Chapter 73: Turning Misfortune into Blessing

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During Thursday afternoon’s physics class, the physics teacher, Lu Heping, was surprised to see Yang Tian’s figure in the classroom. An odd smile immediately appeared on his face. If he remembered correctly, Yang Tian hadn’t attended his class for almost a month. Lu decided it was time to teach this kid a lesson, so he wouldn’t take his teacher lightly.

“Yesterday, we studied free fall, and I asked everyone to do the exercises at the end of the chapter. I wonder if you all completed them?” Lu Heping put on his very distinctive thick glasses, slowly opened his book to the exercises, and asked in a lazy, scholarly tone.

At his words, the sound of pages flipping instantly echoed through the classroom. The National Day holidays had just ended, the sports meet had only just wrapped up—who had the mind to bother with homework?

“It’s over, it’s over. Old Green Glasses is being sneaky again. He’s definitely going to call someone up to do problems on the board. If you can’t solve it, he’ll go complain to the homeroom teacher again!” Zhao Shilei, sitting behind Yang Tian, muttered as he flipped through his book.

Lu Heping’s glasses were unusual, so the students all called him Lu Glasses. “Lu” sounded like “green,” and “green hat” was a fashionable insult—thus, “Green Glasses” was born.

“That’s not the worst part. The problem is he always acts so pompous. If a student annoys him, he’ll call their parents, acting like he’s the homeroom teacher!” Zhang Yunxiang grumbled nervously.

“No need to panic, I have the answers to the exercises here!” An Qi said cheerfully, and everyone started passing around her answers.

“I know you can all buy answer keys at the bookstore, so doing the exercises doesn’t really achieve the teaching goal. I’ve come up with a new problem myself. I’d like two students to come to the board and solve it!” Green Glasses seemed to have noticed the answer sheets below and, pushing up his glasses with a sly smile, he turned to the blackboard and wrote:

A vertical rod 5 meters long stands with its lower end 5 meters from the entrance of a vertical tunnel. The tunnel is also 5 meters long. If the rod is allowed to fall freely, with g taken as 10 meters per second squared, how long does it take for the rod to pass completely through the tunnel?

The students immediately began to discuss how to solve the problem. Huang Juan and An Qi huddled together, quickly calculating, while Zhao Shilei and Zhang Yunxiang scratched their heads—free fall had only just been taught, and they truly had no idea how to approach this question.

Chen Ming worked silently on his calculations, while Yang Tian looked calm, slowly flipping through his textbook. He really hadn’t attended the last class.

“Last lesson, some of you were sleeping, some were hiding under the desk reading novels, and some didn’t even bother coming to class. What kind of attitude is that? I’ll say this up front: if the two students I call up can’t solve this, I’ll call their parents immediately and discuss with them how to discipline you!” Green Glasses threatened, then sternly called, “Yang Tian, Cui Jiang, both of you, come up and solve this problem!”

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Those not called instantly breathed sighs of relief, while Huang Juan and the others began to worry for Yang Tian—he missed the last class, how could he know how to solve the problem?

Cui Jiang, on the other hand, was the class’s renowned physics whiz. Such a problem was child’s play for him. He marched up with a grin, even glancing back at Yang Tian with schadenfreude.

Although Yang Tian was the top student in the class, Cui Jiang never considered him a rival in physics. Today, he intended to dampen Yang Tian’s arrogance.

This was precisely Green Glasses’ plan as well—he knew Cui Jiang would have no trouble with the problem. Today, he would praise an enthusiastic student like Cui Jiang and sharply criticize someone like Yang Tian, who never attended his class.

Under the sympathetic, anxious gazes of Huang Juan and her friends, Yang Tian slowly walked up to the blackboard. By then, Cui Jiang had already scribbled down the answer—square root of three—proudly written on the board, then returned to his seat with satisfaction.

Applause broke out below. The physics whiz truly lived up to his name—even before others finished reading the problem, he had already worked out the answer.

“As always, I treat everyone equally. Whoever can’t solve the problem, I’ll call their parents!” Seeing Yang Tian still standing at the blackboard reading the question, Green Glasses threatened darkly.

Huang Juan and Chen Ming grew anxious. Yang Tian might not attend class often, but he was their role model. They didn’t want to see his parents summoned and Yang Tian punished or humiliated.

“Physics requires accumulated practice—do more exercises, and when the time comes, you’ll easily draw inferences and apply your knowledge. If you don’t practice, even if you’re clever, it’s no use!” As the students around him admired him, Cui Jiang, the physics whiz, pontificated in a low voice, casting mocking glances at Yang Tian at the board.

“Yang Tian, do you know how to solve it or not? If not, have your parents come see me. Don’t waste my class time…” Green Glasses was about to threaten again when, before he finished, Yang Tian had already written his answer on the board—square root of three minus one.

Ignoring Green Glasses, Yang Tian walked straight back to his seat.

Now there were two answers on the blackboard. The students immediately began to debate—which was correct, the physics whiz’s or the class top student’s?

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Naturally, most believed Cui Jiang’s answer was correct. Although Yang Tian was once the top student, that had been nearly half a year ago, and now he hardly ever came to class—could he still solve the problems accurately?

Even Chen Ming and the others were uncertain. If Yang Tian’s answer matched Cui Jiang’s, they wouldn’t worry, but now they truly didn’t know if Yang Tian could escape this ordeal. After all, Chen Ming’s own calculation matched Cui Jiang’s—square root of three.

Only Green Glasses was surprised, because he knew the correct answer—and it was Yang Tian’s. Yet he couldn’t help feeling puzzled. Yang Tian never came to class, and yet he could answer correctly? He cleared his throat and called out loudly, “Yang Tian, tell us why your answer is different from Cui Jiang’s.”

“Perhaps Cui Jiang took the problem too lightly, or maybe he didn’t read it carefully.” Yang Tian stood up with a smile.

“What nonsense! You’re the one who didn’t read the problem! Someone who never comes to class has no right to criticize me!” Cui Jiang retorted, annoyed that Yang Tian had dared imply the physics whiz hadn’t understood the question.

“Cui Jiang, please be quiet and let Yang Tian finish,” Green Glasses interjected, his demeanor shifting. Though he suspected Yang Tian had guessed the answer, Yang Tian had pinpointed the issue, and he appreciated careful, intelligent students.

“This is a problem on free fall, but it asks for the time the rod passes through the tunnel, not the total time of free fall,” Yang Tian continued, still smiling. “That means we’re to find the time from when the lower end of the rod enters the tunnel to when the upper end leaves it. So we need to subtract from the total free fall time the time it takes for the upper end of the rod to reach the top of the tunnel.”

“Oh! Why didn’t I think of that?” Chen Ming exclaimed as soon as Yang Tian finished.

Thunderous applause erupted in the classroom. Green Glasses nodded with a smile, while the physics whiz, Cui Jiang, sat there stunned and ashamed, his eyes wide open, motionless.