Liu Hao drove his second-hand car to take Qiao Ze to the hotel that the school had already booked. In fact, the hotel where they would dine wasn't far from the school, less than a kilometer away. But the school was so big, and Dean Xu was in such a hurry.
"Once you go in, head straight to the second floor, tell the waiter you're there for the Ruixue Pavilion, and someone will take you to the private room. Dean Xu and the others have already arrived... Actually, you may not need to, there should be someone waiting for you downstairs."
Liu Hao parked the car in front of the hotel entrance and casually mentioned this.
"Aren't you going to have dinner?" Qiao Ze asked the counselor who seemingly had no plans to park the car.
"Uh... I made dinner plans with someone else today, so I need to head back," Liu Hao awkwardly smiled and explained.
He was too embarrassed to say that the dean had only asked him to drop off Qiao Ze, not to join them for dinner. Of course, this was normal; the least qualified person accompanying the guests today was a senior-ranked professor. What reason did he have to go?
"Oh," Qiao Ze nodded, then got out of the car.
Going into the hotel, sure enough, someone was already waiting at the entrance. It was Professor Ma, who had met Qiao Ze once before.
As it turned out, Ma Wanxiang was the only lecturer and professor who had met Qiao Ze thus far.
Although this "only one," Ma Wanxiang didn't actually want.
Because it gave people a certain impression.
Qiao Ze stopped attending classes because he found his, Ma's, lectures uninteresting from that point on.
If that were all, it would have been fine.
Once you accept that this guy is an extraordinary genius, it's really not that important whether the child attends class or not.
But after that, even Su Mucheng stopped coming to class, and that was somewhat hurtful to one's pride.
So when Ma Wanxiang saw Qiao Ze, his feelings were indeed complex.
He really didn't want to come down to receive the guest, but the trouble was, at today's dinner, the only people who had met Qiao Ze were Xu Dajiang and him.
Xu Dajiang had to stay in the private room to entertain the guests from the Capital, so it had to be him coming down.
Of course, when Ma Wanxiang actually saw Qiao Ze, he was still very enthusiastic.
"Qiao Ze, you're here? Everyone's arrived, we can start the meal when you come." Ma Wanxiang said loudly.
"Oh," Qiao Ze nodded.
Knowing that Qiao Ze was not good at communicating, Ma Wanxiang didn't feel anything was amiss and simply led Qiao Ze upstairs to the dining area.
It felt awkward to stay completely silent, so he tried to make some small talk.
"How is it? Are you getting used to the school?"
"Getting along well with your classmates?"
"By the way, why haven't you been coming to class recently? Did you self-study the course content before?"
"Nagging," Qiao Ze replied, and then, realizing the word could be misunderstood, he rarel y added, "The lectures are nagging."
Hmm, can't fast-forward...
Ma Wanxiang nodded, understanding.
But there was no helping it, even at his current pace of lecturing, if he dropped a pen, those kids might not understand what he was going on about afterward.
If he simplified it even more, it might as well have the kids read books and self-study instead.
Fortunately, after just a few exchanges, they had already arrived in front of the private room. If the distance had been any longer, Ma Wanxiang wouldn't have found any more topics. After all, he wasn't Su Mucheng; that young girl could forcibly find topics without feeling embarrassed.
"Eh, Qiao Ze, you're here. Come and take a seat. Today we have three professors, and they're all well-known mathematicians. They've been very keen to chat with you," Xu Dajiang immediately said loudly as he saw Qiao Ze enter the private room.
He didn't care whether the professors from Yanbei University would feel awkward because of his words.
The seating had been arranged beforehand; Qiao Ze was to sit beside Xu Dajiang, and the seat on the other side of Qiao Ze was reserved for Ma Wanxiang, who had just gone to receive Qiao Ze. The three professors from Yanbei University were seated directly opposite.
After the two were seated, Xu Dajiang began his enthusiastic introductions: "Come, Qiao Ze, let me introduce you. This is Professor Zhang Hongcai, the deputy director of Yanbei International Mathematics Research Institute and a leading figure in the domestic study of noncommutative geometry."
"Nice to meet you," Qiao Ze calmly nodded to Zhang Hongcai, seeming to forget about being blocked on the phone the day before.
Zhang Hongcai was taken aback by the plain reaction.
Under normal circumstances, one would at least offer an explanation, right?
Maybe even make up an excuse?
In the end, Zhang Hongcai could only comment, "Uh... nice to meet you, Qiao Ze. It's not easy to get a chance to see you, huh."
"Not easy? Can't you find your way to the library?" Qiao Ze casually replied.
"Ah?" Zhang Hongcai was stunned, then couldn't help saying, "You didn't say library though?"
"You didn't ask," Qiao Ze seriously corrected, "The specific situation yesterday was that after I clearly told Zhao Guangyao that I was busy, you didn't ask where I was but reiterated on the phone for me to go to dinner. Hmm, I guess your Chinese grades must not have been good."
"I..." Zhang Hongcai was a bit dumbfounded.
The atmosphere around the dining table instantly became awkward.
Everyone showed different micro-expressions in response to this simple exchange.
Some picked up their tea, some began coughing, and others raised their hands to cover their noses...
Fortunately, Xu Dajiang was there: "Haha, I just discovered that Qiao Ze is actually quite humorous. Old Zhang, you see? Oh, Qiao Ze, the Professor sitting to the left of Zhang is Professor Lu Changzheng, and to the right is Professor Qian Yuhai; they are both experts in Group Theory."
Qiao Ze nodded and politely said, "Nice to meet you."