Chapter 42: Caleb’s Public Humiliation
His words immediately captured everyone’s attention.
“Seriously? Let me see!”
“Below this unemployed housewife are students from Princeton, Stanford, and Caltech!” Gasps rippled through the elevator.Even Caleb’s secretary was intrigued, though he remained composed.
He said to Caleb, “The ALI committee must have made a mistake entering the participants‘ Information.Past winners were top elites or renowned scholars.A housewife winning first place?ALI would be destroying its own reputation!”
Before he finished, an employee read from his phone, “The first–place winner is…Evelyn Jiang,27, MIT graduate, seven years as a stay–at–home mom.”
This information was readily available on the ALI website.The competition was a stepping stone to top companies and universities. Participants publicly shared their resumes to attract recruiters.
Of the top hundred contestants, only Evelyn was an undergraduate. The others had impressive awards and international experience.Evelyn’s resume was blank, seven years summarized as “stay–at–home mom.”
The secretary’s mind raced.“Her name is…?”
“Evelyn Jiang.Look, Mr. Yan.”
The employee showed the phone to the secretary, whose eyes widened. He chuckled nervously.“Such a coincidence.”
He glanced nervously at Caleb.Caleb remembered
Caleb.Caleb remembered Evelyn graduated from MIT. A stay–at–home mom for seven years…could it be her?
Impossible!
He dismissed the thought. He acknowledged Evelyn’s exceptional intelligence ten years ago, but she hadn’t touched math in seven years. She probably couldn’t even remember high school math. If it was his ex–wife, the scores must be wrong!
A male voice interrupted, “May I see the profile of Evelyn Jiang?”
The employee handed over his phone to Gao Yu, the head of the R&D department, a renowned tech expert.
Gao Yu opened Evelyn’s profile on the ALI website. There was no picture, but he confirmed his suspicions based on her entry date.
Gao Yu smiled.“She’s my senior.”
“Senior?“The employee was incredulous.“But she’s younger than you.”
“She entered MIT’s gifted program at fourteen, graduating at eighteen. I entered MIT at eighteen.”
This caused another wave of astonishment.
–
Gao Yu sighed, “She was a legend at MIT! At sixteen, she won first place in five subjects — math, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science – at the International Olympiad.She was a sensation. Top universities and Nobel laureates offered her scholarships and full support,
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promising immediate US citizenship if she enrolled at Harvard or Stanford.But she chose to pursue a doctorate at Peking University under Professor Shen Tong Hua, a leading figure in Chinese mathematics.”
only has
a
bachelor’s degree.”
More gasps. The elevator stopped, but no one moved.
“What happened then? Her resume says she
she only
Gao Yu’s tone was somber.“The next time I heard about her, she’d dropped out of her doctorate and gotten married. Professor Shen was devastated and stopped taking female students. If she’d continued her studies, she’d be far more accomplished than me.”
What a ridiculously selfless woman!”
“Her resume should say ‘digging for wild vegetables for seven years.”
“She wasted her brilliant mind on being a housewife.”
“Why is she suddenly entering the competition?”
Gao Yu couldn’t explain.“I hope to work with her someday.”
He stepped out of the elevator.The
employees
continued
“Evelyn suddenly entering the competition must
competition must be related to
“Why didn’t her husband support her?”
“If he supported her, why did she only get a bachelor’s degree?”
their discussion.
marital problems.”
“Don’t revolve your life around men! Without education or love, you have to build your own future!”
They left the elevator, muttering, “This elevator is freezing!”
Only Caleb and the secretary remained. The secretary didn’t dare look at Caleb.It had to be Evelyn! The employees were incredibly bold.
Caleb, one hand in his pocket, walked towards the conference room.The shareholders were waiting.
“Mr. Fu, congratulations! Your wife won first place in the ALI competition!” “Mr. Fu, your wife is all over the news! CCTV interviewed her!”
“Caleb, keep it in the family! Bring your wife into the company! She’s incredibly talented! Put her in R&D.Even IBM’s CEO heard the news; he’s more confident in our company and wants to invest an extra sixty billion dollars!”
Caleb saw the CEO of the American
investment firm on the large screen.
ૐ
“Caleb, congratulations! Your wife beat my top technical advisor in the preliminary round.”
The excitement was palpable.Caleb remained impassive.
“It was only the preliminary round,” he said modestly.“My wife is inexperienced. She didn’t realize contestants wouldn’t reveal their full potential in the preliminary round. They’d just get a passing score and stop.”
He added disdainfully, “She got a ridiculously high score, making herself a
The American CEO chuckled.“You Chinese are always so humble!”
target.”
A shareholder showed his phone.“I got a video of CCTV’s interview with Mrs. Fu. Let’s watch.”
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They wanted to impress the IBM CEO with Evelyn’s accomplishments before finalizing the
investment.
The CEO was interested. “Please share the video.I understand some Chinese; I can follow along.”
Caleb’s lips parted. He wanted to stop them, but a strange feeling of apprehension held him back. What did he have to fear?
Evelyn had entered the competition to prove herself. Many past top twenty finishers worked at Fu Corp.She was still waiting for him to bow down, begging her to
dismissive sound escaped his throat.
He heard Evelyn’s voice echoing in the vast conference room:
“Does your daughter take your
“Yes.”
“And your
husband…”
last name?”
“I’m divorced. My ex–husband is unremarkable.”
return.
*
* Chapter 43: Caleb’s International Mu….
