While a host of professors were so eager to have Qiao Ze on their side that they were willing to throw away their dignity, Qiao Ze sat in front of the computer that Li Jian Gao had left for him, surfing the internet.
His biological clock was very accurate.
He didn't have the habit of napping at noon, but he would go to bed at ten-thirty every night and wake up promptly at five-thirty in the morning.
Seven hours of sleep each day was enough to cope with the day's wear and tear.
Generally, at this time, Lu Xiuxiu would have already prepared breakfast for him.
If he wanted to go to school, he would take the breakfast with him and head off.
If he didn't want to go, he would stay at home and watch videos.
Yes, he was that capricious.
After all, the entire school knew that he was unwell, and all it took was a text from Lu Xiuxiu to the teachers to get him a leave of absence.
But at this moment, Qiao Ze was somewhat upset.
Because there was nobody in the room.
The man who made him feel very much like a father had tucked him in last night and hadn't come back to the room since.
Just as he was considering whether he should call Lu... no, his mother, there was a knock on the door.
Qiao Ze got up and opened the door to see many familiar faces.
But the face that gave him the fullest sense of security was Li Jian Gao's.
This was a kind of intuition exclusive to Qiao Ze; he just felt that this not-so-stupid man genuinely cared for him.
At least for now, that was true.
...
"Qiao Ze, the professors have come to see you. You haven't had breakfast, right? Everyone brought you breakfast."
Li Jian Gao briefly spoke to Qiao Ze before leading the group into the room.
Six people instantly filled the already small room to the brim.
The double-bed room simply couldn't accommodate so many people; those who came in later had to sit on the bed.
The table was piled with three sets of breakfasts thoughtfully purchased by the professors.
Li Jian Gao, who also hadn't had breakfast, was initially reluctant to take food, but once Qiao Ze chose a cake and soy milk and silently began to eat, Li Jian Gao no longer held back and picked up a stick of still-warm deep-fried dough stick, pairing it with milk...
And truth be told, the breakfast bought by this group tasted quite good.
The other professors' eyes were all focused on Li Jian Gao.
Gee, not mentioning the important matters, how come he's started eating first?
"Ahem..."
Feeling the atmosphere in the room was a bit off, Li Jian Gao coughed twice and, catching Qiao Ze's gaze, finally said, "Qiao Ze, here's the thing: these uncles had an important meeting scheduled for today, but they canceled it. They want to talk to you and your mother about your future schooling. How about we go visit your home later?"
Qiao Ze said, "I want to study at Xilin University of Technology."
Li Jian Gao blinked and said, "It's not like this matter can be decided just like that, and no matter what, you should ask for your mother's opinion, right?"
"Yeah, kid, your Li Uncle is indeed a decent professor, but he's not a doctoral advisor yet and can't help you much. Besides, the brand of Xilin University of Technology's School of Mathematics isn't very renowned. Jiang University is different, it's one of the TOP10 universities in Huaxia, and it's close to Xingcheng, which would make it convenient for you to come back and visit your mother. Why don't we go and discuss this first?"
Zhang Chunlei immediately followed up on Li Jian Gao's words, earnestly advising.
Qiao Ze thought for a moment and said, "My mother has to work today, and besides, she listens to me."
"Work isn't really a big issue; we can go to her workplace and talk, and we can all have lunch together at noon. By the way, which unit is your mother working at? I know quite a few people in Xingcheng, maybe there's someone I know there," said Professor Qian jokingly.
Qiao Ze pursed his lips and replied, "My mother works at the Happiness Supermarket downstairs from our home."
"Uh..."
Professor Qian was feeling awkward when suddenly someone else burst into the room, "Professor Li, there's something... Eh? Professor Zhang? Professor Liu? What... Why is it so lively here today?"
...
Yu Chenggong was at a complete loss.
He came to find Li Jiangao because last night he received the latest news about this year's student recruitment from the school and planned to tell Li Jiangao first thing in the morning, to curry some favor.
He was worried that if he arrived too late, Li Jiangao might have already gone to a meeting. By lunchtime, Li might already know the news, and then the favor would be wasted.
Who would have thought that the room would be full of professors from various universities?
Not to mention, there was that child prodigy being surrounded and eating cake in the middle of it all.
"Oh, does Teacher Yu have an urgent matter?"
"Uh... Shall we step outside to talk?"
"Sure!"
The two left the room, Yu Chenggong closed the door behind them, and with a look of surprise asked, "Professor Li, why are all these people here?"
"What else would they be here for? Recruiting, of course. They've all taken a fancy to Qiao Ze. You have no idea how attentive these people have been. They got up early in the morning to buy the kid breakfast, and now they're all urging me to take the child to find his mom. They're all thinking about how to quickly dig the child away," Li Jiangao said with a wry smile.
"What?!" Yu Chenggong was stunned.
The child that nobody wanted yesterday was now being crazily fought over by these professors?
This world is too crazy!
Indeed, gold should be buried in the sand - it barely shone before attracting a swarm of bees and butterflies.
"Isn't it, weren't they all coming for the higher education conference on Group Theory? If I remember correctly, today is the first day of the conference, right?"
"Yes, they all took leave. I guess they all feel that the conference isn't as important as Qiao Ze," Li Jiangao said helplessly with a shrug.
When you think about it, this was actually his fault.
If he hadn't brought Qiao Ze to meet these professors yesterday, there probably wouldn't be such a commotion now.
Yu Chenggong swallowed instinctively.
This was something he knew well.
Recruiters always fight over prospects like this.
Only these professors still have some shame.
If it were him, he would have directly coaxed Qiao Ze to the school, notify the parents on the train, when arrived at the school, find a few female students to accompany him sightseeing, brainwash him 24/7 about how great the school is...
Wait a minute...
He had never considered this before!
"So, are all these professors really here for the kid?"
"What else?"
Li Jiangao laughed, then showed Yu Chenggong the fried dough stick in his hand, "This is what Professor Liu from Hua Science bought for the kid early in the morning, but Qiao Ze chose to eat the cake that Professor Chen bought. So, the fried dough stick was left for me. I've known old Liu for almost ten years, and this is the first time I've eaten breakfast that he treated."
Yu Chenggong was taken aback for a moment, then said with heartfelt regret, "Professor Li, you're being foolish! How can you push such a promising seedling out? Just letting others snatch him away, what are we going to do? He came to us first, didn't he? No, I must go with you later. If you can't bring yourself to speak, then don't say anything. I'll compete with them for the child!"
"What?! No, Teacher Yu, do you remember saying yesterday that the child was quite a handful?"
"Hey, Professor Li, how can you still not understand? A child that is being fought over by so many discerning professors, can he be bad? Isn't it just that he can't take care of himself? The child is already so talented that professors from top universities would rather miss a conference than miss recruiting him. Isn't that issue easy to solve? I'll report the situation, and the school will naturally find a way. If we manage to recruit him, we'll only have credit, there won't be any mistakes!"
Li Jian Gao suddenly understood…
It's true, something only becomes desirable once others start fighting for it…