Sail across the sea

Chapter 414 Pre-wedding Phobia

In the student cafeteria of the University of Science and Technology of China, Gao Fan and Xu Yun sat opposite each other, each with a student meal.

"The food at your USTC is pretty good, much better than the cafeteria at Peking University."

Gao Fan put food in his mouth and offered polite compliments.

Xu Yun looked at Gao Fan's perfunctory expression, pursed her lips, and said, "Gao Fan, don't you know that you habitually put on a smile when you're not being honest?"

"No way, I didn't laugh just now."

“That was the exception just now, but I could tell you weren’t being sincere.”

“I’m telling the truth. The food at USTC’s cafeteria is indeed much better than that at Peking University. That’s a different matter from me thinking your food is delicious.”

In other words, you think the food is not good.

"It's alright, as long as it doesn't compare to the food that Fenglin treated me to last night."

"I'm starting to miss the food at Fenglin Station too."

"Speaking of the canteen at Fenglin Institute, I just remembered, you still owe me three stir-fries."

"Haven't we already made up for it with a meal?"

"Two meals are still owed."

"Gao Fan, how dare you rob a poor student like me? You're probably a multi-millionaire now, don't think I don't know."

"How about this meal is on me? How much was it again? I'll pay you back now."

"roll!"

The two chatted about nothing of substance until they finished their nutritious lunch. Xu Yun took the bowl to the sink to wash it, put it in a cloth bag, carried it in her hand, and walked out with Gao Fan.

"Gao Fan, sometimes I envy you."

Walking on campus, Xu Yun said with emotion.

"Are you envious that I have several millionaires?"

"No,... well, a little bit, but I mainly envy you for being able to do some interesting things. Come to think of it, I'm a year older than you, but I can only stay on campus doing boring experiments."

"Everyone has to go through this process. We do experiments now so that we can do more experiments in the future."

"...Are you trying to comfort me?"

"I'm just telling you the truth, Senior Brother Xu, isn't someone destined to spend their whole life doing experiments?"

Xu Yun sighed, turned to look at the few students who were clearly in lower grades walking past him, and said, "I'm very confused right now. Back then, I was just like them, thinking that if I got into USTC, I would definitely learn a lot of skills, become famous and successful, and return home in glory."

“You can still think that way now,” Gao Fan said. “I talked to Director Bi at the Fenglin Institute yesterday. He said that your contribution was the biggest to the successful research on photoresist. Your name was listed first in the commendation materials they submitted to the Science and Technology Commission. You can call that fame and success, right?” “You know perfectly well that you provided the main idea for photoresist,” Xu Yun said.

Gao Fan said, "I only proposed an idea, but you did the work of perfecting the entire technical route. Your technical skills are far superior to mine."

"It's just a poor imitation," Xu Yun said modestly, no longer dwelling on the issue, and continued the previous topic, "That's not what I meant. Gao Fan, don't you think that doing scientific research is no longer fashionable? Everyone says that those who work on missiles are not as well off as those who sell tea eggs. Several young teachers at our school have already resigned, saying they're going to work as engineers in companies, where the salary is seven or eight times higher than before."

“From a money-making perspective, that’s certainly true,” Gao Fan said.

The reforms have been underway for seven or eight years now. Township and village enterprises, which were hesitant to be too flamboyant in previous years due to the shadow of "speculation and profiteering," are now free from such worries and dare to grow unchecked.

State-owned enterprises have also generally implemented a contract system. Some enterprises were brought to the brink of collapse by ambitious but incompetent contract factory managers, but others were reborn because they got rid of the misguided commands of their "mothers-in-law".

The gap between the rich and the poor is widening rapidly, and a new class of wealthy people has emerged in society. Although universities and research institutions still have the guarantee of a stable income regardless of circumstances, the food served in their "iron rice bowl" has remained unchanged for many years, much like the food in the USTC cafeteria—tasteless but not worth throwing away.

In this situation, some brave individuals took the lead and ventured into business. They used their knowledge to either start their own businesses or join well-run companies, thus securing a comfortable life for themselves.

The success of these people has attracted more people to follow suit, and has also made those who do not have the courage to take the plunge feel envious, jealous, bitter, and frustrated.

The idea that studying is useless has become popular throughout society. Some researchers complain on various occasions, and some university teachers even publicly advise students not to do scientific research in the future, saying, "Don't end up like me."

Xu Yun's family was well-off; treating Gao Fan to three stir-fries was no problem for him. Don't laugh, in 1985, it was very rare for a student in a university to be able to treat someone to three stir-fries in a row. In Gao Fan's own dormitory, only Pan Chang, the "Jingye," could do that.

Because of his family's financial situation, Xu Yun wasn't in a particular hurry to start working and earning money. Instead, he had planned to pursue a master's degree since the beginning of his university studies. Incidentally, he has already been recommended for admission to the graduate program in his department and will only have to wait until September to change his white school badge to orange-red.

But faced with the discordant voices around him, Xu Yun's resolve wavered. He suddenly felt that continuing his studies seemed to offer no hope.

“The professor who taught us condensed matter physics is very talented, and I have a good relationship with him. Last week, I went to his dormitory to ask him some questions, and we chatted for a while. He said he was feeling very depressed,” Xu Yun said.

Why are you so distressed?

"He's getting married."

"Oh, I see, that's called pre-wedding jitters."

"His fear wasn't of marriage itself, but of the demands placed on the woman's family. Have you ever heard of the saying 'forty-eight legs'?"

"Of course I've heard of it. It's just something like, 'Big wardrobe, small wardrobe, medium wardrobe, high and low cabinets, dressing table, writing desk, electroplated round table set up, six folding chairs, set it up and you can play cards,' which was mentioned in a crosstalk performance."

Xu Yun laughed. He had heard this crosstalk before; it was about the extravagant weddings of young people these days. The inability to afford marriage wasn't a new phenomenon.

"No money?" Gao Fan finally understood.

The junior faculty members at the university are definitely those who went through undergraduate and graduate studies before directly entering the university workforce; some might even be graduates of the University of Science and Technology of China itself. Given a university professor's income, it's indeed very difficult to accumulate enough furniture with "48 legs" after only a few years of work.

Gao Fan sighed. He knew that the plight of university teachers was only just beginning; the most difficult time would come in the early 90s. At that time, universities would have to pull out all the stops to generate revenue in order to retain the last remaining faculty and staff.

(End of this chapter)