Chapter 16: Examination, Report, Criticism and the Emergence of Big Renegades

  When it was almost noon on the second day, Chen Chufan saw the self-criticism written by Yang Tao for him. Chen Chufan really wished he could slap Yang Tao's smug face into a flat shape.

  "Are you sure I should just hand these two letters of self-criticism to Old Xiao? Are you sure you're not playing a trick on me?" Chen Chufan said in an odd tone.

  "What are you playing me for? Don't you think my self-criticism is enough to satisfy you? Do you think it still needs to be revised?" Yang Tao also looked surprised.

  Meng Wei raised his head and glanced at Chen Chufan, who was furious, and Yang Tao, who looked innocent, before lowering his head again to focus on the chess pieces on his board.

  "Okay, let me read it out loud for the big boss! Let the big boss judge what you've written!" Chen Chufan took the self-criticism paper Yang Tao had given him and began to read it aloud in a loud voice: "Respected, lovely, kind, handsome, and most charming Director Xiao: Hello! I committed an unforgivable and extremely serious mistake on the afternoon of the day before yesterday! I actually jumped into the South Lake of our school because of a small emotional setback! I was wrong, I owe you an apology, my parents, the school, the school leaders, the Party, and the country! I have realized that this behavior is extremely stupid and brainless, so from now on, I will eat less pork and more pig brain to supplement my brain and never do such a foolish thing again! Also, through this incident, I deeply felt the care of our teacher for me, as well as the attention of the school and the expectations of the Party and the country! From now on, I will reform myself, study hard, strive upwards every day, be diligent and sincere, practical and down-to-earth, brave and forward-looking, never retreat, not give teachers trouble, not hold back my class, not tarnish the school's reputation, not shame the people, not shame the Party and the country! Strive to be a normal good student! Also, thank you to the paper mill and Morning Light Pen Industry for providing me with the resources to write this article. Your student, Chen Chufan."

  "Isn't it fine? What's wrong with it?" Yang Tao looked puzzled. "I've been writing my self-criticisms like this since I was a kid!"

  Chen Chufan ignored Yang Tao's words and looked directly at Meng Wei, who was still fiddling with the chess pieces.

  "Big brother, you should also say something!" Chen Chufan said with a hint of grievance.

  "Hmm?" Meng Wei thought for a moment and said: "The format is correct, the self-critical awareness is profound, and the guarantee for the future is in place, qualified!"

  Meng Wei's words made Chen Chufan dazed again. "Okay, even if all these are not a problem, what does the sentence 'thank you paper mill' at the back mean?" Chen Chufan asked.

  "Didn't you ask for over 500 words? I took a look and added a few more to make up the difference! Look, now it's just over 500 words! What a perfect review!" Yang Tao said with an innocent face.

  Chen Chufan wanted to cry again, he had a strong feeling that he could never keep up with Yang Tao's rhythm.

  "There's also a self-criticism report, you read it too and let the boss evaluate it. See where I wrote badly!" Yang Tao said with a flourish.

  "Never mind, let's not talk about it anymore. Let's go eat lunch instead. It's noon!" Chen Chufan wisely chose to surrender. The more he looked at Yang Tao, the more he felt that his face seemed to clearly have the words "not reliable" written on it. How could he have been so brainless yesterday as to believe that this unreliable young man could help him complete the task of writing a self-criticism? Shouldn't he eat more pig brains and supplement his own brain?

  "Well, I'm off. It's rare for my classmate Xiao Chen to have the leisure to go to the cafeteria for lunch today!" As he spoke, Yang Tao also casually messed up the chessboard that Meng Wei was studying.

  Meng Wei had no choice but to get up and follow the two out of the dormitory, rushing towards the cafeteria. Originally, there was a small Muslim canteen on the first floor of their dormitory building, but it did not serve pork, which was the favorite food of the three and also the most affordable. So they headed towards the school's first cafeteria, which was a bit further away.

  All the way, Chen Chufan truly felt the taste of fame. If it was because of jumping into the lake that made him famous, then he would still be depressed. But this time, becoming famous because of the Nanhu Cup made Chen Chufan feel very good.

  The familiar and kind greetings and praise made Chen Chufan's small vanity swell a lot. Even when lining up to buy food in the cafeteria, there were still people who kept patting Chen Chufan's shoulder and saying a few words. Not to mention that some little sisters pointed at him and said admiring words.

  What made Chen Chufan happiest was Yang Tao's sour words, "Isn't it just an occasional dunk? Now the girls at Zhongbei Minzu University are too superficial, can't they see that my inner strength is a hundred times stronger than Lao San's?"

  Vanities return to vanities, but Chen Chufan still felt a bit unaccustomed to the feeling of being in the spotlight while eating in the cafeteria. After finishing their meal, they pulled Meng Wei and Yang Tao out of the cafeteria together, preparing to head back to their dormitory to eat.

  There is a bulletin board at the entrance of the cafeteria in Zhongbei College. Usually, when there are school activities or various clubs recruiting new members, posting tasks and students' lost and found notices, they will be posted here. Every time when the seats in the cafeteria are occupied, many classmates choose to hold their rice bowls and stand in front of the bulletin board, eating while looking at it.

  Just today, the bulletin board was exceptionally lively, with countless onlookers gathered in front of it discussing something. Yang Tao was a person who loved excitement, and seeing a crowd watching, he pulled two people to squeeze in.

  "Regarding the disciplinary decision on Chen Chufan: On March 31, 2000, in the afternoon, student Chen Chufan of our school engaged in early love behavior and jumped into a lake due to personal emotional problems, violating the school's rules and regulations, seriously damaging the school's reputation, and causing a bad influence among other students. After research by the school, based on the principle of treating the disease to save the person, Chen Chufan was given a disciplinary action of being publicly criticized once throughout the school, with the aim of observing the effect afterwards. At the same time, we hope that other students can take this as a warning, study hard, and abide by the school's rules and regulations. North University: Student Affairs Office. April 3, 2000"

  "Come on, it's not a big deal! And yet they're making a school-wide announcement to criticize him." Yang Tao shook his head and commented while looking at the bulletin board with Chen Chufan's disciplinary decision. He turned around to discuss the school's overreaction with the person involved, but found that Chen Chufan and Meng Wei had already disappeared.

  Chen Chufan, who was originally following Yang Tao, had already quietly withdrawn from the crowd with Meng Wei as soon as he saw his own name on the disciplinary decision. Since he had learned of his disciplinary decision in advance from Old Xiao, he didn't feel surprised either. He knew that Yang Tao's straightforward personality would definitely lead to a big mouthful about his disciplinary decision. In case the surrounding onlookers found out, he was the protagonist of the criticism announcement, which was an embarrassing thing no matter how you thought about it!

  But who would have known that just as he was about to sneak back to the dormitory with Meng Wei, a very annoying voice exposed their tracks.

  "Hey, isn't that Chen Chufan who made a big splash at the Nanhu Cup yesterday? How come he's being criticized by the school today?" The speaker was Zhang Peng, also a second-year student in the History Department, but with a more official identity - the president of the Student Union of the History Department of Zhongbei Minzu University.

  In fact, the identity of the student union chairman is not that important. There are always a few dozen in the entire Minzu University of China. The key is that Zhang Peng has another identity with more weight, and he is the only one in Minzu University of China. He is the son of the Party Secretary of the School of Literature at Minzu University of China.

  Also because of his son's identity, Zhang Peng has always been quite arrogant, even daring not to buy the account from counselor Lao Xiao. So in the history department sophomore classmate's reputation is not good. Of course, this kind of person usually has a few dog legs around him, just like Wang Qiang and Han Suan standing next to him, holding his lunch box, who are always inseparable from him.

  To say that Zhang Peng and Chen Chufan had no intersection before, the two were not classmates in the same small class, and even before the start of sophomore year, Chen Chufan didn't know that there was such a great person among his classmates. However, Chen Chufan getting the first-class scholarship brought the two together.

  The quota for first-class scholarships was limited, but based on the exam results, Chen Chufan getting a first-class scholarship was undisputed. However, because Zhang Peng was inserted in between, many people had to sit down and discuss it. Coincidentally, Zhang Peng was a bit arrogant, even many teachers including Old Xiao were not very fond of him. In the end, under the relatively simple environment of the school, Old Xiao withstood some pressure and still awarded Chen Chufan the first-class scholarship, while Zhang Peng finally got a second-class one.

  After this incident, Zhang Peng didn't want to have any conflicts with the teachers either, so he started to resent Chen Chufan. Usually when they met, Zhang Peng would speak coldly and sarcastically to Chen Chufan, who was initially confused by his behavior. Later, after learning about what had happened behind the scenes, Chen Chufan also didn't bother to argue with him and generally tried to avoid him whenever possible. Even in large classes, Chen Chufan would sit as far away from Zhang Peng as possible.

  But who would have thought that they would run into each other at this gathering today. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence, maybe Zhang Peng was waiting for him on purpose to mock him, Chen Chufan wondered in his heart.

  When Zhang Peng spoke, his voice wasn't particularly low, and the idle onlookers around the bulletin board, upon hearing Chen Chufan's name, all subconsciously looked over this way. In an instant, the spot where several people were standing became the focus of everyone's attention. Along with the crowd's gaze, waves of murmurs also spread over.

  "Oh, that's Chen Chufan! Isn't he the guy who dunked on the basketball court yesterday? He's the one who jumped into the lake a few days ago!"

  "That's him!"

  "She looks so delicate, but she's actually quite fierce on the basketball court! By the way, what a handsome young man, how did he get dumped?"

  "I heard it was some guy from the political and legal side who pried open the wall corner!"

  "My god, you're going to jump into the lake after prying open the corner of the wall, are you out of your mind?"

  "Keep your voice down, others are standing right there! If they hear us, how embarrassing!"

  "Oh, okay, I'll lower my voice, you think he's got a problem with his brain or what?!"

  "Even if there's nothing wrong with your brain, you still have psychological problems and need to see a doctor!"