Chapter 23: with translation of chapter title

Chu Miaomiao shook her head: "Forget it! Our class hasn't elected class representatives yet; being too eager isn't good."

After saying that, Chu Miaomiao stood up, thudding...

"Miaomiao, wait, let's go get food together!" Wang Fang was still tidying up when she saw Chu Miaomiao already running out, like a gust of wind.

Qin Miao went to the Computer Science Department in the morning and never came back! Does he not like Aerospace, wants to switch majors? Or...?

Wang Fang rushed into the floor where the Computer Science Department is; at that moment, students were coming out in twos and threes, chatting about something.

"This Professor Qin's lecture is superb! I listened with relish the whole class, not a bit drowsy."

"Yeah, Professor Qin is so young, must be newly assigned, right? I wonder if he's married..."

Chu Miaomiao's heart jolted—Professor Qin?

"Miaomiao, who are you waiting for?"

"Miaomiao, you couldn't have fallen for that class‑skipping guy, could you?"

"Xiao Fang, Cui Ping, don't talk nonsense! We came through thousands of troops crossing a single‑log bridge to get here; we're in university to study, not to talk about love—save that for after graduation and work." Chu Miaomiao glanced at Zhao Wanli not far behind and raised her voice a bit.

"University is for cultivating talent, not for nurturing romance moonlit under flowers—that's just wasting time, wasting life."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Zhao Wanli's eyes; he wanted to leave, then... he saw Qin Miao walking out of one of the classrooms.

"Qin Miao!" Zhao Wanli shouted, then strode over: "How can you skip class? We came to university to study, not to..."

"Professor Qin, Professor Qin!" Just then another student burst from the classroom, caught up to Qin Miao: "The range of the int type is only from - to; if we exceed it when writing a program, what do we do?"

"Well, there's also Longint, which occupies four bytes, expanding the range further—that'll be covered in later textbooks; today we mainly learn how to communicate with the computer."

"Hmm, got it, thanks Professor Qin."

Zhao Wanli widened his eyes—what? What did I just hear?

My own classmate, freshman Qin Miao, is actually a teacher in the Computer Science Department? I must be seeing things; that's got to be it!

Behind her, Chu Miaomiao smiled—sure enough, just as I guessed! This Qin Miao fellow is no ordinary bull! And it seems good that he's not studying in Class 4381, so he'll avoid a lot of setbacks...

"Uh, yes? How did you come here?" Qin Miao looked at Zhao Wanli.

"Pfft..." Wang Fang laughed; this Qin Miao really knows how to nickname people—this morning in class, Zhao Wanli kept muttering "uh, yes?" at least fifty times.

That laugh drew Qin Miao's attention; he looked over and saw only the silhouettes of three girls.

"Qin Miao, you, you, you..."

"Shh!" Qin Miao whispered: "These students don't yet know my name is Qin Miao—don't let it slip!"

Freshmen have enrolled, and Qin Miao already made a name for himself in one battle; however, only a few hundred of the several thousand students were present, and those who acted up in the back wouldn't exceed thirty. Fortunately, no one from this class was there, otherwise, once I stepped onto the podium and was recognized, these students might throw books at me—what right does a freshman have to teach them?

After even just one class, once they accept me, later they'll only give me a thumbs‑up.

"But, but, but..."

"Alright, let's go, let's head to the cafeteria together. Uh, yes—since you care so much about me, I'll treat you to lunch today!"

"How could I accept that?"

"Come on!"

The two walked forward along the campus corridor, Zhao Wanli growing more confused: "Which canteen are we going to?"

Ha Gong Da's cafeteria has four sections, called One Stove, Two Stove, Three Stove, and Four Stove; the meal tickets printed with the stove number dictate which one students must go to—a relic of the planned‑economy era, when cafeterias couldn't compete.

Now this road doesn't lead to any of the four cafeterias!

"The staff canteen—they give more there."

"The staff canteen!" Zhao Wanli swallowed: "Qin Miao, do you have a ticket for the staff canteen?"

"Yeah, I've gotten used to the staff canteen; their sliced meat portions are double the student canteen's—let's go!"

"We can still have meat!"

"Cluck… cluck cluck…" Just then a large rooster appeared, strutting proudly on a stone by the roadside, lifting its head to gaze at the two approaching; when it saw Zhao Wanli, it suddenly seemed to see an enemy, swooped down, neck bending low, beak scraping the letters left and right twice, then lunged straight at Zhao Wanli.

"Damn, here it comes again!" Zhao Wanli's face darkened: "This feathered beast—I was just passing by on my first day, stepped on the bug it was chasing, and now it bears a grudge, pecking me every time we meet..."

"You just aren't used to it!"

"How do you get used to it?"

"Cook it!"

Just then the rooster flapped its wings past Qin Miao; with sharp eyes and quick hands, he reached out, performed a "sea‑bottom moon scoop," and instantly grabbed both of the rooster's claws.

The fierce rooster twisted its head to peck Qin Miao's hand, but Qin Miao reversed his grip, flipping it over; no matter how flexible its neck, it couldn't overcome gravity.

"Don't!" Zhao Wanli's face grew even grimmer: "Let go quickly!"

"You brat, put down my rooster!" At that moment a voice rang out.

Qin Miao turned his head toward the speaker—a twenty‑something wearing a liberation cap and a green uniform, both washed a bit pale, resembling Liu Neng from a later‑era rural TV drama, except he held a long, rod‑like object glowing faintly.

"A three‑pronged spike!"

"This guy's not to be messed with." Zhao Wanli whispered in Qin Miao's ear: "A few years ago Ha Gong Da moved south, and the school was taken over by outsiders; when we moved back, the reasonable ones left, leaving a bunch of ruffians who supposedly won't leave unless Ha Gong Da pays them."

"A historical holdout—squatters who seized the school buildings! Today's holdouts cling to their own homes; these ones have outright occupied the campus."

"Ha Gong Da's students are tough too, but they're bare‑handed; moreover, those opponents are selective—they don't block burly local Northeastern lads, they go after anyone who looks like an out‑of‑town weakling."

"Or maybe the Security Section just isn't up to the task!"

"If they hadn't taken over our dorm building, we wouldn't have to live in the basement; these folks keep stealing things—just after the semester started we've lost several pieces of clothing, and we dare not hang our laundry outside to dry."

"The dorm is damp—both because of the basement and because we dry our clothes down there!"

After Zhao Wanli finished speaking, he looked at Qin Miao and suddenly saw a chilling intent in his eyes.