Chapter 18: Do You Still Want to Keep Your Job?

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“Wait! Does adding someone on WeChat automatically mean you have to date them? You’re only a freshman; you’ve got plenty of things to deal with. As your senior, I’ve been through this before. I can help you.”

Lin Bai thought she had a point. “All right. Get in.”

The senior student flashed a triumphant, scheming smile, then jogged over to the passenger side, opened the door, and climbed in.

“Not bad, junior. What do your parents do? Driving such a nice car as a freshman—are you a rich second-generation kid?”

She began complimenting him the moment she got in.

Lin Bai shook his head with a bitter smile. He was hardly some rich heir. If anything, he was the second generation of poverty.

“My name is Fu Rao. Fu as in ‘to give.’” Fu Rao extended her hand with effortless confidence.

“Lin Bai.”

“Senior Fu Rao, there’s actually something I don’t know how to deal with. Could you help me think of a solution?”

“Tell me. Your senior can do anything!”

And so Lin Bai gave Fu Rao a rough account of his conflict with Yuan Fengcai and explained that he had been unable to obtain a campus entry-and-exit pass.

After listening, Fu Rao stroked her chin.

“That’s difficult. Yuan Hai is notorious for protecting his own. You beat up his son, so this won’t be easy to resolve.”

Lin Bai rolled his eyes. “Of course I know it won’t be easy. Aren’t you supposed to be amazing?”

“Oh, don’t rush me. I only said it would be difficult, not that there’s no way to solve it.”

Lin Bai leaned closer. “What way?”

The senior student put on an air of profound mystery. “There are plenty of people at this university who can deal with Yuan Hai. It all depends on whether you can find one. Come on, I’ll take you to meet someone. If you can get him to help, this problem will be easy to solve.”

“Who?”

“Professor Peng Xuehai, the only first-level professor at Jiangcheng University. Forget Yuan Hai—even the university president and the mayor of Jiangcheng have to treat Professor Peng with respect.”

Seeing how outrageous Fu Rao made it sound, Lin Bai asked, “Then why would Professor Peng help me?”

“You don’t know this? Professor Peng can’t stand seeing injustice anywhere, especially at a university. And you’re a new student on top of that. You have to know how to make use of those advantages!”

“Start driving. I’ll take you to Professor Peng’s office. He should be there at this hour.”

With nothing to lose by trying, Lin Bai drove under Fu Rao’s guidance to the Academic Affairs Building in the central district.

They got out of the car. Fu Rao led the way while Lin Bai followed close behind. They entered the building, arrived at the door of the academic affairs office, and knocked.

The door opened, revealing a young woman who looked more like a student than an employee.

“Hello, Senior Mu,” Fu Rao greeted her politely.

“Fu Rao? Are you here to see Professor Peng?”

Fu Rao nodded and pushed Lin Bai forward.

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“This is Lin Bai, a freshman from the School of Foreign Languages. He’s been bullied, so I brought him here to see Professor Peng.”

Then Fu Rao turned to introduce the woman to Lin Bai.

“This is Mu Qinse, a first-year graduate student and Professor Peng’s assistant.”

Lin Bai extended his hand. “Hello, Senior.”

Mu Qinse shook his hand briefly. “All right. Professor Peng doesn’t have any classes this afternoon, so come in.”

The two entered the office. Every visible corner was filled with books and all kinds of reference materials.

Mu Qinse led them to a desk piled high with books. An elderly man was bent over a book, studying it with complete concentration.

“Professor, Fu Rao is here again. She brought a freshman who’s been bullied.”

At that, Professor Peng raised his head. The moment he saw his face clearly, Lin Bai froze.

“It’s you?”

Professor Peng recognized Lin Bai as well and broke into a smile. “What a coincidence. Sit down—anywhere you like.”

Indeed, the Professor Peng before them was the old man who had nearly fallen that morning and whom Lin Bai had saved.

Fu Rao and Mu Qinse exchanged a glance.

“You two know each other?”

The professor waved a hand. “It’s more than mere acquaintance. This young man once saved my life.”

The two women were shocked again. Lin Bai hurriedly waved his hands.

“No, no, it wasn’t that serious. Really, it wasn’t.”

“But enough about that. You were bullied? By whom?”

Now that the professor had returned to the matter at hand, Lin Bai told the old professor everything in detail: his grudge with Yuan Fengcai and the trouble caused by Yuan Hai.

After hearing him out, Professor Peng removed his glasses, let out a long breath, and looked toward Mu Qinse.

“Where’s my phone, Little Mu?”

Mu Qinse searched through the stacks of books, found the phone, and handed it to him.

Professor Peng took it, opened his contacts, and searched for a long while before finally locating Yuan Hai’s number. He dialed it directly and switched on the speaker.

He did not turn on the speaker so that Lin Bai and the others could listen. His own hearing simply was not very good.

“Professor Peng, what brings you—”

“Do you still want to keep your job?” Professor Peng interrupted him without the slightest courtesy.

On the other end, Yuan Hai was clearly startled. Several seconds passed before he answered.

“What happened, Professor Peng? Please don’t scare me.”

Professor Peng held the phone toward Lin Bai. Understanding, Lin Bai leaned close and spoke loudly.

“Director Yuan, hello. My name is Lin Bai. I’m with Professor Peng right now.”

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Professor Peng took back the phone. “Go on, then. What exactly is going on?”

Yuan Hai could hardly fail to understand what had happened. His voice was unmistakably fearful, and Lin Bai heard every word clearly.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I—I truly didn’t know about this.”

Professor Peng had no patience for his rambling and cut him off.

“Yuan Hai, you’re not a young man anymore. Let young people settle their own affairs. What are you meddling in them for?”

“Not only have you lost face—are you planning to throw away your dignity as well?”

“If you’re capable of doing your job, then do it. If you’re not, I’ll call Xiaoping and find someone to replace you.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Yuan Hai nearly collapsed on the other end of the line.

“No! Please, no, Professor! I was wrong. I won’t interfere anymore. I won’t involve myself in their affairs. How about this—where is Student Lin? He can come over right now, and I’ll process everything for him immediately!”

Hearing that, Lin Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief. At last, the matter had been resolved.

Professor Peng glanced at Lin Bai and continued, “Let me remind you of one thing, Little Yuan. Lin Bai once saved my life. Do you understand what I mean?”

Yuan Hai fell silent for several seconds.

“I understand! I understand, I understand! I know exactly what to do, Professor!”

“Good. That’s all. If this happens again, I won’t be calling you.”

“Understood! I—”

Professor Peng hung up without waiting for him to finish, then turned to Lin Bai.

“I’m sorry, Student Lin. I apologize to you on behalf of Jiangcheng University for having someone like Yuan Hai.”

Seeing that Professor Peng was about to stand, Lin Bai hurriedly pressed him back down.

“No, no, Professor Peng, please don’t. I couldn’t possibly let you do that. I can’t thank you enough.”

Professor Peng did not insist. He rummaged through the items on his desk and found his business card.

“Here. My number is on it. If you run into any trouble at school that you can’t resolve, give this old man a call.”

Lin Bai accepted the card solemnly.

“Thank you, Professor. I’ll keep it safe.”

“Good. Off you go, and study hard.”

…

As he left the academic affairs office and headed toward the campus security department, Lin Bai was still completely dazed.