Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 437 Failed to Snatch

In a meeting room on the second floor of the Education Department, Chen Fan was encouraging Liu Dan in the hallway outside.

"Relax, it's okay. The interview is probably just to test your English level. And with the current teaching conditions, it shouldn't be too difficult. If you perform normally, you should be able to pass. Like I said, be bold, careful, and calm. There's no problem you can't handle!"

In the corridor behind him, twenty or thirty examinees stood in two rows against the wall, looking at his back with awe.

A conversation entirely in English?
So awesome?
Liu Dan swallowed hard and said cautiously in English, "I know, but I'm a little scared because I'm the first one to go in."

Huang Ying patted her shoulder and sighed in fluent English, "I'm the second one. Does that give you some comfort?"

Chen Fan was also speechless. He should have driven slower on the way. He didn't expect that although they were not the first to arrive, the clerk in the Education Department knew him and, when they came to work, kindly sent the first two numbers to Liu Dan and Huang Ying.

They even have the audacity to say that the further you go, the better the teacher's mood will be, and the easier it will be to pass. If you wait until later, people's patience will run out, and their expectations will unconsciously become higher, which is disadvantageous to the test takers.

That makes sense, but why not send numbers 3 and 4 instead of 1 and 2? Don't you even consider the psychological impact on the two little girls?
At this moment, two middle-aged men in their fifties walked over, heard their conversation, and looked at Chen Fan with great curiosity.

One of them asked in English, "Are you here for an interview too?"

Chen Fan turned around and winked at them.

If he doesn't recognize himself, he's clearly not from the Education Department, and he's quite old.

Well, if they weren't today's interviewers, he'd dare to do a handstand right there.

So he quickly shook his head, then pushed Liu Dan and Huang Ying forward and said seriously, "Hello, I am not a candidate, they are."

The man glanced at the two of them, but kept staring at Chen Fan. "Who taught you English? You can't learn that authentic London accent just anywhere!"

Chen Fan immediately replied, "I learned it from an old educated youth, but he has already returned to the city, and we have lost contact."

You can't exactly say you learned it from the radio, specifically from Voice of America, because that's an enemy station!
However, it's true that quite a few people learn English through Voice of America these days. And back then, American radio broadcasts used standard London English. It wasn't until Hollywood rose to prominence that they gradually shifted to native American English.

When Voice of America was first established, it did not have English-language programs. In 58, the newly appointed Administrator of the Information Agency, George Allen, felt that "it was too fake and embarrassing." After that, Voice of America began to broadcast all its foreign language programs in English to strengthen listeners' trust in it.

It was from then on that English programs became available in China; otherwise, many children in China would not have had the opportunity to learn English through this method.

One of the consequences was that, subtly, many people from the 80s were influenced by this.

Ahem, let's not talk about that.

Anyway, it has now become an excuse for Chen Fan to hide his identity. If anyone asks where he learned his English, he can say it's from Voice of America.

It's just that there's no need to say it outright at this point, since it's easier said than said.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's answer, the teacher was momentarily speechless, but didn't say much. He simply gave Chen Fan a meaningful look, then turned to all the candidates and asked in English, "Who is candidate number 1?"

If you can't even understand Nanbowan, then don't bother coming to the interview; just go home, wash up, and go to sleep.

Liu Dan immediately raised her hand timidly, "I'm number 1."

The teacher was quite surprised and looked at her, asking softly, "What's your name, student?"

Liu Dan swallowed hard. "Hello teacher, my name is Liu Dan, and I come from Lujiawan Production Brigade, Nanhu Commune, Gufeng County, Yunhu District."

Upon hearing this, the two teachers' eyes lit up, and they exclaimed in unison, "You're Liu Dan?"

Then the two of them looked at Chen Fan together, "So you're Chen Fan?"

Chen Fan's eyes widened. Am I that famous?

However, the two teachers didn't say much, but just smiled and said, "Let's start with Liu Dan then."

After speaking, he glanced at Huang Ying again, nodded slightly, and walked into the conference room.

The dozens of examinees around Chen Fan whispered among themselves, thankfully without pointing or whispering, otherwise Chen Fan wouldn't mind showing them what a "street bull" was.

Only then did an clerk from the Education Office come over and stand guard at the door, ready to call out the numbers for the candidates behind.

The conference room door closed, and Chen Fan ignored the clerk guarding the door, pressing his ear directly against the door.

The clerk sighed, looking up at him speechlessly, then turned away as if he hadn't seen anything.

Inside the conference room, Liu Dan timidly pulled out a chair, about to sit down, when she suddenly remembered Chen Fan's instructions. She quickly took two steps back, bowed to the two teachers across the conference table, and said, "Hello, teachers."

Professor Liang from Peking University had just sat down when he saw Liu Dan bowing. He smiled and nodded, "Hello, please sit down."

After Liu Dan sat down, Professor Hu from the University of Foreign Trade took a box out of his pocket and pushed it in front of her, saying, "Open the box and randomly select ten cards."

Professor Liang gave him a disapproving look, as if to say, "This is a student from our school!"

Professor Hu smiled slightly and gave him a look: "From your school? The files haven't even been checked yet, it's still uncertain who will win!"

Professor Liang rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore this "petty person" for the time being, and looked directly at Liu Dan.

Liu Dan glanced at the two of them, opened the small box, inside was a stack of cards that looked like playing cards. She spread the cards out and randomly picked out ten.

Professor Hu had just opened his mouth when Professor Liang said in English, "Read the contents of these cards."

Liu Dan looked up. "Oh, okay."

Then, holding the cards, he read them aloud one by one.

She calmed down when she read the second page.

It's just a short essay, Teacher Chen taught it half a year ago, it's child's play!

As her nervousness gradually subsided, she read faster and faster, filling a page every minute or two, and soon finished reading everything.

Professor Hu immediately raised his hand and clapped, "Excellent! Who taught you English?"

Liu Dan was unaware that it was time for a Q&A session. Hearing Professor Hu's question, she assumed it was just casual conversation and relaxed even more, saying with a smile, "I learned it from Teacher Chen. I've been studying it for more than half a year!"

More than half a year?
Professor Hu couldn't help but glance at Professor Liang, only to find that he too looked completely dazed.

You've improved to this level in just over half a year? Are you sure you're learning English, or maybe Mandarin?

However, you definitely can't ask this kind of question, otherwise you'll look like you're ignorant.

Professor Liang then chatted with her about her family, the production team, and other trivial matters in her life, and so on.

So much so that Liu Dan didn't even realize she was being interviewed. Finally, Professor Liang suddenly asked, "Do you take notes when you study English?"

Liu Dan nodded immediately, "Yes."

She was about to reach for her schoolbag when she suddenly stopped, and said with an embarrassed smile, "My notes are in my schoolbag. The staff in the education department said that I couldn't bring any materials in, so I gave them to my classmate to hold for me."

Without hesitation, Professor Liang pointed outside and said, "Go and bring it in."

Liu Dan immediately got up and went out, then quickly came back in carrying a backpack, closed the door behind her, and took out the documents and placed them in front of Professor Liang.

Professor Liang flipped through it and was immediately drawn to the neat handwriting.

Professor Hu quickly joined in, his eyes lighting up as he turned to Liu Dan with a smile, "Liu Dan, have you ever considered applying to our University of Foreign Trade? Our university is the only one directly under the Ministry of Foreign Trade..."

Before he could finish speaking, Professor Liang covered his mouth and said to Liu Dan, "Congratulations! I hereby officially announce that you have been admitted to the Journalism program in the Chinese Department of Peking University. Peking University needs talents like you, and we will definitely..."

Professor Hu struggled to pull his hand away, shouting, "What's so good about reporting the news? Studying at the University of International Business and Economics can help the country earn foreign exchange and allow you to realize your own potential..."

Professor Liang covered his mouth again, his face ashen, and said, "If you dare to snatch someone again, I'll snatch Huang Ying from you!"

Professor Hu remained unyielding, saying, "Hey, what do you need foreign language talents for a journalism major? Such talents should go to the University of International Business and Economics."

Professor Liang: "Pah! If you dare to mess around again, I'll tell Old Wang that their Foreign Languages ​​University needs foreign language talent more than your Foreign Trade University!"

Professor Hu was so angry he was panting heavily. "You dare to inform Old Wang? If you inform him, I'll... I'll..."

He turned to look at Liu Dan, broke free from her grasp, straightened his clothes, and put on a smile again. "Young comrade, tell me yourself, do you want to apply to our University of Foreign Trade?"

After saying that, she glared at Professor Liang and said, "Shut up and let them choose for themselves."

Professor Liang moved his lips a few times, then fell silent, looking at Liu Dan with expectant eyes.

Liu Dan was stunned. It took her a long time to come to her senses before she murmured, "I've already filled out my application for the Journalism Department at Peking University."

Even her second choice was the journalism program at Beijing Broadcasting Institute, so how could she possibly study foreign trade?

Upon hearing this, Professor Liang immediately beamed with joy and gave a thumbs-up, exclaiming, "A wise choice!"

Professor Hu, however, was unwilling to give up and earnestly advised, "If it's just because you filled out the application, you can fill it out again!"

Liu Dan looked completely bewildered. Didn't Teacher Chen say "once you've placed your bet, you can't hold onto it"? Can the college application still be changed?

If she had known that Chen Fan had already asked Zuo Qiuping to find out about the application information for various universities, she wouldn't have thought that way.

That application form is just a piece of paper. As long as someone is willing to help, you can just fill it out on a different piece of paper. What's so difficult about that?!

Therefore, at this time, there are very few cases of impersonation, because there is no need for it!
Just find any university that hasn't filled its quota, and as long as your score meets the cutoff, simply insert a different form. Why bother using someone else's file? That's too risky.

What if the score doesn't meet the minimum requirement?

There's still an approval process, isn't there? If a batch is rejected, then we can meet the requirements!

After Liu Dan left in a daze, Chen Fan and Huang Ying immediately pulled her aside and asked her what had happened inside.

The other candidates also quickly gathered around, hoping to glean some inside information.

Liu Dan scratched the back of her head, puzzled, and said, "It didn't seem like much. We just read short passages on ten cards, which were quite simple. Then the two teachers chatted with me, and that was it."

Huh? Is it really that amazing?

Upon hearing this, the other candidates couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, each revealing a confident smile on their faces.

Chen Fan frowned slightly, pondered for two seconds, and then asked thoughtfully, "When they were talking to you, were they speaking English or Mandarin?"

Liu Dan blinked. "In English."

Upon hearing this, more than half of the candidates, who had been so confident just moments before, immediately looked as if they had lost their parents, and their eyes were filled with resentment as they looked at Liu Dan.

It's all in English, and you still say it's simple?
At this point, Huang Ying felt more confident. If Liu Dan could do it, there was no reason why she couldn't.

Just then, she saw the staff member in charge of calling out numbers come out, so she straightened her clothes and strode into the conference room with her head held high.

Watching the door close, Chen Fan pulled Liu Dan aside and whispered, "Did they say anything else?"

Liu Dan smiled sheepishly, glanced at the others, and said in a voice only Chen Fan could hear, "It's that teacher from the University of Foreign Trade who wants me to transfer to the University of Foreign Trade. He said I can fill out the application again."

Then the professor from Peking University told me I was accepted. I thought to myself, "Since I've already been accepted, there's no need to bother," so I didn't fill out the application.

Chen Fan pursed his lips and blinked frantically. After a long while, he gave a thumbs up speechlessly, "Good choice."

If there's no one else around, it's fine; changing majors isn't out of the question as long as the conditions are right. But if there are people on both sides, you have to stick to your ideals; otherwise, you'll give off an impression of being unsettled.

In professional terms, they are not mature and stable enough, and such people do not deserve to be given special training.

After a while, Huang Ying opened the door and came out. Chen Fan went to ask her about her situation.

Huang Ying looked a little confused. "The process is similar to what Xiao Dan and I talked about. First, you read the cards and phonetic symbols, and then you chat."

We talked about myself, my family, and the production team. I talked about my daily life, my learning experience under your guidance, and my ideals. I said I wanted to be a foreign trade worker and earn foreign exchange for the country.

At that time, the teacher from Peking University said that in addition to earning foreign exchange, I could also contribute to the country through diplomacy, and suggested that I apply for the English major in the Department of Western Languages ​​at Peking University, so that I could work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the future.

Then the teacher from the University of Foreign Trade told me on the spot that I had been admitted and that I should go back and wait for the admission notice.

I figured I'd already been accepted, so I shouldn't bother. The professors at Peking University didn't say much and just let me leave.

Chen Fan smacked his lips, a smile he couldn't stop spreading across his face.

Yesterday, he heard that two teachers had come to interview the two of them in person, and he guessed that they might be trying to poach them. He didn't expect that to be true.

If only one of them came, this courteous attitude might confuse those two silly girls and make them change their application choices.

But if two people come together, is there any chance of successfully snatching them away?!
He rubbed his face, suppressing his smile, and then gestured, "Come on, let's take a stroll around the prefectural committee today, consider it my way of celebrating your university admission."

Upon hearing this, Liu Dan and Huang Ying instantly forgot about the interview they had just had, clasped their hands to their chests and jumped for joy, skipping and hopping behind Chen Fan as they walked outside.

Only a group of other candidates who had come for the interview remained, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

(End of this chapter)