Chapter 376: 375
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The class of the Nameless Professor, who never had a name, was scheduled for the afternoon of the 9th. Jiang Feng was originally supposed to return to Beiping on the night of the 9th, which meant he had a little over two days but less than three to ask Master Huang for guidance on noodle pulling.
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The first day of school at 5 p.m. was the fixed time for the class meeting, and the young counselor, with a high political awareness, always turned it into a regular session. Combining real-life issues, the counselor liked to revisit certain topics discussed in previous years.
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“Everyone is already a senior now, and this is your last year you can spend at UAL University. Of course, if you wish to continue your studies at UAL for graduate school, we welcome that too. I won’t say much more; I just hope everyone cherishes their time, whether you plan to continue your academic pursuits or to take over the family business. I hope you all have a pleasant final year here. The meeting is adjourned!”
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Immediately, thunderous applause erupted from the classroom, all for those last two words.
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Jiang Feng grabbed his phone, ready to head to the supermarket behind the school to buy flour. Before he could stand up and be the first to charge out of the classroom, the counselor added one more thing.
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“By the way, Jiang Feng, please stay behind for a moment.”
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Jiang Feng’s intuition told him that it was definitely not going to be just “for a moment.”
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Jiang Feng walked over to the podium, and Wang Hao gestured to him that he would head back to the dorm first. The counselor looked at Jiang Feng with concern.
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“Jiang Feng, do you know about the graduation thesis?” the counselor asked.
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“Yes, doesn’t our major start the thesis proposal next semester?” Jiang Feng replied.
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The counselor adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, “Although it’s true that we start next semester, as far as I know, students in our class have already found their thesis advisors. Some who are quicker off the mark had started their projects last year.”
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“I’m also a graduate of UAL. I know a thing or two about graduation theses. If you guys don’t start preparing early, you’ll end up cramming at the last minute, and most likely rely on the data and theses left behind by the upperclassmen. While writing your thesis, you’ll gather data for projects, which will then be passed down to the next cohort. But this year, the requirements for graduation theses are higher, the scrutiny from the college is strict, and there have been several meetings already. If you follow the standards of the previous class, I doubt many of you would pass.”
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Jiang Feng: …
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He felt that this kind of conversation should have been with Wang Hao, not him.
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“I checked with other teachers, and you are the only one in our class who hasn’t found a thesis advisor yet. You need to hurry up, especially since you aren’t around school much, please be more cautious when choosing an advisor. It’s just a shame that Professor Li has retired; otherwise, he could have…”
The counselor drifted into yet another endless conversation.
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Jiang Feng and his classmates had experienced the counselor’s loquaciousness since their freshman year and knew that despite the young counselor’s many good qualities—responsibility, commitment—one of his faults was that he talked too much. A single class meeting of his was equivalent to six sessions by any other counselor, always enduring, never running out of battery.
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“You are the first class that I’ve guided, and also the last. So inevitably, I tend to be more concerned and talkative. You’re all about to graduate soon, and I just hope that each one of you will graduate smoothly. I don’t want any of you to be careless now and find yourselves in a frenzy, desperate and frazzled, while everyone else is taking their graduation photos, receiving their diplomas, and leaving campus joyfully.”
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“The last class?” Jiang Feng was shocked.
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The counselor wasn’t planning to stay at the school any longer. These days, it was so hard to enter academia. What had happened to the counselor?
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“Yes,” the counselor sighed, somewhat sadly, “This is my last year as a counselor. After this, I won’t be a counselor anymore and will never get to experience what it’s like again.”
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Jiang Feng’s eyes moistened. In just a few seconds, his mind raced with many thoughts.
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“What do you plan to do after this?” Jiang Feng asked.
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“I’m going to pursue my Ph.D. After that, I definitely won’t be a counselor anymore,” the counselor said.
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Jiang Feng: …
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He actually forgot that the mentor was an acting pro.
“Oh.”
“Alright, I just wanted to remind you that you should still keep your graduation thesis in mind, don’t want to take up more of your time. You haven’t eaten dinner yet, right? Go have dinner.” The mentor said, picking up her bag and preparing to leave.
Jiang Feng looked at his phone, it was already 7:46 PM.
Jiang Feng went to Master Huang’s shop and had a bowl of beef noodles with thin noodles, and watched Master Huang pull noodles. When there were no customers, he even tried it himself. He stayed until 9 PM when Master Huang closed the shop, feeling that he had gotten the hang of it, especially when his hands held the ends of the dough and he shook it up and down continuously, twisting the dough into a pretzel shape looked quite skilled.
Even Master Huang couldn’t help but praise Jiang Feng for having a real talent for the whiteboard, it would be a pity to learn Red Chef.
After Master Huang closed the shop, Jiang Feng went to the neighboring supermarket and bought two ten-pound bags of flour.
No matter when or where, there has to be some entertainment before bed, Jiang Feng felt that if he didn’t knead a ball of dough before sleep, his whole body felt uneasy.
When Jiang Feng returned to the dormitory with two bags of flour, he found the dormitory empty. In the late evening, Wang Hao was not in the dorm studying, so he must have gone to the track field to be lovey-dovey and throw dog food around with his dear Zhenzhen. Jiang Feng thought about it and sent a WeChat message to Wu Minqi asking if she was home, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he initiated a video call.
Then Jiang Feng started to knead dough.
After the video call connected, Jiang Feng saw that Wu Minqi was actually holding a piece of dough skin, it looked like she was making dumplings.
At this moment, he and his Qiqi were in sync to some degree, he kneading dough and Qiqi making dumplings, even though one was in Alan City and the other in Beiping, this was what you call a tacit understanding!
“Yo, just one day without seeing her man and she already misses you. Jiang Feng, when you have time, check out if the grandma selling rice cakes is still at the school gate, if she is, buy two rice cakes and bring them back for me, I can’t find any place selling them here in Beiping.” Before Jiang Feng could even speak, Ji Yue’s voice came through the phone.
Jiang Feng immediately laughed, “My grandma knows how to make rice cakes, I’ll just bring some for you when she makes them. How did you two end up getting together to make dumplings late at night?”
Wu Minqi adjusted the direction of the phone, “You left a basin of dough when you left that day, right? I’m not very good at making dough dishes, and we haven’t eaten dumplings in a long time, so I simply called Yue over to make dumplings with me.”
Wu Minqi kept watching the phone, her hands moving all the while, and a few seconds later a delicate dumpling was born in her hands.
“Just yesterday, Yue’s mom sent a new batch of pickles, and Yue suggested we use the pickles to make dumplings, with a mushroom pork pickle filling. The dumplings turned out really delicious, Mrs. Wang and the others really liked them, so Yue and I decided to make some every evening for the next few days, store them in the fridge, and eat them slowly until you come back, then I can cook some for you,” Wu Minqi said.
“That’s perfect, I was planning to go learn noodle pulling from Master Huang these few days. Do you remember Master Huang? He’s the one who opened the noodle shop opposite our old house. I just found out today that his method of making noodles is actually noodle pulling, when I get the hang of it, I’ll come back and make them for you,” Jiang Feng said, vigorously kneading the dough.
“Good, the noodle pulling made by my Fengfeng must be particularly delicious,” Wu Minqi laughed.
“And the dumplings made by my Qiqi must be particularly delicious as well,” Jiang Feng said, boasting that since he’d been in a relationship, his sweet talk had become much smoother.
Sitting right next to Wu Minqi and witnessing the entire process of this couple’s public display of affection was Ji Yue: …
She felt she couldn’t make dumplings anymore.
“I’m going to the bathroom, you guys carry on,” Ji Yue said.
Ji Yue exited the group chat.