June 1, 10:00 a.m.
Song He sat at his desk, busy preparing the final exam. In the blink of an eye, another semester had passed. In a few days, the exams would begin, followed by summer vacation.
He had always insisted on personally writing the final exams. It was not for any particular reason—he simply enjoyed tormenting the students. The other teachers were too soft when setting questions, and their papers were not brutal enough. He had to do it himself!
The sun was shining brightly, and the light from the screen was white, yet a faint black aura seemed to emanate from Song He's face. His smile was positively evil!
Halfway through writing the exam, his phone rang on the desk, and a message popped up in the bottom-right corner of his computer at the same time.
It was a meeting notice from the president of Former University of Science and Technology. A meeting would be held punctually at 10:30 in No. 1 Conference Room, and the heads of all departments were required to attend.
Song He raised an eyebrow. Normally, meetings at the department-head level were announced one or two days in advance. Such a sudden summons was extremely unusual. Clearly, the meeting was no ordinary one.
Just as he was pondering this, another message popped up. It was actually a direct private message from the president.
President: "Come to the meeting personally. Don't send someone in your place. This meeting concerns you."
Song He was puzzled. "Concerns me? What's going on?"
President: "It's a good thing. You'll know when you get here."
Song He had originally planned to write a little more before hurrying over, but now he could no longer sit still. He hurriedly got up and left.
Fifteen minutes later, he reached No. 1 Conference Room. To his surprise, all the department heads had already arrived. He was actually the last one there.
Then he looked at the seating arrangement and found it extremely unusual!
The School of Pharmacy had long occupied the first seat beside the president, and that had not changed this time. Nor could it have changed. In terms of funding, reputation, faculty, entrance scores, and every other overt or covert indicator, the School of Pharmacy was far and away the top department in the university. Some even called it half of Former University of Science and Technology. Of course, that was an exaggerated and absurd claim; the other departments also had deep foundations.
The second seat beside him had belonged to the Brain Science Institute for the past few months. At every meeting, Xiang Xiaotong had sat beside him. They were a married couple and headed the university's two flagship departments, so putting them together was only natural. The School of Pharmacy and the Brain Institute together could be called half the university. That was still arrogant, but it was at least vaguely close to the truth.
But today, Xiang Xiaotong was sitting in the third seat. The second seat beside the president had been taken by An Yulong, the Mathematics Department's thin, goat-faced dean.
The department heads around the table all wore meaningful expressions as they greeted Song He with suggestive winks and raised brows.
Song He vaguely guessed what was happening and took his seat, somewhat astonished.
The president sat smiling at the head of the conference table. "Don't be impatient. We're still one person short."
Song He turned his head and looked around. All the department heads were present, so he could not help asking, "Aren't we all here? Who's missing?"
"Me! I'm here, I'm here!" Xie Yuanxun hurried through the door and took a seat at the far end of the conference table.
Song He suddenly understood. He glanced at You Deyi across the table and abruptly figured out what today's meeting was about. He turned and stared at An Yulong in surprise, and An Yulong smiled and nodded.
"Everyone's here. Let's officially begin!" the president said. "Today's meeting will have three parts. The first concerns changes in department leadership!"
"First, the change in leadership of the Mathematics Department. Dean An, please speak!"
A round of applause broke out. An Yulong stood and began speaking, composed and even somewhat happy.
"Time flies like a white colt flashing past a crack. To use a cliché, it feels as though the establishment of Former University of Science and Technology happened only yesterday. Yet in the blink of an eye, so many years have passed! When the university was first founded, I was nervous. With such a massive investment, could we really run the school successfully? What if no students applied after a few years and it ended up closing in disgrace?"
Laughter filled the conference room.
An Yulong turned to look at Song He, then changed tack.
"The first time I met Song He was on an airplane. At the time, I thought he was just a wet-behind-the-ears youngster, fair-skinned and brimming with naïveté. I had no intention of giving him a proper look. But then he picked up several sheets of scrap paper I had thrown away and suddenly explained what I had been calculating. That was when I sensed that this person had extraordinary talent."
"Facts proved that my intuition was wrong. It wasn't merely a matter of extraordinary talent—he was a once-in-a-century genius! In the blink of an eye, he solved the Millennium Prize Problems and even won the Fields Medal! In the first half of my life, I never imagined that one of my students could reach such heights!"
"The Mathematics Department's faculty has always suffered from a lack of successors, which turned finding my replacement into a difficult problem. Many excellent teachers were recruited from overseas. I'm a rather narrow-minded person, and in the end, I couldn't bring myself to put an assimilated teacher in the position of dean of the Mathematics Department. I could only look for an outstanding mathematician from our own country to take over. But all the best domestic scholars had been poached by established powerhouse schools like Peking University's Mathematics Department. I worried over this for many years."
"But now, there's no need to worry anymore. I've decided to hand the position over to Song He!"
"My health has been declining day by day. I truly can't keep working, so I need to enjoy retirement."
"Song He, don't turn this down, either. No one is more suited to this position than you. I'm entrusting the Mathematics Department to you, and I believe you can build it into something great!"
"I have only one request: you must remain dean of the Mathematics Department for at least five years. As long as you hold this position, you'll naturally attract mathematicians! And you'll attract students, too!"
After An Yulong finished speaking, the conference room erupted in enthusiastic applause.
The president spoke up. "For one person to serve as the head of two departments is not only unprecedented at Former University of Science and Technology; it's also extremely rare at universities anywhere in the world! But I don't think anyone will object. There is no one more suitable to serve as dean of the Mathematics Department than Song He! Now, let's hear from Song He, the new dean of the Mathematics Department!"
Song He stood, his expression complicated and his emotions tangled.
"This happened rather suddenly. Teacher An discussed it with me before, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
"It can be said that any real accomplishments I've achieved in the field of mathematics were the result of Teacher An's guidance and cultivation. Before becoming Teacher An's student, I only dared to call myself a student. After graduating under Teacher An, I finally dared to call myself a mathematical scholar. When someone calls me a mathematician, I even dare to accept the title."
"I'm deeply ashamed. Although I took a teaching position in the Mathematics Department early on, I haven't contributed much to it. The achievements of Former University of Science and Technology's Mathematics Department today were all built through Teacher An's painstaking efforts. To suddenly hand it over to me fills me with trepidation!"
"All I can do is promise Teacher An here, and promise the president and all the department heads, that I will devote every ounce of my strength to building the Mathematics Department and helping it flourish!"
Another round of enthusiastic applause broke out. The president's secretary came over with a camera, and An Yulong and Song He shook hands for a photograph.
"That's enough. I'm finally retired!" An Yulong laughed. "You all hold your meeting. I have to catch a flight—I signed up for a tour of Antarctica!"
Song He was astonished. "Teacher, you're leaving already?"
"If I don't leave now, I won't make it. Someone will brief you on the details. If you don't understand anything, send me a message." An Yulong patted him on the shoulder and, amid the department heads' envious voices, strode out of the conference room toward his carefree retirement.
"All right, next is the change in leadership of Rocket Academy!" the president said, wasting no time.
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