Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 263 Chemical Engineering
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Yan Hui prepared to visit President Han's home to offer his New Year's greetings.

In Shandong Province, there are many customs regarding New Year's greetings. On the first and second days of the Lunar New Year, there are specific rules for visiting relatives and friends. Logically speaking, Yan Hui shouldn't have gone to Mr. Han's house to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but he didn't know that. He went there with gifts and was turned away at the door.

Mr. Han went back to his hometown to pay New Year's respects to his father. His driver and nanny were not there, and there was no one at home.

Yan Hui was puzzled by his failed attempt to offer New Year's greetings, but he didn't know who to ask for help, so he could only take the gifts home alone.

For the next few days, Yan Hui came over every day until the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, when President Han finally returned.

Even President Han was somewhat surprised: "How did you know I was coming back today?"

"I don't know. I come here every day," Yan Hui said somewhat embarrassed. "I'm not very familiar with the customs of Shandong Province."

"No need, no need. In Shandong Province, people usually go back to their hometowns for the New Year. My hometown is Laiwu, which isn't far. I've been too busy with work, so I came back first." General Manager Han briefly explained the New Year customs in Shandong Province to Yan Hui.

"I see. However, I should be going home for the New Year after this year, and I'll wish you a Happy New Year when I get back." Yan Hui nodded.

"The thought is what counts." President Han was quite pleased.

Yan Hui is very sensible, and it's really hard for him to find fault with him. Today, he taught Yan Hui some New Year's greeting customs in Shandong Province, which was the first time he taught Yan Hui something.

"That's only right." Yan Hui nodded.

Yan Hui simply said "It's only right," and that's how it's been going on ever since. From 2000 until now, more than 20 years later, every year during the Spring Festival, Yan Hui would bring gifts to visit President Han, even though his assets have long since surpassed President Han's. He has remained steadfast in this commitment year after year.

Mr. Han was the first true benefactor Yan Hui encountered. Yan Hui understood this clearly at the time because his vision far surpassed that of his peers. He could see it, so he knew how to cherish it even more.

Mr. Han returned early, but the driver hadn't come back yet. Yan Hui had been Mr. Han's driver for the past few days and had even learned how to drive a Mercedes-Benz.

Yan Hui then realized that President Han's so-called early return for business was actually a visit to deliver gifts and have dinner.

Although he had never been a professional driver, Yan Hui was always very meticulous. Every time President Han went in for a drink, he would warm a cup of honey water in a thermos and give it to President Han when he got in the car.

Being a driver means not asking what you shouldn't ask and not listening to what you shouldn't listen to. Yan Hui completed his task admirably over the past five or six days, until the driver returned after the New Year.

Originally, President Han planned to call the driver back as soon as possible, but because of Yan Hui's presence, he was in no hurry. He found that Yan Hui could easily handle the job of a driver. If it weren't for the fact that Yan Hui had a wider range of opportunities to pursue, he would have wanted to keep Yan Hui by his side as a driver.

After Mr. Han's driver returned, Mr. Han told the driver to learn more from Yan Hui, which left the driver completely bewildered.

You see, a leader's driver is usually a trusted confidant with a high status. For President Han to say something like that implies that Yan Hui's status is even higher than his, which is hard to imagine. But the driver was also a shrewd man; he immediately shook hands with Yan Hui politely and complimented him.

Yan Hui, of course, wouldn't let himself be taken advantage of. He was even more polite, showering the driver with compliments and making sure the man didn't get the better of him. After the driver returned, Yan Hui no longer needed to follow President Han, which freed him up. When he had nothing to do, he often hung out with Han Xiuwen. Since there wasn't much business during the Chinese New Year period, Yan Hui took the opportunity to become Han Xiuwen's driver.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Han Xiuwen had already started his extra classes.

The physics teacher who taught Han Xiuwen was a 21-year-old undergraduate student from Shandong University named Fu Wen. She was a very intelligent girl with an unconventional teaching style, which Han Xiuwen liked very much.

The person lecturing Han Xiuwen on chemistry is quite impressive. This guy is actually a PhD from Beijing University of Technology, currently on an exchange program at a company in Jinan. His name is Chen Jian, and he's a second-year PhD student. Apparently, his boss is a high-ranking executive at a company in Shandong Province. Yan Hui was a little confused, not understanding what Chen Jian meant by "boss."

Chen Jian works for a chemical company that also supplies Jian'an Group. General Manager Han asked the boss here to help find someone to teach his child chemistry, and the boss here arranged for Chen Jian.

Upon hearing that Chen Jian was a PhD, President Han was overjoyed. People in Shandong Province value academic qualifications highly and believe that a high degree is more important than anything else, so he was certainly unwilling to give up this opportunity. He gave Chen Jian a good amount of money for tutoring so that he could teach his son properly.

Yan Hui sent Han Xiuwen to Fu Wen's place, and basically didn't need to worry about him anymore. He could read his own novel outside without any problems. Fu Wen and Han Xiuwen got along very well, and Han Xiuwen was making rapid progress. After a few lessons, he had already understood many physics principles and had started doing experiments with her.

But Chen Jian is in trouble.

Chen Jian got hold of the junior high school chemistry textbook and told Han Xiuwen that many things in the textbook were wrong, which almost caused Han Xiuwen's beliefs to collapse.

Middle school students rarely question textbooks, let alone textbooks they haven't studied before.

Yan Hui couldn't stand it anymore, so he spoke with Chen Jian alone and asked Chen Jian to just teach Han Xiuwen from the textbook.

Chen Jian was also helpless. As he was talking, he wanted to say, "The textbook's stipulation is inaccurate," but after looking at Yan Hui, he could only swallow the rest of his sentence.

Chen Jian spoke with a sense of helplessness, and Han Xiuwen listened with the same helplessness. He had a strong aversion to chemistry and had come to study with them five or six times, but he still couldn't memorize even the basics of sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium, and calcium.

The key issue is that when Han Xiuwen raised this problem with his father, President Han did not, as before, help him change teachers, but instead told him to be patient, listen carefully, and study hard.

Han Xiuwen asked Yan Hui for help, but Yan Hui didn't dare to say anything. He had heard President Han say that this PhD was very remarkable, and that he had invited him by pulling strings. President Han had said things like "he is a PhD" several times.

Yan Hui knew that if he also denied the professor's claims, President Han would be displeased. Did Yan Hui, with his limited chemistry knowledge, have the right to deny the work of a chemistry PhD?
So, for a while afterward, Yan Hui began to act as a "translator." When Chen Jian gave lectures, he would listen along and then explain to Han Xiuwen, who was able to learn it with some difficulty.

In terms of character and conduct, Chen Jian was far inferior to Yan Hui. After several encounters, Chen Jian found that Yan Hui was a decent person. Subsequently, the three of them communicated and learned more and more smoothly, and Han Xiuwen gradually began to grasp the basics of chemistry.

Yan Hui's understanding of chemistry had also completely changed. He now deeply respected the "doctorate" degree and began to understand that the chemical formulas learned in junior and senior high school were basically just laboratory demonstrations; actual industrial production was a completely different matter.

Chemical engineering and chemistry are not the same thing.

(I've been quite busy, sorry I'm done updating)
(End of this chapter)