This was exactly why the three department heads had come rushing over to fight for Zhao Yuan.
They all hoped Zhao Yuan could bring glory to their departments. They also believed that with his level of skill, he could easily handle the Chinese Medical Exchange Forum and deliver a performance that was satisfactory, if not outright astonishing!
In fact, it didn't even matter if Zhao Yuan couldn't come up with a good research topic or academic report. The two exam papers published in *Chinese Medicine* were more than enough to show off! At the conference, they could take Zhao Yuan around and flaunt him to the principals and department heads of other schools. They were sure to be met with countless looks of envy and jealousy.
Just the thought of it was exhilarating!
For the sake of a good flex... ah, no, for the sake of bringing glory to their departments, Yang Jingbo, Director Ma, and Qiu Haogu were fighting relentlessly, not giving an inch.
Just as the three were in the middle of their heated argument, Zhao Yuan's phone rang again.
"Who's calling now?"
Zhao Yuan muttered, picking up his phone. He saw it was an unknown number. After a moment's hesitation, he pressed the answer button.
"Excuse me, is this Zhao Yuan?" a middle-aged woman's voice asked through the phone.
Zhao Yuan replied politely, "This is he. May I ask who's calling?"
The person on the other end chuckled. "I'm Bai Mei, the head of the Acupuncture and Tuina Massage Department. Are you free right now? Come by my office for a moment, I have some good news for you."
While Zhao Yuan was on the phone, Qiu Haogu, Yang Jingbo, and Director Ma stopped their squabbling and pricked up their ears to eavesdrop.
The moment they heard someone else was trying to poach Zhao Yuan, they were instantly enraged.
'Son of a bitch! Can't we just have this one chance to show off? Why does every single one of you have to come and fight us for him? My life is so hard!'
Qiu Haogu stepped forward, snatched the phone right out of Zhao Yuan's hand, and boomed, "Xiaobai, don't even think about getting your hands on Zhao Yuan. He's already been claimed by our Medical Ancient Texts program."
Bai Mei, on the other end of the line, was stunned into silence.
But before she could even speak, Director Ma chimed in again, yelling, "Hey, what do you mean he's been claimed by your Medical Ancient Texts program? He's clearly from our Department of Chinese Materia Medica!"
At that moment, Yang Jingbo, face flushed and veins bulging in his neck, had lost all trace of his usual scholarly elegance. He roared, "All of you, get lost! Zhao Yuan belongs to our Department of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine! No one is taking him away!"
The three department heads, all esteemed experts in their fields, resumed their fierce argument, which now seemed on the verge of escalating into a physical brawl. Zhao Yuan and his three roommates watched with mounting anxiety, terrified that if the professors actually came to blows, the situation would get completely out of hand.
Liu Zhu tugged on the corner of Zhao Yuan's shirt and whispered, "This isn't good, Third Brother. You have to think of a way to stop them."
"I want to, but they're so worked up, there's no stopping them," Zhao Yuan said with a wry smile. He had already tried to intervene, but unfortunately, Yang Jingbo, Director Ma, and Qiu Haogu were truly furious now and wouldn't listen to a word of reason.
Wu Yan offered a suggestion. "Why don't you just pick one of them and fill out the application form? Once it's settled, they'll have nothing left to argue about."
"You're full of terrible ideas," Zhao Yuan shot him a glare and said irritably. "In this situation, no matter which department I choose, the other two professors will come after me! Then they won't be fighting with each other anymore—they'll all be coming to hassle me. Do you want them to pester me to death?"
"Then what do we do? We can't just let this keep going, right?" Wang Rongfeng said, his face etched with worry.
A large crowd of curious students had already gathered outside their dorm. If the three professors really started throwing punches, news would spread across the university forums and social media feeds in minutes. Their Dorm 301 would become famous overnight, and not in a good way.
Zhao Yuan said with a pained expression, "Of course we can't just ignore it. We have to think of something fast, or they'll actually start fighting."
An idea suddenly struck Liu Zhu. "Hey, why don't you call Principal Ma? He can get these three big shots under control! He's the principal. They have to show him some respect, right?"
"That's an idea." Zhao Yuan quickly pulled out his phone to call Ma Guotao.
But before he could even find the number, his phone rang again.
This time, Zhao Yuan didn't even get a chance to see who was calling. The moment it rang, Director Ma snatched it away.
Without even looking at the caller ID, Director Ma answered the phone and immediately launched into a tirade. "Listen up! I don't care who you are or what department you're from, I've got one thing to say to you: if you think you're getting Zhao Yuan, you've got another thing coming! He's already been claimed by our Department of Chinese Materia Medica, and no one is going to take him from us!"
After yelling his piece, he hung up and tossed the phone back to Zhao Yuan.
Zhao Yuan shook his head with a wry smile and checked his call history. He froze. The person who had just called was none other than Ma Guotao.
'Wow,' he thought. 'Director Ma just chewed out the principal…'
'So bold! Absolutely fearless!'
Just as Zhao Yuan was about to call Ma Guotao back, Director Ma's own phone started ringing. He pulled it out, saw the caller was the principal, and froze for a second before quickly answering.
The call had barely connected before Ma Guotao's furious roar erupted from the speaker. "Are you a thug? Snatching a student's phone? What's all this about Zhao Yuan being 'claimed' by you and how 'no one can take him away'? Do you think that's right? Is that appropriate behavior? I also heard that Elder Qiu and Director Yang are in Zhao Yuan's dorm arguing with you. The three of you are department heads! Arguing until you're red in the face in front of your students! Have you no shame? I'm telling you, all of you, stop arguing right now. Zhao Yuan doesn't need you to submit an application form for him…"
Before he could finish, Director Ma, Yang Jingbo, and Qiu Haogu interrupted him in unison. "Principal, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you don't plan on letting Zhao Yuan attend the Chinese Medical Exchange Forum? That's unacceptable! He has to go! We can guarantee that if he goes, he'll bring glory to the university!"
Despite being challenged, Ma Guotao didn't get angry. Instead, he chuckled. "Did I say Zhao Yuan wasn't going to the Chinese Medical Exchange Forum? I just said he doesn't need your help to apply!"
"What do you mean by that?" the three asked in unison once more. "If we don't need to apply for him, then who does?"
"No one needs to."
Ma Guotao's voice was brimming with pride and satisfaction.
"Just now, the Chinese Medical Exchange Forum officially sent a Level A invitation directly to Zhao Yuan!"
"What? The Chinese Medical Exchange Forum sent an invitation to Zhao Yuan? A Level A invitation? Did I hear that correctly?"
Qiu Haogu, Director Ma, and Yang Jingbo exclaimed in unison, their faces masks of shock and disbelief. But beyond the shock, there was also a thick layer of envy!
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter
