241: Chapter 240 A Belated Revenge

Wang Shuo looked up at the massive experimental building before him, feeling slightly speechless.

Only Teacher Ding Runan would drag him here the very first moment they met; anyone else would have wanted to catch up properly after such a long time apart, right?

Besides, he was no longer just a simple student. Strictly speaking, he was now a colleague of Teacher Ding Runan—a colleague, okay? To still manage him like a student was infuriating.

Teacher Ding Runan walked over to Wang Shuo unhurriedly and glanced at him.

Wang Shuo immediately felt helpless.

With that look, if he refused, wouldn't this female tyrannosaurus beat him up on the spot?

Forget it, Wang Shuo sighed.

A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him, and besides, this was one of the things he needed to do next.

Wang Shuo straightened his clothes and asked calmly, "Teacher Ding, has everyone arrived?"

Teacher Ding Runan paused slightly; Wang Shuo's attitude was a bit different from what she had imagined.

She scanned Wang Shuo suspiciously and nodded. "After I received your message, I had them come over to assemble."

After a pause, Teacher Ding Runan added, "Everyone is very interested in what you taught. Even though you haven't been here for the past two days, they haven't stopped discussing and researching."

"Very good."

Wang Shuo nodded in satisfaction. Although he didn't know how much they could absorb, this attitude was undoubtedly commendable.

Walking into the classroom on the third floor, with a light cough from Teacher Ding Runan, everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the podium, and the previously noisy classroom fell silent.

The next moment, sounds of surprise rang out.

"Professor Wang."

"Professor Wang is here."

Du Juan stared wide-eyed at Wang Shuo standing on the podium, as if in a dream.

Heaven knows how long she had been waiting for Wang Shuo's arrival.

Ever since the last class, she had been immersed in the world Wang Shuo described, unable to extricate herself.

She had read over the notes in her notebook again and again, studying them repeatedly. The more she looked, the more she realized how much she didn't understand.

She asked her seniors and Professor Liu for guidance, but was speechless to find that even they hadn't fully grasped what Wang Shuo had said. There were some things that even they didn't know how to answer.

Consequently, looking forward to seeing Wang Shuo again became her greatest obsession lately.

For this reason, she even found out where Wang Shuo's dormitory was and, ignoring the strange looks from the dormitory manager, snuck into the male dormitory to find him.

But... Wang Shuo seemed to have vanished.

Until today.

Du Juan was so excited that tears were welling up in her eyes.

Professor Liu Feiting's situation was a bit better. Although she had dropped her current project and rushed over the moment she heard Wang Shuo had appeared to teach, she appeared extremely calm at this moment.

"Professor Wang, long time no see."

"Professor Liu."

Wang Shuo's eyes flashed; he hadn't expected even this young professor to rush over.

After exchanging pleasantries, Wang Shuo scanned the people present and couldn't help but nod slightly.

Except for some senior research group members who were working on important projects, everyone else was basically here.

Even those few who had fainted during their first meeting were now quietly standing in the corner, heads slightly bowed, seemingly trying to lower their presence.

But that was useless against Wang Shuo.

As Wang Shuo continued to deepen his contact with the Intelligent Core, his memory and observational skills had significantly improved. While claiming to have a photographic memory might be an exaggeration, he could certainly notice even the smallest details now.

Besides, he had a deep impression of these few people.

Originally, he didn't want to bother with them, but now, after negotiating with Ding Congsheng, his thoughts had changed.

"Teacher Ding, is what you said last time still valid? Can I select the people?"

Withdrawing his gaze, Wang Shuo asked Teacher Ding Runan, who was standing nearby.

Teacher Ding Runan was clearly taken aback, not quite understanding why Wang Shuo was bringing this up, but she didn't ask. She nodded indifferently and said, "Yes, you can make the calls for this research group."

"Understood."

Wang Shuo nodded slightly, then calmly spat out a name.

"Zhou Yang."

There was a stir among the people below. A sturdy-looking male student stood up, looking at Wang Shuo with a seemingly confused expression.

Wang Shuo looked at the male student who had stood up, didn't pause, scanned the room, and continued calling names.

"Cao Lei, Feng Xiaoqi..."

Every time a name was called, a male student stood up, looking at Wang Shuo in confusion.

"Finally... Cao Wen."

Cao Wen, who had been standing in the corner, slowly rose and walked over to the other three. Looking at Wang Shuo's smiling face, he couldn't help but have a bad premonition.

Sure enough, this bad premonition was fulfilled the very next moment.

Wang Shuo looked at them and said indifferently, "You four did not pass my assessment and are not suitable for the upcoming project. You may leave."

As soon as the words were spoken, the whole room fell silent.

The four of them, including Cao Wen, widened their eyes and looked at Wang Shuo in astonishment.

Assessment? Did it even take you ten minutes from the time you walked in until you fired us, Wang Shuo? What assessment did you even conduct?

Teacher Ding Runan looked at the four, including Cao Wen, standing below the podium. Her brows were tightly furrowed, but she didn't speak up to object. Here, Wang Shuo had absolute decision-making power; even she had no right to object once Wang Shuo had made a decision.

After a long while, Cao Wen finally reacted. He pointed at Wang Shuo, furious. "Wang Shuo, you are settling personal scores! You are abusing your power!"

Although he still didn't know what this research group was for or why Wang Shuo was in charge, he knew that the school had gone to great lengths, even organizing a school-wide screening to select people; it definitely wasn't a small matter.

This was also the reason why he had fought tooth and nail to get in.

Staying here, he didn't know if there would be any benefits, but there certainly wouldn't be any harm. Perhaps he could even soar to success based on the credentials from this research group.

But now, with a single sentence from Wang Shuo, the thing he had worked so hard to get and was just about to grasp had flown out of his hands. For someone as arrogant as him, this was worse than death.

What made it even worse was that if Wang Shuo had given a substantial reason for firing him, he might have accepted it, but he had clearly reached the point where he couldn't even be bothered to make up an excuse, just stating that they failed the assessment.

What kind of reason was that?

Facing Cao Wen's accusations, Wang Shuo smiled faintly. Engaging in a battle of wits with these people was a waste of his brain cells. He turned to look at Teacher Ding Runan.

"Teacher Ding, I've selected the people. Except for these four, everyone else can stay."

"Okay."

Teacher Ding Runan didn't waste words either and looked directly at the four. "You four, go out first."

Cao Wen's face was livid, his hand pointing at Wang Shuo trembling slightly, but in the end, he didn't say a word. He grabbed his schoolbag and left the classroom directly.

The other three didn't hesitate either; it was just a project group, and whether they participated or not wasn't a big deal.

After the four left the classroom, the atmosphere cooled down again for a moment.

Looking at the silent crowd, Wang Shuo showed a slight smile. "Alright, let's continue. Where did we leave off last time?"

...

Cao Wen walked out of the experimental building without a word, and only after he was some distance away did he find a secluded bench and sit down.

The angry expression had long since vanished. He thought for a moment, took his phone out of his bag, and dialed a number.

After two rings, the call was connected, and a mature male voice came from the other side.

"Xiao Wen, is something the matter?"

"Brother." Cao Wen whispered, "I failed."

"What?"

"The laboratory the old man wanted me to join, I was kicked out."

The person on the other end was silent for a moment. "What about the others you were supposed to get in touch with?"

"They were all kicked out." Cao Wen said, suppressing his anger. "That bastard Wang Shuo is just bullying people! He is targeting me!"

"Shut up!"

The voice on the other end suddenly roared, and Cao Wen's voice stopped abruptly.

"If the old man finds out that you failed because of such a trivial matter, just wait to have your legs broken."

The voice on the other end snorted. "Alright, failure is failure, it's no big deal. I'll go talk to the old man. If there's no such laboratory, there will be the next one; it's just for gilding anyway."

After a pause, the voice added, "However, this lead instructor you mentioned is quite interesting. The old man's idea was for you to make contact, but seeing your current situation, you probably won't be able to."

Cao Wen was speechless.

What kind of contact could he make now?

He wished he could skin Wang Shuo alive to vent his anger. Make him suck up and apologize? How could that be possible!

"How about this... I will go to Hanzhong in a few days. Send me the basic information about your lead instructor, and I'll pay a visit when I arrive."

"Brother, you are coming to Hanzhong?"

Cao Wen was a bit surprised.

"Yeah, in a few days."

The voice said calmly, "Alright, don't ask what you shouldn't. Take care of yourself. I have things to do here, hanging up now."

After speaking, without waiting for Cao Wen to ask further, the phone was already beeping.

Looking at the phone in his hand, Cao Wen gritted his teeth and dialed another number.

...

In the experimental building's classroom.

As Wang Shuo's lecture drew to a close, the students sitting below all fell into deep contemplation, having long since thrown the previous small disturbance to the back of their minds.

They had received the answers to questions that had puzzled them for a long time, but following that came a continuous stream of new questions.

Professor Liu Feiting felt like she was back in college attending a class; everything Wang Shuo described felt so unfamiliar to her.

Was this really the basic theory she had studied for several years? Was this really the code she often worked with?

However, Wang Shuo was even more shocked at this moment.

Looking at the handwritten notes submitted by Professor Liu Feiting, Wang Shuo was astonished to find that Professor Liu Feiting had managed to deduce a small part of the Intelligent Core architecture model based on the bits and pieces he had taught earlier, along with the scattered source code he had written. She had even continued writing part of the code where he had left off.

Although from his perspective, this code looked like a stinking, long legacy of spaghetti code, it was undeniably functional!

Her logic was completely sound.

With code, once you have the logic and the architecture, the rest is just a matter of implementation.

It was just a matter of time.

Perhaps the code Wang Shuo used would be cleaner, tidier, more efficient, and more durable than what Professor Liu Feiting used, but in essence, it was the same.

This talent... truly worthy of someone who could become a professor at twenty-five.

Wang Shuo sighed with emotion.

If he didn't have the Core, he would basically be incomparable in front of such a genius; his pitiful little learning ability would be crushed to dust.

People are, after all, different.

Watching Professor Liu Feiting, who was thinking seriously, Wang Shuo rubbed his chin slightly.

So... should he give Professor Liu Feiting some special tutoring?