Math professor returns to routine

Chapter 444: Just Not Sad Yet

at dusk.

The clear night sky is dotted with a few sparse clouds. Looking into the depths of the night sky, it is pitch black without any starlight.

Zhang Zhichuang accompanied Qin Xiyue for a walk by the lake.

With snow pressing down on the branches and laughter ringing in the ears, the usually quiet campus has become more festive.

The two chatted casually, their arms touching from time to time.

Several times, Zhang Zhichuang wanted to risk his life and hold Qin Xiyue's hand tightly, but in the end he did not take action.

After all, it means one less courage and one less legitimate identity.

I walked to a sparsely populated section of the road, in front of a bench under a street lamp.

Qin Xiyue stopped and said, "I'm a little tired, sit here and rest for a while."

Zhang Zhichuang's heart was filled with Qin Xiyue, so naturally he would not refuse her request.

The two sat side by side, with their shoulders a fist's distance apart.

Qin Xiyue took off her schoolbag and put it aside. She hooked the upper edge of the scarf with her right index finger and pressed down. White mist came out of her petite and rosy mouth.

"Guess what day it is today. If you guess correctly, there will be a prize."

Zhang Zhichuang pretended to think for a moment and asked, "Is your birthday?"

Qin Xiyue glanced at Zhang Zhichuang without leaving a trace, and said in a calm tone: "I remember I told you that my birthday is in June. You didn't forget it, did you?"

Zhang Zhichuang was shocked and quickly changed his words: "I didn't forget, of course I didn't forget! June 13th, I remember it very clearly!"

Qin Xiyue didn't bother with Zhang Zhichuang. She turned around, unzipped her schoolbag, took out a wrapped gift box and handed it to him.

"Well, Merry Christmas."

Zhang Zhichuang took the gift box and asked incredulously: "Is this... for me?"

"Who else can I give it to except you?" Qin Xiyue asked back.

"Thank you." Zhang Zhichuang's voice trembled a little. "Can I open it now?"

"No, go back and look again!" Qin Xiyue's face was hidden in the shadow of the light, and her emotions could not be seen clearly.

It was her first time giving a gift to a boy, and she was extremely nervous. If Zhang Zhichuang showed any dissatisfaction, she would dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.

"But I'm curious!"

"There's no point being curious!"

Seeing Qin Xiyue's firm attitude, Zhang Zhichuang stopped forcing her, hugged the gift box tighter, and said sincerely: "I like the gift very much, I will cherish it!"

"You said you liked it before you even opened it?"

"As long as it's from you, I like it."

Qin Xiyue turned her head away, not daring to look directly into Zhang Zhichuang's fiery eyes, and murmured softly: "You can clearly say such words, why don't you confess?"

A slight sound reached Zhang Zhichuang's ears and caught his attention.

"What did you say?"

"nothing."

"Come to think of it, I have a gift for you too." Zhang Zhichuang also opened his schoolbag and took out a gift box, which was slightly larger than Qin Xiyue's. He smiled and said, "Merry Christmas!"

Looking at the gift box in front of her, Qin Xiyue's expression suddenly became serious and she said, "You should know my rules."

Zhang Zhichuang's smile froze and seemed a little forced.

"Even if I make it myself?"

Qin Xiyue bit her lower lip lightly, a long-suppressed anger surged in her heart, and she asked, "I have made it clear enough! I don't accept any gifts from any boy except my boyfriend. Don't you understand Mandarin?"

Zhang Zhichuang lowered his head and remained silent.

If Qin Xiyue hadn't known Zhang Zhichuang to a certain extent and knew what kind of person he was, she would have slapped him and called him a "scumbag!"

It's really hard to understand why they can still avoid it even though the cards have been revealed.

The depressing atmosphere lasted for several minutes.

After calming down, Qin Xiyue recalled the conversation with Tang Wan on Double Eleven, so she asked, "What are you worried about?"

Zhang Zhichuang said nothing.

Qin Xiyue looked at Zhang Zhichuang for a few seconds and said, "You are in the terminal stage of cancer. Will you die soon?"

Zhang Zhichuang lived in Bengbu and immediately replied: "Who has terminal cancer? I am very healthy!"

"Then why don't you want to be my boyfriend? Tell me?"

"I..." Zhang Zhichuang lowered his head again and fell silent.

"Ah - I can't stand it!" Qin Xiyue stood up suddenly, pointed at Zhang Zhichuang's nose, and said: "Zhang Zhichuang, I'll give you two days to go back and think it over carefully. Either be my boyfriend or stay away from me. There is no other option. Remember, you only have two days. If you exceed the deadline, it is assumed that you choose the second option!"

After saying that, Qin Xiyue kicked Zhang Zhichuang angrily, picked up her schoolbag with one hand, and left without looking back.

……

"That's the situation."

Lu You listened to the entire process in silence. If the law did not allow it, he really wanted to pick up a stool and smash it at Zhang Zhichuang.

"There is one thing I don't quite understand. You said you liked Qin Xiyue, but why didn't you accept her confession? You said you didn't like her, but your attentions over the past few months didn't seem fake. Could it be that Qin Xiyue is actually the daughter of your enemy, and you pursued her just to torture her mentally and then achieve your goal of revenge on her family?"

"How is that possible? I really like Xiyue!" Zhang Zhichuang retorted.

"But your behavior, in my opinion, makes you look like a scumbag who only cares about flirting with girls and doesn't care about responsibility. Do you know how much courage it takes to confess your love to someone you like?"

As someone who has been through this, Lu You knows very well that for an introvert, confessing one's feelings means a lonely social death. The courage required to reveal one's deepest feelings to the whole world is comparable to that of running naked on the street.

"Compared with Qin Xiyue, you are just a coward. Not only do you not even dare to confess your feelings, you might as well chop off the cow." Lu You scolded mercilessly.

"You think I don't want to agree?"

Zhang Zhichuang clenched his fists, his eyes reddened. Under Lu You's pressure, the frustration that had been accumulating for a long time could no longer be suppressed, and it poured out like a mountain torrent.

"Xiyue is the first girl I like. All my dreams are about dating her after I confess my love to her. I don't need to make up a reason. I just want to kill time. We can go shopping, eat together, and watch movies together."

"But, Brother Lu." Zhang Zhichuang raised his head, forcing back the tears that were about to overflow. "Have you ever thought about how many people in the world can be like you and Lao Gong, with enough confidence to do whatever they want without worrying about the future?

If you meet a girl you like, you can chase her boldly, and if you catch up with her, you can date as much as you want without worrying about money. You said that you took Tang Wan to travel around most of the world in your senior year of high school, but I, let alone travel, I have never even left the city where I live. "

Emotions surged with his words, and Zhang Zhichuang's suppressed tears finally fell one after another.

Lu You took his own tissue and threw it to Zhang Zhichuang, saying, "Wipe it off. You're such a grown-up, and you can still make yourself cry."

"Thank you."

Zhang Zhichuang took out a tissue to wipe away his tears, covered his chest and took a deep breath, and his boiling thoughts gradually calmed down.

"Brother Lu, do you know my family situation?"

Lu You got into a listening posture and said, "I'm all ears."

"There are five people in my family, my father, my mother, my brother, and my sister. My brother just started the first grade this year, and my sister is in the second grade. The house we live in is relatively small, with three bedrooms, two living rooms, one bathroom, and no balcony. But even though it's small, it's ours, and we don't have to pay a mortgage. One of the rooms was originally mine, but after I went to college, it became my sister's."

Lu You frowned slightly, a puzzled look on his face.

Zhang Zhichuang seemed to see through Lu You's thoughts and said, "Are you thinking that a family like this can also produce a gold medalist in Mathematical Olympiad?"

Lu You nodded.

Subject competition is a small path that clings to the road of college entrance examination. Talent is the ticket, and teacher resources are the supplies. Both are indispensable if you want to reach the end.

Unless you are so gifted that you can rule the world, how can you beat someone who has both talent and resources? Is it through hard work?

But at the top level, the least important thing to mention is hard work. Who among those who stand at the top of the pyramid didn’t work hard to get there? Those who don’t work hard would have died before they got there.

Zhang Zhichuang smiled and continued, "Under normal circumstances, I really can't get on the competition track, and I can't even get into the city middle school. My parents' original plan for me was to finish junior high school, go to an ordinary high school, and pass the college entrance examination to get into a second-tier university.

But in the third grade, I met a physics professor with my good friend. The professor was specifically guiding my good friend to learn physics. Later, he found that I had some talent in mathematics, so he taught me as well. "

Anyone who can become a physics professor must have good mathematical skills even if he did not specialize in mathematics.

At least in Lu You's two lifetimes combined, he has never seen a physics professor who is not good at mathematics. Instead, most of them are proficient in both.

"When I was in the second year of junior high school, the professor signed me up for a math competition. I didn't think too much about it and went with the mentality of participating. I didn't look at the specific results, but the professor told me that it was just barely acceptable.

Then a few days later, someone from the city middle school admissions office called my mom and said they had a mature competition training system and asked if I was willing to go there to study. There would be a meal allowance and all tuition and miscellaneous fees would be waived.

My parents were shocked. They knew that I had someone teaching me outside and that I was good at math, but they never thought I could be good enough to go to the city middle school. In their eyes, the city middle school was full of 985 reserve schools, and it had nothing to do with ordinary people like me.

"Didn't Chunhua call you?"

Lu You vaguely remembered that Chunhua not only had training classes for mathematics competitions, but also for other subjects.

"Yes, my mother thought Chunhua was a private aristocratic school with a mixed crowd and it would be easy for people to learn bad things. Besides, it was located in a remote area, so she didn't let me go." Zhang Zhichuang explained.

Lu You had nothing to say, because Chunhua did have a group of scoundrels who paid to get in, but they were concentrated in another campus.

Apart from sharing the same school name, they have no other connection with the main campus.

"Speaking of my parents, my feelings towards them are quite complicated. I can say that I love them but also hate them. My dad is a worker. When he gets home, he only does three things: eating, sleeping, and watching TikTok. He doesn't care about anything else.

My mother is a full-time housewife. She is responsible for preparing three meals a day, taking care of the children, and various housework. She occasionally does some manual work to earn extra money.

From childhood to adulthood, what I heard most at home was either my father scolding my brother and I for our eating posture, or my mother complaining about how poor our family was and how we lacked money here and there.

After complaining, he started teaching me to study hard, find a stable job after graduation from college, and share the pressure with my dad.

He also said, "You are the eldest brother, your younger brothers and sisters are still young, I have the responsibility to raise them, let me pay for them to finish college. These words must be repeated every three days."

Just by listening to Zhang Zhichuang's statement, Lu You felt a heavy sense of suffocation descending from the sky, as if two iron chains were pressing on his shoulders, making it difficult to breathe.

"Your childhood and youth were not very good!"

Zhang Zhichuang smiled slightly, without any emotion, as if to say, I'm used to it.

"Sometimes I wonder why my dad doesn't work harder to make more money so that I can be a second-generation rich man and spend my days leisurely without having to listen to my mom's nagging."

"My son asked me to work hard, but aren't you going against the grain?" Lu You said with a smile.

"But I really thought so." Zhang Zhichuang said seriously, "I am very grateful to my mother for raising me with all her hard work, but she puts pressure on me every now and then, which is really annoying."

Lu You expressed understanding for Zhang Zhichuang's statement.

It is inevitable that while parents give their children love and care, they will also impose their own ideas on their children.

"So, you have been avoiding Qin Xiyue's feelings because of your family conditions?" Lu You asked.

"How dare I, a man of integrity, miss a beautiful woman; how dare I, a man of poverty, enter a prosperous society?" Zhang Zhichuang's smile was tinged with bitterness, and he said, "I can't guarantee that Xiyue will have a stable home, and I don't want her to suffer with me."

"Then why are you still chasing after her?"

“I can’t control myself.”

"Ah!"

Lu You couldn't help laughing. If he was not Zhang Zhichuang's friend but Qin Xiyue's best friend, he would definitely find someone to beat Zhang Zhichuang to death with a stick.

People who don't eat but still pick at the food are the most disgusting.

"Hemorrhoids, I find that you are a person who is very self-conscious and conceited. Let's not talk about your family. That is an established fact and cannot be changed. You have to bear the responsibilities you should bear. But Qin Xiyue, how dare you say that you can guarantee her a stable home?

Empty the yellow waste in your brain, and then think carefully, does Qin Xiyue need your charity? In terms of appearance, she is more popular than you. In terms of grades, it seems that you scored a few points lower than her in the midterm exam. She is really proud of herself for going through hardships with you.

A couple is an intimate relationship between two people, and all kinds of responsibilities and expenses are naturally borne by both of them. If you always want to take care of everything for the other person, you are not in a relationship, but supporting a female college student. "

Lu You's words were like thunderbolt, illuminating Zhang Zhichuang's chaotic mind.

"Qin Xiyue was able to apply to Capital University and choose the major of Mathematics and Applications. She must have her own ideals and career plans. She has the ability to make money, and it is not necessarily worse than yours.

You'd better abandon your old chauvinism and repeat what you said to me to Qin Xiyue. She will make her own decision and there is no need for you to be so self-touched. Stop talking."

Lu You picked up his stool and returned to his desk, ready to start studying.

Soon, the sound of a door closing was heard.

Lu You turned around and saw that there were originally two gift boxes on Zhang Zhichuang's desk, one large and one small, but only one small one remained. (End of this chapter)