Chapter 51 "Teacher Lu... he's Xiao Juan's assistant..."
After the first aid course officially started, although it received a lot of criticism, some people gradually realized the practicality of the course.
From treating everyday wounds to medication and treatment for common diseases, and how to handle some emergencies... first aid courses teach the most essential, yet most easily overlooked, things.
Once classes began, many realized just how lacking their knowledge was. They didn't know the Heimlich maneuver, couldn't perform standard CPR, and even had only a superficial understanding of basic medications.
Some people have even discovered that they have been taking certain medications incorrectly for years under their parents' guidance.
Knowledge that should have been common sense has been intentionally or unintentionally omitted from education over the past few decades.
Why aren't these things taught in primary and secondary schools?
"Can we really remember the knowledge from a safety lecture that only happens once every year or two?"
"If I hadn't come to Fangzhou, but instead went to a normal university and continued a 'normal' life, I might never have known these things. Only after suffering losses do people think about learning, but by then, it might be too late."
"What exactly constitutes necessary knowledge, and what constitutes knowledge that wastes time? Were our past standards of judgment flawed...?"
Similar sentiments echoed repeatedly on the forum, with some questioning and others reflecting on the issue.
Some people, looking back, realized that while the tactic of "creating wounds on simulated zombies as practice" was somewhat cruel, it was actually quite ingenious.
Reading a book ten thousand times is not as memorable as experiencing a wound firsthand.
When time is limited, this is definitely the most efficient way to learn.
After some initial difficulties, the first aid course quickly gained the approval of the vast majority of students.
At the same time, the infrastructure course officially began.
Because the infrastructure course is not a compulsory course and there are relatively few students, it is only scheduled once a week. Therefore, the first class started several days later than the first aid course.
By then, the students' perception of the first aid course had improved, and they eagerly awaited their first infrastructure class.
In their imagination, this course, which started more than two months later than other courses, should be like a first aid course, with the pace quick from the very first lesson.
Surprisingly, the first request the new teacher, who looked exhausted like a corporate slave, made after class was to set aside time for them to walk around the campus.
“We have to go to every corner.” Xu Mingyue handed out a huge printed campus map to everyone. “If you don’t remember where you’ve been, just mark it on the map.”
The students held maps, staring at the familiar campus, completely bewildered.
Xu Mingyue didn't offer any explanation. After an awkward silence, someone finally couldn't help but ask, "That's it?"
“That’s it.” Xu Mingyue nodded matter-of-factly, then checked the time. “You’ve already wasted three minutes of the two-hour lecture.”
"Only one class a week, two hours a class, and you're using that time for walking?" Hearing her mention the word "waste," a student couldn't help but raise their voice, "Teacher, aren't you going to teach?"
Moreover, although Teacher Xu was new, they had already lived at the school for more than two months, and occasionally engaged in chases during physical education classes, so they knew every corner of the campus like the back of their hand. In addition, Fangzhou's campus was not very large, and many people even felt that they were more familiar with Fangzhou than with the high school where they had also spent three years.
On top of that, spending two hours taking a walk—what really constitutes a waste?
Compared to the fast-paced first aid class, which jumps straight into creating wounds, the infrastructure class, which leisurely guides everyone through exploring the campus, seems far too unhurried.
The two new teachers are completely opposite, but if the students had to choose, they would prefer Teacher Lu's teaching method.
After all, they only have less than ten months left. Is it really possible to make it this slowly?
Xu Mingyue wasn't in a hurry, but the students were starting to worry for her.
“You think you know this school very well—” Xu Mingyue repeated the students’ words, glanced down at the map spread out on the lectern, and nodded. “Alright, then can any of you tell me, if a zombie horde attacks and surrounds the entire campus, where is the most likely place for them to break through first?”
The student who led the question was taken aback by the question.
Xu Mingyue didn't pause and continued, "Tell me, if I want to dig an escape tunnel, which corner of the campus has the most suitable soil for digging? Where should the tunnel be located to ensure the fastest possible assembly and evacuation of all teachers, students, and future shelter residents?"
"..."
"If zombies breach the walls and the campus falls, which building should be chosen for defense to hold out the longest before reinforcements arrive?"
"..."
"With less than ten months left before the outbreak, where on campus should we begin fortification in the most efficient way? Where should we set up traps to deter the most zombies? Where should we build watchtowers for the best view? How much manpower and time will it take to complete these steps? ... Who can answer these questions for me?"
A barrage of questions was fired, and the classroom fell silent.
Xu Mingyue glanced around, shrugged, and said with some disappointment, "You know nothing, yet you tell me you know a lot about this school—"
"Southwest corner".
Xu Mingyue's words were interrupted. She paused and looked towards the corner of the classroom.
There sat a boy there, thin and wearing a pair of refined, thin-rimmed glasses. Xu Mingyue had some impression of him because when the map was handed out, he was the only one who carefully examined it. Not only did he look at it seriously, but he even lowered his head and ran his fingertips over the map inch by inch, as if he were imitating the way he measured the earth with his feet.
At this moment, the boy raised his head, his voice, though not loud, clear and calm. It seemed that he had thought carefully before giving a confident answer: "If the zombie horde attacks, the most likely way is to break through the wall in the southwest corner of the school—the wall south of the experimental field. The brick wall there is already cracked, and it will soon become flimsy from wind and rain."
"The next best option might be the east side of the campus. It's on higher ground, and there's a river to the west of the school while the city is to the east. Zombies are more likely to come from the east, and if there are too many of them, even the brick walls won't hold up. Besides, the residential area where the dormitories are located is closer to the east, and zombies have an instinct to get close to humans. A large number of living people will attract them."
His analysis was very organized, including not only the details of his observations but also his knowledge of zombie habits.
Xu Mingyue's brows relaxed, and she asked gently, "What's your name?"
"Liang Yi," the boy replied.
Xu Mingyue nodded, offering generous praise: "That was a good answer."
She then turned to the others: "Any other questions?"
This time, the dissenting voices disappeared. A few people answered "no" sparsely, while most others lowered their heads and stared at the map in disbelief.
They understood what Teacher Xu meant.
They seemed never to have seen their school, their future refuge, in this way.
As a result, something very important was overlooked...
Provoked by Liang Yi, the students in the infrastructure class quickly followed Xu Mingyue's instructions, took the map, and left the classroom, their eyes wide with questions as they "spread out" around.
But after going around in circles, they quickly became clueless again.
These familiar buildings, walls, and plants seem to hold hidden secrets in the words of Teacher Xu and Liang Yi.
How come they can't see anything?
Looking at Liang Yi, he had a clear goal from the moment he left the classroom, and he kept running towards various places. In a short time, the map in his hand was filled with dense notes.
His eyes, hidden behind his glasses, were even brighter than usual, as if he had been greatly inspired by Xu Mingyue's words, muttering to himself, "Why didn't I think of that sooner..."
The crowd following behind, ears perked up: "..."
They were at their wits' end: What did I not think of? Can you finish what you were saying?
Before anyone knew it, a long string of little tails had appeared behind Liang Xueba, following him closely as he took notes.
Someone humbly asked, "Liang Yi, how did you figure out the escape route problem?"
Liang Yi stopped and looked at him strangely: "Didn't you all see it just now? They were digging right there!"
Everyone: "???"
When did this happen? What did you see? Where were you digging?
A group of students who were considered top students in high school suddenly felt a sense of helplessness, like underachievers who couldn't even understand the solution process even after receiving the answers.
Liang Yi sighed and began to explain: "Where is the most suitable place to dig an escape route? This question needs to be considered from multiple perspectives."
"First, in an emergency, the entrance to the passage must be easily accessible from the residential area, so its location cannot be too far from the dormitory buildings. If possible, it's best to have an accurate estimate of how long the shelter can withstand a zombie horde. Assuming the school will be breached in three minutes, the time from the first person to the last person entering the passage cannot exceed three minutes. Here, we also need to consider the residents' movement speed and the number of people escaping—"
"Secondly, the soil quality must be considered when excavating an underground tunnel. If the soil is too loose and lacks cohesion, the tunnel is prone to collapse; if the soil is too hard, the excavation will be too difficult, and ten months may not be enough; although wet clay is easy to shape, it is prone to cracking after drying, while loess is loose and porous, so waterproofing must be done well... All of these must be considered. In addition, because our school is close to a river, we also have to consider groundwater, so the tunnel must be located as far away from the west side of the river as possible."
"Third, there's the issue of time. Assuming the first month or two after the zombie outbreak are safe enough for digging, we only have a year at most to dig this tunnel. Assuming everyone can be safely evacuated within xx minutes, how long, wide, and high should the tunnel be? How many cubic meters of material need to be excavated? And assuming each person can dedicate one hour per week to digging while maintaining their studies—"
Liang Yi spoke eloquently, leaving everyone's mouths agape.
While they were still wandering around aimlessly like headless flies, someone had already written a short essay in their mind!
"Is this lesson really this profound..." one student said weakly, clutching a map.
Liang Yi nodded in agreement: "Yes, the knowledge is too profound."
He had a premonition that if he mastered the infrastructure course, then not only Fangzhou, but any place could be transformed into a refuge.
When exploring in the wild, if you get stuck somewhere and can't return on time, you no longer need to panic because there's nowhere to hide.
From the perspective of improving survival rates, this lesson is just as important as medical emergency care.
Hearing Liang Yi say this, several people showed thoughtful expressions, then sighed helplessly, bit their pens, and ran off to ponder the different soil types Liang Yi mentioned, looking troubled.
...
The goal of the infrastructure course is not only to familiarize students with the methods of building and maintaining shelters, but more importantly, to help Fuqing transform the campus.
In the system store, an escape route costs 1000 teaching points, yet it is an essential facility.
Otherwise, once surrounded by a horde of zombies and the shelter falls, those hiding on campus will become trapped beasts in a cage.
Fu Qing suspected that the system set such a high price because it knew its necessity.
However, if all two thousand students in the school were to work together to dig, according to Xu Mingyue's calculations, each person would only need to spare half an hour per week to dig an escape tunnel about one kilometer long within eight months.
The manpower of more than two thousand people should not be underestimated.
The same applies to repairing and strengthening walls and creating traps.
A single infrastructure lesson, if used properly, can save Fuqing thousands of teaching points, which can be used to purchase other necessary facilities and upgrade buildings.
Fu Qing and Xu Mingyue had discussed all of this before even designing the course content.
First aid and infrastructure courses are gradually getting on track, but another voice is emerging on campus.
In the few days since the start of the course, more and more people have noticed that Teacher Lu looks somewhat familiar.
...
In the vast space, the light suddenly distorted, like an old television with a broken signal, and a figure quickly emerged from it.
Song Rushuang's feet touched solid ground as she opened her tightly closed eyes.
The shimmering blue lights floated in the void like jellyfish, expanding and contracting, resembling a dreamlike underwater world while exuding a sense of advanced futuristic technology.
There were two or three students like her around, looking around.
This is the open lobby of the simulated combat pod.
The four girls in dormitory 1111 failed to secure a reservation for the same time slot this week, so Song Rushuang had to come to the combat pod alone. Students who came to the simulated combat pod alone without a "player" team but wanted to play multiplayer dungeons would enter the open lobby to find people to play with.
Because the simulated combat pods are reserved in time slots on the wristband, students who have reserved the same time slot will basically log in at the same time. It is easy to meet other people within these few minutes, and the probability of successfully forming a team is very high.
If you arrive early, you might even run into classmates who have just finished their battle in the previous time slot and are preparing to disembark from the cabin.
Song Rushuang arrived three minutes earlier than usual today. She stood in the center of the hall, patiently waiting for more people to log in, hoping to find some classmates she knew so they could team up for dungeons more smoothly.
Before a new wave of classmates arrived, she met the last group of people who had dropped out.
Three figures emerged from the distorted lines. When the time was up, they should have heard the warning voice urging them to go offline, but the three of them seemed not to hear it. They just stood there blankly, as if they had lost their souls.
What happened in the dungeon?
Song Rushuang was curious. She recognized one of them as her classmate from the practical course and quickly went over to her: "You Jia, what's wrong?"
After being called twice, You Jia finally came to her senses. When she saw Song Rushuang, she still felt it was unreal, her pupils unfocused, and she murmured, "Rushuang..."
Song Rushuang was genuinely worried. She grabbed one of her hands and squeezed her palm: "What happened? What were you playing in the last dungeon? Why are you reacting like this?"
"Xiao Juan," You Jia mumbled.
"What?"
Song Rushuang frowned.
She had also played the Xiao Juan instance once, having heard so much about it. She played the female protagonist who was trusted by the team, but unfortunately, like everyone else, she couldn't save Xiao Juan without reading the walkthrough and witnessed her death, which greatly shocked Song Rushuang.
However, that was before the midterm exams, and after the intense preparation and exam week, many memories became hazy.
Upon hearing You Jia mention those two words, Song Rushuang's heart stirred, as if something forgotten had gently touched her heart.
When others saw the commotion, they also gathered around.
A red and blue vertical line flashed on You Jia's body, indicating that she was about to be forcibly logged off, but You Jia just looked at Song Rushuang, her tone tinged with a heavy sense of disorientation: "Teacher Lu... he appeared in Xiao Juan's instance."
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke faster and faster.
"...He was the one who treated the 'protagonist' and provided them with gasoline."
"Lu Yan, that person is also named Lu Yan, and he looks exactly like Teacher Lu!"
The memory flashed back in an instant, freezing into a clear image—
The man, wearing a white barber's cloth, jumped up from the chair, turned to the protagonist, and revealed a well-defined profile as he laughed and scolded him. He was Lu Yan, who was a bit younger than he is now.
Song Rushuang had only run Xiao Juan's dungeon once, and it was with her three roommates. With so many people, it was easy for her attention to be focused on her teammates and the target, Xiao Juan. Besides, Lu Yan's hairstyle and demeanor were quite different back then compared to the teacher standing in front of them now, so much so that she had overlooked the fact that they had met briefly before Teacher Lu came to the school.
Like a bolt of lightning striking her head, Song Rushuang froze on the spot.
After a brief silence, a huge uproar erupted among the onlookers.
"What did you say?!"
"What does this mean? Is Teacher Lu someone from the game?" someone blurted out. "But he's clearly right here in front of us... No, that's not right."
His expression suddenly twisted, becoming as ugly as You Jia's and the other two, as if he belatedly realized what this meant.
"It's not that Teacher Lu is fake, but... the copy is real?"
"So that wasn't a scenario or story created by the combat simulator," he murmured dreamily, "but rather, something that actually happened?"
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