Chapter 58: Prime Ministerial Style

A whole week went by with the Lyceum Theatre sold out every night.

Owen never expected that, at sixty, he would have a new signature role. As the theatre manager, he decisively cleared the schedule for Lu Shi, even taking Shakespeare's "Hamlet" off the bill temporarily.

Under these circumstances, "Yes, Prime Minister" became the new talk of the town.

...

University College London, Library.

Solomon and Nikolic were sitting together, papers spread out before them, writing their dissertations.

Suddenly, Solomon nudged his friend with his elbow and whispered, "So, did you see it?"

Nikolic looked around, noticing students from other schools occasionally glancing over, their eyes filled with resentment.

There was a murmur of whispers:

"I heard the LSE students can get tickets?"

"Yes, because Mr. Shaw is their chancellor, and Professor Lu is a visiting professor. There's even a rumor that Professor Lu will take a permanent position at LSE."

"Damn it!"

...

The other students' gazes were like daggers, almost piercing Solomon and Nikolic.

"Ugh..."

Nikolic drew a sharp breath and whispered to Solomon, "Hey, can't you be quieter?"

Solomon shrugged innocently. "I was quiet enough. If they're angry, that's their problem. Even if we're cautious, they'll find an excuse to blame us. That's just how misdirected anger works."

Nikolic couldn't argue with that.

His personal experience with the popularity of "Yes, Prime Minister" involved his French roommate. The roommate was courting a beautiful lady who, unusually, didn't want flowers or poems, just a ticket to "Yes, Prime Minister." As a result, the roommate repeatedly asked Nikolic for help.

LSE had a limited number of tickets, with Shaw distributing a hundred discounted internal tickets each day. After a week, every student had a chance to get one, so it was easy for Nikolic to get a couple for his roommate, earning a pound as a favor.

To everyone's astonishment, the French roommate managed to win over the beautiful lady the very night they saw the play.

Thinking about it, Nikolic, a single man, couldn't help but feel irritated. What did Spaniards lack compared to the French?

Fxxk!

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

Slam—

Nikolic put down his pen and sighed, "I can't write anymore."

Solomon, oblivious to his friend's single-man frustrations, glanced at Nikolic's blank paper and said, "It's okay. If you can't write, then don't. It's just a paper."

Nikolic was speechless. "Just a paper? You dare say that?"

Solomon grinned. "Nikolic, why do professors make us write papers?"

Nikolic frowned, irritated. "What kind of stupid question is that? Professors make us write papers to prove we have a certain level of academic ability and research skills."

Solomon shook his head wisely. "Wrong. Professors make you write papers so that people 'believe' you have a certain level of academic ability and research skills."

Nikolic felt Solomon's manner of speaking was oddly familiar. "Who needs to believe it? The professor?"

Solomon smiled and winked. "Not the professor. It's you. The professor knows you don't have academic ability or research skills. At least, not yet."

"Ha!"

Nikolic burst into laughter.

He realized now that his friend was imitating Humphrey from "Yes, Prime Minister," while he had inadvertently played Bernard.

Their discussion about the paper mirrored the show's discussion about defense policy.

Of course, Solomon wasn't wrong. As humanities students at LSE, their papers often touched on aspects of national governance like urban planning, productivity development, and women's legislation. However, professors were well aware that most students lacked academic prowess in these areas.

Therefore,

Students knew they lacked academic ability; Professors knew students lacked academic ability; Students knew professors knew students lacked academic ability; ...

Because of this understanding, students needn't be overly self-critical or excessively doubt their abilities when writing papers, striving for perfection and causing logical inconsistencies.

Solomon's words made sense, but his way of speaking still prompted Nikolic to tease him, "You've developed your own twisted logic after watching 'Yes, Prime Minister'?"

Solomon rolled his eyes. "You don't realize how popular 'Prime Ministerial Style' is! Many at our school love imitating Humphrey's manner of speaking."

Prime Ministerial Style!?

Nikolic couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of this speech manner having its own term.

Solomon sighed. "But imitating Humphrey always makes me feel a bit irritated. Oxford graduates are so great, huh?"

Nikolic replied, "They are great. Why don't you try imitating Jim? He's one of us from LSE and a prime minister, no less."

Solomon was speechless. In "Yes, Prime Minister," Jim was often led around by Humphrey, coming off as endearingly naive.

After a while, Solomon said, "I know Professor Lu excels at satire, but did he have to poke fun at our school?"

It wasn't exactly a dig. Nowadays, LSE was the stepping stone to Downing Street. To Oxford and Cambridge graduates, LSE alumni were at least half-human, while other graduates might not even count as human.

Nikolic said, "At least Jim became prime minister, which is quite an achievement. If, as the rumors say, the writer of 'Yes, Prime Minister' is from Whitehall, there's no way Jim would be given such a lowly background."

What's considered "such a lowly background"?

Solomon was even more frustrated.

But what use was frustration?

Nikolic laughed, "Many people are already connecting the dots, linking the author of 'And Then There Were None,' the columnist Lu from 'The Manchester Guardian' and 'The Daily Telegraph,' and the writer of 'Yes, Prime Minister.' Soon, Professor Lu will likely step into the limelight."

Novels and columns, no matter how popular, couldn't match the reach of theater. It was a matter of dissemination efficiency. Just like modern web novels, no matter how high their data, remained niche until they were adapted into films or series, transforming their reach instantly.

Nikolic said, "Once the audience knows that the writer Lu is Professor Lu from LSE, they'll understand his intentions in repeatedly mocking Jim's educational background."

Solomon sighed. "Never mind. I can't write either, and being stared at by other University of London students makes me feel like we've done something wrong. Let's go."

They left the library together. As they stepped outside, they heard an LSE student speaking loudly:

"

'The Manchester Guardian' readers believe they should be running the country; 'The Times' readers actually are running the country; 'The Daily Telegraph' readers think we are being governed by other countries; ...

"

Another example of Prime Ministerial Style.

Nikolic and Solomon exchanged a knowing smile.

"Yes, Prime Minister" was indeed a hit.