Genius Playground

”I expect not to be interrupted while I’m speaking. In turn, I won’t drone on.”

Yan Chonghan stood up straight and looked down at the three of them.

”A normal graduate class wouldn’t be taught this way. You have your major courses, your general education courses... and especially in your first and second years, you wouldn’t have much contact with your advisor.”

”But this class is different. It’s very special. Not only do we have two exchange students from prestigious universities in the United States, but we also have a highly praised and eagerly anticipated super [GENIUS].”

For some reason...

When he said the word ”genius,” this Teacher Yan clearly emphasized it and glanced at Jiang Ran.

The feeling was just like in the Harry Potter movies, whenever Professor Snape called the main character’s name, he would spit out the two syllables ”Pot! Ter!”, complete with a certain amount of spray.

”So, according to Teacher Zhang Yang’s original teaching plan, in addition to your normal graduate courses on the schedule, you’ll also have two to three extra small group meetings like this one every week, right here in this lab.”

”The content of these meetings won’t be fixed. It’ll mainly be for guidance and discussion on the three of your research interests and topics... I imagine this level of extra classwork won’t be much of a burden for top students and [GENIUSES] like yourselves.”

When Teacher Yan said the word ”genius,” he once again bit out the word with emphasis.

Even Cheng Mengxue frowned, her gaze meeting Jiang Ran’s with a hint of complaint.

It was obvious this wasn’t just Jiang Ran’s imagination... This Teacher Yan was targeting him!

’How strange.’

’Did I do something to offend him?’

’His attitude toward me has been terrible from the moment he walked in. It makes no sense.’

”Alright, today’s class is just an introductory session, mainly for us to get to know each other. I see you’re already quite familiar with one another, so let’s skip the self-introductions. I’ve already read all your files.”

With that, he crossed his arms and looked around at the three of them.

”That’s all I have to say. I’m done. If you have any questions, you can ask them now.”

Cheng Mengxue stood up immediately.

”Teacher Zhang Yang... what exactly happened to him?”

”It’s nothing serious.”

Yan Chonghan said calmly.

”Just a small car accident. He hurt his leg and needs to rest and recover in the hospital.”

”As for why you weren’t informed earlier, first, it’s the start of the semester and he didn’t want to distract you. And second...”

He trailed off, pausing for a moment.

”Second, you’ll definitely want to visit him in the hospital. You can hear it from him yourself then.”

”Any other questions? No? Then... class dismissed!”

The idiom ”swift and decisive” described Yan Chonghan to a T.

It was a real mystery what he was always in such a frantic rush for.

He came in a rush and left in a rush. Without giving the three of them any chance to daze out, wait, or even think, he grabbed his notebook, strode out of the laboratory, and disappeared down the corridor.

”...” ”...” ”...”

The three of them were speechless.

They had never seen a teacher like him. It didn’t even feel like he was just going through the motions of teaching; he was completely phoning it in, without a shred of patience.

”He’s nothing like Teacher Zhang Yang.”

Jiang Ran said honestly.

”You two haven’t met Teacher Zhang. He’s not only got a great personality and attitude, but he’s also very responsible toward his students. Not like this guy with the gold-rimmed glasses... Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was an idol trainee about to make his debut.”

Although Teacher Yan said Zhang Yang was fine, Jiang Ran still planned to visit him at the hospital.

He called Zhang Yang again, and this time, the call went through.

Jiang Ran said he wanted to visit him at the hospital, but Zhang Yang insisted it wasn’t necessary and told him not to come.

But the more Zhang Yang insisted, the more Jiang Ran felt something was fishy. He dug in his heels and said he had to go.

In the end, Zhang Yang couldn’t win the argument. He gave Jiang Ran the hospital’s name and room number, but instructed him:

”Just come by yourself. Don’t bring anyone else.”

He emphasized in a low voice:

”We can’t air our dirty laundry in public... especially not when it’s this embarrassing, and in front of foreigners...”

Fortunately.

As exchange students, Cheng Mengxue and Fang Ze already had other courses arranged by the university. Their schedules were packed, so they didn’t have time to go with Jiang Ran.

So, after saying goodbye to the two of them, Jiang Ran left the campus, hailed a cab, and headed for East Sea University First Affiliated Hospital.

He arrived at the inpatient ward and pushed open the door to Teacher Zhang Yang’s room.

”Holy...”

Jiang Ran couldn’t help but exclaim at the scene before him.

Teacher Zhang’s head was wrapped in several layers of gauze, one arm was in a cast by his side, and his right leg, which looked the most serious, was suspended high in the air.

”Teacher Zhang, you... what happened to you!” Jiang Ran hurried to the bedside.

”Hmph.”

On the other side of the bed, a woman peeling an orange shot Zhang Yang a look.

”Why don’t you ask your teacher? See if he has the nerve to say.”

Jiang Ran blinked and looked at Zhang Yang.

”This is...”

”Your professor’s wife.”

”Oh, oh, a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

Jiang Ran greeted the woman.

’So she’s Teacher Zhang Yang’s wife. He mentioned her before when we were chatting, but this is the first time I’ve formally met her.’

’I just noticed the phrasing my professor’s wife used...’

’Embarrassed to say?’

’Could it be that there was some embarrassing secret behind Teacher Zhang’s car accident?’

Jiang Ran looked at Zhang Yang and asked again:

”Teacher Zhang, what really happened with your injuries?”

”Ahaha...”

Zhang Yang gave an awkward laugh and went to scratch his head.

But he found his right arm was in a cast and he couldn’t, so he gave up and said in a small voice:

”Aiya, it’s really not a big deal, that’s why I didn’t want you to come visit... I just... I fell off my motorcycle yesterday...”

...

...

...

”Huh?”

Jiang Ran was stunned.

He found it truly difficult to associate something like riding a motorcycle with Teacher Zhang, who had the gentle, scholarly air of a dedicated public school teacher.