Chapter 225: This Is Why I Like Baiyi!
Did a guaranteed graduate school spot just fall from the sky?
Lin Yibai was completely confused. This felt way too strange.
How are hardworking students supposed to feel when schools hand out grad school spots like this?
After all, these guaranteed spots are limited. If someone takes one, that means someone else loses their chance.
That’s why Lin Yibai thought this move by the school was unfair, even shady.
But for some universities, aren’t these spots just tools to be used however they want? Otherwise, why would a school give out a guaranteed spot right after someone tried to jump off a building?
Even though she hadn't graduated yet, Lin Yibai had already started to see the darker side of society. In today’s world, the most important thing is your value. And the simplest kind of “value” might be whether you’re someone they can pull into their camp?
Ah… ouch…
So that’s what "value" really means?
Lin Yibai seemed to realize something. Her tone became sharper as she said,
“Teacher, this doesn't follow the rules… or, well, I just think it's not right. I’m not someone who loves studying or is loyal to knowledge, but those grad school spots are limited. If you give one to me, that means someone else loses their chance. That’s not fair to the students who worked hard, staying up late and studying!”
The counselor gave an awkward smile.
She wanted to put on a serious face, to maintain her authority as a teacher. But in college, teachers and students often don’t have a close relationship.
Teachers don’t really care about students. Students don’t really care about teachers either.
In this kind of environment, teachers and students are almost equal. So the counselor dropped the act and said with a helpless smile.
“Baiyi, I’ve been your counselor for a few years now, right? You know what kind of person I am. I might not be the best counselor, but I’ve never had any bad intentions.”
Lin Yibai’s gender and name had already been changed. Now, people called her by her corrected name, Lin Baiyi, and saw her as a girl.
Because of the distant relationship between students and teachers in college, the counselor didn’t know much about the girl in front of her. Or what kind of person she used to be, back when she was still a boy.
So when a problem came up, the counselor's first thought was to use the same trick that sometimes worked on female students. Offer a guaranteed grad school spot and see if that helps?
Now all the counselor wanted was to solve the problem smoothly. So she said honestly,
“The school sent me to fix this. If I solve it, everything's fine. But if I can’t, then they’ll come after me. What can I do? I’ve already shown you all the cards I have. Just think of it as helping me out, take the spot and speak out to calm things down, okay?”
Lin Baiyi shook her head. “No.”
The counselor panicked and smiled bitterly. “Baiyi… this is really the best I can offer in this situation. Please, just help me, okay?”
Lin Baiyi shook her head again and said, “There are better ways to solve this than stealing the rewards of someone else's hard work.”
The counselor was stunned. She didn’t understand. “Huh? Baiyi, what do you mean? I… I don’t really get it. Can you explain more? As long as it helps calm down the drama online and keeps it from spreading to outside media, I’m willing to do anything I can.”
Actually, the problem wasn’t even that complicated. It all started because the person in charge of a company’s campus recruitment was rude.
Then her boyfr— well, a certain boy who liked Lin Baiyi got angry and wanted to get revenge for her.
So he organized a few people to stir things up on the school forum. They made posts to cause drama.
And because students are easily influenced, public opinion quickly turned into a standoff between the students and the school.
This matter could be big or small. It all depends on how the school chooses to handle it.
If the school wants to save face, then let it save face. If not...
Well, the media outside, especially those shameless outlets that make things up freely, love stories like this. So maybe let them “help” the school save face?
In other words, the solution is already obvious.
Instead of trying to persuade Lin Yibai to calm down, shouldn’t the real goal be figuring out how to calm the anger of the students on the school forum? More specifically, what do the students really want?
Lin Yibai took a deep breath and slowly said, “What are people upset about right now? They’re angry at how arrogant that company’s campus recruiter was. They’re angry about being treated like cheap labor. So instead of asking me for a solution, why not fix the real problem first?”
The counselor paused for a moment and asked, “Baiyi, are you saying...?”
Lin Yibai shrugged and answered calmly, “This whole situation shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I’m not looking to gain anything from it either. So if you want a solution, it shouldn’t be about offering me benefits. The school should deal with that company instead. Can you do that?”
The counselor frowned deeply, full of worry.
Because throughout history, the easiest way to solve a problem is to “handle” the person who raises the problem, not the problem itself.
And this issue wasn’t one that should be looked into too deeply anyway.
Everyone who understands how campus recruitment works knows. The companies that get to come do so because they have the right “connections.”
Companies with no connections or influence wouldn’t even qualify to attend early campus recruitment events.
On the surface, it looks like the school invites companies to help improve student employment rates, like the school is doing the students a big favor.
But in reality, businesspeople only show up when there’s something in it for them. Do you really think these capitalist bosses are saints doing good for no reason?
Xia Changyu, who had experience running his own business, understood this well. He walked up to them and quietly explained,
“Companies get access to cheap labor, and the school boosts its employment numbers. Plus, both the school and the companies benefit from policy advantages and special support for helping students find jobs. It’s supposed to be a win-win.”
The counselor sighed with a troubled face and said, “You’re right, it was supposed to be a win-win. So how did things end up like this? Just tell me, what do you all want to do?”
Lin Yibai looked at her and replied, “I don’t want the guaranteed graduate school spot. What I want is for the school to make a clear statement, and for that company to face the consequences of what it did.”
The counselor walked away, full of worry.
Xia Changyu looked at the girl in front of him.
If you looked at it from a practical, benefit-focused angle, accepting the graduate school spot would have been the easiest way to solve everything.
He walked closer, wanting to say something, but didn’t know how to start.
After thinking for a while, he finally asked, “Are you really not going to regret giving up that spot? My roommate gets up at 8 a.m. every day to go to the library, and doesn’t leave until 9:30 p.m. when it closes. Even then, he’s not guaranteed to pass the exam. You know how hard it is to get into grad school. So… you really won’t regret this?”
Lin Yibai shook her head and said, “No. I won’t regret it. If it’s meant to be mine, no one can take it from me. And if it’s not mine, even if I take it, it won’t help me.”
This is what makes her special. She is kind at heart.
Lin Yibai didn’t want to take away the opportunity that rightfully belonged to students who worked hard for it.
Maybe some people would call her “naive.” Or mock her and say she’s “pretending to be noble.”
But as a person, as a human being, she believed that there are things you should do and things you should not.