While he was fixing the microphone, the boy sitting beside Lin Wangxi leaned over and started chatting her up.
“Classmate, classmate, which department are you from? How come I’ve never seen you before?”
Lin Wangxi withdrew her gaze from the podium and turned to look.
It was a boy in a black hoodie. He was somewhat handsome, had dyed yellow hair, and wore an earring.
The clothes he wore looked expensive. Resting his chin on one hand, he smiled at Lin Wangxi.
Since Lin Wangxi was not even from this school, she did not know how to answer for a moment.
“Uh, I…”
There were very few girls in this major. If any of them were pretty, the boys would definitely know.
She felt she would not be able to bluff her way through, so she simply told the truth.
“I’m not from this school. I just came to listen to the lecture.”
“Oh, then which school are you from? Interested in this major? How about adding each other on WeChat so we can exchange ideas?”
The boy became interested and leaned even closer.
Tilting his head, although there was still some distance between them, from the podium their closeness looked excessive.
It even gave the illusion that they were about to kiss.
“Last row, that yellow-haired classmate, come analyze this.”
The voice suddenly rang out through the microphone without warning, startling quite a few people.
The murmuring below instantly disappeared again, and everyone turned to look at the yellow-haired boy in the last row.
Just now, Zhou Jinyuan had been fixing the microphone. No one understood how he suddenly started calling on someone.
The yellow-haired boy himself had not reacted either.
He looked left and right. It seemed he was the only one with yellow hair in the last row. Then he saw the senior onstage staring directly at him.
Only then did he realize he was being called. He stood up blankly.
“Senior, analyze what?”
Zhou Jinyuan looked at him indifferently.
“Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the different coating designs I mentioned earlier.”
“Uh…”
The yellow-haired boy looked awkward. He was only half-informed and could not answer at all.
He stammered for a while, then scratched his head.
“Sorry, Senior, I didn’t hear the earlier part clearly.”
Zhou Jinyuan did not make things difficult for him. He merely nodded slightly.
“Sit down.”
The boy sat back down, then immediately resumed talking to Lin Wangxi.
Lin Wangxi found him annoying.
“Can’t you listen properly?”
The boy did not care.
“I am listening. Let’s add each other first.”
…
They had only spoken a few sentences when Yellow Hair was called on again.
“Yellow-haired classmate, you answer.”
“…” The boy’s eyelid twitched. Irritated, he stood up. “Senior, my name is Zhao Yuansha, not Yellow Hair.”
“Classmate Zhao Yuansha.” Zhou Jinyuan smoothly corrected himself. “Please answer: in minimally invasive surgery, when using shape-memory alloys… blah blah blah… what possible clinical complication risks may arise?”
Obviously, it was still a question he could not answer.
Zhao Yuansha simply gave up, dropped back into his seat, and said, “Don’t know.”
Zhou Jinyuan glanced at him once, did not continue pressing him, and started explaining again.
The lecture lasted an hour and a half.
During that time, about twelve questions were asked, and Yellow Hair alone was called on eight times.
“This guy—is he targeting me?”
After being called on again, Yellow Hair sat down and said to Lin Wangxi,
“He must be jealous that I’m handsome and stole his spotlight.”
Lin Wangxi glanced at him. He really was narcissistic.
Still, she also felt Zhou Jinyuan was acting strange. Why did he keep calling on Yellow Hair?
Surely it could not really be because Yellow Hair was handsome?
After the lecture ended, it was time for questions.
The female students were extremely enthusiastic, raising their hands one after another, but their questions were far from serious.
“Senior, do you have a girlfriend?”
“Senior, what’s your phone number?”
“Senior, what kind of girls do you like?”
“Senior…”
But Zhou Jinyuan rejected every one of them, saying they were unrelated to the lecture topic and would not be discussed.
Lin Wangxi let out a faint sigh.
Sure enough, he had already silently acknowledged that their relationship was over.
He would not even admit publicly that he had a girlfriend. Was she really that embarrassing to acknowledge?
So what were they now?
Roommates sharing a rental?
Lin Wangxi thought that description was quite fitting.
Weren’t they just roommates now?
Ah… in the end, her feelings had been misplaced.
Resting her chin in her hand, she watched Zhou Jinyuan interact with the students below.
Although she could not understand much, aside from certain female students, there were still many asking legitimate questions.
The Yellow Hair beside her was obviously a poor student. Other than asking for her contact information, he had barely listened.
Lin Wangxi could not stand him anymore and directly gave him Zhou Jinyuan’s phone number.
Yellow Hair happily added it.
“I added you. Remember to approve it.”
Lin Wangxi smiled sweetly at him.
“I didn’t bring my phone. I’ll definitely approve it when I get back.”
Only then did Yellow Hair put away his phone in satisfaction.
It was about time as well.
Zhou Jinyuan announced the lecture was over, and many people still wanted more.
Mainly because much of what he spoke about was not from textbooks.
Some were data from his own research.
Some were even more specialized topics that one would only study in graduate school or during a doctorate.
Lin Wangxi followed the crowd out and went to wait for him in the parking lot.
Seeing him surrounded by people, he probably would not be able to get away anytime soon.
Lin Wangxi arrived at the parking lot, took out her phone, and checked the account listing she had posted.
Still no buyers.
There was only one message asking if she would sell it for four hundred thousand.
Lin Wangxi ignored it. Four hundred thousand was too little. She was somewhat reluctant.
She put away her phone and waited another ten minutes before Zhou Jinyuan finally arrived.
Lin Wangxi smiled and asked,
“How many female students did you add?”
“None.”
Zhou Jinyuan took out his car keys, unlocked the car, opened the passenger door, and casually tossed his backpack into the back seat.
“Get in. I’ll take you to eat.”
Now that he mentioned it, Lin Wangxi really was hungry.
She responded with an “oh,” used her crutch, and hopped into the passenger seat.
Zhou Jinyuan drove toward the school gate.
When they reached it, the barrier arm did not move at all.
It seemed… they could not get out.
“Could there be no one there?” Lin Wangxi looked strangely toward the guard booth. Someone was clearly inside.
She had just opened her mouth to call out when the security guard walked out.
The guard first looked over the car, then walked to the door and bent down to look inside at Zhou Jinyuan.
In an unfriendly tone, he said,
“So it was you, kid. You tailed another car through the open barrier to sneak in, and you were speeding around campus. Finally caught you.”
Lin Wangxi looked at Zhou Jinyuan in surprise.
So that was how he had gotten in?
Zhou Jinyuan’s expression turned slightly unnatural.
“Sorry. I didn’t notice.”
Lin Wangxi spoke up for him.
“He wasn’t driving that fast.”
The guard said,
“You didn’t see the posted speed limit of thirty? He drove fifty! That’s not fast?”
Seeing how fierce the guard was, Lin Wangxi immediately wanted to argue back.
But then she thought again. She no longer had anything to rely on. Her old methods would not work now.
She blinked and put on a pitiful expression.
“Oh, Uncle, we really didn’t mean it. Please let us off this once.”
The guard froze.
Zhou Jinyuan froze too and instinctively looked at her.
Lin Wangxi clasped her hands together and continued sweetly,
“My boyfriend came here to give a lecture. It was all my fault. I insisted on coming to watch, so he had no choice but to sneak in.”
“Uncle, you look so kind and approachable. Surely you won’t hold it against us, right?”
She used a deliberately sweet voice that was sugary enough to make one’s skin crawl, yet sounded perfectly natural without seeming forced.
Without exaggeration, if she used this voice while gaming, very few teammates could resist it.
Clearly, the security guard uncle could not resist either.
Even his expression became awkwardly shy.