I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 17

I leaned over to join in, pretending to research as well. After three seconds of acting, I gave up. Then, I started rambling about the painful experiences with “The Beauty of Mathematics.” Suddenly, Xu Zheng slapped the table, and I thought he was getting all riled up. I figured it hadn’t been a waste to feed this kid all these years; he seemed to have a conscience. But he was still stuck back in the last century. “I know where I went wrong!”

“Did you hear what I just said?” I asked. He shook his head blankly. I shrugged, feeling uninterested, “Forget it, forget it, failing a class isn’t the end of the world.”

Seeing my low spirits, Xu Zheng guessed I was talking about the math class and asked if I needed help. He said he could check his schedule to tutor me, for free. He tended to recite English vocabulary when he was desperate, probably a lingering effect of repeatedly failing the level four exam. So I waved him off, telling him to rest easy, I would get through on my own. If push really came to shove, I’d give it my all. Xu Zheng looked at me worriedly and said, “Getting involved with a professor is not something you should do.” I glared at him, “Since when did you become so moral?” Xu Zheng imitated my shrug, “I’m mostly worried about the psychological shadow it’d cast on the professor.”

I said, “Oh, I remember they offer stainless steel forks here. Stabbing the main artery should lead to a quick death. Where was it? In the Western cuisine section—” Xu Zheng feigned panic, raising his hands in surrender, “Alright, alright, my mistake.” Seeing his sincere attitude, I let it go and took a sip of water, only to hear Xu Zheng casually comment, “Hey, I heard Fang Congxin came to your school?”

I sprayed the water on his face with a loud “pfft.” Xu Zheng, caught off guard, wiped his face and shouted, “Lin Meng! Not this again! How long is your reaction time, delaying even in a murder—”

I grabbed his hand excitedly, “What did you say?” He looked at me suspiciously, “Delaying a murder—”

“Before that!”

“Reaction time—”

“Gosh, with your intelligence, you can pretty much say goodbye to pursuing graduate studies. I meant Fang Congxin! Fang Congxin! You know him?”

He looked at me, puzzled, “Of course I know him.” It was like finding something right under your nose with zero effort. I widened my eyes, feeling like my gaze was two sharp blades pressed against Xu Zheng’s neck, “Spill, how do you know each other?”

Xu Zheng scratched his head, “To be exact, I know him, but he probably doesn’t know me. He attended Taixi High School for half a year. Didn’t you know?”

“Nonsense!” Xu Zheng must be spinning tall tales. With Fang Congxin’s looks, how could he be so unknown at our school that I never heard of him?

“First-year, Class 12.””Really no impression?” Seeing Xu Zheng so certain, I guessed it was just someone with the same name. But just to be sure, I took out my phone and opened the photo I had saved before, showing it to him. “Is this who you’re talking about?” Xu Zheng responded with a “yeah.” I was speechless for a moment. “So—so did he go to South Korea for a head swap?” Xu Zheng replied, “His facial features haven’t changed much. I recognized him right away. He transferred shortly before the midterm exams. The math was extremely hard that time. I only scored in the 80s, the best in our class was 88, but I heard someone in Class 12 got full marks. I was curious, so I verified it with the teacher, who said the person had just transferred from Beijing. So I started paying attention to him. Of course, I noticed him because I care about math. Back then, he only stood out in math; he was average at other things, so it’s normal for others not to remember him. But Lin Meng, you shouldn’t have forgotten him.”

Hearing there was more to his words, I asked back, “Was there a reason he should be memorable to me?” Xu Zheng seemed even more puzzled, “The blond hair!” “Who?” “Huang Tao!” Xu Zheng was nearly driven to cursing by my amnesiac expression, “Are you still Snow White? Have you forgotten the Seven Dwarfs?” After all these years, if Xu Zheng hadn’t mentioned it, I really would have forgotten.

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