help.

The beds in Xilin University of Technology's four-person dormitories were on top of the closets and desks, and it was much easier to make the bed with someone below handing things up.

And that was exactly what Gu Zhengliang was doing, silently passing up the bedding to Qiao Ze.

Pretty good, the only thing that puzzled Zhang Zhou was why Gu was being so quiet.

Wasn't this the time to get to know the new student?

"Ahem, Qiao Ze, Liu just called me out and told me to take good care of you. If you don't understand something in your studies, just ask me."

"Thank you," Qiao Ze answered while making his bed.

Lucky that Zhang Zhou had good hearing, or he wouldn't have caught that.

"Right, you haven't eaten yet, have you? How about we go to the cafeteria after you're done here?"

"Sure."

"What do you like to eat? Normally, if northerners want noodles, they go to the first cafeteria. If you want stir-fry and rice, we'll head to the third cafeteria."

"Either is fine."

Zhang Zhou blinked and realized he really couldn't keep the conversation going.

This new roommate was really a man of few words.

Then he saw the normally silent Gu Zhengliang shrugging at him, then starting to make faces.

Okay, he got it.

"All right, then let's just head to the third cafeteria later."

"Okay."

The dormitory once again fell quiet. After Qiao Ze made his bed and got down, he saw his two roommates sneaking glances at him, thought for a moment, and then took the initiative to explain, "My mom says I'm not good at talking. I tend to offend people when I talk, so she told me to speak less."

"Haha, no worries, feel free to talk in front of me, I'm pretty easy-going and won't fuss over that stuff!" Zhang Zhou slapped his chest, his face jiggling with laughter, definitely not the type to sweat the small stuff.

"Okay!"

Qiao Ze nodded at Zhang Zhou, then went to his own desk, took out his laptop, and following the student handbook he had just received, connected to the network and logged onto the school's library website to start browsing on his own.

Zhang Zhou wanted to eagerly show Qiao Ze how to use the student account to get online but, seeing how adeptly Qiao Ze was managing, he simply shut his mouth.

Forget it, don't disturb others.

Better to talk over dinner then.

He too began to work on his homework like Gu Zhengliang.

The School of Mathematics really had a lot of homework.

Soon, after completing two problems, Zhang Zhou glanced at the time, saw it was already five-thirty, pushed back from his desk and stood up, calling out flamboyantly, "Let's go, let's go, time to eat. I'll treat the new guy to a welcome meal today! Gu, let's move."

To show his warmth, Zhang Zhou walked behind Qiao Ze, about to pat the new student on the shoulder, but his eyes were shocked by the content on Qiao Ze's laptop screen.

The guy seemed to be reading an academic paper? And in English, no less?

"Eh? Qiao Ze, you can understand this stuff?"

"Yeah. I heard that geometry is the strength of the School of Mathematics, so I randomly read a few recent papers by the school's teachers on geometry, but it seems the teachers who work in this area are not very strong. They only refine existing results from abroad using other people's analysis methods. There's nothing groundbreaking."

"Uh..."

Zhang Zhou blinked and subconsciously looked over at Gu Zhengliang, who had just stood up and grabbed his meal container, to find him looking equally baffled.

Well, that was refreshing!

At least he wasn't the only one overwhelmed by the thick air of show-offishness.