ebookslot 072 Isn't this awkward?
072 Isn't this awkward?
On Monday afternoon, in the lecture hall, the freshmen of Architecture Class 1 and Class 2 began their first "Introduction to Architecture" class in their university life.
A middle-aged professor with thinning hair and thick-rimmed glasses stood on the podium:
"Hello students, I am the lecturer for this course, and my surname is Zhang."
Professor Zhang cleared his throat and, instead of immediately opening the textbook, first opened a PowerPoint slide filled with dense text listing various impressive titles.
"Before I begin my lecture, let me briefly introduce myself. My main research area is architectural history and theory. I currently have two National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, and I have also published several SCI papers in core journals in the past two years..."
Most of the freshmen in the audience were still excited and listened in a daze. Although they didn't know exactly how valuable SCI was, the words "National Fund" sounded very impressive.
Wang Zhe sat by the window, resting his chin on his hand, idly twirling the ballpoint pen in his hand.
He'd seen this kind of opening show by university professors all the time in his previous life. Most teachers would establish their authority in the first class, flaunting their qualifications to intimidate these arrogant youngsters.
"Regarding the assessment criteria for this course, the coursework accounts for 30%, including attendance and assignments; the final closed-book exam accounts for 70%. I don't want anyone to fail, but this course is fundamental to the major, and I won't be lenient with anyone who doesn't take it seriously. As for our teaching objectives, the main goal is to give everyone a basic understanding of architecture..."
As Professor Zhang spoke in a flat, monotonous tone, the atmosphere in the classroom grew increasingly somber.
Fang Gang, sitting next to Wang Zhe, had already started yawning.
He nudged Wang Zhe with his elbow and said in a low voice, "Hey, Lao Wang. This guy's such a braggart. He's been talking for twenty minutes straight about his glorious achievements. I'm about to fall asleep."
Wang Zhe smiled and said in a low voice, "Just bear with it, it's like this in the first class every time."
Fang Gang pursed his lips and leaned closer to continue whispering, "By the way, there's something. Yang Fan just posted a notice in the group chat saying there's a welcome party for new students on Friday night, and each class has to put on at least one performance. Do you have any thoughts on that?"
Wang Zhe shook his head: "What ideas could I possibly have? I can't sing or dance, and I've never learned any musical instruments. I'll just be responsible for clapping from the audience."
"That's true," Fang Gang sighed. "We've all survived the endless sea of practice problems in high school. It's all about doing test papers, and even PE classes are often taken over. What talents do we have? I wanted to go up and perform breaking a boulder on my chest, but I doubt anyone would want to watch."
Wang Zhe laughed: "You can go up there and do a candlestick chart analysis, or do a live mukbang. Anyway, you have a good appetite."
"Get lost..."
The two were chatting idly when suddenly Professor Zhang on the podium raised his voice, immediately drawing Fang Gang's attention back to the lecture.
"...When discussing the origins and essence of architecture, we must mention one person: Vitruvius, the architect of ancient Rome, who proposed three fundamental principles of architecture."
Fang Gang was engrossed in his conversation when he suddenly heard the unfamiliar name "Vitruvius" and was taken aback.
"What the heck? Walch?" Fang Gang looked at Wang Zhe with a bewildered expression. "Wasn't this old man just bragging? How come he suddenly starts lecturing without even giving us a transition?"
Wang Zhe shrugged: "That's how university professors lecture; their thinking jumps around. You have to keep up."
"Damn it, what am I following?" Fang Gang muttered. "I haven't even opened the book yet."
As he complained, he subconsciously glanced back at his two roommates sitting in the back row.
This glance was enough to make Fang Gang's eyes widen instantly.
In the back row, Wei Jing was pushing up his glasses, holding a highlighter, and quickly drawing lines on his book, looking as focused as if he were studying AV... oh no, I mean, he was listening to a lecture.
Luo Yueshi, standing next to him, was even more exaggerated. He was holding a small notebook and writing notes furiously, nodding frequently as he did so, as if the professor was spouting some profound truth.
"Holy crap..."
Fang Gang felt a sudden dizziness, and a feeling welled up in his heart—this was the loneliness of a slacker.
He whirled around, grabbed Wang Zhe's arm as if it were his last lifeline, and asked in a trembling voice:
"Old Wang! Old Wang, you didn't hear either, did you? Right? This thing was said so fast, you probably didn't even realize it, right?"
As long as Wang Zhe didn't listen, then half of dormitory 404 is still normal.
Seeing Fang Gang's startled expression, Wang Zhe calmly nodded: "Yeah, I didn't hear it either. We were just chatting with you."
"call……"
Fang Gang breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. "That scared me to death. Thank goodness you're here with me."
However, before Fang Gang could fully relax, he heard Wang Zhe casually add:
"Vitruvius's three principles are simply solidity, practicality, and beauty, right? These are the most basic introductory knowledge in architecture, nothing difficult about them."
Fang Gang: "..."
He stiffly turned his neck, staring at Wang Zhe with eyes filled with the despair of betrayal.
"Didn't you say you weren't listening?"
"I didn't listen," Wang Zhe said innocently, "but I didn't say I didn't know. Shouldn't you have previewed this basic content beforehand?"
"Preview?"
Fang Gang clutched his head, his voice low but filled with a sense of utter collapse, "Dude, Wei Jing highlighted the key points, Luo Yueshi took notes, and you just memorized it all!"
Seeing the guy's worldview collapsing, Wang Zhe barely suppressed a laugh.
In fact, he hadn't actually studied it beforehand; it was just knowledge accumulated from his previous life. But that didn't stop him from using it to tease Fang Gang.
Just then, Wang Zhe's phone vibrated twice in his pocket.
He took out his phone and saw that it was a WeChat message from Su Xiaocheng.
[Sister Qiqi's startup meeting has begun.]
Just as you predicted, things aren't going well... no, they're going very badly.
Wang Zhe raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile curving his lips.
He replied: 【How exactly did things go wrong? Did a fight break out?】
About two minutes later, Su Xiaocheng replied with a message, and you could feel the suffocatingly awkward atmosphere between the lines.
[It didn't turn into a fight, but it was even more painful than if it had.]
[In the meeting just now, Sister Qiqi brought up all the questions you raised in the cafeteria the other day. She asked those computer science students, what if the market feedback isn't good if we follow the original EVE direction? What if users don't understand how to use it?]
Wang Zhe looked at the screen, his fingers lightly tapping the table.
Zhu Qi, this senior, is quite good at drawing inferences from one instance to another. It seems she did indeed research and ponder his words these past few days, but she was simply unwilling to admit her mistake in front of him.
Wang Zhe: [And then? What did they say?]
Su Xiaocheng: [Then it got awkward... those senior students stammered for ages, unable to answer. It seemed they only considered the technical implementation, and didn't think about who would actually play it.]
Su Xiaocheng: [The most awkward thing was that a third-year senior seemed a bit impatient and directly retorted, "Weren't you the one who said you wanted to create a high-quality sci-fi masterpiece? Now you're asking us if the market is up to it? We're coders, not operations people. Isn't this something you, as the initiator, should be considering?"]
Wang Zhe chuckled softly.
This is a common problem among student entrepreneurial teams.
There's no clear division of responsibilities, and no product manager mindset. The initiator is only responsible for providing funding and ideas, while the technical staff are only responsible for execution. If an idea goes wrong, there's immediate blame-shifting and finger-pointing.
Su Xiaocheng: [After that senior finished speaking, Sister Qiqi was also stunned and couldn't say a word. After all, it was indeed she who made the decision on a whim...]
Su Xiaocheng: [The atmosphere in this small private room of the coffee shop is extremely silent. Deathly silent. What else can I do? I can only silently drink my coffee.]
Wang Zhe typed calmly: "Don't panic. Necessity is the mother of invention; it's not necessarily a bad thing."
After sending the message, Wang Zhe put his phone back in his pocket and looked back at the podium.
Professor Zhang is lecturing on the historical development of architecture.
Wang Zhe's thoughts had already drifted to the coffee shop near the school gate.
The heat seems about right.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.