After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

Xiao Wang put away his phone and tried to smooth things over with a smile:

"Teacher Zhou, please don't be angry. Students are under a lot of pressure at the end of the semester, and this is just them finding some psychological comfort."

"But to be honest, the fact that so many students are so sure it works means that this soy milk probably does have a bit of an energizing effect."

"What kind of energizer?" Zhou Zhengming, a man who had dedicated his life to rigorous scholarship, saw through the trick at a glance.

He leaned back in his chair and analyzed the situation clearly and logically:

"Students stay up all night for final exams, and their bodies are already in a state of extreme fatigue and low blood sugar. As a result, the brain does not receive enough blood, so they naturally feel drowsy."

"At this time, drinking a steaming hot, high-calorie beverage first thing in the morning is..."

"The calories and nutrients quickly enter the stomach and intestines, promoting blood circulation. The brain is replenished with energy in a short period of time, which naturally creates the illusion of mental alertness and clear thinking."

Zhou Zhengming picked up his thermos and tapped it on the table, delivering his final verdict:

"This is the same principle as them staying up late drinking strong coffee or Red Bull. Their bodily functions are temporarily stimulated, and they blindly believe that the soy milk has some kind of magical effect."

"Unscrupulous businesses are preying on students' pre-exam anxiety with this kind of scarcity marketing. Selling a regular cup of soy milk for 100 yuan is blatant taxation on people's intelligence!"

After listening, Xiao Wang felt that Professor Zhou's analysis was indeed reasonable, and nodded, saying:

"You're right, I was really hungry all night, and a hot drink helped me recover. But these days, businesses really dare to charge exorbitant prices, a hundred yuan a cup, and students are still scrambling to buy it."

"Students haven't entered society yet, their minds are immature, and they are easily led astray by this kind of online trend."

Zhou Zhengming sighed and picked up his red pen again to continue grading the papers.

Xiao Wang sat opposite, continuing to browse forum posts on his phone. As he scrolled, his expression changed.

"Teacher Zhou, this matter seems to be getting out of control."

Xiao Wang stared at the screen, his tone becoming somewhat worried, "Look at the forum, these students are already forming groups to avoid failing tomorrow. They say the soy milk is limited every day, and if you go too late, you won't be able to buy any."

"And then?" Zhou Zhengming didn't look up.

"Then they discussed that they wouldn't sleep tonight. They would go to the restaurant on Jin Street at four in the morning to line up and wait, some even saying they would go at three in the morning to reserve a spot."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengming stopped writing with his red pen.

He looked up and glanced out the window.

Outside the glass window, the north wind was whipping up dense snowflakes that were hitting the windowpane.

The weather forecast says there will be a blizzard in Jiangcheng tonight, with temperatures dropping to minus fifteen degrees Celsius. The roads are already covered with a thick layer of black ice.

"That's utterly ridiculous!"

Zhou Zhengming suddenly stood up, his face ashen.

"Going to queue at four in the morning? In this weather, standing outside for two hours will at least give you a bad cold."

"What if I slip and fall while riding my bike and get seriously injured, or suffer frostbite? Will I still be able to take the final exams? What about my health?"

Zhou Zhengming stared at the forum posts on his phone screen, his brows furrowed tightly.

After listening, the counselor sitting opposite, Xiao Wang, couldn't help but smile, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"Professor Zhou, you're worrying unnecessarily. This is a university, not a high school. They're all adults in their twenties. If they want to queue up in the middle of the night to buy things, that's their freedom. How can you control them?"

At the desk next to him, Mr. Liu, who teaches physics, also put down his lesson plan, turned around and chimed in.

"Yeah, Lao Zhou. Young people these days like to follow trends and join in the fun. All that 'internet celebrity check-in' stuff and 'energy booster' stuff is all hyped up online, but it's just a passing fad."

Old Liu leaned back in his chair, his tone calm: "On a snowy day, let them freeze all morning. When they finally get their turn, they find it's just a plain cup of soy milk. They've paid a hundred yuan for nothing, and once they've learned their lesson, they'll behave themselves. After the final exams this week, who will remember this?"

After listening to the advice of the two young teachers, Zhou Zhengming thought about it and felt that it made sense.

University students are all adults, and as a professor who teaches advanced mathematics, I really have no right to dictate where students buy breakfast after class.

These children have grown up in a greenhouse and have never experienced hardship. Letting them stand in the snow for a few hours and spending some money to learn a lesson is not a bad thing.

Zhou Zhengming shook his head and pushed the phone back to Xiao Wang. "Since they're willing to pay this 'stupidity tax,' let them do it. Just don't fall asleep in the exam and hand in a blank paper."

He put his reading glasses back on, picked up his red pen, and continued grading the final exam papers on the table.

The teaching and research office closes at 5:30 pm.

It was completely dark outside, and the wind and snow showed no signs of stopping.

Zhou Zhengming tidied up his desk, put on his down jacket, hat, and gloves, and walked back to the faculty and staff residential compound next to the school.

His wife passed away from illness a few years ago, leaving him and his daughter alone at home.

My daughter is a senior at Jiangcheng University. She's currently in the most crucial stage of her final year of college, leaving early and returning late every day, and she's under a lot of pressure.

Zhou Zhengming returned home, changed his shoes, and went into the kitchen to start cooking dinner.

He took two tomatoes and a few potatoes from the refrigerator, stir-fried a plate of shredded potatoes, made a tomato and egg stir-fry, and heated up some leftover rice in the rice cooker.

After finishing cooking, I glanced at the clock on the wall.

7 PM.

Normally, even if Zhou Xiaoya is studying at the library at this time, she will still go home for dinner on time.

Zhou Zhengming took off his apron, sat on the sofa, and picked up his phone to call his daughter to ask where she was.

As soon as I unlocked my screen, a new message popped up on WeChat.

It was sent by my daughter, Zhou Xiaoya.

"Dad, I'm not going home for dinner tonight. I'll be sleeping in my classmate's dorm."

"My roommates and I have decided to go to Jin Street tonight to queue up and buy hot soy milk from Lin's Shop. We heard it's really energizing and helps with memorizing. You should get some rest; don't wait for me!"

Looking at the words on his phone screen, Zhou Zhengming felt a buzzing in his head, and an inexplicable anger rushed to his head.

He was able to remain rational in the office just now, thinking that college students were learning a lesson by blindly following the trend and paying for their "intelligence tax," and that it was none of his business.

But now, the person who paid the "stupidity tax" has become his own biological daughter!

With the postgraduate entrance exam just around the corner, I stayed up late at night and went to queue up on a main street where the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius to buy a cup of plain soy milk for 100 yuan.

Isn't this ridiculous?!

Zhou Zhengming dialed his daughter's number directly.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Zhou Xiaoya's voice came through, along with the voices of other girls around, indicating that they were in the dormitory.

"Hey, Dad, what's wrong?"

"What did you mean by the message you just sent?" Zhou Zhengming asked sternly, suppressing his anger.

"You're about to take the postgraduate entrance exam, what are you doing queuing up in the middle of the night? And for a cup of soy milk that costs 100 yuan! You're supposed to be a college student, don't you even have this much common sense?"