14: Chapter 14 Student Council Vice President!

When the phone rang, President Chen Bing was just about to turn off the lights and go home.

His hand had already reached the switch when the red telephone on the corner of the desk suddenly began to vibrate.

It wasn't his office landline; it was that dedicated line which rarely rang and whose number only a very few people knew.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was an encrypted number with no region of origin.

President Chen Bing's movements froze. He slowly sat back down in his chair, took a deep breath, and picked up the receiver.

"President Chen, sorry to disturb you so late at night."

The voice on the other end of the line was very young, polite, and devoid of any emotion.

"This is the Ning Office."

The Ning Office!

These two words were like a stone thrown into a deep pool; President Chen Bing's fingers gripping the receiver tightened slightly.

"Hello."

"Please go ahead."

"Regarding the cultivation of Xu Weidong, a freshman at the School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering at your university..."

The other party offered no pleasantries and no preamble, their tone as flat as if they were reading a briefing.

"The leadership's meaning is that the cultivation work must use the highest specifications and break from convention."

The highest specifications!

Break from convention!

President Chen Bing's breath hitched for a moment. Was it really this outrageous?

"Specifically, regarding student work, he must be given appropriate platforms and opportunities for development. Regarding academic cultivation, he must be provided with the highest quality mentor resources."

"The above are the explicit requirements of the leadership."

A faint sound of flipping paper came through the receiver.

"Additionally, the leadership specifically instructed."

"Do not make a fuss; just let this child grow up like an ordinary student."

"Understood."

His voice was very steady, so steady that even he himself was somewhat surprised.

"Then, thank you for your hard work, President Chen."

After saying this, the other party hung up.

The busy signal beeped; President Chen Bing held the receiver for a long time without putting it down.

Is today April Fool's Day?

He was already at this age; why did these big shots have to mess with his blood pressure like this?!

President Chen Bing picked up the landline and dialed an internal extension.

"Old Li, are you asleep?"

"Not yet, I'm looking at the materials for tomorrow's academic affairs meeting. President, it's so late..."

"Come to my office."

"Now?"

"Now!"

When Director Li Lei arrived, President Chen Bing was still sitting behind the desk in the same posture, the telephone receiver already back in place, his hands folded on top of that stack of cultivation plans.

"President, what happened?"

Director Li Lei closed the door and walked over quickly.

He saw President Chen Bing's expression and his steps faltered.

He had followed President Chen Bing for eighteen years and had never seen this expression on him.

It wasn't nervousness, not anxiety, and not even gravity.

It was a very strange kind of... emptiness, like a person who had just finished walking a very, very long night road, looked up to see the dawn, but felt no joy, only exhaustion.

President Chen Bing pushed the stack of documents in front of him.

"This plan is void."

Director Li Lei was stunned and said, "President?"

"And..."

President Chen Bing didn't explain, continuing, "Tomorrow morning, you go find Youth League Committee Secretary Xiao Ze personally."

Director Li Lei subconsciously took out his notebook, his pen tip hovering over the paper.

"Notify him of three things."

President Chen Bing's voice was very low, as if he were talking to himself.

"First, the University Student Union and all university-level student organizations will hold re-elections."

Director Li Lei recorded it quickly.

"Second, the University Student Union will add a Vice President position."

The pen tip left a short mark on the paper; Director Li Lei looked up.

"Third, appoint Xu Weidong as Vice President of the University Student Union, breaking standard procedure."

The office was silent for a long time; Director Li Lei's pen hovered in mid-air, unable to fall for a long time.

Director Li Lei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat felt blocked by something.

"President, this is..."

President Chen Bing didn't answer; he picked up the red telephone on the corner of the desk, gently placed it back in the corner against the wall, and then pointed upward.

Director Li Lei's gaze followed the movement, and he suddenly understood.

Damn, a call from above?!

"Then, what about Youth League Committee Secretary Xiao Ze..."

"He previously wanted Xu Weidong to go to the University Youth League Committee..."

"Let Youth League Committee Secretary Xiao Ze proceed with his affairs as usual."

"The ministers and deputy secretaries of the University Youth League Committee, arrange them as they should be arranged."

"The Vice President of the University Student Union, arrange it as it should be arranged."

"There is no conflict."

Director Li Lei understood; it wasn't a choice between the two, it was both.

"Also," notify the Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, and Youth League Committee, that from now on, any competitions, projects, or research topics that Xu Weidong participates in or submits..."

"I will personally serve as his mentor."

Director Li Lei's pen slipped from his fingers, leaving a short ink blot on the notebook.

"President, you... you personally?"

His voice trembled slightly as he said, "You are a vice-ministerial level President; leading an undergraduate student in a competition, this..."

"What about it?"

Director Li Lei couldn't continue; this wasn't according to the rules.

There had never been such a precedent!

A vice-ministerial level university president personally serving as a competition mentor for a freshman—no one would believe it if they heard it.

But... but that phone call.

Director Li Lei lowered his head and picked up the fallen pen.

"Old Li, you have followed me for eighteen years."

"When have you ever seen me like this?"

"Logically speaking, those of us in education should emphasize following procedures and making gradual progress."

"Exceptional cultivation and special channels are not the proper path."

"But..."

"But when the boat is on the river, you have no choice."

Silence, a long silence.

Director Li Lei closed the notebook and stood up.

"President, does that child know?"

President Chen Bing did not answer.

"Does he know that from today on, for every competition he participates in, the President will personally sit in the mentor's seat? For every project he applies for, the President will personally sign his name? That for every step he takes, someone has already paved the way?"

Director Li Lei's voice was very soft, as if asking President Chen Bing, and also as if asking himself.

"Does he know that before he has even opened his mouth, he has already incurred a favor he cannot repay?"

"I don't know."

"Perhaps he knows, perhaps he doesn't."

President Chen Bing paused, then said, "Perhaps he is clearer about it than we are."

After Director Li Lei left, he took the stack of voided cultivation plans to the shredder and fed them in one page at a time.

Accidentally intruding into the heavenly court!

Once upon a time, he thought he had already stood high enough, until the events of these past few days...

The so-called "height" was nothing but a joke...

President Chen Bing thought again, which competition should he sign Xu Weidong up for next spring?

The "Challenge Cup" or "Internet+"?

The freshman group or an open category?

If he wrote his name in the mentor column, would it put too much pressure on the child?

President Chen Bing also thought, he wondered if that child was sleeping well tonight.

Three days later, Civil Engineering University posted a notice.

The re-election work for the University Student Union and university-level student organizations had begun, with the application deadline on December 10th.

In the attachment to the notice, there was an added explanation regarding the addition of one Vice President position.

In Dorm 516 of Zijin Apartment, Yang Liqun was scrolling through his phone when he suddenly let out a strange cry.

"Holy crap! The University Student Union added a Vice President position!"

Zhang Xun poked his head out from his bed and said, "Added?"

"Yeah, there used to be three, now there are four."

Yang Liqun scrolled down and said, "They even issued a special explanation... University Student Union reform pilot... strengthening organizational construction..."

He read a few sentences, then put his phone down, feeling bored.

"Boring, we wouldn't get elected anyway."

Sun Ming was buried in his work, not even lifting his head.

Zhang Xun retreated back into his bed and continued memorizing vocabulary.

Xu Weidong sat by the window, continuing to read the Zizhi Tongjian.

Surely it wouldn't fall on his head, right?

Youth League Committee Secretary Xiao Ze was already scary enough—half a year to become deputy minister, one year to become full-time, two years to become Deputy Secretary of the University Youth League Committee...

Did they really want to send him a plane ticket to the Grassland Province?

It was probably some young master who had pulled strings all the way to the top and specially created a cushy position for himself.

These kinds of things happen all the time...

Xu Weidong didn't despise the other person; after all, they had managed it based on their own power.