Chapter 550 - The Youngest Associate Professor in the Country! (1/2)
Chapter 550: The Youngest a.s.sociate Professor in the Country!
In the morning.
The other elective cla.s.s teachers left the Chinese Department’s Teachers' Office.
The teachers of the Chinese Department started chatting again once they had gone. After the winter break, they definitely had a lot to catch up on, but most of the focus was still on Zhang Ye. This was because, in just a short winter break period, Zhang Ye had caused so many incidents, such as taking part in the Spring Festival Gala, beating up someone, joining the crosstalk compet.i.tion, getting banned, solving a mathematical conjecture, getting unbanned, being voted as Weibo’s most unpopular celebrity, etc. This was why everyone was so curious about all that had happened
Teacher w.a.n.g smiled and said, ”Little Zhang, you are really something.”
Teacher Li said, ”When did you begin your research into math? Haha, you've really garnered face for the Chinese Department. Just a few days ago, Dean Chang even joked about how our Chinese Department had hidden talents that could take over the jobs of those at the Math Department.”
Zhang Ye waved it off. ”You're too generous with your praise.”
A teacher asked, ”Has Dale's Conjecture really been proven?”
”That's for sure.” Su Na smiled and said, ”Mathematicians from all over the world are here in Beijing to do the verification work now. Although they have not concluded the verification of the proof yet, it seems that there are generally no problems with it. They're just doing some final validations on the details.” Having said that, she looked over to Zhang Ye. ”Teacher Zhang, don't forget to give treat us to a meal when the proof is accepted.”
Zhang Ye nearly cried. ”I don't even have any money left in this pocket of mine.”
Su Na rolled her eyes. ”Don't try that. I know that you've already sold the copyrights to Legend of Wukong. Although I don't know how much you got for it, it has to be at least upwards of a million.”
Professor Zeng, who had a very good relations.h.i.+p with Zhang Ye, had just walked into the office and heard their conversation. He laughed as he said, ”In my opinion, Teacher Zhang getting an a.s.sociate professor t.i.tle this year is definitely on the books!”
Su Na nodded. ”Yes, there's a really good chance of that.”
Zhang Ye chuckled. ”Come on, I don't have the qualifications to become an a.s.sociate professor.” Actually, he really hoped to get it as well, even though the t.i.tle of professor did not matter in the entertainment industry. It still sounded nice and would be considered a good qualification anyhow. So if he had the chance, Zhang Ye definitely would like to become one.
The Chinese Department's colleagues continued bantering about the matter. Zhang Ye's proving of the global mathematical conjecture had not only become a topic of conversation for them at the Chinese Department, but was also the topic of conversation throughout Peking University.
After about 10 minutes.
The Chinese Department was about to begin their meeting and all the teachers had gathered into the conference room.
Secretary Zhen did not attend the meeting. The Chinese Department Dean, Chang Kaige, who was chairing the meeting, did not start until the last person, Professor Yan, who had arrived late, walked into the room.
Chang Kaige raised a tea cup and took a sip of tea before putting it down again. He smiled as he looked at everyone, and then said, ”School has started and it's a new semester again. After such a long break, I hope that every one of us can hit the ground running as cla.s.ses will begin tomorrow. Let's not be too relaxed anymore. Alright, enough with the cliché speech for now. For today's meeting, I would like to touch on the welcome ceremony that will be held this afternoon. As all of you should know by now, we are hosting a delegation of j.a.panese university princ.i.p.als, expert academics, and students at our Peking University today to discuss key exchange and cooperation projects. It is very important. There will be staff from the television stations and reporters present as well. The welcome ceremony will be held at the Centennial Hall, so if our teachers don't have anything important scheduled today, they must attend the event. This was instructed by the chancellor, so unless you have something so important that you can't attend this ceremony, please seek leave approval from either me or Secretary Zhen. Is that understood?”
”Understood.”
”We'll definitely be there.”
”No problem.”
Quite a number of teachers and professors were nodding at this.
Chang Kaige said, ”As for the students, get some volunteers. Otherwise, if that's not enough to fill the seats, I will need every one of you to select some students and then consolidate their names into a list. Remember to remind them to follow the rules, to not boo or create any trouble. They're already university students. Students these days all have a mind of their own, especially when it involves a sensitive issue like the Sino-j.a.panese relations.h.i.+p. We must ensure that the welcome ceremony finishes without a hitch. Yes, but of course, since our Peking University students are all of the highest standards, this is just something that you all need to remind them about.”
Professor Zeng said, ”In such a setting, I'm sure the students know their limits.”
Chang Kaige nodded. ”Hur hur. Finally, there's one more issue to discuss. The chancellor has given us, the Chinese Department, the task of giving a speech at the welcome ceremony. Since we're in the profession of the Chinese language, this task is naturally ours to carry out.”
Speech?
Another speech?
When everyone heard this, their instinct was to look over at Zhang Ye. They couldn't help it since, previously, at the National Primary and Secondary School New Year Gala, Zhang Ye's closing remarks had left everyone in shock. The ”Ode to Young China” was even published in the People's Daily the next day and was considered to be a sensation. Compared to Professor Yan's speech, it brought about a much more refres.h.i.+ng view and was considered to be far more outstanding. As such, at the mention of a speech that was to be given later at the welcome ceremony, the first person who came to mind was Zhang Ye.
Although Zhang Ye was the youngest teacher in the Chinese Department, had the least qualifications, and did not even come through as part of the academia system itself since he had only become a teacher through his work in the professional industry, when it came to the quality of giving speeches, none of them in the Chinese Department dared to claim that they were better than Zhang Ye at giving one. Even if ”Ode to Young China” was not mentioned, there was still the example of ”The Last Speech” that Zhang Ye had given at the Shanghai SARFT's press conference. It was an irrefutable fact that none of them had or were even near his standard in giving speeches.
With one Zhang Ye sacrificed!
Thousands and thousands of Zhang Ye will stand up!
Just thinking of each and every word from that speech would leave a person's blood boiling with pa.s.sion!
However, Zhang Ye looked reluctant to partake in this ceremony, or rather, unwilling to do so. For a speech that carried political undertones, he knew they would definitely require him to speak along the lines of promoting good Sino-j.a.panese relations.h.i.+p. Yet for a nationalist like him, it would already be a good thing if he did not go looking for trouble with these foreigners. How could they expect him to praise the friends.h.i.+p between China and j.a.pan? That was basically impossible, so whoever wanted to do it could instead of him!
Chang Kaige, who seemingly had expected that Zhang Ye would not want to do it, said, ”I'd already given this task to Professor Yan a few days ago. Old Yan, is the script ready?”
Professor Yan said expressionlessly, ”Yes.”
Chang Kaige looked very rea.s.sured and did not ask for the script to check it.
The previous time, even though it could be said that Zhang Ye's speech had made Professor Yan lose quite a lot of face, everyone knew that it wasn't because Professor Yan's speech was lacking. As the theme had already been set beforehand, even if it were someone else giving the speech, they would have encountered the same problem. The main issue at that time was due to Zhang Ye not following the routine. That left Professor Yan in a pa.s.sive and embarra.s.sing situation. However, since the speech this time was imbued with a political undertone, Chang Kaige tasked Professor Yan to handle it, knowing that it was in much safer hands compared to Zhang Ye's.
The meeting went on for a little while more.
Finally, Chang Kaige said, ”Alright then, actually there is one more issue to bring up.” He looked at Zhang Ye and said, ”It regards our department's Teacher Zhang Ye and his promotion to the rank of a.s.sociate professor. Ever since Teacher Little Zhang took over the elective cla.s.s for 'Appreciation of the Cla.s.sics,' the results he had shown can be seen by all. He has received lots of attention from society and attracted many good reviews from the the academic world. At the same time, he has also helped our Chinese Department gain back the top spot in the national university rankings. Though I understand this was down to the hard work of everyone, but the final 'shot at goal' is to Teacher Zhang Ye's credit.”
Before he could finish, Professor Yan, who was already frowning, immediately interrupted and said, ”Dean Chang, I don't agree with that. Zhang Ye is too young. How can a young man in his early twenties be an a.s.sociate professor? Let's not talk about Peking University alone, you won't even find this anywhere else in the country! Besides, Zhang Ye's academic research is still considered to be controversial within the industry.”