Chapter 6: Linghu Chong II 6

  Zhu Cong is a very garrulous person.

  Linghu Chong originally thought he looked like Tang San from "Journey to the West", so he gave him the nickname Tang San. However, Linghu Chong gradually discovered that the nickname Tang San was completely inadequate to summarize Zhu Cong's characteristics, and later on, he gradually started calling him Old Zhu.

  Tang Seng is not very clever when he talks too much, while Zhu Cong is not only very logical but also good at quoting and extending his ideas to a high level of abstraction, discussing the rise and fall of dynasties past and present, and performing on the stage of national life. In international politics, there are many outstanding figures who speak like a mighty river that never stops flowing, and seem to be unstoppable like the Yellow River in flood. However, Lianhuachu has only seen one person who can take talking too much to its peak - Zhu Cong.

  Zhu Cong's extensive knowledge allowed him to elevate the topic of students looking at girls in the cafeteria to the manufacturing technology of atomic bombs, and then discuss the ranking of the Song Dynasty in global military power, the environmental pollution caused by atomic bombs, the harm of the Antarctic ozone hole, and the formation time of the Earth's North and South Poles... Finally, he even delved into a deep discussion of Hegel's "Lesser Logic". Whenever Linghu Chong and others accidentally visited other dormitories, they would push open the door to see a group of classmates sitting around with gloomy smiles, with Zhu Cong standing in the middle, one foot on a stool, spitting out words. At this time, they didn't dare to escape immediately, so they had to put on a smile and listen to the instructor's teachings. And then, one night was enough to bury them.

  Linghu Cong was annoyed by Zhu Cong, but he didn't think Zhu Cong was hateful. Although Zhu Cong was nagging, there were also times when he was generous and enthusiastic.

  Guo Jing and his dormitory, Linghu Chong and Yang Kang were two wine lovers. When they had nothing to do, they would buy 4 or 5 bottles of beer and a can of bean paste fish, sit together and boast. Zhu Cong sometimes happened to come over and drink some too. Zhu Cong was not good at drinking, after half a bottle, his head got hot, he felt like he went back to his university days ten years ago, and started to get familiar with the students, patting shoulders and talking heart-to-heart.

  Zhu Cong once said: "Actually, Dugu Qiubai is not good, old, not good! If I were the principal of Bian University, the branch school might have been built all the way to the Western Regions."

  Just because of this sentence, Linghu Cong felt that Zhu Cong was very understanding.

  However, the Zhu Cong that Linghu Chong knew was still just a superficial Zhu Cong.

  Zhu Cong was thirty years old that year, ten years older than Linghu Chong, and was not doing well in Bianjing.

  Speaking of those days, Zhu Cong was not without his glorious moments. From being a clever and even cunning undergraduate to ranking first in the national politics graduate program, and then co-authoring a bestseller during his PhD studies. With Zhu Cong's abilities, he should have long become an associate professor, sitting in a quiet office smoking cigarettes, occasionally waving his hand to direct his research students to read literature and write papers.

  But the bad thing is that he and others collaborated on a best-selling book. At that time, the publisher came to find the Department of Political Science, saying that they were preparing to publish a popular book that would discuss the current political disputes between the Song Dynasty and Mongolia in order to awaken people's sense of crisis, hoping that the Department of Political Science could send someone to help with the writing. Sun Bu'er, also known as "Old Lady" by Zhu Cong, came forward and said that he could help with the writing, but his name had to be listed first, and he wanted half of the copyright. The publisher was stunned, saying that this series has eight authors, if you take away half of the royalties, wouldn't the rest just get a small share? Sun Bu'er shook his head and said "then please leave".

  Zhu Cong's senior fellow Ke Zhen'e Lu Zi was very wild, and it just so happened that the chief editor of the publishing house was his wife's cousin. So Ke Zhen'e introduced Zhu Cong to him. At that time, Zhu Cong was still young, and with a sharp pen, he fiercely scolded the Mongols for their treacherous intentions towards our great Song Dynasty, secretly supporting the Jin State in occupying our land and seizing our market, which would lead to the loss of our nation and people if it continued. Later, this book became very popular, and Zhu Cong made a small fortune from it. Moreover, he was even seen by Dean Fang Zheng, who was delighted and said that our department really had some talented people, so he hired Zhu Cong as a lecturer at the school.

  Zhu Cong stayed in school as a lecturer, and while he was excited, he didn't know that Sun Er was watching him coldly from the side. Then Zhu Cong fell into a strange circle, where every semester's course scheduling never included him, government-supported projects never involved him, and even when offices were assigned, he got the one closest to the toilet. As a result, Zhu Cong had nothing to do but idle around, and at the next year's work summary meeting, Sun Er said that Zhu Cong didn't have any achievements this semester, and wasn't suitable for participating in major projects, so let the young people continue to hone their skills. So after another year of honing his skills, Sun Er continued to say that Zhu Cong hadn't made any contributions to key projects, still needed to lay a foundation, and shouldn't participate in this research center.

  Through exercise, Zhu Cong turned thirty. In the expensive city of Bianliang, he didn't even have a place to settle down. The school's dormitory was naturally not available to him, an idle person, and the cost of renting a house made his already meager salary seem even more pitiful. At his most difficult time, Zhu Cong had once moved seven times in half a year, all for a cheaper room.

  From the spring breeze to the autumn leaves to the winter snow, Zhu Cong has plenty of experience pedaling a tricycle. He went to rent a tricycle at a shop, and the old men pedaling the tricycles all said to Little Sun, "Look, university professors are different, their pedaling style is so orthodox."

  It's come to this, and Zhu Cong is still sharp and clever? Don't be ridiculous. He has a messy mop of hair that looks like it hasn't been combed in years, his clothes are loose and sloppy, and his leather shoes haven't seen a drop of shoe polish in months. Even the street vendors who shine shoes for a living don't dare to take on Zhu Cong's business, afraid that if they were to make his shoes shiny again, half a can of shoe polish would be wasted.

  The most ridiculous thing is that when Zhu Cong first came to the student dormitory, the floor leader didn't recognize him and thought Zhu Cong's appearance and clothes made him look too old for a student, but not dignified enough for a teacher. He looked more like a foreman on a construction site in Bianjing. So the floor leader stopped Zhu Cong and questioned him for five minutes until he took out his ID card. The floor leader still didn't believe it and glanced at the photo, saying "You look older than the person in this picture".

  Zhu Cong almost smashed his head against the wall at that time.

  Originally, Zhu Cong had gone that evening to chat with the students again, but Linghu Chong's appearance made Zhu Cong a bit uneasy. So Zhu Cong casually chatted for a few sentences and left, and Liang Fa and others who had originally prepared to sacrifice the whole night finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  When Zhu Cong came out of the building, he saw a man standing beside his bicycle outside the door, with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched, pacing back and forth.

  Linghu Cong originally intended to take his glasses and go to the library to watch a video, but we know that Linghu Cong is a poor guy who often doesn't have a penny on him. Although he still has some money in his dormitory drawer, he didn't want to run back to get it. Most of the people from other dormitories had gone out for self-study, and Linghu Cong didn't even have the opportunity to borrow money.

  As soon as he walked out of the dormitory, Linghu Chong really became a homeless wild fox. He wandered around, blown by the early autumn evening wind, and his whole body felt cold, so he could only shiver slightly and circle in front of the building.

  The dormitory head had run over several times to see him, and asked with concern: "Classmate, have you lost your bicycle?" which annoyed Linghu Chong.

  "Linghu Cong, Linghu Cong," Zhu Cong hastily called out to him, "Come on, let's go for a walk together."