“You didn’t sleep the entire night?”
Looking at An Xinhui’s fatigued appearance, Sun Mo felt a little impressed. Back then, for the sake of joining the no.2 high school, he had also suffered a lot. After he entered the school, he suffered even more for the sake of becoming a teacher-in-charge. He would often work throughout the night.
It was at that time when Sun Mo’s vision rapidly deteriorated. His body also grew much weaker. But nothing could be done. He was from a rural area and had no rich father to depend on. If he wanted to achieve something, he could only achieve it through his efforts.
So, Sun Mo could understand An Xinhui’s current state. She was depending on the sole thought of wanting to achieve something.
“I’m used to it.”
An Xinhui smiled. She stood up and brewed a cup of tea for Sun Mo. “Is there something you need?”
An Xinhui already understood something. If there was nothing significant, Sun Mo absolutely wouldn’t look for her.
When Sun Mo first joined the school, he was bashful and felt self-inferior. He wouldn’t dare to look for her. But the Sun Mo now no longer had the aura of a yes-man. He was extremely confident in himself, but he still didn’t come to look for her.
Honestly speaking, she felt a little sad.
“I came to discuss the problem of the school’s expenses with you.”
Sun Mo sat on his chair and drank a cup of tea.
Che, the taste was so unpleasant. Most probably, the tea leaves were ordinary ones that could be purchased using a few copper coins. Even the tea leaves Li Gong gifted to him were much better than this.
Given An Xinhui’s status and power, it truly felt inappropriate for her to be living so frugally. If she was in his era, even for girls half as beautiful as An Xinhui, their lives consisted of shopping, holidaying, touring, and enjoying themselves. After that, they would take a photo of themselves and share it on social media, accumulating ‘likes’ from their average-looking simps. Wait a minute, average-looking simps wouldn’t be able to add a beauty’s personal WeChat so easily. If they managed to do so, they must have used the second phone of some handsome guys.
“Do you have any solutions?”
An Xinhui asked, but she didn’t feel it was possible for Sun Mo to have a solution. She was very clear about what her childhood sweetheart’s background was.
Maybe he could take out a few hundred or even a thousand taels of silver. But anything more than that was impossible for him. Sun Mo’s clan wasn’t a powerful one that owned a mine.
“How bad is it?”
Sun Mo wasn’t in a hurry to reveal his solution. He asked about the deficits first.
An Xinhui pulled out a drawer and took out a bunch of documents, passing them to Sun Mo. “You can look for yourself!’
Sun Mo also wasn’t polite, he directly took them up to read. Usually speaking, documents like this that involved the school’s financial situation were only available to the highest-ranking school leaders. However, An Xinhui directly passed them to Sun Mo.
This was a sign of her trust, as well as a test.
These documents were very complex. Those with no experience wouldn’t be able to understand them.
An Xinhui returned to her seat and continued with her work. She felt that it was already not bad if Sun Mo could finish reading these by this morning. As for understanding them?
It was best not to think too much!
Sun Mo flipped through the documents very swiftly.
The report forms were somewhat complicated, but to someone like him who had scored near the top for the calculus subject, it wasn’t that difficult. In addition, after he became a teacher, Sun Mo realized that his wages were too low. In order to earn more money to buy a house and get married, he researched the stock market. He studied M1 and M2, and even read the newspaper clippings about news from the wall street.
Those things were much more complicated than these documents.
Naturally, other than learning some financial knowledge through arguing with others online, everything else he had learned was useless. In the end, he didn’t even earn a single cent and his $10,000 was stuck in the stock market.
Ever since then, Sun Mo had given up. He calmed down and went with the stable route, becoming a retail investor and waiting for the stock to increase in price before reaping a harvest.
Half an hour later, Sun Mo put the documents down. “Headmaster An.”
“When there’s no one else around, you can call me Xinhui. If you feel you are not used to it, you can also call me ‘Elder Sis An’ like how you used to call me in the past.”
An Xinhui smiled as she looked at Sun Mo. However, she felt a little disappointed in her heart. (Did he lose patience just after half an hour?)
It was fine if he couldn’t understand them. But not putting in any effort was another problem.
“There’s no need for the school’s spending to be so high. What’s going on with those farmers?”
Sun Mo frowned.
“They are farmers that reside in areas near Jinling City. The school purchases food and vegetables from them firstly to give back to the economy, allowing them to have a livelihood. Secondly, it’s to increase the prestige of our school.”
An Xinhui patiently explained.
“I know, I’m asking why is the purchasing price of these agricultural products so high?”
Sun Mo asked.
“Eh? You investigated before?” An Xinhui was curious. She discovered that Sun Mo seemed to understand the documents. However, how did he finish reading them within half an hour? Wasn’t it a little too fake?
“I’ve not investigated them before, but I have eaten food both inside and outside the school. How much does a bowl of yangchun noodles cost? The purchasing price from our school for these products far exceeds the actual market price.”
Sun Mo had eaten meals in and outside the school before. Since the price of the food was roughly similar, where did the surplus go?
“I know about it, but these prices have always been set so high. If we suddenly change the purchasing prices, leaving aside that the farmers might cause problems, our school’s prestige would surely be heavily affected.” An Xinhui bitterly smiled.
Sun Mo was speechless. (The school is about to be demolished due to financial deficit, yet you are still so concerned about the prestige? At such a time, shouldn’t we sacrifice something so the school can continue to operate?)
But then again, if the farmers came to make trouble, it would be quite troublesome.
For tens of years, the Central Province Academy had been using these prices to purchase agricultural products from the farmers. If An Xinhui suddenly reduced the price, who would be willing to accept it?
“This is something we can do nothing about. However, you don’t have to be anxious. As long as we tide through these six months, the school will have money then. I believe the teachers would be able to understand,”
Actually, An Xinhui wasn’t sure how the teachers would react. She was merely saying this to comfort herself.
“It’s best to think of the direst possibility every time you are doing something. Only then would you be fully prepared.”
Sun Mo’s tone grew solemn. “Besides, if you delay the salaries of teachers, wouldn’t that also diminish the school’s prestige?”
An Xinhui’s expression darkened.
“I can help you settle the problem of expenses of the Central Province Academy. However, I have a condition.”
Sun Mo observed An Xinhui’s expression and went straight to the point. “I want to be the logistics department head of the Central Province Academy!”
“What?”
An Xinhui was shocked. She stared at Sun Mo with a dumbfounded look on her face. (Are you joking? How old are you? Why do you want to be the logistics department head?)
(Do you know how important this position is to the school? If you are not capable enough, the normal operation of the school would be affected.)
“You didn’t hear it wrongly. I want to be the logistics department head. If I let you guys continue messing things up, the school would be finished!”
Sun Mo’s attitude was unyielding. (If this daddy is willing to help solve such a huge problem, it’s only natural for me to get a relevant position.)
Actually, if he married An Xinhui, he would be considered half-an-owner of this famous school that had 1,000 years of history.
What a huge dowry.
If that was the case, wouldn’t he be able to get both the school and the beauty then? After marrying a rich and beautiful lady and becoming a CEO, he would instantly walk to the peak of his life. But now, someone was threatening to mess up his school? Who could endure this?
An Xinhui wanted to reject it, but she knew Sun Mo was trying to help her. Hence, she felt embarrassed to say it for fear of hurting his heart.
However, teaching was different from managing a school.
“I know I’m too young and have no experience. If I suddenly become the logistics department head, there would surely be many people who would question this. So, I think it’s fine if I start from being the vice-department head. Naturally, the current department head has to be fired.
Sun Mo raised his conditions.
“Of course, it’s okay if he is not fired, as long as I can control him.”
An Xinhui soon recalled Li Gong who changed sides. Sun Mo might really have a way to control the current logistics department head. “You tried the effects of the giant medicine packet before. What do you think of it?”
Sun Mo began to take his trump cards out. “It’s exceptionally impressive!”
An Xinhui was very intelligent, and she instantly understood Sun Mo’s meaning. A shocked expression involuntarily appeared on her face. “You want to sell it?”
“I want to sell it to the Central Province Academy. I will give you the right to be the seller of it. 60% of the sales will belong to the school, while 40% will be my private income. But in exchange, I want to become the logistics department head.”
When Sun Mo first obtained the giant medicine packet’s prescription, he was already thinking about how to maximize the profits.
Cultivators required a large amount of resources to cultivate. This included alchemy pills, defensive and offensive weapons, secret treasures, etc. Everything needed money.
It wasn’t possible for Sun Mo to peddle the giant medicine packets on the streets, right? Leaving aside the low-efficiency rate of sales, he might even be treated as a swindler. Sun Mo couldn’t afford to lose face.
With the Central Province Academy as his backing and using the school’s name to sell this, the market would immediately open up. After all, the Central Province Academy was once part of the Nine Greats and was extremely famous.
When they sold the giant medicine packet, there was no need to worry so much about advertisements. They could simply say that this was a secret prescription of the school and there would surely be many people buying it back to try.
As long as they tried it once, Sun Mo believed that given the shocking effects of the giant medicine packet, everyone would surely be convinced and the sales of this product would surely explode, becoming the most popular product in the market. “Such a powerful prescription must not be sold.”
An Xinhui frowned. She felt that since she was Sun Mo’s childhood sweetheart, she should remind him. “After I bathed in it yesterday, I felt my constitution become much better and my strength actually increased slightly. If I bathe in it every day, it’s absolutely guaranteed that the amount of time I need to break through would be drastically reduced. Such a prescription could be passed down for generations; it’s a golden prescription that can allow a clan to rise.”
“And?”
Sun Mo counter-asked.
“Eh, don’t you understand my meaning?”
An Xinhui didn’t understand. “Such a precious prescription cannot be sold. In fact, it can only be passed down to your future sons and not daughters.”
“Hehe!”
Sun Mo laughed. The mentality of people from the Nine Provinces was the same as those in Ancient China. Things like prescriptions were only passed down to the males of the family. They were deeply afraid that it might be leaked.
If their descendants weren’t able to maintain their hold on the prescription and sold it for money, it would be considered a case of extreme unfilial-ness. Even the neighbors would look down on the descendant and say that he was a wastrel.
“You are still laughing? Even if you obtained this prescription for free, you cannot wreck it like that. There’s no need to mention this matter anymore.” An Xinhui’s tone was strict. “Alright, it’s fine if I sell it to you, right?” Sun Mo changed his way of speaking.
“No!”
An Xinhui shook her head. “I already said that such prescriptions are only passed down to males and not females. A wife is like a daughter, they are both considered ‘outsiders’. So, how can I know about the content of the prescription?”
Sun Mo was speechless. He thought An Xinhui would be happy after hearing this. He didn’t expect such a reaction. This was basically a mark of a virtuous and warm wife.
Indeed, in this world, if a wife or concubine coveted the unique prescription of her husband’s clan, even if they were beaten to death, the authorities wouldn’t say anything.
“What a terrible and feudal way of thinking!”
Sun Mo suddenly discovered that it wasn’t so easy to get rich.
“Keep your unrealistic thoughts. Just focus on teaching. I will resolve the expenses problem.”
An Xinhui persuaded Sun Mo.
“What if I say that I have a better prescription than this?”
Right now, it was the best opportunity to obtain authority and power. Sun Mo wasn’t willing to let this chance go. “Eh?”
An Xinhui started. Her beautiful large eyes widened. If she wasn’t a virtuous lady, she would have asked, “Are you pranking me?”
She had witnessed the effects of the giant medicine packet. (It is absolutely worthy of being ranked at the top of the family inheritance. And you are telling me, you still have more of such prescriptions?)
(Did you really manage to excavate an entire mine through the years you spent in the Songyang Academy?)
“I really have one!”
Sun Mo shrugged. Although he had never tested the spring water beauty medicine packet before, it should be more precious than the giant medicine packet.
One could nourish and strengthen the body, but it wasn’t an essential item. The other was a recovery medicine packet that could restore one’s qi and blood. It was definitely an essential item.
One could say that as long as one had money, all cultivators would purchase recovery medicine. Because they could be used to save one’s life in times of need.
Also, from the perspective of gender, ever since ancient times, female slaves were always worth more than males. Thus, it was highly probable that the spring water beauty medicine packet could summon a beauty out. In any case, it would definitely be more visually pleasing compared to the giant summoned by the giant medicine packet, right?
Just based on this point alone, if the spring water beauty medicine packet was sold, its price would at least be five times that of the giant medicine packet. If not, how would the impressive style of the spring water beauty be displayed?
“Are you sure?” An Xinhui asked.
“I’m sure!”
Sun Mo smiled, “Don’t tell me you think that my giant medicine packet wouldn’t be able to sell for much money?”.
“I’m not that shallow.”
An Xinhui rolled her eyes. This minor act by her, when coupled with her appearance, truly exuded a powerful charm.
“I still have to remind you that if we produce such a prescription on a large-scale basis, the number of people coming in contact with it would surely increase. Even if we protect the prescription strictly, as long as the other party was willing to spend some time, they would be able to gain the prescription a few years later. At that time, even if you want to leave it to your descendants, you would no longer be able to do so.”
An Xinhui advised.
The production methods in this world stagnated at the workshop-level. For such a secretive production, the core workers were either the creators themselves or their trusted family members. But even so, it wasn’t a guarantee that the secret wouldn’t be leaked.
She and Sun Mo both wanted to be great teachers. They didn’t have time to concoct the medicine prescription.
“It’s fine even if it’s leaked.”
Sun Mo didn’t mind it. It was good enough if he could earn some money. Also, he suggested this request in view of efficiency.
Sun Mo definitely wouldn’t personally concoct the giant medicine packet. He still had to depend on others to do so. Since he had no one close to him that was capable of doing this, he might as well sell it to An Xinhui so she could make use of her connections. He simply had to wait for results.
“You are actually very generous!”
An Xinhui suddenly felt a little sad in her heart. She was Sun Mo’s fiancee. If there were no unexpected incidents, they would be married within five years. At that time, if she gave birth to a son, the medical prescription would belong to him. Yet now, they had to sell it for the sake of covering the school’s expenses.
“All this is because I’m useless!”
An Xinhui blamed herself. At the same time, she felt a hint of gratitude toward Sun Mo. She believed that if it wasn’t for her sake, he would definitely not take out such a valuable prescription.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from An Xinhui +50. Friendly (270/1,000).
Upon hearing the system notification and seeing the look of gratitude on An Xinhui’s face, Sun Mo knew that this woman was thinking too much. He merely wanted to use the prescription in exchange for power and money while also hoping that there would be ready-made giant medicine packets for his usage. He merely wanted to shoot three birds with one arrow.
“If you have no objections, can you get Teacher Wang over to confirm this?”
Sun Mo urged.
As long as both Wang Su and An Xinhui agreed, even if Zhang Hanfu broke his desk from smacking it in anger, Zhang Hanfu would have no way to stop Sun Mo from becoming the logistics department head.
Very soon, Wang Su was called over.
“What’s the matter?”
Wang Su was currently researching a new alchemy recipe. Now that he was disturbed, he was naturally not in a good mood.
An Xinhui repeated Sun Mo’s request.
“I have no objections.”
Wang Su didn’t even hesitate. In fact, he didn’t even ask about the prescription. He merely looked at Sun Mo and patted his shoulder. “Do a good job!”
After speaking, Wang Su left the office.
“That’s all?”
Sun Mo was astonished.
“Yeah, Wang Su’s personality is like this. For those he regards highly, he would trust them unconditionally. This trust would last until you failed several times and are no longer perfect. He would then give up on you at that time.”
An Xinhui explained. She had experienced this before.
Sun Mo silently marveled. With three strange headmasters like them, it was truly a wonder that the school hadn’t been demolished yet.
Wang Su was an idealistic person. He had no interest in managing the school. He became a vice-headmaster just because he didn’t admire An Xinhui and was worried that the school might collapse in her hands.
As for Zhang Hanfu, the selfish guy, he was like a vermin in senior management. He wouldn’t care about the benefits or consequences of his actions. He only thought about seizing power and fishing for wealth.
To Zhang Hanfu, as long as he kicked An Xinhui away and became the headmaster of this school, he would be able to revive the school the same way a phoenix revived in nirvana. He would then lead the school into the ranks of the Nine Greats once more.
If he failed to seize authority, then whether this school would decline or not, would be of no concern to him.
Bang!
The door suddenly opened again. Sun Mo turned and saw Wang Su. “I forgot to tell you this earlier.” Wang Su glanced at Sun Mo and spoke in a solemn tone, “I received news that for the tour to the Darkness Continent, the Myriad Daos Academy will dispatch a great teacher group over. In that group, other than a 3-stars great teacher, Fang Wuji is within as well. You have to be careful.”
“What do you mean?”
Sun Mo didn’t understand.
“The Myriad Daos Academy has always wanted to finish us off and become the number one school in Jinling. Hence, they will do whatever our school can do and they are determined to do even better.”
An Xinhui explained.
“In the ‘D’ grade competition every year, there are two rounds. The first round is the main event. The students who represented the school were naturally top students selected beforehand through a series of tests. As for the second round, it is for newbies. Only new students who joined the school recently can become candidates for the second round.
“The name slots are always given to the most outstanding new students. If half or all of them died in the Darkness Continent, the results of the second round of the competition would surely be very bad for our school. At that time, we would surely fall out of ‘D’ grade and be delisted.”
“So ruthless?”
Sun Mo frowned. He had yet to experience such a cruel competition.
“In the Darkness Continent, the weak are food for the strong. The rules of the Saint Gate are only effective in cities. Once out there in the wilderness, as long as the disciplinary team from Saint Gate are unable to discover it, you can do whatever you want to!”
Wang Su added.
“Would the Saint Gate remain neutral and watch on if the schools used such an intense method to compete?” asked Sun Mo.
“Teacher Sun, cultivation basically means competing against the heavens and earth. You have to fight against others and the higher your cultivation base is, the more resources you would need. However, there are only a finite number of resources that are generated naturally from the world. What should you do then? If you have more, wouldn’t that mean that I have less? Hence, I can only snatch them from you!”
Wang Su looked at Sun Mo and solemnly reminded, “Remember this, only the strong have the qualifications to show their benevolence.”
In Sun Mo’s heart, Wang Su was a graceful and elegant gentleman. He didn’t expect Wang Su would actually say something like this. Each of his words reeked of the smell of blood.
Sun Mo turned his head and glanced at An Xinhui who was beside him. She had a calm look on her face.
That was right. To cultivators, the competition in the Darkness Continent was something akin to the fact that lions needed to hunt. It was natural for them to eat the weak lambs. There was nothing strange about it.
Those who lost, got crippled, or died, could only blame themselves for not being strong enough. Would lions care about the thoughts of their prey? No. They would only focus on other lions and try to drive the competition away before monopolizing the prey of the other lions.
“Fang Wuji is a genius great teacher who shares the same level of fame as Liu Mubai. He is already qualified to lead a group. This time, since he is moving out, he would surely target you guys.”
An Xinhui furrowed her brows. Canceling the plan to head to the Darkness Continent? Stop joking. The students were all filled with anticipation for this tour. Once it was canceled, wouldn’t that be equal to announcing that the Central Province Academy was afraid of the Myriad Daos Academy?
“Perform well. I’m hoping that you can make Fang Wuji fall from his pedestal and you return safely.”
Wang Su gazed with anticipation in his eyes.
Sun Mo’s lips twitched. In Wang Su’s heart, Sun Mo was inferior to Fang Wuji. That was why being able to return safely was already considered a piece of good news that Wang Su was anticipating.
(Hmph, that fellow best not come and stir trouble for me or I will kill him.) “Sun Mo, why don’t you give up on going?” An Xinhui was worried. Fang Wuji was too impressive. If he wanted to finish the Central Province Academy off, that wouldn’t be problematic for him at all.
“Are you insulting me?”
Sun Mo frowned so severely that his brows could squeeze a crab to death.
An Xinhui’s expression changed. She then apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
But An Xinhui was truly concerned for Sun Mo. In such a situation, Sun Mo wouldn’t be able to cut it. It was best for Liu Mubai to lead the group.
“This is the prescription for the giant medicine packet. The tasks of gathering the ingredients and concocting process will be handed to you.”
Sun Mo passed a paper filled with words to An Xinhui.
An Xinhui didn’t take it. Once she did so, Sun Mo would no longer be able to feel regret.
“Take it!”
Sun Mo directly shoved it into An Xinhui’s hand. “Remember to inform Zhang Hanfu about me becoming the logistics department head. I really hope he wouldn’t be so angry to the point where a blood vessel in his brain burst. If not, how should I teach him a lesson?”
An Xinhui was dumbfounded. (Aren’t your vindictiveness a little too strong? Why didn’t I discover this before? However… I like it.)
Sun Mo left and An Xinhui returned to her seat. She leaned back and read through the prescription as shock filled her heart. But after that, the tension in her heart eased, the burden on her shoulders felt much lighter.
An Xinhui suddenly felt that the decision of her grandfather to set this marriage engagement was a stroke of genius. The decision made back then actually became something that could save the Central Province Academy now.
At least now, Sun Mo was already helping her to suppress Zhang Hanfu and had even solved the problem of the school.
As for the sales of the giant medicine packets being bad?
Sorry, even if An Xinhui used her toes to think, she knew it was impossible.
“Come on, Myriad Daos Academy. My Central Province Academy isn’t afraid of any challenges you want to issue!”
An Xinhui kneaded her forehead and returned to her work. In the league tournament, it would be the time when the Central Province Academy rose again.
When Sun Mo exited the office, he saw Yue Rongbo leaning against a tree at the side, waving toward him.
[1] M1 and M2: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/m2 .asp