Chapter 310

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Thanks to the sponsorship Yun Hangsheng pulled in, the school's accommodations at the Hilton reached the standard for Division-level Cadres from the Ministry of Finance traveling abroad; even the Dean who came with the delegation sang its praises.

Unfortunately, Chen Yi never ran into the elusive Dean — he's some expert or scholar type, considered a pillar of the school; usually, the dirty work of offending people falls to administrative vice-deans like Lu Weidong, while the Dean only actively participates when it's time for an overseas trip. Of course, the Dean doesn't actually do nothing; he previously called to persuade Chen Yi to join the pre-symposium discussion — presumably he saw it as a good thing.

Chen Yi entered the hotel pulling his carry-on; the Samothrace Column stayed on the plane — the charter flight inspection was extremely lax, and Italian officials' bribery goes way back.

Yun Hangsheng came specially to meet Chen Yi and asked in a low voice: "I left a Presidential Suite empty."

The implication was that it was reserved for Chen Yi.

Chen Yi smiled but didn't accept, instead asking: "What kind of suite is Professor Lei staying in?"

Yun Hangsheng smiled awkwardly and said: "An Administrative Suite."

Chen Yi smiled: "That's too disrespectful to a teacher; then I'll take an Administrative Suite too. What about the Dean?"

He had Liu Xinyu with him, and Ya Wen might show up — a small room would be inconvenient.

"The Dean has his own business." Yun Hangsheng spoke of the Dean with a belly full of resentment, but the man is a national-level Advisor; as long as he says "I'm off to the State Council today" or "I have to make a call to the State Council," who'd dare stop him? By rights his prestige should be highest in the group, yet he came out and didn't show his face — truly annoying, and it makes it hard for the other school to take them seriously.

Chen Yi let out an "Oh," took the room card from the front desk, glanced at it, then said: "Trouble you to change it to a big bed, preferably a king-size."

Yun Hangsheng's eyes instantly changed; he grinned: "Brother, nice."

"Where, where." Chen Yi replied politely, changing the subject: "Have you gotten in touch with Cornell University?"

"Their administrative efficiency..." Yun Hangsheng snorted: "Dean Lu made a trip, and they only sent one student as a Guide, asking us to stay in the school dorms — but the conditions are terrible, still 50-year-old buildings, and far from New York. And they said, whether we stay there or not, next time they won't send anyone to guide us until the day the symposium actually starts."

"That's normal. What about their Economics Department?"

"They invited schools from over 20 countries at once. Their Dean is off on an overseas visit, damn it." Yun Hangsheng, the Minister's son no less, had fought tooth and nail to snag this project for the school, came all the way to New York, and got snubbed by a Dean with no rank... Often, only cadres who've traveled abroad can truly experience the superiority of the Chinese system, and thus support the socialist system even more firmly.

Although Cornell is in New York, it's broadly in New York State — two to three hours from the city center. Chen Yi thought for a moment, then called Emily to ask if she had time to come help.

Emily is a Cornell student, and from the famous School of Hotel Administration. She's actually busy handing over to Fang Zhong right now, but since the Boss made a request, she absolutely could not say "no time."

"Book another room at the hotel." After briefly introducing Emily to Yun Hangsheng, Chen Yi said: "In the future, if anyone from our school needs to go to Cornell on business, have Emily take them; hmm, later have her hire a few part-time students, and our comings and goings will be convenient."

Seeing Chen Yi wrap things up neatly in a few words, and at low cost, Yun Hangsheng was thoroughly impressed and nodded proactively: "I'll handle the hotel side, make sure everyone's well taken care of. Shall we go see the Professor now?"

He had already started addressing Professor Lei Gongpo that way.

"Perfect, I have questions." Chen Yi stepped forward readily. With his recent promotion and double joy, his Intelligence level had surged; with just a bit of focus, his thoughts while reading went much deeper, and he wanted to hear Professor Lei Gongpo's opinions.

Actually, for students, classic works have no depth or shallowness; if anyone can reach the level of establishing a doctrine through writing — like Samuelsson's level — that itself is a massive achievement. Even 20th-century super-economists of the 1930s are on a level that students and teachers in school cannot compare to. Of course, reading different books expands knowledge and theory breadth, but in terms of depth, some famous experts and scholars, aside from a slight rise in knowledge level, can hardly match classical economists in either practice or theory. The same goes for any discipline.

Samuelsson was born in 1915 and is now 89; he stopped academic activities some years ago, but if his health were good enough, heading a world-class economic Organization would be no problem.

With the Intelligence Scroll active, Chen Yi was confident his level had risen considerably, yet when he met Professor Lei Gongpo and discussed with him, he still couldn't catch up.

Naturally, Professor Lei Gongpo's surprise was plain to see; he praised: "If you study another four or five years, becoming a professor would be no problem."

Another four or five years, and a graduate student would've graduated.

Chen Yi wryly finished explaining his recent insights, then pulled out the small note from his pocket — it was full of his questions.

Han He glanced at the note in surprise; many questions were extremely hard to answer, or rather, were doubts he himself shared but had never consciously realized — he felt secretly discouraged; a second-year graduate student, yet the questions he raised lacked the depth of a sophomore's... Such emotion vanished in a flash; to do research, the first thing to overcome is pride — there are always geniuses in the world; a moment's victory only proves your field hasn't attracted the attention of geniuses yet.

Han He suddenly felt a bit fortunate: Chen Yi is destined to inherit the family business, and will never think or work like a true economist; in thirty more years, we'll surely have pulled apart.

Professor Lei Gongpo instantly became more serious; he didn't answer in order, but first picked the areas he knew best, then selected the remaining questions, saying: "I'll go back and research them, then answer you."

Yun Hangsheng practically looked at Chen Yi with admiration; his own grad students are the half-baked type, barely passed the national cutoff, and the subsequent interviews were all green lights. But once they became students, they all wanted some achievement, yet never raised a single valuable question.

"Chen Yi, you'll have to look after me more in the future." Yun Hangsheng finally understood his father's admonition; with Chen Yi's background and brains, as long as he doesn't get that unlucky, he'll have his pick of positions after graduation — whether politics or business, he'll be a major player; making friends is far more valuable than making enemies.

A few people discussing academic issues in the room was a very harmonious affair; later an Associate Professor and a Lecturer joined, and the Administrative Suite's living room felt a bit cramped.

Yun Hangsheng proactively suggested switching to a Presidential Suite; at everyone's persuasion, Professor Lei Gongpo agreed too. A five-star hotel's Presidential Suite is quite something — even Professor Lei Gongpo had only stayed in one a few times.

After a whole night of discussion, Chen Yi and Han He basically finalized the main content of the paper for the symposium; Yun Hangsheng basked in the reflected glory as Second Author and threw himself even harder into logistics — for days the delicious meals were all made by the head chef, never repeating. Chen Yi privately compared and felt they were even better than what he'd eaten at famous restaurants in the Lower East Side — which is easy to understand: he went to restaurants as an ordinary guest, while Yun Hangsheng had money paving the way; the Hilton's head chef might be less famous than outside celebrity chefs, but is certainly better than the second or third chefs at those famous places, and the seriousness is on another level.

To maintain their reputation, head chefs spend three to five times longer on a dish than others, with plenty of sous-chefs prepping; the lower-ranked chefs have to handle the daily main cooking load, and getting a moment to breathe and drink water is already good.

By Wednesday, the group finally set off for Cornell University, beginning the formal academic symposium.

Sitting on the chartered bus, Han He's hands and feet wouldn't stop trembling with excitement, which he beautifully termed: adrenaline overdose.

Yun Hangsheng chatted and laughed, completely relaxed, even more so than Professor Lei and the others. Chen Yi maintained a fair degree of tension, constantly sipping Energy Recovery Potion. Ya Wen indeed stayed in the Hilton, just one room away; in the dead of night with no one around, all manner of actions were not fit to tell outsiders. Liu Xinyu appeared occasionally, sometimes together, sometimes alone — in short, it all drained Chen Yi's energy.

If there was one unexpected thing, it was the wonderful use of the Energy Recovery Potion to "restore energy" — it can't be used as an aphrodisiac or virility drug, but by the next morning, or in the evening after a day's hard labor, restoring to one's own normal level is already more than enough.

Chen Yi closed his eyes; his mind filled with beautiful semi-circular **, or different flight attendants' scarves and ultra-high sandals, various suspenders and cheongsam styles flashing before his eyes nonstop...

"We've reached the parking lot, everyone get off and walk right, about 500 meters to the lecture hall." Emily still used all kinds of simple words; her Chinese learning was slow, but her simple English was excellent — this too is a talent.

Chen Yi got off as instructed, but what he saw was a small-town pastoral scene; New York State has been prosperous for 200 years, the scars left by the great industrial era have long healed, and the beautiful scenery is more like a consumption, one of the costs Americans or the university willingly pay.

A Black teacher came to receive them and introduced with a smile: "Cornell has quite a few Chinese international students; you'll see them in a bit. This year's symposium is large-scale; many students and teachers voluntarily gave up their vacation to attend."

Yun Hangsheng grumbled discontentedly: "Could it be they think we're people of color, so they sent a Black teacher?"

Han He smiled: "You're overthinking it."

"Americans overthink race issues like no one else." Yun Hangsheng gestured around; the European schools were indeed received by white people.

Chen Yi smiled, but heard the Black teacher continue: "During the conference, we specially invited Chinese international students to be your liaisons; any problems, you can find them. Of course, you can find me too."

Sure enough, two Chinese international students were waiting at the lecture hall entrance.

The Black teacher stepped back, letting the Chinese students and them introduce each other. Seeing compatriots unexpectedly, everyone was quite happy. The two international students excitedly came forward, introducing first in Chinese then in English; one thin, small young man, Li Jun, said: "Long heard it was Jiangning University's delegation; we're all so happy, I'm from Jiangning myself..."

Dean Lu Weidong immediately smiled in response: "Many Chinese at the school? How many from Jiangning?"

"Last year's Jiangning students were quite a few — Huang Xin, Liu Yuang, Wang Dong, He Tao... look, they're over there, also came to audit the symposium; this is a big day for Cornell." Li Jun pointed; the Chinese seemed clustered in one area — not just black hair and black eyes, but quite a few familiar faces.

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes. He Tao is He Fuhan's nephew, and was taken by him straight from the Gaokao venue; his father was implicated and shuanggui'd after a series of investigations. Now it seems He Tao hasn't been affected by his father's downfall — at least his lifestyle hasn't suffered. Not only dressed neatly, but wearing a pricey watch, sitting in the center of the crowd with his arm around a tall, busty blonde, looking perfectly content.

Wang Dong is even a three-year-old classmate, always at odds with Chen Yi, Liang Yu, and Luo Xiaoshan's trio; failed the Gaokao but relied on his dad to get into Cornell, and bragged about it back then — now he sits at He Tao's right, every inch the proud henchman.

Americans, whether dealing with big shots or small fry, all like their horse aides; judging by Wang Dong's demeanor, this horse aide has apparently managed to satisfy both sides. Then again, just He Fuhan's position as Jiangning Mayor has countless people wanting to curry favor; the Wang family's business isn't small, but their status isn't high.

Seeing him look so closely, Li Jun laughed: "In a bit I'll take you over separately to meet them."

"Is that okay?"

"Professor Lei and Professor Chen and the others will be on the platform for the academic exchange; everyone else is just there to audit, so you can sit wherever you like when the time comes."

"Professor Chen?" Chen Yi's face was full of doubt; there was no teacher surnamed Chen in the team.

Yun Hangsheng coughed once, laughing: "Chen Yi isn't a professor."

"Oh, sorry, that is..."

Chen Yi shrugged, laughing: "I'm just Chen Yi."

Li Jun froze for a moment; it was the young man behind him who helped apologize. They probably hadn't guessed that a domestic student could sit on the platform at Cornell University's academic exchange; for a moment they were a bit stunned.

Li Jun quickly said: "It was my oversight; I wasn't careful when reading the information."

Probably to make up for his mistake, he took the initiative to step forward and call out: "He Tao, didn't you say you wanted to meet the Jiangning University representatives?"

Chen Yi wanted to stop him but it was already too late, so he could only stand there and let things develop.

He Tao laughed heartily, stood up, and walked over. His movements had quite the air of importance; arriving before everyone, he first introduced himself, then shook hands with everyone; his humble movements wouldn't make the professors and deans feel awkward, and any dissatisfaction about wasting time vanished without a trace.

When the handshake reached Chen Yi, He Tao visibly froze. The current Chen Yi was very different from a year and a half ago; not only was his muscle solid, his build more like a sturdy athlete, but his features had also gradually matured; people around him were fine, but He Tao, not having seen him for so long, actually didn't dare recognize him at first.

"I'm Chen Yi." Chen Yi smiled and gripped He Tao's hand, but addressed the others: "We're all classmates from Jiangning Middle School."

"Right, we're classmates." An indescribable smile welled up on He Tao's face. When he first came to the US, he sometimes thought of Chen Yi with hatred, or jealousy. But after so long, those old emotions were mostly forgotten; the blow Chen Yi dealt him was limited in the end; competing through fathers and grandfathers was the only way to determine victory — the Chen family was advancing, meaning the He family was retreating; He Tao's father's power had retreated severely; even in the US, facing Chen Yi, He Tao lacked confidence.

Wang Dong's self-esteem, however, wouldn't let him make a similar bowing-down move; he was originally a meticulous, sensitive, inferior-yet-arrogant rich second generation; at school he'd expressed dissatisfaction with Chen Yi's rich second generation identity; in the US he was even more fearless and unrestrained.

He put on a fake laugh, shaking Chen Yi's hand, saying: "You guys finally made it to Cornell University; is it as Jiangning University students?"

Chen Yi curled his lip, somewhat not wanting to acknowledge him.

Yun Hangsheng noticed something, blocked to the side, laughing: "We are Jiangning University students; today's schedule is a bit tight; let's contact each other another day."

"Here for the academic exchange?" Wang Dong's tone was a bit aggressive.

Yun Hangsheng "hmmed" once, and didn't want to acknowledge him either.

But Wang Dong acted as if there was no gap, saying sourly: "You official second generations, third generation officials have it good; want to travel, just say it's an academic seminar; regardless of how well you study, overseas quotas always have your names. Truly enviable. Unlike us, we still have to attend classes seriously in school; when answering questions we always have to think about bringing glory to the country."

Yun Hangsheng listened, stunned; the most embarrassed one here was him; Wang Dong's words had no real impact on Chen Yi, Han He, or Professor Lei and the others — at most just unpleasant to hear. But for Yun Hangsheng, it was somewhat heart-piercing.

Just these many days along, Yun Hangsheng also knew his status couldn't be flaunted in the US, so he turned and asked Chen Yi: "What's this guy's background."

"A merchant's son."

"Merchant?" Yun Hangsheng still hesitated; an ordinary merchant wouldn't dare provoke the Jiangning Chen family's son.

Chen Yi coughed once, explaining: "Back then Grandpa had just retired; anyone dared to come up and kick him twice."

Yun Hangsheng immediately said sympathetically: "No need to say more, I understand, this punk. Today brother I'll help you vent."

His shoulders shrugged as if about to step in.

Chen Yi grabbed him this time, quietly saying: "They all said they're here to bring glory to the country; if we fight at Cornell University, it's not appropriate."

But Wang Dong smiled proudly: "How about it? You people just know how to fight, uncivilized."

Yet his inner joy couldn't be suppressed; his face radiated brilliance, looking like a favored subject who had received grace.

Yun Hangsheng instantly fumed, pointing at Wang Dong: "Don't let me catch you with something on you."

Chen Yi pulled him, waving to the surroundings, laughing: "Everyone sorry, let's go find seats first."

"Aiyo. Hope you understand, okay." Wang Dong was still quite arrogant. Truth be told, him getting into Cornell was partly because his dad spent money, but largely he did have some ability; Chinese students' Gaokao scores hold some value in foreigners' eyes.

Besides the few who came with them, the other Chinese international students didn't know the situation, sitting or standing waiting; no one stopped them from leaving.

The dean coughed lightly, walked forward first, everyone followed. On the way Chen Yi persuaded Yun Hangsheng a couple sentences, then asked Emily: "Can you check on these Chinese international students?"

Emily's eyes rolled, laughing: "I'll find a Student Union member to ask."

She's pretty, and found a job under a Chinese boss paying over ten thousand US dollars a month; she's clearly a prominent figure in the school; asking a few things is naturally not hard.

Liu Xinyu walked with a sway, saying: "You want to fix them?"

Chen Yi heard the amusement in her tone, teasingly put his arm around her: "What do you think?"

Surrounded by students and teachers, Liu Xinyu quickly broke free, smoothed her hair, feigned seriousness: "Careful someone sees."

Chen Yi hehe'd and laughed, returned to the previous topic: "Fixing Wang Dong is boring; fix his dad. Asking Emily is just to understand the situation."

Liu Xinyu laughed: "This ruthless?"

Chen Yi said lightly: "Wang Dong's dad does steel business, also cooperates with others to produce some industrial semi-finished products; he's a rival of Chen Group's suppliers. Back when the Chen family was down, if not for Luo Xiaoshan and Liang Yu helping, I'd have been bullied by Wang Dong at school; the school even notified both sets of parents, but Wang Dong's dad didn't take it seriously; I figure it was just to curry favor with others. Simply not smart."

Catching his breath, he looked back, laughing: "Before I didn't have the chance, so be it; now we've met again, I have to repay an arrow's grudge."

Finishing, he said a couple words to Yun Hangsheng; the latter soon beamed. Yun Hangsheng had just said harsh words about fixing Wang Dong; though half was angry talk, it was because it's hard to act in the US, otherwise why just angry talk. Now with Chen Yi providing material, using his status as Finance Minister's son, toppling a merchant might be hard to say, but making him suffer is very easy.

Yun Hangsheng was adept at this; first found his dad's former secretary, now Jiangning's Tax Bureau Chief, had him check the Wang family's taxes first, then spread the news.

He fell back, finished the call, returned laughing at Chen Yi: "Tomorrow that kid will have to come beg us."

"Beg me not necessary." Chen Yi laughed twice: "I'll just pretend I don't know."

"Also good." Yun Hangsheng voluntarily took the matter onto himself: "If he doesn't kneel and kowtow to me, I'll have his dad starve him to death in the US."

Over here the two had already arranged everything; only then did Wang Dong realize, pestering He Tao: "Chen Yi coming to the US is such a big deal, better tell your uncle."

"They're going abroad officially; Uncle definitely knows."

"Subordinates sometimes don't know the situation; nothing beats you saying it personally; best to tell today's events too." Wang Dong was actually scared. But he's also smart; he feels He Fuhan's influence covering his family is definitely fine, premise being He Fuhan knows this, knows the Wang family is acting for the He family, so they won't suffer "unjust" blows.

He Tao hesitated: "Trivial matters..."

"Uncle and nephew staying in touch enhances feelings. Or ask your dad first?" Wang Dong retreated to second best, tone slightly pleading.

After all, he's his own horse aide; He Tao hesitated, took out his phone, laughing: "They're just here to see the US; such a coincidence we ran into each other."

"Exactly, they still want to attend the academic meeting, understand or not..." Wang Dong said proudly: "Brother He in at most two years, papers can be on the back cover of the report meeting; later the front cover."

The report meeting's back cover is specifically for publishing outstanding graduates' papers; of course only names. Even so, that's quite a high honor; after all, it's Cornell University.

He Tao chuckled, his fingers flying across his mobile phone noticeably faster; Wang Dong was just reading the message when he suddenly saw Chen Yi step onto the podium.

"This guy must've gotten lost," he guffawed.

The several overseas students who had come from Jiangning together all burst out laughing as well.

But the Big Ocean Horse beside them stupidly asked in English, "Is his name Yi Chen?"

"Yeah, did you understand what we were saying just now?" He Tao intimately touched her waist.

"No, the screen in front of his seat displays yicheng." The Big Ocean Horse pointed at the crystal screen beneath each scholar's table.

Wang Dong and the others were instantly rendered speechless; another group of overseas students let out stifled laughter.

……