Super God-Level Top Student

Xilin University of Technology, male dormitory building 3, room 408.

Since Qiao Ze graduated, he hadn't stayed in the old dorm room again, and although the dorms were tight, the spot where Qiao Ze stayed was still kept empty.

So, room 408 continued to house just three people.

Of course, this was to the other three's liking.

The vacant bed maintained the faint hope that Qiao Ze might casually return for a stay.

With Dr. Qiao Ze's graduation and his new title as a researcher, the distance between him and these ordinary students grew ever more significant.

Now, to get news about Qiao Ze, his former roommates had to rely on the internet, which inevitably led to sighs.

Indeed, for the three of them, the few months when Qiao Ze lived in the dorm felt like a different era.

They had witnessed the entire process of Qiao Ze growing from an unknown student to a leading academic authority.

Just that the process seemed to have been fast-forwarded.

They simply advanced one academic year, from freshmen to sophomores, while Qiao Ze turned from a student to a researcher in the same time, directly achieving a senior professional title. But to be honest, they couldn't muster any jealousy or envy.

The closer they were, the clearer the gap—massive.

So vast that it could drive one to despair.

Regardless of the achievements Qiao Ze obtained, in the eyes of Zhang Zhou, Gu Zhengliang, and Chen Yiwen, it was all just basic operations.

Humans shouldn't reason with non-humans.

What serious student checks the professors' recent publications on the first day of reporting to school?

But the aftereffects of Qiao Ze lingered on, the three in the room became immune to many things.

They even lost interest in many class activities.

The threshold had been infinitely raised.

Qiao Ze would attend report meetings, stand on the stage delivering impressive lectures, and even manage to scorn the experts and professors sitting below. What fun was there in messing around with a bunch of kids?

Better to spend more time on math problems and reading papers.

Even Chen Yiwen, who had been enjoying sweet love, started coming back to the dorm more often recently.

The passionate phase had gradually passed, and they had entered a relatively calm period.

With the studies in applied physics also becoming more intense lately, they didn't stick together every day anymore.

After class, Chen Yiwen's time in the dormitory also increased.

But unlike Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang, Chen Yiwen no longer enjoyed doing problems, but instead developed an interest in philosophical thought, suddenly getting into reading random books in the dorm.

Such as: "Critique of Pure Reason," "Phenomenology of Spirit," "Time and Free Will," "Phenomenology of Perception," "The Second Sex," and so on...

That was the university's library for you—too impressive, nearly any random book could be found there.

As Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang put it, the things Chen Yiwen was reading now, aside from the school library, you couldn't necessarily find a second copy in all bookstores across Xilin.

In their view, Chen Yiwen's foray into such books was entirely for show.

He loved using arcane vocab during conversations to flaunt his "cultured" persona.

Gestalt Psychology, Dualism, Perception Analysis, Ontology...

The result was, Zhang Zhou and Gu Zhengliang were getting increasingly irritated by Chen Yiwen, wanting to beat him up for thirty-two days every month.

And tonight was no different.

Zhang Zhou was discussing a linear discriminant analysis problem with Gu Zhengliang when they noticed Chen Yiwen, who had put down his book, was giving them a particularly nauseating look.

"What are you staring at?" asked Zhang Zhou, annoyed, having been happy just moments earlier for having solved a tough problem.

Because that look seemed to be one of pity?

"Ah..." Chen Yiwen sighed, "I just think that after so long, you guys still haven't grasped the reality of yourselves, which is quite pitiful."

"Your mom... Chen Yiwen, you really asking for it, huh? Let me tell you, showing off in the dorm is a real way to get beaten up."

"Never mind, you wouldn't understand what I'm talking about. Indeed, it's hard for people to achieve beyond cognition. Just like you solved a problem and felt accomplished. Yet in reality, you solved the problem because the person who set the problem allowed it to be solved. This supposed 'solving' is nothing more than guessing the will imposed upon you by others. Does this really warrant happiness?"

Chen Yiwen lifted his teacup, took a sip, and calmly stated.

Then he put down the cup, picked up the book again, his movements serene, like a carefree immortal above worldly concerns—his demeanor indeed gave off that untouchable sage-like vibe.

Really, if they hadn't lived together for nearly two years and seen the embarrassing episodes of Chen Yiwen slinging his backpack around doing problems, they might have been fooled by him.

But at that moment, Zhang Zhou exchanged a glance with Gu Zhengliang, and they immediately reached an understanding: they needed to deal with this show-off.

Otherwise, he might really become unbearable...

So the two stood up simultaneously and rushed toward Chen Yiwen, ready for a showdown, when suddenly the dormitory door was knocked on.

"Thump thump"

But obviously, the visitor was just going through the motions; the next moment, the door was pushed open, and the counselor Liu Hao walked in with a smile.

"Good news, eh... what are you guys doing?"

"Cough cough, counselor, forgive them. These two kids are still immature, still liking to mess around," Chen Yiwen pushed aside Zhang Zhou who was grabbing his sleeve, and said with a faint smile.