Chapter 19
“Maybe…” Tang Lingwu turned to glance at her backpack, which still held an empty milk tea cup, and hesitated, “How about I buy you a cup of milk tea in return?”
“That’s not necessary. If you really feel awkward about it, just come to me with any questions later. If you can’t ask the teacher, asking a fellow student isn’t too bad either.”
“Don’t worry, I will! I’ll definitely teach you!”
“Teach? A cup of milk tea is all it takes to win you over? He just wants to chat with you more!”
An old man’s voice came from behind her, filled with exasperation.
Zheng Fa watched as a head of white, curly hair peeked through the door.
Seeing that familiar old face, Zheng Fa suddenly realized why it sounded so familiar!
…
Inside the room, the three of them sat on the sofa in the living room, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Zheng Fa and Teacher Bai, the curly-haired old man he had met in the park, didn’t know how to start the conversation.
Tang Lingwu looked a bit confused, glancing from one to the other, seemingly unsure how the three of them had suddenly ended up in the room together.
“Um… Young hero…”
“Just call me Xiao Zheng or Zheng Tongxue.”
Hearing the term “young hero,” especially in front of a classmate like Tang Lingwu, made Zheng Fa feel an inexplicable wave of embarrassment.
“Alright then, Zheng Tongxue, let’s skip the formalities. Just call me Lao Bai or Teacher Bai.” The old man continued, “So, the person she mentioned earlier, is that you?”
“Yeah, I came across a few diagrams and wanted to show them to you, Teacher Bai.”
“No rush, no rush. Are you looking to study with me?”
“I don’t expect to be your student, Teacher Bai. Just asking a couple of questions would be fine.”
Zheng Fa recalled the man’s earlier firm refusal and felt a bit shy saying this.
“Don’t! I thought about it just now. After being a teacher my whole life, retiring suddenly, I can’t help but want to continue teaching.”
Tang Lingwu’s face was filled with question marks.
Didn’t you just say the opposite?
Zheng Fa was also stunned, looking at the old man’s sincere face.
“So, Teacher Bai, what do you mean…”
“What I mean is, as a math teacher, I want to find some students with good mathematical talent to teach. Young hero, no, Zheng Tongxue, doesn’t your sect also need to find some talented individuals to pass on some secret knowledge?”
“Hmm?”
“Look at me…” Teacher Bai pointed at himself.
“I can tell at a glance that you have extraordinary potential, Teacher Bai!”
Zheng Fa suddenly understood.
“I see you’re quite sharp in math too!”
Tang Lingwu watched from the side, her eyes filled with confusion.
It seemed like these two men were completing a dirty deal right in front of her.
…
As Zheng Fa handed over the diagrams, Teacher Bai frowned slightly, his expression turning serious.
Compared to his earlier playful demeanor, he now had the air of a university professor.
He traced his finger over the diagrams, then looked up at Zheng Fa and asked, “Is that all?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I can’t see anything from this.” Teacher Bai set the papers down. “Why not ask those fortune-tellers to take a look? Let them calculate what this is.”
Zheng Fa: “…”
“However, if you’re asking me whether there’s any pattern in these diagrams, there are indeed some.”
“Please, tell me.”
“This one, this one, and this one.” Teacher Bai pointed at three diagrams, speaking a bit uncertainly, “From the perspective of our mathematical topology, they actually represent a type of pattern.”
“Ah?”
Zheng Fa stared blankly at the three diagrams.
Looking left and right, he really couldn’t see how they were the same.
“Topology… what?”
“This involves a relatively basic and simple concept in topology called homeomorphism…” Once Teacher Bai started talking about his specialty, he became quite animated, gesturing widely.
After a long explanation, he finally paused to ask Zheng Fa, “Got it?”
“…”
Zheng Fa felt like a little knowledge sprite was trying to chisel open his skull, but it seemed he had developed an iron head technique and was impervious to it.
---
**Chapter 22: Magnanimity**
Mathematics doesn’t lie, but it can humiliate.
After Teacher Bai rambled on, every word felt like a hammer pounding on Zheng Fa’s head.
“Do you understand now?”
Hearing Teacher Bai ask him, Zheng Fa looked up, giving him a blank expression.
“And you?”
The old man turned to Tang Lingwu.
“Pretty much.” Tang Lingwu replied softly, “It’s not that hard, right?”
Teacher Bai nodded at her, then glanced at Zheng Fa, letting out a deep sigh.
Zheng Fa thought: … You two may not be targeting me, but I feel like you’re both cursing me out.
“I’ll explain it again, Zheng Tongxue, so listen carefully this time.”
Teacher Bai didn’t give up, picking up his pen, as if he wanted to break it into pieces and feed it to Zheng Fa bit by bit.
Then he made Zheng Fa realize that some things require effort; otherwise, you won’t know just how incapable you really are.
Meanwhile, Tang Lingwu had started yawning out of boredom, while Zheng Fa still looked bewildered, only able to grasp half of what was being said.
“I’ve never taught such a foolish student before!”
Teacher Bai flicked his pen in frustration.
Zheng Fa felt a bit downcast, and he heard Tang Lingwu quietly say beside him:
“Teacher Bai used to be a professor at Jingcheng University; it’s normal that you can’t compare.”
Zheng Fa actually felt somewhat comforted. Jingcheng University was one of the top universities in the country, and compared to his dream school, Jiangnan University, it was on a whole different level.
Zheng Fa was self-aware; he could only be considered hardworking, not a genius.
But the old man was growing increasingly impatient, his mouth full of disdain.
“Fool!”
“Your brain isn’t working!”
“Is this the kind of student that Qing Shui Middle School produces? I bet your teacher’s salary is just compensation for emotional distress!”
Zheng Fa maintained his composure, but the old man had clearly run out of patience.
He kept berating Zheng Fa.
In fact, halfway through the lesson, he angrily left Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu behind and went out to the balcony for a smoke.
Zheng Fa wasn’t shaken; he had been broken by the old man.
“Are you okay?” Tang Lingwu, who had been listening to the old man’s comments about Zheng Fa, now looked at his expression with sympathy. “What Teacher Bai said was a bit too much.”
“He’s used to teaching geniuses. Teaching me is a trial for him,” Zheng Fa said, maintaining his calm demeanor.
This little bit of scolding was, in fact, quite mild compared to the crude jokes in Zhuangzi.
“That’s true…” Tang Lingwu nodded. “I heard him say before that he never understood how those who scored full marks in math on the college entrance exam dared to apply to the math department at Jingcheng University.”
“?”
“Because true geniuses mostly come through competitions.”
Tang Lingwu explained, and Zheng Fa deeply understood how, in Teacher Bai’s eyes, he was just a piece of rotten wood that couldn’t be carved.
“But he was too harsh with his words.”
“It’s fine; being strict with me is a good thing!” Zheng Fa even turned to comfort Tang Lingwu.
The girl looked at him deeply, a bit impressed: “I find you quite magnanimous. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to take it!”
…
“Alright, you won’t learn much else for now, so let me clarify these diagrams for you!” In the end, the old man also gave up: “These diagrams actually represent just two types of patterns.”
“Some parts might be incomplete.” He added a few strokes to the diagrams and drew two simpler shapes on the paper. “These diagrams are derived from these two simplest patterns.”
Zheng Fa looked at the two shapes and committed them to memory.
“Teaching you for thirty minutes feels like it’s taking three years off my life!” Teacher Bai continued to complain, clearly regretting it and wanting to back out.
“Why don’t I teach you?”
“Hmm?”
“Secret knowledge, the unique skills of my sect.” Zheng Fa smiled innocently.
“Come, come, come!” The old man suddenly perked up, leading Zheng Fa to an empty room.
“Do as I do!”
Zheng Fa was genuinely teaching, demonstrating a Songhe stance for the old man, while Tang Lingwu watched curiously from the side, not bothering to intervene.
The old man twisted his body and struck a pretzel-like pose.
“Smack!” Zheng Fa slapped the old man on the back of his head.
“What are you doing?”
“Your head is in the wrong position!” Zheng Fa said seriously.
“Oh.”
Teacher Bai obediently adjusted his head.
“Smack!” “Arms in!”
“Smack!” “Don’t stick out your belly!”
“Smack!” “Stand firm on your legs!”
The sound of slapping echoed, making Tang Lingwu wince in sympathy, while both she and Teacher Bai grimaced in pain.
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