Chapter 61 Idle Gossip

By noon, the gossip had already spread far and wide.

"Tsk tsk... This Xiaoli must have been blinded by greed. I heard that Professor An is extremely popular at school. Not just young female students, but even the women faculty members—everyone is practically tripping over themselves to win his favor."

"Ain't that the truth? Such a wonderful matchmaker's prospect, why doesn't anyone ever set someone like that up with me?"

"Oh, come off it. With that clumsy Mandarin of yours, Professor An would cover his ears the moment he heard you speak. If you ask me, if anyone's going to be introduced, it should be our Sister Yanzhang."

Right at the entrance of the canteen, a group of young dancers were chatting away without a care in the world as they ate.

Among them was Hu Yanzhang, a pretty young woman wearing a floral-print padded jacket, with an egg-shaped face and a plump figure. Sitting right in the center, a smug smile plastered across her face, she shook her head and sighed:

"I've met Professor An before. He's such a refined and dashing gentleman. It's truly a pity that a man as wonderful as him gets cruelly rejected after pouring his heart out pursuing Xiaoli..."

Hu Yanzhang and Liu Xiaoli were classmates from the same intake, and the two had never gotten along. Because Xiaoli always outshone her in looks, figure, and dancing ability, Hu Yanzhang kept up polite pretenses on the surface but had long since detested her in secret.

Now that such a golden opportunity had fallen into her lap, how could she possibly pass up the chance to gloat and gossip?

***

The Theater Dormitory.

On the lower bunk by the window, Liu Xiaoli was leaning against the headboard wearing a black sweater, engrossed in a copy of *Gone with the Wind* that she had borrowed from Cheng Kaiyan.

The red-framed wooden window at the head of her bed was fitted with glass panes secured by tiny iron nails hammered along the edges to hold them in place. Though it looked relatively secure, it was far from airtight.

A chilling breeze mixed with a fine, misty rain battered against the wooden window frame. Through the gaps in the window, wisps of cool air drifted in, gently stirring the strands of dark hair beside the young girl's temples.

Liu Xiaoli leaned back against her pillow in cozy comfort, covered by a soft, warm quilt. Between her legs sat a makeshift hot water bottle used for warmth, fashioned from an intravenous drip bottle filled with hot water, its neck sealed with a rubber sleeve to complete the simple heating device.

In those days, people also used portable hand warmers—palm-sized iron boxes filled with insulation material where burning charcoal could be inserted to provide heat.

However, Liu Xiaoli hadn't brought one of those with her to Jiangcheng.

"Sister Xiaoli, everyone in the dance troupe is talking about it. How can you be so unbothered? It's making me furious!

That old hag Zhou Xiaomin! During the New Year a few days ago, when I went to the logistics department for meat coupons, she deliberately made excuses and refused to give them to me!

And now she has the nerve to try setting up Sister Xiaoli with someone? She's clearly just trying to use Sister Xiaoli to curry favor and build connections!"

Wang Danping sat on the edge of the bed, her face contorted with indignation.

"Why pay them any mind? If a match falls through, they resort to whispering slanders behind your back—petty villain behavior that isn't worth worrying about," Liu Xiaoli said indifferently, her expression completely calm, showing no trace of displeasure.

"Xiaoli possesses the poise of a great general. I am utterly humbled, truly humbled," Xiao Caiyun remarked from her bed, letting out a sigh of admiration.

"Still... what is this Professor An's background, anyway, that it's worth Zhou Xiaomin making such a huge fuss over him?" asked another roommate, Zhang Yi.

"Word has it he's an associate professor of French at Jiangcheng University, and his family background is quite decent. I met him once before; he sent Xiaoli flowers several times and frequently sat in the front row to watch our performances, acting thoroughly infatuated," Xiao Caiyun explained.

"But isn't he pushing thirty? At his age, how does he still have the cheek to let people bridge-build and set him up on a blind date with Xiaoli? What does Xiaoli see in him? His advanced age?" Zhang Yi said with an amused chuckle.

"You said it. His professional competence is certainly decent, and his family situation is all right, but that's about it. To put it bluntly, it's just a slightly above-average cadre family. His parents' official ranks aren't anything special and wouldn't even register in Jiangcheng," Xiao Caiyun scoffed. After years of dancing and performing, what high-ranking officials hadn't they laid eyes on?

What kind of privileged youth hadn't they witnessed?

As roommates, they naturally knew a bit about Liu Xiaoli's family background.

Her father worked in a highly classified and deeply mysterious state unit—the exact nature of the organization remained unknown—while her mother worked at a publishing house in Harbin.

Her aunt was even more extraordinary; when she previously visited Jiangcheng, she was escorted by major officials and top leaders.

Speaking of which, what kind of institution was the Jiangcheng Medical College anyway?

In 1907, the German physician Dr. Erich Paulun founded the Shanghai German Medical School, which was renamed the National Tongji University Medical College in 1927.

In 1950, the Tongji University Medical College relocated inland to Jiangcheng, merged with the Jiangcheng University Medical College, and was designated as the Zhongnan Tongji Medical College.

In 1955, it was renamed the Jiangcheng Medical College.

In 1985, it was renamed Tongji Medical University.

In 2000, it merged with the Huazhong University of Science and Technology and the Jiangcheng Urban Construction Institute to form the Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

In June 2000, the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology was established and officially unveiled.

To put it bluntly, An Shaokang's father was the deputy secretary of the Party committee at a higher medical education institution, not to mention he would be retiring in a couple of years.

His mother was the Party secretary of Tongji Hospital—the actual Party secretary of the hospital.

The husband and wife served respectively as a school's deputy secretary and a hospital's secretary; it was hardly a family with deeply entrenched political roots.

Though Xiao Caiyun spoke with a hint of dismissal, in her heart she knew that for ordinary people, his family background was considered quite good.

Truth be told, Xiaoli's prospective suitor couldn't quite measure up to her family.

However, finding a partner wasn't simply a matter of adding and subtracting material conditions.

While Xiao Caiyun expressed understanding and offered her blessings, she didn't entirely agree with Liu Xiaoli's approach.

In truth, meeting the person once before politely declining would have been far more tactful than refusing the meeting outright. Handled that way, both sides would have saved face.

Director Zhou wouldn't have flown into such a rage either. Having made cast-iron guarantees to the young man's side, losing all face like this in public—how could she not be anxious and furious?

*Sigh... Comrade Xiao Cheng from Beijing, you had better not let down Xiaoli's sincere devotion!*

Xiao Caiyun thought to herself.

***

Meanwhile, at the *Fangcao* Literary Magazine.

"Jingle ring~"

In the editor-in-chief's office, Yang Shu'an was in the middle of reviewing paperwork when his telephone rang.

"Hello, hello... Yes, yes, alright, I understand. Everything has already been arranged. We just need to go straight to the Hubei Institute of Arts to find Professor Tong Zhongliang, correct?"

After hanging up the phone, Yang Shu'an tidied up his things and headed to the dormitory building to find Cheng Kaiyan so they could travel together to the Hubei Provincial Institute of Arts to record the song *Xiaofang*.

Yang Shu'an harbored lingering doubts in his heart. For one, he knew nothing about music production, and for another, he wasn't certain whether the project would ultimately succeed. "I can only pin all my hopes on little Cheng..."

Half an hour later.

Cheng Kaiyan and Editor-in-Chief Yang boarded a public bus, crossed the river, and arrived at the Hubei Provincial Institute of Arts located on Jiefang Road in Wuchang.

A grand marble gate stood tall before them, supported by two Roman stone columns holding up an entablature inscribed with six traditional Chinese characters: Hubei Provincial Institute of Arts.

This was, in fact, the predecessor of the Jiangcheng Conservatory of Music, though it wouldn't be officially renamed until 1985.

Holding their umbrellas, the two men stood at the school gate for a short while, taking in the campus scenery.

"Are you Editor-in-Chief Yang and Comrade Cheng Kaiyan? I am Tong Zhongliang. Very pleased to meet you."

Before long, a man in his forties wearing rubber rain boots and holding a black umbrella walked out from the depths of the campus. Seeing Cheng Kaiyan and his companion, he greeted them with a stiff, stoic expression, almost entirely devoid of a smile.

Tong Zhongliang had previously studied abroad in the German Democratic Republic and graduated from the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory of Music in Leipzig.

He later served as the president of the Hubei Provincial Institute of Arts, as well as the president and a professor at the Jiangcheng Conservatory of Music.

His authored works included *Tutorial of Harmony* and *Tutorial of Basic Music Theory* (which served as national key textbooks during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period).