“But our class is different. Very special. Not only do we have two exchange students from top Arican universities, we also have one highly regarded, highly anticipated super [genius].”
When he said the word “genius,” Professor Yan clearly stressed it, even glancing at Jiang Ran.
The feeling was exactly like in the Harry Potter films—every ti Professor Snape called the protagonist’s na, he would bite out “Pot! ter!” with exaggerated emphasis, accompanied by a certain amount of spittle.
“So, according to Professor Zhang Yang’s original teaching plan, aside from your regular graduate-level courses listed on the schedule, you will also have two to three additional sessions like today each week—group etings held right here in this lab.”
“The content of these etings isn’t fixed. They will mainly focus on guiding discussions based on your individual interests and research topics. I assu that for outstanding students and [geniuses] like yourselves, this level of additional coursework won’t be any burden.”
When he said “genius” again, Professor Yan once more bit down on the word with emphasis.
Strange.
What had Jiang Ran done to offend him?
Right from the start, his attitude was so hostile—completely inexplicable.
“Alright. Today’s session is just an opening eting. The main purpose is for us to get acquainted. I see you’ve already gotten familiar with each other privately, so we can skip the self-introduction. I’ve already reviewed all your profiles.”
“Professor Zhang Yang… what exactly happened to him?”
“It’s nothing serious.”
“He was just in a minor car accident. He suffered so injuries and needs to rest in the hospital.”
At this point, he hesitated, pausing for a mont before continuing:
“For one thing, you’ll probably go visit him anyway. You can hear the details from him directly.”
“Any other questions? No? Then… class dismissed.”
The phrase “swift and decisive” was perfectly embodied in Yan Chonghan.
No one knew what he was always in such a rush for.
He ca in a hurry and left just as quickly, giving the three of them no ti to process, wait, or even think. He grabbed his notebook, strode out of the lab, and disappeared into the corridor.
The three of them were speechless.
They had never seen a teacher like this before. It didn’t even feel like he was going through the motions of teaching—it felt like pure perfunctory handling, without the slightest bit of patience.
“He’s nowhere near Professor Zhang Yang.”
“You two haven’t seen Professor Zhang Yang yet—he’s not only kind, but also has a great attitude, and he’s very responsible toward his students. Unlike this gold-rimd-glasses guy… if you didn’t know better, you’d think he was so idol trainee about to debut.”
Although Professor Yan had said Zhang Yang wasn’t seriously injured, Jiang Ran still decided to visit the hospital.
He called Zhang Yang again. This ti, the call went through.
But the more Zhang Yang tried to stop him from coming, the more suspicious Jiang Ran felt. He insisted on going no matter what.
“Co by yourself. Don’t bring anyone else.”
Zhang Yang emphasized in a low voice.
Fortunately, Cheng ngxue and Fang Ze, as exchange students, already had other courses arranged by the school. Their schedules were packed, so they didn’t have ti to go with Jiang Ran. After saying goodbye to the two of them, Jiang Ran left campus alone, took a taxi, and headed to the First Affiliated Hospital of Donghai University.
Seeing the scene before him, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but sigh.
Zhang Yang lay in the hospital bed with several layers of bandages wrapped around his head. One arm was in a cast, resting at his side, and his right leg was suspended high in the air—it looked the most seriously injured.
“Professor Zhang, wh-what happened to you?!”
Jiang Ran hurried to the bedside.
On the other side of the bed, a woman peeling an orange shot Zhang Yang a glance.
“Why don’t you ask your teacher yourself and see if he’s even willing to say it?”
So this was Zhang Yang’s wife. Jiang Ran had heard him ntion her in passing before, but this was their first ti eting.
He caught the implication in her words—
Not willing to say?
Could there be sothing embarrassing about Zhang Yang’s accident?
Jiang Ran looked at Zhang Yang again.
“Professor Zhang, what exactly happened to your injuries?”
Zhang Yang raised his hand, intending to scratch his head—but with his right arm in a cast, he couldn’t. He gave up and spoke in a low voice:
“I… fell off my motorcycle.”
Jiang Ran froze.
It was genuinely hard to associate sothing like riding a motorcycle with Zhang Yang’s gentle, scholarly deanor as a teacher.
“A motorcycle? Like… a big one?”
“Yeah.”
Zhang Yang admitted.
Privately, he had always had a hobby of riding motorcycles. Yesterday, he had gone riding around Dianshan Lake with a group of fellow enthusiasts.
“Luckily I was wearing protective gear, so it’s nothing too serious. Just that my right arm and right leg are fractured pretty badly. Look—my leg’s still hanging up there.”
Jiang Ran felt a sense of tragic misfortune for his “sect” and spoke earnestly:
“Professor Zhang… could you be a bit more steady? Act a bit more like a teacher?”
No wonder Professor Yan had hesitated in class. No wonder Zhang Yang hadn’t wanted to tell them the details of the accident.
As a teacher who constantly reminded students to stay safe, ending up like this from a motorcycle crash—anyone would lose face.
“Don’t tell those two exchange students, alright!”
“Embarrassing myself dostically is one thing, but I can’t lose face internationally! Just say I was innocent—that I got hit by soone.”
“…Alright.”
Jiang Ran nodded, speechless.
“Sigh, my dear eldest disciple, you have to understand your teacher! Who hasn’t been young? Who doesn’t have a hobby?”
Zhang Yang tried hard to defend his image.
“I really do ride safely. In all these years, I’ve never fallen off a motorcycle before. The roads around Dianshan Lake are flat, there aren’t even obstacles—I honestly don’t know how I ended up crashing.”
“Alright, alright.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you keep your dignity. After all, those exchange students will only be here for a year—we’re the ones tied together on the sa rope.”
“Thank you, Dingdang Cat.”
“Can you be a little serious? That’s not funny at all!”
Jiang Ran was truly at a loss with Zhang Yang.
“If you insist on playing with ti machines, can you at least call Doraemon? ‘Dingdang Cat’ sounds awful.”
“By the way… that Professor Yan—Yan Chonghan—the one temporarily teaching us… what’s his deal?”
Zhang Yang took the orange his wife had peeled and began eating.
“That guy? He’s also an exchange professor who just arrived this sester. Don’t let his youth fool you—his academic level is very high!”
“All these years, Professor Yan has been doing research at Dartmouth College. You know Dartmouth, right?”
Jiang Ran nodded.
He had heard of this world-class institution.
It had a long history. Although the campus wasn’t large, it had produced multiple Nobel Prize winners, U.S. governors, and cabinet officials. Its strength was formidable.
But in the present era, the most historically significant thing about Dartmouth College was—
[It is the birthplace of artificial intelligence.]
Nowadays, all kinds of AI technologies were erging endlessly—and the origin of it all… traced back to Dartmouth.
“The school probably arranged it this way because I have exchange students from the U.S. under , so they let Professor Yan—who also ca from the U.S.—temporarily act as the substitute instructor.”
Zhang Yang continued:
“Don’t worry, Jiang Ran. Professor Yan’s academic ability is definitely far above mine. He won’t delay your progress.”
Of course Jiang Ran wasn’t worried about that.
After all… he hadn’t co to Donghai University to study in the first place.
He just felt that everything this sester was way too coincidental!
In this small graduate group, there were four people in total—and three of them had returned from the U.S. He was completely surrounded by overseas returnees!
“I’ve really stumbled into a nest of Arican returnees…”
Jiang Ran complained.
“Thinking about it now, it was actually nice when I was the lone disciple under you.”
Humans live in the past.
They can’t help but feel nostalgic.
Zhang Yang reassured him, saying he would recover soon—at most two months, and he would be back at Donghai University teaching.
“You’re my eldest disciple. Make sure you perform well in front of Professor Yan. Don’t let others look down on our ‘sect’!”
Zhang Yang raised his only usable left hand and encouraged Jiang Ran.
“Professor Zhang, please co back soon… Being stuck between three Arican returnees this ti, I’m really about to be completely exposed and disgraced…”
After leaving the hospital, Jiang Ran took out his phone and contacted Chi Xiaoguo.
This cheerful girl from Guangxi, the president of the Film Cara Club, had also returned to campus.
They agreed to et at 7 a.m. the next day in the Film Cara Club activity room, preparing to restart the Positron Cannon experint.
“Finally… I can go to 2045 again.”
Jiang Ran was truly impatient.
There were many questions he needed to find answers to in that future prison:
Find a way to contact “The Magician” Qin Feng and uncover the secrets he carried.
Verify his previous hypothesis—whether Yuan Bin and Fu Tianqing being sent to prison was also related to ti travel.
The “Killer” was full of mysteries and possessed key information. He needed to extract it as soon as possible.
The true super genius, Lu Yu, had been reduced to a ntally broken state, drooling constantly. Was there any way to restore him and communicate?
“Thinking about it… the mission in 2045 is just as heavy.”
“Right! Lu Yu! I need to contact Lu Yu first!”
He had been so busy all day that he had only just rembered Lu Yu.
Jiang Ran got into a taxi and hurried back to school.
Previously, from the aged Zhang Yang in 2045, he had learned that Lu Yu would enroll at Donghai University as a freshman of the 2025 cohort. Today was exactly the day of freshman registration—which ant Lu Yu had already arrived at the School of Mathematical Sciences.
Finally…
Jiang Ran finally had the chance to et, in person, this genius—once known as the living Gauss for solving Goldbach’s Conjecture, suspected inventor of the spaceti shuttle, and twenty years later reduced to a drooling patient.
This would be a historic eting.
Just thinking about it made Jiang Ran’s heart race.
No matter what—
if he could bring this super genius under his wing, it would be like adding wings to a tiger for all his future plans.
After returning to Donghai University, he headed straight to the School of Mathematical Sciences, to the student affairs office.
He had expected it to take so effort to explain, but to his surprise, the staff mber recognized him imdiately.
It seed that, due to the personal recomndation letter from the Director of the Dragon Country Academy of Sciences—and Zhang Yang constantly boasting about him—Jiang Ran’s na had already beco quite well-known among the university staff.
“Teacher, I’m looking for a new student in your departnt.”
Jiang Ran said sincerely.
“He’s extrely talented. I have a project I’d like to invite him to help with. I was wondering if you could provide his contact information, or perhaps his class or dormitory?”
“Of course.”
The staff mber readily agreed.
“No problem.”
That was how things worked at universities—so long as it was for academic purposes, teachers would fully support it.
The staff mber opened the computer and began searching… searching… searching…
Finally, they frowned.
“Hm? Why can’t I find him? Are you sure his na is Lu Yu?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Ran leaned closer, watching as the staff mber searched through the Excel sheet again.
No results.
What was going on?
Jiang Ran was montarily stunned.
“Teacher, is it possible that Lu Yu hasn’t registered yet?”
“Impossible.”
The staff mber shook their head.
“What I’m checking is the admission list. This list was finalized during the application period before the holidays. Whether he has registered today or not doesn’t affect whether his na appears here.”
“Since his na isn’t on this list, that ans—”
“[There is no student nad Lu Yu among this year’s admitted freshn in the School of Mathematical Sciences.]”
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