Zhang Beixing was blissfully unaware in his sleep. His offhand comment online had actually sparked a small sensation. All he knew was that when he woke up at six in the morning and turned on his phone to check for messages, he was immediately greeted by Douyin like notifications, visitor alerts, and comment notifications.
???
Seeing this, Zhang Beixing was utterly bewildered. He opened the comment notifications. The first thing he saw was the comment from the Chop Hanging Fist content creator. Compared to his own nonsensical, obviously meme-ing comment, the other party's reply was much more formal: "Although I don't quite understand why you'd want to wear overalls, my friend, all methods of physical training are progressive. You can't get fat from one meal. If you want to get strong quickly, I suggest combining scientific fitness training with traditional martial arts; you might achieve unexpected results."
This statement had a slightly preachy tone, but it was acceptable. After all, their video was a serious promotional piece for traditional martial arts. For a comment section to suddenly have someone joking around with memes, and for it to even blow up a bit, was quite an offense. If the other person were the stubborn type, they wouldn't be politely replying to Zhang Beixing's comment but would have directly messaged him to challenge him to an offline PK!
Martial arts training... This really is a path I never considered.
Though it's interesting, it's like I said yesterday: still not as good as looking at beautiful women!
Zhang Beixing muttered to himself and put the matter out of his mind. If that Chop Hanging Fist master knew of this attitude, he would surely be stroking his beard and glaring, pointing at Zhang Beixing's nose and scolding, "You brat! You're completely incorrigible! Traditional martial arts are ruined by people like you!"
「At 7:50 AM, a sweaty Zhang Beixing, carrying four meals, arrived at the classroom.」
Today's early 8 AM class was taught by Teacher Liu, a middle-aged man with square glasses and a portly figure. He was kind and spoke elegantly. He rarely took attendance, so his classes were often sparsely attended. But today was different. For some reason, the usually deserted classroom was now full of people.
"Over here!" a soft voice called out.
Zhang Beixing looked over and saw Lin Siqi sitting in the front row, waving at him. There was an empty seat next to her, and his three roommates were on the other side of that empty seat, sprawled on their desks, fast asleep. Seeing this, Zhang Beixing walked over. He gave each of them a slap to wake them up and, before they could fully process what was happening, stuffed their breakfast into their hands.
The three, who had been forcibly rebooted, were utterly bewildered. But holding the warm food in their hands, instinct ultimately triumphed over reason. They subconsciously blurted out, "Thanks, Godfather!" and began to eat in a daze.
"Sister Qi, what's going on today? Why are so many people here for Teacher Liu's class?" Zhang Beixing asked, sitting down next to Lin Siqi, glancing around, and passing her a steamed bun.
Lin Siqi took the bun and said while eating, "It seems Teacher Liu is going to announce something important today and required everyone to be here. If anyone is absent, they'll automatically fail the course!"
WTF? That's harsh! Isn't Teacher Liu worried someone will complain? Zhang Beixing was initially shocked. Then he recalled that during his university days, something like this... indeed... had happened! However, at that time, he had failed to confess his feelings to someone and had become withdrawn, so he hadn't attended. Later, Teacher Liu had called him to the office and given him a severe scolding, which still made him feel wronged even thinking about it now.
"Who knows? Anyway, I haven't missed a single class, so I'm not worried at all," Lin Siqi said. "Speaking of which, Lao Zhang, are you sure this is a bun you gave me? How come I've been eating for a while and still haven't found any filling?"
"It's a bun! I heard the uncle selling the food say it's a Jinmen specialty, called... what was it... a silver thread roll? That's right! A bun with silver thread roll filling."
"Silver thread roll?" Lin Siqi exclaimed, surprised. It was the first time she had heard this name. Curious, she broke the bun open, and Zhang Beixing leaned in to look as well. Once the bun was opened, numerous thin strands of noodles were clearly visible inside.
"..."
"..."
"Um, Sister Qi, if I said I didn't know this silver thread roll was noodles either, would you believe me?"
"What do you think?" Lin Siqi rolled her eyes in annoyance. However, abiding by the principle of not wasting food, she forced herself to eat this 'bun'—which turned out to be a silver thread roll, more like a plain steamed bun (mantou) filled with noodles.
Shortly after she finished eating, the bell for class rang. Teacher Liu walked into the classroom right on time. Seeing the full seats, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. Then, he dropped a bombshell.
"Due to the very unsatisfactory results of your last exam, starting today, I will be taking attendance and doing spot checks in every class!"
"If I find anyone absent three times, they will automatically fail the course!"
"At the same time, for those students who have consistently attended every lecture, rain or shine, I will also give them a reward: they will be exempt from the exam this semester!"
"Now, I will begin announcing the list of students exempt from the exam: Lin Siqi, Zheng Jituo, Dong Guoning, Jin Linyu..."
The number of students Teacher Liu recognized and granted exam exemption to was small. All in all, there were only thirteen. When he finished speaking, the others looked at these thirteen with eyes full of envy and jealousy! After all, with an exam exemption, those thirteen wouldn't have to worry about failing this semester!
Zhang Beixing, however, listened to Teacher Liu's words and fell into thought. Even his three roommates, who always slept like logs, had received exam exemption. He attended every class with these three, never missing a day, so he should have qualified too. But he waited and waited, and Teacher Liu never mentioned his name.
Could he have forgotten about me? This thought arose in Zhang Beixing's mind. He knew that opportunities had to be fought for. So, he raised his hand, stood up, and looked at Teacher Liu, saying, "Um, Teacher Liu, I haven't missed any of your lectures either..."
Hearing this, Teacher Liu pushed up his glasses, squinted at Zhang Beixing for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Young man, although I'm getting older, my memory isn't that bad. I really haven't seen you much in my lectures!"
But... how could that be... What if it was like this?
Saying this, Zhang Beixing glanced at his three roommates. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he imitated their posture, slumping onto the desk and letting his head loll to one side.
Everyone was bewildered by his actions. But then, understanding dawned, and the room erupted in laughter!