Four Seasons

Chapter 34

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The sweet-scented osmanthus trees on the campus of the University of Hong Kong were the first to respond to the call of autumn, growing in clusters of fresh, rich, lemon-yellow flowers, lightly, luxuriantly, and generously. They can be seen from far and near, and there are beautiful views everywhere.

Tang Zhao still has a part-time job at the library this semester, and she also tutors Shi Hai on weekends. This semester she must focus on her studies. As a junior, she has to make a choice between postgraduate entrance exams and employment, and plan ahead. No matter which one she chooses, she has to make her resume look more substantial and beautiful.

Tang Zuo took all the professional certificates she could get, including College Level 6, Professional Level 4, CATTI Level 3 written and oral, and Japanese N2.

The goal of her junior year is to pass at least one of the two written and oral exams of CATTI, and to get more award certificates. She cannot compare with other students from well-off families. She can only rely on herself, and only if she has strong skills can she have a place in the society in the future.

In the first month of the semester, all majors in the School of Foreign Languages started recitation and dubbing competitions. Tang Zhao signed up for both. She was extremely busy, and as far as she knew, Shi Ci was even busier.

The three-day Operations Research Summit Forum was held at the University of Nagoya. There were six sessions in total. The first two sessions were for student representatives from various schools to speak, and the host was Shi Ci.

This day happened to be the same day as Tang Zuo's recitation competition. After Tang Zuo finished the competition in the afternoon, he ran to the auditorium of the School of Economics and Management without waiting for the rankings to be announced.

The afternoon session of the forum had already begun, and there were no more people at the sign-in area on the first floor. Tang Zuo slipped in from the back door. The lecture hall was full of people. It was a large lecture hall that could accommodate hundreds of people. Tang Zuo squeezed forward from the side of the stairs and looked up. The first row of seats should be occupied by professors and associate professors. In the middle of the left side sat a familiar figure.

Tang Zuo smiled slightly. Even in the crowded lecture hall, Shi Ci was still the most eye-catching one, both among students and professors.

She wore a baby blue suit jacket, dark blue jeans, and a white round-necked shirt underneath. Her hair was fluffy and slightly curled and draped over her shoulders. Among the students, she looked professional, mature, and charming, and had more youthful vitality than her professors of the same generation.

The student on the stage was speaking, "To use Lingo to solve the problem of optimizing transportation costs, first of all..."

The other professors either sat upright or had encouraging smiles on their faces. Tang Zuo noticed that Shi Ci often made eye contact with the students on the stage. She sat neither straight nor serious, but slightly tilted, with her chin supported by her hand, looking a little lazy.

Maybe she felt that the chair was uncomfortable, Tang Zuo thought with a smile in his heart.

Standing in Tang Zuo's position, one can see the side profile of Shi Ci when she smiles. Her profile looks very beautiful when she smiles. I wonder how many people would be jealous of the student who is speaking on the stage for getting so much attention from her.

Tang Zhuo stood in the crowd, listening to a topic he didn't understand at all. He could see Shi Ci speaking from the crowd, so he didn't find it boring anymore.

Tang Zhuo could recognize the last person who chose the topic as Shi Ci's research direction. From this angle, one could see the smile on her face deepen. Tang Zhuo remembered that her eyes were very beautiful, with long, thick black eyelashes that looked like natural eyeliner. She was also very beautiful when she smiled. She had the legendary "electric eyes", which were hazy, but fresh and clear, a very contradictory beauty.

“The two main elements of airline revenue management are tier pricing and optimal seat allocation…”

As Tang Zhao listened, his long-trained instinct kicked in, and he subconsciously translated the words he could understand in his mind, "air transport management, passenger revenue optimization system..."

After all, it was an unfamiliar field, so Tang Zuo was a little distracted. She thought that this was Shi Ci's area of expertise, and this was her professional side. She just understood these things, as if she could understand her a little bit, but she was so close to her, and yet so far away from her.

never gonna live to her.

Tang Zuo thought that maybe she would never be as great as her, but it was great to know Shi Ci and it was great to have her appear in her life.

After the student representatives finished their speeches, the host, Associate Professor Shi Ci, gave comments and a summary.

Shi Ci walked out and stood in the middle. The students handed her the microphone, and the crowd applauded and cheered before she opened her mouth.

Shi Ci smiled at the cheering audience and said, "I haven't said anything yet!"

The cheers grew louder. Shi Ci smiled while holding the microphone. The lights in the lecture hall felt like spotlights on the stage, and she was born to stand in such a spotlight.

She began to speak at a moderate pace, with a relaxed and pleasant voice. She started commenting on the morning's speeches. She remembered the content of the students' reports completely, and before commenting, she would say a sentence or two about the main point to help the audience recall, and then start commenting.

Tang Zuo had to admit that even to the ears of a layman, from Shi's concise and profound comments, one could feel that operations research was an inclusive and attractive subject that was interesting, rational and flexible.

The whole audience was silent, absorbed in her explanation.

At this time, Shi Ci paused naturally, and a bottle of mineral water was immediately brought to the second row.

“Puchi, puchi…” A small burst of good-natured laughter came from the lecture hall.

Shi Ci took the water and smiled at the girl who brought the water. The girl immediately lowered her face shyly.

"Next is classmate xx's report on the application of revenue management in aviation management," she smiled and shrugged, looking around the lecture hall.

Tang Zuo's heart skipped a beat as she stood in the crowd. It seemed as if Shi Ci saw her for a second, but also as if he didn't. She quickly continued with the question, "It happens to be my field. Young man, you are very brave!" She blinked.

The students in the lecture hall burst into laughter again.

The two girls standing next to Tang Zuo were whispering,

"Oh my god, I want to be her student."

“I should have applied to CUHK at that time.”

“I don’t know if there is still a chance…”

Shi Ci spoke for half an hour, and the students present were still not satisfied. She was ready to close with her words, "The students' eyes today also gave me a lot of inspiration. I am very moved. I see more new perspectives and new research directions in operations research..."

"Professor Shi! Can I apply to be your graduate student?" A girl next to Tang Zuo raised her hand anxiously, probably because she thought Shi Ci was about to finish his speech.

The students in the front all looked back in the direction of the sound, and Shi Ci also looked over from afar.

Tang Zhao subconsciously moved her body. She couldn't hide. Her cheeks felt slightly hot. Shi Ci stared at her for a few seconds and smiled, "Of course."

When the show was over, Shi Ci was still surrounded by students. Tang Zuo walked out first silently. She walked out from the small door of the lecture hall, turned a corner, and came under a sweet-scented osmanthus tree.

Zhang Zinan called and said, "Dear, you won the first prize. Haha, I got the certificate for you. You are awesome!"

Tang Zhuo smiled and said, "Thank you."

"Hahahaha, our dean recognized you. When he saw me go up to accept the award for you, he asked me where I had been..."

Tang Zuo looked at the osmanthus tree above her head and felt very relaxed. They chatted for a while, and then Tang Zuo saw Shi Ci walking out from afar, followed by several students. She noticed that Shi Ci was wearing a pair of lavender high-heeled shoes. Her whole outfit made her look elegant, youthful, feminine and impeccable.

Tang Zuo didn't realize that she had half of her body hidden behind the tree.

The evening light fell on Shi Ci, following her like a very artistic filter. She and her students passed a flower bed and walked to the school road in front of Tang Zuo.

At this moment, Shi Ci looked back with a sense of something, and Tang Zhuo looked at her from a distance, seemingly out of focus. She had a strange feeling in her heart, just like the evening breeze at this moment, mixed with a little lemon-yellow osmanthus fragrance, gently blowing through her heart.

When the first autumn rain fell, Tang Zuo's dubbing competition entered the semi-finals. Through Zhang Zinan, she invited a sophomore to partner with her.

For the semi-final, they chose the scene in Pride and Prejudice directed by Joe Wright where Elizabeth and Darcy were hiding from the rain and arguing. Elizabeth was played by Keira Knightley and Mr. Darcy was played by Matthew McFadyen.

This confrontation lasted only five or six minutes. The lines between the two were very dense and the speaking speed was astonishingly fast. Especially when they were arguing, there were almost no punctuation marks or pauses.

Tang Zhao had no difficulty in mastering the lines with his English accent, as his father had trained him since childhood through watching movies. This junior fellow apprentice also practiced spoken English, so he had no problem with the lines. However, to perfectly match the plot of a foreign language movie, it required not only the ability to deliver the lines, but also the ability to render emotions.

Tang Zuo spent several days contacting his junior fellow apprentice, and both found it very difficult to connect emotionally.

The junior brother is not tall, has a round face, wears a pair of glasses, and looks a bit like a cuter version of Mao Buyi. He can recite the lines without a script, but when the two of them start dubbing face to face with the image, he starts to panic, keeps stumbling over his words, and dares not look at Tang Zuo at all.

“Wow, I can’t argue with you, senior sister…” He was so stressed that he almost cried.

Before Tang Zuo could say anything, Zhang Zinan, the military advisor, grabbed his hair anxiously and analyzed Mr. Darcy's psychological activities for him, "Junior brother, why are you so cowardly? Have you never been in love? Quarrel and quarrel, love and hate and sadness, I love you, how can you be so arrogant, I am a noble, I am a bachelor, I put aside my self-esteem and woo you, but you rejected me for your sister... Ah! It hurts! The pain of a thousand arrows piercing my heart! The pain of being unable to stop loving! Do you understand?"

The junior student stared with round eyes, looking silly and cute, "... I seem to understand, but I..."

Zhang Zinan glared at him, "But you what? Why, isn't your Senior Sister Tang cute? Isn't she your goddess?"

The junior brother blushed, "Yes, she is lovely, yes, she is a goddess, but, but I dare not fall in love with the goddess, and I dare not scold the goddess..."

Tang Zhao resisted the urge to rub his forehead, "Forget it, how about we choose something else..."

"That won't work. You chose a solo dubbing in the preliminary round. For the semi-final, we need to choose a two-person dubbing segment with emotional conflicts and challenges. This segment is really pleasing." Zhang Zinan pulled her aside and said, "It's too late to choose another segment."

Tang Zuo remained silent.

Zhang Zinan sighed and said, "There are too few boys in our foreign language department, and those who are good at speaking English are even rarer..."

"Do I really come across as too cold?" Tang Zuo suddenly asked.

"Ah? Emmmmm..." Zhang Zinan hesitated for a second, then asked back, "What's wrong with you? You never asked these questions before. You are the kind of person who doesn't care what others think. You are so cool!"

She comforted Tang Zuo in her own way.

"I don't know, I just..." Tang Zuo was a little confused. She was used to other people's opinions of her. It was enough for her to know that she was not like that in Zhang Zinan's heart. It was just at this moment that she was curious about what she was like in another person's heart.

"Sister," the junior brother came up timidly, "I'm sorry, I can't help you..."

Just as Zhang Zinan was about to speak, Tang Zuo spoke first. She comforted him, "No, you've helped me a lot. You're great. Thank you." Tang Zuo said, smiling at him naturally and patted his shoulder.

The junior brother stared at her blankly. After a long while, his face was still red, but his tone was much firmer, "Senior Sister! Let's try again!"

"Really? Are you sure?" Tang Zuo was surprised.

"sure!"

"Thank you for your help," Tang Zuo breathed a sigh of relief, "I really can't find anyone else!"

The junior brother couldn't help but straighten his chest, "Please trust me again, Senior Sister!"

The two started practicing again.

Zhang Zinan stared at Tang Zuo in amazement, a little afraid to know this Tang Zuo who would naturally reveal his true feelings to others.

After some hard training, they finally stood out from the semi-finals, and Tang Zuo became one of the five contestants who entered the finals.

Zhang Zinan took the popular Canon G7 camera and took photos of the game scenes. He was extremely pleased and hugged his junior brother, "Fortunately, fortunately, I asked you to think about the scene where Baymax died in Big Hero 6. You successfully brought in the emotion of grief. Good job!"

The junior apprentice realized belatedly and said, "That... Senior Sister, I think there is still a little difference..."

Zhang Zinan laughed out loud.

Tang Zhuo looked at them and smiled unconsciously. Her nervous mood was temporarily relaxed a little. The semi-finals and the finals were both held in the same afternoon. There was a 20-minute break after the semi-finals. The other contestants participated in teams. She didn't actually have much chance of winning, and she chose a monologue for the final segment.

The other contestants gathered in the corridor or found other teachers for their final practice. Tang Zhuo walked out alone and went to the stairs of another floor.

There was a lot of noise downstairs. Tang Zuo took out his cell phone, feeling the urge to contact someone.

She opened the WeChat window. Shi Ci knew that she was going to participate in the competition, but she happened to have a teaching and research meeting today.

Tang Zhuo then realized that she wanted Shi Ci to see her competition. What was going on? Did she want her trusted sister to see her excellent side

She may really regard Shi Ci as a family member, and has an unstoppable emotional appeal to her. For a long time, she felt that she was living on an isolated island, with only her as a resident on the island, and she was separated from the hustle and bustle of other islands by the sea. This was the first time that she wanted to take the initiative to get to know another resident, and she also hoped that she could come over.

This thought made her feel lonely and warm, and these two feelings alternated like the blue dolphins that appeared from time to time in the sea.

Tang Zuo was immersed in his own thoughts when Shi Ci's WeChat message came in, "I'm still in a meeting. Is the game over?"

Her heart skipped a beat, she calmed herself down, and replied, "No, the finals will be in a while."

"What was the clip you chose?"

“I chose Meryl Stahl’s monologue from Suffragette.”

"I like ambition."

Tang Zhuo took a breath and smiled with his eyes curved.

“Did anyone take a picture of it?”

"some."

"Okay, send it to me tonight, come on~" she also sent a wavy line.

Tang Zuo held the phone tightly and smiled.

There were five groups of contestants in the final. Tang Zuo was the last one to perform. The group of contestants before him sang a clip from Kung Fu Panda. It was very festive and successful. The audience and judges still had smiles on their faces.

Tang Zhuo took a deep breath and calmed down. The junior students in the audience held their breath nervously. Zhang Zinan held up the tripod and forced himself to remain calm.

Meryl Streep plays a representative figure of the British feminist movement and the mother of women's right to choose in the movie.

Emmeline Pankhurst. Meryl is a legendary Hollywood actress. As an American actress, she is able to skillfully change her accent according to the character she plays.

Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Manchester, England, so her English accent has a Manchester accent. At the same time, Meryl was already in her 60s when she played this character. Her voice is not old, but it is also a little deeper and lower than that of a middle-aged person. Tang Zhao's voice at this age cannot be similar at all, she can only have her own characteristics.

"Friends," Tang Zuo lowered his voice as he looked at the multimedia computer on the podium. The audience and judges looked at Meryl standing on the terrace and giving a speech on the screen. "Despite the so-called symbolic authority of the government watching closely, I still came here tonight!"

She made a strong first impression. Although her voice was not the same as Tang Zhao's, she was so charming with her English accent. Her delicate white face had a piety and sincerity that was in sync with the actors. Her black pupils seemed to have sparks. "… For 50 years, we have been working silently to fight for women's voting rights, but in return we only got ridicule, beatings, and disregard! Now we realize that taking action and making sacrifices are the only rules of conduct now!"

Tang Zuo's tone was firm and his eyes were burning with sparks.

The women on the screen who were listening to the speech on the terrace were dressed simply and looked haggard, but their eyes were burning with admiration and hope.

Outside the screen, the multimedia classroom was filled with concentrated silence.

"We are fighting for a time when every little girl born has the same rights as her brothers. Never underestimate the power of a woman fighting for her own destiny!"

“We don’t want to be lawbreakers, we want to be lawmakers.”

"I am inspiring women all over England to revolt. I would rather be a rebel than a slave."

To the last sentence, maybe Meryl's speech on the screen is not as loud as a man's, but it is equally sonorous. Maybe Tang Zuo on the podium is not as profound as Meryl the actor, but it is equally powerful.

Women of that era could only take drastic measures, such as smashing windows, blowing up mailboxes, and rushing into the racetrack to die under the horses' hooves. Only then would their voices be taken seriously and heard.

Throughout history, women have always had to pay a higher price than men for the rights they are supposed to have. Life has never been easy for women.

There are already many girls in the School of Foreign Languages, and at this moment they all felt the sadness and difficulty that only their peers could understand. Many girls had tears in their eyes.

When Tang Zuo finished singing, there was no applause. Instead, these lovely girls raised their hands and shouted the lines from the movie, just like the women who resisted the police on the screen, "Yeah!!!"

"Never surrender!"

“never give up!”

Zhang Zinan's nose was sour, and he held up the tripod to let the camera take a picture of this scene. The only male teacher on the jury looked back in surprise, the other two female teachers smiled at each other, and Tang Zuo on the podium blinked his sour eyes, smiled, and bowed deeply.

Only then did applause and cheers rang out, followed by the girls' collective laughter as clear as bells.

For the first time, Tang Zuo felt the beauty of university campus life. The people and things around her made her realize that the highlight moment of her life had finally arrived.

The author has something to say: I recommend everyone to read "Women's Suffrage"

The selections of "Pride and Prejudice" and "Kung Fu Panda" are also based on experience.

I remember I have something to do tomorrow, so let's continue on Monday. Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angel who threw the [shallow water bomb]: abc 1;

Thanks to the little angels who cast [bazooka]: Lin Xiaozong, Kind and Cute Xiao Mengying 2; Smiling Without Words, g, 17159258, Yi Yong, One Thousand and Two Nights, Linghan, Bubble Teapot 1;

Thanks to the little angels who threw the [hand grenade]: Frog, Fox's Window, Gu Jijij, Ice Cream, Mulinda, Dan, and 1 Zhizunbao;

Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: Mu Xiao 7; Vickrys 3; Jing 2; Oha, La La La ~, Tay, Passers-by are just passing by, Mirror Pavilion, Overnight Pizza, Scorpio Tail Ring, Veggieg, Huangtaiji, I think I can still grow taller, Love to read, Meng, A dog with a green head, A swollen cat, Cho, Coke, 50-1, A pot of wine between flowers, Nico, Yiyangjun, Kind and cute little dream shadow, Cotton candy, Why bother with dust., Can't name, Lao Wu, Black-mouthed dog, Flying Wolf 1;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:

328 bottles of Buji me; 138 bottles of pencil; 100 bottles of Ninja Fish and Baron; 80 bottles of Ke Yu; 66 bottles of Money, Money and Money; 48 bottles of Wall-E; 44 bottles of Sky; 40 bottles of Shi Qingluo and Despair; 32 bottles of The End of the World and Cold Wonderland; 30 bottles of Yi Yan and Bei Zhi; 24 bottles of Chang Deng and Yun Xian is the most beautiful; 22 bottles of 19368911 and 26380557; Dried Kiwi Fruit is Not Strange; A Brake Hand Without Emotions; Ariga Wangwangwangwang; Zhizhou; Shu Molan; Mirror Pavilion; Su Muzhe; Gao Leng Fang; Koala Bear Tree Bear, Miyuan, ~~, 28534723, Wen Ya 20 bottles; Please call me 3+2 Jun 15 bottles; Coke, Celery, A Big American Coffee, Lin Yun's Little Flower Farmer, Midorikawa Xing 12 bottles; White Bird Flight, Eat Watermelon Osmanthus Wine, Overnight Pizza, Wowllivander, Baibaibaibai, Chengshi, Xukong, Lengfei, Congshuicongmu, Mumu, Fanzha, lu_lu, Tongdagou, Cute, Mighty and Handsome Thumb Finger, Sanqi, Laughing Pig, 26522247, e 10 bottles; Lululu, I want to raise a bucket of little seals, Yiyangjun 8 bottles; Liangji Jiji, 2333 7 bottles; Inexplicably 6 bottles; Yuri is a lie of Kyoto Animation, Heihei 912, Very strange tiamo, Yuw, A grain of chicken popcorn, oo 5 bottles; Walking in the sun, woc, The immortal chasing dreams 3 bottles; Judy, What what ghost, The more I walk, The more lonely I feel, Piggy girl 2 bottles; Weather, sunny, Xiling Chengji, 23001497, Ming Xiaoqi, 35925261, The beginning of light, 36003280, Mr. Neurotic, Smooth sailing 213, Three no tractors, camphor balls, A small shrimp 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!