The award ceremony for individuals commenced, with the recipient of this particular honor being Academician Yuan Longping.
Much like Lu Xun, Huang He offered no elaborate speech to justify this award, simply stating, "He has earned it."
Indeed, he had. No one present would have dared to question this decision.
Now, the final award awaited: the Huang He Physics Prize.
At this point, many journalists expressed their confusion. According to convention, shouldn't the Physics Prize follow the Chemistry Prize? Why had the Chemistry Prize been awarded so early, while the Physics Prize was held back until the very end?
To the discerning few, it seemed as though something was being deliberately concealed.
***
"Ten million RMB in prize money, my goodness, this Huang He...!" On the stage at Shanghai University of Technology, the leaders were all passing around a text message they had just received.
Had it not been for a highly respected senior academician from Shanghai sending the message, they would never have believed that so many awards had suddenly materialized out of thin air.
"The Literature Prize awarded to Lu Xun, haha, those pretentious scribblers will be driven to death by envy!" When they saw that the first recipient was Lu Xun, all the leaders couldn't help but laugh.
As a university focused on science and engineering, they harbored a natural disdain for the humanities, especially for the current crop of writers. Setting aside those within the established system, what garbage did the outside writers produce? Their novels were all rubbish.
What's more, these individuals were always criticizing the nation's education system and the university leadership, which was utter nonsense.
One university leader had once complained, "Of these so-called great writers, especially those who criticize the education system, two out of every three haven't even attended university. That's precisely why they criticize the education system – because they couldn't get into university on their own merit!"
Thus, upon seeing Lu Xun as the recipient, they all burst into laughter.
This indicated that, in Huang He's eyes, not a single living person could compare to a deceased one. It was a satisfying revenge.
Subsequently, they reviewed the rest of the award list. Apart from finding Tu Youyou's award somewhat surprising and prompting them to recall who she was, they were largely in agreement with the other recipients. These were truly great figures, and the ten million RMB prize was well-deserved.
However, when the recipient of the Huang He Chemistry Prize was announced, everyone was dumbfounded.
"The recipient of the Huang He Chemistry Prize is Tong He? Which professor is this Tong He, does anyone know?" the dean who saw the name first asked, frowning.
"No!"
"That's right, we've never heard of him!"
"Could he be a Chinese scholar from overseas?"
"No, Chinese scholars overseas are generally more famous than those domestically. How could we not have heard of him, especially for a Huang He Physics Prize that is said to rival the Nobel Prize?"
"But we really haven't heard of this person. Could he be an obscure overseas scholar?" All the leaders, completely forgetting that a meeting was in progress, began discussing in earnest who this Tong He might be. Even the disciplinary director was no exception.
Yet, among the more than ten people on the stage, not a single one recognized the name Tong He. At least four of them knew who Tu Youyou was.
Just then, oblivious to the situation of the leaders on stage, two student union representatives, hosting the celebration with passionate voices, continued, "Where there is success, there is failure. There are students who study diligently, and there are also students who stray from the right path."
"For such students, we must not give up. We should encourage and guide them, helping them understand their mistakes, admit their mistakes, abandon their mistakes, and walk towards a bright future."
"Next, several students who made mistakes last year will share their thoughts, admit their errors, and embark on the path to redemption."
"First, Tong He, a student from the Materials Science department, majoring in Polymer Materials and Engineering, will confess and repent his mistakes."
"Hmm... Tong He?" Upon hearing the name, the leaders on stage all looked up, and then they saw a wronged young boy, with tears welling in his eyes, being led to the side of the stage by two elders.
"He's also named Tong He?" The leaders then remembered that the meeting agenda did indeed include a segment for publicly reprimanding students who had made mistakes and encouraging them to confess and repent their errors. The most disruptive of these was this student named Tong He, who had caused the entire school considerable trouble for the past month.
But could this Tong He be the same Tong He who had won the award? The names were the same.
"This is ridiculous, how could that be? It must just be a coincidence of names!" This thought flashed through the leaders' minds, and they quickly dismissed it as a joke.
A student who had received a major demerit awarded a prestigious prize of ten million RMB? Was this Tong He some illegitimate son of Huang He?
However, Huang He was only eight years older than Tong He. For that to be possible, Huang He would have had to impregnate someone at the age of seven, which was utterly absurd.
Meanwhile, Tong He's parents said to him, "Confess your mistakes properly and repent, to win the forgiveness of the leaders. If you dare to say a single wrong word, we will both jump off the school building tonight. We promise we will do as we say."
With his parents having said that, Tong He had no choice but to walk onto the stage with tears in his eyes.
"Classmate Tong He, you're finally here!" Seeing Tong He appear so obediently, the two hosts on stage breathed a sigh of relief. Tong He had a terrible temper, and if not for his parents forcing him, he likely wouldn't have come at all. They now hoped that Tong He would sincerely admit his fault and not cause any further trouble, allowing this segment to conclude smoothly.
"Just say that you were wrong, and I'll handle the rest. I'll help smooth things over for you!" To avoid any issues, the male host even walked over to Tong He and whispered into his ear.
Although this approach was not by the book, it was the centennial anniversary celebration, and avoiding any blunders was paramount. From this, one could see that this host had a bright future ahead of him; he would undoubtedly be skilled at managing interpersonal relationships.
Unfortunately, Tong He felt too wronged.
Why? While he had made mistakes, they hardly warranted a major demerit and a school-wide public criticism. Fine, they were in charge, so he wouldn't play their game anymore.
But now they were using his mother to force him to surrender, admit fault, and apologize. Why? He felt too wronged!
Tong He felt utterly miserable. Therefore, even if he had only one sentence to say, Tong He couldn't utter it. The atmosphere in the entire venue became awkwardly frozen for a full minute.
All the students present were looking at Tong He on the stage, and the leaders' expressions grew increasingly displeased. The host could only smile wryly and say, "It seems classmate Tong He is not yet ready. Let's have the next few students..."
"Tell him to speak now. If he doesn't, he'll be expelled directly. There's nothing to discuss!" The enraged disciplinary director slammed the table, pointing at Tong He's nose. "Someone like you, who doesn't even know or dare to admit your mistakes, what use are you? I'll count to three. If you don't admit your mistake now, then you'll never have to admit it again!"
"Tong He, are you crazy? Hurry up and apologize!" Tong He's parents anxiously urged from the audience, while the disciplinary director was already starting to count.
"One... Two..." Finally, under the disciplinary director's countdown, Tong He opened his mouth. The disciplinary director did not reach three. He actually didn't want to escalate things so drastically, but the fact that this Tong He had won a ten million RMB prize made the disciplinary director extremely unhappy.
He had been a disciplinary director for several years and hadn't saved even a hundred thousand yuan. Yet, this Tong He had directly earned ten million yuan for free. How could the disciplinary director feel at ease about this? This led to the scene of him forcing Tong He to confess.
However, although Tong He opened his mouth, he did not speak the words of confession that the disciplinary director expected. He didn't even look at the disciplinary director, but turned to his parents by the side of the stage and said, "If you want to jump, fine, I won't stop you. If you jump, I'll jump with you. The Tong family will be completely without heirs, and all our assets will be inherited by my uncle's two nephews."
"..." The parents, who had been crying and forcing Tong He to confess a moment ago, were instantly silenced. They were forcing Tong He to do this for his education, not for him to die.
Even less likely was the prospect of all their family assets going to those two nephews. His uncle's family were all scoundrels; they had snatched his ancestral homestead in their hometown. How could he leave his inheritance to those rascals?
Thus, their previously smooth threats became stuck.
"Director, and all the students present, as you can see, I was forced by my mother... to come back, so I will not admit to any wrongdoing. You can just expel me. I have no relation to this school anymore!"
"I am completely severed from the school. I will never mention this school in any of my future records. And please do not add my name to your alumni list in the future. We are completely severed." Tong He said calmly, and then prepared to leave.
"This is simply wishful thinking! Do you think you are an outstanding alumnus worth recording by our school?" The disciplinary director and the leaders behind him trembled with anger. This fellow was too arrogant; he had to be expelled.
"Mom, Dad, let's go!" Tong He didn't look back and prepared to pull his tearful parents away. The reporters' cameras below were furiously capturing Tong He's resolute attitude.
It seemed there would be no shortage of social news tonight. The scene where Tong He spoke earlier was too explosive; it was bound to garner explosive ratings if broadcast!
But just then, a rough hand patted Tong He on the shoulder. "You kid, you don't even want your university graduation certificate? Isn't this embarrassing me, your teacher?"
"Teacher!" Tong He was startled by the sudden appearance of Ni Guangnan.
"Teacher, why are you here?" Tong He quickly asked.
"Nothing much, I just wanted to have a word with your principal. We were classmates back in the day!" Ni Guangnan smiled and then walked directly onto the stage from behind, patting the principal on the shoulder.
"Old Ni, what are you doing here!" The principal turned around and was surprised to see Ni Guangnan.
"Nothing important. I just want to tell you that this Tong He is my student. If your school doesn't want him, then do me a favor and don't expel him directly. Transfer him to me. I have an adjunct professorship at Southeast University, but I haven't recruited any graduate students for years, and the university keeps urging me. So, have him come here directly to pursue his master's degree, so he won't be an eyesore to you at your school," Ni Guangnan said with a smile.