Chapter 170

September 11, Wednesday, cloudy.

There were quite a few classes today, surprisingly four lessons, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

But it's just the beginning for freshmen, I heard there will be much fewer classes when you get to sophomore year.

The two morning classes were Macroeconomics and Calculus. The afternoon classes were Marketing and Mental Health for College Students.

The other classes were all in the Bamboo Grove building, while the last one, Mental Health for College Students, was a big class with the three information management classes together in the Grand Tang Complex building. Fortunately the Grand Tang Complex building is not far, still in the old campus area, otherwise we would have had to sprint after class.

Early in the morning, Xiaoqi ran as usual, practiced calligraphy, and recited Japanese vocabulary words. She felt last night's English corner was quite rewarding, and seemed to have given her a bit more courage. It was a start, and she felt that next time, she would be able to speak up more easily on her own initiative.

She was also somewhat surprised at her own English level. She had finished all four volumes of the New Concept English series, and had been steadily working through the TOEFL test papers. Following the steps methodically, she now found that speaking English did not seem to pose any difficulty for her. Given the opportunity, she was confident she could communicate just fine.

Their major, Information Management, used bilingual textbooks for Management Theory, the same as for Academic English. Both were a bit difficult, just right for Xiaoqi's current stage of learning. The library also had many books, she could borrow some original English books to consolidate her knowledge.

Xiaoqi thought about it last night, and felt she still lacked time. She planned to get a part-time job, but no more than twice a week. Doing it too often would be a waste of time.

She preferred to treat part-time work as a process of relaxing body and mind.

Having just arrived in class and sat down, Chen Hanhe, the student sitting in front of her, curiously asked: "Class monitor, how come you didn't come to help yesterday afternoon? I heard you went to work-study yesterday?"

Xiaoqi was just thinking about getting a part-time job when she was suddenly asked about it out of the blue.

She didn't feel anything in particular, but Mier exploded: "It's none of your business what she does. You're a guy, why do you love gossiping about other people's private affairs? It really makes us Qinjiang people lose face."

Among students, it seemed to be a common view that work-study was embarrassing, just like applying for financial aid loans. There was some indescribable feeling, a sense of losing social status, especially in a school like Enhua.

Chen Hanhe was rendered speechless by Mier's sharp retort. Somewhat embarrassed, he said in a low voice: "I was just curious, didn't mean anything else. Yesterday a few of us went with Chu Yu from the Labor Committee to give teachers flowers. We asked the class monitor why she didn't come, and she said Xiaoqi had to work a part-time job and didn't have time. But Chu Yu didn't mean it, she just blurts things out without thinking. Don't blame her."

Xiaoqi hadn't thought much of it at first. She had money and didn't really need a part-time job. It didn't matter if people knew. Now her attitude towards such things was extremely open-minded. But before she could say anything, this guy had already started defending Chu Yu, afraid they would misunderstand or wrongly accuse Chu Yu... Simply ridiculous...

It was like suddenly being spoon-fed a mouthful of shit.

Originally, about the flower delivery yesterday, Xiaoqi had asked too. After all, she was also a class monitor, and had wondered if she should help out. Chu Yu had taken charge and said it was unnecessary, that they would handle it since it was close by. Xiaoqi had seen her roommates Lin Dongqing and Su Li in the dorm and they hadn't gone either, so she didn't go.

Xiaoqi felt it was a very trivial matter, not even worth mentioning. There was no need to bring it up. She didn't expect such a tiny matter to spread two versions of the story.

It was simply childish...

But now, over such a minor issue, going to confront Chu Yu clearly made no sense either. Even if no one else had been around when Chu Yu spoke, she could just deny it. And it seemed she had wanted to spread the news that Xiaoqi was working part-time. Xiaoqi didn't mind people knowing, she and Wei Cheng had worked at the riding club, and Li Weijin had seen them that day, so it wasn't a secret.

She just felt disgusted by the whole thing. Not a big deal, but annoying. Her first impression that she didn't like Chu Yu was clearly justified. Their auras clashed, best to interact with her as little as possible in the future.

"I saw her yesterday carrying a lot of flowers and asked if she needed help delivering them. She said you guys had it covered and didn't need me," Xiaoqi coldly explained, then ignored the student in front.

Chen Hanhe had made himself look stupid. Seeing Su Xiaoqi open her textbook, he awkwardly turned back around.

He hadn't meant any harm, just wanted to joke around and chat a little. But Classmate Su Xiaoqi seemed to really be the aloof type. Although Chen Mier spoke sharply like a little firecracker ready to explode at any moment, she wasn't intimidating or stern at all. But when Su Xiaoqi put on that stern face, Chen Hanhe felt she was scarier than the teacher.

It gave him a strange feeling. He felt someone like Su Xiaoqi would definitely disdain lying, but Chu Yu wouldn't lie either, there was no need. Something must have gone wrong somewhere.

The Macroeconomics teacher came in, a rather serious young man wearing glasses, not fat or thin, looking quite young too. He introduced himself as Teacher Shao.

Then he started lecturing. Shao's slides looked nice, tailored to the textbook content, with additional case studies and examples, citing sources, also containing graphs and stories. But his own lecturing seemed a bit nervous and halting.

Xiaoqi felt this teacher was a novice, a bit like herself when she first started tutoring.

But that was just one student, now there were over seventy in the class.

You could tell the teacher really wanted to interact with everyone, he even asked questions.

But no student raised their hand to answer.

Awkward silence for a moment.

"Since you're all not taking initiative, I'll just call on someone randomly." Teacher Shao pushed up his glasses and took out the roll book, then said: "Class monitor."

Xiaoqi: ...

Does the roll book actually have the words "class monitor" in it? Might as well just call on someone directly.

Seeing it was a pretty girl who stood up, Teacher Shao pushed his glasses up again.

"Can you explain what GDP, which I just talked about, means?"

The answer was right there in the book.

Just read it out.

Super simple. But Xiaoqi felt that if it was just to ask this, it was too weak. What's the difference between college students and elementary school kids then? Fortunately she always previewed the textbook, and with internet so advanced these days, she could look up information she didn't understand. She had previewed the text very carefully and in detail.

"GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product. It refers to the total value of final products and services produced within a country or region over a specific period of time (a quarter or a year). It is widely recognized as the best indicator of a country's economic performance. It not only reflects a country's economic achievement, but also its national strength and wealth."

She first explained the concept of GDP, this was directly from the textbook she had previewed, and she could basically remember definitions of key terms after previewing, also thanks to her strengthened memory ever since gaining the Memory Buff. She had been consciously training her memory ability, and found that at her age, the more she memorized and recited, the better her memory became rather than being overwhelmed. Memorizing thirty Japanese vocab words a day was much easier now than before.

She went on:

"Specifically, there are five main points in analyzing the GDP concept. First, GDP measures the value of final products and services, namely the final sales value of final products and services in that period. Based on actual use, products can usually be divided into intermediate products and final products...bla bla bla...

Second: GDP is a concept of market value...bla bla bla...

Third, GDP generally only refers to value created by market activities...bla bla bla...

Fourth, GDP calculates the value of final products produced during the period, thus representing a flow rather than a stock.

Fifth, GDP is not actual circulating wealth, it only represents the quantity of wealth using standardized monetary values. But whether produced goods can be fully converted into circulating wealth is uncertain."

After she finished, the whole classroom was quiet as chickens.

While Shao Xianwei pushed his glasses up again, seeing that this student had no more to say, he hurriedly said, "Very good, student please sit down, you answered very correctly and completely. Other students should learn from the class monitor, ahem, let's continue."

Shao Xianwei felt that he shouldn't call on this student to answer questions next time. He had already answered all the content of his next lecture slides. Was this Yen Hua University? For a moment just now, he felt like he was back in his student days, feeling the pain and dread of being dominated by the top student in the class. He had just started explaining noun definitions here, ready to give an easy giveaway question, but the top student not only explained the basic concepts without even looking at the book, but also gave a complete explanation of the profound connotations. What more could he lecture on??

Chen Mier saw Xiaoqi sit down, extremely excited. My deskmate is the best, she secretly gave Xiaoqi a thumbs up.

On the other side, Chu Yu felt even more depressed seeing Xiaoqi like this. Yesterday she went to give flowers and chatted with the teacher for a bit, even adding his WeChat. But the teacher didn't seem to remember her and didn't call on her to answer questions. It was Xiaoqi again, stealing the limelight. What a schemer. The teacher only asked for a noun explanation, but she had to say so much, showing off her knowledge.

Roommate Wei Cheng respected Xiaoqi even more inside. Xiaoqi had to do so many things and learn so much every day, yet she was still more diligent and comprehensive in her pre-studying than herself. She must work harder.

The deputy class monitor Mao Wenshu, who was sitting in the middle of the classroom, also pushed his glasses up. He was also a diligent student who usually did quite well in exams. He had been unlucky during the Gaokao, getting heat stroke, so his results weren't ideal. That's how he ended up being admitted to Yen Hua University. He had wanted to retake a gap year originally, but he had been weak ever since he was little, and always seemed to have bad luck. Whenever there were tests or exams, he underperformed compared to usual. His parents were worried that retaking the Gaokao might not go as well as getting into Yen Hua, so he still came to Yen Hua in the end.

He felt a little out of place at Yen Hua. Nothing felt right. Deep down he also looked down on his classmates, feeling like everyone was a failure, with different lifestyles and habits. His roommates basically didn't study when they got back - they played games, basketball, and chatted about girls in the class.

He looked down on everyone, yet still felt a little aggrieved about being elected deputy class monitor. He had specifically checked the Gaokao scores and saw he was ranked first in the class. It must be because the girls looked better and had that advantage. Yet he ended up as the deputy class monitor. But the teachers all treated the class monitor as the main one.

Just now when he saw her stand up, he also felt a little depressed. But after hearing Su Xiaoqi finish answering, this feeling of depression grew even stronger, along with shame, because even if he had been called on, he wouldn't have been able to answer so comprehensively either...the later concepts weren't in the textbook.

Sitting at the very back of the class, lying on the desk and barely moving, Li Weijin looked through the gaps between the backs of the students in front, at that especially straight back after she sat down, and the pen twisting around her hand.

Yesterday afternoon he had also idiotically gone to give flowers, thinking Su Xiaoqi would be there too. But she hadn't shown up at all, and he heard that girl say Su Xiaoqi had gone to her part-time job. He felt very depressed.

The others all had looks of bafflement on their faces. He disdained them greatly. What was so shocking about a part-time job? He would have to work at his dad's company in the future too. It was the same thing. Did they think they wouldn't have to work after entering society...

Now he felt it was different. Su Xiaoqi was different.

After Xiaoqi sat down, the familiar mechanical ringing sounded in her ears, ding ding dong dong, several times before it started speaking. "Host has studied diligently and perfectly answered the teacher's question, obtaining 12 sincere admirations from classmates. Rewarding host with Elementary Calculus."

Xiaoqi hadn't expected that diligently pre-studying the lesson and answering the teacher's question would bring such great rewards. Yesterday when pre-studying calculus, she had felt it was quite difficult, harder than the math she had learned in high school since she was in the arts stream. Looking at calculus made her head spin. Only by calming down and studying hard did she barely understand it. Indeed, diligent study brought good returns. Xiaoqi felt she needed to work harder and take her studying more seriously, not overlooking any opportunities to learn.