Chapter 29: Choir and Reviewers Part 6
Lin Chuwang summed up the reason for his sudden bad temper that morning: Comrade Xu Shaoqian's evil claws had actually extended to the school!
This made her feel very uneasy.
She worked so hard, and the forty-five silver coins in her pocket hadn't even warmed up yet. She didn't want to lose her job so soon.
But her worries were not unnecessary.
Two weeks later, on Wednesday, after returning from tennis class, she saw a tall man in a white shirt and gray jacket standing downstairs. After recognizing his figure, she was about to turn around and run, but Xu Shaoqian turned back and glanced at her, smiling and waving, "Just right, come on, let me talk to you."
She looked up and found that the man standing there was really conspicuous. Several senior girls were leaning out of the windows to look down.
Lin Chuwang walked over reluctantly, and Xu Shaoqian leaned against the flower bed and asked with a smile, "Did your sister say anything?"
"About what, help, or flowers?"
Xu Shaoqian squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then said, "Two questions, together."
"Regarding help: My sister asked me to thank Professor Xu on her behalf. But no one else can help with this matter. She has her own plans."
"Can I hear the details?"
"She said she didn't have any great plans and would just take things one step at a time."
"Yeah," Xu Shaoqian nodded, not seeming unhappy. "What about the flowers?"
“She said: Thank you.”
"that's all?"
"That's it." What else can I do?
"Where are we going after class?" Xu Shaoqian suddenly asked.
"Go home." Puzzled.
"Yau Ma Tei?"
"yes."
"I send you?"
"No, no, I'll take the tram with my classmates. Thank you, Professor Xu. And... "
"What?"
"Could you please find a different place next time you come to see me?" Lin Chuwang looked up at the group of senior students staring at him eagerly, "I'm under a lot of pressure."
Xu Shaoqian laughed: "How old are you?"
"Even a two-year-old has dignity."
"Thank you for your hard work," Xu Shaoqian was amused and reluctantly compromised: "Okay, let's go to another place next time. Give your regards to your sister for me, and then, study hard."
Lin Chuwang smiled and waved to him, thinking to himself: It’s better not to see each other again!
A week later, she received a letter from the Hong Kong University Press in Yau Ma Tei. Inside was a thick stack of papers, all on astrophysics. She flipped through them and found the title was "A Query on the Hypothesis of a Method of Reaching Altitudes by Robert Hutchings Goddard" (published by Robert Hutchings in 1919). The author column was filled with Xu Lai's name in pinyin and his surname: Lai, X.
Requirements: Translated into Chinese.
Format: Shanghai Astrophysical Journal paper publication format.
Salary: One silver dollar for every 5 pages.
Time limit: 2 weeks.
Lin Chuwang's eyes lit up when he got the information: one hundred pages, a full twenty silver dollars!
Wouldn't it be easier and closer to the original text if one translated the work himself? Professor Xu is really bored.
Chu Wang finally gave in for the twenty silver dollars. For two weeks, he toiled day and night, dozing off in class and dazed afterward. By the deadline, Lin Chu Wang felt half dead, convinced he was going to die of overwork, just like in his previous life.
She woke up early in the morning, submitted her manuscript to the publishing house, and then, on the tram to school, nearly died of sleep. She'd been living a regular life for nearly two years since entering this world, but in the past two weeks, it had broken down again, all because of money, the root of all evil. She used to stay up all night working on a paper, then skip classes and work the next day and sleep in. Now, if she skipped a class, her aunt would probably write to her father, who would probably ask her to write a lengthy, classical Chinese letter of apology.
After careful consideration, she decided to get through today's classes before going home for a good sleep.
Unfortunately, Father Wilson's bass voice was incredibly soporific. After finally perking herself up, he read two passages from the Old Testament, and Lin Chuwang's head slowly drooped as she began to dream. Her dream was filled with English and Chinese. Sometimes the language was unsophisticated, sometimes the words were accidentally written in simplified Chinese. Suddenly, Xie Miya whispered, "Wake up!"
She sat up with a start, looking bewilderedly at Father Wilson, who was standing nearby. He was chanting, "...it rained for forty days and nights..." as he glared at her. Lin Chuwang couldn't return his gaze, her eyelids drooping into single ones. She lowered her head and rummaged through the table, finally pulling out the Old Testament, wrinkled from her sleep.
After finally getting to the end of get out of class, Lin Chuwang packed her bag and headed out, only to see Father Wilson standing at the door with a sullen face, blocking her path. He said succinctly, "Follow me."
Following the priest, Lin Chuwang thought desperately all the way, it's over, am I going to be expelled for sleeping in class?
Lin Chuwang followed the priest, head bowed, through the teaching building and the church, around the flower garden, and to the seminary library. The priest knocked on the door, and someone answered from inside. He nodded at Lin Chuwang and motioned her to come in.
Lin Chuwang entered the library with a look of suspicion on her face, and the priest slightly closed the door. She peeked inside and saw Xu Lai, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, sitting at a large square table. He waved at her, "Come here."
Lin Chuwang walked over blankly and sat on the chair opposite him.
Xu Lai asked with a smile: "Why are you so sleepy?"
Lin Chuwang still had some strength to ask back, "Why are you here?"
"You suggested it last time, so let's change the place this time."
"No..." Lin Chuwang was speechless. "You are a physics professor, why are you in the seminary library?"
Xu Lai laughed and said, "Don't you know that the Hong Kong Girls' School is the property of the University of Hong Kong?"
"I'm very ignorant. Professor Xu, what advice do you have for me today?"
Xu Lai clasped his hands together and looked at her with a smile: "Tell me first, why are you so sleepy?"
"Because... I read too late."
"What kind of book?"
"A history book." This book, written in 1926, is indeed a history book.
"Well, you're very hardworking, that's good, but you also need to take some rest."
"Thank you for your concern, Professor Xu. Can I go back and rest now?"
"Not yet."
"Eh? Professor Xu, do you have any further advice?"
Xu Lai narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at her, "I want to pay attention to your studies."
"Wow, isn't this unfair to Professor Xu? I'm just a little middle school student."
"Your sister helped me a lot recently. Since I can't see her, I don't know how to thank her, so I just came to check on you."
"Thank you for my sister. Anything else?"
"have."
"What?"
"Your grades aren't very good, but in my opinion you're very smart."
"Hmm? Thank you, Professor. You are so kind."
"Do you know why I say that?"
Xu Lai unfolded a stack of test papers and handed them to Chu Wang: "For a total of three semesters, your average scores in all subjects are between 80 and 85. In the eyes of others, you can only be considered upper-middle-class in school."
Chu Wang said with a guilty conscience: "That means I still need to work harder."
"I say you are smart because, after weighted calculation of the scores from three semesters, the final score is always 85, no more, no less." The narrow eyes behind the glasses curved slightly.
"That's a coincidence."
"Coincidence? I think the calculation is just right, very clever. Many European universities set the admission score for top students based on a weighted score of 85 or above, which is the best grade."
"Is that so? Then I'm so lucky."
Xu Lai smiled slowly, pressing his index finger on the center of the test paper and turning it to face Chu Wang. He gently tapped the name at the top of the test paper and muttered slowly, "Is it really a coincidence, Linzy? Or should I say, Lin Zhi?"
The author has something to say: A perspective from a top scholar across the ages.
——
The weighted algorithm is to multiply the score by the weight coefficient and accumulate it to get a weighted average score.
Example: Chu Wang's scores in a certain semester are 86 in English (6 points), 84 in Science (3 points), and 83.5 in Geography (2 points).
The arithmetic solution is (86+84+83.5)/3=84.5, which can only be considered a B grade student.
The weighted solution is (86x6+84x3+83.5x2)/(6+3+2)=85, which is an A-level student.
——
Another: There are still several chapters to go until 1927
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If I don't camp out at the airport, I should be able to update daily tomorrow.
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Tomorrow's update may be delayed. I may also take a day off because my flight was delayed and I was stranded at the airport for 5 hours. I didn't bring my laptop with me. But I will try to update one chapter. I found that many comments said that the titles are a bit confusing, so I may slightly correct them one day, as long as it does not affect the daily update.
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Xue Zhenzhen's mother is Mr. Qiao's sister
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Many people have been asking about the title of this novel: "Hong Kong Old Things [Republic of China Farming]"? ..I'm terrible at naming, do you have any better suggestions?
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