Marrying My Bestie's Ferocious Brother - He Calls Me His Baby!-Chapter 134 - 133: The Two Deans Go Wild Competing—You Call Her an Agriculture Student?
Entrance of the library.
The afternoon sun cast the old locust tree’s shadow long and slanted.
Dean Li was panting heavily, his cloth shoes nearly smoking from running. He was nervously gripping Lin Wan Yi’s wrist, with a force that seemed as though letting go would make her fly away.
"Classmate Wanyi, be honest with your teacher, that old guy Qian Xuezhang didn’t force you, did he? Did he promise you any benefits?"
Lin Wan Yi looked at his sweat-drenched forehead and anxious eyes, feeling a bit helpless, yet also warmed.
She gently withdrew her hand, adjusting the heavy stack of foreign books in her arms to a more stable position.
"Dean Li, don’t worry."
Her voice was calm, like a gentle breeze across a lake, "Professor Qian just discussed some academic issues with me. I have no intention of changing departments, nor will I ever have."
"Really?" Dean Li’s eyes lit up, like a drowning man grasping a wooden plank.
"Really." Lin Wan Yi nodded, her tone firm, "My roots are in the soil."
"Good! Well said!"
Dean Li slapped his thigh, his face flushed with excitement.
A moment ago, he was on high alert, and the next he was like a proud old kid boasting about his treasured child.
He straightened his back, full of pride even in the air, "I knew it! My disciple whom I, Mr. Li, have chosen is not someone who can be compared to those bookish nerds in the mathematics department who only know how to count!"
He looked at Lin Wan Yi with an affection that surpassed even that for his own daughter.
"Let’s go, let’s go, back to the office! I just applied for a batch of the latest experimental equipment for you from the logistics department, and there are a few unique reference books I just got from abroad, all reserved for you!"
Dean Li enthusiastically offered to help Lin Wan Yi with her books, but she smilingly declined.
The two walked side by side down the tree-lined path, this scene falling into the eyes of countless onlookers from afar.
The news spread faster than if it had wings.
"Did you hear? Professor Qian from the math department almost got into a fight with Dean Li at the library over recruiting Lin Wan Yi!"
"It wasn’t just that! I heard that Professor Qian even decided on the spot to take Lin Wan Yi as a disciple and promised various privileges!"
"Wow! Being Professor Qian’s disciple? That’s an honor even the top student in the math department can’t aspire to!"
"But Lin Wan Yi refused! She said she just wanted to cultivate the land and make sure everyone is well-fed!"
"Such vision... I’m impressed! No wonder she’s the champion!"
In a crowded male dormitory, Chen Zhiyuan sat expressionless, listening to his roommates excitedly discussing.
He was slowly and mechanically cleaning a newly purchased fountain pen in his hand.
A roommate nudged his elbow, speaking with a tone that was a mix of sympathy and schadenfreude, "Zhiyuan, don’t take it too hard. That Lin Wan Yi isn’t someone ordinary folks like us can compare to."
Chen Zhiyuan’s hand paused.
Can’t compare?
Why?
Just because she can solve a problem? Because she can say a few pretty words?
He lifted his head, his eyes behind his glasses cold and sharp.
No.
He wouldn’t lose.
Academically, he might be at a temporary disadvantage, but a person’s energy is limited. She has kids to take care of, studies to manage, and those so-called "research projects" to conduct. How much energy can she have?
As long as he finds her weakness, as long as she makes one mistake...
Chen Zhiyuan lowered his head, continuing to wipe his pen, a cold smirk forming at the corner of his mouth.
Elsewhere, in a standalone small building.
Gu Lan was animatedly describing the "battle over recruitment" at the library to Wang Guihua.
"Nanny Wang, you should have seen! Professor Qian, a titan of the mathematics department, chased after my sister-in-law wanting to recruit her, and my sister-in-law didn’t even care! And that Chen Zhiyuan, his face was as green as a frog, it was hilarious!"
Wang Guihua, while deftly changing the baby’s diaper, listened with a smile.
She’s seen many significant figures, but someone like Lin Wan Yi, who is so young yet so accomplished and composed, was a first.
This Gu Family really did marry quite an extraordinary daughter-in-law.
"Sister-in-law, you’re now a celebrity at our Beijing University! I wonder who will dare gossip now!" Gu Lan proudly puffed out her small chest.
Lin Wan Yi put down her book, took a sip of water, saying nothing in affirmation or denial.
Reputation is a double-edged sword.
It can bring convenience, but also deeper jealousy and more sinister machinations.
As she was pondering this, there was a knock on the courtyard door.
Gu Lan ran to open it, and standing there was none other than Dean Li, returned once more.
Only this time, he wasn’t alone.
Behind him were two elderly professors with graying hair and seven or eight young students with haughty expressions, among them, surprisingly, was Chen Zhiyuan.
Dean Li’s expression was not as relaxed as before; instead, it carried a hint of gravity and urgency.
"Classmate Wanyi, quickly, no time to explain, you must come with me!"
Upon seeing Lin Wan Yi, he looked like he’d found a savior, grabbing her and walking out.
"Something big has happened!"
As Lin Wan Yi was being pulled, she asked while walking, "Dean, what’s going on?"
"The school’s experimental greenhouse!" Dean Li said while walking, speaking very fast, "Two months ago, we introduced thirty extremely precious ’disease-resistant hybrid rice’ mother seedlings from the south, which are crucial to a national key scientific research project!"
"But just a week ago, these seedlings suddenly began to wither on a large scale, their leaves turning yellow, the roots rotting! We’ve tried everything, consulted all the agricultural experts in Beijing, and all of them were helpless!"
During the conversation, the group had arrived in front of a glass greenhouse deep within the campus.
At the greenhouse entrance stood several anxious school leaders pacing back and forth.
Upon seeing Dean Li bringing Lin Wan Yi, a leader immediately stepped forward, but seeing how young she was, a flash of doubt clearly crossed his eyes.
"Old Li, is this your so-called ’last hope’?"
Dean Li pounded his chest confidently, "Principal, rest assured! Classmate Wanyi’s capabilities, surely you can trust them!"
An elderly professor following behind couldn’t help but speak, his tone carrying both scholarly rigor and a hint of doubt, "Dean Li, it’s not that we don’t believe in Classmate Lin; her theoretical knowledge is solid, and we all admire it. But this situation is extremely complex. We suspect it’s a completely new, unseen fungal disease. This can’t be solved with just theory."
Chen Zhiyuan immediately seized the opportunity, stepping forward, speaking in a voice not loud but enough for everyone to hear.
"Yes, Professor Wang is right. Each of these seedlings is extremely valuable, pivotal to the nation’s future grain strategy. We shouldn’t let unprofessional personnel handle them casually. If something goes wrong, no one can bear the responsibility."
Although he spoke of "unprofessional personnel," his eyes were fixed on Lin Wan Yi, issuing a clear challenge.
With these words, the expressions of the surrounding leaders and teachers, who already had reservations, turned even more hesitant.
Lin Wan Yi seemed oblivious to the discussion around her.
She walked to the greenhouse entrance, looking inside through the glass.
Only to see row after row of neatly arranged seedling pots inside, most of which had already withered and drooped. The leaves were covered with unsightly brown spots, lifeless.
A faint energy of decay and decline wafted out, discernible even through the glass, causing her discomfort.
She retracted her gaze, looking at the eager Dean Li and the doubtful crowd.
Without lengthy explanations or stirring assurances,
She simply extended her hand, pushing open the heavy iron door of the greenhouse.
A more potent mixture of humid, soil-decay-scented air rushed out.
Lin Wan Yi stepped inside, her cool voice resonating in the quiet of the greenhouse, unusually clear.
"Close the door."
She paused, her sight sweeping over those wilting seedlings, a faint, unnoticed golden light flashing deep in her eyes.
"Half an hour."
Looking at the variously expressed people outside, she calmly uttered the last three words.
"I’ll save them."
