I'm back in 1990

Chapter 124: A hopeless case

The next day, Dai Xiaoguang arrived at the classroom early to wait for Huang Xiaochuan to finish class. This was a rare sight, as students rarely saw Dai Xiaoguang. He was always elusive and no one knew what he was busy with.

When the students finished class, they greeted Dai Xiaoguang. Dai Xiaoguang responded casually, but his eyes were fixed on the crowd. Soon he spotted the person he was looking for.

"Huang Xiaochuan!" Dai Xiaoguang called out loudly to Huang Xiaochuan.

Huang Xiaochuan walked up to Dai Xiaoguang with a smile: "Teacher Dai, if there's anything you need, you could have just had someone tell me. Why did you have to come all this way yourself?"

Dai Xiaoguang thought to himself, "Look at what you're saying! I have to do this myself! The higher-ups specifically instructed me to do this, so I can't be careless. I really envy you, kid; you're going to have a bright future."

He said in a friendly tone, "I have something very important to tell you. Please write an application for me as soon as possible."

Huang Xiaochuan immediately understood; this was a ladder to success being built for him! But this wasn't what he wanted. He hadn't considered this path in his plans for rebirth.

However, this also gave Huang Xiaochuan a chance to shirk responsibility. He could use Dai Xiaoguang's words to convey his intentions without having to say anything himself.

Thinking of this, Huang Xiaochuan pretended to be clueless: "What application?"

Dai Xiaoguang glared at Huang Xiaochuan and said, "Don't play dumb with me. Don't you know what application I'm asking you to write? It's not just you, Wu Duo and Ding Yi have to write one too."

Huang Xiaochuan thought to himself, "I have no problem with them writing it, and I'll even support them. As for me? I'd better pass!"

"Professor Dai, I've always aspired to be a non-partisan since I was a child, so I think I should just forget about this application?"

Huang Xiaochuan's words caught Dai Xiaoguang off guard, so much so that his jaw almost dropped to the ground.

Am I hearing things? Is he refusing? Is the child running a fever? Is he delirious from the fever?

Dai Xiaoguang reached out and pressed his hand on Huang Xiaochuan's forehead to check his temperature. No fever?

He then said to Huang Xiaochuan in a very serious tone, "Huang Xiaochuan, I have something serious to tell you. It concerns your future life, so please don't joke with me."

"Teacher Dai, I'm not joking with you. I know what this means, but I really have no interest in this. I don't want to join the system. I want to be a non-partisan in the future." Huang Xiaochuan directly and openly rejected him.

Dai Xiaoguang wanted to advise him further: "Huang Xiaochuan, you need to understand that your job assignment after graduation is closely related to this. Don't you want to be assigned to a good company?"

"Teacher Dai, I know you mean well, but I have my own life plans." Huang Xiaochuan had already thought it through. At worst, he wouldn't go if he wasn't assigned a job or if the assignment wasn't suitable. He didn't really need those jobs anyway.

In his more than 30 years of life experience, Dai Xiaoguang had never encountered anything like this. Others would fight tooth and nail over such a thing, but today someone actually said to his face that he didn't want it!

Dai Xiaoguang's first reaction was, "Has this kid been kicked in the head by a donkey?" But looking at Huang Xiaochuan's expression and eyes, the kid seemed perfectly normal.

Dai Xiaoguang pointed at Huang Xiaochuan with a look of exasperation: "You'd better not regret this later!"

However, Dai Xiaoguang thought for a moment and realized that this kid's family was rich, and he could easily bring him a mobile phone worth tens of thousands of yuan to school. As for what kind of company he would work for in the future, he probably didn't care. He was just worrying about things that weren't his business. He could just report what the kid said later and let the leaders have their own headaches!

After saying that, Dai Xiaoguang left. This guy was hopeless; there was nothing he could do. You can't force a cow to drink water, can you? He didn't have that ability.

The original plan to publicize Huang Xiaochuan's story on campus was ultimately abandoned, and no one knows why. But Huang Xiaochuan knows, Dai Xiaoguang knows, those who should know know, and those who shouldn't know still don't.

Not long after, the school included the latest issue of the academic journal "Economic Development," which contained Huang Xiaochuan's paper on tax system reform. However, the initial enthusiasm had faded, and no one at the school mentioned the paper again. Huang Xiaochuan simply treated the matter as a thing of the past.

Huang Xiaochuan himself is also extremely busy every day, and he has long forgotten about his thesis.

Most students at the school probably didn't know about this, not even Wang Deyi's roommates in room 222, but Wang Deyi did! When he heard the news, he was stunned for a long time. He couldn't understand what Huang Xiaochuan was thinking. This wasn't how things were supposed to be done.

Yes, the old man thought Huang Xiaochuan had lost his mind and was trying to kill himself because he didn't want to enjoy his life!

He found a student and asked him to call Huang Xiaochuan to his office.

Huang Xiaochuan entered the room and said casually, "Professor Wang, you wanted to see me?"

Wang Deyi was furious when he saw him like this. He was clearly a very talented person, so how could he be so irresponsible? Didn't his parents do anything about him? How could he just throw such a big thing away like that?

If my students saw him, I would beat them to death! Sigh! This kid is a good person, I should help him out, persuade him myself, and then swallow my pride and ask the school leaders to explain things to the higher-ups on his behalf.

"Young man, do you think you're all that because you wrote a decent paper? Don't you know who you are anymore? Let me tell you, you're far from it! Didn't your parents and your first teachers teach you the lesson of 'humility brings benefit, pride invites loss' when you were little?"

"I think you've gone completely mad with arrogance. You're acting all high and mighty just because I asked you to write an application?"

Seeing the old gentleman so agitated over his matter, Huang Xiaochuan quickly comforted him, "Professor Wang, would you please listen to me for a moment?"

Despite his anger, Wang Deyi still had to speak up for Huang Xiaochuan.

He angrily made a gesture, signaling Huang Xiaochuan to speak quickly.

"Professor Wang, to be honest, I know what writing the application means, but that's not what I want. My initial motivation for writing this paper was twofold: first, I hope our country will get better and better, and I want to do my part. Second, I have my own selfish motives. I want to leave an impression on the school leaders and department leaders because I plan to stay at the university or go to another school to become a university teacher in the future, and this is some preliminary groundwork."

"If I become a teacher in the future, I can do research, teach students, and have winter and summer vacations every year. I can also keep myself busy with my own things in my spare time. It's a win-win situation, isn't it!"

When Wang Deyi heard that Huang Xiaochuan's future career plan was to become a university teacher, his impression of him improved considerably. This kid really suited his temperament and wasn't keen on a career in government. Well, everyone has their own ambitions, and there's nothing wrong with being a teacher.

However, she wasn't about to let him off the hook verbally: "You want to do something for yourself in your spare time? Do you think being a teacher is so easy? Let me give you a piece of advice: if you don't have that sense of responsibility, don't go to university and ruin students' future."

"Look at what you're saying, do you think I'm the kind of irresponsible person? On the contrary, you should take advantage of your youth to mentor more graduate students and cultivate some useful talents for society. That would be the right thing to do."

Hey! This little brat actually taught me how to do things! I have such a bad temper! Wang Deyi was so angry that he wanted to throw the teacup, but he pulled his hand back as soon as he touched it. He couldn't bear to! If the teacup breaks, he'll have to buy a new one himself.

However, Wang Deyi has weathered many storms over the years; what hasn't he experienced? He simply turned the tables on him.

"So you want me to supervise graduate students? Then how about I take you on as my student?"

Huang Xiaochuan was taken aback and quickly said, "Me? I'm only a freshman. How could someone like me skip three grades?"

"You're dreaming! I meant you should apply to my graduate program after you graduate from university, but if your score isn't high enough, it definitely won't work. I'm not going to give you any special treatment."

Huang Xiaochuan chuckled upon hearing this, slapping his thigh: "Hey! You should at least make yourself clear! I'll say it upfront, just don't find me annoying later."

On second thought, something's not right?

"Old man, are you trying to fool me?"

Wang Deyi was a little confused by Huang Xiaochuan's words: "What do you mean? What could I possibly be lying to you about at my age?"

"By the time I graduate from university, you'll be sixty-five, won't you? You should have retired long ago, and you're still taking me on as a student? What else could you be but a con artist?"

Wang Deyi smiled faintly: "This is not your concern. Just focus on the exam. But if you fail, you'll be incredibly embarrassed! Remember what you said to my face today!"

"Just because of what you said, I'll prove you wrong, even if I don't steam buns. You can just wait to be my teacher! I'm going to stick with you." Huang Xiaochuan knew that the old man was using reverse psychology, so he decided to play along.