Rekindling the Youthful Era

Chapter 860 You're So Bad
"Old Pei, haven't you gone back yet?"

Secretary Cao led Li Luo forward, patted the leader of the Education Department on the shoulder familiarly, and greeted him warmly.

Upon seeing Cao Qiwen, the other person smiled and said, "My old classmate hasn't left yet, so naturally I won't leave first."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo suddenly realized that the two of them had such a relationship.

"And who is this?" Director Pei looked at Li Luo, seeing that he had been following Secretary Cao all the way, and assumed that he was a secretary or something newly promoted by Secretary Cao.

Upon hearing this, Secretary Cao smiled and gave a brief introduction, especially emphasizing Li Luo's achievements in the online literature field, as well as his talent in music, and finally mentioning "A Little Reunion".

This mention caused Director Pei to raise his eyebrows: "A Little Reunion? The one that was so popular last summer?"

"Yes, you've heard about it too?" Secretary Cao asked with some surprise. "I thought you never paid attention to this kind of thing."

“I don’t care about other TV series, but this ‘A Little Reunion’ is something else.” Director Pei looked at Li Luo meaningfully. “This work is on the latest batch of film and television recommendation lists from above this year.”

"I also watched it with my child, and there are indeed many commendable points that are very inspiring for parenting."

"I never expected to meet the author in person today. He's so young."

“Director Pei, you don’t know this,” Xu Rongsheng immediately chimed in, introducing Li Luo, “He’s still a student at Qian University.”

"Oh?" Director Pei raised an eyebrow again upon hearing this, somewhat surprised, then relieved. "That's right, it's quite normal for such an outstanding talent to be a graduate of our Qian University."

"Ahem..." Xu Rongsheng coughed twice upon hearing this and quickly explained, "Li Luo... hasn't graduated yet."

"Are you still pursuing a master's degree?" Director Pei asked curiously.

“He… is still a freshman in college,” Xu Rongsheng said helplessly. “When Li Luo wrote ‘A Little Reunion,’ he was a sophomore in high school.”

Upon hearing this, Director Pei's expression turned somewhat surprised, and he looked Li Luo up and down.

He originally thought that Li Luo looked so young, probably just because he looked youthful.

To achieve the results Secretary Cao mentioned, one must be at least twenty-five or twenty-six years old, right?

And now you're telling him he's still a freshman?!
He had seen many extraordinary geniuses, but it was truly rare to find someone as talented in multiple fields as Li Luo at such a young age.

No wonder Cao Qiwen kept him by her side...

Thinking of this, Director Pei's attitude towards Li Luo became even more lenient.

"Professor Xu and I are old acquaintances. Lao Pei, what are you two talking about here?" Secretary Cao knew the relationship between Li Luo and Xu Rongsheng's daughter, so he could see that Li Luo was concerned about things here.

So I went along with it and tried to do a small favor, acting as a go-between.

Director Pei didn't hide anything and waved his hand, saying, "It's nothing major. I was just talking to Professor Xu about the humanities and social sciences grant projects we've been working on for the past two years."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo's eyes flickered slightly. Recalling what Xu Rongsheng had told him earlier, his mind began to stir.

"Oh?" Secretary Cao was naturally not interested in this kind of thing, after all, it was an internal matter of the Ministry of Education and had nothing to do with his provincial writers' association.

But he still deliberately looked at Li Luo, trying to steer the conversation and get Li Luo involved naturally, "I remember Li Luo studied humanities and social sciences at Qianjiang University, right?"

“Yes.” Li Luo nodded with a smile. “Professor Xu is also the teacher of one of my required courses.”

"I, as an online novel author, also participated in his previous research on the field of online literature."

"I wonder if the project Professor Xu discussed with Director Pei this time is related to this?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Rongsheng naturally picked up the conversation: "There is a bit of a connection."

"The project mainly focuses on researching the employment directions of liberal arts students after graduation."

"This has been a major problem for us for a long time, and online literature is one of the areas we deal with."

"Yes." Director Pei nodded gently. "Professor Xu was just discussing this matter with me."

"The employment problem for university graduates is indeed becoming more and more severe year by year, but whether relying solely on a research center will yield any real benefits still needs further discussion and research."

"There is only one research project slot allocated to Qian University this time. We still need to investigate and analyze which direction to choose."

Qianjiang University has a long history, and even in the field of humanities and social sciences alone, there are many related research centers.

For example, Qianjiang University has four national-level key research bases.

There are as many as nine provincial-level key research bases.

The research project involved this time is Qianjiang University's tenth research center in the field of humanities and social sciences.

Although there are no strict regulations within the school, the planning of the research center is linked to the selection of the dean of the School of Humanities.

But basically, those who manage to secure research center projects are always the most promising contenders for the position of dean in that generation.

Unless the person is not interested in the position of dean, once they participate in the election, it is basically a done deal.

Now that Xu Rongsheng wants to win the position of dean, he must secure the only spot in this research center.

The areas he chose were mainly related to employment, which was quite pragmatic.

The other vice dean chose a topic related to cultural heritage and social development.

The other party has been deeply involved in this field for many years and is much more competitive than him.

So although Xu Rongsheng gave it a try, he was already mentally prepared for failure.

But at this moment, Li Luo stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and then introduced to the others: "I think Professor Xu's perspective may have some merit."

Because of the introductions given by Secretary Cao and Xu Rongsheng, Director Pei had a favorable impression of the young man in front of him. Since there was no urgent matter at the moment, he smiled and said, "Tell me about it?"

"That's how it is." Li Luo coughed and gave a brief introduction, "Because the affairs in online literature, music and film and television are too complicated, I set up a company to focus on the development of these businesses."

"Just recently, some of my friends were confused and uncertain about their future development, so I recommended some options to them to try out."

"Look."

As she spoke, Li Luo took out her phone and showed everyone some of Zhao Rongjun and Xu Yinghuan's Douyin accounts, as well as the Bilibili science popularization account that Cheng Xin and Bai Haoran were running.

"Both of these accounts were created by freshmen from Qian University."

"Especially the latter account, the two of them, as college students in the humanities and social sciences, often spend the whole day in the library just to produce a popular science video that is rich in content and detailed, but also easy to understand."

"They now have more than 80,000 followers, and the economic benefits that the account can provide are enough to support them."

“I think that with the wave of internet development, this may become a major career path for liberal arts students after graduation.” Director Pei looked at the two accounts recommended by Li Luo with great interest and made a general judgment: “That’s quite interesting, but the fact that these accounts can be built up is more of a coincidence.”

"I don't think this approach can be combined with research centers within universities; it would be quite difficult."

"Of course, what you said makes some sense, and it does have some reference value."

Li Luo knew very well that this was far from enough, but he didn't say anything more, only touching on the point and humbly agreeing with Director Pei.

After a brief exchange, the group said their goodbyes at the entrance of the hall.

……

After returning home, Xu Rongsheng drove with Li Luo and the others back to Tianlu Yaju, where they had dinner.

At the dinner table, the two brought up their previous topic again, and Xu Rongsheng asked, "Those two accounts you showed Director Pei today, were they set up behind the scenes by you?"

"I only contributed a small amount of effort," Li Luo shook his head. "I provided some direction, but they did all the specific work themselves."

"I see." Xu Rongsheng pondered for a moment, then continued, "I do find what you said interesting. If we were to actually do it, what are your thoughts?"

"Well," Li Luo thought for a moment, "I think in this day and age, internet thinking is very important."

"If we can introduce some relevant elective courses from the freshman year, then in the junior and senior years, students can choose whether or not to come to the research center for further study."

"The market for this sector is vast in the future. While the birth of the internet has eliminated countless old jobs, it will inevitably give rise to countless new ones."

"Isn't it better to let students realize this early on and get involved in the tide of the times sooner rather than to suffocate in the old era?"

"Nowadays, society is always criticizing those online celebrities, saying they are uncultured and low-class."

"If that's the case, why can't outstanding students with higher education, who are the successors of the times, participate in it?"

"I don't think people who can get into university are any less creative than others."

At this point, Xu Rongsheng fell into deep thought.

After the meal, before leaving, Xu Rongsheng said to Li Luo, "When we get back, I plan to come up with another version of the plan. I'll show it to you then, and we can discuss it further."

"Of course." Li Luo smiled as he saw Xu Rongsheng off. "If Uncle Xu can become the dean, I'll have more confidence to ask for leave in the future."

"You little rascal." Xu Rongsheng sat in the driver's seat, chuckling as he pointed at Li Luo, "Don't get your hopes up too high. There are still a few years to prepare when the dean is replaced. Even if you become the dean, you'll be graduating soon."

"What about this funding project? When will we expect to see the results?" Li Luo asked curiously.

"This is just to make an impression on Director Pei and get the project in the public eye. It's still a long way off before we can actually implement anything," Xu Rongsheng said, shaking his head. "I'll apply for a university-level research center project first."

"If the research center achieves good results in the future, it may have a chance to receive provincial funding."

"It will probably take another year or two for the results to come out."

"The investigation period is so long..." Li Luo sighed, feeling that this matter was really tiring.

However, in order to please his beloved father-in-law, Li Luo still put in his utmost effort.

"Uncle Xu, if you have any questions, just come to me anytime. I'll definitely help if I can."

"Heh, I won't stand on ceremony with you." Xu Rongsheng gave Li Luo a meaningful look, then waved goodbye. "I'm leaving."

After watching Xu Rongsheng drive away, Li Luo returned to her study on the second floor.

At this moment, Xu Youyu was already sitting in front of the computer, racking his brains over what he needed to write today.

Upon seeing Li Luo enter, he immediately asked curiously, "You've been talking to my dad for so long? Could it be that you were actually able to help in some way?"

"Just do your best and leave the rest to fate," Li Luo said with a smile. "Anyway, I'll help if I can. If it really works out, then I'll be the son-in-law of the dean of the College of Arts at Qian University. That'll be a good reputation."

"Go to hell." Xu Youyu rolled her eyes at him and kicked him. "You talk so easily, but who knows when you'll come clean with my parents? Watch out, they might come after you with knives."

"It's disheartening to hear Sister Yu say that," Li Luo said, pinching her ankle. "You'll definitely protect me then, right?"

"How could that be?" Xu Youyu smiled slightly. "Once you're hacked to death, Xixi and Zhusheng won't want you anymore, and then your corpse will belong to me."

Li Luo: "...Could you please not be so gloomy?"

"I didn't want to write my old book. I was just designing the content for my new book, so I gave it a try," Xu Youyu said, blinking.

"Does your new book contain such bizarre content?"

“Yes, haunted houses,” Xu Youyu said. “Or should I call them large-scale escape rooms? They’re pretty much the same anyway.”

"Don't do this kind of research, it sounds kind of creepy," Li Luo said, rubbing the goosebumps on his arm.

"Haha~ Now you're scared?" Xu Youyu laughed loudly. "Why weren't you scared when you wanted to have your cake and eat it too?"

"Cough... I'm scared, but it's not as terrifying as you described."

"Hmph~" Xu Youyu tucked her other foot into Li Luo's arms to warm it up. "Have you thought about how you're going to tell my parents?"

"Think about it."

“…Huh?” Xu Youyu was clearly stunned by the answer and didn’t quite understand.

She had originally planned that if Li Luo said he hadn't thought about it yet, she would say something to tease him.

The decisive answer she received instead made her a little flustered.

"A-Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Li Luo nodded and said. "I'll have to say it sooner or later, so I might as well say it sooner."

"This..." Xu Youyu blinked rapidly in a panic, her left hand instinctively gripping her right. "You, you tell me more, don't scare me."

"Want to know? I'm not telling you."

"No!" Xu Youyu exclaimed anxiously upon hearing this, tugging at Li Luo and saying, "Tell me quickly!"

"That depends on someone's sincerity."

"...You're so bad."

(End of this chapter)