New Gods of North America

After finishing their discussion, Wayne checked the time and prepared to return to the academy.

Before leaving, Wayne pondered for a moment, "You guys seem to be going to the academy every day recently, so could you have someone bring me some food while you're at it?"

Truth be told, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality.

Although the academy's cafeteria isn't inedible, it's clearly not as good as Chef Parker's cooking, and the portion of meat isn't enough. Moreover, if you only calculate the cost of ingredients, it might even be relatively more affordable.

"It's possible..."

Lena considered for a moment, "I wanted to bring some for myself before, but bringing food is such a hassle, with trays, knives, forks, and plates. Especially your pizza, I see Parker has to spend a lot of time just making the stringy cheese every time. For the sake of good taste, he has to repeatedly knead it like dough after the milk clumps together. It takes too much time."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be pizza; hot dogs and hamburgers are fine too. Actually, packing pizza doesn't have to be as troublesome as last time. Just find a few flat boxes or cardboard boxes, and put some paper underneath so you can hold it and eat it. It's supposed to be fast food anyway."

"What are hot dogs and hamburgers?"

Inisa asked, seemingly trying to imagine them.

These things don't exist yet?

Or perhaps they already exist, but they're not called by these names?

Wayne explained briefly:

"A hot dog is basically a soft bread, about this long, cut open, with vegetable leaves and sausage in the middle, and then drizzled with sauce.

"A hamburger is similar, with a round bread cut open, vegetables, a fried or grilled patty, a slice of cheese, and sauce in the middle, also eaten by holding it. Both of these are convenient foods that don't require utensils."

"Why are they called by these names?" Inisa continued to ask.

Wayne hadn't paid much attention to this, "I'm not sure about hot dogs, that's just what they're called, maybe it's Western slang. As for hamburgers... this way of eating is said to have come from the Hans Federation, apparently it's the name of one of their places."

"I've met many Germans, but I've never heard of the Hans Federation having such a way of eating?" Lena asked as well.

Hiss...

Almost forgot there's a seasoned old foreigner here.

Wayne chose to end the topic as soon as possible, "Then maybe a Hans immigrant named it to commemorate their hometown. The name doesn't really matter, as long as it tastes good."

"It doesn't sound like much trouble, and it doesn't require utensils... are there any requirements for the cheese, meat, or sauce?"

Lena first wanted to take out a small notebook to take notes, but then seemed to find it too troublesome and quickly gave up, "Forget it, just tell Parker yourself."

Wayne's keen intuition seemed to sense something unusual,

and then Parker quickly wiped his hands and walked from the kitchen towards Lena, "Miss Lena."

Lena pointed at Wayne, "He's looking for you, he wants you to make Western food again."

Parker was quite meticulous in this regard, wishing Wayne to clearly specify the types and amounts of sausage, vegetables, cheese, and sauce. He even wanted to ask what kind of meat the patty should be made of, how finely it should be chopped, and what seasonings should be added.

Wayne still had a lot of faith in Chef Parker's cooking skills.

Fast food was just something casual anyway, and the patties and sausages were probably just for easy biting, so after roughly explaining what they looked like, he let the chef do his own thing.

...

When Wayne returned to his dormitory, it wasn't yet "lock-up" time. He happened to run into the prefect checking the dorms with a list,

who was currently talking with the "floor manager" Mcken Reef in the common lounge on the first floor.

There were quite a few students in the academy who were working part-time or studying diligently, so even if he returned almost at the last minute every day, it probably wouldn't be considered unusual,

but the prefect specifically came over to warn Wayne, "Someone reported that you may not be complying with the academy's accommodation rules. I've confirmed with Mcken that this hasn't happened yet. However, I hope you can take this seriously."

"Who?" Wayne asked.

The prefect shook his head, "This isn't something you should be concerned about. What you should ensure is that you can indeed comply with the academy's rules. And I didn't receive the report directly, I heard it from a professor."

After speaking, the prefect patted Wayne's arm:

"You've been in the spotlight at the academy recently, and there are probably many people paying attention to you. Although this kind of thing is unlikely to affect graduation, if you receive a disciplinary action from the academy, it will have some impact on your personal reputation. You should still pay attention."

Wayne thought for a moment, feeling that he might have been a little too sensitive just now.

If it were Pastor Pysel or some hidden organization, or some strange enemy, they probably wouldn't stoop to playing such harmless tricks. Secretly finding an opportunity to shoot would be more convenient.

Secretly reporting, bullying, and such, in a sense, were part of Wayne's stereotypical view of American campus life in horror movies.

So Wayne's attitude suddenly became much more cheerful, "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

At noon the next day, just after class, Wayne was called to Professor Eber Meiser's office by a student,

and then he seemed to know why he had been reported.

Professor Eber Meiser had already helped Wayne to make a standard argument for the two counterexamples he had proposed in his assignment to prove that "functions are not necessarily differentiable," and gave them to Wayne for confirmation,

and also asked Wayne to sign a standard academic integrity statement.

Professor Meiser seemed to be in a good mood:

"Wayne, although it's still a bit early, I'm already planning to nominate you as an academically outstanding student for this academic year. If the nomination can be approved by the academy's board of directors, then you'll receive a scholarship, which should be helpful for your studies."

Wayne thought for a moment, "Logically speaking, this should be something that's determined near the end of the academic year?"

"Of course."

Professor Meiser nodded, "However, based solely on your current discovery, I believe you already have sufficient qualifications to participate in the competition. Major academic honors may not be comparable, but obtaining an academy scholarship should not be a problem.

"Academic scholarships are usually only available to students in higher grades. Obtaining one in the first year is a very good resume for a young scholar."

Wayne confirmed, "If there are violations of the academy's management system, will I lose the qualification to receive the scholarship?"

"Hmm... that is indeed something you should be concerned about. If you receive a written warning or a more severe punishment, you will not be able to receive any academy honors for this academic year. But you shouldn't violate the rules, right?"

"Indeed, I won't. May I ask how much the academy's academic scholarship usually is?"

"It fluctuates slightly every year. The academy usually ensures that the students who receive scholarships don't have to worry about tuition for the next academic year. Although the costs of textbooks and daily life still need to be borne by themselves, it is still very worthwhile for many students to strive for."

That's just over 200 US dollars.

Wayne thanked Professor Meiser and then respectfully took his leave.

Halfway there, Wayne suddenly remembered that he should have taken advantage of the professor's good mood to ask one more question,

for example, if a student doesn't plan to take the scholarship, then merely repeatedly violating some minor rules shouldn't lead to expulsion, right?