CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 360: STINGY OLD MAN

This——

This is just too direct.

Ji You felt a wave of toothache after hearing it.

She even had the audacious thought to find an opportunity, stuff Director Wang into a sack, and beat him up vigorously.

Despicable.

It’s really despicable.

For just maintaining order alone, Director Wang, in a few words, had extorted a fee of 50,000 credit points.

Ji You knew that this was not the end!

The real bulk was still waiting behind.

As expected——

Director Wang revealed his signature smiling expression and said, "The Material Department’s ring challenge is not like the Mechanical Combat Department, where a direct competition can decide the winner. Thus, you need to invite several fair, impartial, and objective judges, right?"

Ji You: "..."

Ji You said with a pained face, "That’s actually true."

Director Wang said with a smile, "When Director Wang was young, he also seriously studied the Material discipline. Therefore, I won’t increase your burden. I’ll volunteer as a judge for free."

Is there such a good thing?

Ji You’s ears twitched, and she even doubted her own hearing.

At this moment, Director Wang’s tone shifted, and the follow-up came: "Volunteering for free is my gesture as a part of the school staff, but although I can do it for free since I don’t currently have teaching duties, other teachers have heavy teaching loads. We can’t just pull them away, as it would delay their work, right?"

What else could Ji You say?

She had no choice but to keep nodding: "Director Wang is right, that makes sense."

Director Wang said with a smile, "The two most proficient professors in Material Department are Professor Ye Hong and Professor Jiang Yulan. Their judgments, I believe, would not be questioned by any faculty or students in terms of fairness. Therefore, for these two, the appearance fee for each one should be at least 100,000 credit points, right?"

Ji You’s mouth twitched, and she was almost on the verge of crying, "Director... Director Wang... can we invite some cheaper teachers instead?"

Upon hearing this, Director Wang’s face immediately turned stern, and he seriously said, "Nonsense! Since we are holding a public ring challenge, we must guarantee the professionalism of the judges. Plus, if the word spreads outside and the results are found to be unfair, wouldn’t it disgrace the school’s reputation? Concerning the school’s reputation, apart from these two professors, I see no one else fitting."

Ji You: "..."

What else could Ji You say when he had spoken everything? All she could do was nod her head miserably, "Yes, yes, yes... Director Wang, you are indeed foresighted."

Hearing Ji You’s words, Director Wang’s smile deepened slightly. He then gestured with his hand and said, "With all these necessities, you’ve spent at least 250,000, and for other miscellaneous expenses in the auditorium, such as electricity, tables, chairs, benches, materials, production needs, and subsequent cleaning... all these small items add up to at least 100,000 credit points to start with. I’ve rounded off the fraction for you, only charging you 100,000 even. So altogether, there’s a minimum essential cost of 350,000."

At this point, Director Wang paused for a moment, looked at Ji You with a smile, and asked, "Student Ji You, ask yourself, isn’t it cost-effective for the school to only charge you 150,000 for the rental fee?"

Ji You’s face was full of smiles, but the smile contained endless bitterness, "Cost-effective. It’s really cost-effective."

Upon hearing this, Director Wang clapped his hands and said, "Since you think so too, it means we’ve reached a preliminary agreement. Now let’s discuss the risk factors."

Ji You widened her eyes, "Ah? There are risk factors?"

Director Wang’s face turned serious, and he scolded, "Are you joking? With such a large event, if something went wrong, wouldn’t it harm thousands of people? We must have risk control, right?"

Ji You: "..."

His words were utterly unreasonable, but she had no response.

Director Wang’s continuous ploys left Ji You, who was usually stingy, frugal, and shrewd, completely dumbfounded.

In a daze, Ji You asked, "Then... how do we control the risks?"

Director Wang said with a grin, "That’s simple, just buy a commercial insurance policy. The Alliance Wan Kang Insurance has a product that covers personal accidents, property, critical illness... all within the scope of coverage, perfect for small-scale events like ours. The premium is not expensive, just 100,000 credit points, and in the event of any risk, it will pay out ten million credit points. Though ten million credit points isn’t a lot, as long as we have logistics in place, it’s enough for us to handle some small risk factors."

Ji You: "..."

Despite racking her brain, Ji You could never have imagined Director Wang, supposedly an educator, was also moonlighting by selling insurance, which was simply —

A sign of the times.

Ji You, struggling to control the twitching at the corners of her mouth, said, "Director Wang — can we skip the insurance? Like you said, as long as we manage the logistics well and maintain order, we can definitely avoid risks."

As soon as Director Wang heard this, he looked displeased and said, "Nonsense! Reinforcing logistics can only reduce risk, not completely eliminate it, so insurance is still necessary."

Saying this, he handed a stack of documents to Ji You, "These are the detailed insurance terms. Take a good look yourself, and if there are no issues, fill in the policy and sign it."

Ji You’s hands trembled, somewhat beyond her control.

Seeing this, Director Wang stuffed the documents into her left hand and an electronic pen into her right, saying, "Hurry up and finish it, sign it so I can get off work sooner."

Ji You, staring at the dense insurance terms, felt waves of darkness in front of her eyes, nearly collapsing to the ground.

She had never imagined that just renting the Material Department’s auditorium would end up costing 600,000 credit points.

600,000!

It was like they were flaying her skin, stripping her tendons, scooping out her heart...

Suddenly, Ji You put down the insurance terms, threw the electronic pen, and mustered her courage to say, "Director Wang, I’ve decided not to hold this ring challenge. Is that okay?"

Director Wang’s mouth twitched, "Are you joking?"

Ji You wished she could cry out loud, "I’d like to joke too, but I’m poor. It’s clear I can’t afford to hold this ring challenge, yingyingying..."

Director Wang: "..."

Ji You threw the documents and the electronic pen, ready to make a quick exit.

Suddenly, Director Wang said, "Stop right there!"

Ji You paused, and while internally elated, she turned back around slowly with a face still thick with sorrow, "Director Wang... I’m not joking on purpose, it’s just that I am really poor, I can’t even come up with 600,000 now."

So —

There must be some way to reduce the fees, right?

There must be, right?

Not to say all of it, but at least half?

Half, that’s 300,000. Ji You quickly thought it over, feeling that she could bear it if she gritted her teeth.