Chapter 40#
Explaining the Problem#
Everyone in the classroom looked over. Mo Xuzhi wasn’t panicked at all; he even tried once more to stuff the coffee into the desk drawer. In the end, it wouldn’t fit no matter what. With Wang Zhifeng standing on the podium watching him, he simply put the coffee on the desk openly and then stood up.
As he prepared to leave his seat, he lowered his head and asked in a low voice, “What are we learning in this class?”
It was over; he didn’t even know what was being taught.
The girl closed her eyes in despair and then whispered, “Quantum Mechanics.”
Although she didn’t understand these things, she had pretended to read the book and memorized a concept just in case she was called upon. This guy, on the other hand, had the audacity to come without even knowing what class was in session.
She had heard that Quantum Mechanics was the “devil’s course” of physics. Having listened to most of the lecture, although she didn’t understand, she was greatly shaken.
Those symbols and various convoluted definitions and concepts were not something she could withstand.
The girl couldn’t bear to look, not wanting to watch a fine young man she had just felt a spark for fall into the devil’s claws, and turned her head away.
Mo Xuzhi walked up to the podium, looking at Wang Zhifeng, and then they stared at each other.
Wang Zhifeng tapped the lecture desk and said, looking the part of a professor, “Classmate, solve the problem and explain your thought process to everyone.”
Mo Xuzhi didn’t move; he first glanced at him, then at the PPT.
Then he glanced at the PPT a few more times.
Seeing his appearance, Wang Zhifeng couldn’t help but sigh and smile, handing the chalk in his hand to Mo Xuzhi, saying, “The problem is on the blackboard.”
Only then did Mo Xuzhi shift his gaze to the blackboard, realizing, “Oh, it’s here.”
He turned his head and added, “Your handwriting on the blackboard is actually quite good-looking.”
The students sitting nearby heard their conversation and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Mo Xuzhi squinted at the blackboard, unconsciously twirling the chalk in his hand, and said, “Don’t be in a hurry; let me see the problem first.”
It had been quite some time, and he had forgotten to what level students of this grade had reached. Although the laboratory sometimes required calculating these things and he could do it, explaining the thought process fully still presented some difficulty.
In his thinking, this kind of calculation should be done in one step, without intermediate steps and various deductions, but explaining the thinking process required those things.
He had been looking for a while, a tall and thin figure standing there. Wang Zhifeng didn’t speak from the side, looking inexplicably a bit pitiful, so some students couldn’t help but want to plead for him.
“Old… no, Professor Wang, it’s better if you do the final big problem. Look at this…”
“I heard a classmate say he definitely won’t be distracted in class anymore, so let him go down first.”
Usually, when Wang Zhifeng called someone up to answer a question or solve a problem, he would let them sit down if they didn’t speak for a minute. This time, the person had been standing there for two minutes, and he still had that calm, even slightly smiling expression, looking very much like he was targeting someone.
In addition, the problem he had the student solve was an exam question from the previous year, which had stumped most people. Asking someone who had just started or hadn’t even learned it to solve it on the spot was a complete ordeal.
Wang Zhifeng turned a deaf ear and instead said, “Your coffee is going to get cold.”
He knew Mo Xuzhi liked hot coffee and absolutely hated drinking cold coffee.
“I have an idea, I have an idea.”
At the mention of coffee, Mo Xuzhi’s spirits lifted. He picked up the chalk, wrote a few words on the blackboard, turned around and said, “First, we…”
Having only said three words, he found the mask stifling, and the students in the back rows couldn’t hear him at all. He pulled down the mask, turned his head to Wang Zhifeng and said, “I can’t explain clearly with the mask on. I have a cold; stay a bit further away.”
Wang Zhifeng took a symbolic step back.
Mo Xuzhi nodded with slight satisfaction and then continued, “This problem is very sim—”
The horror in the eyes of the students of this major in the front row became apparent.
“—This problem is somewhat difficult,” Mo Xuzhi immediately changed his tune and said, “First, solve a simple first part. The first part only needs to use the wave function energy equation. Take this value…”
The youth’s voice was clear and pleasant, his posture very casual, his features relaxed, and his explanation of the problem was unexpectedly clear and logical.
“Holy shit? He actually knows how?”
The crowd of auditors in the back row, although they didn’t understand, were greatly shaken seeing the enlightened expressions of the students of this major in the front row and the occasional exclamations of admiration reaching their ears.
“Damn, he’s Senior Mo! If he doesn’t know, who does!”
The person on the podium finished explaining the first sub-problem, rolled up his sleeves, saw the chalk was used up and switched to another piece, and continued, “Then look at the second sub-problem. This problem is somewhat difficult, but if you make good use of calculus and linear algebra, as long as you are careful, there will be no problem solving it.”
The only sounds left in the entire lecture hall were the tapping of chalk on the blackboard and the youth’s clear and elegant explanation.
A final big problem was completely dissected within ten-plus minutes.
“Substitute the data into equation one… Alright, the problem is solved. Any questions?”
Mo Xuzhi turned his head; the audience was silent.
Then, someone started clapping, and for a moment, the sound of applause in the lecture hall was so loud it was a bit hard for the ears to bear.
Outside, an unknown number of students had gathered, each poking their heads in, looking extremely excited.
The students of this major clapped particularly vigorously.
If they were to go up for this problem, they wouldn’t even be able to sort out a thought process in half an hour; even if they did, it would be a tangled mess, let alone explaining the thought process fully and calculating the correct answer.
But the person on the stage explained it too smoothly. From analyzing the problem to quoting theorems, he didn’t stutter once, and their thinking followed along smoothly as well.
Just by following his thought process, a big problem was solved just like that—unbelievably easy, even giving them the illusion that “this kind of problem isn’t that difficult.”
—It was indeed an illusion.
After Mo Xuzhi finished explaining the problem, he returned to his seat. Not much time was left before the end of class. Wang Zhifeng summarized the key points and then assigned homework.
The homework wasn’t much, just one problem, looking similar to the final problem Mo Xuzhi had just solved as an example. However, a crowd of students stared at the problem in confusion, having no idea how to proceed.
With a few minutes left before class ended, Wang Zhifeng stood on the stage organizing his teaching materials while other students buried their heads in calculations. Mo Xuzhi sat in the back row openly drinking his coffee.
He even held up the other cup of coffee and waved it at Wang Zhifeng, his smile very eye-catching.
Originally, when he was wearing a medical mask, the person sitting next to him hadn’t recognized who he was. Now that they knew who he was, the people in the surrounding circle didn’t dare to strike up a conversation anymore, or even whisper. They sat properly, as if a middle school homeroom teacher were standing nearby—a textbook example of diligence and eagerness to learn.
The two young girls sitting next to Mo Xuzhi also sat straight, looking down seriously at their phones.
[Jingda Tieba: Mo Xuzhi is back at school, lecturing in the Physics Department lecture hall. Come quickly!]
The red title was followed by a small “Hot” icon.
[1L: Offering to the heavens at the first floor. Will post photos sequentially. Warning: beauty crit. A few photos of Old Wang included.]
[2L: Sob sob, my youth is back! It was precisely because I saw Senior Mo’s photo on the high school honor wall that I determined to test into Jingda. But I came, and he graduated. Today I finally saw him!]
[3L: I’m at the scene. Can only say Senior Mo x Old Wang is so ship-worthy.]
[4L: Bold guess: Senior Mo couldn’t have come back for the school anniversary, could he? I’ve seen many big shots from back then return to school.]
[5L: Hope so, aaaaaah! The school anniversary back then was explosive, okay!!! Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.]
[6L: Upstairs has a really unique taste. Please elaborate in detail.]
[7L: Saw Gu Yang back today. Can I see the two in the same frame in my lifetime? Can I? Can I? I sincerely shipped them for three years, but it was a BE—so heart-wrenching.]
…
Mo Xuzhi took two sips of coffee and stared at Wang Zhifeng for a while in boredom. Finally, the bell rang.
Other students were still packing their things or burying their heads in problems. Wang Zhifeng, as the teacher, was faster than them, picking up his folder and leaving the podium.
The people standing at the front door saw him coming and made a path, but they saw him make a half-turn and walk toward the classroom aisle.
Clearly, he was heading for Mo Xuzhi.
The auditing students hadn’t left yet either; seeing him come, they immediately cleared a space centered on him.
Mo Xuzhi looked up, smiled after seeing Wang Zhifeng, and handed him the coffee in his hand.
Wang Zhifeng didn’t take it, letting him put the coffee down temporarily, saying, “Meeting in a bit. Think if there’s anything you forgot to bring?”
Mo Xuzhi’s action of drinking coffee paused.
Then he obediently lowered his neck. He said, “First, thanks to Teacher Wang.”
Wang Zhifeng took out the work ID belonging exclusively to Mo Xuzhi from his coat pocket and gently hung it around his neck.
A cold sensation came from his neck. Mo Xuzhi looked up and smiled, praising, “As expected, Teacher Wang is very reliable.”
He handed the coffee to Wang Zhifeng again, saying, “This is a thank-you gift for Teacher Wang.”
This was who knows how many times he had forgotten to bring his work ID.
Since partnering with Wang Zhifeng, he had become increasingly unable to remember to bring these things. When he needed to use them, he would look for Wang Zhifeng—every single time, he had them. Without realizing it, it had become a habit.
“Then thank you.”
Wang Zhifeng raised his hand to look at his watch and said, “Time is about right. If we set out now, we can slowly walk to the Central Lecture Hall. I’ve already copied the files and materials; we can go directly there.”
Mo Xuzhi nodded, took a final sip of coffee, then put on his mask and said, “Let’s go.”
He stood up, and the people around him watched quietly, catching a glimpse of the contents on his work ID.
The work ID was very concise—a photo, a simple introduction, and a miniature national flag next to the photo was the entire content.
[General Academy of Sciences, Jinghua University District, Directly Under the Central Government]
The other content was blocked by Mo Xuzhi’s hand holding the coffee. They didn’t have time to see clearly before seeing the small line of regular script at the top.
Mo Xuzhi’s work ID was a bit crooked from his own doing. Wang Zhifeng straightened the long blue strap for him, incidentally helping him flip it over so the blank back faced up.