Chapter 142: Solving it at the institutional level
As December arrived, Shanghai's weather began moving from late autumn toward the winter solstice, gradually shifting from alternating spells of mugginess and coolness to a damp chill that seeped into sleeves and collars.
After returning from visiting friends in Beijing, Lin Luoran invited Su Can, An Wan, and a few other close friends for a simple meal at the house her mother had left in Shanghai, to settle Su Can's nerves after his close call at Nanjing University. After that, there was only a month and a half left before finals. Lin Luoran said she still had to cram two volumes of Standard Japanese in a short time to prepare for her Japanese exam, review National Mathematics III for mathematics, and rush to complete the assessment for her economics specialization. Because Su Can had connections overseas, she also asked him to have friends in the United States bring back a few journals such as The Economist and Journal of Financial Economics-authoritative abroad, but obscure and almost impossible to find in China-for reference. Then she plunged headfirst into the misery of finals.
Life seemed to become busy all at once.
After the commotion Su Can caused at Nanjing University's Homecoming was forcibly suppressed by its president, interest in the incident remained strong among the nearby university communities.
In 2002, university students generally lived by the rules, and even a school like Nanjing University was no exception. The occasional nonconformist could spark widespread public debate. At a benchmark institution like Nanjing University, students' all-round education, moral inclinations, the educational system, and whether their values and worldview leaned left or right could all claim a place in people's casual conversations.
This time was no exception. Had Nanjing University not exerted its influence to restrain the