At that time, college students belonged to an extremely small elite group and enjoyed a much higher status than they do in the modern era.
Take Wang Hao, for example. His family had been so poor they were practically reduced to selling blood.
So why had they continued to support him?
Because getting him through college could genuinely change the fate of the entire family. Generally speaking, unless absolutely forced to, anyone who managed to get into college would never give up before obtaining their diploma—
That is, unless the person doing the recruiting was Su Ning.
And unless the job had nothing to do with penicillin.
It was no exaggeration to say that the students who were selected now regarded the professor as their parents reborn. They were so excited they could barely speak coherently. Put simply, after studying so hard for so many years, people sought employment for no more than two things:
Fame or profit.
Su Ning’s lavish generosity was just as widely known as her awful personality.
As students at this university, they happened to know a little more than outsiders did. Su Zhenzhu was merely a student, yet everyone from the cafeteria aunties serving food to the university president and department heads greeted her with smiles and addressed her as “Student Su.”
Why?
Because of money.
Not a few thousand or ten thousand yuan, but a full several hundred thousand!
Everyone at the university knew where the money came from: the renovation of leaky, mold-ridden dormitories; the cheap meat dishes served in the cafeteria once a week; advanced scientific instruments; imported materials…
Wang Hao and his classmates continued corresponding with one another.
The benefits went without saying.
The salary was high, there were generous subsidies, food and lodging were provided, and families living in Beiping could enjoy all sorts of invisible perks. It could truly be said that when one person took the job, the whole family would have nothing to worry about.
More importantly, there was the penicillin. Anyone with even a little sense knew how many benefits one could gain from having even the slightest connection to it. And since the factory had only just been established, anyone who joined would become a founding employee. The prospects were limitless.
Hearing the student speak so enthusiastically about it, the professor shook his head helplessly.
“The factory doesn’t even exist yet. Where are you planning to report for work? Besides—”
He glanced at the student and snorted.
“I’ve only submitted your name. Whether Miss Su takes a liking to you, and whether you actually have what it takes to do the job, are both still unknown.”
“Yes, yes.”
The student gave an embarrassed smile, then earnestly thanked the professor before leaving. His footsteps were noticeably lighter than before. Not long afterward, an uncontrollable cheer rang out from outside.
“Young people really can’t keep their composure.”
Though he said that, a smile had appeared on the professor’s face as well.
This was penicillin, after all.
Who could possibly keep calm?
If he weren’t reluctant to give up the university’s generous research funding and if the recruitment this time had been for researchers, he might even have gone to recommend himself. Since he couldn’t go personally, he could at least fight for the opportunity on behalf of his students.
He called the next student in for an interview.
“There’s a job opportunity…”
Word could never be kept under wraps.
Before long, the news spread throughout the entire university. Everyone was energized, and the excitement showed signs of spreading beyond the campus as well.
Su Ning was looking for people to work, not doing charity.
Those without relevant majors were out.
That eliminated more than half of the applicants.
As for lower-year students, they were still building their foundations. They could come back in a few years.
Another group was eliminated.
Then again, there were always slackers. Those lacking ability were rejected as well. Su Zhenzhu was extremely strict about this. Bribes and appeals to personal feelings were both useless.
In the end, there weren’t many qualified candidates—not enough to fill all the positions.
When the universities elsewhere heard the news and began watching eagerly from the sidelines, they immediately realized how serious the situation was. Universities across the country were one big family, after all. They had to lend a hand.
Here, look at me! Look at me!
We can fill the vacancies!
The local university: “...What?”
No, wait. Since when were we all one family?
Although no one had actually stolen the opportunity from them, some students still felt uncomfortable seeing the chance they had thought they would monopolize divided among other schools. In private, they couldn’t help saying that Su Zhenzhu was too heartless. They were all fellow students—couldn’t she be a little more lenient and lower the standards?
“Why are all useless people the same? Whenever things don’t go their way, they blame everyone but themselves,” Su Zhenzhu said, puzzled.
They never looked for the cause within themselves. If they fell, they blamed their companion for running too fast and not waiting. If they failed an exam, they blamed the teacher for setting questions that were too obscure and difficult. If there was truly no one else to blame, they could even blame Heaven and Earth, or their ancestors underground for being useless and failing to protect them.
In short, they were never at fault.
After saying this, she turned to the person who had come to “caution” her with such a worried expression and spoke unhurriedly.
“My cousin entrusted me with something this important.” Her smile was sweet. “I have to complete it perfectly, don’t I? The standards are right there. They can’t meet them, and they don’t have the ability to get around the rules through back doors. Instead, they blame me for refusing to show mercy?”
“They were just carried away by their emotions for a moment. They haven’t thought things through…”
“Carried away by their emotions?”
Su Zhenzhu echoed the words with a cold laugh.
“So what? Before speaking, they should at least think about what they are. In my opinion, that’s simply stupidity.”
“Stupid and incapable—how are people like that qualified to remain in a university?”
She picked up her bowl and ate, then put it down and began cursing.
“Then let them get out!”
The person who had come to warn her was left completely dazed. Did she mean that the students were going to be expelled? He hurriedly tried to say that it wasn’t that serious, but he had only just begun explaining when Su Zhenzhu interrupted him with a beaming smile.
“Oh, right. I should also thank you for coming to tell me. Otherwise, I’d have been so busy that I might never have known this was happening. Now that we can immediately stamp out this unhealthy trend, it will surely benefit the university. I’ll also make your contribution known to everyone.”
The man froze completely.
Su Zhenzhu had no patience for further nonsense. She directly “invited” the man out despite his frantic attempts to explain himself once he realized what was happening, then lowered her head and continued dealing with her work.
They still hadn’t recruited enough people.
But there was no need to worry too much. There were plenty of people eager to apply. They would have enough sooner or later.
The real problem was finding talent for the film industry.
Forget talent—even people working in that field were rare in the country. They also had to be young, outstanding, and meet all sorts of other conditions. Once all those requirements were combined, one could count the suitable candidates on one hand.
What Su Zhenzhu worried about most was failing to find anyone.
Although… her cousin was going abroad to make a film. She was worried and afraid.
But she was even more afraid of disappointing her cousin.
Her eyes flickered as her gaze fell on an inconspicuous name—
Zhou Tian.
……
“Zhou Tian!”
A furious roar sent flocks of birds flying. The middle-aged professor, whose hair had grown thin, glared wide-eyed. Only after noticing the strange looks from those around him did he lower his voice and growl:
“Wang Li has already agreed to take you on as his assistant and let you work with him. Now you’re saying you won’t go? Do you know how rare this opportunity is?”
“Plenty of people would kill for it,” Zhou Tian cut in.
He spread his hands.
“Uncle, how many times have you said that already? I could recite it by now. Yes, yes, penicillin is unquestionably a great invention, but this isn’t the kind of work I like. Besides, I haven’t touched any of that knowledge in years. They won’t want me anyway.”
“Nonsense.” Professor Zhou looked at him with exasperation. “I’ve taught so many students, and I’ve never seen anyone with more talent in this field than you. Only a few years have passed. Even if you’re rusty, it’s not as though you’ve forgotten everything.”
“That’s not necessarily true.”
In the end, Professor Zhou still failed to persuade his nephew. He angrily flung back his sleeve and declared that he would never bother with him again.
After watching the scene unfold, someone couldn’t resist asking around for gossip. Only then did they learn that the uncle and nephew were from a university in another region and had come all this way specifically because of the penicillin recruitment opportunity.
Oh, outsiders.
Someone immediately couldn’t help mocking them:
“From the way they’re talking, it sounds as if that nephew of theirs will definitely get in just because he wants to. Aren’t they afraid the wind will be so strong it’ll snap their backs?”
“Hey, this really isn’t his uncle boasting. The boy is genuinely a genius. He’s excellent at chemistry and related subjects—even I’ve heard of him. But somehow, he later developed a passion for movies and said he wanted to make a film that would go down in history.”
“What? Isn’t that just throwing away his future? And his family actually allows it?”
“They’ve scolded him and even beaten him, but he simply won’t listen. It’s not as if they can beat him to death.”
“I still don’t think it adds up. If he’s truly devoted to movies, why did he follow them to Beiping? Maybe he regrets his decision and is looking for a way to back down.”
“Wrong.”
An unfamiliar voice cut in. The gossipers looked up and froze—
Zhou Tian, who had come back to retrieve something and overheard everything, smiled brilliantly. Tilting his head up with confidence, he said, “I came to Beiping because there are more rich people here. Maybe one of them will be the patron who invests in making my movie.”
Everyone: …
They had been caught gossiping by the person they were talking about. Awkward.
But still…
He was a little too confident.
They couldn’t bring themselves to pour cold water on Zhou Tian, so they tactfully explained that although this was Beiping, Shanghai offered far more opportunities when it came to making movies. And as for wealthy people—the richer they were, the more demanding they tended to be. In reality, there really weren’t many potential patrons.
Zhou Tian was just about to speak when his uncle came hurrying over, gasping for breath.
Once he stopped, he could barely catch his breath. Looking at his nephew excitedly, he said, “Zhou Tian, quick, quick, quick! Come with me. Someone wants to invest in your movie!”
