Academic Difficulties of Locals and Shanghai Natives

Compared to his classmates, Wang Haoran had it pretty easy.

Simply put, his brain was well-suited for this major.

Plus, he didn't feel the need to chase top grades within the department; it was too much of a rat race. He figured he was better off just sticking with Brother Bai.

Generally speaking, freshmen at Jiangcheng University rarely possessed such self-awareness. After all, "playing lackey to a rich kid" didn't sound very dignified. It seemed to disgrace the reputation of a student from a prestigious university. But how did the saying go?

We go to college to make money, right?

It sounded tacky, but for students from ordinary families, it was just that simple.

Wang Haoran wasn't someone who cared too much about "saving face." Working for someone was working, no matter who it was. If you asked him, Su Bai had way better character than those heartless bosses out there.

So, when it came to studies, getting decent grades was enough.

In contrast, the other two roommates seemed a bit stiff.

"Holy crap, how did five lines of code generate six errors?!"

On Wang Haoran's other side, Xue Tao clutched his head and let out a painful wail.

"Heh, Old Xue, you're too unreliable. You even messed up such a simple sample program. Looks like you and code are sworn enemies in this life," Chu Mingzhe gloated.

"Shut up! You have the nerve to talk about me after you broke your computer with your blind tinkering?"

"I didn't break the computer; I was just configuring the environment variables. Ahem, there's a difference between this educational software and actual engineering practice..."

Chu Mingzhe looked a bit embarrassed.

At the start of class, this kid claimed he had previewed the material, then performed a flurry of operations that crashed the computer immediately. Su Bai was truly impressed.

"Actual engineering practice," my ass. How come Chen Yusheng never messed up the environment?

Now *that* was engineering and practical.

It felt like "Lord Shanghai" here was pretending to understand when he didn't.

Old Chu just couldn't suppress his desire to show off at any given moment, even when he didn't actually know much...

Su Bai thought he was suited for a career in training or coaching. It didn't matter if he understood or not; he’d just stand there and bluff, absolutely bluffing the students into stunned silence.

By the end of the class, neither Lord Shanghai nor the local guy had figured it out. They would have to wait until they got back to the dorm to figure it out on their own computers.

"Brother Su Bai, after the ball game this afternoon, do you want to go to the library to review together?"

As they were getting ready to go to the cafeteria, Su Bai received an invitation from Chu Mingzhe to study.

It had to be said, Lord Shanghai had a good eye; he easily spotted who was doing the best academically in the dorm.

After all, the knowledge was automatically instilled by the System. Homework was a breeze, and even when the teacher got carried away and assigned a few difficult problems in the exercise class, Su Bai could handle them easily.

Su Bai shook his head immediately. "No, I feel like studying in the library is inefficient. Plus, it's too quiet. It’s depressing."

Right after military training ended, Su Bai had jumped on the bandwagon and visited the library a couple of times.

Honestly, he didn't like the atmosphere.

This seemed to go against Su Bai's character, as he was someone who liked quiet and disliked noisy scenes. Theoretically, the library should have met his needs.

But after trying it, he realized that the silence of a public place was different from the silence of solitude.

Su Bai still preferred private spaces. For instance, reviewing in the study of his Shanshui duplex villa, with Yusheng specially invited for private tutoring, while two little maids massaged his shoulders and legs... Wouldn't that be delightful?

Taking a step back, even studying in the dorm—complaining to Wang Haoran about how crappy the textbook was or how silly the latest anime game was—was better than the library.

"Alright, since Brother Su Bai doesn't want to go, I'll just have to ask my girlfriend to study with me." Chu Mingzhe looked regretful and took out his phone, seemingly about to contact his "Jirai Kei" girlfriend.

"...Your girlfriend reviews with you?"

"Yeah."

"Is she from our school?"

"No, but she's also a science major. Physics department..."

Holy crap, shocker!

Su Bai hadn't paid attention to what major Chu Mingzhe's girlfriend was in before.

Now it seemed she was incredibly hardcore.

Indeed, Jirai Kei girls and long-haired artsy guys were forces to be reckoned with.

Especially in a place like Jiangcheng with such a huge student population, it wasn't strange to pull out a weirdo of any style.

"I'm counting on Leilei to tutor me for my University Physics midterm." Mentioning this, Chu Mingzhe sighed with relief and cast a sideways glance at Xue Tao. "Can *other* girlfriends do that?"

Not just "other" girlfriends.

Su Bai and Wang Haoran exchanged a look. Yeah, they got it. Old Chu was calling out Xue Tao.

Everyone knew that Xue Tao's girlfriend, Liu Yuanyuan, was a liberal arts student.

Naturally, she couldn't tutor Xue Tao in physics.

What a tragic story.

Xue Tao, having been called out, stiffened his neck and sneered, "Heh, my physics is awesome. I don't need tutoring at all. How useless do you have to be to need your girlfriend to tutor you?"

"Useless? Wrong. This is positive interaction between a couple. It is the blending of souls. Certain couples who only have a material connection wouldn't understand."

"What's wrong with material things? Isn't dating all about the material? Besides, Yuanyuan and I have already... ahem, we've already traveled and stayed together."

"..."

Chu Mingzhe's momentum instantly deflated.

You had to admit, this was indeed a point of immense pride for Xue Tao.

Although he had actually suffered a shameful defeat at the time, to outsiders, he had spent a wonderful holiday living with Liu Yuanyuan.

Su Bai listened with relish to the two clowns bickering as he ordered food at the window on the second floor of the cafeteria.

"Large boiled beef in chili oil, large chicken wing and crab casserole... Is this crab casserole new?"

"That's right, handsome. It's new in our cafeteria. The portion is huge!"

The cafeteria lady said enthusiastically.

She was already familiar with Su Bai's face and knew this young man loved to eat, could eat, and had a massive appetite.

So, even though there were only four of them and he ordered several large meat dishes, she didn't warn him about over-ordering.

Su Bai grabbed two cold vegetable dishes and headed to the table, only to hear Xue Tao still yapping away.

"Love without material things is like a plate of loose sand; the wind blows, and it scatters..."

"Impressive, Brother Tao. You've got it memorized. I didn't know you watched *Tiny Times*," Su Bai laughed.

"...I wouldn't say I watched it. I just heard about it," Xue Tao said, a bit shyly. "Anyway, Old Chu says his girlfriend doesn't care about material things, but I don't buy it. In this day and age, where can you find a girl who doesn't care about material things?"

"No, you don't understand. Leilei is different!"

"I'd like to ask, how is she different?"

Seeing the determined look in Chu Mingzhe's eyes, Su Bai figured the "Jirai Kei" girl must have been in a good mood lately and hadn't been tormenting him much.

Lord Shanghai's romance style was primarily heart-wrenching drama, while Xue Tao's romance style was pure chaos.

In terms of weirdness, the two "gods" of Dorm 510 each had their own unique skills.

"Heh, I can't communicate with someone with no taste like you." Chu Mingzhe waved his hand dismissively. "Leilei is coming to watch me play ball this afternoon. You'll understand then—that intense gaze watching her beloved..."

Xue Tao: "..."