Hollow old man, an old Xiangjiang saying, means a person who is strong and strong outside. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info "hollow" means that they are rich on the outside but have no money, and they are generally liars; "Lao Qi" generally refers to a man who pretends to be a man.

The first person to teach Mu An this proverb was Miss Chen, an assistant in the department's office.

At that time, Mu An couldn't pay the deposit for half a year's living expenses in the United States, so he could only ask the head of the department for help.

She glanced at Mu An and whispered, "It turned out to be a hollow old man." ”

Mu An's language talent is good, and he has been able to communicate naturally in Cantonese after living in Xiangjiang for a few years, but he can understand every word of the four words of "Hollow Old Man", and when put together, it is like an alien language.

However, although he could not understand this, he could understand the contempt in her eyes—a look often seen in court films when a court maid faced a concubine who had lost power.

Since that day, Mu An has been very uneasy, as if some handle has been pinched in someone else's hands. He could only secretly hope that the less people knew about his father's bankruptcy, the better.

Soon, Professor Kelly, the head of the department, invited Mu An to the office and discussed the solution with him.

Professor Kelly is an American, and his straight suit looks more like a seasoned businessman than a professor, and even the posture of asking Mu An to sit down is like a prelude to a subordinate's debriefing.

"I'll put it in front of you, going to the United States for an internship is a compulsory part of the course, if you don't go to the bank arranged by the school to receive an internship, you must find a U.S. bank for an internship for half a year before you can complete the course requirements, otherwise you can't graduate." Professor Kelly gets straight to the point.

"Professor, it's not that I don't want to go, it's that the school asked me to pay the security deposit, and I really can't get it. Is it possible for the department to lend this fee on a temporary basis? Mu An pleaded.

In these years, some people are rushing to be unpaid interns, and the Bank of America arranged by the school for Mu An is also the same, not only is it an unpaid internship, but also a deposit for living expenses such as half a year's rent must be paid before going.

It's just that the internship in Denmark last semester has exhausted Mu An's food, and he no longer has the capital to post upside down.

"The deadline for applying for the Departmental Poverty Relief Grant has passed, and the candidates have been decided. In this way, you have two choices: First, apply for delayed graduation, you can spend some time saving enough money, and then go to the United States with your younger siblings next year......" Mu An immediately frowned when he heard this proposal.

Time and money are luxuries for him, and delaying graduation is the next policy.

Professor Kelly seemed to have anticipated Mu An's reaction, and immediately handed him a piece of information.

Professor Kelly said slowly: "The second option is to participate in this competition with your younger students, that is, this year's third-year students, and if you win the championship, you will get a six-month paid internship contract and a bonus of 200,000 yuan from the sponsor JPMorgan Bank." ”

JPMorgan Bank, which has ranked first in global investment banking revenue for many years, and even interns have an annual salary of 540,000 Hong Kong dollars.

"Thank you, Professor." Mu An took the competition materials and thanked him.

"Don't thank you first, your younger brother and sister are not fuel-efficient lamps, they have a lot of personality, be careful not to be tricked." When Professor Kelly speaks of "personality", he pronounces the "a" in "character" very strongly, as if there is another off-string sound.

In a department like theirs, where there are few students, gossip is circling around in so many people, and it spreads faster than the flu. Therefore, Mu An has also heard of this group of juniors and sisters who are one year younger than him.

Originally, this group of proud sons of heaven occasionally played a little young master and young lady's temperament, which is a common thing, most of the time they are still measured, understand etiquette, and at least know how to watch people put dishes, but this year's junior students have been famous for their freshman years, and even the instructor has offended several times.

"Yes." Mu An replied.

What does he know? He knew that he would have to suffer a little if he stepped sideways in this troublesome circle with the posture of an outsider, but he also knew that there was no better choice at the moment, and if he failed, he would only jump back to the first option.

Mu An was about to leave, but Professor Kelly stopped him with a gesture.

"It just so happens that your junior brother, Shi Lei made an appointment with me, and the time is about the same, you wait a minute, I will introduce you to each other, and you will join Shi Lei's group." As soon as Professor Kelly finished speaking, the door slammed open.

A young man about twenty years old rushed up in a rage, regardless of the astonishment of others, and sat down on the chair that Mu An had just sat on.

"Shi Lei!" Professor Kelly shouted in Chinese, and he always habitually called his students by their Chinese names, perhaps he thought it was a sign of following local customs.

However, he then switched back to the English channel he was familiar with, and said in a deep voice: "I have said many times that you must knock on the door first when you come in. ”

Mu An knew that the person who came was the "famous" Shi Lei, the only child of Liby Daxiang, and also the person who took the lead in making waves among the third-grade students.

They were angry with the instructor, and Shi Lei would find a consultant for the family business; If there are too many absentees, Shi Lei always has a way to prove for them that it is all kinds of personal leave or sick leave; was rated low by the teacher, Shi Lei will find the media to smear the teacher for unfair rating......

Shi Lei, in the small circle of third-graders led by him, is Shang Fang's sword and the gold medal for avoiding death, even if he doesn't hurt others, he can protect himself. This group of people does not know how much the sky is high and thick, and how much they are due to Shi Lei.

"Professor Kelly, I have also said many times, please call me Stanley, don't call me Chinese name, your Chinese pronunciation is too awkward." Shi Lei complained about the professor's Chinese in a pure British accent.

"Be careful about your words and actions," Professor Kelly reprimanded symbolically, and then introduced, "At your side is Mu An, your senior, who will join your team." Trust his experience and it will help you a lot in your game. ”

Shi Lei seemed to have just discovered that there was a big living person standing in the room, his eyes suddenly flicked up, and he glanced at the top of Mu An's head, that glance was like rolling his eyes, and then he glanced at Mu An from top to bottom. Then there was a "ha" or "hum" sound that couldn't be heard.

Shi Lei's grandfather is a Chinese-Portuguese mixed-race, and the mixed-race gene can still be found in his generation, such as the tall nose and fair skin that are rare among Asians, which indicate his bloodline, and when he raises his head, the arrogant look is full of Europeans who chanted the theory of white excellence in the last century.

Just when Mu An thought that their first meeting was over, Shi Lei stood up solemnly, changed the embarrassing situation that only Mu An was standing, and took the initiative to extend his right hand to Mu An.

Mu An hesitantly stretched out his right hand, wanting to shake it casually, but Shi Lei suddenly exerted force, pulled Mu An towards him, and whispered six words in his ear - "Hello, hollow old man." ”

Mu Anxin sank.

Sure enough, in their department, gossip spreads much faster than the flu.