Chapter 6: Linghu Chong II

  If we study Linghu Cong's ruling history in his freshman year of college, we will find that there are few tragic heroes in the world who have repeatedly fought and lost.

  He organized two trips in spring and autumn, with fewer than a third of the people following him. In winter, the department head ordered them to go to the office building to sweep snow, and Linghu Chong managed to grab nine strong men, but by the time they arrived at the office building, only two were left who hadn't had time to run away.

  The attendance rate of the dinner was as high as two-thirds. Linghu Chong spent a full two months to recover all the dinner fees, and no matter how he calculated, there was still a shortage of 70 yuan. After filling this gap with his own pocket money, Linghu Chong always hoped that next time he would find that the money he received had increased by more than 70 yuan, perfectly making up for his loss.

  Unfortunately, the discussion about choosing a new restaurant never stopped. Some said Sichuan cuisine, some said Cantonese cuisine, and some said roast duck again. Lao Denuo immediately declared, "I am Hui." Linghu Chong, this embarrassed class leader, had no way to find a restaurant that could satisfy everyone's taste, nor did he dare to despise the beliefs of his minority brothers. Therefore, the second gathering was always just hanging on Linghu Chong's schedule.

  In fact, this discussion continued until the day when Linghu Chong and his classmates had their last meal together, which means that in the entire four years, there were only two gatherings under the name of the whole class, marking a beginning and an end. Later, Linghu Chong admitted that perhaps it was true what Qiao Feng said: "People's hearts have already dispersed."

  These are not the most disturbing things for Linghu Cong, what makes him headache is the monthly issuance of food subsidies. The meager 45 yuan and 50 cents of food subsidy comes from the plan of the Great Song government to care about students' lives, which is issued by the department to the class leader, and then issued by the class leader to other students. What the students need to do is sign on a printed name list, and then take 45 yuan and 50 cents.

  Everything was still troublesome in Linghu Cong's hands. Liang Fa, Shi Dai Zi and others always rushed into Linghu Cong's dormitory at the moment when the lights were about to go out, saying "Get the money!"

  Linghu Chong took out a fifty-dollar bill and said, "Find change."

  "No!"

  Linghu Chong said: "Go get some change and come back."

  The other party said: "Let's start with fifty first, I'll take it apart and then find it for you."

  Linghu Cong had been a delivery boy several times, but he never did it again because he found that for the 4.5 yuan change, he had to chase after it for half a month, during which time he ran so much that he could have circled around Bianjing (the capital city) once.

  This miserable encounter was something that even Linghu Chong could tolerate, but Yang Kang couldn't. One of Yang Kang's greatest pleasures every night after Guo Jing came back with water was to boil a package of instant noodles, then cover the lid and wait for them to cook, much like a simple farmer watching his wheat grow. Yang Kang absolutely couldn't tolerate someone kicking open their dormitory door with a clang every time they were having a good time, and interrupting his anticipation with depressing words like "get paid".

  This situation lasted for two months before Yang Kang got thoroughly angry. Yang Kang ordered Linghu Chong to go out and study on his own every day, not allowing him to return until the lights were out, while he himself wrote a notice in red ink and posted it at their door:

  "Firstly, those who receive subsidies after 10 pm will be killed!"

  Secondly, those who receive subsidies without bringing cash will be killed!

  Thirdly, receiving subsidies cannot be used as an excuse to turn against us, violators will be killed!

  Fourth, waiting for the subsidy to be issued only takes five minutes. During this period, our house does not provide computer games to pass the time, so those who come to our house under the pretext of waiting for subsidies will also be killed!

  ……

  ……”

  They started teasing Liang Fa and the others, who would turn around and forget, still going to Lao Tzu's dormitory to get their allowance. However, they soon discovered that Yang Kang was actually a bit of a ruthless master. Yang Kang brought a kitchen knife and chopping board from home every day at 10 o'clock, and started chopping scallions for instant noodles with the knife and board clanging away. When Liang Fa and the others stepped inside, they often saw Yang Kang, Duan Yu, and several others surrounding the shiny knife, their eyes rolled back as if waiting for meat to be cooked. Meanwhile, Lin Hu was like a homeless little thief, hiding in a study room taking a nap.

  After two or three times, Linghu Cong was finally freed from the disturbance of the leading assistant. He was delighted and specially invited Yang Kang to have a quick meal at San Ge.

  Yang Kang munched on fried chicken while singing: "Relying on the chicken wings, I - love to eat the most, relying on it - never seen a class leader as disheveled as you."

  After some thought, Linghu Cong was also somewhat perplexed. He really couldn't understand how he, as a class leader, had ended up in this predicament.

  Linghu Cong did not have any specific political burden. At that time, the new party of Wang Anshi's faction was in power, and he didn't even bother to write an application to join the party. So, in the eyes of a few student members of the new party in the department, Linghu Cong was simply a grassroots mass. Linghu Cong was also happy to be his masses, which just happened to make it convenient for him to casually speak out against the policies of the Privy Council.

  Linghu Cong did not think of using the position of class leader to curry favor with the department, and then seek benefits. At that time, Linghu Cong was still proud and arrogant, thinking about going to Western Regions to get a degree in democratic politics, so he didn't consider staying on for further study.

  His bitter contract with Qiao Feng should have been lifted at the end of the first year, and Linghu Cong's own arrogance was also somewhat subdued. Linghu Cong had always thought himself clever and sharp since childhood, this cleverness and sharpness pent up in his belly really made him very depressed, so when he had the chance he must express it.

  At that time, Zhuge Wuhou was living in Nanyang as a farmer, saying that farming was happy and carefree, but his feet couldn't help running to the three mountains and five peaks to draw military maps. This is the same reason why Linghu Chong became a class leader. We can imagine that when Emperor Xian of Han visited Zhuge Liang three times, Zhuge Liang was secretly hiding in the bamboo forest outside the thatched cottage, excitedly thinking "it's finally my turn to take the stage". In contrast, the less fortunate Linghu Chong did not entice the Song Dynasty emperor to invite him out of retirement to assist, so he could only shrink back into being a class leader at the Imperial Academy to alleviate his boredom.

  Since the class leader didn't work out, Linghu Chong wasn't too concerned about it. He thought that maybe the position was too ordinary and couldn't reflect his intelligence, so when the second school year arrived, Linghu Chong prepared to hand over the burden of being class leader to a new leadership team. Anyway, he had already helped Qiao Feng with what he needed help with. Linghu Chong decided to organize a class meeting to hold an election.

  "Class meeting?" Gao Jianming heard Linghu Chong say to hold a class meeting, and was stunned for a moment. "Isn't it necessary? I'll give you my solemn vote, can you help me cast it?"

  "Is someone going to be elected?" Liang Fa said, "Can't you just continue as is?"

  Lauder also agreed: "Have fewer meetings and get more things done."

  "Cannot re-elect!" Lu Dahu pulled Linghu Cong, "Class leader, you must continue to work for the people. You can't abandon us, we will miss you when you leave."

  Linghu Chong turned his head to one side and said in a deep voice: "I suddenly have the feeling that I've boarded a pirate ship..."

  "It's not like I'm feeling anything," Lu Dàyǒu said with a wide grin, "you've been on the pirate ship for a long time."

  So Linghu Cong was still the class monitor. Although he didn't even have the ability to convene a single class meeting, everyone unanimously agreed on his reappointment. Linghu Cong himself didn't know whether to be delighted or helpless.

  The second year of Jia You in the Great Song Dynasty.

  After getting old, Linghu Chong often couldn't remember whether the emperor at that time was Yingzong or Shen Zong, because when he calculated his years in Bianjing, he always used a special chronology method different from both the solar calendar and the lunar calendar imperial era. That method is called Nianji.

  Linghu Cong always says: "When I was a sophomore in college..."

  Using this method of reckoning time, it was September of Linghu Chong's second year at university. That year was the hundredth anniversary of Bianjing University.

  When Linghu Chong was holding a rice bowl and standing with Yang Kang in the crowded flow of people, he suddenly realized that a festive atmosphere had somehow enveloped the entire Bianjing campus.

  Just like the day of reporting, each department hung up large flags fluttering in the wind. The two sides of the tree-lined path were filled with five-color T-shirts and down jackets printed with the logo of Bian Da University, while boxes piled up under the clothes, just like selling boxed lunches. Unfortunately, there was no braised beef that Linghu Chong liked in the ancient-style boxes, but there were things such as fountain pens and couple watches. The common feature of all these things is that they are relatively expensive, and they all have a small copper plate with the Bian Da University logo embedded on them. People either walked around in twos or threes, or formed a line to stroll back and forth.

  Everywhere there were sounds of laughter and conversation, for a moment Linghu Cong doubted whether he was really standing in the campus of Bian Da.

  "Good grief!" Linghu Cong muttered, "Why is it like a zoo? I always feel we're a bit like bears."

  "Don't drag me along if you want to be a bear, I'm not interested. And with your slender build, you're still pretending to be a bear, this is an insult to bears." Yang Kang smiled.

  "In the world of dog bears, there must be one or two with broad shoulders and slender waists. If they were all stout and rough, wouldn't that ruin the life goals of female dog bears?" However, Linghu Chong had a slender waist but couldn't be described as having broad shoulders. His ability to eat a lot without gaining weight was all thanks to the culinary skills of the chef at the Big Food Hall.

  "The day after tomorrow, there will be even more people, and the scene will be quite ordinary. For the 90th anniversary, we prepared for two years, and this time we prepared for five years, so it's not too much to get some people to come," said Yang Kang. He has seen the 90th anniversary celebration of Bian Daxue, although he was only nine years old at that time.

  "Five years?" Linghu Chong couldn't understand the plan of turning Bianjing into a zoo in five years.

  "It's always like this at every school anniversary." Yang Kang shrugged his shoulders.

  "What a waste of money! All the funds are spent on this!" Linghu Cong couldn't help but express his discontent, "How can the principal do such a thing?"

  Linghu Cong always thought that if he were the principal, Bin Da would immediately get rid of its lazy atmosphere. There wouldn't be so many people who eat but don't work, and they wouldn't spend all the education funds on superficial things either. In the end, everyone would be full of energy, the whole school would flourish, and after a few years, opening a branch in Xiyu to make money would also be feasible.

  In Lin Hu Dung's eyes, the principal was just a symbol, representing great power and high position. If he could become the principal, then the reform plans that had been brewing in his mind for so long could be put into practice.