Chapter 22: Skipping Class on the First Day of School?

The next day, Zhao Wanli appeared in the classroom with red eyes.

"Huh, what's wrong with you?" Chu Miaomiao glanced at him and asked concernedly.

"Cough cough, I stayed up too late last night researching the problem, uh, Chu Miaomiao classmate, Qin Miao classmate last night…"

"Last night he explained two problems to me, then he went back."

"Where back to?"

"The dormitory."

"But we didn't see him in our dormitory."

"How could that be…?" Chu Miaomiao's face showed worry: "He wouldn't have met with some accident, would he?"

"Then… you really didn't see him?"

"No!"

Zhao Wanli felt a huge stone finally drop from his heart—thank goodness, thank goodness.

Just then, someone swayed in from outside.

"Qin Miao, you finally came—where did you sleep last night?"

The whole class turned their gazes over in unison.

"Well… this…" Qin Miao felt a bit embarrassed; he had originally planned to share hardships with the other dorm brothers and experience university life, but unexpectedly… he ended up sleeping in the basement, and it was so damp—going from frugal to indulgence is easy, but from indulgence back to frugal is hard!

I still went to the guesthouse for a night, took a hot shower—really comfortable! Just not convenient to say!

"Qin Miao classmate, hurry over—before class starts, give me a few problems to explain!" Seeing Qin Miao's embarrassment, Chu Miaomiao quickly greeted him.

But… why is everyone's gaze again on me?

"All right." Qin Miao strode to his seat, looking at Chu Miaomiao's open textbook, before he could speak, someone came running in from outside with a thudding sound.

"Qin Miao classmate, Qin Miao classmate! Professor Hu of the Computer Science Department is looking for you!"

"Now?"

"Exactly, right now!"

Chu Miaomiao watched Qin Miao about to leave and couldn't help but say: "Qin Miao classmate, class is about to start! The impression you make on the teacher in this first lesson is very important—let alone that it's the hardest calculus; if you don't learn the first lesson solidly, later…"

"Mm, I got it—I'll rush back before class."

"Oh."

Computer Science Department, office.

"Professor Hu, class is about to start and you only just notified me? I haven't even prepared the lesson! This is like forcing a duck onto a shelf!" Qin Miao was stunned.

"What can I do? The schedule was only released yesterday; I planned to find you, but you were busy—again, people from your hometown, then military superiors. By the time you returned, it was almost lights out. This morning I sent people to the dorm to look for you, but you weren't there; my people searched everywhere and finally found you before class—already not bad!"

Professor Hu said meaningfully: "Who made you such a busy person? You have five minutes—hurry up and prepare, don't be late, otherwise it'll be a teaching accident."

"But… wasn't it agreed we'd teach program design? Why are there five books?"

"C language was what he promised; adding BASIC I'd accept, but assembly language, microcomputer principles and usage, and database principles… five books, five courses!"

"What does that mean?"

"One class per week, each half-day, Monday to Friday—does that mean I have class every day?"

"Here you go." Professor Hu took out a key.

"What is this?"

"Since you're now a teacher in the Computer Science Department, even if just a substitute, you should have the same treatment as a regular teacher—salary, benefits, and the same as our normal teachers. Moreover, I've arranged a room for you in the single faculty building, with bedding and all provided."

"All right." Qin Miao gritted his teeth: "This course schedule can only be for this semester! I'll have to live in this house for four years!"

"No problem! If you're a teacher for our Department Six for a day, you'll forever be a teacher of our Department Six!"

Computer Science Department, Class 6301.

"C language—this is a high-level language, and we're the first cohort to study this course!"

"Exactly, I heard there are five microcomputers in the computer lab—first batch nationwide!"

The students looked eagerly at the door, wondering who would come to give us class.

"Teacher Li is here!"

"Huh, why is Teacher Li bringing his own stool?"

The students watched Teacher Li enter, then saw him carrying his stool to the back of the classroom and sit down—was Teacher Li coming to attend class rather than teach?

"Teacher Zhao is here! He must be the one to give us class!"

"Why is Teacher Zhao also bringing a stool?"

Soon, seven or eight teachers sat in the back of the classroom; if other teachers didn't have classes, they'd probably all have come!

This schedule was hard to work out—only finalized yesterday because everyone wanted to sit in on the class! We have to stagger the courses and also avoid clashes with public courses…

"Professor Hu, Professor Hu himself is giving us class!" The students excitedly watched Professor Hu walk to the podium—huh, why is there someone following him?

"Fellow classmates, let me introduce you: this is Professor Qin, the instructor for this semester's C language course—now, please give him a round of applause!"

Amid the applause, Qin Miao walked onto the podium with a complex expression—what does Professor Hu mean? Is he afraid I won't come to class, causing a teaching accident, so he deliberately escorted me here?

"There's a line in the Dao De Jing: 'Dao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to all things.' This is Laozi's worldview." Qin Miao looked at the crowd and began using this famous line as the opening of his lesson.

"In our computer world, C gives birth to all things; all things return to C. Ancient to present, unchanging! Now, following convention, I'll first write everyone's first C program: Hello, world……"

This is a later‑day classic; learning any programming language starts from HelloWorld. Qin Miao wrote this program, then began analyzing it, analyzing how the computer runs this program—clear and profound—and the teachers listening later also nodded in agreement.

They had studied C language over the summer and always felt something was missing; now, hearing Qin Miao say this, it's like an epiphany! Comparing it with their earlier mastery of mainframe technology, they achieved complete understanding.

In this lesson, the Computer Science Department students were also earnest; although the teacher is young, his lecturing skill is truly high—such a dry course, yet everyone listened with relish, and nobody dozed off.

A morning's time passed quietly.

Ding ling ling……

The dismissal bell rang; in Class 4381, Hu Miaomiao glanced disappointedly at the person sharing her desk.

Nobody!

Qin Miao said he'd be back in a few minutes, but he didn't return all morning!

I say, Chu Miaomiao, even if Qin Miao has learned some knowledge in advance, he can't skip the first class, right? Zhao Wanli walked over: "Should we go together to find the homeroom teacher and report? Don't misunderstand, this isn't tattling, it's to help Qin Miao..."