Chapter 21: with translation of chapter title

Ha Gong Da, Building No. 1 dormitory.

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary four-story building, but if you walk around it once, you'll be surprised to discover that it is a U-shaped building with rooms on all four sides.

This building, like the 1952 dormitory, has an area of 23,900 square meters and 627 rooms! If eight people are squeezed into each room, it can accommodate over four thousand students!

Therefore, everyone at Ha Gong Da, male or female, lives in this dormitory building.

Since the four above-ground floors might not be enough, the basement is also filled with residents.

Basement -108.

There are eight bunks, seven with bedding rolls; the lower bunk of the bed behind the door is empty—this is the worst spot among the eight bunks, because brooms and dustpans are at the foot of the bed, so when others throw trash, swoosh, it might land in the dustpan, or……it might land on the bed.

It was already past nine, and people were trickling into the dorm; everyone who came in would glance at the bunks and then……utter a question: "Why isn't Qin Miao coming back to live in the dorm?"

"Yeah, is Qin Miao staying at a guesthouse outside?"

"If we could actually stay in a guesthouse, that would be great; this basement, though warm in winter and cool in summer, is just too damp..."

"We're actually better off; the dorm of the Electrical Engineering department next door is in the basement, and their classrooms are there too—if we endure a year, we can move upstairs! Hey, Wanli is back!"

Zhao Wanli was the last to return; after coming in, he plopped onto a bunk and continued flipping through his book—is this study zeal a bit too much?

"If f(x) is differentiable on (a, b) and f'(x) is bounded on (a, b), prove that f(x) is bounded on (a, b). How do we prove this? Hey, guys, do you know how?"

The others looked over, shaking their heads repeatedly—we've already flipped past ten or so pages, the professor hasn't even lectured on it, who could do this?

"Wanli, it's only the first day of school and you're already studying like crazy—are you aiming for first place in the class?"

"Sigh, we have to study; our class has a weirdo..."

"A weirdo? Grab him, beat him up, then send him to the Security Section." Yang Zhiqiang said, rolling up his sleeves—he hadn't gotten his fill yesterday.

"No, it's about studying—he's a weirdo academically. I heard from the girls in our class that Qin Miao is guiding a senior's thesis."

"What? Wanli, you're not joking, are we? We're only freshmen, guiding a senior's thesis?" Luo Hongguang didn't believe it.

"Exactly, not only is he guiding the thesis, he's probably also doing research with a professor; his coming to our class is actually just to torment us..."

"Creak…… the door opened, and a young man appeared at the doorway: 'Fellow students, is this the dormitory for Class 4381?'"

Qin Miao finished messing with the artillery table for the troops, then went out for a meal; the troops wanted to drop him off at the dormitory building's entrance, but he refused, thinking it would look bad, so he took the No. 11 bus himself, got off at the school gate, and walked back all the way—also good for digestion.

Dad and Factory Director Wang have already taken the pressure-cooker molds back; with Qingshan Factory's capability, making pressure cookers is a breeze—the key is stainless steel—but I don't know if the troops' side is reliable; I'll have to check later……

With that thought, he pushed open the dormitory door.

Qin Miao longed for university life at Ha Gong Da, wanting to blend in with his classmates, but the moment he pushed open the door, he regretted it.

A wave of damp air hit him in the face, reminding him of when he went to the Capital to work and lived in a basement—he couldn't last a month before breaking out in a rash……

"Sorry, I think I took a wrong turn." Qin Miao quickly turned around; forget it, I'll just go stay at a guesthouse.

During this period he had been living in the lab, but the directors had all greeted him, telling Qin Miao to go stay at a guesthouse, rest up, so he could better focus on work; before getting off the bus today, Director Lu had again suggested……

"Qin Miao, hurry up and come in—our dorm is just missing you!" Yang Zhiqiang and Luo Hongguang, one on the left, one on the right, pulled Qin Miao inside; this scene inexplicably felt familiar to Qin Miao……

"Qin Miao, tell us, has the person who impersonated you been dealt with?"

"Exactly, if anyone dares to cover for them, we'll go block the door—humph, we Ha Gong Da people will never take it lying down!"

After saying those few lines, Qin Miao actually felt a bit moved.

The next moment, he saw a person approaching with a book in hand.

"Qin Miao, how do we solve this problem?"

Qin Miao glanced at it: "Well, this is a classic freshman calculus problem—find a point c in (a, b) such that f(c) exists and is continuous, and for any x in (a, b), then……"

Qin Miao spoke while scribbling softly beside the problem.

"Yeah, right, yes! I get it!" Zhao Wanli had an epiphany.

"Why didn't I understand? Qin Miao, could you explain it more carefully?"

"Ahem, just remember it."

"Come on, Qin Miao, there's another one." Zhao Wanli flipped a page and found another problem he had circled.

"This one, a hint should be added afterward—use Fermat's theorem."

"Yeah, right, yes!"

"Why didn't I understand? Qin Miao, please explain it again in detail."

"Ahem, just remember it."

After three problems, Qin Miao glanced at Zhao Wanli: "When you were in middle school, did anyone give you a nickname?"

"Well…… they called me…… yeah, 'uh-dui-shi'."

"Not bad, not bad; from now on, if you guys have any problems, just ask 'uh-dui-shi'—if he can't answer, then he can come ask me."

"Why?" Luo Hongguang asked.

"Because…… I can't explain it to you! I think it's something simple that can be said in a few sentences, but…… you all look at me with blank eyes, as if you didn't understand, so I don't know how to explain it!"

"Bang bang! Just then, someone knocked on the door."

"Is Qin Miao in?"

"Holy cow, it's a female classmate's voice!"

Yang Zhiqiang immediately ran out to open the door: "Yes, yes, Qin Miao is tutoring us on problems!"

"Perfect, I also have a few problems I can't solve—Qin Miao, could you please explain them?"

Qin Miao's eyes lit up: "Sure, let's go out and talk!"

Watching Qin Miao and Chu Miaomiao leave, the others had complex expressions—this…… is there something that can't be said in the dorm?

After leaving the dormitory building and reaching the streetlamp at the entrance, after two problems, Qin Miao glanced at his watch: "Chu Miaomiao, the lights are about to go out—you'd better head back; anyway, we're desk mates, we have plenty of time for me to explain."

"All right. And you?"

"I'll head back soon too—first, let me smoke a cigarette."

Watching Chu Miaomiao enter the dormitory building, Qin Miao strode off toward the guesthouse.

That night, someone in Dormitory -108 suffered insomnia; Qin Miao was called away by Chu Miaomiao, and then never came back!