Sheng Tang made up her mind that today she would stick to her father and extract the secret of last night’s guest.
Through gentle coaxing and indirect questioning, she would surely gather some clues.
In the end, her father agreed.
"Fine, I have a professional class today. Let her attend, she won’t understand it anyway," Dad laughed.
Sheng Tang asked, "What class is it today?"
"Third-year Mechanics of Materials," Dad said.
Sheng Tang: "...."
Her father was a teacher at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Geological University, and as a liberal arts student, Sheng Tang indeed found these subjects incomprehensible.
But she was determined to go.
Every time they went out, it was Mom who drove, as it seemed Dad didn’t like to drive.
Faced with his daughter’s question, Dad defended himself proudly, "I do have a driver’s license, your mom just doesn’t let me drive because she likes to."
Mom didn’t spare him: "Come on, you bookworm, you’ve only driven twice and almost caused two accidents. How can we let you drive?"
Dad was focused on his academic work, and sometimes his mind was occupied with his studies, making it hard for him to concentrate on the road.
In the dense traffic of S City, he would be all over the place.
Sheng Tang couldn’t stop laughing.
Dad didn’t mind any of it.
Upon reaching the school, Mom dropped off Dad and Sheng Tang at the entrance of the department office before driving to the parking garage.
Dad’s office was on the second floor.
They ran into two young teachers, and Dad greeted them and introduced Sheng Tang.
"You must be Tangtang? Professor Sheng often mentions you and your incredible talent!"
"You wrote and composed Lan Fei’s ’First Dream,’ right? I saw it. It’s fantastic."
"And that ’Cinderella’ piece that blew up on social media recently, I read that too. We in the sciences have great admiration for such talent."
The two teachers kept talking.
Warmth surged in Sheng Tang’s heart. She realized she was a source of pride for her parents, who even boasted of her achievements to their colleagues.
Sheng Tang thanked them.
She chatted with the two teachers gracefully.
Professor Sheng quickly organized his lecture notes, saw that it was almost time, and led Sheng Tang to the teaching building.
Upon entering the classroom, the lecture hadn’t started yet. Students liked to come in just on time, so only a few were scattered around.
"Sit in the front row. If you don’t understand, just daydream, but don’t fall asleep," Professor Sheng said.
Sheng Tang promised, "Don’t worry, I never sleep during class."
Professor Sheng chuckled.
He turned on the computer, copied his lecture notes to the desktop, and completed his pre-class preparations as the bell rang to start the class.
Students seemed to suddenly flood in from all corners.
In the two minutes before and after the bell, the classroom filled up quickly.
Sheng Tang remembered that in her own university days, it was the same—arriving a minute early felt like a loss.
Even five minutes into the class, some students were still arriving late.
The front row was almost empty, so Sheng Tang sat alone.
Soon, a girl entered and, finding no seats in the back, sat beside Sheng Tang, giving her a smile.
Sheng Tang returned the smile, assuming she was one of her dad’s students.
The girl was dressed very fashionably.
In the dead of winter, she wore a fluffy coat without buttoning it. Her sweater’s neckline was a bit wide, exposing her elegant collarbones.
Her hair was dyed a deep brown, her makeup was exquisitely done, and she wore strikingly bright lipstick.
Sheng Tang glanced at her but didn’t pay much attention.
Professor Sheng’s lecture was quite engaging, but unfortunately, Sheng Tang couldn’t understand it, enduring the class for 45 minutes.
When the end-of-class bell rang, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The girl sitting next to Sheng Tang, however, walked towards the podium.