Chapter 74 - 55: Young People Sure Know How to Play
Gu Ming fully grasped Chang Kai's deeper meaning. He took a slow breath, then let it out just as slowly.
He said no more, simply lifting the cup of tea, which had already grown a little cold, and taking a silent sip.
Chang Kai could see the touch of despondency in his mood. This was, after all, a protégé he had personally promoted. He softened his tone and said, "Gu, the next round of academic discipline evaluations is about to begin as well."
Gu Ming's head snapped up, a flash of realization in his eyes. "Principal, you... you've planned all this in the hopes that Academician Liang will lend our university a hand during the discipline evaluations?"
But Chang Kai shook his head, refuting his guess. "Elder Liang and Director Chu from the degree center are indeed on very good terms. But, Gu, you have to understand. Compared to the transfer of a single student, Shen Yan, the scope and depth of the interests involved in the discipline evaluations are far, far greater."
He sighed and admitted candidly, "It's quite possible that we'll let Shen Yan go in the end and get no substantive reward for it in other matters. Of course," Chang Kai's tone shifted, "your math department shouldn't have much of a problem this time. With your results from the past two years, there's a very good chance you'll secure a Category A discipline."
Now Gu Ming was completely baffled. Since it was most likely a fruitless endeavor, why would the Principal go to such lengths to do this favor? He couldn't help but ask, "Then why are you..."
Chang Kai looked at Gu Ming's expression, like someone getting bogged down in the details, and smiled meaningfully.
"Gu, you have to remember," he said, extending a finger and tapping it lightly in the air. "Often, we might do a hundred things, and only one or two of them will yield a return. But, to seize those one or two that do pay off, we can't afford to skip a single one of those hundred things."
These words sent a jolt through Gu Ming.
He nodded, as if he only half-understood.
Chang Kai saw his expression, glanced at the wall clock, and then picked up his teacup. "Alright, that's enough for today. Find some time in the next couple of days to tell student Shen Yan that the two of us will be there to cheer on the team. But don't reveal anything more; we don't want to add any pressure on her and affect her performance."
"Understood, Principal." Gu Ming nodded and stood up to leave.
"Oh, right," Chang Kai called out to him, as if suddenly remembering something. "One more small thing. I took a look at the list for the trip to the Imperial Capital. There's a student named Chen Lin on it, and the notes say he was added at student Shen Yan's specific request. Do you know what's going on with this Chen Lin?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Ming replied, "I asked Shen Yan about that. She said that student Chen Lin helped their team optimize their core algorithm and made a huge contribution to their paper, so he should really be considered a member of the team. But since the deadline for submitting the list had already passed, she couldn't change it. So she wanted to use this method to bring him along to the in-person conference."
"Optimized the algorithm?" Chang Kai's brow furrowed instinctively. He had specifically asked the academic affairs office to look into it earlier. "But I recall this Chen Lin is a student in the Chinese Language and Literature department, isn't he? This..."
Gu Ming nodded, a wry smile on his face. "Yes, I thought it was strange at first, too. Then I wondered if perhaps... there might be another explanation..."
He trailed off, looking hesitant.
Chang Kai was stunned for a moment, but then he saw Gu Ming's "I get it, but I'm too polite to say it" expression and immediately understood.
'A student from the Chinese Language and Literature department optimizing the core algorithm for a mathematical modeling team? Who would believe that if you said it out loud!'
'So they're a young couple using a school event as an excuse for a publicly funded trip to the Imperial Capital for a date!'
Having figured this out, Chang Kai shook his head and chuckled.
'Kids these days... they really know how to play the game.'
...
「That same afternoon. Jiangdu.」
Chen Lin was sitting in his bedroom, engrossed in studying the open-source code of a Transformer architecture.
He realized he was actually starting to find some real enjoyment in learning to program. It was a wonderful feeling. When an algorithm he had conceived in his mind was materialized, line by line, into code and then successfully produced the expected result on his computer, a solid sense of accomplishment would well up inside him.
Just then, the screen of the phone he had casually placed on the desk lit up. It was a WeChat notification.
Chen Lin picked up his phone and unlocked the screen.
It was about that thing Shen Yan had mentioned earlier—she had added him to a new WeChat group.
The group was named [0714 Math Modeling Competition In-person Exchange].
He tapped on it to take a look. Including him, there were now six people in the group. Besides Shen Yan and Li Zihan, whom he knew, he had a vague impression of the other two girls—Zhang Rong and Sun Jing. He thought they were Shen Yan's roommates.
There was also someone with the WeChat name "Dafeng," whose profile picture was a landscape photo. It looked like this was the supervising instructor the university had assigned to lead the team.
Not long after he joined, the instructor named "Dafeng" posted a detailed schedule.
Dafeng: [@All Members, please pay attention. The itinerary for the trip to the Imperial Capital is as follows: On the 13th (Sunday), starting at 12:00 PM, you can check in at the hotel arranged by Huaqing University. On the 14th (Monday), before 7:00 AM, everyone must gather in the hotel lobby. We will travel together to the in-person conference venue at Huaqing University.]
Chen Lin saw the message and, like everyone else in the group, replied with a [Received] below it.
'The notice says I can check in starting Sunday afternoon, but I have no desire to wake up at the crack of dawn and rush to the high-speed rail for that.'
With that thought, he expertly opened the 12306 app and his fingers flew across the screen.
Soon, a ticket was successfully booked.
Departure from Jiangdu on the 13th at 12:53 PM, with one transfer in Jinling, arriving punctually in the Imperial Capital at 6:35 PM.
Just as he finished booking the ticket, a new message popped up in the group. It was from Shen Yan.
Shen Yan: [@All Members, Professor Gu Ming just informed me that he and Principal Chang Kai will also be coming to the in-person conference to cheer us on.]
The moment this message appeared, the group chat instantly came alive.
Zhang Rong: [!!! The Principal is coming too? Oh my god, I'm suddenly so nervous!]
Sun Jing: [+1, the pressure is immense [shivering]]
Li Zihan: [Don't worry, don't worry, Yan is the one presenting on stage. All we have to do is sit in the audience, clap, and shout '666'! [Go for it!][Go for it!] @Shen Yan]
Chen Lin looked at the chat history on the screen, the corners of his mouth twitching upward.
'The Principal and Professor Gu Ming are coming too?'
'He'd been worrying about how to find an opportunity to talk to the university leadership about changing his major after the semester started. He never expected an opportunity to just fall into his lap like this.'
'Nice, very nice.'
In a good mood, he typed a line into the chat box and sent it as well.
Chen Lin: [@Shen Yan Go, Yanyan!]