Chapter 69: The Super Fan
Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
The lecture hall was packed with a large crowd of people. Although there were hundreds of seats in the biggest room in Academic Building E, they didn’t seem to be enough.
Worrying about losing their seats, Xie Yujia held onto Hao Ren and rushed to the seats she reserved.
Finally, she found the seats according to the numbers on her tickets. She walked in while grabbing onto Hao Ren’s hand and then sat down as she uttered a sigh of relief.
When she sat down, she realized she had been holding onto Hao Ren’s hand the entire time. Her face turned red instantly, and she let his hand go hastily. Her palm was a little slippery and a little wet; she was so nervous.
Hao Ren took his hand back awkwardly and wiped his slightly wet hand on his clothes. He felt embarrassed to ask the Class President to release his hand while she was grabbing onto it, so he had to let her do it.
With the appearance of Hao Zhonghua on the podium, the noisy and excited lecture hall went silent immediately.
“Ah, I forgot to get some water,” Xie Yujia said suddenly.
“I’ll go get it,” Hao Ren stood up and replied.
“Forget it!” Xie Yujia grabbed his arm and stopped him hastily, “The lecture is going to start soon.”
Hao Ren looked back at her, and Xie Yujia blushed and took her hand back immediately.
“I must be too excited today, otherwise why do I keep touching him so much…” Xie Yujia thought to herself secretly while her face was still red.
“Ok…” Hao Ren sat back down without noticing the look on Xie Yujia’s face.
The lecture hall was divided into three areas specifically for today’s lectures.
The two front rows were for the officials of the city and university, the senior professors, and the most authoritative scientists in the East Ocean area.
Many master and doctoral students in related majors from various famous universities in East Ocean City were attracted to the lecture by the fame of the couple, and many of them were also the favorite students of the professors who sat in the front. The university had arranged six to seven rows in the middle based on the number of these students.
The area furthest back was left for the undergraduates of East Ocean University. However, as Xie Yujia said, there was only a limited amount of tickets available. She tried hard and only got two tickets through the Student Council. Other students who didn’t get seats had to stand throughout the whole lecture.
The seats Xie Yujia reserved were in a pretty good spot. They were in the front row of the third area, which enabled them to see Hao Zhonghua and his wife on the podium clearly.
The entire lecture hall was fully packed. Even the hallways were full of students. Many of them were standing on tiptoes worrying they wouldn’t be able to see the appearance of the two famous scientists.
This lecture was a unique and grand occasion in the university.
“On such a lively day like today, it is our great honor to have a world-famous couple in the science community, Academician Hao Zhonghua, and Academician Yue Yang, give us a lecture on their scientific research. Academician Hao Zhonghua and Academician Yue Yang are from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering respectively. They have come here to give this lecture as soon as they landed in China from their trip to Europe; it is indeed an honor for our university! Academician Hao Zhonghua had just won the most prestigious award in the biomedical scientific community abroad, Gairdner Award! And Academician Yue Yang, her recent climate research had won the Graff Award, which is also known as the “Nobel Prize in Ecology” in the science community.”
The Principal of the university was prologuing with the most genuine expressions and enthusiasm. Xie Yujia, who sat beside Hao Ren, was holding her head up and in a passionate mood as if it was her, instead of Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang, who had won the awards.
The look on her face switched from excitement to discontent when she turned around and saw how calm Hao Ren was. She knocked Hao Ren with her arm and whispered, “Did you hear that! How incredible are they! They just won two international prizes!”
“Just some prizes, what’s so special about them,” Hao Ren said calmly.
“You!” Xie Yujia pouted. She stopped bothering him and continued looking forward with her neck stretched.
She had done lots of research on scientific news and found out that the Gairdner Award was also known as “the mini Nobel Prize” as a quarter of the Gairdner Award recipients had won the Nobel Prize later. Therefore, this award was also called “the Pre-Nobel Prize”.
As soon as the Principal finished his speech, roaring applauses resonated in the hall.
The applauses were very enthusiastic and prolonged. It wasn’t because the Principal’s speech was excellent; instead, the arrival of the two world-famous scientists after winning the awards indeed drove up the students’ excitement.
After the Principal walked down from the podium, Hao Zhonghua, who was a stalwart figure and had an imposing appearance walked up to the podium.
Xie Yujia’s eyes radiated instantly; she was a crazy fan of Hao Zhonghua.
Hao Zhonghua held the microphone, cleared his throat, and smiled. “The Principal overpraised me. As a matter of fact, we still have a long way ahead of us on the road of science. The development of science in China relied on contributions from generations, which can’t be simply measured by trophies and awards. The main purpose of me and my wife’s trip to Europe wasn’t accepting the awards; instead, it was connecting with professionals and scientists from abroad. East Ocean University is the first place we have come to give this lecture. We have some spare time as we had just come back, and I graduated from East Ocean University, so I have deep feelings for it…” his voice was plump and charming.
Xie Yujia was listening carefully with her neck turned to the side. The passion she had wasn’t inferior to those fans of celebrities from middle school.
“Hao Zhonghua is so attractive; he is so clever and charming… if my future husband could ever be like that…”
Behind Hao Ren, there were a few girls making comments in a slightly trembling voice.
“Em, is he that good-looking…” Hao Ren was speechless.
He turned around to look at Xie Yujia. Her eyes were shining, her hands were laying under her jaw, her mouth was slightly open, and her expression showed how engaged she was.
On the podium, as soon as he finished his polite greeting, Hao Zhonghua started talking about his most recent scientific research, which was what he won the award for.
The professors and master and doctoral students in the front were listening carefully as if it was a traditional lecture, and they took notes diligently. Some were so immersed in the lecture that they nodded along and then lowered their heads to take notes as if they figured something out.
East Ocean University’s undergraduates in the third area were listening carefully and quietly without making any noise, even though they couldn’t completely comprehend what Hao Zhonghua was talking about.
However, Hao Zhonghua’s lecture didn’t dive in deep. Even undergraduates who weren’t majoring in biology could still get some of the points; it was just the details that puzzled them.
The primary purpose of holding a scientific lecture at East Ocean University was to form a gathering effect. On the one hand, it was to introduce the undergraduates to an intense scientific research environment and to allow them to experience a higher level of academic knowledge. On the other hand, it was to draw the attention of the media and scientific community and to promote the school’s image.
Hao Zhonghua spoke eloquently during the lecture. Once a while, he would use gestures to enhance the effects. Many scientists with grey hair had shown their admiration because of his clear statements and logical thinking.
One hour passed by like a flowing river. When Hao Zhonghua finished his lecture, all the people in the hall were still enjoying the charm of science and longing for more, didn’t matter if they were the officials of the city or the university, professors or students.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh… warm applauses resounded through the lecture hall like tides as soon as the crowd realized the lecture was over.
The applauses lasted at least five minutes.
Hao Ren also joined the crowd and applauded. Xie Yujia probably thought Hao Ren was finally influenced as she touched Hao Ren with her arm proudly and said, “See, that’s the power of science!”
Afterward, she mused, “He is indeed a great scientist. He can explain the most advanced concepts in such an understandable way, and his communication skills are also incredible!”
Hao Ren looked at her helplessly. He figured that Xie Yujia had idolized Hao Zhonghua to some degree as she was so close to having stars spinning in a circle in her eyes.