Can Ci Pin/Imperfections(残次品)BL by Priest

Chapter 38

"Pres Lu," White laid a bunch of used draft papers in front of him. "I can't get the results."

With dark circles under his eyes, Bixing Lu looked weary. Every once in a while, he would rub his temples and forehead.

The tireless robots displayed in the empty lab were silent and lifeless like terracotta warriors.

With his forehead resting upon his hand, Bixing Lu flipped through White's work. The breaking dawn from the energy tower cast beams of sunlight into the lab, throwing a soft shadow on his face. He stayed quiet for such a long time that White even started to think that he'd push aside the draft papers in the next second and tell them it was all over, and they wouldn't have to work in vain anymore.

That anticipation made young White a bit nervous, though he didn't really know why.

However, after he'd been waiting anxiously for quite a while, all Bixing Lu did was to ask calmly, "I presume you've all read the reference books. What do you not understand?"

The students exchanged an uneasy look.

Rickhead said in a gruff voice, "Everything."

"That's not possible," Bixing Lu stacked the messy papers into a pile with a blank expression. "Unless you didn't pay attention to what you were reading."

He was always gentle and affectionate when he talked to people, leaving them the sense of being valued wholeheartedly. But now, though he was still gentle and patient towards his students, and as hard as he tried to restrain himself, there was still a hint of weariness in his voice.

Anyway, when all was said and done, a person who couldn't be moved no matter what you do was probably really a stone under human disguise. He'd been dead from the day he was born, and wouldn't mind if his flesh and bones rot again.

The door to the lab stayed open this whole time. Not a single soul had passed through it.

Bixing Lu glanced at it, heavily disappointed. He felt ridiculous and frankly a little despicable keeping this up. There's an invisible countdown timer hanging over this place, ticking towards their death. He knew about it but he hadn't planned on telling anyone.

Whatever was happening must be serious military operations if the Ten Squadrons were involved. Even if Lin hadn't planned on using the base as bait, the scoundrels at the base were still not the ones to be trusted. The contradictory thing was, he understood the situation very well, but he'd still hoped he could just kindle a fire on them with his crude flintstones.

It was practically illogical of him.

"We don't understand the mathematical models used here," Mint said, bracing herself. "We don't...we don't even know how to substitute the figures."

Bixing Lu remembered himself, paused before saying, "Mhmm, so all that talk about you 'having reached a level equivalent to primary education' was just a scam, wasn't it? How much did your primary degree cost you?"

White fiddled with his fingers, answering warily, "I didn't buy it. I just...well I didn't have the chance to use it for a long time so I've forgotten most of it."

Mint interrupted him, "80 bucks for an authentic cert guaranteed, traceable registration number with the Ministry of Education. Plus another 200 bucks, you'd get the full set of application material."

"Too expensive," Bixing Lu turned on his personal terminal and took out a reference book. "The old Dean of the College of Information Technology said you could get the full set for 138. You got scammed."

"President, the primary education systems in the other galaxies cover all the classic mathematical models." Jingshu Huang pointed at her temple. "By the time their kids' brains reached a certain level of development...Well, of course, by that I mean normal brains, the Eden would instill the knowledge into them. It's as if they were born with that knowledge."

Bixing Lu lifted his eyes from the book and shot her a cold gaze. "What are you trying to say?"

"The cavemen who drank blood and ate flesh were human. The ancient Earthlings who'd never left the atmosphere were human. We're human, — but we're not all the same. We're different from the people of the IU. What they're born with are the things we might never achieve even if we dedicate all of our life to it." Jingshu Huang said. "President, you're measuring us against IU standards. Don't you think that's unfair?"

"No," Lu gave her a wry smile, flipping through the e-book hanging above his terminal with a flick of his finger, "Do you consider it an achievement just to understand a primary mathematical model? There's a thought. But to me, existing maths models are but tools, not much different from your mallets and your hammers and your ropes. The first person to invent a mallet could be called a genius, but should all the apes who follow suit and use a mallet to crack nuts be said to qualify to recive a "Genius Achievement Award"?"