Chapter 198: Jia Dongxu's Special‑Appointed Professorship

When Zhao Jianguo slipped the Management Bureau certificate into the drawer, Jia Dongxu was squatting beside the robot, tightening the last screw. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead, his back of the hand was smeared with machine oil, and he didn't look up when he heard Footsteps from the Courtyard Gate.

"Is Teacher Jia at home?"

The voice was quite formal, like the tone used in a broadcast announcement. Zhao Jianguo had just closed the drawer when he saw two people in gray uniforms standing at the gate, holding a red silk‑wrapped box, its corners still affixed with gold paper.

He walked over and casually asked, "What business do you have with him?"

"We are from the Personnel Office of the Mechanical Engineering College," the newcomer handed over an introduction letter, "This is the appointment letter for a special‑appointed professor; it must be delivered today."

Zhao Jianguo took the letter, glanced at it, and looked up toward the Courtyard. Jia Dongxu only then realized, his hand trembled, and the screwdriver almost fell into a gap in the circuit board. He quickly steadied it, his expression on his face like someone who had just been called on to recite a lesson.

"Is this… a mistake?" he said, standing up and patting his trousers, his voice a little shaky, "I never even attended university."

"That's right," the uniformed person smiled briefly, "The paperwork was approved half a month ago. Your 'College Entrance Exam Specialized Ruler' was listed by the Ministry of Education as a recommended teaching aid, selling three million sets nationwide last year. Add the patent for the automatic problem‑solving machine, and you qualify as a professor."

Jia Dongxu said nothing, stepped back half a step, his heel striking the lab bench. He looked down at his oil‑stained work clothes, then at the red box, as if unsure where to place his hands.

Zhao Jianguo didn't rush to open the box; instead he walked to his side and gently patted his shoulder: "In all these years you've guided students, twenty‑seven of them entered key engineering universities. Could you have produced them just with the work at the Steel Rolling Factory?"

Jia Dongxu opened his mouth slightly, but no sound came out.

"Your ruler is now used not only by students but also in teacher training," Zhao Jianguo continued, "The numbers don't lie."

After speaking, he took the red box, untied the silk ribbon, and in front of everyone lifted the lid. Inside was a deep‑blue‑covered document, its gold‑stamped title reading: Special‑appointed Professor Appointment Document.

He turned to the first page, his voice low but clear: "Comrade Jia Dongxu, for outstanding contributions to grassroots education innovation, Mechanical Principle Lesson popularization, and youth science enlightenment, you are hereby special‑appointed as a professor of the Mechanical Engineering College, effective immediately."

The Courtyard fell silent at once. Shuang Baotai ran over from beneath the jujube tree, clambering onto the lab bench to look this way. Chen Xiao Jian also rose from the stone pedestal, the small box in his hand no longer pressed.

Jia Dongxu stood where he was, his face flushed as if he'd drunk two taels of white wine. He wanted to hide, but people surrounded him on all sides. In the end he lowered his head and reached out to take the appointment document.

Just as his fingertip touched the cover, a burst of gongs and drums sounded from outside the Courtyard Gate.

San Daye rushed in holding a banner, the eight characters he wrote with a brush reading: "Siheyuan Produces a Great Professor!" He waved it while shouting, "Come see! Our old Jia family ancestral tomb is smoking!"

As a result, someone not paying attention let the banner's corner slam into the edge of the lab bench. The newly assembled third‑generation stationery set on the table tipped with a whoosh, nearly falling to the floor. Jia Dongxu's eyes were sharp and his hands quick; he snatched it up, his heart leapt.

"Take it slower!" he couldn't help shouting.

San Daye froze, glanced at the banner then at him, and chuckled, "Ah, aren't you happy?"

At that moment He Yushui came in with a few young teachers, notebook and fountain pen in hand, and as soon as she saw Jia Dongxu she surrounded him: "Professor Jia, could you sign your name? We need it for a teaching case study back home."

"Don't call me professor…" Jia Dongxu waved his hand, "I'm not one yet."

"The documents have already been delivered," Sha Zhu poked his head out from the cafeteria window, "Why pretend to be modest? Tomorrow you teach, I'll bring you a stool."

The crowd kept gathering, Jia Dongxu kept shrinking back, looking as if he might dart into the tool room. Zhao Jianguo glanced at the situation and cleared his throat.

"He's not a professor today," he said, "He's a mentor. Let's first see the new things he and the students have made."

Everyone followed his finger toward the lab bench. On it lay a set of silver‑gray stationery, each piece labeled with a number.

Zhao Jianguo picked up a compass: "This is the first batch of the third‑generation College Entrance Exam specialized stationery. The needle is made from recycled metal, polished to millimeter precision, and the base includes a micro compass, so it can be used directly for geographic drawing."

He then lifted a ruler: "This model has an integrated angle‑measurement module and an anti‑glare coating. Students won't easily misread lines when answering."

Someone leaned in to look and saw a line of small characters on the side of the ruler: "Siheyuan·Jia Dongxu Team Development."

"These were all designed with student participation," Zhao Jianguo said, "From drafting to prototyping, they handled everything by hand. That's true technical inheritance."

The crowd began to discuss. Some said this was far better than what's sold on the market, others suggested applying for an international patent. Jia Dongxu listened, and gradually straightened his posture.

An intern handed over a pen: "Teacher Jia, may I have you sign this compass?"

Jia Dongxu hesitated briefly, took the pen, and wrote his name on the tail end of the compass. After writing, he lowered his head to glance, as if checking whether it was correct.

The flash went click. He didn't dodge.

Zhao Jianguo, seizing the moment, quietly took out the Terminal, opened the system interface. Under the "Civilization Achievements Exhibition Hall" section, he created a new zone and entered the name: Jia Dongxu Patent Wall.

The system popped up a prompt: 【Should this person be permanently recorded as "Technology Inheritance Representative"?】

He clicked confirm.

The next second, the previously empty wall on the east side of the Courtyard lit up. Holographic projections unfolded layer by layer: first the earliest design drawing of the College Entrance Exam specialized ruler, then a model of a grain‑sorting machine, followed by a structural breakdown of the automatic problem‑solving machine, and finally it froze on today's third‑generation stationery series.

Shuang Baotai ran over, reaching out to touch; the image quivered slightly with their movements, as if interactive.

"Dad, this is my drawing!" one of them shouted, pointing at the sketch in the projection.

"I also took part!" the other cried.

Jia Dongxu watched the wall's content, his lips moved but he said nothing. Yet his shoulders relaxed and his hands stopped trembling.

Zhao Jianguo packed away the Terminal and walked to his side: "When you teach in the future, these can all serve as teaching material."

"Am I really going to teach?" Jia Dongxu asked.

"How could you not go?" Zhao Jianguo laughed, "Everyone's already placed the professor's hat on your head."

"But I… can't teach well."

"You teach kids here every day; aren't you already doing fine?" Zhao Jianguo patted him, "Just a different venue."

At that moment He Yushui walked over, a document in hand: "Teacher Dong Xu, next month the national teacher training program will start, and I'd like to invite you to give the main lecture 'How to Bring Industrial Thinking into Basic Education.' Does that work for you?"

Jia Dongxu was just about to decline when Zhao Jianguo jumped in: "Sure, I've already thought of the title—'From Wrench to Compass.'"

Everyone laughed. Even Jia Dongxu himself twitched the corner of his mouth.

At some point San Daye had hung the banner on the Courtyard wall, propping its corners with bricks. He stood beneath, looking up, muttering, "Our Siheyuan will also be recorded in the annals!"

Zhao Jianguo fell silent, bent down and scooped up one of the Shuang Baotai, while the other immediately ran over to cling to his leg. He walked toward the Main Hall, glancing at the lab bench as he passed.

Jia Dongxu had already sat back on a small stool, a new piece of stationery in hand, explaining its internal structure to the surrounding students. His voice was a little tense at first, but grew smoother as he spoke, and his gestures increased.

Sunlight streamed into the Courtyard, falling on the patent wall, the edges of the projection flickering slightly.

One of the Shuang Baotai lifted a hand, pointing at a spot on the wall.

There the first‑generation drawing of the automatic problem‑solving machine was displayed, with a line of small text in the lower right noting: Prototype production time—Spring 1979, at the Central Courtyard of Siheyuan.