Seeing Senior Qin Cancan excitedly express, "If I only needed to sleep three hours a day and not feel tired, I wouldn't be dozing off so often and affecting my experimental progress!"
Liu Chen looked at the diligent Qin Cancan and fell silent. After a moment, Liu Chen handed her a business card from Ren Yu's company, "Xinghai Technology."
"Senior, I think a workaholic like you is more suited for a startup. With your drive, you should be able to get a handsome salary."
Qin Cancan took the business card from Liu Chen in a daze, and then, "Huh? I know this company. My supervisor said if I do well this year, he'll write me a recommendation letter."
Liu Chen felt a bad premonition upon hearing this. "Who is your supervisor?"
Qin Cancan blinked, stood up from the sofa, and said, "Jiang Demin. I'm going to wash up. I have to be in the lab at four tomorrow to check if there are any data issues. Goodnight, my new roommate."
In the dead of night, Liu Chen laid thick cotton padding and clean sheets on his hard wooden bed. He took out a thin summer blanket from the system and sat down to rest on the edge of the bed, which was placed horizontally against the wall.
The headboard was a solid wall. Behind it was a small bathroom, about two to three square meters, tiled with small squares.
The bedroom door was diagonally opposite the bathroom door. At the foot of the bed was a small balcony with windows on two sides. On the wall without a window stood a large double-door wardrobe. Liu Chen estimated the remaining space was just enough for a desk and chair.
To be honest, this setup was already much better than the dormitories and rental houses he had lived in during his previous life. But…
"It's a bit cramped…"
Having lived mostly in four-bedroom apartments and detached villas since his rebirth, Liu Chen suddenly felt cramped in a dormitory that, including the bathroom, probably occupied no more than ten square meters.
Thinking about the bunk beds in his previous four-person dorm room, Liu Chen felt a little more content.
He got up, took a shower in the bathroom, changed into his pajamas, took out his laptop from his suitcase, and sat cross-legged on the bed to search for "Jiang Demin."
After searching for a long time, Liu Chen found that Supervisor Jiang Demin was completely different from He Long. The projects he worked on rarely included the names of participating students.
Looking at the meager names on Jiang Demin's project lists, and then at the long list of names behind Supervisor He Long's projects, Liu Chen fell silent.
After falling asleep, Liu Chen saw Supervisor He Long giving one-on-one tutoring. He felt exceptionally respectful. During class, his back was straight, his eyes were bright, and even after two consecutive hours of classes, his energy remained incredibly high!
This uncharacteristic behavior from Liu Chen made He Long, who had recently been secretly adding knowledge points to keep up with the pace, feel a little guilty.
Could it be that he had pushed Liu Chen to the brink of his endurance, causing the child to become mentally unstable?
With this thought, He Long felt exceedingly guilty. Just then, the class bell rang. He Long, holding his lesson plans, walked to Liu Chen and stopped. He stood there for about half a minute, and under Liu Chen's watchful gaze, finally spoke:
"Classmate Liu Chen, do you need the teacher's help?"
As he spoke, He Long took out a familiar energy supplement from his jacket pocket and placed it on the desk.
Liu Chen shook his head, then quickly nodded.
This action further convinced He Long that the child was in trouble.
Liu Chen also noticed the hesitation in Supervisor He Long's eyes and quickly explained:
"Teacher He, it's like this, I have a friend…"
Liu Chen explained Qin Cancan's situation from beginning to end, and then asked hesitantly, "Compared to Teacher Jiang's behavior, and thinking about your actions, I truly admire your selflessness. You are the best in the world in my heart!"
Liu Chen's flattery flowed out like it was free of charge, though in reality, it was indeed free.
He Long, whose brows had furrowed upon hearing Liu Chen's description, gradually relaxed due to Liu Chen's compliments.
"The supervisor you mentioned does indeed have some issues. And you said your friend is already in their third year of doctoral studies and will graduate next year. Based on what this supervisor usually does, I estimate it will be very difficult for your friend to graduate. They will likely have to pay a significant amount of money to be allowed to leave."
Liu Chen became even more indignant upon hearing about the money. "Why! Not only are they not credited for working for him, but they have to pay money after working for free for so many years just to graduate?"
Yes, working for free…
Because Liu Chen had seen anonymous complaints on forums stating that students under Jiang Demin rarely received any money. They had to work part-time or rely on family subsidies to complete their doctorates.
Liu Chen had never encountered such a stingy supervisor!
"But don't worry. If what you said is true and this supervisor's actions are exposed, the school should take action."
He Long clearly understood the operational rules of some schools in the world Liu Chen inhabited.
"But… if it's exposed, my friend's academic future…"
"At this stage, shouldn't the school compensate the students? Alright, there are three minutes left until the next class. You think about it some more."
Having confirmed that Liu Chen wasn't driven crazy by his efforts to keep up with the pace, He Long's guilt dissipated, and he left in a hurry.
Liu Chen sat in his seat, contemplating the feasibility of what Supervisor He Long had said.
Honestly, in his previous life, Liu Chen had heard about supervisors leveraging their power over graduation to have students do personal favors.
However, back then, Liu Chen was just a laborer who hadn't even finished high school. He would only comment on such news but never imagined being so close to such a news story.
If it were his past self, even if he were truly bullied, he would only endure it, hoping the supervisor would let him off.
But now, it was different. Liu Chen already had a rough plan in mind.
The fourteen hours of tutoring passed in a flash. When Liu Chen opened his eyes, the sunlight from the balcony opposite his bed was shining directly onto the headboard, blinding him with a white light.
"Miscalculation. I should have closed the curtains before sleeping…"
Since the doctoral student dormitory building faced a sports field and a canteen, with no buildings in sight, Liu Chen had stood on the balcony the previous night to admire the starry sky of Shui Mu University.
Then he forgot to close the curtains.
He shifted to avoid the sunlight, fumbled for his phone under his pillow, and checked the time.
7:50 AM.
His unpacked luggage lay strewn on the floor. Liu Chen stepped over it and calmly went to the bathroom to wash up. Then, unable to resist, he took out the "Housekeeping Gift Pack" awarded by the system and started cleaning the bedroom and wardrobe early in the morning. He hung the contents of his suitcase in the wardrobe and then stowed the suitcase under the bed.
With the help of the system's gift pack, by the time he finished, it was only nine o'clock, according to his phone.
Since each room had a lock, Liu Chen locked his bedroom door when he left. He then went downstairs to have breakfast with Sang Ling at the canteen, and then began his first class of the new semester.
Perhaps because it was the start of the semester, everyone seemed a bit sluggish in class. However, despite their lethargy, no one was truly inattentive. After all, those who could get into Shui Mu University were individuals who had fought their way through the grueling college entrance exams.
Even Xiong Wan, who had ranked last in the class in the final exam last semester, was diligently taking notes.
She had no choice but to be diligent. Her supervisor had stated last semester that failing grades could jeopardize her graduation.
With this thought, Xiong Wan looked up at Liu Chen, who was sitting diagonally in front of her. She recalled Liu Chen's activities last semester: buying a car, becoming a top blogger, opening a factory, and publicly dating the diamond bachelor senior Ren Yu on Weibo during the winter break.
Thinking about this, Xiong Wan couldn't help but grip her pen tighter, quickly creating a small hole in her notebook with the black ballpoint pen.
"Wanwan? What's wrong? You've seemed distracted since the class started. Look, your notes aren't complete. I'll review them with you again during evening study?"
Sitting next to Xiong Wan was her current boyfriend, Jiang Gao.
Legend had it that his father was a professor at Shui Mu University who supervised doctoral students. Xiong Wan hadn't inquired about his specific field. She had agreed to date Jiang Gao with the hope that if her grades were too poor and she couldn't catch up, Jiang Gao could help her through connections and secure her a graduation certificate.
Jiang Gao was completely unaware of his rich girlfriend's intentions. In his eyes, Xiong Wan was simply moved by his mature charm during their interactions as class representatives last semester, which led her to accept his pursuit.
Liu Chen was unaware of Xiong Wan's thoughts. After this class ended, with only afternoon classes remaining, she went to find her counselor.
The young male counselor was also curious about Liu Chen's visit. He knew about Liu Chen's reputation as a campus celebrity. He invited Liu Chen to sit on a chair beside his desk, took a sip of warm water from his thermos, and then asked curiously:
"Classmate Liu Chen, you came to see me about…"
Liu Chen sat on the stool and stated the one thing she had wanted to do since starting her one-on-one tutoring.
"Teacher, I want to apply for grade skipping."
"Huh???"
The counselor was immensely grateful that he had already swallowed his sip of water before asking, otherwise, he would have choked on Liu Chen's words right now.
"Grade skipping? What do you mean, Classmate Liu Chen?"
Liu Chen said with a serious expression:
"I want to skip to my sophomore year, and I am confident I have mastered the freshman curriculum. If possible, I can take the final exams with the sophomore students."
The counselor looked at Liu Chen sitting in front of him, and as he listened to her words, his heart sank.
"Classmate Liu Chen, are you saying that you, last semester, self-studied the content for this semester and the first semester of sophomore year? And then you're applying to skip to sophomore year, and then junior year in the second half of the year?"
Liu Chen shook her head.
Seeing Liu Chen's denial, the counselor breathed a sigh of relief. He was terrified, thinking that Liu Chen, while running an online store, a food factory, and managing her Weibo last semester, had also managed to complete a year's worth of coursework in advance.
If that were the case, was she even human?!
Fortunately, Liu Chen denied it, so he had misunderstood her.
The counselor looked up at Liu Chen with a smile, encouraging her, "Then, Classmate Liu Chen, can you explain your intention more specifically? I think I might have misunderstood something just now."
Liu Chen nodded and then explained seriously:
"I didn't finish learning it last semester. If I had finished it last semester, I would have directly participated in the final exam for the first semester of sophomore year. I finished it during the winter break. I want to skip to sophomore year so that I can start increasing my practical skills in the second semester of sophomore year, as experimental courses begin to increase.
As you know, Counselor, I also assisted Teacher He Long in the laboratory for a period. I am personally very interested in experiments…"
The counselor could no longer process what Liu Chen was saying. At this moment, only one thought echoed in his mind:
"Is Classmate Liu Chen still human?!"
Liu Chen, who was apparently not quite human, successfully convinced the counselor after which she obtained the right to attend sophomore year classes. If she passed the final exams this semester, she would directly join the junior year students next semester. If she failed, the grade skipping would be considered null and void.
Liu Chen was somewhat surprised when she heard this proposal and looked at the counselor. This plan offered a perfect fallback. If the counselor kept quiet, it was likely that her classmates wouldn't discover her grade skipping until she started attending classes next semester.
With this thought, Liu Chen stood up and sincerely thanked him:
"Thank you for your kindness, Teacher. Let's proceed according to your plan."
With the grade skipping matter resolved, it was already noon. Having not arranged to have lunch with Sang Ling, Liu Chen took out a lunchbox from her bag to pack food. She planned to eat it back in her dormitory.
Carrying the lunchbox bag, Liu Chen walked back to the dormitory. She spotted a familiar figure looking around left and right, then heading towards the school's small grove. This familiar figure was none other than the doctoral supervisor Liu Chen had spent so long researching yesterday.
Jiang Demin!
Seeing Jiang Demin, Liu Chen no longer felt like rushing to eat her boxed lunch. She wanted to see what Supervisor Jiang Demin was up to sneaking into the grove.
Thinking of the rumors she had heard about the small grove, Liu Chen's expression became somewhat indescribable.
Middle-aged men also sneak into groves???