Tao Ranzhi learned that Suo Suo took out a pack of unopened cigarettes from the drawer, slowly opened the cigarette case, took out one and put it in his mouth.

Seeing that there was a lighter on the desk, Lu Shanmin hurriedly picked it up and lit it.

"Ahem", Tao Ranzhi coughed twice and muttered: "I've quit for many years, it's really a long-lost taste."

Tao Ranzhi's state made Lu Shanmin very worried, if Tao Ranzhi couldn't cross this hurdle psychologically, there would be a bad one, he would be a sinner who deceived his teacher and destroyed his ancestors.

"Boss, you have to pay attention to your body".

Tao Ranzhi squinted at Lu Shanmin, and said lightly: "Do you think I'm naïve, I think I'm unreasonable?"

"No", Lu Shanmin hurriedly said: "I have always respected people like you."

"Why"?

Lu Shanmin's head turned sharply, pondered carefully for a long time, and said cautiously: "In this world, everyone is chasing fame and fortune, and most of them have become slaves of money.

A trace of surprise flashed in Tao Ranzhi's eyes, in his opinion, these words should have been said by someone like He Zhang, and it was a little strange to say it from Lu Shanmin's mouth.

Seeing Tao Ranzhi's puzzled eyes, Lu Shanmin explained, "Just like me, it is precisely because of the existence of people like you, no matter how many dirty things I see and how many unbearable things I see, I always believe that this world is beautiful."

Tao Ranzhi looked at Lu Shanmin in a daze, "You have come all the way, you have gone through intrigues and intrigues, and you have gone through many lives and deaths, don't you feel that your fate is unfortunate and the world is unfair"?

Lu Shanmin shook his head, "On the contrary, I think this journey is very smooth, and I am very lucky, and I can meet many good people, friends, and teachers along the way." Just like in Tianjing, I was fortunate to meet you, my brothers and sisters."

"Don't you feel bitter"?

Lu Shanmin looked at Tao Ranzhi in a daze, not knowing why he suddenly asked these questions.

"Maybe it's a little hard, but I don't think it's that hard. ”

"Difficult but not bitter". Tao Ranzhi muttered to himself. said with a self-deprecating laugh, "I have lived a lifetime, but I haven't understood your life."

Tao Ranzhi flicked the ashes of his cigarette, "Actually, you are wrong about me, I am the same kind of person as the money slaves you just mentioned, the difference is that they are enslaved by money, and I am burdened by "fame", which is not much different in nature."

"Boss," Lu Shanmin opened his mouth, his face full of worry.

Tao Ranzhi smiled and pointed at Lu Shanmin, and then pointed at himself, "Don't you think the current situation of the two of us is funny?"

Lu Shanmin became more and more dazed, Tao Ranzhi was obviously too psychologically blown, and he was talking a little nonsense.

Tao Ranzhi continued: "A young man in his twenties is full of worries, and an old man who is almost seventy years old can't think about it, don't you feel upside down?"

Tao Ranzhi smiled lightly, and then pointed to his hair that was much whiter than before, "My gray hair is indeed related to you, but the reason is more in myself." ”

He said lightly: "Those foul words came to my ears, and I was really in pain. But you also underestimate me as an old man, I have lived to be seventy years old, and I have crossed more bridges than you have walked, and if I can't bear this little setback, how can I be qualified to teach and educate people."

Lu Shanmin breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Tao Ranzhi intently.

Tao Ranzhi continued: "The reason why I have this gray hair is because I have learned from the pain and repeatedly reflected on myself during this time. I always thought that I was the kind of noble person you said, and I also thought of myself as I said, as I just said, I gradually found that I was not as noble as you imagined, nor was it as muddy as I imagined, to put it bluntly, I am also a layman, but others ask for money, I ask for fame."

Saying that, he sighed and said leisurely: "When I figured this out, that kind of inner pain made my heart ache more than the dirty water in the media."

"So I thought, every day and every night, what am I asking for in my life, is it just to get a good name?

Lu Shanmin looked at Tao Ranzhi in surprise, he did not look down on him because of Tao Ranzhi's confession, but respected him more and more. The courage of a seventy-year-old man to reflect on himself so deeply and pierce his own scars is respectful.

Tao Ranzhi laughed self-deprecatingly: "Then I thought of Ma Guodong, my old classmate is very interesting, although he didn't say it, but I know that he has always looked down on me from the bottom of his heart." I couldn't figure it out before, he Ma Guodong was not as famous as me, and he didn't mix as well as me, so why did he look down on me. So when he begged me to take you in, I was happy in my heart, I finally had a chance to wash him, didn't he always say that he was clean and academic, why did he come to me to open the back door for you."

"It wasn't until the last few days that I figured it out. He had the opportunity to teach at a top university, but he didn't. I used to think he was stupid, but now I understand that he is a true scholar who only seeks knowledge, not fame or profit. ”

"Moreover, not only does he not seek fame and fortune, but he is not bound by fame and fortune at all, he would rather lick his face and beg me to take you in and accept my ridicule, while I, a lot of age, am still dying or living for fame."

"He has the right to look down on me". After talking for a long time, Tao Ranzhi finally closed the coffin.

Lu Shanmin finally breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head and said, "Boss Tao, you are wrong."

Tao Ranzhi was stunned, and looked at Lu Shanmin in a daze, "What's wrong?"

"When you encounter something, the first thing you need is not to blame other people's faults, but to reflect deeply on yourself. As a teacher, dare to face your own students and throw out the stain in your heart with dignity. For that reason, no one in this world is entitled to look down on you. I believe that Professor Ma will admire you from the bottom of his heart when he finds out."

"Is it?" Tao Ranzhi's cloudy eyes were filled with joy.

Lu Shanmin nodded affirmatively, "You, like Professor Ma, are the people I respect the most in my life."

Tao Ranzhi sighed, lowered his head thoughtfully.

Lu Shanmin is completely relieved now, and he thought about various possible situations before he came, but he didn't expect such a conversation at all.

"Boss, don't think about anything, take a good rest, I won't bother."

"Wait", Lu Shanmin was about to get up and say goodbye, Tao Ranzhi suddenly raised his head, his gaze suddenly became extremely stern, and Lu Shanmin was stunned on the spot.

"Smack", Tao Ran slapped him on the desk violently, got up and snorted coldly.

"You're going to leave it at that!?

Lu Shanmin's head was a little unturned, he was fine just now, he looked like a kind old man repenting, how could he suddenly seem to be a different person.

Tao Ranzhi pointed to Lu Shanmin's nose and scolded, "Coercion and temptation of senior brothers and sisters, and blackmail your own teacher." Disloyalty and filial piety, deceiving teachers and destroying ancestors, do you know your mistakes"?

Lu Shanmin stood in place in a daze, daring to love just now was just a warm-up, and now is the main play, so he nodded quickly, "Let the boss punish you."

Tao Ranzhi snorted coldly, walked to the bookshelf and began to take the books, one after another, and took three books thicker than the Xinhua dictionary in one breath and threw them to Lu Shanmin.

"Submit a paper that can be in the forefront of the world's international economic journal within a year, and if you can't submit it, get out of here."

Lu Shanmin looked at Tao Ranzhi's angry appearance and knew that he was not joking. But for him, the joke was a bit big, because the three books were all in English, and for him, a primary school graduate who could only speak Chinese pinyin, he didn't even know how to read those English letters.

There was no bargaining, and there was no daring to bargain.

Tao Ranzhi raised his foot and kicked Lu Shanmin's buttocks.

Walking out of Tao Ranzhi's office, Lu Shanmin stared at the English words on the cover, touched his buttocks, and his head was big for a while.

He knew that Tao Ranzhi was for his good, and many of the preface theories in the field of economics were abroad, and in order to grasp the first-hand information, he must be in line with international standards, and Tao Ranzhi was forcing him to move to a higher level.

But this time it was really difficult for him, these three thick books, if they are Chinese characters, if they are just read or even read it, it is not much of a problem, but they are all in English, and they have to write a paper published in the world's leading economic journals, it is not just as simple as reading and understanding, and the relevant extended learning materials do not know how many times more than these three books.

If it was placed in the past, Lu Shanmin would not have such a headache as now, he never thought too much about the future, it was a big deal to spend a year of day and night of research, and try his best to complete it, he believed that Tao Ranzhi would not give him an impossible task, as long as he worked hard, he would definitely achieve a good result.

But now, there are still too many things waiting for him to do, Zuoqiu is gone, he needs to think about every step by himself, and every step needs to be more cautious, whether it is time or energy, it is far from enough.

Walking to the dormitory with three books, I just walked downstairs and met He Zhang.

He Zhang looked at the book in Lu Shanmin's hand and said in surprise: "You went to see the boss"?

Lu Shanmin smiled bitterly and nodded.

"He didn't expel you from the division?" He Zhang asked in great surprise.

Lu Shanmin nodded again and raised the book he was holding in his hand, "I guess it's about the same."

He Zhang stretched out his hand and flipped through the top book, "Hey, this is the latest, there is no Chinese version in China."

"The boss asked me to learn the contents of these three books, and within a year I would come up with a paper in a well-known economic journal that could be in the forefront of the world, otherwise let me go."

He Zhang smashed his tongue and sighed: "That's really similar to expelling you from the division."