Upon hearing the knock at the door, Ding Yue had a fair guess of who it could be.
Either it was his younger sister, Ding Xiaoyou.
Or it would be Huang or Bin, because only they would knock on his office door in such a rhythmic-less and forceful manner.
If it were any other person from Mist City Arts and Science University, they would knock rhythmically three times instead.
"Wen Ruohan, please open the door."
Ding Yue commanded his secretary Wen Ruohan, who was closest to the office door, to answer it.
Wen Ruohan promptly stood up and headed towards the door.
Xia Qing might have closed the door on her way out just now, so Wen Ruohan opened it.
Standing at the door, as expected, was Director Xu Bin.
"Bin? How come you’re here again?" Ding Yue asked curiously upon seeing that it was Xu Bin.
Under normal circumstances, Bin wouldn’t come to his office unless he had something important, as he was busy with all sorts of computer-related research. Ding Yue also didn’t want to disturb him, but just let him focus on his research work.
As for administrative affairs, Xu Bin had appointed a secretary familiar with these tasks to handle for him, who seemed to be doing quite well.
The last time Xu Bin came to his office was to deliver a smart robot called Big White.
This time, it was clearly not Ding Yue who needed him.
On the contrary, it was Xu Bin who came to him, could it be that there was something up?
"I heard that our Principal Ding has been very busy and conscientious in managing his workload lately, so I just came to check in," Xu Bin said with a smile.
He had a very close relationship with Ding Yue, and was one of the University’s leaders. There were no outsiders in the Principal’s office, so he felt more relaxed than others, and he directly sat down on the couch.
Ding Yue spread his hands, "We’re just handling some school matters. And besides, I’m the principal, if I’m not busy, who else should be? Unlike you and Huang, one of you manages logistics, the other administration, and all your department’s tasks are delegated to your subordinates."
Upon hearing this, Xu Bin burst out laughing, "But I gotta say, my secretary is pretty effective, I reckon even better than Huang’s!"
"Getting stuff done!!!"
"Alright, alright, enough with the nonsense. Did you come here for something?" After some small talk with Bin, Ding Yue asked about the real matter at hand.
Bin definitely wouldn’t make a social call without a reason, could he have just come to chitchat?
"Well, about the ACM, the registration has started, so I was thinking of giving it a shot."
Xu Bin said earnestly, "And at the same time, bring some honor to our Mist City Arts and Science University."
Upon hearing this, Ding Yue couldn’t help but frown.
Wondering what this ACM was?
But considering it was likely linked to Bin’s computer science major, could it possibly be a major competition of some sort?
"It’s the ACM International College Student Programming Competition!" Xu Bin replied, "It’s very suitable for us Computer Science students to give it a try. If we could win the championship, it would be quite an achievement."
"Absolutely. Go for it, Bin! Let’s bring home a championship!" Ding Yue, without a second thought, immediately voiced his support for Bin to participate in this ACM International College Student Programming Competition.
"Wait a moment, ACM International College Student Programming Competition? An international contest?" Ding Yue finally came around.
As Ding Yue was not very familiar with this ACM thing, initially, he thought it was a domestic competition.
But now he realized it had "International" in its name, indicating that this was clearly something more than just an ordinary domestic competition.
It was international!
Bear in mind, Mist City Arts and Science University has never been on an international stage, let alone participate in international competitions.
"That’s right! It’s an international contest!" Xu Bin acknowledged with a smile.
"So, Bin, for this international contest, do you have the confidence to bring home the championship?" Ding Yue asked him with a tinge of worry.
If it were a domestic competition, Ding Yue would be quite confident in Bin’s abilities.
But an international competition would mean competing against the world’s top computer experts, the odds of winning would quite apparently be lower in comparison to a domestic competition.
After all, China’s computing technology still has some differences as compared to the rest of the world, although it may not necessarily lag behind by much.
"What, Yue, don’t you have faith in me?" Xu Bin asked full of confidence.
Ding Yue immediately burst into laughter, "Hahaha."
Ding Yue then patted Xu Bin’s shoulder gently and said, "Our Bin is so freakin’ awesome, of course, I trust you. But since it’s an international competition, the competition is bound to be fierce."
Xu Bin nodded in a confident yet humble manner, "The ACM International College Student Programming Competition gathers the world’s most talented computer science students. I, Xu Bin, would love to compete with these global computer geniuses, and this is a great opportunity."
"Hey, wait a minute!"
Suddenly, Ding Yue remembered something and hastily asked, "Hang on, if this is an international competition, do we even qualify to participate?"