The interview grew increasingly in-depth, and every answer Yan Xiao gave left those present lost in deep thought.
As educators, they were supposed to start from the students' perspective and possess empathy.
Yet in actual practical work, this was realistically a false proposition without an answer.
To describe it with a song, it was-
There Is No True Empathy in the World.
Because standpoints differed, the matter of education would always remain a difficult problem for either teachers or students.
That was why Yan Xiao's explanation from a neutral middle ground was able to achieve such a good effect.
"Student Yan Xiao, could you share your study experience with our readers? I think this must be the content readers look forward to the most," Li Yanfei said.
"Of course, no problem," Yan Xiao nodded, pondering.
He was considering the question of whether he should continue the trap he had set for those indifferent classmates earlier.
If he continued, he would speak nine truths and one falsehood;
if he gave up, he would speak entirely the truth.
Compared to taking revenge on those classmates, Yan Xiao felt that guiding more teenagers, who were easily brainwashed by chicken soup, onto the right path was a much more valuable endeavor.
Thinking of this, he decided to speak about the insights he had gained from tutoring Guan Zhiyuan over the past few days, as well as the insights he had gained through studying via the system.
Of course, with some artistic processing.
"I actually just found an interest in learning."
Everyone frowned.
Yet Yan Xiao continued, completely unconcerned:
"Many teachers often say to students that you need to have an interest in study, you need to put your mind into study, and you need to invest time before you get a reward.
Saying it like that might not sound wrong, but it's actually correct nonsense.
Because the teachers who say these things still use obscure examples and language to teach knowledge that should have been very easy for students to understand.
They are just like bandits holding up travelers, clearly taking care of the robbery without bothering about burying the bodies.
The ancients often said, know what is, and know why it is so."
Upon hearing this, Shang Hong'an searched desperately through his mind.
Which ancient person said that? I don't remember... But it sounds so good...
Yan Xiao did not know that Shang Hong'an had zoned out, and his voice kept going without a pause,
"But in the textbooks we study now, what teachers pursue is for students to memorize things by rote.
Students with more agile minds, or those who accidentally broke through that barrier, might acquire a few more flexible application techniques.
This makes them look like good students.
Why are there so few students in the 'Strongest High School Class'?
Actually, I believe these top-tier elites might have reached a state of knowing what is and knowing why it is so at some specific moment."
Pausing for a moment, Yan Xiao continued,
"Actually, I used to loathe studying very much. But later, on my own haphazard pondering, I discovered that every branch of knowledge has its unique attributes. By combining these attributes with my interests, I suddenly developed an interest in learning, which I feel is the most correct learning method."
As he spoke, Yan Xiao raised his hand and held up two fingers,
"I'll take two completely unrelated subjects to give readers a demonstration.
The first is mathematics;
the second, I'll take history.
My interest is football.
First, mathematics. We've talked about many kinds of number operations, such as functions, equations, and various sequences and sets.
If a teacher could tell me at the very beginning of a math class that you can imagine 'numbers' as an infinitely large football pitch filled with footballs,
and then various formulas and operations are simply the rules that exist within this football pitch,
then I would definitely have a concept of mathematics itself.
That is, the most basic concept of mathematics-
numbers-
are fictitious.
However,
numbers can evolve into anything imaginable.
Take sets, for example. If it's a set of 22 elements, I can completely imagine two football teams competing in a match.
No matter how they slide tackle each other on the pitch, kick faces, or grope... balls..., it doesn't matter at all.
Because this set remains unchanged.
Doesn't this perfectly explain why the positions of subsets can change arbitrarily, but the set itself remains as steady as Mount Tai?"
Yan Xiao's remarks made everyone present break out in cold sweat.
It was out of fright,
yet not entirely out of fright.
Because no one had ever thought of giving a lecture like that.
Indeed, explained this way, many things became particularly easy to understand.
However, this was just mathematics; they felt it might only apply to science subjects.
Seeming to see through what they were thinking in their hearts, Yan Xiao continued,
"Next, I'll talk about history. What is history? Listing a series of events is not called history.
Neither is telling the story of how some emperor stole some minister's wife called history.
And studying that dry and dull history book inside and out is even less of what history is.
The ancients said: study history to rectify oneself, understand principles, increase faith, and put effort into action."
Shang Hong'an, who had finally managed to pull his wits back, was hijacked once more by Yan Xiao's new ancient quote.
Just which ancient person was it?!
His expression gradually twisted...
"Still, teachers are accustomed to reading straight from the textbooks,
making it dull and boring.
What if history were also a football match?
The coach is the emperor;
the ministers are star players;
the minor officials are role-player athletes;
the people are substitute players.
Different teams represent different countries.
The coach wants to strategically lose a match, but the star player tells him not to-if they lose, the cheerleaders will be snatched away by the opposing team tonight.
The coach thinks about it and realizes that's true,
so he encourages everyone to work hard and wipe out the other side.
Yet the minor officials won't have cheerleaders accompanying them whether they win or lose,
so they have no desire to try hard.
Then the substitutes look at them and think, if you don't work hard yet still occupy a spot, aren't you just trying to get me kicked off the team?
They start a ruckus, kick the coach out, and finish off both the star players and the substitutes.
This group of role players then elects a brand-new football team.
Isn't this just a simple dynastic succession?
There's no need to elaborate too much on the whys, right?"
Having finished, Yan Xiao realized that his examples were a bit too vulgar and down-market.
Still, he wasn't nervous about this at all;
he believed that the reporter would definitely carry out a series of artistic processing on this recording.
Yan Xiao's words made those engaged in education present feel as though they had received a sudden enlightenment.
They-
had awakened.
Although the word "awakened" was the "deceptive vocabulary" Yan Xiao hated most, he still saw that kind of profound realization in everyone's eyes.
Of course, aside from sudden comprehension, Lin Fangxin had some other thoughts as well.
On the one hand, these other thoughts were admiration; on the other hand, they were a sigh of emotion.
This boy was clearly around the same age as her, so why did he understand so much?
When her dad was around his age, he didn't seem this impressive, did he?
Lin Fangxin quickly compared Yan Xiao and her father, Lin Wushu, in her mind.
Aside from both possessing exceptional looks,
there really wasn't any similarity between them at all.
"Good! Good! Good!" Wu Xiaohong said "good" three times.
He was just short of applauding.
He felt that Cao Ruiying had delivered a stroke of great fortune to Jida University.
Visible to the naked eye, this youth before them would undoubtedly stand at the pinnacle of academia in the near future.
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Meanwhile, Shang Hong'an spoke up, "Who were those two ancients you mentioned? Which texts are those two sentences recorded in?"
Without blinking or blushing, Yan Xiao replied, "They were in my grandfather's collection of books from before. They got lost when we moved house."
With a single sentence, he broke Shang Hong's heart with grief, prompting him to repeatedly decry Yan Xiao as a prodigal...
Li Yanfei, on the other hand, listened with a heart full of anguish.
Such an outstanding student-why had Jida University snatched him away first?
If...
Thinking of "if,"
he immediately asked, "Have you already been recommended for early admission to Jida University? What major are you studying?"
Yan Xiao shook his head.
Li Yanfei couldn't understand and pressed further, "You weren't recommended?! Or you haven't chosen a major yet?!"
Why does this old man keep picking at scabs? I just wanted to flex, yet you're asking all sorts of questions.
Thinking this in his heart, Yan Xiao replied, "Not recommended."
As soon as these words came out, Li Yanfei immediately decided that
even if it meant breaking the rules, he had to find a way to poach Yan Xiao over to Jinghua University.
After chatting a little longer, Li Yanfei hurried away with his female assistant to take his leave.
He-
was going back to find the dean!
Even find the president!
To seek support!
Li Yanfei's words made Wu Xiaohong and Shang Hong'an quickly realize a problem.
If this interview were published as a report,
then the schools fighting Jida University for Yan Xiao wouldn't be just one or two.
The two men exchanged a glance, and both saw the sentiment of "keep Yan Xiao at Jida University at all costs" in each other's eyes...
Shang Hong'an spoke first, "Yan Xiao, I've already received the Oracle Bone Script translation you did. I'd like to apply for a classical literature academic achievement award on your behalf. With this achievement, you can be directly admitted to Jida University in advance.
What do you think?"
Yan Xiao hadn't expected Shang Hong'an to extend such a straightforward invitation, but he quickly understood what Shang Hong'an meant.
"If I get admitted through the early batch, does that mean I'll have to enter the Department of Classical Literature?"
"Yes." Shang Hong'an nodded.
"Then I'd rather take the Gaokao," Yan Xiao replied.
In Yan Xiao's view, the fact that early admission meant skipping the Gaokao was actually quite nice,
but he hadn't had time to check which major's coursework was the most relaxed yet.
If he agreed rashly and the Department of Classical Literature turned out to be a major with a heavy workload and pedantic teachers, it would spell trouble.
To tell the truth, Yan Xiao had even thought about testing into a third-rate unaccredited university;
after all, in institutions of that type, everyone from the president to the teachers, and from the teachers to the students, just muddled along.
To him, starting points didn't matter, and the prestige of the stepping stone didn't matter either; what mattered was that university life was sufficiently colorful and vibrant.
"Don't, listen to me. The classical literature major is actually quite good. With your foundation in Oracle Bone Script, you can directly read straight through to a master's and doctoral degree under my guidance in the future. You can stay at Jida University to work afterward-this is a wonderful opportunity that many people wouldn't even dare to dream of," Shang Hong'an advised.
Hearing Shang Hong'an's words, Wu Xiaohong beside him knew that his old friend's remarks hadn't hit the right spot...
Job opportunities?
Academic qualifications?
Status?
These were definitely not things Yan Xiao cared about.
What this kid cared about was whether there was somewhere to make big bucks.
Just as Wu Xiaohong expected, Yan Xiao refused very bluntly.
Seeing this situation, Wu Xiaohong had to make his move, "Yan Xiao, I suggest you accept early admission to Jida University first, and once you come in, we can immediately transfer you to another major.
You can go to whichever major you want.
If worse comes to worst, you can go to Yuanpei College at our school first and study for two years to see how it goes."
"Yuanpei College?"
"It's a new pilot college we established after our educational reforms. Only the strongest students can enter." Pausing for a moment, Wu Xiaohong continued, "The curriculum design of Yuanpei is that for the first two years, you can freely choose the courses you want to take, as long as you can complete the basic credits."
"By your third year, you can choose any college that interests you and pursue more advanced studies there."
Yan Xiao's interest was piqued by Wu Xiaohong's explanation.
"Can I find out which teacher will be teaching each elective?"
"Of course. There will be introductions for all the instructors."
"All right, then. Deal!"
Yan Xiao readily agreed.
The reason he agreed so readily was that being able to choose his teachers was simply too delightful a prospect.
For reasons everyone knew,
some teachers liked taking attendance in class,
while others did not.
No matter how good a university was, there would always be teachers who disliked taking attendance.
Once he enrolled, all he had to do before choosing his courses was find out which teachers did not take attendance and sign up for their classes.
That would make at least his first two years easy.
As for what he would do in his third and fourth years...
Honestly, he could just choose a department focused on pure theory, pick a research direction, and buy a paper from the system. Chances were, no teacher would bother taking attendance then.
Why not start doing research in his first two years?
Because he could not let the good times go to waste. No matter how lovely or beautiful the girls in the system were, they were still fake.
He turned to look at Lin Fangxin,
and became even more certain of his decision...
Wu Xiaohong was delighted that Yan Xiao had agreed, but Shang Hong'an was a little disgruntled.
Still, a meaningful look from Wu Xiaohong told him there had to be more to this.
"Then we'll go get things moving." With that, Wu Xiaohong was ready to take Shang Hong'an with him, streamline all the procedures, and make Yan Xiao's early admission a done deal as quickly as possible.
"Please wait a moment." Yan Xiao scratched the back of his head. "I have two more questions."
"Go ahead."
"If I'm admitted early, can I still take the Gaokao? I mean, if I take it, will I still be included in the overall rankings?"
He asked because he remembered receiving a thousand study coins for getting full marks on his first mock exam.
There was no reason to pass up free rewards like those, so he had to make sure.
"Of course you can take it, and you'll still be included in the rankings. Your records will simply be transferred to the university ahead of time," Wu Xiaohong replied.
That's good... Yan Xiao thought, then asked his second question:
"You said there was a cash prize for my earlier research into Oracle Bone Script. Could I ask how much it is?" Yan Xiao looked expectant.
"It should be one million. The government places great importance on new research and discoveries these days, and the rewards are very generous."
One million~
Another million~
And this one was practically already in his pocket.
At last, a broad smile spread across Yan Xiao's face.
At the mention of Oracle Bone Script, Shang Hong'an could not resist asking, "Do you have any other research findings on Oracle Bone Script?"
Yan Xiao shook his head at Shang Hong'an's question. "I really don't, because the bones and shells I can find are so limited.
"It takes ages just to come across one online."
"Well, if you're interested in the future, you're welcome to visit our department's Display Room regularly. There are plenty of bones and shells there that have never been made public."
"Thank you. I'll definitely visit when I get the chance."
That was what Yan Xiao said, but he had no intention of going,
unless he ran out of money.
After all, he could profit more by handing over his findings on these unearthed, still-undeciphered oracle bone inscriptions in batches.
"All right, we'll be off, then."
Shang Hong'an and Wu Xiaohong left the school.
Once they were outside, Shang Hong'an could not help saying, "Wu, that wasn't right. If we'd just kept pushing a little longer, Yan Xiao might have chosen my department.
"Why did you have to bring up Yuanpei College?"
As though he had known Shang Hong'an would ask this, Wu Xiaohong put an arm around his shoulders and said,
"Do you know how he answered when I asked him earlier what he studied for?"
"What did he say?"
Wu Xiaohong repeated Yan Xiao's answer to Shang Hong'an.
Shang Hong'an understood.
Money came first...
But... we make plenty of money appearing on the Classical Literature Program, too...
Before you continue