YM778.TV Chapter 721: Zhang Ye shows up!
Translator: Legge Editor:
Online.
The news headlines were spreading all over the Internet.
"Tsinghua and Peking University fight over student recruitment!"
“Clashes at various key focus schools in Beijing over student recruitment!"
"Peking and Tsinghua University caught in shocking hand-to-hand combat!"
"Tsinghua University initiates public plundering of exam\'s top scorers!"
There were many photos posted together with the headlines. The ferocious expressions of the Tsinghua University teachers could be seen as they blocked the Peking University student recruitment teachers. The innocent and lost faces of the exam\'s top scorers could also be seen.
Right now, it was at the critical juncture of the student recruitment after the college entrance exam. Reporters from the media and the entire society were all focused on it. When the news headlines were published, they immediately gained a strong reaction from the people.
"Another fight over the examinees?"
"Why did they get into a physical conflict this year?"
"It was never so intense in the previous years!"
"Tsinghua University has changed from their usual tactics this year and come out in full force for the attack?"
"The top scholar of the Beijing college entrance exam and the top 10 scorers have more or less been taken away by Tsinghua University\'s people? If they have them picked up and brought over to Tsinghua University\'s school grounds, then the outcome is already determined. Once the examinees falter a little and give them their word, Peking University will be unable to do a thing about it. Tsinghua University\'s movements were too swift! They were really aggressive!"
"Peking University will surely suffer a great loss this time!"
"It was always a veiled strife between them every year, but now it has become an open rivalry?"
"Why doesn\'t the Ministry of Education do something about this toxic behavior? Since those top scorers had already applied for Peking University, why is Tsinghua University still trying to take them away? This isn\'t how they should be behaving."
"Heh, who cares about them. They\'re both top institutions in the country. This is like a fight between the gods!"
"Peking University mainly sent female recruitment teachers this year, so in terms of physical strength, they\'re definitely not a match for the Tsinghua University male recruitment teachers. Perhaps Peking University had not expected Tsinghua University to resort to such strong-arm tactics?!"
The news led to countless discussions about the incident!
Every year, the top scorers would be subjected to the contention between these two institutions, but it had never been like this year when all decorum was abandoned. Many of the common folk who saw this found it to be a strange and new sight. Even teachers from Beijing Normal University, Renmin University, Nanjing University, and other higher institutions were observing the commotion privately.
This incident had really kicked up quite a big fuss this time!
……
Old Wu\'s residence.
Zhang Ye and Wu Zeqing also saw the news.
"Tsinghua and Peking University fought?" Zhang Ye said in a speechless manner. Even though he was in a different world now, some things just didn\'t change. Just like the incident that was happening now, it had also happened on more than one occasion back in Zhang Ye\'s previous world. "Just to get a few students to join them, does it call for such behavior?"
Old Wu said, "Indeed it does."
Zhang Ye looked at Old Wu and remembered that she was previously the Vice President of Peking University. "When you were at Peking University, did you guys fight over the exam\'s top scorers every year as well?"
Old Wu shook her head. "We don\'t call that fighting. It\'s just recruitment. There are student recruitment teachers assigned to speak to those top scorers every year. Tsinghua University does the same, but it looks like they\'re overdoing it this year. If they continue doing it this way, there\'s really going to be trouble soon."
Zhang Ye glanced at her for a moment. He knew that even though Old Wu was no longer in her post as the school\'s Vice President, she still had Peking University\'s considerations at heart. After all, she had worked there for many years and surely would have developed some feelings for the institution. "Will Peking University be able to handle it?"
Old Wu said, "I don\'t know."
Zhang Ye blinked. "Then…"
Old Wu smiled at him. "Why don\'t you go take a look?"
Zhang Ye answered, "But I\'ve already been suspended, so it wouldn\'t be suitable to show myself there. I don\'t have the status to do so either. Besides, I believe that Peking University can definitely handle the situation."
Old Wu giggled and passed him her cell phone which had the news page open on its browser. "The news reports say that even the student who got a perfect score on this year\'s Beijing Math exam was taken away by Tsinghua University."
"Huang Lingling?" Zhang Ye was stunned, then got irritated, which soon turned to outrage. "F**k them to their second granny! How dare they try to steal my student!?" Having said that, Zhang Ye immediately grabbed his car keys and said, "Old Wu, I\'ll be back for lunch. I just need to go out for a while! F**k their mother\'s c**t!"
Old Wu said, "You\'ve become a professor, be a bit more civil."
Zhang Ye said angrily, "Why should I be civil? They\'re pushing it too far!"
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Ye had driven off furiously in his BMW X5 and charged out of the villa\'s grounds!
Wu Zeqing could only helplessly shake her head at this.
……
Outside No. 8 High School.
The college entrance exam\'s top scholar and the others, including Huang Lingling from No. 8 High School, had been shoved into the cars reluctantly, with Liao Qi in one of the front passenger seats as both cars drove off!
The group of female teachers from Peking University ran up to give chase.
"Stop right there!"
"How can they do that!"
"Isn\'t that bullying! If it\'s not bullying, then what is!?"
"Follow them!"
The Peking University female recruitment teachers were incredibly outraged by this behavior. They got into their cars to chase after them. While they relentlessly pursued the Tsinghua University cars, they made a call back to the student recruitment team coordinators for assistance.
"Hello, Chief!"
"Little Hu, how\'s it going on your side? You all have to secure the recruitment of the top scorers over at No. 8 High School. Tsinghua University has been behaving too outrageously this year. They\'ve already taken a number of the top scorers with them, so you all must definitely—"
"Our targets were taken away as well!"
"What?"
"We\'re chasing them at the moment. It looks like they\'re already heading back to Tsinghua University!"
"I understand, I will get something arranged!"
The Tsinghua University cars were leading the chase with Peking University\'s cars behind them. They were later joined by six or seven vehicles from the media that followed behind very closely. When it involved such big news, the media naturally wouldn\'t want to miss out!
……
20 minutes later.
At Tsinghua University\'s main entrance.
Liao Qi was just arriving with his team in their car after turning a corner, but immediately saw that the entrance was blocked off by quite a number of cars. They were blocked off from entering and could only come to a stop right outside the entrance.
There were more than a dozen cars lined up outside the entrance, including some from Peking University and others from Tsinghua University. Without an exception, they were all from the student recruitment teams of both schools.
About 15 minutes before this, when the Tsinghua University student recruitment team\'s teachers went around snapping up the examinees, Peking University was carrying out their response. Since both schools were very close to each other, only taking several minutes to travel between each other by car, the chief of the Peking University student recruitment teams made a prompt decision to stand guard outside the different entrances to Tsinghua University. When the teachers from the Tsinghua University student recruitment teams arrived, the people from Peking University immediately got out of their cars and stopped them right in their tracks!
The entire place was chaos!
Tsinghua University: "Make way! Do you intend to create trouble here?"
Peking University: "Let the students go!"
Tsinghua University: "What? Are you trying to take them away?"
Peking University: "Just who are the ones stealing here? Are you people from Tsinghua University so unreasonable?"
Tsinghua University: "Blocking our school\'s entrance, who are the ones being unreasonable here? If you don\'t make way, I\'ll have to call the police! The student recruitment teams have always competed fairly. If you don\'t have the capability to invite the students over, then are you resorting to blocking our entrance?"
Peking University: "If this was a fair competition, we wouldn\'t have done this and just kept quiet. But was it? You came straight out and snatched the students from us, dragging them away by force! You even resorted to using their relationships as bargaining chips, promising to arrange a good school for their love interests? How do you call that a fair competition? It\'s totally unheard of!"
Most of the top scorers were snatched away, while a few top scorers whose parents had informed Peking University that the Tsinghua University recruitment teachers had used the examinees\' love interests as bargaining chips, promising a lot of things, and then forcefully taking them away. There were even two examinees who were poised to have a meeting with the Peking University recruitment teachers, but were intercepted by the Tsinghua University recruitment teachers who went to their homes, and persuaded their parents to ask the examinees to go to Tsinghua University\'s campus instead. Although the Tsinghua University teachers meant no harm to the examinees, how was this different from kidnapping them? It wasn\'t far-fetched to say that they had resorted to unscrupulous means!
The two groups of student recruitment teachers began to provoke each other the moment they met!
"Old Zhou, aren\'t you ashamed of what you guys have done?"
"Say that again! I dare you to say that again!"
"If you dared to do it, why am I not allowed to criticize you?"
The reporters arrived at this time and got out of their vehicles quickly. Even with the presence of all these reporters around them, the student recruitment teachers from Peking and Tsinghua University did not take a step back and continued arguing!
In one of the cars.
Huang Lingling anxiously said, "Teacher, I\'ve already spoken with the Peking University teachers. Can I…can I leave first?"
Liao Qi turned around to assure her, "Don\'t worry, Student Lingling. We at Tsinghua University will give you the best treatment, definitely much better than Peking University. The scholarship is just part of the terms we will be offering. As for anything else you wish to request, you can just bring it up when the time comes and we can discuss it." Having said that, he opened the door and got out of the car. Then he lowered his head to tell the other student recruitment teacher who was the driver, "It\'s quite a mess out there. Don\'t scare the children. Keep the car doors locked."
The Tsinghua University student recruitment teacher nodded and locked the doors.
Huang Lingling became even more anxious now.
The other three exam\'s top scorers from No. 8 High School were also in a dilemma. Faced with the Tsinghua University teachers, they did not dare offend them, so they kept quiet.
Su Na of Peking University arrived in her car at this moment. She saw seven or eight cars belonging to the Tsinghua University student recruitment teams also parked there. Inside those cars were the top scorers of this year\'s college entrance exam, including the examinee she had made an appointment with yesterday but who was taken away this morning by one of Tsinghua University\'s teachers. Su Na initially thought that only herself and a small group of teachers had their examinees taken away, but who could have thought that the same thing had happened to more than 20 of the exam\'s top scorers. All of them were within this year\'s top 30 scorers of the college entrance exam, the most excellent group of talents which had been filtered out by the examination. All of them were now held inside Tsinghua University cars!
Each year, the competition between Tsinghua and Peking University had always been closely matched. For some specializations like the Chinese Department, Peking University was the more attractive choice to the students while Tsinghua University had other specializations which were more attractive over Peking University\'s. Overall, both institutions were very evenly matched, but Peking University probably still stood out a little more. However, with the situation now? Almost all of the top 30 scorers of the Beijing college entrance examination were invited over by Tsinghua University to their campus. This was obviously an unusual situation!
When Su Na and Liao Qi met face to face, she immediately asked, "Professor Liao, isn\'t Tsinghua University going overboard this time?"
Liao Qi said coldly, "It\'s all based on ability, what\'s there to be overboard about? Our specializations are more attractive than yours, so naturally the examinees would prefer to join Tsinghua University."
Behind them was a female teacher from Peking University who also knew Liao Qi and was old friends with him, often chatting whenever they met. However, as of today, all friendship was cast aside because Tsinghua University\'s actions had infuriated the student recruitment teachers from Peking University. She said, "Peking University\'s Chinese Department is the number one department in the entire country, and you\'re talking about this place being more attractive?"
Liao Qi gave a cold smile. "But you only just got first place this year, isn\'t that right?!"
The Peking University female teacher in her forties said, "Even if it was last year or the year before that, Tsinghua University\'s Chinese Department still cannot compare!"
Suddenly, a woman walked out slowly from Tsinghua University\'s main entrance. When she heard that, she laughed and said, "Do you mean to say that Tsinghua University only has the Chinese Department to represent them?"
That person was Xin Ya!
"Professor Xin!"
"Professor Xin!"
Several of the Tsinghua University teachers turned to look at her.
Xin Ya was from the Mathematics Association and also one of the most well-known young mathematicians in the country. Back at Summer Palace during the International Math Olympiad, Zhang Ye had met her. She was Old Wu\'s childhood friend and they had a great relationship. Later on, Zhang Ye met her another few times. They couldn\'t be considered strangers anymore. Xin Ya actually wasn\'t a Tsinghua University teacher. She was now affiliated with a research facility and was leading her own team in research projects. However, many years back, Xin Ya had graduated from Tsinghua University\'s Math Department, so of course she still had deep ties with her alma mater. For this year\'s student recruitment, Tsinghua University\'s Dean of the Math Department, who was also her teacher during her student days, had approached Xin Ya to use her name in the mathematics world to attract more of the exam\'s top scorers into joining them.
Xin Ya was waiting inside Tsinghua University\'s campus all this while. When she heard that the examinees were all held up outside the main entrance, she came outside to take a look. "Let\'s compete with our Math Departments, shall we?"
Several of the Tsinghua University student recruitment teachers were bolstered by her appearance.
"That\'s right!"
"Why don\'t we compete with our Math and Physics Departments?"
Actually, Peking University\'s Math Department was also one of the top few in the country, and had ranked first on many an occasion. However, they had been declining in recent times, and with Tsinghua University recently recruiting five very well-known mathematicians as professors emeriti of the school, Peking University\'s glory days had become a thing of the past. Tsinghua University\'s Math department had completely gotten the upper hand on Peking University in their qualities of math.
They were basically showing off, since they knew the students could see and hear everything they were talking about right now. The final decision in choosing which school to join was still down the examinees themselves, so there was definitely a need to showcase the most excellent aspects of their school.
Xin Ya\'s words stumped many of the Peking University student recruitment teachers.
Xin Ya laughed. "What? Why aren\'t you all saying anything?"
However, it was right at this moment, when no one took notice, that a majestic BMW had parked at the side of the road. The door opened and a young man stepped out of his car. As he headed straight for the center of the commotion, he bluntly said, "Did I just hear someone saying that they wanted to compete with our Peking University\'s Math and Physics Departments? Alright then! Who wants to compete?"
When everyone heard this young man\'s voice, the first thought they had was that this person was too arrogant, the second thought was that he too proud of himself. But when everyone turned their heads to look at him, they could only gasp in surprise!
Su Na was very happy to see him. "Teacher Zhang!"
The Peking University student recruitment teachers also cheered!
"It\'s Zhang Ye!"
"Professor Zhang is here!"
"Teacher Zhang, these people from Tsinghua University are really taking it too far!"
Among the Tsinghua University student recruitment teachers, there was an associate professor and a full professor in Xin Ya. But for the Peking University student recruitment teachers, they were all just made up of ordinary staff members, with more than half of them not even teachers, just support staff. Those who were teachers weren\'t tenured professors or such. They were just young and ordinary teachers since Peking University had not arranged for any professors to be on the student recruitment teams in the first place.
That was why when Zhang Ye who was a Peking University associate professor came along, the student recruitment teachers seemingly found a support pillar and reacted like they had spotted a family member!