```
"I'm sorry, Professor Zhao, I'm really busy with so stuff right now and just don't have the ti, maybe next ti?"
"Oh? Is that so? Then could you give Qiao Ze's contact information so I can call and ask?"
Li Jiangao pondered for a mont, then said, "I really should respect Qiao Ze's wishes, he doesn't like to interact with people he's not familiar with. Why don't you wait, and I'll ask Qiao Ze first to hear what he thinks."
"All right then, just tell him that a professor from Yanbei University wants to et him."
"Sure, okay!" After agreeing, Li Jiangao hung up the phone.
After a mont of closed-eyed thought, Li Jiangao felt he should still respect Qiao Ze's opinion, so he picked up his mobile phone and opened WeChat.
"Qiao Ze, there are a few professors from Yanbei University visiting the academy for research. They've asked one of our own professors to get in touch with because they want to et you. That professor even asked for your contact information, are you interested in eting them?"
He didn't wait five seconds before he got a reply.
"No."
Yeah, that was Qiao Ze's style.
Simple and direct, without beating around the bush.
While Li Jiangao was thinking of how to respond to Zhao Guangyao, Qiao Ze sent another ssage: "But you can give my number."
Li Jiangao was taken aback. What did he an by that?
Not quite understanding, Li Jiangao simply sent a "?" back.
The reply was still succinct.
"It's not easy for you to refuse."
Li Jiangao felt comforted.
Of course, he had no idea that it was the series of events that had happened in Xingcheng that made Qiao Ze understand certain things. But that didn't prevent Li Jiangao from feeling a warmth and even a touch of emotion.
He couldn't help but smile, though his hands didn't stop typing, quickly composing a ssage: "It's fine, you don't have to worry about it, it's just potentially offending a professor from the university, no big deal."
"Zhao Guangyao?"
"Ah? How do you know him?"
"Oh, I told him."
Li Jiangao instinctively touched his head.
It was just bizarre.
He had absolutely no idea how Qiao Ze could have known Zhao Guangyao, and from Qiao Ze's tone, it seed he even had Zhao's contact information?
So just how many things had happened during this ti that he was completely unaware of?!
...
In a delicate coffee shop outside the school, three professors from the Capital were having coffee with Zhao Guangyao.
The original plan had been to drink tea.
But it was clear that opening a teahouse around the school wasn't quite suited to the main consur base's preferences.
They couldn't find a teahouse, but coffee shops were a di a dozen on the streets.
In the end, they could only choose a coffee shop that appeared to have a sowhat upscale decor and each ordered a cup of coffee.
Zhao Guangyao had just put down the phone not long before, and at this mont, most of the attention was indeed on his recently placed phone, including his own.
Calling Li Jiangao in front of the three professors, he was really afraid that the associate professor might refuse to give him face.
Everyone's different when it cos to such things.
So people don't care about face at all and remain unfazed by any amount of disrespect.
Others treat face as more important than life itself, feeling that without it, life would be aningless.
Clearly, Zhao Guangyao belonged to the latter.
Fortunately, the phone rang soon after.
Even though he was puzzled to see that the incoming call wasn't from Li Jiangao's number, Zhao Guangyao still answered the phone imdiately.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Professor Zhao, this is Qiao Ze. Li told you were looking for . I'm unavailable, goodbye."
"Beep Beep Beep..."
Zhao Guangyao's lips quivered.
It's not that the tone of Qiao Ze's voice was bad. In fact, the voice on the other end was very calm, with no major emotional fluctuations.
But hanging up the phone without giving him a chance to speak was rather disconcerting.
Zhang Hongcai noticed Zhao Guangyao's odd expression and teased, "What's wrong? Lao Zhao, what did Professor Li say?"
Zhao Guangyao gave a wry smile and shook his head, saying, "It wasn't Professor Li who called. Seems like he talked to that kid, and then the kid called back to say he's unavailable. That kid, he has quite the personality. I didn't even have the chance to say you guys wanted to et him before he hung up on ."
```
"Oh?" Zhang Hongcai exchanged glances with the other two, and they all burst into laughter.
Everyone always enjoyed kids with character.
"In that case, Zhao, just give the phone number, and I'll talk to the kid myself," said Zhang Hongcai with a smile before picking up his cell phone.
"Sure, the number is..." Zhao Guangyao hurriedly relayed the number he'd just shared.
Zhang Hongcai entered the number, double-checked it, and then dialed.
After three rings, the call was answered.
"Hello."
"Hi, Ze, let introduce myself. I am Zhang Hongcai, the Deputy Director of Yanbei International Center for Mathematics Research. I happen to be outside your school's east gate at the Sweet Whisper Monts Café, and Professor Zhao from your school is here too. He's been praising your talent in mathematics. If you have ti, why not co out and et us?"
"Thanks, busy, no ti, goodbye."
"Dut dut dut..."
Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Zhang Hongcai was stunned.
He had assud that the na of Yanbei International Center for Mathematics Research carried so clout among students studying mathematics.
Yet, after his introduction, he received only four words in response.
This was no longer a matter of having personality, but of having perhaps too strong a personality, right?
What Zhang Hongcai didn't know was that this response had only co about after several heartfelt educational talks from Li Jian.
In the past, Ze would even omit the polite words at the beginning and end, leaving his responses even more concise and forceful.
The inclusion of "thanks" and "goodbye" was already a compromise with the world.
He couldn't even be bothered to listen to Zhang Hongcai's lengthy spiel and simply hung up.
Zhang Hongcai didn't know all this, which left the esteed professor who was usually warmly welcod by students wherever he went rather unaccustod and even bewildered.
Impossible, right?
Could it be that the kid hadn't heard of Yanbei International Center for Mathematics Research?
Should he have said he was from Yanbei University School of Mathematics?
While Zhang Hongcai was reviewing the situation in his mind, Lu Changzheng couldn't help but ask, "What's up? Did he hang up on your call too? What did he say?"
"Well, he just said he was busy and had no ti, and then he hung up," Zhang Hongcai replied with a wry smile.
Continue your saga on m|v-l'e -
"How busy can a student be? Moreover, he isn't even in formal classes yet, is he? Could the School of Mathematics be putting pressure on him?" Qian Zhenghai glanced at Zhao Guangyao across from him and speculated.
After thinking about Ze's tone for a mont, Zhang Hongcai shook his head and said, "Doesn't seem like it; it sounds like he really is in a hurry."
"Why don't I give him another call? This ti I'll put it on speaker so everyone can add their thoughts," suggested Lu Changzheng, taking out his phone.
Zhang Hongcai thought about it, then nodded, "Yeah, let's try."
Having said that, he handed over his own phone.
It couldn't be helped; they just couldn't give up without trying.
Lu Changzheng dialed the number, and quickly the call connected, but this ti, under the watchful eyes of the four n, after two rings, no one answered, and it was directly hung up.
"Maybe he... slid wrong?" Zhao Guangyao muttered.
"Yeah, definitely slid wrong. Maybe the kid really is busy right now," Zhang Hongcai also agreed with a laugh.
Lu Changzheng chuckled, then hit the redial button.
This ti, after a brief wait, they were t with an automated ssage: "Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable, please try again later. Sorry, you..."
Lu Changzheng hung up the call, saying, "Oh, it must have been a bad signal."
Qian Zhenghai thought for a mont and then, refusing to give in, took out his phone and dialed the number as given.
This ti the call went through, rang twice, and was hung up.
Redial...
"I'm sorry..."
The four middle-aged n started gazing at the phone in a daze.
Although they had never experienced it before, all of them were mathematicians, and probability theory was a very basic subject in their field.
The likelihood that today's events were caused by a bad signal on the other end was virtually zero.
So, although they had never encountered such a situation, they all had the sa suspicion simultaneously...
It couldn't be, right?
Was this guy now directly blacklisting the Capital's numbers?!
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