In the afternoon, the freshman opening ceremony was held in the gymnasium. On the way to the gymnasium, Li Feng kept telling Zhao Jiadi how unwise it was to skip the English class and how beautiful and charming the young and pretty English teacher was. He used almost all the beautiful words from "extremely beautiful", "capable of causing the downfall of a country", to "making fish sink, geese alight, the moon hide and flowers blush". This guy talked so much that his saliva was flying everywhere and his mouth was dry. Zhao Jiadi didn't react much. He was just thinking about whether the old principal would say something at the opening ceremony. Ma Xiaotiao, who had skipped classes until the end on the first day of school, was full of suspicion. Shen Han, who had a different outlook on life, values, and love from Li Feng this time, also unexpectedly agreed, which immediately aroused Ma Xiaotiao's interest. He decided that he must go to see the beauty of the English teacher in the next English class. In the crowd going to the gymnasium, Zhao Jiadi was sharp - eyed enough to see the lonely figure of the old principal. He was still bent over, with his hands behind his back, walking very slowly. There was no school leader accompanying him. This gave Zhao Jiadi a very strange feeling. It was as if this smiling old Maitreya - like principal had no dignity and bearing when meeting alone. With his desolate back walking among the sea of people, there was a somewhat desolate and solemn artistic conception instead.
"That's the principal of our school." Zhao Jiadi pointed at the old man in the distance.
"What? That hunchbacked old man?" Li Feng's eyes widened. He hadn't had a face - to - face encounter with the old man like Zhao Jiadi, so naturally he didn't have any special feelings. After all, in this world, whether they are provincial - or ministerial - level cadres in high positions or business tycoons with billions of wealth, when they are among the crowd, most of them, like Zhao Jiadi, are unremarkable and not eye - catching.
Because the old principal walked slowly, he was constantly bumped by the excited students surging forward. The old man didn't mind and continued to move forward slowly. Shen Han immediately rushed forward, trying to support the top leader of this school, whose cough could make a large number of vice - principals and deputy secretaries break out in a cold sweat. The old principal narrowed his eyes, turned his head to look at Shen Han, smiled, shook his head slightly, and continued to walk alone.
Shen Han scratched his head and followed the old man cautiously.
"What a boot - licker." Li Feng muttered.
Ma Xiaotiao, on the other hand, was wearing MP4 earplugs and paid no attention to it.
Each class had boys and girls in separate rows. Zhao Jiadi chose to sit at the last seat again. Many people brought MP3s or even PSPs, and at the very least, one or two magazines or newspapers, for fear of dozing off. Since the first day they stepped into the school, they had experienced countless dull ceremonies and gatherings. No one expected to hear something new on such an occasion. Now, even kindergarten kids probably know the truth that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Sure enough, there were very rigid speeches by the leaders and very boring speeches by the freshmen. More than 2,000 people were muddled - headed and sleepy. Zhao Jiadi, who had brought the book "The Road to Serfdom" to the ceremony, took the time to observe the situation and found that the counselors had no time to pay attention to the absent - minded students. Then, painfully, he found that his class had the fewest beautiful girls, a tragic situation. He specifically looked at Zhou Xiaoman's class. Sure enough, in comparison, there were many beautiful girls there. Zhao Jiadi sighed and lowered his head to continue reading, suggesting to himself that there are beauties in books. He didn't see that the old principal, who didn't take the podium to speak, made a low - key round at the end of all the college classes.
Near the end of the opening ceremony, he finally walked towards the rostrum unhurriedly. This startled several school leaders, who had been informed that the principal would not be on the stage, and they stood up abruptly and hurriedly offered their seats. More than 2,000 young men and women in the audience finally had some of them raise their heads, wondering what was going on. As a result, they saw an old man who looked like a gatekeeper, wearing a pair of cloth shoes, pick up a microphone on his own and walk to the lectern. There was no speech manuscript, and no host's introduction. He coughed twice and said in a mild tone, "Dear colleagues and students, today I don't want to speak on behalf of anyone. I just want to say a few words to more than 2,000 freshmen as an old man who has been rooted in this school for a full 50 years and is about to leave this school."
The old man's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the gymnasium.
Suddenly, there was a great deal of discussion among the audience, and everyone was whispering.
The old man held the microphone in one hand, while the other hand remained behind his back. With thick - lensed old - school - scholar glasses, wearing a pair of cheap rubber - soled cloth shoes, and dressed like a country bumpkin, he ignored the noise from the audience and continued, "The school district where we are located has an not - so - accurate name, Yangpu University Town. On this land, there are Fudan University, Tongji University, the Second Military Medical University, and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. What else? I can't quite remember, and I'm sure you don't know either. That is to say, if someone asks about our school, and after finally hearing your explanation clearly, they will suddenly realize, 'Oh, it's the university next to Tongji University and the Second Military Medical University.' Or one day when you go shopping in downtown Shanghai and can't wait for a bus and take a taxi to Yangpu University Town, the driver will surely not know this place either. So you still have to say, 'Master, you might as well take me to Tongji University first.'"
The whole audience burst into laughter.
The old principal also smiled. However, on the rostrum, where people had been chatting and laughing just a moment ago, it was now completely silent, and everyone was as quiet as a cicada in winter. The old man gently took off his glasses, wiped them with his shirt, put them back on, and continued, "So, frankly speaking, this is not a university that can win you applause and envy when you mention it. I don't know how many of the more than 2,000 students came here feeling triumphant, thinking that after going through all the hardships, they can now live a carefree life. I also don't know how many came here dejected, just aiming to get a diploma and then enter society to be assistants or do menial jobs like running errands and serving tea for students from Fudan, Peking University, or Tsinghua University. Regarding this, as an old man who entered this school at the age of 20 and has never left since, I still want to share some sincere thoughts. There is only one end in a person's life, but there are many starting points. Being born from the mother's womb is the first major starting point, and no one can change that. Then, graduating from primary school to junior high school and from junior high school to senior high school are two new starting points. After that, many children prematurely regard entering university from high school as the end of their lives. This is all irresponsible. After the age of 18, you may not have to be responsible to your parents, but at least you should learn to be responsible for yourself. I remember there was a saying that one of your senior schoolmates told me once when he was drunk: Even if you are trampled like a puddle of mud, you should still be able to make a dog - tail flower out of it. If my memory serves me right, he came from a poor county. He owed tuition fees every year and managed to pay them off by winning scholarships in school and working four odd jobs and tutoring during each of the two vacations, saving money one yuan at a time. On the day of graduation, he told me this, and I paid for the drinks that night. Now, this guy, who borrowed 512 books from the library during his four - year university period, breaking the school record, may, in another ten or so years, when he leaves the National Development and Reform Commission and comes to Shanghai again, be my leader."
This time, the laughter was much sparser.
The old principal smiled, looked around at the more than 2,000 young faces in the audience, and said, "I don't expect you to borrow over a hundred books a year like that senior. I think around 30 books a year would be about right. Of course, they must be books other than textbooks. To be honest, the books that the university forces you to read are rather useless. The works that you are willing to read, digest, and reflect on by yourselves are the spiritual wealth that will influence your whole life. I, an ordinary peasant's child, struggled to get into university at the age of 20 and started teaching at 26. I have been teaching until today, and I have only proved one thing. Even if you are a toad, if you can enrich yourself day after day for decades, sooner or later, you will have the day when you jump out of the pond and get the swan you desire. This swan can be having students all over the world, getting the girl you love, achieving fame and fortune and bringing honor to your family, or becoming a great financier. I have a clear conscience, no regrets, and have been waiting for the day when you feel that you have no guilt towards yourselves. Maybe at this point, many students will ask, why does a school as unremarkable as this one require us to work hard? Yes, this school has neither the numerous grandiose buildings that are rampant in Chinese universities nor many great masters that Chinese institutions of higher learning have collectively ignored for many years. Why?"
The old principal paused for a moment, pointed at himself, and then at the whole audience below the stage. "By yourselves."
The whole place was silent.
The old man resumed his relaxed, smiling face and said, "Well, I'm very sorry for taking up so much of your time for listening to music and reading newspapers. This meeting is adjourned."
Since the old principal started speaking the first sentence, Zhao Jiadi had already closed that famous economics book and listened to every word without missing a single one.
He knew the senior that the old principal mentioned was one of the very few bosom friends of Zhao Sanjin. He entered the National Development and Reform Commission eight years ago, had his ups and downs, and finally achieved great success. Zhao Jiadi didn't understand the hardships during this period, nor was he clear about the magnificence behind that man. But he was certain that for such a man, achieving great prosperity was within reason. He got up, took the plastic chair, and left the gymnasium. Looking at the new schoolmates, most of whom had regained their frivolous nature after being startled, Zhao Jiadi remained silent. This was the real life. Everyone advanced or declined according to inertia. More often than not, they were like frogs gradually dying in warm boiling water, so ignorant that they didn't even have the desire to jump out.
The old principal still left separately from a large number of school leaders. However, this time, he was accompanied by a beautiful woman dressed like an office OL. The woman, around 30 years old, looked very virtuous and elegant. Zhao Jiadi only vaguely saw a stunning side profile and a graceful back.
At that moment, Zhao Jiadi's heart was pounding. Finally, he encountered an 80 - plus goddess.