1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 681 The Low-Key Old Li
Li Changhe chose the perfect date for his banquet, which was on a weekend.

On this day, three buses slowly drove into the Beijing Institute of Technology.

"What's going on? Are some departments here for a visit?"

Inside the school, some students who witnessed this scene curiously asked the people next to them.

The main issue is that these high-end buses are quite rare.

Most of the vehicles that arrived were old-fashioned minibuses; these high-end buses were clearly reserved for people of a very high social standing.

"I heard that Professor Li's family had a grandson, that is, the famous Li Changhe had a son, so today is the day they are holding a banquet. I guess they are here to recruit teachers from the school."

"Hey, speaking of which, I heard that Li Changhe was assigned to the Writers' Association?"

"Isn't the Writers' Association good? It's less work, higher status, and more comfortable. I dream of joining the Writers' Association."

"The Writers' Association is good, but I feel it's not quite suitable for Li Changhe. With his abilities, it seems like a waste of his talents to join the Writers' Association."

"It's probably a personal choice. After all, someone like him would be suitable for any organization. Maybe he chose the Writers' Association himself."

A group of people looked at the bus and discussed it curiously.

Meanwhile, in front of the teaching building office, a group of teachers who had been waiting there looked at the luxury bus in front of them with surprise on their faces.

These buses are business buses that the Jianguo Hotel just imported from abroad. They are usually used to transport foreign guests. For many teachers, it is quite novel to be picked up and dropped off by such high-end buses when attending a banquet.

"These are all services provided by the hotel itself. We booked their banquet hall, and they offered to pick us up and drop us off. Everyone, get in the car."

Li Lishan then spoke reservedly, before gesturing for his colleagues to get into the car.

"Hey, Lao Li, didn't you invite Principal Zhang and the others?"

A sharp-eyed teacher noticed that there were no school management personnel present and curiously asked Li Lishan a question.

Li Lishan smiled and said, "Of course we'll invite them. Principal Zhang and the others will be taking another bus with Lao Zhu later. We'll head out first."

Li Lishan definitely invited the school's management team, and they all readily agreed.

Compared to the teachers, the school's management actually knows more information.

They knew very well that Li Changhe wasn't unassigned to a good unit; rather, all the good units he applied to transfer to had their applications rejected by higher authorities.

Then Li Changhe was assigned to the Writers' Association.

For school administrators who frequently deal with classified information, this move immediately revealed some of the underlying reasons.

After all, the Institute of Technology is a semi-military unit closely related to the military, undertaking many military research tasks. Therefore, as the school's senior officials, their vision is more discerning than that of ordinary people.

This is clearly a cover-up, and it's likely that ordinary people, or even ordinary organizations, are not qualified to know Li Changhe's true whereabouts.

Moreover, there's something most teachers at the school don't actually know: Li Lishan has already been selected for this year's academic committee.

As is well known, after the Chinese Academy of Sciences expanded its membership by nearly 300 members in 1980, it almost stopped expanding its membership. The number of members released each year is extremely limited, and it is a piecemeal approach to recruitment.

Therefore, the scarcity of these positions has become a driving force for many professors to advance.

Now, the school has been implied by higher authorities to add Li Lishan to this year's list of academicians. This addition without any reason is definitely not due to Li Lishan's academic ability.

After all, although Li Lishan's academic ability is outstanding, he is too young, only in his fifties. To be honest, it is acceptable for him to be promoted to professor, but it is a bit exaggerated for him to go directly to the Ministry of Education.

But the reality is, that's exactly what they're going to do.

The reason for this is clearly not Li Lishan's fault. After all, they have seen Li Lishan's daily performance, which can be described as excellent, but he has not yet achieved any notable results.

Therefore, the answer is obvious.

They had heard some of the rumors circulating at school, but they just laughed it off. After all, the sense of accomplishment of being the only one who was sober while everyone else was drunk was quite interesting to them.

Moreover, Li Changhe's arrangement is clearly unusual and likely involves confidential information, so they wouldn't bother to publicize it to him like a megaphone.

However, these high-ranking officials were also curious, so after learning that Li Changhe had invited the children to a banquet today, they all decided to go.

They also wanted to see what state Li Changhe was in now.

What puzzled the school's administration was that when they arrived, they didn't see Li Changhe, but instead encountered some "acquaintances."

"Chief Liang? Chief Shen, what brings you here too?"

Principal Zhang was somewhat surprised to see the two deputy directors from the city government.

“Principal Zhang, Li Changhe is my nephew, and Li Lishan is my brother-in-law. Today, I am the most important guest here!”

Shen Yuchuan said with a smile.

Since they are all located in the capital, the senior management of these schools have close ties with the Beijing Municipal Government, and therefore they all know each other.

"So that's how it is. No wonder you have this connection with Chief Shen, Lao Li!"

"What about you, Chief Liang?"

"Haha, Principal Zhang, Comrade Changhe and I are very good friends, so I am here at the banquet today as a friend."

Liang Qun said with a smile.

really!

Principal Zhang wondered to himself, "Is it reasonable for a deputy director of the capital to be friends with a Peking University graduate?"

"Tamagawa!"

Just then, a loud and energetic shout came from the side.

Principal Zhang looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man in military uniform walking over with a powerful stride.

The newcomer was wearing a green military uniform and looked very tall. Most importantly, his jacket had four pockets.

This is now the main difference between military officers and ordinary privates, because the military reformed its uniforms 15 years ago, and the only way to distinguish them is by the number of pockets on their jackets.

The difference between two pockets and four pockets.

Then, the uniform material for officers at the school level and above was woolen fabric, which is the kind of woolen fabric often seen in historical novels!
The person who arrived was indeed wearing clothes made of an unusual material.

“Mantang, you’re here. Come, let me introduce you. This is Principal Zhang from your brother-in-law’s school.”

"Principal Zhang, this is my cousin Liu Mantang, who is now an officer in the Beijing Military Region."

Shen Yuchuan greeted Principal Zhang with a smile as he introduced the situation.

After hearing this, Principal Zhang was somewhat surprised.

Unexpectedly, Li Lishan has quite a few powerful relatives, all of whom hold high positions.

"Comrade Mantang, hello!"

"Principal Zhang, please don't be so polite. You are a senior colleague. If you don't mind, you can just call me Mantang. Our unit will rely on your Industrial College a lot in the future, and we will be dealing with each other frequently."

Liu Mantang then said with a smile.

His promotion means a corresponding upgrade in the status of his special forces unit. The benefits of this promotion include improved equipment standards, allowing them to serve as an experimental unit for the entire army, forging a new path. Much of the technical training will inevitably involve collaboration with the Beijing Industrial College, particularly in areas like radio engineering, where the college is a leader.

While the group was chatting, Li Lishan walked in with a group of colleagues.

"Wow, this is the lobby of the Jianguo Hotel. It's really high-class."

"Hey, look, isn't that Principal Zhang?"

"Principal Zhang and the others arrived early?"

"Wow, that's incredible! Do you know who those people were chatting with Principal Zhang?"

"Both deputy chiefs from Beijing are young, promising and have a bright future."

Someone who knew Shen Yuchuan and Liang Qun suddenly sighed at this moment.

At the same time, they were also curious: wasn't this Li Lishan's banquet to celebrate his grandson? Why were these two deputy S chiefs here?

Could it be that we met by chance while on official business?
"Please find a table and sit wherever you like. I'll go and say hello to Principal Zhang."

Li Lishan also saw Principal Zhang and his group, then told his colleagues and walked over.

Some teachers were speechless as they watched Li Lishan walk away.

"Is Principal Zhang chatting with the two deputy directors? Wasn't Old Li being reckless?"

"Which Director Shen are you referring to? Is it the man in the gray Zhongshan suit?"

At this moment, Professor Wang, Li Lishan's upstairs neighbor, frowned and asked.

The teacher who knew the two deputy directors immediately nodded and said, "That's right, that's Director Shen!"

"Then that's it. That's Old Li's brother-in-law, and the one in the military uniform is also one of his relatives. I heard he's a high-ranking officer in the army."

"Anyway, they go to Old Li's house for the Spring Festival every year. I've seen them a few times, but I didn't know that the guy surnamed Shen was actually the deputy director!"

Professor Wang said with a smile, while glancing at the others.

He had heard some of the rumors circulating at school, but he couldn't defend Li Changhe because he didn't know how to start.

But he knew that Li Changhe was a very nice young man. He was usually very polite when he met him, and when his nephew got married last time, Li Changhe arranged a car for him without saying a word.

Professor Wang has always remembered this kindness.

Now he's finally got his chance.

Upon hearing Professor Wang's explanation, the group of people who had initially been gloating were now quite surprised.

"Really? Old Li has this kind of connection?"

"I've never heard Lao Li mention this before. Wait a minute, I remember his brother-in-law works at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, right?"

Someone asked with a skeptical tone.

Professor Wang smiled and said, "Shen Zhongyun is Comrade Yuxiu's cousin, while that Director Shen is Comrade Yuxiu's younger brother."

"Old Li is usually a low-key person and doesn't make a fuss about these things. You see, I've been his neighbor for so many years, going up and down the same floor. I also see that Director Shen often, but I didn't know he was Director Shen before!"

Upon hearing Professor Wang's statement, the group of people expressed their agreement.

Li Lishan was indeed quite low-key at school.

Actually, it's not necessarily true that people harbor much malice towards Li Lishan, since it's not like they have any deep-seated hatred for him.

It's simply that some people felt a pang of jealousy before seeing the decline of Li Lishan's genius son, and now they can't help but show it.

For a long time, Li Changhe was a role model among the children of teachers at the Industrial College, truly the kind of child that many families admired.

Especially when compared to their own good-for-nothing son, the sense of disparity is simply unbearable.

After learning that Li Changhe had been assigned to a mediocre unit, some people finally found some psychological balance and sometimes let it out unintentionally.

"Alright, let's find a place to sit down first. This is actually my first time at the Jianguo Hotel. I guess I'm just taking advantage of Changhe's presence here."

Professor Wang then smiled and led the group toward the dining table in front.

On the other side, Shen Yuchuan saw that more and more people were coming in, and then said with a smile, "Let's go, let's go to the rooms first. Changhe has reserved a few private rooms here, let's go and sit down first."

"Otherwise, when there are more people, it will be troublesome just to say hello."

"Alright, but Yu Chuan, we've been talking for so long, where's today's main character?"

"Why hasn't Changhe shown up yet?"

Principal Zhang then asked with a smile.

He also wanted to greet Li Changhe and see what secrets this kid might have.

"Principal Zhang, please don't be offended. Changhe can't come today. As his uncle, I'm practically the host today. I'll have a good drink with you later, Principal Zhang."

"The main reason is that Changhe also booked a table at the Beijing Hotel. Some of the older comrades are not suitable to come to the Jianguo Hotel, so they stay there because it's closer. He has to keep busy there."

Shen Yuchuan said apologetically.

Upon hearing Shen Yuchuan's explanation, Principal Zhang felt a chill run down his spine.

Strictly speaking, these people are already at a fairly high level, but now they are at the Jianguo Hotel.

What does it mean that the Beijing Hotel booked a separate table for them but did not invite them?
That means they don't deserve to be at the table!
What level of banquet would that be?

Thinking about the location of the Beijing Hotel, Principal Zhang couldn't help but feel a little suspicious and looked at Liang Qun with curiosity.

At that moment, Liang Qun also happened to be looking at him.

"Principal Zhang, please don't take offense. It's mainly because those people over there are mostly older comrades who really like Comrade Changhe, so they arranged for him to be there."

"Let's not join in the fun. We'll just have a nice meal and drinks in this private room."

Principal Zhang thought Liang Qun would be suspicious, but to his surprise, the other party seemed to know everything.

The other person's posture clearly conveyed the message that he himself was not worthy of being at the table.

The three words "veteran comrade" sum everything up!
Thinking of this, Principal Zhang let out a sigh of relief.

My guess was right; Li Changhe's assignment to the Writers' Association was probably just a smokescreen.

However, I mustn't say anything more about this.

"Let's go, we're going to have a good drink with you two today."

Afterwards, Principal Zhang happily followed Shen Yuchuan and the others to the private room.

Meanwhile, at the main entrance, Chen Kaige, accompanied by the clean and tidy Tian Zhuangzhuang, as well as Zhang Yimou and the others who remained in Beijing, arrived at the entrance of the Jianguo Hotel in a grand procession.

(End of this chapter)