District 2, the Ministry of Education building was brightly lit.
Like a towering pagoda, it stood tall on the bustling street.
On the top floor of the building, there was only one office. The rest of the space was filled with leisure facilities and various potted plants.
Inside the office, a square-faced man was reviewing documents.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Someone knocked on his office door.
"Come in."
"Minister Xiao, we've received dozens of letters from university presidents and research institute directors," A young staff member walked in, holding a stack of freshly printed papers.
"Dozens? What do they want?"
"They hope this year's special admissions can start earlier."
The square-faced man frowned, "Earlier? How much earlier?"
"Earlier to… today."
"Today? Are they crazy? Special admissions is a major event. How can they just start it whenever they want?", The square-faced man threw down his pen and stood up, taking the stack of printed emails.
"Four Glories and Five Pillars are all in on this? What are they trying to do? …Even Three Prosperities and Five Virtue Research Institute got involved? They're under the United Government's jurisdiction—are they messing around too?"
"I heard… it's because they had a meeting."
"A meeting? What meeting? A university and research institute conference organized by the Ministry of Education? Why don't I know about it?"
"It was the meeting held by that boy who previously obtained the Vine Core."
"He held the meeting?"
"It was essentially a self-introduction meeting."
"What did he say?"
"I heard this from a professor at Heavenly Research Institute. During the meeting, he said he was bringing the Vine Core to the school that granted him special admissions."
"At that time, Li Tianming also stated that he would go teach at the university that recruited him through special admissions. On the spot, five or six professors expressed their willingness to resign from their current university and research institute positions to follow him."
The young man sighed, "Watching a research team with no backing grow bigger and bigger, no one could sit still. But Li Tianming also said that his choice depended on which university recruited Qin Siyang through special admissions."
"That's why all these universities and research institutes are so eager to start special admissions immediately."
Xiao Zhigang thought for a moment, "I seem to remember something about this meeting. Didn't I ask you to sign me up? Why wasn't I notified?"
The young staffer hesitated and said, "Uh… it seems… you weren't approved to attend."
Xiao Zhigang's eyes widened, "Not approved? Are you saying they rejected me?"
"Uh… yeah…"
Hearing this, Xiao Zhigang was so angry he laughed.
"Good, good, good. They didn't let the Minister of Education attend? What are they thinking? Without the Ministry of Education, would they even have their current status? And now they're excluding us from their meeting?"
"The Vine Core should be distributed by the Ministry of Education! And yet, they want to keep it behind closed doors and handle it themselves? Excluding the Ministry of Education—what's their real agenda?"
Xiao Zhigang's expression shifted several times. Gritting his teeth, he ordered, "They want to start special admissions early? Dream on! Send them a reply—Denied!"
"But… so many university presidents and institute directors have signed the petition together…"
"Li Wang, did you not hear me? I said, the Ministry of Education—denies it."
"…Understood."
Li Wang had a bad feeling about this, but he couldn't disobey Xiao Zhigang's orders.
So he could only follow instructions.
The universities and research institutes waiting for the Ministry of Education's response quickly received an email.
The content was brief.
"The Ministry of Education does not approve."
———
Inside the president's office of South Glory University, a group of people stared at the Ministry of Education's reply, their expressions dark.
A professor stood up, "Denied? Didn't we agree in the chat group that the Four Glories and Five Pillars would all send petitions together? Even Three Prosperities and Five Virtue Research Institute were supposed to cooperate, right? How could the Ministry still reject it?"
"Exactly! Would the Ministry really go against the collective will like this?"
"They wouldn't have tricked us, right? What if only our South Glory University actually sent the petition? I need to check!"
Harrison shook his head, "Impossible. The Vine Core, Li & Zhang duo, plus five top-tier professors— no university or institution can resist that temptation."
"If I weren't unfamiliar with Li Tianming before, I'd already be jumping ship to do research with him."
South Glory University President Zhao Longfei also nodded, "We're all adults—we understand the stakes."
"There will only be one winner in this. The rest are just competitors. The longer this drags on, the more resources and energy get wasted, and the greater the sunk cost. If this drags on for three months, and everyone gets desperate at the negotiation table, who knows what kind of chaos will break out?"
"That's why everyone wants this resolved as soon as possible."
"Starting the chat group and jointly petitioning for an early special admissions was a move everyone supported. Even if people have their own agendas, no one would sabotage a decision that benefits all."
"There's no doubt—the Ministry of Education received dozens of petitions simultaneously. And yet, they still rejected us."
Harrison thought for a moment and asked, "Wait. I don't remember seeing the Ministry's conference room feed during the meeting. Did Xiao Zhigang attend?"
"Now that you mention it, I don't think I saw the Ministry's conference room either. Their meeting room is the most luxurious one—it should've been obvious if they were present."
Zhao Longfei nodded, "I bet he wasn't invited. When Li Tianming reviewed attendees, he definitely blacklisted Xiao Zhigang."
"Li Tianming did a ton of unpaid research projects for the Ministry before. Back then, Xiao Zhigang clung to him like a blood relative—constantly inviting him to dinners and drinks."
"But then, when trouble came, Xiao Zhigang wouldn't even meet with him. He even labeled him as a cautionary tale for the scientific community. If Li Tianming hadn't cleared his own name, Xiao Zhigang would still be stepping on him today."
"The president is right. Xiao Zhigang owes Li Tianming."
Zhao Longfei tapped the armrest, "So tell me—why the hell would Li Tianming invite him to this meeting?"
"President, that makes a lot of sense."
A professor analyzed, "So Xiao Zhigang was rejected from the meeting, got mad, and that's why he denied the special admissions request? But he's the Minister of Education—how could he make such a major decision based on personal grudges?"
"I knew Xiao Zhigang from before the apocalypse. I understand him too well. On the surface, he seems open, but deep down, he's petty and self-serving—not an easy person to deal with. Nothing he does surprises me."
"Besides, he's definitely eyeing the Vine Core too. Since we locked him out of the meeting and didn't let the Ministry get a cut, why the hell would he approve our request?"
Harrison asked, "Should we propose another joint petition in the chat group?"
"If Xiao Zhigang denied us once, he'll deny us again. If petitioning worked, someone in the group chat would've suggested it already."
"Don't waste time on pointless moves."
Harrison sighed, "Then, President, how should we handle this?"
Zhao Longfei smirked, clipped a cigar, and said: "Handle? Hell no."
"Forget Xiao Zhigang. We're directly announcing the start of South Glory University's special admissions!" [T/N: Lol, a rebellion]
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y