Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 145 - 144 The Future of the Collective (Four updates today... Taking a day off tomorrow)

Zhou Yi was getting more and more excited without realizing it.

The solution to this problem isn’t actually unique.

Whatever method you use, as long as you can synthesize this macrocycle with a few reagents, that’s fine.

Li Zheng’s answer, naturally, is different from the most standard laboratory synthetic route currently practiced.

But theoretically, it makes sense.

Every bond cut was very precise.

Every ring formed was very beautiful.

The classmates watching the excited Zhou Yi only felt fear.

"How many times did Teacher Zhou mention ring formation?"

"How many rings are in this problem, exactly?"

"That guy’s name is Li Zheng, right?"

Two minutes later, Zhou Yi slapped his thigh.

"This ring can be formed!"

With that, he patted Li Zheng’s shoulder vigorously, "Very good, Ou Xingzhuo, you really understand rings."

Boom, the whole room erupted.

Part of the surprise was at Zhou Yi’s praise.

For someone to be acknowledged by Zhou Chenghuan as "understanding rings"...

That person must be a ring wizard for sure.

From the looks of it, the monster that Lake Ying produced.

Could very well be deeper than Cobalt God!

The other part of the surprise was because of Ou Xingzhuo.

Wu Shu also reacted, "Did Dean Zhou get the wrong person?"

"Shh..." Ou Xingzhuo immediately played it cool, "Keep it low-key... low-key..."

Unfortunately, Ou Xingzhuo had many enemies.

A student from Ren Da Fu immediately raised his hand, "Teacher Zhou, you’ve mistaken the person, this is the real Ou Xingzhuo."

"Oh?" Zhou Yi followed the student’s pointing hand, and only then did he see the no-longer-concealable Ou Xingzhuo, who also became noticeably embarrassed, "Ah, no worries, Ou Xingzhuo you come here too, there’s still the problem to be solved."

"Ah... Teacher Zhou... I, um..."

Li Zheng then also caught on.

Damn it.

He’d been tricked all along.

No way was he going to let this slide.

"Come here, come here." Li Zheng beckoned resentfully, "Don’t make me the only one forming rings."

"..."

Ou Xingzhuo originally wanted to keep bluffing, but his enemies pushed him forward the whole way, showing that character indeed matters.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yi scrutinized Li Zheng’s answer sheet and asked, "So, you’re the legendary Shi Yang, right?"

Li Zheng felt like crying but had no tears; was his name that forgettable?

Before he could speak, Zhou Yi slapped his forehead and remembered what Shen Yiyun had said.

"No, that’s not right, got muddled there, you are Li Zheng... Yes, Li Zheng." Zhou Yi adjusted his glasses and took a closer look, "Were it not for you, I wouldn’t even know Lake Ying had a middle school, and you emerged from such an environment through self-study, impressive."

"Not exactly self-study; our chemistry teacher is very good."

"Hey, I know Yu Hong," Zhou Yi chuckled with a grin, giving Li Zheng another pat, "I’ll use this answer sheet of yours first, as a teaching reference. I’ll give it back to you later."

"No need, you keep it."

"Alright, alright." Zhou Yi quickly folded the answer sheet and then asked, "How long have you been studying organic chemistry?"

Li Zheng thought for a moment and replied, "Quite a while."

"Don’t be modest. Being able to come up with an approach in just half an hour is something many graduate students can’t manage," Zhou Yi tapped his own head, "Usually, only those who have seen a lot of rings can rapidly come up with retro-synthetic analysis. You couldn’t have seen that many even if you self-studied. I have to say, you’re really suited for chemistry."

"You’re flattering me," Li Zheng said with a silly smile, shaking his head, "Actually, I learned a lot from Shi Yang. He’s much better than me."

"Oh, don’t say that," Zhou Yi became even more animated.

One prodigy is already impressive, but now there are two?

Is Jijing playing the double-ring game with me this year?

Zhou Yi asked eagerly, "Do you know when Shi Yang might come?"

"I’m not sure, not even certain if he can come," Li Zheng answered truthfully, "But please believe me, Shi Yang is definitely better than me; don’t eliminate him just because he’s absent."

"Understood, I will consider your opinion," Zhou Yi didn’t say much, but handed the clean question sheet to Ou Xingzhuo, who was dawdling over, "Ou Xingzhuo, right? Take your time, don’t rush."

"Okay…" Ou Xingzhuo took the question sheet, his expression immediately becoming animated, "This... what the heck is this?"

Zhou Yi smiled and pressed Ou Xingzhuo’s left shoulder, guiding him towards the seat, "Li Zheng could do it, so can you."

"Teacher Zhou is right," Li Zheng also pushed on Ou Xingzhuo’s right shoulder, pressing him down firmly, "There’s no ring that can’t be formed, just not enough effort."

"I... I..." Ou Xingzhuo didn’t dare look at that terrifying thing again, "I was wrong, Teacher Zhou, I was wrong, Li Zheng... I haven’t even read ’Segmentation Method’ and ’Retro-synthetic Analysis’ yet..."

"Coincidentally, I have them," Li Zheng said with a cold laugh, turning his head to pull out two thick books from his bag and slamming them onto the table, "Moral character is important, friend."

"…" Ou Xingzhuo could only pick up his pencil case pityingly, "Then... I’ll give it a try…"

Zhou Yi then smiled, "Alright, take it back with you. It’s time to switch classrooms; I’ll teach you organic chemistry."

"Thank you, Teacher Zhou!"

"Chemistry competitions aren’t easy to win," Zhou Yi patted Ou Xingzhuo, still smiling, "Keep working hard; I’ll be watching you. If you’re interested, you’re also welcome to change your preference to the Chemical Institute. I can help you get in touch with the admissions office."

With that, he turned back to organize the other students to head to the classroom.

Watching his retreating figure, Li Zheng packed up his pencil case and remarked, "Dean Zhou is even more approachable than I imagined."

"Indeed," Ou Xingzhuo was like one who had survived a calamity; he quickly packed away the question sheet, not daring to look any longer, "Dean Zhou started out doing organic research, and made significant contributions in the field of organic ring formation reactions. Eventually, he shifted towards teaching, taking it upon himself to nurture the next generation.

He has devoted a lot of effort to teaching and recruiting, putting his own research on hold."

"Hearing this, Dean Zhou is truly noble," Li Zheng couldn’t help but exclaim, "To have me repeat the knowledge I’ve already mastered over and over to others, I doubt I could keep that up."

At this moment, Wu Shu also packed up his bag and joined them, "It matches what he says, doesn’t it? All competition is external. Compared to personal research, Dean Zhou chose to cultivate more talents, giving the collective a strong future."

"Yeah, seeing someone like Dean Zhou…" Li Zheng packed his bag firmly, "It’s motivating."

"You’re pretty amazing too," said Wu Shu, tugging at the straps of Li Zheng’s backpack, "Even Zhou Chenghuan’s devilish problems can be solved by you."

"No choice," Li Zheng laughed, "I wanted to keep a low profile, but my ability won’t allow it."

Wu Shu’s face tensed up as he started to tremble uncontrollably, "Stop, stop, stop… enough… don’t come at me with that…"

"Hmph, my modesty is not for Zhou Chenghuan’s sake," sneered Li Zheng.

"Hahahahaha, stop it!" Wu Shu fled in a fluster.

Of course, Li Zheng chased after him, "Look, you’ve shocked all our friends."

"Please, spare me, hahaha…"

Ou Xingzhuo was left alone, frowning silently.

How come… it seemed like Li Zheng had unlocked some strange feature in Wu Shu.

He didn’t have time to ponder further and quickly pulled out his phone to impose a 10-hour mute on Li Zheng.

Then he began to search for old jokes.

It’s just old jokes, who doesn’t have them?