The announcement of this major demerit left Tong He completely desperate. Since the Academic Affairs Office had already posted a formal announcement, he knew he absolutely couldn't escape this.
"I'm very sorry, I did my best, but the director said your attitude is problematic. There's no logic in threatening to cancel punishment with expulsion; this is disregarding the school's teaching order," his class advisor found Tong He and said with a deep sigh. "Tong He, take my honest advice. Life is like this. Endure it. This is all tempering and forging for you. One day, you'll be even more refined through these trials."
"I've heard enough of this canned wisdom!" Tong He snorted. "If I'm criticized by the entire school, even if I get my diploma later, whether I pursue postgraduate studies or find a job, this will be the biggest stain on my life. My future will be severely restricted, not to mention my reputation."
"But at least you'll still have your diploma, won't you?"
"Teacher, I thank you. I know you're still good to me. If it were the old Tong He, I would have gritted my teeth and accepted it, but I'm not the same person anymore."
"I'd rather not have this diploma!" Tong He walked directly to the public announcement board, tore down his disciplinary notice, and shredded it into pieces in front of many teachers. Then, he packed his belongings and left without looking back, heading straight to find Liu Xiangjiang. He was so eager to start working.
"Not the same person anymore? What does that mean? What happened in these five days?" The class advisor felt that this Tong He seemed truly different.
"No, what difference can a student make? I can't just watch him ruin his future. I need to find someone who can persuade him!" The class advisor sighed and went back to flip through his contact list.
Neither Tong He nor his class advisor knew that in another world, Tong He had been caught by an internet cafe for unknowingly using a counterfeit 100-yuan bill. He was then handed over to the school, and the class advisor was called to pick him up.
Coincidentally, the dean of students was having a particularly bad day due to her menstrual cycle. Coupled with Tong He's frequent truancy to play games, even though he was one of the top students in his class, he was directly given a major demerit and a school-wide reprimand.
Tong He then completely gave up on himself, immersing himself in games, and eventually didn't even get his diploma. He couldn't even blend in with the ordinary masses and simply became another useless person in the world.
"He's back already!" Huang He asked, quite surprised, when he learned that Tong He had started working at the company.
"Yes, it seems the school was going to give him a major demerit and a school-wide reprimand. He got angry and just dropped out!" the person in charge said with a wry smile. "Chairman, should we try to persuade him?"
"Persuade him for what? He's made his decision, and he has to bear the consequences of his future. Besides, as an engineer for our Jiangnan, he discovered graphene. Education is irrelevant to him now; it's just a piece of paper," Huang He said with a smile. "And I've prepared a big gift for him. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens after I give it to him!"
Since Huang He said that, the person in charge naturally stopped persuading him and instead gave Tong He the best treatment. Tong He also worked desperately, as if channeling all his anger into his work.
Meanwhile, Ni Guangnan had also told Huang He several times that this Tong He was truly a genius. After he fully dedicated himself to researching graphene, there was a continuous stream of scientific research achievements. In two weeks, he produced over ten research breakthroughs, leaving Ni Guangnan stunned.
"This kid has even found a way to use a graphene composite material to manufacture storage chips!" Ni Guangnan's mouth hung open.
"So soon?" Huang He's mouth also dropped open.
"Yes, this kid just mixed a few materials together and ended up creating a stable storage particle. One particle is ten times stronger than the world's strongest particles now, but the cost has dropped by a tenth. Who knows how he managed it? I was dumbfounded when he came to report to me."
"If this kid succeeds, then all the memory, flash memory, and the entire storage market will belong to Jiangnan. You truly dug up a treasure, this Tong He is practically a chosen one, perhaps even China's Einstein of this era!"
Ni Guangnan's astonishing evaluation left Huang He speechless. He reviewed his memories again, but still found no recollection of anyone named Tong He in history. It seemed that the Tong He of this world was like a black technology god who appeared out of nowhere. xxs
"Could this guy also be a transmigrator?" Huang He couldn't help but suspect. But then he thought it unlikely. If he were a transmigrator, he wouldn't act so naive. This guy is truly a genius overlooked by history!
While Tong He was working hard, turning his grief and indignation into labor, some unexpected yet understandable events found their way to him.
His parents showed up.
To preserve Tong He's future, his class advisor had called his parents, told them about the situation, and hoped they could persuade Tong He to return to school and obediently accept the punishment.
Tong He's parents were naturally shocked. They took a train from their hometown in Jiangxi to Shanghai. However, they couldn't find Tong He after searching for several days in Shanghai; Tong He seemed to have completely disappeared, causing his parents to report him missing to the police.
But the police couldn't find Tong He either. After all, there weren't as many surveillance cameras back then, and Tong He had gone directly to Cao County in a Jiangnan vehicle, without using any public transportation in between.
Moreover, Jiangnan's base was a strictly classified unit, so the police couldn't find any trace of Tong He.
After more than a week with no results, everyone around them said Tong He might have committed suicide out of anger, which completely terrified Tong He's parents. Seeing the police's lack of progress, they sought help from the media, asking reporters to help mobilize society to find their son.
A university student going missing due to school disciplinary action was inherently newsworthy and immediately became a sensational news story. Many local media outlets in Shanghai reported on it, and many people came to help Tong He's parents find their son.
As a result, the matter escalated, causing a great deal of trouble for Tong He's school. His class advisor received severe criticism. The dean of academic affairs reprimanded the advisor for not properly comforting the student and caring for his psychological well-being, causing significant damage to the school's reputation. This made the advisor want to leave as well.
In any case, the situation was a huge mess, and the school was in a very passive position. However, their stance remained firm: a school-wide reprimand was necessary.
After all, the school had been put in this position. Reversing the decision would also lead to severe criticism. Furthermore, Tong He had indeed been absent from classes and used counterfeit money, so the school had grounds to expel him.
After about three weeks of turmoil, Tong He's parents were nearly admitted to the ICU. It was only then that Liu Xiangjiang learned about the extent of the commotion Tong He's situation had caused in Shanghai.
This wasn't Liu Xiangjiang's oversight, but rather Jiangnan was undertaking Huang Boss's Jiangnan Coin reform task. Liu Xiangjiang, as the vanguard of this reform, had been working with Huang Boss in Wenzhou for about two weeks. Upon his return, he heard about Tong He's situation.
Besides Liu Xiangjiang, no one else at Jiangnan in Shanghai knew that Tong He was actually an employee of Jiangnan. Thus, on July 31st, this news was delivered to Tong He, who was currently working.
Tong He was stunned on the spot and was then sent to Shanghai by a company car, where he met his parents, who were hospitalized.
The tearful reunion of loved ones goes without saying. Once the tears subsided, a very realistic problem arose.
Tong He's parents immediately jumped out of their hospital beds as if they weren't sick and wanted to take Tong He to school to plead with the school to continue his education.
"I'm not going!" Tong He had been living the most comfortable days of his life at the base during these past few days. He didn't have to worry about anything and could just do the research he loved. Such a life was incredibly exciting. Even if all punishments were rescinded and he was allowed to return to school, Tong He wouldn't go back.
Then the family argued again. Tong He even honestly confessed that he had already found a job as a senior researcher at Jiangnan Group, with a monthly salary of 12,000.
He thought that once he revealed this, his parents would stop opposing him. However, Tong He's parents completely dismissed his words as a lie.
How could someone without a diploma find a job? And potentially earn a salary of 12,000? They were treating them like monkeys with no social experience!
Tong He must have been afraid they would stop him, so he came up with an excuse.
Although Tong He presented everything he could to prove he was already employed, such as his work ID, base password card, and work uniform, etc., his parents only said that this only proved Tong He had found a job, but it was manual labor in a factory, and who knew if he was earning the impossible salary of 12,000?
"Tong He, if you're so capable, show us your 12,000 salary right now?" his father demanded. Tong He was instantly speechless. Salaries were paid on the 12th of every month, and he had only been employed for less than a month, so he couldn't receive his salary yet. If it weren't for the fact that his food and accommodation were all covered by the base, he would have starved to death by now.
This made it impossible to explain anything further.
Seeing that his parents were fine, Tong He wanted to sneak away, but his parents held onto him tightly. Just then, the media, having received news of Tong He's return, swarmed in and completely blocked the hospital room. Tong He had no chance of escape and could only reluctantly stay with his parents in the hospital room for a day.
---
"It seems our little Tong is having a difficult time back home!" Huang He laughed heartily, watching Tong He's tearful face on the live television news broadcast.
"Elder Ni, how is it? Are you ready? We're holding a long-awaited press conference tomorrow!" Huang He said smilingly to Ni Guangnan beside him.
"Huang He, are you sure you want to do this?" Ni Guangnan hesitated for a moment. "Are we really going to play this big of a game?"