Chapter 158: The Mentor's Days Are Not Easy

Whoever gets on Liang Jingzhong's list gets a promotion opportunity. For those within the system, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to advance.

Now this nomination right lies in Lin Dongfan's hands.

At this moment.

Lin Dongfan felt like he was the Provincial Committee's No. 1 who held great power—pick up a pen, casually draw two strokes, and he could easily change a person's fate.

Immortal Li Bai once said: In life, when you're prosperous, you must enjoy yourself to the fullest; having more pig teammates makes for good drinking games.

At this highlight moment in life.

The first person Lin Dongfan thought of was the sunny-type beauty Su Yuhong.

Back then, during my darkest moments in life, I often drank Su Yuhong's Red Bull and often drove her car; just thinking about it feels warm.

Although I have already repaid her a lot.

For example, I occasionally urged her to go to the hospital for breast exams to prevent breast cancer, preserving her pair of headlights; and I took her in the stock market, where she kept rising, letting her transform into a petite rich lady with considerable savings.

But these are still far from enough.

A drop of kindness must be repaid with a spring, making her so happy she can't catch her breath.

And there's Brother Yang Qing, who fought side by side with me.

He's a warrior who has repeatedly lost on the matchmaking front; we must help him regain his dignity and teach him how to trounce those potential mothers-in-law who demand a 380,000 dowry right off the bat.

Also there's the little junior sister who dug up graves with me, Jian Sini, the acne-prone Tang Xia, the upright Zhang Xiaoguang, and that little police officer Zhang Yong who calls himself the 'gang tyrant' of the child-guidance world……

They're all decent people.

In a few days I'll give them a surprise, without notifying them first.

The only regret is that these people's credentials are a bit shallow; even if we promote them a little, the highest positions we can reach now are quite limited, insufficient to oppose the top-tier villains of Nanzhou.

My father-in-law is about to be transferred soon; we need to find someone fearless of authority to take his place.

The best candidate!

Lin Dongfan first thought of his former mentor—Luo Xiang, a senior professor and doctoral supervisor at Jianglan Zhengfa University, who once served as director of the Jianglan Law Research Institute.

Professor Luo, truly a wordless monument in the realm of mentors.

Lin Dongfan lost both parents at a young age; the grandparents who raised him to adulthood also passed away one after another when he was in high school.

After much difficulty, he finally gained admission to Jianglan Zhengfa University.

Faced with tuition, living expenses and other costs, he was at a loss, with no relative willing to lend a hand.

During that arduous period of study.

Professor Luo helped him apply for state scholarships and poverty subsidies year after year; later, seeing he had grown thin, he often invited him to eat at his home and prepared special dishes for him……

Many things, when recalled now, still bring Lin Dongfan to tears.

Back when he was in school.

He often wondered: In a past life, did he shake his tiger-like body and save the galaxy? How could he, in this fame-and-fortune-driven world, encounter such a selfless teacher.

Without Professor Luo's attentive care, he might not have made it to graduation.

Now.

It's time to repay the mentor, to save the mentor from fire and water, and ask him to come out of retirement!

That afternoon.

Lin Dongfan drove over two hundred kilometers to reach the provincial capital, Wuzhou.

Professor Luo lived in the faculty dormitory building of Jianglan Zhengfa University, a 120-square-meter two-bedroom, one-living-room unit. Given his salary, he should have been able to afford a larger, more suitable commercial apartment.

But Professor Luo was different from others.

He used his private savings to support his favorite disciples; his wife also backed him, and the couple were practically saints.

This caused his daughter to go abroad and not return for several years.

"Professor Luo, are you home?"

Lin Dongfan, carrying big and small gifts, politely knocked twice on the door, but there was no sound from inside, not a single response.

Lin Dongfan knocked twice more: "Madam, it's me, Dongfan."

Still no one answered inside.

Lin Dongfan, looking bewildered, checked the door number: "No mistake, Building 2, Unit 601. At this time of day, Madam is usually home cooking dinner—how could there be no one…"

He muttered, puzzled.

The neighboring old aunt suddenly opened the door and asked: "Young man, who are you looking for?"

"Auntie, I'm Professor Luo's student. May I ask if you know his phone number?" Lin Dongfan vaguely recalled that this old aunt had once been a professor in the Chinese Department, but couldn't recall her surname at the moment.

The old aunt eyed Lin Dongfan dubiously: "You're his student, yet you don't even know his phone number?"

Indeed, Chinese people are thoughtful.

Her words hit the nail on the head.

They left Lin Dongfan feeling embarrassed.

Back when he was in school, he couldn't afford a phone; the teacher's number was written in his address book. In the few years after graduation, because he wasn't doing well, he was too embarrassed to contact the teacher.

Later, after moving several times, the address book was lost, and even a trace of it couldn't be found.

Lin Dongfan gave an embarrassed smile: "I've been out of school for six years, and I haven't really come around to visit…"

"You people only show up when you need the teacher—truly, morals are declining." The old aunt seemed to recall her own students, shook her head in disappointment, and didn't want to say more.

Lin Dongfan hurriedly explained: "Auntie, I'm really not that kind of ungrateful person. I didn't come around before mainly because I wasn't doing well and felt ashamed to see the teacher. Please give me his number, okay?"

"If you're sincere, then go see him at the hospital," the old aunt said.

Hearing this, Lin Dongfan's face showed slight shock: "Professor Luo is hospitalized?"

"After such a blow, it's no wonder he's sick. He was admitted to the hospital on New Year's Eve and hasn't come back." The aunt again shook her head regretfully, turned and went back inside: "He's staying at the affiliated second hospital of the medical university."

"Thank you, auntie."

Lin Dongfan's mood had been pretty good, but all of a sudden his aunt brought him down to the bottom.

If I'm not mistaken, this so-called blow is probably related to that incident—last year, Professor Luo publicly reported the former principal for corrupt practices.

Later the former principal was arrested, implicated in 1.9 billion yuan of corruption, and even the wiring in his house was made of gold.

It shocked countless people's worldviews.

Professor Luo, who had made great contributions to the anti-corruption cause, also conveniently received an invisible fine for being oblivious to human relations, and not long after was removed from his position as dean of the Law Research Institute.

Rumors that he had falsified his academic work also spread like wildfire in the education sector.

He has probably been suspended from teaching by the school now.

In Lin Dongfan's memories of his previous life, Professor Luo was literally driven to death by rumors, later jumping off a building to commit suicide, using death to prove his innocence.

"Damn, the education sector is also corrupt to the core."

Thinking back to his past life, he had lived as a good-for-nothing, unable to help with anything, until his mentor's suicide made him realize just how much humiliation the mentor had endured.

In this life, it's still not too late.

Lin Dongfan carried big and small packages of gifts, headed straight for the Affiliated Second Hospital, and first went to the nurses' station of the inpatient department to inquire about Professor Luo's ward.

By then the sky had already grown dark.

As soon as Lin Dongfan entered the ward, he saw Professor Luo leaning against the hospital bed, with an oxygen tube inserted into his nostrils and an IV needle taped to the back of his hand.

Once a vigorous leader in the field of law, he now has graying temples and a weary face.

"Professor Luo."

Lin Dongfan stood at the doorway and softly called out.

Professor Luo turned his head at the sound, seeing Lin Dongfan with tears streaming down his face, he was first slightly startled, then showed a hint of relieved smile: "You've come..."

At this moment, Old Luo was indeed greatly relieved.

Since he had been ruined in reputation and status by his peers, no one had come to visit him; unexpectedly, when he was feeling utterly hopeless, Lin Dongfan actually walked in.