Chapter 72 - 53: Think More
Chen Lin surreptitiously sized up President Peng. The man looked to be under forty and carried the effortless air of an elite. Chen Lin had already pretty much figured it out.
’This President Peng is most likely the descendant of some high-level executive from the design institute’s parent company. Now that his temporary post is over and he’s gained enough experience, he’s probably getting ready to move to the group’s core investment firm and really start to make his mark.’
Of course, this was just speculation on his part, and he would never be foolish enough to ask about it directly.
Shaking off his random thoughts, Chen Lin began to seriously consider President Peng’s proposal.
’Channels, a brand, a higher income...’
’This proposal is definitely feasible!’
However, starting a company was a major undertaking, not something to agree to on a whim. It was bound to involve a ton of legal and financial issues—how to divide the equity, how to register the company, how to handle taxes... He didn’t know the first thing about any of it.
’Looks like I need to find an expert to ask.’
’I wonder if the university’s law school offers free legal consultation services for students?’
Having made up his mind, Chen Lin looked up and said to President Peng, "President Peng, thank you so much for your proposal and for thinking so highly of me. However, this is a big decision, so I’d like to consider it more carefully."
"Of course." President Peng showed his complete understanding with a smiling nod. "There’s no rush. Take your time. You can contact me whenever you’ve made up your mind. When the time comes, I can have people handle the tedious stuff like registering the company and dealing with the paperwork. You just need to focus on the technical side."
Just as they were speaking, there was a KNOCK KNOCK at the office door.
Engineer Pan poked his head in, an apologetic look on his face. "Excuse me, President Peng, Chen. There’s a small detail we were discussing, and we’re still not quite sure about it. We were hoping to consult with Chen again."
"Go on, you can go handle that," President Peng said with a "go ahead" gesture, indicating that Chen Lin shouldn’t mind him.
Chen Lin acknowledged, set down his teacup, and followed Engineer Pan back to the main conference room.
The problem wasn’t a major one, just an issue with the boundary value of a parameter under specific conditions. It took Chen Lin less than two minutes to jot down a few lines of derivation on a piece of scratch paper and explain the principle behind it.
In the conference room, all the engineers watched his calm and composed demeanor, their eyes filled with nothing but admiration and awe.
After he had solved the problem, President Peng glanced at his watch—a brand Chen Lin didn’t recognize—and noticed it was getting late. He didn’t keep him any longer, simply grabbing his car keys and personally driving Chen Lin to the Modu high-speed rail station.
...
The high-speed train back home glided smoothly along the tracks as city lights and dark fields flashed by outside the window.
Chen Lin was wearing Bluetooth earbuds, resting with his eyes closed against the back of his seat, when his phone suddenly vibrated.
He picked it up and saw it was a WeChat message from Yaoyao’s mother, Liu.
Liu: [Chen! I have great news! Yaoyao placed third in her class on her final exams! She got a 96 in math! [Celebrate][Celebrate]]
Liu: [Thank you so much! This kid used to get a headache just thinking about math, and now she’s getting more and more interested in it!]
Chen Lin smiled, his fingertips tapping lightly on the screen.
Chen Lin: [You’re too kind, Liu. It’s mainly because Yaoyao is smart and hardworking herself. She’s willing to put in the effort, and you’re also very diligent about supervising her at home.]
He had to say the polite thing, even though he knew in his heart that with Yaoyao’s intelligence, her grades were bound to improve as long as her study methods and interest were cultivated.
A moment later, Liu sent a short video.
Chen Lin opened it. The picture was a bit shaky, clearly filmed on a phone.
In the video, Yaoyao, wearing two small pigtails, was sitting at her desk, her little face beaming with a brilliant smile.
She held up a math test with a bright red "96" on it with both hands. First, she flashed a big "V for victory" sign at the camera, then asked in a sweet, childlike voice, full of anticipation, "Brother Chen Lin, when are you coming back?"
Seeing the little girl’s innocent and cheerful smile in the video, Chen Lin’s heart warmed.
He thought for a moment and sent a message back to Liu: [I might have to return to school early this summer vacation. I can probably start tutoring again around mid-August.]
Putting his phone down, Chen Lin’s thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to the beginning of his freshman year.
Back then, he was just a newcomer, and all he could think about was how to earn some extra spending money in his spare time. He posted a link for tutoring services on an online marketplace app, but he got no inquiries for a long time.
That was until Liu found him. After a brief chat, she decided to give him a chance, adopting a "let’s just try it" attitude.
He and Yaoyao had also hit it off, getting along well from the very beginning, so he had continued tutoring her ever since.
The fee of three hundred yuan an hour might not seem like much to him now, but back then, it was a considerable income.
More importantly, he was an only child, and after spending over a year with her, he truly, from the bottom of his heart, saw the smart and adorable Yaoyao as his own little sister.
’But...’
Chen Lin sighed softly.
’If I really do what President Peng suggested and start a company, I’ll only get busier and busier. When that happens, I’m afraid I won’t have any time to tutor Yaoyao anymore.’
’I wonder how sad the little girl will be when she finds out?’
Chen Lin himself felt a pang of reluctance.
...
「July 9th, Wednesday, just after 2:00 PM.」
Yannan University, top floor of the administration building, the Principal’s Office.
Principal Chang Kai was leaning back in his large executive chair, resting with his eyes closed.
Summer afternoons always make people drowsy. The air conditioning in the office was cranked up, and it was so quiet that the only sound was the faint whir of the vents.
KNOCK KNOCK.
The office door was knocked on gently.
"Come in." Chang Kai opened his eyes, his voice tinged with languor.
The door opened, and in walked a young-looking man with a refined and scholarly air. He wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and a light blue shirt.
It was the deputy head of Yannan University’s mathematics department, Gu Ming.
"Principal, you were looking for me?" Gu Ming walked to the desk and asked politely.
"Ah, Gu, perfect timing. Have a seat." Upon seeing him, the languor on Chang Kai’s face vanished, instantly replaced by an enthusiastic smile. He beckoned for Gu Ming to sit in the chair opposite his desk.
Once Gu Ming was seated, Chang Kai personally poured him a cup of tea before speaking slowly. "So, here’s the thing. Next Monday, the 14th, is the in-person awards ceremony and exchange conference for the National College Mathematical Modeling Competition. I wanted to discuss it with you."
Gu Ming picked up his teacup, but a strange feeling welled up inside him.
’Shouldn’t this sort of thing be handled entirely by the math department’s supervising teachers, as it was in previous years? The extremely busy principal has never shown this much interest in the past two years.’
However, Gu Ming also knew that this principal, his benefactor, always acted with a purpose. If he was asking about this, there was definitely a deeper meaning.
So, he went along with Chang Kai’s line of questioning. "Principal, do you have something specific in mind?"
"It’s like this," Chang Kai said, leaning forward slightly and lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. "A while ago, I was planning to invite Elder Liang Tianshi to attend as a special guest from Yannan University. Our team could have consulted with him and listened to his teachings. But guess what happened?"
Gu Ming’s heart skipped a beat.
He heard Chang Kai continue, "Turns out, Elder Liang had already been invited by the organizing committee. He’s one of the judges for the in-person evaluation this time! What a coincidence, right?"
The moment he heard the name "Liang Tianshi," Gu Ming instantly understood Chang Kai’s intentions.
He set down his teacup and said with understanding, "I see, Principal. You’re worried about Shen Yan. You can rest assured about that. Her team’s regional defense was the day before yesterday afternoon. Afterward, their supervising teacher told me about the situation right away. He said the defense went very smoothly, that their performance was nearly perfect. So I believe that even if Shen Yan has to go on stage on the 14th and give a presentation to a panel of judges led by Academician Liang Tianshi, there won’t be any problems."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Chang Kai just shook his head, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
He looked at his capable subordinate—academically brilliant but still a bit green when it came to worldly matters—and said meaningfully:
"Gu, you need to think deeper."