Xu Lingbo's voice was extremely soft, like the buzzing of a mosquito: "Selling mountain goods."
In early September, just after the start of the semester, Xu Lingbo had once carried a bag of mountain goods for Lin Zhixia. Lin Zhixia refused to accept gifts from students, so Xu Lingbo had no choice but to haul the mountain goods back to the boys' dormitory. Through various connections, he then sold them to alumni across different grades.
The cassava flour and wild walnuts sold out the fastest, snatched up by alumni long ago. Only a large bag of dried mushrooms remained in Xu Lingbo's wardrobe, with no one showing interest. Nevertheless, Xu Lingbo was quite satisfied. He had earned nearly a thousand yuan.
Xu Lingbo thought Lin Zhixia would criticize him for not focusing on his studies.
Unexpectedly, Lin Zhixia paid no attention to his campus business and only asked, "Have you finished reading the paper I gave you?"
Xu Lingbo recalled the "Graduate Group Meeting Loafing Trick" his roommate had taught him. He nodded repeatedly, pursing his lips: "Yes, I've finished reading it."
Lin Zhixia responded meaningfully, "Good."
Xu Lingbo grinned at her: "Professor Lin, I'm heading to the Laboratory. I brought breakfast for my senior sister. She woke up at five..."
The "senior sister" Xu Lingbo referred to was Fang Yiwen, the only doctoral student under Lin Zhixia's supervision.
Lin Zhixia was a specially appointed professor at the university, enjoying high待遇待遇 and numerous titles. With ample funding and first-class equipment in her Laboratory, she had laid out a clear research direction for Fang Yiwen. Fang Yiwen, who had always been passionate about research, now threw herself into experiments with such favorable conditions and supportive mentorship, often forgetting to eat and sleep.
Xu Lingbo was in charge of her logistical support.
He frequently brought meals to his senior sister.
In Xu Lingbo's view, the three students in their group relied on each other for survival, yet others mocked them as the "old, weak, sick, and disabled group" and ridiculed their undergraduate alma mater, which infuriated him. By "bringing meals to his senior sister," he contributed to her academic career and accelerated her paper output. As long as his senior sister published a first-author paper in a top-tier SCI journal, their entire group could hold their heads high.
Lost in these thoughts, Xu Lingbo rushed into the college's experimental building with a bag of breakfast, bumping into many students and teachers along the way.
He wore a smile for everyone and greeted each person proactively, making himself familiar throughout the college. But when he spotted Fang Yiwen, he immediately straightened up and respectfully offered the breakfast: "Senior sister, time to eat."
Fang Yiwen sat in an ergonomic chair. Her left leg stretched out straight, while her right leg was raised, knee bent, heel resting on the edge of the seat—her posture casual, relaxed, and unconventional.
She asked slowly, "How much for breakfast? I'll transfer it to you via Alipay."
Xu Lingbo said, "Four ninety, senior sister."
Fang Yiwen glanced at it: "Come on, don't try to fool me. Pan-fried dumplings, meat buns, tea eggs, tofu pudding... This should cost nine forty, right? I'll transfer you nine forty."
Xu Lingbo scratched his head: "I made some money selling mountain goods."
Fang Yiwen scoffed coldly: "You making money has nothing to do with me. How much I owe you is how much I should pay back. Can't you figure that out?"
Xu Lingbo waved his hands downward: "Alright, alright, senior sister. You go ahead with your experiments. I'm going back to the dorm to catch up on sleep. If Professor Lin comes to check, just send me a text, and I'll come right over."
Fang Yiwen agreed.Xu Lingbo let out an enthusiastic "whoa" and leisurely left the laboratory. Just a few steps out the door, he happened to bump right into Zhan Rui again.
Zhan Rui stammered for a long time before getting out an "I'm sorry," prompting Xu Lingbo to tease him: "Hey, you're doing AI research, what are you doing in this lab? Look up—this is the Quantum Frontier Laboratory."
Zhan Rui explained: "M-my dorm internet is s-slow, I-I need to use the cluster..."
Xu Lingbo patted his shoulder: "Go on in, Senior Sister is inside."
Zhan Rui had already gotten familiar with Fang Yiwen. He discovered that as long as he completely separated emotion from logic, he could get along well with Fang Yiwen. When he walked over to Fang Yiwen's seat and sat down silently, Fang Yiwen asked him: "Did you eat breakfast?"
He replied: "The c-cafeteria was t-too crowded, I b-brought..." He pulled out a box of strawberry biscuits from his backpack.
Zhan Rui was an observant and analytical person. Having noticed Lin Zhixia's obsession with strawberries, he speculated that there might be some connection between strawberries and high intelligence. Therefore, he now generally chose strawberry-flavored snacks and drinks when shopping.
But Fang Yiwen said: "Eating biscuits in the morning, isn't your mouth dry? Have some of mine, I haven't started eating yet."
She quickly finished a cup of soy milk, saving the plastic cup. She poured half of her tofu pudding into the cup and pushed the remaining bowl toward Zhan Rui. She also gave him some potstickers and a meat bun. Zhan Rui hurriedly said: "Thank you..."
Fang Yiwen raised a hand to block his view: "Don't speak, don't make a sound, alright? I'm thinking about a formula."
Zhan Rui nodded vigorously like pounding garlic.
The senior sister and junior brother sat together, quietly enjoying a hearty breakfast.
Xu Lingbo stood dumbfounded at the doorway. Gazing at his senior sister's fluffy and untamed hair, for some reason he couldn't explain, a lingering sour feeling welled up in his heart.
The weather was clear and bright, with a gentle breeze, and the nine o'clock morning class bell rang precisely on time.
Lin Zhixia walked into a lecture hall with her head held high and chest out.
The entire classroom was packed to capacity, filled with a dense crowd of students. This grand spectacle greatly encouraged Lin Zhixia.
As she stepped onto the podium and faced the students, she heard a wave of whispering.
A group of boys from a freshman dorm had come together to audit Lin Zhixia's class. They had arrived at six in the morning to secure seats. Sitting in the very center of the front row, closest to Lin Zhixia with the clearest view, one seventeen-year-old young man said bluntly: "So beautiful, exactly my type..."
Another boy whispered in agreement: "She's even prettier in person than in photos."
Such comments continued one after another.
Lin Zhixia turned on the computer on the lectern, adjusted her course slides, and only then spoke: "Please quiet down, class is starting."
The noise in the classroom gradually subsided.
Numerous students uniformly turned their attention toward her. She smiled at them, and the freshman boy in the front row opened his phone, propped it among his pencil case, aimed the camera at Lin Zhixia, and secretly began recording video.
His roommate stopped him: "Don't do that..."
But he said with complete sincerity: "Don't what? I just want to learn more in this class."The next second, Lin Zhixia spoke up: "Hello everyone, I'm Lin Zhixia. This semester, I'll be guiding you through 'Quantum Bit and Computer.' Our course schedule includes two main lectures per week, one homework session, and one laboratory session. Regular assessments account for thirty percent of the final grade, while exam scores make up seventy percent. I've set up a forum section on the school platform—if you encounter any issues outside class, post your questions publicly there, and I'll definitely respond."
Standing straight with a clear voice, she continued, "During class, if you have any questions, feel free to raise your hand and interrupt me at any time. Every Friday from 2 to 3 PM is my office hour. If you'd like to speak with me face-to-face, you're welcome to visit me at the college's office building..."
Below the podium, many students rapidly began taking notes.
Lin Zhixia briefly wondered—she hadn't even started covering the key concepts yet, so why was the boy in the front row already jotting things down? Perhaps this was the enthusiasm of a diligent student. She recalled how Jin Baihui used to always carry a notebook back in the day.
Lin Zhixia nodded slightly.
After briefly outlining the course syllabus without wasting a minute, she immediately launched into the first lesson's content. She explained the fundamental concepts, extended into the mathematical derivations behind them, and even demonstrated live on the blackboard for the students.
Suddenly, a third-year male student raised his right hand, preparing to ask a question.
This student had regular features and a determined gaze, hailed as the "God of the Interdisciplinary College." His university average so far reached an impressive 98 percent, and he had already studied the string theory textbook by renowned theoretical physicist Joseph Polski during his freshman year. Raising his hand high, he quickly caught Lin Zhixia's attention.
Lin Zhixia held the chalk: "Do you have a question?"
The student stood up and, in just a few sentences, challenged the constraints of Lin Zhixia's mathematical derivation.
Lin Zhixia immediately became energized.
She pulled down a fresh blackboard panel, her hands moving swiftly as she proved her equations. Her speech accelerated as she expanded on more concepts, openly telling everyone that this knowledge would be key examination content for the final and would appear in their assignments over the next few months.
A group of young people in the audience showed astonished expressions.
Before the official start of the "Quantum Bit and Computer" course, the college had organized an evaluation. The vice dean, department head, and several professors—including Professor Shen Zhaohua from the Physics College—had specifically attended. Together, they assessed Lin Zhixia's teaching quality.
In fact, many professors at the university believed Lin Zhixia was Professor Shen Zhaohua's biological granddaughter.
Lin Zhixia's first research paper had been affiliated with Shen Zhaohua's Marine Physics Laboratory. During her childhood, Lin Zhixia frequently appeared in Shen Zhaohua's research group, and Shen Zhaohua's star doctoral student—the female PhD named Zhu Chan—had always been particularly kind to Lin Zhixia, constantly smiling around her.
In recent years, Shen Zhaohua had achieved significant research breakthroughs. Recognized as a world-class top scientist in her field, she remained perpetually busy and rarely seen. That she made time to observe this new teacher's course evaluation spoke volumes.
Thus, Lin Zhixia's evaluation passed smoothly.
After Lin Zhixia's first class concluded, the classroom filled with the noise of lively conversations.Lin Zhixia walked out of the classroom and headed to the corridor, dialing the number of an experimental equipment manufacturer. She still needed some customized instruments and could only contact the factory directly for discussions.
She didn’t hear the discussions inside the classroom.
The boy nicknamed "God of the Interdisciplinary College" stood in the center of the classroom and told everyone, "Professor Lin is quite good. Her class is worth attending. Have you checked the assignments? The quality is quite high."
Unexpectedly, it was his remark that gradually fueled the spread of calls to "drop the course."
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