I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 15

As the “The Beauty of Mathematics” class was nearing its end, Professor Fang announced a QQ Group number, instructing everyone to join with their real name and student ID in their display name. As soon as Fang Congxin joined this group, I’d be able to get his student ID. With that, I would know which department and year this exceptional individual belonged to.

Once I had this information, given my extensive—but fragmented—connections, no, my powerful influence, I would certainly be able to dig up some useful information. I combed through the QQ Group thoroughly, straining my eyes, but still couldn’t find Fang Congxin’s name.

During this time, a girl named Ge Chunchun added me as a friend. After I accepted her request, she messaged me: “Hello, Lin Meng. The teacher mentioned your name in the last class, so I recognized you.” I replied, “Hello.” She sent a shy emoji and asked, “May I be bold and ask, who was the guy on stage with you during the break? I haven’t seen him before.” After saying this, she sent me a few photos she had taken. The first few were solo shots of Fang Congxin and then a group photo of Fang Congxin and me in our “duel” on the podium.

However, the background of the last photo was different from the earlier ones. In it, Fang Congxin was conversing with Professor Fang. I asked, “Where did you take this?” She replied, “At the entrance of the restroom; he and the teacher came out together.” What? He even went to the restroom with the professor? Did he perhaps say something to the professor in the restroom?

My firm belief that he hadn’t informed the professor started to waver, and I wished I could confront him immediately to get the truth. I quickly typed: “Sorry, I’m not very familiar with him. Let me ask around.” Then I uploaded Fang Congxin’s photo to the campus forum, hurriedly posting: “Could anyone provide information about the person in this photo? Please private message me if you have his contact details. Thanks.”

After posting, I went to the restroom, cleaned up, and while frying eggs in the kitchen, my mind wandered far away. It wasn’t until thick white smoke rose from the pan that I snapped back to reality, quickly turned off the stove, dumped the charred egg into the trash, and left the kitchen. I decided to delete the post. Sharing photos taken secretly without permission on a public forum was an invasion of privacy. It would be problematic if it caused him any trouble.

Upon logging back into the forum, I was startled by the number of replies indicated in the top right corner. Clicking through them left me in a mix of amusement and exasperation.The country folk at our school who have never seen a handsome guy copied and pasted my message, promptly lining up neatly to flood my post. What was a serious message looking for someone was misinterpreted by the girls as a lovesick fan note; it quickly shot to the front page and even had a “boiling” indicator like on Weibo headlines. I quickly deleted the post, packed my things, and rushed back to school for class. Five minutes before class ended, Xu Zheng sent me a message asking when he could get reimbursed for the 250 yuan consulting fee.

The thought of him messing up all three questions and being laughed at by the teacher made me fume. Although my math scores before college were ridiculed by teachers in countless ways, this was the first time I had a deal where I lost both face and figuratively the person. I replied, “Do you accept ghost money?”

Xu Zheng replied instantly, “It’s fine if you won’t pay up. I was going to share some cherries my dad’s comrade sent me because I can’t finish them all.” I responded, “Oh, is that why I could smell the cherries? You better hurry over to the first cafeteria and pay your respects.”

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