hotmtlnovel 102 tacit understanding
102 tacit understanding
The fall semester is coming to an end, and Kassel College has entered review week. All classes have been suspended, professors are holed up in their offices creating exams, and students are holed up in their dormitories and libraries studying hard.
However, Lu Mingfei was the sole exception. Principal Angers granted him exemption from exams, and he spent his days either playing games in his dorm or dating his girlfriend. Attitudes towards Lu Mingfei's privileged status within Kassel College were divided: some were envious and resentful, some felt it was only natural, and others wondered why an S-rank student hadn't yet developed a harem…
On the Night Watchers forum, someone started a thread titled "[S-rank gets full marks without exams, how can we mere mortals bear it?]", and the most upvoted reply was: "If you're so good, you do it."
Lu Mingfei himself didn't feel anything about it. S-rank should have special privileges. If this world treated him, an S-rank, the same way it treated qualified individuals in the previous world, then he really had to seriously consider which side he should support.
Tortoise and Little Yellow Duck weren't online today, and Lu Mingfei didn't feel like playing games anymore. Tortoise had been very busy lately, supposedly going on a business trip to Hakone, Japan. Lu Mingfei remembered when he went to Hakone, and how Nuonuo hugged him and cried, saying that if he couldn't find her, he shouldn't look for her anymore, that she would protect him.
As he pondered, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt annoyed. He simply put on his coat, left the dormitory, and prepared to take a stroll by the lake.
As he passed by the common rest area on the first floor of the dormitory, he saw a somewhat unexpected scene.
Fingel, the paparazzi boss who used to sneak around taking pictures of people with his camera, was now surrounded by many freshmen. He was sitting at the head of the long table, spreading out a thick math textbook and explaining exercises to everyone.
"Senior Finger, how do I do this problem?" a first-year girl asked, raising her hand.
"—So you see, when x approaches infinity, the limit of this fraction depends on the ratio of the coefficients of the highest-order terms in the numerator and denominator." Fingel worked out the calculations on the draft paper. "Remember the rule: look at the coefficients for the same degree, larger terms tend to zero, smaller terms tend to infinity."
This is outrageous! Is this still Fingel? He can actually teach math? Lu Mingfei realized that he knew far too little about Fingel.
"What are you looking at?" Fingel had long been annoyed by Lu Mingfei's leisurely attitude. "Those who are exempt from the exam have no right to watch the suffering of the candidates."
"I'm appreciating your rare seriousness; I thought you only wrote about campus gossip," Lu Mingfei said.
"I've always been serious." Fingel closed the worksheets, announced the end of the tutoring session, walked up to Lu Mingfei, and lowered his voice, saying, "Not going to spend today hanging out with Zero?"
"She was teaching Selma about kinetic mechanical design in her dorm room."
"Okay, okay, then take care of yourself. Wandering around the school alone can easily attract the attention of women with ulterior motives."
Lu Mingfei waved his hand and left. He really couldn't understand why Fingel was so concerned about his love life. Wouldn't it be better to spend less time indulging in anime and manga, less lust for electronic idols, and more attention to the real world?
As he thought about it, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt that he was not qualified to judge Fingel. If Nuonuo hadn't brought him in at the beginning, and Zero hadn't stayed with him all the time, what would he be like now?
Kassel was quiet in December. Although the campus was usually full of people, it was deserted outside because everyone was studying. Lu Mingfei sat alone on the playground, thinking back to when he first entered university, when dozens of people were here simulating fighting the Dragon King. Now, he was the only one here, feeling the cold wind.
At that time, Nono told him, "Lu Mingfei, you have a special attraction for me."
What kind of attraction is it exactly?
She said it wasn't what I thought. What is it?
"Hey," something warm suddenly touched my cheek, "an S-class big shot is here for an inspection?"
Lu Mingfei turned his head and saw a can of coffee. The hand holding the coffee was very white; it was the same hand he had used to catch fireflies.
"Go on, what are you spacing out for?" Nono was wearing a green coat, her long red hair tied in a ponytail peeking out from under her hat. In her other hand, she was holding a cup of coffee, blowing on it to keep it warm.
"Aren't you going to study?" Lu Mingfei took the coffee, took a sip, and found it bitter.
"I know exactly what kind of questions those professors will ask," Nono said nonchalantly. "I never review, I just guess the questions."
"Impressive, impressive! What made you think of coming here?" Lu Mingfei said. "I thought I was the only one with so much free time."
"I'm free too, so we're on the same page." Nuonuo sat down next to Lu Mingfei. "The last time we were here was when we were taking a walk that night. It's already the end of the semester in the blink of an eye. So much has happened in between."
"Yes, it's just like a plot from a novel."
"So, what did you and Caesar talk about that day?" Nono asked.
"He said I was very interesting," Lu Mingfei said.
"Anything else?"
He said if he were a girl, then zero wouldn't be a problem, haha...
"Anything else?" Nono looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes, her face devoid of any smile.
He told me not to run away.
The two were quiet for a while. The wind blew the ginkgo leaves from the edge of the playground onto the track, and the sound of them scraping against the plastic surface was like someone opening an envelope.
Nono turned her head to look at him, "Talking to you is so tiring, it's like talking to a wall."
"Thank you. Many people want to talk to this wall, but they can't get a turn yet."
"Haha." Nono was amused and almost spat out her coffee. She patted Lu Mingfei's shoulder hard, and Lu Mingfei kept begging for mercy.
After laughing, she looked at Lu Mingfei without saying a word.
"What are you doing, looking at me like that..." Lu Mingfei felt uncomfortable under her gaze.
"You've changed a lot," Nono said. "When I first met you, you were always so tense."
"Yes, I was under a lot of mental stress at that time," Lu Mingfei nodded in agreement.
"I know I took care of you when we were in Japan," Nono said, "but it seems Zero took better care of you than I did."
"She really took good care of you..." Nono said softly, looking at the few people scattered on the playground.
Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat. He remembered the last time Caesar told him not to run away from this playground.
Before that, during a joint exercise, he thought of Shinji Ikari and told him not to run away.
"Nono, I—"
"Stop!" Nono suddenly covered Lu Mingfei's mouth, preventing him from speaking.
"What are you doing?" Lu Mingfei finally managed to pry Nuonuo's hands away and said, "What do you want me to do?"
"We can talk after the operation is over."
"What operation?"
"The 'Bronze Operation' to the Three Gorges is led by Manstein. I'll be in your group, and Zero will be in Caesar's group," Nono said. "Don't make it so we can't team up."
After saying that, Nuonuo left without looking back.
Lu Mingfei slowly finished the rest of his coffee. He had gotten used to the initial bitterness, but now he could taste a hint of sweetness.