They were not expecting Shuishui to deliver such a mature speech.
She was very straightforward with them and told them her heart's desires. The others felt doubtful about Shuishui's not dropping past the top three ranks. It was clear, however, that Shuishui had told the truth. Besides, she would not have talked about it if she had not been asked about it.
Everyone got to know Shuishui a little better during that mealtime conversation. She was quiet and appeared quite distant. She treated everyone the same way. It did not seem like she did it on purpose. Was she born cold and indifferent?
Jiang Yuan felt that Shuishui would be easy to get along with. He also knew it would be difficult to get to know her on a deeper level. He suddenly understood what Qian An meant when he said that his child matured earlier because of what she had experienced concerning her mother. Uncle Jiang looked at Shuishui with pity. Li Xue didn't treat her well. He realized that perhaps it was an ill-fated relationship. Matters concerning those of the previous generation had nothing to do with them and their descendants.
After dinner, they all went home. Uncle Jiang told the children to rest early. The next day, he would wake up at seven and go to Jiang Li's school at eight thirty. He would then go with Jiang Li for the university open days. They had to secure a brand to be able to attend the classes. Without a brand, a guest could only wander outside. Of course, the school had to control the influx of guests and visitors. It was also a way of tightening security.
Shuishui woke up very early the next morning. After washing up, she changed into clean and neat clothes. Mu Zilin's mother had picked out blue and purple clothes for her. Shuishui was lucky to be fair-skinned. Wearing such bright colors would make her skin look even more beautiful. She was a little conflicted on what to wear because many of the clothes were a little too flamboyant. She would definitely look like a rich young lady or a little princess if she wore them. The clothes Auntie Mu chose for her didn't suit her personality at all.
She still put them on because they were quite comfortable.
She walked downstairs and sat down with everyone. "Good morning," she said.
"You're quite early. Didn't you want to sleep a little longer?" Uncle Jiang looked at his watch. It was only 6:50, but Shuishui had already tidied herself up and had even come down early for breakfast.
"It's nothing. Besides, I laid down and rested early last night. It's fine to wake up early." She thanked the auntie who served her porridge. "Thank you, Auntie."
She looked at the lily lotus seed porridge and ate it in mouthfuls. It was very delicious and comforting. Uncle Jiang's family members were health-conscious. They were conscious eaters and made sure they got enough rest.
Shuishui was full after she had consumed the bowl of porridge. She usually wouldn't eat much every morning, and the porridge was enough to keep her full for a while.
When she finished eating, she saw Jiang Li reluctantly walking towards them downstairs. He was still yawning. "Dad, good morning. Sister Qian, you're so early."
Jiang Li rubbed his eyes. He didn't want to get up early. It was supposed to be a holiday for him and an extra day of rest. He had to get up because they were going to visit the university, and they couldn't be late.
When he got downstairs, he saw his father and Qian Shuishui, who had already finished eating. He thought that Qian Shuishui was dressed very nicely that day. Everyone could wear casual clothes to university on that day. He could imagine how the girls in his class would dress themselves. Shuishui tied her hair up into a ponytail. She was bare-faced. She just sat there. He knew that she would attract a lot of attention.
He had already seen a few celebrities in person. He found some of them really attractive in person. Once, however, he saw one who was actually shorter in person and had much less attractive skin. He didn't look as good as he did on television. Jiang Li found it deceitful.
When he thought about it, it made sense. Celebrities only lived on television.
Jiang Yuan sent them to school. On the way, he kept reminding his eldest son about looking after Shuishui. "Take good care of Shuishui. Don't leave her alone, understand?"
"I know. I definitely won't leave Sister Qian behind," Jiang Li said as he patted his chest.
They soon arrived, and Jiang Li brought Shuishui into the school. "I'm meeting a few of my friends at the playground. Let's go there first. Don't worry. We're going with them. Just follow me. You've already met a few of them anyway. They're quite nice and humorous. I think you'll like them too."
They soon met with Jiang Li's two friends, who even asked him to introduce them to Qian Shuishui. They thought she was pretty.
He had no choice but to introduce them to Shuishui. He felt that he couldn't set Shuishui up with his friends. After all, she was the child of his father's good friend. His father would scold him if he found out. He had good friends, but he felt that it wouldn't be suitable. After their conversation yesterday, he had concluded that Shuishui was a straight-A student who simply loved to study and read. She was a very quiet girl. His friend, on the other hand, liked to go out a lot. He hung out at bars, ktv bars, and amusement parks. It would be troublesome to set her up with quite an unworthy match.
Some were accompanied by their mothers, while others went by themselves. As they got into the car, many people were confused and curious about Jiang Li's female companion. They had never seen her before. She was also such a beauty.
They looked at Qian Shuishui and turned to Jiang Li. "Jiang Li, is she your relative?"
"Sort of. I brought her with me so she can see the university too," Jiang Li casually explained. He didn't want to go into the details.
As she sat quietly next to Jiang Li, she said, "There are quite a lot of you."
"Yes, but not all students could go. Only a small number of us can go. In fact, us third-year students were prioritized. Maybe after the tour, we will be more motivated." The teacher intended to inspire and motivate the students, but many of the students were not excited because they felt that there was nothing to see in the university. Many of them had been in the university before, and they felt that there was nothing new to see.
If they wanted to audit, they had to learn about it first.
After a while, they arrived at the well-known Beijing University of Technology, which was Shuishui's previous target university. She did not notice what was happening outside. When their bus entered the campus, Shuishui heard the others discuss that it was a university that had flagship programs in technology. Only then did she realize that the campus was surrounded by landscaped fields of green grass and lush trees.
Before they got off the bus, the teacher handed out signs to everyone. Jiang Li gave his to Shuishui. "This is a map. Each teaching building has different classes. If you want to know, you have to hurry up. Once the class starts, you can't go in. We'll wait for you outside. I'm not going." Jiang Li only wanted to eat. He didn't want to go around.
Shuishui took the map and said, "Okay. Type in your cell phone number first. Otherwise, you won't be able to find me later."
"Okay."
Jiang Li and Shuishui exchanged numbers. Shuishui started to look for the classrooms based on the map. The physics department was in Building A.
She searched for a long time before she finally found Building A. She looked at the map and the words written on the side. There would be three classes in Building A, but there were no details about the classes.
She randomly found a classroom, and when she walked up to the door, someone approached her. "Do you want to listen in?"
Shuishui nodded. "Yes. May I?"
"This class is different. For two hours, we will not be allowed to leave the classroom. Unless you are in a hurry, you can go to the bathroom now." The girl looked at Shuishui and saw that she was confused. She had to tell Shuishui so she won't leave in the middle of the class.
Shuishui nodded. "Then where's the washroom?"
"You will see it at the end of the corridor. Class starts in five minutes. Hurry up. Decide now if you're going to stay or not. To tell you the truth, our teacher doesn't like students leaving in the middle of the discussion or during class." She reminded Shuishui once again.
Shuishui nodded. "Okay."
She went to the washroom and quickly returned to the classroom. She found a vacant seat and sat down.
There weren't many students inside. There were only about ten of them. She wasn't the only one who came to listen in. There were others, but she didn't mind.
When the others saw Shuishui, they were surprised. "It can't be. This middle school student chose our class to listen in?" Unintentionally, Shuishui overheard them.
"En, from the looks of it, she doesn't seem to know what class this is. However, it doesn't matter. Two hours will pass by very quickly. This would also be good experience for her. After all, she's only a little girl. Don't say anymore," said the girl who had pointed Shuishui to the washroom earlier. She felt that Shuishui had no idea what class she was attending.
The teacher soon arrived. He was a middle-aged man with an extraordinary bearing. He exuded a scholarly aura. He carried a stack of things, which he placed on the podium. He noticed Shuishui and stared at her. He felt that she looked familiar. Had he seen her before? He brushed his thoughts aside and handed out the materials. "This is a research paper written by a graduate student. It is about the movement of microscopic substances and the basic laws of motion. It also discusses the theory of relativity. However, there are some problems with this paper. I hope that after you guys finish reading it, you can tell me what areas in this paper are erroneous. You have twenty minutes to read. Class Monitor, pass it on."
Everyone soon had a copy. Shuishui had one too. She had to read it first to understand what the lesson was. It would have been awkward if she hadn't been given a copy.
Shuishui flipped through the pages. It was all in English, and it was not too difficult to understand. The university seemed to have used English as their medium. She was a little confused, but she still read it carefully. She took out a small notebook and jotted down notes.
The teacher originally did not care about Shuishui, but he was curious when he saw her seriously taking down notes. Could she understand it?
The other students began to look up words in the dictionary. They were very busy. They were in a hurry, because they were only given twenty minutes to read the paper.
The paper focused on the basic theories of atoms, molecules, and condensed matter, as well as the structure and properties of atomic nuclei and fundamental particles. Together with the theory of relativity, they formed the theoretical foundation of modern physics The author discussed whether microscopic particles had a definite value when they were at a high temperature and in an oxygen-free state, and whether that value could be calculated.
She felt that the author had failed to come up with solid hypotheses, because he had not provided solutions to equations. Instead, the author used his own way of thinking and simply applied the formula. The author even added the theory of relativity. The hypotheses was not solid enough. There was also a lack of verification. There were no problems with the other parts. The author came up with so many hypotheses. She had complicated the paper instead.
After a long time, Shuishui wrote down the main problem. She also used the theory of relativity. She felt that the theory could be used to come up with a more solid hypotheses.
"What's your name?" the teacher suddenly asked.
Shuishui hurriedly introduced herself. "Hello, Teacher. My name is Qian Shuishui."
"Qian Shuishui, I don't have any requirements for you. After all, you're here to listen and sit in. Did you understand the paper? It's okay. There are no wrong answers here." The teacher rubbed his hands together. He was curious what she had to say.
Shuishui was a little surprised, but she gave her explanation. "The author of this paper focused on . . ."
First, she gave a simple explanation of what the thesis was about. Then, she explained the problem of the thesis. The formula was incorrect, and it lacked verification and correctness. However, the use of the theory of relativity allowed the author to come up with stronger evidence.
The rest of the class remained silent until she finished speaking.
The teacher was shocked. They had underestimated her. She also spoke confidently of the errors she had found in the paper. The other students were enlightened.
Shuishui saw that no one said anything. "Ah? Did I say something wrong?"
"No. What you said wasn't wrong, and your analysis was very thorough. Can you understand the thesis?" the teacher asked curiously.
Shuishui nodded. "I like physics, and I've been reading books about physics. The thesis isn't too difficult to understand, right? It's basic descriptive research."
It was easy to understand for Shuishui. She tried to explain her understanding of it in the best way she could.
The teacher looked at Shuishui. 'Why do you look a little familiar?' the teacher thought.
Shuishui looked very familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he saw her. He often remembered people who made an impression on him. He looked at Shuishui up close and felt that he had seen her before.
Shuishui looked at the teacher. "I don't think so. I'm not from around here. I'm from City A. This is definitely the first time we've met."
"City A? I'll think about it carefully. Sit down, Qian Shuishui. You've said everything that needs to be said. Does anyone else have anything to add?" The others felt a little awkward because Shuishui had explained everything in detail. She had said everything that needed to be said. What else could they say?
After a long while, Shuishui added, "I personally think that we can delete some assumptions, or we can check all the assumptions, calculate the error rate, and sort out the most correct answers."
"Uh."
Shuishui was the type who gave importance to the results and the hypotheses of a research.
Actually, everyone also wanted to discuss the validity of the hypotheses, because only when the results were correct could a research be considered completed and successful.
They grouped themselves to discuss. Shuishui was also included in the groupings. No one dated to look down on her. She was really the key point. Before they even thought of an answer, Shuishui had already come up with one.
Shuishui turned to one of the girls and asked, "Sister, what year are you in?"
They did not expect Shuishui to not know what class they were in. "We are all preparing to take the postgraduate entrance exam. We are already in our fourth year. Actually, I am quite curious. Why did you choose the most difficult class?" one of the girls answered.
"Ah, I don't know. I just randomly picked it," Shuishui said as she took out the map. The others saw that there were no details about the classes.
"Aiyo, we made that map. We later realized that it lacked important content, so we had to change it and make a new one. Why did you take this one? No wonder you didn't know. However, you were able to keep up." The girl didn't really like to compare, but she had to mention it.
Shuishui smiled awkwardly. She was surprised that it was a class for attended by fourth-year students who want to pursue a post-graduate degree. She could not believe that it was their most difficult class. "I just saw that this building is where the physics classes are held, so I went around. I'm interested in physics."
The girl was amused. "Since you're here, it must be fate. We thought that we were smart enough. Your being here proved otherwise. We have to do better!" the girl responded.
The others also nodded. One boy with a buzz cut was sitting quietly by the corner. He suddenly laughed and said, "It's indeed not very glorious. I don't dare to say it out loud. We're in this position because of a junior high school student. We can't answer any questions at all."
"Well, I'm sorry. I'm already a first-year high school student." Shuishui felt a little embarrassed that the others thought she was a junior high school student.
The boy laughed and said, "A first-year high school student? You've only just started. You're really amazing. Little Sister, your English is pretty good too. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to understand it." The boy, along with the others, were surprised that Shuishui had easily understood the paper.
Shuishui only said a little. "I've studied English since I was little. I studied it on my own. I have learned how to increase my vocabulary."
The other students were shocked, but their teacher looked at them and said, "Stop chatting and discuss the issues that you should be discussing."
They quickly returned to the topic. Shuishui could not join their discussion because they had already been researching for some time. She was basically a visitor in class. She did not know much about the topic and would not comment on it.
They included Shuishui and even explained their project to her. Shuishui understood, but she did not say much. It did not have much to do with her, but through the arrangement of their classes and the teacher's lectures, she was impressed. She felt that she had attended one of the best classes in the university, even though she did not know what the other classes were like.
After a while, the students began to analyze it in depth.
Shuishui listened but did not make any comments.
The teacher did not ask Shuishui to participate in the discussions because he saw that she kept quiet. He felt that she found it difficult to understand most of the topics.
Little did they know that Shuishui understood everything. However, she kept quiet and detached herself because their tasks didn't have much to do with her. She only wanted to hear what the others had to say. She didn't want to participate in their activities anymore.
Two hours passed by very quickly. The class ended and the teacher caught up to Qian Shuishui from behind. "I remember now. We met at a bookstore back in City A. I even asked you then if you could understand the books you bought."
The reason why he remembered so clearly was because he was amazed by Shuishui's choice of books. He even asked her about it then.
Shuishui thought for a moment and said, "I think so."