For Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang, Qiao Ze's behavior was tantamount to him first saying, "I'm not one for showing off, and I never do."
Then he casually lifted his wrist to check the time, revealing the 18K gold and diamond-encrusted Rolex on his wrist.
But they couldn't even begin to complain!
Because, unlike flaunting wealth ostentatiously, Qiao Ze's real intention was just to prove that he was only making the most honest assessment.
Zhang Zhou had nothing to say, he could only stand behind Qiao Ze and watch him edit the document.
But when he realized that Qiao Ze was also editing the document in pure academic English, he gave up, unable to understand. Although he might not understand even if it was in Chinese, at least he could recognize each character when separated...
"Qiao, why are you using English?" Gu Zhengliang had finally spoken up to ridicule.
"The mathematical tools used by the professors are all from abroad, and many specialized terms do not have precise translations in Chinese. So if I were to make suggestions in Chinese, it would be mixed with a lot of English words, which wouldn't be coherent," Qiao Ze explained.
Again, the two were left speechless.
Clearly, using English wasn't for showing off, but rather for clarity of expression.
A disenchanted Zhang Zhou directly picked up his phone, evidently to draft a text message to Su Mucheng.
Loner: "The new whiz-kid refuses to come out because he wants to prove that he's not into showing off."
In less than a second, a reply came back from the other end, clearly poised by the phone.
Cheng: "?"
Loner: "Ah, don't get me started. Just now, Old Gu mentioned him saying the school's geometry professors' papers aren't high-quality, saying that such remarks were just pretentious.
To prove he was just stating facts, our new whiz-kid randomly picked a lucky professor from the school's geometry department and is currently writing a pure English email to point out problems in the paper, and he's told us to wait for the professor's response."
Cheng: "!!!"
Cheng: "You're not kidding?"
Zhang Zhou, seeing Su Mucheng's reply, didn't bother to explain further and just found an angle to take a photo of Qiao Ze earnestly tapping away at the keyboard, which he then sent over.
The photo showed Qiao Ze's back at a sixty-degree angle, exceptionally straight-backed. Though his face wasn't visible, the posture alone conveyed that the young man was in an extremely serious state. The focus, however, was on the computer monitor screen in front of him.
Lines of English text intermingled with a series of mathematical formulas were clearly visible within the frame.
Shortly after, Su Mucheng replied.
Cheng: "Which dorm in building 3 are you guys in?"
Loner: "What are you planning? A nighttime raid on the boys' dorm? I'll tell you, it's summer, and lots of guys are running around shirtless! Besides, the dorm auntie won't let you come up."
Of course, Qiao Ze was not without sensation.
In fact, his ability to multitask had always been strong.
Since the dormitory supervisor shouted from downstairs, all the noises around him had already been imprinted in his mind.
He just hadn't paid attention to them.
Only when he sensed someone behind him and a whiff of fragrance reached his nose did he calmly turn his head, looked curiously, and then refocused his attention on the text in front of him.
Time was still a bit tight, after all, he had to sleep by 10:30 pm.
Soon, Qiao Ze finished with the suggestions concerning the mathematical tools cited in one of the papers he read that day, and also provided suggestions for the results proposed in the paper.
He then compared the name on the paper with the names on the official university website, and confirmed that it was a paper published by Professor Zhao Guangyao.
Afterward, he logged into his email, attached the edited document, and began drafting the message.
"Professor Zhao Guangyao, hello. The attached document contains a few discussions regarding the paper titled 'Stoker's problem and index theory on manifolds with polytope singularities' that you published in the Computational Geometry journal issue seven of 20XX. I hope for a reply."
The email was signed: Student Qiao Ze.
After doing all this, Qiao Ze rubbed his wrists.
It was done.
Qiao Ze felt that, given his interactions over time with Li Jiangao and other professors researching Group Theory, he was confident that such an academic inquiry email would definitely be replied to, it was just a matter of sooner or later.
He was just proving to his two not-too-dumb roommates that he wasn't showing off; he didn't care whether the reply came sooner or later.
Then Qiao Ze stood up and looked at Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang, who wore awkward expressions: "Alright, now we just wait for the reply."
"Ahem, there's no rush... Let me introduce to you first, this is our class committee member, Su Mucheng," said Gu Zhengliang, who was nudged twice by Zhang Zhou and introduced her formally.
"Su Mucheng?"
"You also think this name sounds familiar, right? Actually, it comes from a popular serialized drama. My dad's a bit irresponsible. He likes to read web novels, and when I was born, the female lead in the novel he was following had this name. His last name happens to be Su too, so he straightforwardly used the female character's name for me.
Later, that novel became very popular and was adapted into a web drama. So, many people find my name familiar. Oh, and because of that novel, when I was little, he was dead set on trying to foster my potential in gaming, wanting me to become a professional gamer! But I wasn't interested. By the way, your name is Qiao Ze, right? Do you have a girlfriend yet?"
Qiao Ze: "Uh?!"
Zhang Zhou: "Whoa...."
Gu Zhengliang: "Cough cough cough...."
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