Reborn in 1977

Chapter 437: Didn't Snatch It

In a conference room on the second floor of the Education Bureau, Chen Fan was cheering Liu Dan on in the hallway outside the door.

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

Behind him in the hallway, twenty or thirty candidates stood in two rows against the wall, their faces filled with shock as they watched his back.

Full English conversation?

Is he that awesome?

Liu Dan swallowed and said cautiously in English, "I know that, but I'm a little scared because I'm the first one to go in."

Huang Ying raised her hand and patted her on the shoulder, also speaking in fluent English, sighing, "I'm the second one, does that give you some comfort?"

Chen Fan was also a little speechless. He should have driven slower on the way. He didn't expect that although they weren't the first to arrive, the clerk at the Education Bureau recognized him and kindly gave Liu Dan and Huang Ying the first two numbers when they came to work.

He even said that the earlier you go, the better the teacher's mood, and the easier it is to pass. If you wait until later, people's patience will wear out, and the requirements will unconsciously become higher, which is not good for the candidates.

That makes sense, but they could have given them numbers 3 and 4. Numbers 1 and 2, didn't they consider the psychological endurance of the two little girls?

At this moment, two middle-aged men in their fifties walked over, and when they heard their conversation, they looked at Chen Fan with curiosity.

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

Chen Fan turned around, blinked at them.

They don't recognize me, so they're obviously not from the Education Bureau. And they're this old?

Alright, if they're not today's interviewers, he'd dare to do a handstand on the spot.

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

The man looked at the two of them, but kept staring at Chen Fan, "Who did you learn your English from? This authentic London accent can't be learned just anywhere!"

Chen Fan said without thinking, "I learned it from an old educated youth, but he's already returned to the city, and we've lost contact."

He couldn't say that he learned it from listening to the radio, from the Voice of America, that's an enemy station!

But to be honest, there are really a lot of people who learn English from the Voice of America these days, and the American radio broadcasts back then really used standard London English. It wasn't until the rise of Hollywood that it gradually switched to native American English.

When the Voice of America was first established, it didn't have English programs. In 1958, the newly appointed director of the Information Agency, George Allen, believed that "this is too fake and embarrassing." After that, the Voice of America began to use English to rebroadcast all foreign language programs to strengthen listeners' trust in it.

It was from then on that English programs could be heard in China, otherwise many children in many parts of the country would not have had the opportunity to learn English through this method.

One of the consequences was that, imperceptibly, there were many more people who went abroad in the 1980s.

Ahem, let's not talk about that.

Anyway, now it has become Chen Fan's hidden excuse. If someone asks him where he learned his English, he can say it was the Voice of America.

It's just that there's no need to say it explicitly at this time, after all, it's better to hear than to say.

Hearing Chen Fan's answer, the teacher choked for a moment, but didn't say much, just gave him a meaningful look, then turned to look at all the candidates and said in English, "Who is candidate number 1?"

If you can't even understand 'number one,' you don't need to come to the interview, just go home and wash up and go to sleep.

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

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

Liu Dan swallowed, "Hello, teacher. My name is Liu Dan, from Lujiawan Production Team, Nanhugongshe, Guofeng County, Yunhu area."

Hearing this, the two teachers' eyes lit up, and they said in unison, "You're Liu Dan?"

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

Chen Fan widened his eyes, am I that famous?

But the two teachers didn't say much, just smiled, "Then let's start with Liu Dan."

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

The dozens of candidates next to them whispered as they looked at Chen Fan. Fortunately, they didn't point fingers, otherwise Chen Fan wouldn't mind showing them what it means to be a social butterfly.

At this time, a clerk from the Education Bureau came over to stand guard at the door, preparing to call out the numbers for the candidates behind.

The conference room door closed, and Chen Fan ignored the doorkeeper and directly pressed his ear to the door.

The clerk sighed helplessly, then turned around and pretended not to see anything.

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

Professor Liang from Peking University had just sat down, and seeing Liu Dan bowing, he nodded with a smile, "Hello, please sit down."

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

Professor Liang glanced at him dissatisfied, as if to say, this is a student from our school!

Professor Hu smiled slightly and gave him a look: Your school's? The files haven't been transferred yet, who will win is not certain!

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

Liu Dan glanced at the two of them, opened the small box, which contained a stack of cards similar to playing cards. She spread out the cards and randomly selected ten from them.

Professor Hu had just opened his mouth when Professor Liang next to him said in English, "Read the contents on these cards once."

Liu Dan raised her head, "Oh, okay."

Then she held the cards and read them out one by one.

By the time she read the second card, she had calmed down.

Isn't it just a short essay? Teacher Chen taught it half a year ago, it's simply child's play!

As her nervousness gradually eased, her reading became faster and faster, one or two minutes per paper, and she finished reading all of them in no time.

Professor Hu immediately raised his hand and applauded, "Very good, who did you learn your English from?"

Liu Dan didn't know it was the free question and answer time yet. Hearing Professor Hu's question, she thought he was just chatting casually, and her mood became more relaxed. She smiled and said, "I learned it from Teacher Chen, I've been learning for more than half a year!"

More than half a year?

Professor Hu couldn't help but look at Professor Liang, but found that he was also looking dazed.

You can practice like this in half a year, are you sure you are learning English? Aren't you learning Mandarin?

But this kind of question can't be asked, wouldn't that make me look like I haven't seen the world.

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

So that Liu Dan didn't realize she was being interviewed.

At the end, Professor Liang suddenly asked, "Do you have notes for learning English?"

Liu Dan nodded immediately, "Yes, I do."

She was just about to reach for her bag when her hand suddenly stopped, and she said with an embarrassed smile, "The notes are in my bag, but the staff member from the Education Department said we couldn't bring materials in, so I gave it to my classmate to hold for me."

Professor Liang pointed outside without hesitation, "Go get it."

Liu Dan immediately got up and walked out, quickly returning with a bag. She closed the door behind her and placed the materials in front of Professor Liang.

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

Professor Hu also quickly leaned over, his eyes lighting up. He turned to Liu Dan with a smile and said, "Liu Dan, have you 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, Professor Liang covered his mouth and said to Liu Dan, "Congratulations, I now officially announce that you have been accepted into the Journalism program of the Chinese Department at Peking University. Peking University needs talents like you, we will definitely…"

Professor Hu struggled to pull his hand away, loudly protesting, "What's so good about studying journalism? Studying at the University of Foreign Trade allows you to generate foreign exchange for the country and realize your…"

Professor Liang covered his mouth again, his face turning ashen as he said, "If you dare to poach her again, I'll poach that Huang Ying from you!"

Professor Hu refused to yield, "Bah, what does your journalism program need foreign language talents for? Talents like this should go to the University of Foreign Trade."

Professor Liang retorted, "Pah, if you dare to mess around again, I'll notify Old Wang! Doesn't their Foreign Languages University need foreign language talents more than your University of Foreign Trade?!"

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

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

After saying that, he glared at Professor Liang, "Don't you say anything, let her choose for herself."

Professor Liang moved his lips a few times, but remained silent, then looked at Liu Dan with anticipation in his eyes.

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

Even her second choice was the Journalism program at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute, how could she go study foreign trade?

Hearing this, Professor Liang immediately beamed with joy and gave a thumbs up, "A wise choice!"

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

Liu Dan looked bewildered. Didn't Teacher Chen say "what's done is done"? Can the application be changed?

If she knew that Chen Fan had already asked Zuo Qiuping to inquire about the application information of 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, wouldn't it be easy to replace it and fill it out again? What's so difficult about that?!

Therefore, at this time, there are very few cases of impersonation, because it's not necessary!

Just find a university with unfilled quotas, as long as the score meets the requirement, replace the form and insert it, what's the point of impersonating someone else's file? That's too dangerous.

What if the score doesn't meet the requirement?

Isn't there a review process? Review and eliminate a batch, and then it will meet the requirement!

When Liu Dan came out in a daze, Chen Fan and Huang Ying immediately pulled her aside to ask about the situation inside.

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

Liu Dan scratched the back of her head and said confusedly, "It doesn't seem like much, I just read a short passage from ten cards, it was quite simple. Then the two teachers chatted with me, there was nothing else."

Huh? Is it that amazing?

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

Chen Fan frowned slightly, pondered for two seconds, and then asked thoughtfully, "When they were chatting with you, did they use English or Mandarin?"

Liu Dan blinked, "English."

As soon as these words came out, more than half of the candidates who were still full of confidence just now immediately looked as if they had lost their parents, and looked at Liu Dan with particularly resentful eyes.

They were having a conversation in pure English, and you still say it's simple?

At this time, Huang Ying also had a clearer idea in her mind. Since Liu Dan could do it, there was no reason why she couldn't.

Just as she saw the staff member in charge of calling numbers come out, she straightened her clothes and strode into the conference room.

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

Liu Dan smiled embarrassedly, glanced at the others, and said in a voice that only Chen Fan could hear, "The teacher from the University of Foreign Trade wanted me to switch to the University of Foreign Trade, he said he could let me refill the application.

Then the teacher from Peking University said that I had been accepted. I thought that since I had already been accepted, then I wouldn't bother, so I didn't fill it out."

Chen Fan pursed his lips and blinked wildly. After a long time, he gave a silent thumbs up, "Good choice."

If there wasn't another person present, it would be fine. As long as the conditions are right, changing majors can be discussed. But with both people present, you must be firm in your ideals, otherwise, it will give people a feeling of instability.

In professional terms, it means not mature and stable enough. Such people are not worthy of being given priority for cultivation.

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

Huang Ying also looked a little confused, "The process was similar to what Xiaodan said, first you go in and read the cards, and there are phonetic symbols, and after that, you chat.

The content of the chat includes myself, my family, and the production team. I talked about some of my daily life and the situation of studying with you, and then I talked about my ideals. I said I wanted to be a foreign trade worker and generate foreign exchange for the country.

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

Then the teacher from the University of Foreign Trade immediately said that I had been accepted and told me to go back and wait for the admission letter.

I thought that since I had already been accepted, I wouldn't bother, right? The teacher from Peking University didn't say much, and just let me out."

Chen Fan smacked his lips, a smile he couldn't suppress on his face.

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

If only one of them came, this courteous attitude might have confused these two silly girls and made them switch their applications.

But with two people coming together, is there still a chance of successfully poaching them?!

He rubbed his face, controlled the smile on his face, and made a gesture, "Let's go, today let's take a stroll around the district committee, consider it my celebration for you getting into college."

Hearing this, Liu Dan and Huang Ying instantly threw the previous interview to the back of their minds, clasped their hands in front of their chests, and jumped for joy, following Chen Fan out, hopping and skipping.

Leaving behind a group of candidates who also came to participate in the interview, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.