Xia Xiaolan had drawn until she was nearly dazed. Without the energy to dress up, she developed red rabbit-like eyes from lack of sleep, and her complexion suffered. Her usual perfect beauty dropped to seventy percent, and worse still, her sharp mind was dulling – she couldn’t even think of how to help the department.

The Department Head, seeing her sluggish response, didn’t beat around the bush. After confirming that Mao Kangshan was indeed in the capital, he asked if Xia Xiaolan could invite Mao Kangshan to give a lecture.

Xia Xiaolan perked up: “What kind of lecture? For our department’s undergraduates?”

The Department Head waved his hand dismissively, “Anyone can attend. Our department’s teachers would also like to hear Teacher Mao speak.”

Xia Xiaolan thought it seemed feasible but didn’t want to promise too much: “How about I ask Teacher Mao and get back to you?”

Of course that would work. The Department Head got exactly what he wanted, though he emphasized that Xia Xiaolan should help persuade, not just inquire.

When Xia Xiaolan relayed this to Mao Kangshan, old Mao found it troublesome.

Xia Xiaolan added: “I notice Teacher Ning quite enjoys giving lectures.”

Mao Kangshan’s eyes widened, “You’re using reverse psychology on me!”

Xia Xiaolan openly admitted it. “Yes, reverse psychology. Will you, great marshal, be provoked into battle?”

Mao Kangshan personally didn’t care much for fame. It wasn’t that he was particularly indifferent to fame and fortune; he just found it troublesome. But when Xia Xiaolan brought up Ning Yanfan, even knowing it was reverse psychology, Mao Kangshan couldn’t refuse—if he avoided trouble and making connections, how could he expect Xia Xiaolan to compete with Ning Yanfan’s granddaughter Ning Xue?

“I agree to give the lecture!”

Once Mao Kangshan agreed to lecture at Huaqing, the Architecture Department publicized it. The bulletin board announced “Teacher Mao Kangshan will lecture Thursday at 7 PM in XX classroom”—anyone with functioning eyes could see it.

Many people wanted to attend this lecture. Current university students had few entertainment options and were very enthusiastic about learning, thirsting for new knowledge. For a lecture by someone of Mao Kangshan’s caliber, not only Architecture students were interested, but Civil Engineering students also wanted to attend.

In Dormitory 307, only two people knew about Xia Xiaolan’s relationship with Mao Kangshan: Yang Yonghong and Zhou Limin.

Zhou Limin was Zhou Maotong’s niece. Zhou Maotong had instructed his niece to stay close to Xia Xiaolan, but thinking about the generation gap always gave her an indescribable feeling. Though they had been close before, they had mysteriously grown distant this semester.

Zhou Maotong’s reminder had backfired completely.

Xia Xiaolan had noticed something was off, but she had been too busy to figure out how to resolve it. Now with Mao Kangshan’s upcoming lecture at Huaqing, she spoke frankly with Zhou Limin:

“Shall I save you a good seat?”

Xia Xiaolan’s words carried no sarcasm or arrogance, maintaining her usual casual and warm manner.

Zhou Limin inexplicably blushed. Were her petty thoughts too ridiculous?

“Yes, save me a seat.”

Su Jing, missing the subtle exchange between them, asked curiously: “Don’t we have the same class? How can you save a seat for Limin?”

And why only save a seat for Zhou Limin when there were several other people in Room 307?

Yang Yonghong quickly explained: “It’s me! I have fewer afternoon classes. I’ll take care of seats for all of you!”

The dormitory erupted in cheers supporting Yang Yonghong, with cries of “Long live our leader!” diverting attention from Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Limin’s exchange.

In the hallway, Xia Xiaolan thanked Yang Yonghong.

But Yang Yonghong was very excited: “Xiaolan, I should thank you! You gave my family great advice. After Yang Jie returned home, he started organizing the duck-raising business. I suggested starting with just a few dozen ducks, but Yang Jie is bolder than me—he bought 300 ducklings at once. Now the first batch has been sold!”

Of course, not all 300 ducklings would survive to maturity.

But Yang Yonghong said they would raise ducks scientifically, sending books home. Yang Jie also took their parents to consult experts at the Animal Husbandry Bureau. The Yang family raised their ducks scientifically, and while Yang Jie returned to school to repeat his studies, Yang Yonghong’s parents carefully tended to the ducks.

Winter was perfect timing since there wasn’t much farm work, so the Yang couple devoted themselves entirely to the ducklings.

They fed them both feed and greens. Yang’s father went everywhere to find small fish and loaches as treats for the ducks. Following expert advice on disease prevention, when the half-grown ducks got sick, the Yang couple discovered it early, administered medicine to each duck individually, and disinfected it thoroughly. Most of the ducks pulled through.

Of the 300 ducks they raised, over 270 survived.

Losing over 20 ducks was unfortunate, but the survival rate wasn’t bad at all!

After all, it was the Yang family’s first large-scale duck-raising venture.

“Did you make money?”

Yang Yonghong nodded.

The profit per duck wasn’t much, but with over 270 ducks, it added up to a significant amount.

More importantly, the turnover time was short. The Yang family’s toiling in the fields couldn’t compare to two months of focused duck-raising… With some clever thinking, while getting rich quickly might be difficult, earning modest money wasn’t so hard.

Yang Yonghong wondered why her mind had been so clouded before, focused solely on studying.

If they had thought of ways to improve the family’s financial situation earlier, her parents wouldn’t have had to work so hard!

Then she realized that without Xia Xiaolan’s prompting, she wouldn’t have had this awareness.

Even if she had thought of it, without having seen the world in Pengcheng with Yang Jie, whether their money-making ideas would have worked aside, she wouldn’t have had the capital or courage to do this.

Yang Yonghong grinned: “My parents asked when you’ll visit again. They want to thank you properly!”

The amount of money earned was one thing, but the Yang couple had mainly gained confidence.

Mastering poultry farming techniques meant they could support their children’s education with their own hands, rather than having their children worry about the family.

This joy was passed from the Yang couple to Yang Yonghong, and then to Xia Xiaolan.

“Boss, this is wonderful! I’m not bragging about my suggestion—I’m just happy for your family and for you!”

Yang Yonghong was truly happy; winter was ending, spring was coming, and that’s exactly how she felt!

…

Hearing about the Yang family’s success put Xia Xiaolan in high spirits. Thinking about her teacher’s Thursday lecture, she wondered if she should prepare a more presentable set of clothes for Mao Kangshan.

Mao Kangshan firmly refused: “The clothes you bought before aren’t even worn out. I don’t need new clothes.”

He pointed to what he was wearing, then to his forehead: “What they want is the knowledge in here, not how smartly I’m dressed.”

Who said the old man was confused?

He clearly understood everything. If not for his firecracker temper, he’d surely be no less successful than Ning Yanfan now.

The entire department was discussing Mao Kangshan’s lecture, and naturally, Ning Xue knew about it.

Once she knew, Ning Yanfan knew too.

Ning Yanfan decided to pause his work to attend: “Taking on a young apprentice has made him more youthful?”

The easily-provoked Old Firecracker seemed to have changed, and Ning Yanfan wanted to see for himself.

“Xue, you saw Jinsha Pool in Pengcheng last time. What level do you think Xia Xiaolan has reached now?”