In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 42: How can one not be moved by such “shameless” professors!
The corner of Li Rui's mouth twitched slightly, and he glared at Du Guowang coldly.

"..."

Director Du felt helpless.

Xie Wei took the opportunity to blackmail the principal into treating him to a midnight snack. What does this have to do with me?
Before he could speak, Li Rui took a deep breath and suppressed the hot blood rushing to his head.

Trying to make his tone sound calm, he said, "Xie Wei, what does proving the decontamination ability of AES have to do with eating?"

Obviously, the principal didn't want to treat.

Xie Wei's status was also downgraded from comrade to classmate.

How could Xie Wei know the true thoughts of the many bigwigs?

I'm already hungry.

After the experiment, Kang Yi brought me here and I stood there for more than an hour!
"Principal, the main functions of AES are cleaning, foaming, emulsification and resistance to hard water. After eating, use it to clean lunch boxes... or provide it to the cafeteria to wash pots and plates, and then you can test its effectiveness."

When talking about providing them to the school for washing pots and plates, Xie Wei felt a pang of pain.

If the canteen knew how useful this thing was, all my hard work for most of the day would have been in vain.

"Ah~ It's already half past ten."

Hearing that Xie Wei was not like the shameless Du Guowang and others who took the opportunity to ask him to treat them and blackmail him, Li Rui suddenly felt that Comrade Xie Wei was still an outstanding and progressive young man.

Not led astray.

I raised my wrist and it was already half past ten.

He couldn't help but glare at the department heads once again.

"???"

Many department chairmen were glared at out of nowhere and were confused.

"Let's go, it's really getting late. Xie Wei, don't follow them except for academics. I've delayed you a lot tonight, I'll treat you to a midnight snack."

Li Rui warned Xie Wei earnestly.

"Principal, what do you mean? Is there something wrong with my character? I don't accept it!"

"Slander! Blatant slander! Not having a midnight snack can't make up for my broken heart..."

"This is a double attack on life and spirit!"

"Principal, you can't slander Xie Wei in front of him out of thin air! Such a serious slander cannot be solved with a midnight snack!"

"..."

Xie Wei was dumbfounded.

Really.

The people in front of me are the core leaders of the school.

They are either department heads or graduate student supervisors, and are experts in their respective fields.

Are you throwing away your moral principles just for a midnight snack?

I'm afraid I have entered a fake Harbin Institute of Technology!

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. It's just a midnight snack. One stove, you pay for your own food coupons, 26 cents per person, go get your own lunch box, no waiting after the coupon expires!"

"Om~"

As soon as Li Rui finished speaking, the office was empty.

"..."

Xie Wei was stunned when he saw the department heads leaving like the wind.

This is really...

University professor?

As a technician, Xie Wei knew very well that university professors also received technical salaries, and that was the highest level salary, 322 yuan per month!
Even at the associate professor level, one receives a second-level technical salary of 278.5 yuan per month.

The department heads and graduate supervisors in front of me are at least at the associate professor level.

He receives such a high salary every month, but he only provides the principal with a meal at 2 cents per person, and he runs faster than the old ladies who get eggs from the supermarket.

My three views have been overturned.

"Principal, this..."

Only Xie Wei and Li Rui were left in the office.

It took Xie Wei a while to recover from his stunned state.

"Do you think they are particularly shameless, throwing away their moral principles for a meal worth 2 yuan?"

Li Rui asked Xie Wei with a smile.

"..."

Xie Wei wanted to nod, but he moved his lips and didn't say anything in the end.

I said, it's impolite.

"Ah~"

Looking at Xie Wei's expression, Li Rui knew his answer. He sighed heavily and motioned Xie Wei to go to the cafeteria with him.

Xie Wei picked up the glass bottle containing AES on Li Rui's desk.

I have been busy with this thing since noon until now. I can't forget it, otherwise I won't be able to get it back after tonight.

Go to the chemistry lab again?
Xie Wei didn't want to be tested by Kang Yi again, and then do the experiment under the resentful eyes of three graduate students.

Li Rui, who felt Xie Wei didn't move when he walked to the door, turned his head and saw his movements. His eyes were full of praise: Young people are good, they are steady and cautious! I didn't forget to bring the things to verify the effect because I was in a hurry to eat.

How could he know what Xie Wei was really thinking at the moment?
After Xie Wei left the door, Li Rui grabbed the light cord by the door with his backhand, "Snap~"

The office fell into darkness.

"The principal is so frugal?"

Xie Wei was surprised.

The all-night study room and the inner corridors of the dormitory building are all lit up at night even when no one is there.

"The school is short of funds, so we save every penny we can."

As if he knew what Xie Wei was thinking, Li Rui said softly as he walked, "Director Du and his friends are indeed behaving in a way that is not in line with their status. Their salaries are not low. The government gives the worst associate professor 278 yuan a month. If you only eat alone, even if you eat meat every meal, you won't be able to finish it!"

Xie Wei naturally understood.

"But they..."

"Not only them, but basically all the teachers and staff in the school are in this situation."

Li Rui's words surprised Xie Wei again.

"Have you ever been to the cafeteria to get food?"

In the corridor, Li Rui stopped and turned to ask Xie Wei.

Xie Wei nodded subconsciously.

“It’s a pretty big portion, isn’t it?”

A serving of braised pork at 2 yuan is more than a plate in a state-owned restaurant.

It's not just the quantity that's large.

Without waiting for Xie Wei's reply, Li Rui continued, "According to the original plan, the school still has many buildings that have not been completed... Now the department has no money, and the annual funding is limited. Most of the students in your two classes are educated youth, and the age range is very large. Some of them have already married and had children in the place where they were sent to work in the countryside before entering school. Although the school scholarships are distributed according to the students' family situation. The students who are already married and have children are the main labor force in the family. When they come to college, their families lose at least half of their income. They live frugally just to save some food coupons and money to send back to subsidize their families..."

"..."

Li Rui's words made Xie Wei understand why the professors cared so much about having a meal with the president.

Save your own money and subsidize students.

"Many of the learning tools distributed by the school were not funded by the higher authorities. For example, the slide rule that each of you needs to use costs several thousand dollars, and there are hundreds of new students, which costs several thousand dollars. The school can't afford it either. The ones you received were all bought by the teachers out of their own pockets..."

"what?"

Even though he was mentally prepared, how could Xie Wei not be shocked when he heard that even the slide rule was purchased by the professor and teacher with their own money?
A slide rule, also known as a logarithmic slide rule, is also called an analog computer.

It is not only used for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but also an indispensable tool in the calculation process of trigonometric functions, roots and powers, logarithms and exponential functions.

Even the trajectory of the spacecraft and the speed of the rocket need to be calculated using a slide rule.

Since the 70s, the old-fashioned slide rule, which has been replaced by electronic calculators in the West, has become a must-have for science and engineering students and even researchers in China!
Calculators with full functions that were commonplace decades later were definitely rare in that era.

A few years ago, in 74, the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully developed the first handheld calculator in China. However, due to issues such as the chip, it was not widely promoted in the market.

Even if it is sold, the price is definitely not affordable for ordinary people.

What’s more, in the era of coupons, ordinary people couldn’t buy it at all.

Even though calculators were available, slide rules remained an essential calculation tool for science and engineering students to study and research due to their high prices and poor schools and students.

It was not until the 90s that it was gradually replaced by cheaper calculators with more functions.

perhaps?

Can an electronic calculator be made?

Given Harbin Institute of Technology's foundation in computer and electronics, this shouldn't be a big problem, right?

You know, in 1955, Harbin Institute of Technology successfully developed the first analog electronic computer in China!
In 70, although aerospace-related majors and computer majors moved south with Harbin Institute of Technology for war preparation, when Shancheng University of Technology returned to Harbin Institute of Technology in August 73, some computer majors were also moved back.

"Don't worry, as long as you study hard, it will be the best reward for the school and teachers. We are all here to train you and make greater contributions to the country's construction and development, so that the country will become stronger and no one will bully us anymore!"

Seeing Xie Wei lowering his head in deep thought, Li Rui thought that he felt guilty because the professors had used up all their money to subsidize students, leaving him with trouble to eat.

I sighed in my heart: Young people are indeed easily moved.

"By the way, Principal, will the school pay for Director Du's trip to Rongcheng?"

When they were at Du Guowang's house, the couple were hungry and ate corn porridge and pickled cabbage. It turned out that they did it to save money.

But the journey from Chengdu to school, as well as the various expenses at Du Guowang's house, added up to dozens of dollars!
"He went there on his own. The school certainly won't reimburse him. It was all paid for by Lao Du himself."

"..."

Xie Wei was stunned.

This time I owe you a big favor.

(End of this chapter)