The professor ignored her, bent down to pick up the textbook from the ground, carefully brushed off the dust, and then quickly walked up to Wenwen, his face beaming with a smile: "Wenwen, could you... could you lend me this textbook?"
Wenwen was stunned by the professor's sudden change and nodded blankly, "Is...okay..."
"That's wonderful! That's wonderful!" The professor exclaimed excitedly, holding the textbook in both hands. He was so excited that he could hardly speak. "Wenwen, you've really helped me a lot! I'll definitely study this textbook carefully when I get back, and I'll praise you to Secretary Wen later!"
The classroom was deathly silent.
Everyone was stunned, their mouths agape, their jaws practically dropping to the floor. Was this... was this the same professor who had been so furious just moments before? Why was he suddenly so enthusiastic towards Wenwen?
Jealousy burned fiercely in everyone's hearts, and their gazes toward Wenwen became even more hostile.
At noon, the professor rushed to Secretary Wen's office and handed him the textbook compiled by Xu Kuo: "Secretary Wen, please take a look at this!"
Secretary Wen took the textbook, flipped through a few pages, and frowned slightly: "This is... an English textbook?"
"Yes! Look how well this textbook is compiled! It's much better than the one I'm using!" the professor highly recommended.
Secretary Wen assumed the professor wanted his help in promoting the textbook, so he casually replied, "Hmm, it's quite good. What, you want me to find someone to print it out?"
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant..." the professor quickly waved his hand. "I was thinking... could the people who wrote this textbook write a few more copies? Such a good textbook should be seen by more students!"
Secretary Wen then realized that the professor had taken a liking to the author of the textbook. He smiled and said, "Alright, leave this to me. I'll send someone to find Comrade Xu Kuo right away."
After seeing the professor off, Secretary Wen immediately called his secretary: "Go, find Comrade Xu Kuo for me!"
Xu Kuo was quickly taken to Secretary Wen's office.
"Comrade Xu Kuo, I heard you recently compiled an English textbook that's quite impressive?" Secretary Wen looked at Xu Kuo with a smile.
"I know a little, I know a little," Xu Kuo said with a modest smile. But in his heart, he was thinking that the reason the man was coming to him at this time was probably related to the English textbook.
"You're more than just dabbling in it! I heard that even university professors are full of praise for the English textbooks you've compiled!" Secretary Wen patted Xu Kuo on the shoulder. "The country needs talents like you now! The organization has decided to send you to a publishing house to be specifically in charge of compiling English textbooks. What do you think?"
Xu Kuo thought about it and figured he had nothing else to do, so he might as well compile it; it would be a contribution to the country.
Secretary Wen exchanged a few pleasantries with him, talked about this and that, and then waved his hand dismissively: "Alright, you can report to the publishing house now!"
Xu Kuo bid farewell to Secretary Wen and walked briskly out of the office.
Upon arriving at the publishing house, Xu Kuo was stunned by what he saw.
An elderly man with gray hair was engrossed in reading the textbook he had compiled, muttering to himself as he read it…
Xu Kuo stepped forward, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable air: "Hello, Secretary Wen has sent me to compile teaching materials. What do you need me to do?"
The old man, the professor, looked up and glanced at Xu Kuo. He was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, which were still covered with mud. He looked like a countryman.
The professor felt a sense of disdain, thinking to himself: These days, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can get into a publishing house? He pointed to a pile of heavy machines stacked in the corner and said casually, "They need someone to move the printing press over there. Go and lend a hand."
Xu Kuo frowned. What did this old man take him for? A porter? His voice turned cold: "I'll say it again, I'm here to compile teaching materials, not to do manual labor."
Upon hearing this, the professor flew into a rage. This poor, penniless brat dared to talk back to him? He slammed his fist on the table and roared, "What's wrong with you? You don't know what's good for you! Writing textbooks? What kind of place do you think this is? Is this a place for someone like you? Get back to your work!"
Xu Kuo gave a cold laugh and retorted, "Then, in your opinion, who can compile teaching materials?"
The professor glanced at Xu Kuo with disdain, raised his chin slightly, and said arrogantly, "At the very least, he should be someone who can compile the textbook I have in my hand!" The textbook in his hand was the one compiled by Xu Kuo.
"Hehe, what a coincidence, this textbook is the one I wrote." Xu Kuo gave him a playful look.
The professor paused for a moment, then burst into wild laughter.
He pointed at Xu Kuo's nose and cursed, "With your poor and shabby appearance, how dare you impersonate someone else? This textbook is the best I've ever seen. Even I couldn't write something like this. What makes you think you can? Have you no shame?"
The argument between the two grew louder and louder, quickly attracting the attention of others at the publishing house. A crowd gathered around, curiously observing them.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses and looking quite authoritative approached; he was the editor-in-chief of the publishing house. He frowned and asked the professor, "Old Li, what's going on?"
"Editor-in-chief, you've come at the perfect time!" The professor suddenly felt emboldened. Pointing at Xu Kuo, he shouted angrily, "This kid is so arrogant, he actually impersonated the author of this English textbook! Get him out of here right now!"
Upon hearing this, the onlookers immediately began pointing and whispering among themselves about Xu Kuo.
"This person is shameless! How dare they impersonate the author?"
"Exactly! Looking at his poor and shabby appearance, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who could write such a good textbook!"
"Get him out of here right now, don't let him dirty our publishing house!"
Just then, a clear voice broke the noise: "Brother Xu Kuo!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a girl with a ponytail and wearing a floral dress running towards them with a look of surprise on her face. It was Wenwen. She had originally wanted to ask the professor to return her textbooks so she could continue reviewing, but Secretary Wen told her that the professor had come to the publishing house, so she had come looking for him.
The professor's face lit up with joy the moment he saw Wenwen. Now let's see how you try to deny it!
The professor hurriedly called out to Wenwen, "Wenwen, you've come at the right time! Come here quickly!"
Wenwen jogged over to the professor's side.
The professor didn't give Wenwen a chance to continue speaking. He eagerly pulled Wenwen aside, pointed at Xu Kuo, and said loudly, "Wenwen, tell everyone, who wrote this textbook?" He was fully expecting Wenwen to give the answer he was looking for, and then slap Xu Kuo in the face.
Wenwen looked puzzled, not understanding why the professor asked that, but still answered honestly, "It was written by Xu Kuo."
The professor's smile froze instantly. Thinking he had misheard, he raised his voice and asked again, "What did you say? Who wrote it?"
"Brother Xu Kuo?" Wenwen was even more puzzled.
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