Chapter 188: The Elfin in Class
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian thought about it and said, “Okay. Deal.”
Professor Wei fixed his glasses, “His name is Zhang Xu. He was my student at this university. I heard he was reselling pets. Oh, by the way, my name is Wei Kang. It sounds the same as the stomach medicine but it’s a different character…”
“Reselling pets?” Zhang Zian was surprised. He knew that guy was quite wealthy. He was also the super moderator in Wanghaige BBS. Why would he would resell pets? He had the same family name as Zhang Zian…
“Well,” Professor Wei explained, “He collects rare pets and sells them to the very rich all over China. His profit comes from reselling.”
“What exactly is it?” Zhang Zian asked.
“I am not sure. I heard that the very rich love rare pets. They use pets as a symbol of wealth and power,” Professor Wei said. “According to him, the very rich love anything that is hard to get. Luxury cars, young models and female celebrities are no longer worthy to chase. Anything that can be exchanged for money isn’t attractive enough. Rare pets are different. The rarer the pet, the more expensive it gets. Sometimes they are extremely hard to get even when you are loaded with money.”
Zhang Zian understood why he was willing to buy Fina for an extremely high price. He could get an outrageous profit out of her.
“Well, he was here because of the ancient Egyptian cat. He told me someone has one and asked me where he could find one. I told him such a breed became extinct a long time ago. You can’t find it anymore,” Professor Wei sad.
“And? I heard you were going somewhere?” Zhang Zian continued his questions.
Professor Wei sighed, “I don’t even know how he heard that I am going to Egypt. He kept begging me to get an ancient Egyptian cat for him and promised he would pay a fortune to buy one. Isn’t that a joke? Even if I could find one, I don’t think I could take it out of Egypt.”
That was true. A real ancient Egyptian cat might be the national treasure of Egypt.
“Are you done with your questions? Now it is my turn,” Professor Wei started with his biggest concern. “Where did you get that cat? I thought they vanished a long time ago.”
Zhang Zian asked, “Why didn’t you question Zhang Xu? Maybe he made a mistake?”
Professor Wei laughed, “I don’t think so. He is good at this. He was the top student in my class. It’s too bad…” He shook his head.
“Okay. Tell me where you got that cat,” Professor Wei asked again.
Zhang Zian couldn’t tell the truth, “I am telling the truth… I picked it up off the street.”
That made Professor Wei angry!
“Bullsh*t! You can’t pick up an ancient Egyptian cat on the street! What? Do you think I am an idiot or something?”
“Well, it is up to you if you want to believe it or not,” Zhang Zian said, “How come you are so certain that it is not possible? If people can find cash on the street, I can find an ancient Egyptian cat as well.”
Professor Wei was speechless.
That was true. It was just a matter of possibility.
Zhang Zian looked at the time and said, “What is your last question? I am on a schedule.”
Professor Wei realized something and asked, “Do you want to enroll in my graduate program? I will write all the papers for you as long as you agree.”
Zhang Zian knew exactly what he wanted to do. Professor Wei could study Fina if Zhang Zian agreed to become his student.
Zhang Zian was smart, so he rejected. “I am sorry. I am not interested.”
He left the office as soon as he finished. Old Time Tea did as well.
There were a few more classrooms to search. Zhang Zian continued the search in his own method, big classrooms first and then the small ones. He pushed open the door and walked into an enormous classroom.
Class was in session. Not many students attended class, so only half of the seats were taken. Most students were sitting in the front rows and only a few were sitting in the back rows. He looked carefully and didn’t see Wang Qian and Li Kun. Honestly, he didn’t even know what major those two were of. Anyways, he could bet that they didn’t even care about their major.
As he entered the classroom, a few students looked up at him, but they lost interest immediately.
Zhang Zian sat down in the last row, and scanned the classroom with his cellphone. He didn’t leave but planned to rest for a bit.
As he was daydreaming, the teacher raised her voice.
“Hey guys, please be quiet. Class is in session.”
Zhang Zian looked over. There was a group of girls discussing something. They were getting louder and louder and they were bothering other students. The teacher had to stop them.
The girls shut up and winked at each other.
Zhang Zian realized that there were more girls than boys in this class. Almost 80% of the students were girls. He didn’t see many boys in this class. Some single guys were spread out in the corners.
He wondered what class this was.
Looking at the monitor, it showed: Modern Chinese 1.
Chinese class… No wonder…
Modern Chinese 1 was an entry level class. These kids had to be freshmen. The girls were all young and most of them were taking notes seriously. Only that group of girls were more mature.
“In vocabulary, the Chinese language is in the form of a single syllable and makes new words using the root complex method. Double syllables are far more adventurous.” The teacher was lecturing.
“As for grammar, compared to other languages, Chinese lacks strict changes in many forms. There is no simple one-to-one correspondence between word class and sentence composition in Chinese. The inner structure of Chinese sentences is consistent with the construction of phrases. There are rich quantifiers.”
Although the teacher was trying very hard, the content was way too boring. Her voice was like a lullaby which made the students fall asleep.
Zhang Zian wasn’t interested in Chinese. He yawned, got up and was about to leave.
“Professor, I have a question.”
Right at that moment, a voice arose.
Everyone, at the same time, looked back towards the source of the voice – Zhang Zian.
Zhang Zian only stood up. He hadn’t said a word. From other people’s perspectives, he stood up to ask a question.
What?!
Zhang Zian’s face turned blue.
Who is playing a joke on me?
Old Time Tea was surprised. The source of voice was nearby, but it could not identify the accurate location.
There were too many people in the classroom and the door was shut. The smells were complicated.
Old Time Tea wasn’t sure if they were in a dangerous situation. It wasn’t sure if it should become visible.
Zhang Zian was calm. Apparently, it was just a joke; no one was trying to harm him.
“Great. I am glad you are asking questions. Next time, please ask questions at the end of the session. Now that you have a question, I can explain further,” The teacher said.
The teacher was quite happy that there was communication between her and the students.
“For example, in other languages, subjects are usually nouns or noun phrases. However, in Chinese, it is a lot more complicated. Besides nouns, there are a lot more that can serve as the subject in a sentence: numerals, azimuth nouns, verbal components, adjective components, and even prepositional phrases. I would like to cite two examples – in the following sentence, ‘Paying attention in class is what you should do’, a verb component acts as the subject. As for ‘Against the wall, there stands a row of desks’, the prepositional phrase ‘against the wall’ acts as the subject. Do you understand now?”
Zhang Zian was not interested in the teacher’s detailed explanations. It was extremely boring for him. He was trying to search for the fourth elfin using his phone.
Old Time Tea could not find the source of the voice because the source was an elfin. It could only be seen from the capturing screen of the Pet Hunter game.
Front, no elfin.
Left, no elfin.
Right, no elfin.
The back was a wall. There was no elfin.
There was nothing…
He raised his cell phone up, and saw a pair of creepy little eyes.
Above his head, a huge parrot was standing on the wall fan, looking at him happily.
[Game Tip]:Target confirmed – Apprehensive Bird.
