“You’re the legendary Leng Zhiyuan? You’re really only 14!” exclaimed the chubby girl, Shan Li, clearly having heard of Leng Zhiyuan’s name. The other two roommates seemed somewhat bewildered by the name, so Shan Li began to act as a narrator, explaining to them Leng Zhiyuan’s age and how impressive her academic achievements were.
It seemed her achievements were so remarkable that it was difficult for other women to accept, especially these chosen daughters of heaven who had managed to get into Peking University. They couldn’t help but feel a trace of admiration for Leng Zhiyuan, as it was simply too surreal to be admitted to Peking University at the age of 14 with an almost perfect score.
“Zhiyuan, why did you decide to take the college entrance examination in junior high? You must have studied high school material in junior high, so wouldn’t it have been better to skip grades to high school in your first or second year of junior high?” Shan Li asked curiously.
“Because I never thought about skipping grades!” Leng Zhiyuan sighed, “My original intention was to follow the steps through my entire student life and experience all three years of high school, as high school is also one of the most important periods in life!”
“But I have an older sister who was taking the college entrance examination this year. Without filling out her own registration form, she actually filled out mine. A few days before the exam, a high school teacher suddenly delivered my admission ticket, and that’s when I found out about it. So, I just went ahead and took the exam, and my high school career, which hadn’t even begun, was already over.”
“Holy hell…” The other three felt a surge of disbelief. Since the term ‘humblebrag’ didn’t exist in this era, the other three didn’t know how to describe Leng Zhiyuan’s statement, except to express their astonishment.
“That’s not right, if your sister filled out your information, wouldn’t she be unable to take the exam?” Shan Li asked in surprise.
“Because she wasn’t planning to take the college entrance examination anyway. She had already passed the flight recruitment test and would be entering flight school to become a pilot right after graduating from high school. That’s why she decided to prank me!” Leng Zhiyuan said indignantly. She considered herself exceptionally intelligent, yet she had been outplayed by her idiot sister.
“Pilot…” Everyone exclaimed again. Passing the flight recruitment test, especially as a girl, seemed to be no less difficult than getting into Peking University. It seemed their entire family were show-offs.
After that, the conversation among them largely avoided asking Leng Zhiyuan about herself. The more they asked, the more disheartened they became. Leng Zhiyuan was also happy to not be the center of attention and acted as a well-behaved listener, almost as if she were holding a bag of sunflower seeds.
“Ruoting, you’ve seemed a bit down all along. Is something on your mind?” Liang Tiantian suddenly asked Liu Ruoting.
“No, I just feel a little lonely. Normally, my mom spends time with me every day, but now I won’t be able to see her for months, and it makes me feel so stifled!” Liu Ruoting said softly, her voice choked with emotion. “Moreover, after submitting my college applications, I had a big argument with them, and I haven’t spoken to them all summer. They must hate me so much!”
“No way, it’s been two months, and your parents are still sulking with you? That’s too petty of them!” Shan Li said in confusion, likely having never been angry with her own mother.
“The main thing is they wanted me to apply to Jiangnan University, and I promised them I would, but when it came to filling out the application, I secretly changed it to Bj University. Later, when the admission notice arrived, they saw that I was admitted to Peking University, and they haven’t smiled at me since!” Liu Ruoting said, starting to cry again.
“You’re kidding! This is Peking University, how can any parents dislike it? My mom and my two aunts were so happy when they found out I got into Peking University that they were practically flying. But what is this Jiangnan University? I’ve never heard of it!” Shan Li asked, extremely shocked.
“You’ve never heard of Jiangnan University?” This time, Liang Tiantian was shocked. “Actually, I was originally planning to apply to Jiangnan University too, but I was 5 points short of their cutoff score, so I had to switch to Peking University. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be seeing me here right now!”
“Damn! Jiangnan University’s cutoff score is even higher than Peking University’s!” Shan Li was shocked again. “When I was filling out my college applications, I looked through almost all the key universities in the country, and I never saw the name Jiangnan University!”
“That’s because Jiangnan University is a private institution, and at best, it’s only a second-tier university. You naturally wouldn’t find Jiangnan University’s name in the list of key universities!” Liang Tiantian said.
“…Wait, you’re telling me that a second-tier university’s admission score is higher than a key university’s, and even higher than Peking University’s? That would make it the university with the highest admission score in the country!!! And you’re telling me it’s a second-tier university!” Shan Li was completely stunned.
“…”
“Your ignorance about Jiangnan University is actually more shocking to me!” Liang Tiantian retorted. “I’ve always heard that people from the capital only have eyes for universities in the capital and no awareness of any other universities. I initially thought it was a joke, but now it seems you’re really like that, not even knowing about Jiangnan University.”
“Fine, let me explain it simply. Jiangnan University is a school run by the Jiangnan Group. Students who graduate successfully can basically enter the Jiangnan Group to work directly. Moreover, this university does not charge tuition fees. During the four years of university, it’s also considered as working for the Jiangnan Group, and students receive a monthly salary. It is said that some exceptional students can earn twenty to thirty thousand yuan a month!”
“Also, you all know the career ladder system of the Jiangnan Group, right? Studying at Jiangnan University also counts towards career progression. It’s said that upon graduation and joining the Jiangnan Group, you basically start at level 6, which is many times better than those who enter through campus recruitment channels. Tell me, how many people are desperate to get into Jiangnan University!” Liang Tiantian explained.
“So that’s how it is!” Shan Li said with a look of sudden realization. “So, you can get into the Jiangnan Group immediately after graduation. There’s such a good thing in this world. I should have applied to Jiangnan University myself. I heard that once you join the Jiangnan Group, you can live a stable life forever, with exorbitant salaries and benefits, much more reliable than state-owned enterprises.”
“Yes, my mom also told me that. She said if I joined the Jiangnan Group, I could work stably for a lifetime and live happily. But even though getting into Peking University is also quite good for finding a job, is there any better unit in the world than the Jiangnan Group?”
“My mom also said that last year, the Jiangnan Group only recruited less than 100 people from the entire Peking University. The difficulty of getting into the Jiangnan Group after being admitted to Peking University is simply too high, it’s better to go through the Jiangnan University channel directly. They have been planning these things for me for the past year, but it was all ruined by my single college application. They must hate me to death by now!”
“But there’s nothing I can do. Jiangnan University mainly offers majors related to electronics and computers. They don’t have a biology department there at all. And my dream is to study biology. I really don’t want to go to Jiangnan University!” Liu Ruoting said tearfully. The others quickly offered words of comfort, but Leng Zhiyuan casually blurted out, “Actually, Jiangnan University opened a biology department this year. They poached heavily from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and half of Tsinghua University’s biology faculty to teach there. Their overall strength might not be much weaker than Peking University’s now.”
“Ah!” Liu Ruoting was stunned upon hearing this. Shan Li asked blankly, “How do you know this? Is it reliable?”
“Of course, it’s reliable. That’s what the people from Jiangnan University told me when they tried to recruit me. However, their biology department hasn’t gone through the formal process yet, so it’s currently an experimental enrollment. Some students admitted to Huicheng will be transferred there. It’s estimated that by this time next year, the banner of Jiangnan University’s biology department will appear in the admissions information!” Leng Zhiyuan’s words made Liu Ruoting burst into tears again.
Of course, if Leng Zhiyuan had told Liu Ruoting that the reason Jiangnan University prepared to establish a biology department was entirely for her… her second sister, who was currently the number two figure in the Jiangnan Group. Upon learning that her youngest and most beloved sister was determined to study biology, she couldn’t bear to see her suffer in other institutions, so she simply forced Boss Huang to open a biology department at Jiangnan University.
It was precisely because of Leng Zhiting’s impulsive decision that the Jiangnan University biology department, originally planned to be ready to welcome their little princess three years later, could only watch helplessly as the little princess ended up going to Peking University, the strongest comprehensive university, to study biology, due to its incomplete establishment.
The biology department was established, but the little princess was no longer there.
However, the newly established biology department would not be canceled for two reasons. First, since the faculty had already been recruited, it would ruin their reputation to dismiss them.
Second, the Jiangnan Group genuinely needed talent in biology. The Jiangnan Group had already established Jiangnan Biology and begun recruiting relevant technical personnel to conduct much of the preliminary technological research. The position of President of Jiangnan Biology was, naturally, reserved for Leng Zhiyuan.
In fact, Leng Zhiyuan was already the President of Jiangnan Biology, although she basically did not preside over daily operations, appearing only a few times a year. However, the research direction of the entire biology group was managed by Leng Zhiyuan, specifically the research direction of anti-aging.
And this was not Boss Huang's spur-of-the-moment decision to spend money to please his sister-in-law. Boss Huang himself was also very interested in the research direction of anti-aging. If significant research results could be achieved, even spending trillions of yuan would not be a problem, as who wouldn’t want to live to 120?