I'm back in 1990

Chapter 701: The Purpose of Expanding Enrollment

"Teacher, please eat more dumplings. These are vegetarian dumplings with three kinds of seafood that Qiao Yue specially made for you!" Hong Yongze pushed a plate of dumplings toward Grandpa Wang Deyi.

The old man nodded eagerly, "You all drink your wine, I'll do it myself!"

The freshly cooked dumplings were a bit slippery, and the old man couldn't pick them up even after two attempts with his chopsticks. At this moment, Hong Yu quickly helped: "Master, let me help you!" He then used a spoon to put a few dumplings into the old man's bowl.

The old man beamed with joy: "Hehe!"

"Junior brother, come on, let's drink!" Hong Yongze called to Huang Xiaochuan, who was holding a wine glass.

The two brothers ate, drank, and chatted at the same time.

The topic naturally turned to the expansion of university enrollment. Hong Yongze sought sponsorship from Huang Xiaochuan to build a new venue because the current facilities were outdated and could no longer accommodate such a large number of students.

Since they were all family, Hong Yongze started complaining to Huang Xiaochuan at the dinner table: "This year's enrollment quota has increased by 16 compared to last year, and now I'm having a terrible headache. When you were in school, at least you had a six-person room, but now we have to cramm four bunk beds into one room, and even then, the dorms are still very crowded because the facilities aren't up to par!"

Huang Xiaochuan comforted him, "This is temporary. Senior brother, just wait and see. The city is definitely planning to build a new campus."

Hong Yongze's eyes lit up: "You have inside information?"

Huang Xiaochuan shook his head: "I was just guessing."

Upon hearing this, Hong Yongze immediately deflated.

Huang Xiaochuan started analyzing with Hong Yongze, counting on his fingers: "Senior, first of all, we need to understand the real intention behind the expansion of university enrollment. One is the country's economic needs. Simply put, it is to promote education consumption and alleviate employment pressure, after all, the population base is here."

Secondly, there is a social demand. Since ancient times, the people of our country have held the belief that all other professions are inferior except for studying, and they have a very strong desire for higher education.

Third, this is our country's long-term strategy, which is to improve the quality of our citizens and shift from the original "elite education" to universal "mass education".

Based on these three points, I can confidently conclude that improving and expanding the facilities of all universities is already on the agenda. You can rest assured!

Hong Yongze also thought Huang Xiaochuan's analysis made a lot of sense, and he nodded involuntarily.

Huang Xiaochuan continued, "I think the reason why the city is unwilling to invest too much in the old campus is that it wants to use the money where it's most needed. Just you wait, once it's decided to build a new campus, the money will definitely be allocated in one go."

Hong Yongze then made a decision: "What you said makes some sense. I'll go to the city to report to the leaders and find out their attitude."

At this moment, Qiao Yue feigned displeasure and said, "Hey you two, can you please stop talking about business at home? Can't you just eat in peace?"

"Haha, eat dumplings, eat dumplings! Let me tell you, your sister-in-law made all these dumplings. From the filling to rolling out the dough, I just helped out a little." Hong Yongze quickly urged Huang Xiaochuan to eat dumplings while praising his wife.

"You don't need to tell me, my sister-in-law's dumpling-making skills are good enough to open a restaurant!" Huang Xiaochuan added the icing on the cake.

This delighted Qiao Yue, who quickly said, "Eat more if you like it, and come again often!"

Huang Xiaochuan laughed and said, "Of course, I'm thick-skinned and I won't stand on ceremony with you."

After eating until they were about 80% full, everyone slowed down and started chatting.

The conversation naturally turned to Hong Yu, mainly about improving his educational qualifications, which was a continuation of the earlier discussion about the expansion of university enrollment.

Hong Yongze earnestly advised Hong Yu, "You heard what your uncle and I were saying. In the future, society will have higher and higher requirements for education. Your bachelor's degree may not be enough then. So, I think you should take advantage of your youth and improve your education as soon as possible."

Huang Xiaochuan agreed with Hong Yongze's idea, so he chimed in, "Hong Yu, your dad is right. But let me add a few more words. There's an old saying, 'Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles,' which means that even the ancients tried every means to broaden their horizons and knowledge. If the ancients were like this, how much more should you young people of the new era? Besides, you have plenty of opportunities now, why not go out and see the world?"

This time, Hong Yu didn't object, but listened very attentively, which made Hong Yongze happy. He quickly kicked Huang Xiaochuan under the table.

Huang Xiaochuan naturally understood Hong Yongze's meaning, and he continued, "I've established the Hong Kong Economic Research Institute, which has extensive and excellent cooperation with some of the world's most renowned universities. These are all very good universities with profound educational and cultural heritage, such as Harvard, IT, University of Chicago, New York University, Stanford, and Berkeley in the United States; LSE, Cambridge, and Oxford in the United Kingdom; Toulouse in France; and Mannheim and Bonn in Germany. If you think that's too far, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University are also good options. If you don't want to go abroad, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Dan University are also worth considering."

This is why Huang Xiaochuan dared to say such a thing. Anyone else would never dare to make such a boast. Even Hong Yongze, the president of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, wouldn't dare to say that his daughter could freely choose from these well-known universities at home and abroad.

However, he knew that his junior brother had the confidence to say such a thing. Sending a student to study abroad was just a matter of a word for him. After all, the man was both a Clark Medal winner and the richest man in Asia. He was a world-class figure in both academics and wealth.

Although Hong Yu is young, she has been working at PwC for two years and is well aware of the influence her senior colleague has. She also knows that her father is doing this for her own good. When she first graduated, she really didn't want to study anymore and wanted to start working as soon as possible so that she could become independent from her family.

After working for so long, she realized that home is actually the safest place. When she's tired and weary, she wants to go back to this warm home the most. Moreover, what her uncle said makes a lot of sense, and he has the ability to do so.

So she nodded and said, "I will seriously consider this matter."

Hearing this, Hong Yongze was the happiest; the girl had finally come to her senses.

"Come, come, junior brother, let me toast you two cups. It's all thanks to you for coming today! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to persuade this girl."

Huang Xiaochuan smiled and asked in return, "I didn't eat these dumplings for nothing, did I?"

"Look at what you're saying! Let's drink!"

The two drank four cups in a row, and Qiao Yue didn't stop them anymore. She was happy to let the two brothers drink to their hearts' content.

Huang Xiaochuan sat for another ten minutes or so. Seeing that the old man was getting sleepy, he quickly said goodbye to Hong Yongze and his wife. Older people usually go to bed early, and he wanted to take the old man home to rest as soon as possible.