Chapter 25 – Time Has Passed – Part 8

Chapter 25 – Time Has Passed – Part 8

Professor Lee maintained his smile as much as possible.

One question seems to have no end.

Of course, I could answer it. But with question after question, it quickly veered into philosophical territory, which put me in a difficult position.

Professor Lee began to speak.

“We will have a PPT presentation on understanding Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, the workings of a Perfectly Competitive Market and the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility, and the role managers should play in terms of Ethical Management within these processes. You may choose a company to analyze. Please form groups of four and submit your team roster.”

Woojin, who had been listening quietly to the Professor, raised his hand.

“Professor, scholars introduced the concept of marginal utility to explain the Paradox of Value by comparing diamonds and air, and I have a question about it.”

The smile on the Professor’s lips gradually faded.

It was bound to happen.

I knew it would come to this.

Isn’t he already talking about the concepts understood by 19th-century scholars?

Professor Lee already felt his head getting warm.

But that is pure curiosity.

His eyes sparkle with curiosity, like a child’s.

That’s what makes my head even more complicated.

I thought if I kept him tied to graduate school, I could use him productively, let alone as a driver…

“However, I think the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility can be approached with a different understanding in modern times. Let me explain using the example of YouTubers. Does the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility apply to YouTubers who film mukbangs or those who eat a lot, like competitive eaters? They eat a lot, but they seem to enjoy the food thoroughly. Even if we assume they’re eating forcibly, they still seem to find satisfaction in a different way. That is, it seems to be because goods are coming in. Is it an addiction phenomenon, an exception to the law of marginal utility?”

“That could be the case. Gambling and game addiction can also be seen as exceptions to the law, so you could say that, couldn’t you?”

“But to say it’s an exception due to addiction, my knowledge is too shallow to easily understand. The muscles of the stomach are made of three layers, and satiety is not just the feeling of a full stomach, but is felt because of hormones, specifically Leptin…”

The students’ gazes at Woojin grew wider again, and Professor Lee felt like screaming.

‘How am I supposed to know about that, you brat!’

He is a Professor in the Business Department.

How the stomach is structured, what the hormone Leptin is…

But Woojin connects the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility to the human body and hormones.

“If the secretion of Leptin is low, obesity could occur…”

Professor Lee interrupted Woojin in a slightly louder voice.

“Hahaha. As expected of a Perfect CSAT Scorer, your academic fervor is impressive. It seems worth researching. That’s all for today’s class. Form your groups and submit the roster.”

Woojin raised his hand again.

“Professor, is the second period canceled then?”

“I suddenly have to attend a conference, so I’ll make up for the progress in the next class.”

Woojin, who wanted to talk more with the Professor and receive his guidance, felt his energy drain. The Professor left the lecture hall without looking back.

Just then, Mansu appeared next to Woojin as if he had teleported.

“Woojin, let’s do the PPT together. Huh? I’m really good at odd jobs! Just tell me what to do, trust me and tell me!”

“Okay. Let’s do it together.”

“Woojin! Me too!”

“Woojin, do you want to go eat fried shrimp with your older sister?”

“Let’s do it together!”

“Hey! Park Hyein! I said it first!”

“Woojin!”

Students flocked to Woojin.

***

The groups were decided.

It was Shin Woojin, Kim Mansu, Lee Mina, and Choi Gaeul.

They discussed their roles in the lecture hall.

Lee Mina, who had short hair, asked,

“You said you’ve read The Wealth of Nations?”

Woojin, who was chewing on a candy, nodded his head.

“Then if Woojin summarizes The Wealth of Nations for us, we can just read it.”

Then Choi Gaeul said,

“Youngcheol Senior said he’d give us a cheat sheet if we wanted to refer to it. Should we ask him?”

The eyes of the three people, excluding Woojin, sparkled brightly.

Oh, really?

Nice~!

Woojin, who was watching them, also spoke up belatedly, as if to agree.

Oh, wow.

A moment of silence fell, but Choi Gaeul asked Woojin, as if curious.

She was very interested in dieting.

Woojin, you mentioned Leptin earlier, right? You said it could cause obesity? Why is that? I’m not very smart, so could you explain it simply…

Having been admitted to S University, she couldn’t possibly be unintelligent.

She thought so herself, but for some reason, in front of Woojin…

When Woojin opened his mouth, the female students around them also perked up their ears.

Leptin is secreted from fat cells, and it’s a hormone that signals fullness to the brain. If you continuously overeat because food tastes good, it disrupts the hormone system, making the brain unable to properly recognize fullness…

Woojin paused for a moment.

Her non-verbal cues indicated that she wasn’t quite understanding what he was saying.

It was a counter-argument.

Woojin had a rough idea of what she was thinking.

Unlike when he spoke with the professor, he needed to explain it a bit more thoroughly.

If you have a lot of fat, that is, if you gain weight, the amount of Leptin secreted from the fat increases, and you might mistakenly think you’ll feel fuller. Even if you have more fat and the Leptin concentration becomes higher, your brain can’t properly recognize the high concentration of Leptin because the hormone system has already been disrupted. Also, if you gain weight, TNF-alpha, Interleukin-6, and immune proteins can inhibit the action of Leptin.

Oh, really? So, what should we do to make our brains recognize Leptin better?

You shouldn’t starve yourself and then eat all at once. You shouldn’t eat more than usual just because it tastes good.

Ah… I see.

The gazes of the female students, who had been listening intently to Woojin, naturally shifted towards him.

Exercising, or one meal a day, one-food diets, diet pills, and so on.

How to put it.

It was a completely different approach to dieting than what they usually knew.

It sounded like an expert speaking, and he even made them understand.

Beyond his good looks, he had a truly magnetic personality.

The word “intellectual” seemed to perfectly describe Woojin.

At that moment, Woojin looked at the finished lollipop with a touch of regret.

Choi Gaeul quickly pulled out a candy from her bag.

“Want this?”

“How much?”

“How much? Just take it.”

“500 won?”

Woojin insisted on handing Choi Gaeul 500 won and took the candy.

Just then, Oh Jeonghoon, who had boasted a 3% profit in the Mock Stock Competition, approached.

He had been basking in the attention and superiority from his stock performance, and he didn’t like how that attention was gradually shifting to Woojin.

People always crave attention, and Oh Jeonghoon was no different. In fact, he wanted even more popularity.

“Woojin, how’s your stock investment going?”

Woojin, looking at the smiling Oh Jeonghoon, opened his mouth.