Halfway through his journey, Fang Ping put the old expert’s words behind him.
He would wait until he became a Grandmaster and had the chance to dig deeper. Knowing these things now would not help him in any way.
If things truly went south, the Grandmasters would sort it out.
…
Martial Arts Society.
Qin Fengqing lounged on a chair with both legs propped up and ordered Chen Yunxi around.
“Go pour me another cup of tea, this one’s already cold!
“Say, why did Fang Ping hire a flower pot as the office manager? I remember Zhou Yan was pretty efficient…”
Chen Yunxi did not attend cla.s.ses today.
In the face of Qin Fengqing’s disdain, she flushed and hurriedly went to take his teacup, too embarra.s.sed to answer back.
Fang Ping was coming through the door and overheard Qin Fengqing’s scornful comment. He grinned and said, “Yunxi, your grandfather’s outside looking for you. I’ve heard that Grandmasters can hear the scurrying of ants hundreds of meters away…”
Qin Fengqing’s expression changed. His words sounded a little forced as he sneered, “Trying to scare me?”
Fang Ping pretended to have just noticed him, asking in surprise, “What?”
“You…you said Vice-chancellor Chen is here. Are you purposely trying to scare me?”
“You’re nuts!” Fang Ping said peevishly, “Why would I want to scare you? Yunxi, you go ahead and see to your grandfather.”
Chen Yunxi completely believed Fang Ping and said hastily, “I’ll go now. Really! Why didn’t grandfather tell me that he’s coming?”
With that, she hurried towards the door.
Fang Ping thought for a moment, then called after her, “Later, don’t mention anything about being ordered around by Qin Fengqing. As for his calling you a flower pot—don’t take it personally. I doubt his flower pots at home have Rank-3 abilities!
“Qin Fengqing is MCMAU Martial Arts Society’s vice-president after all, and your grandfather is South Capital’s Vice-chancellor. If this blows into a big issue, nothing good will come out of it.”
Chen Yunxi nodded hurriedly. “I won’t say anything.”
“If Vice-chancellor Chen happens to hear about it, please ask him not to take it to heart. Qin Fengqing just spouts a lot of nonsense. Your grandfather still needs to conduct himself in a manner becoming to a Grandmaster. If he can’t restrain himself, he can settle things outside MCMAU, but not here on campus.”
Chen Yunxi looked panicky, nodding her head repeatedly. “I better go right away then. I’ll definitely stop grandfather from coming into the Martial Arts Society!”
With that Chen Yunxi practically flew out the door.
Qin Fengqing was about to say something but hesitated. He blurted out suddenly, “Sister Yunxi, I was only joking earlier. As your martial arts brother, I’m only trying to motivate you. You’re doing quite well…”
Chen Yunxi had already gone so obviously she could not reply.
Qin Fengqing was on tenterhooks. He coughed softly, saying, “Fang Ping, you know me. Although I have a sharp tongue, I really do have a good heart. I’m only doing this for Chen Yunxi’s sake…”
Fang Ping made the whole thing look so convincing; he did not even stop Chen Yunxi from running out. This had Qin Fengqing believing that Grandmaster Chen might really be here!
Qin Fengqing thought back on how he had scolded Chen Yunxi for being a flower pot…and recalled suddenly that she was the only girl in three generations of the Chen family!
Qin Fengqing’s face paled. Bullying the Chen family’s grandsons might still be all right, but bullying Old Chen’s granddaughter would get him knee-deep in trouble!
When he left MCMAU’s grounds, he might get beaten up by the Grandmaster!
He was not afraid of getting beaten up.
He was afraid of constantly getting beaten up!
‘I really have a potty mouth!’
Qin Fengqing castigated himself silently. ‘With nothing better to do, out of all the people I could’ve fussed at, why on earth did I pick on Chen Yunxi?
Fang Ping chuckled, “What are you saying, Brother Qin? It’s going to be fine. Vice-chancellor Chen is a good person, he won’t take these things to heart.
“Alright, back to business. How did it go with the sponsors.h.i.+p this time?”
It was obvious that Qin Fengqing was not in a mood to discuss the sponsors.h.i.+p. Beside them, Xie Lei, who had been silent all this while, let out a soft snort. “Idiot!”
As soon as the words left Xie Lei’s mouth, Qin Fengqing and Fang Ping stared at him threateningly.
Which of them was this upstart referring to?
Xie Lei’s expression was unreadable; he resumed his silence. He was not about to disclose who he was talking about!
By now Qin Fengqing was already starting to suspect something. A moment later, Chen Yunxi called from outside, “Fang Ping, my grandfather isn’t here!”
“I’ll kill you!”
Qin Fengqing was infuriated!
He came to his feet at once, intending to go at Fang Ping with his saber. Fang Ping shouted, “Qin Fengqing, do you have money to pay for compensation? If anything is damaged, it will cost tens of millions. Are you very sure you want to do this? If you instigate this challenge, you’re the one who’ll pay for everything!”
As soon as he said those words, Qin Fengqing sagged.
“You win, Fang Ping!”
Qin Fengqing let out a snort, his gaze menacing. “Just you wait, we’re not done yet!”
“No kidding! Of course we’re not done yet. You better pay up the tens of millions you owe me while you still can. Or else, in your senior year this year, just you wait—I’ll teach you a lesson!”
“Alright, you’ve gone too far!”
Qin Fengqing was furious. In MCMAU he had always been the one bullying others. Now he was the one being bullied; it made his blood boil!
This reminded him of Zhang Yu, who had been putty in his hands. This young upstart Fang Ping was much more arrogant, brazenly giving him a hard time.
Both of them glared at each other. Xie Lei mentally cursed them both—two complete idiots!
Xie Lei did not bother wasting any more time on them, but informed Fang Ping right away, “I’ve gone to 27 different individuals this time and raised a total of 460 million…”
Fang Ping interrupted him. “Are you out of your mind?
“You’re telling me that with 4 major corporations run by Grandmasters, and 23 corporations run by Middle-ranked martial artists, you’ve only raised 460 million?”
Xie Lei growled between gritted teeth, “You told us to collect at least fifty million from Grandmasters and ten million from the middle ranks. I did just that. Don’t push it, Fang Ping!”
“I set that as the minimum target. You’re actually collecting according to the minimum?
“The corporations I chose for you are all profitable. I specifically picked these individuals out of all the MCMAU graduates. Even the cars that their children purchase cost hundreds of millions.
“Are you both crazy?
“Unless future generations no longer need to attend MCMAU, that’s just a piddling sum of money.
“Oh yes, some of these graduates have grandchildren who are currently studying here. Later, hand me the name list and a record of the funds that you’ve raised so far.
“The ones who donated less, send their grandchildren into the Catacombs, all the Rank-3 ones!”
Xie Lei’s expression twitched. He said, in a subdued tone, “If you do this, you’ll p.i.s.s everyone off!”
“Why on earth should I be afraid!”
Fang Ping pointed out nonchalantly, “It’s not like I’m trying to feather my own nest. So many MCMAU instructors and members have died in battle this year, yet their descendants are still alive. Shouldn’t these graduates think about that?
“For life-threatening missions, we do take their reputations into consideration; we don’t send their flesh and blood into battle!
“If they truly hold MCMAU and mankind dear at all, for old times’ sake, they should donate some funds, at least.
“Let me put this bluntly—if my sister were in MCMAU and people from MCMAU turned up at my doorstep, regardless of how stingy I was, I’d provide some funding however little.
“So what if it’s tens of millions?
“If these graduates are so capable, send their descendants home. Don’t bother coming to MCMAU, or else, those students will be first up in the front lines for future missions!
“It doesn’t matter even if they think they have special privileges!
“This includes Chen Yunxi. I’ll communicate with Vice-chancellor Chen later. If he doesn’t sponsor at least one to two hundred million, I’ll a.s.sign Yunxi to The Grinder straight away!
“If The Grinder can grind others, it can grind their children too!”
Everyone present fell silent as Fang Ping went on his tirade.
Standing at the door, Chen Yunxi bit her lips, making no attempt to interrupt.
Fang Ping ignored her. He snorted and stared at Qin Fengqing, asking, “How much did you get on your side?”
“500 million.”
“Useless piece of tras.h.!.+”
Qin Fengqing said in a huff, “Easy for you to say. If people refuse to give, are you going to force them?”
“You don’t know how to use your brains at all. The couple of fellows who went with you are idiots too. The most outstanding business students from the School of Social Sciences even—a complete bunch of fools!”
Fang Ping swore. Added together, the total amount from both parties was less than a billion.
Moreover, this was the total sum of funds raised from a few Grandmasters and nearly a hundred Middle-rank martial artists.
He was even putting his reputation on the line now, practically imposing a minimum amount for donation. In the end, they had only managed a pittance like this. Did they really think that MCMAU was lacking a paltry several hundred million?
With a huff, Fang Ping ordered, “Give me the name list!”
Qin Fengqing and Xie Lei each brought out their respective lists. After a cursory glance, Fang Ping dialed a number on his phone.
“Brother Zhang, how are you
?”
“I’m Fang Ping from MCMAU. I apologize for taking up your time. Vice-president Xie came back today saying that you’ve made a generous contribution of 12 million to the university. We are extremely grateful!
We really do appreciate your generosity. On behalf of all MCMAU students and instructors, I would like to express our utmost grat.i.tude to you.
”
Oh yes, to show our grat.i.tude, the university has decided we should really stop using your services to import processed raw materials for the university’s munitions factory in the future. After all, you’ve been operating at a loss and the university feels bad about that
…”
Amidst everyone’s dumbfounded looks, Fang Ping smiled and made to decline the other party’s offer. “50 million is too much. That’s really not necessary, Brother Zhang, you don’t have to do that…
“Alright then. On behalf of everyone at the university, I sincerely and gratefully thank you for your support.”
After hanging up the phone, Fang Ping darted a glance at Xie Lei, who asked sullenly, “50 million?”
“Yes. An additional 50 million!”
“Brother Zhang, he…he doesn’t have any children at the university.”
“He imports most of the university’s munition factory materials.”
Xie Lei protested, “But I’ve checked. He’s really not earning anything from it. Each year, he has been supplying the university at production cost. If not, the university wouldn’t be making purchases from him…”
Fang Ping said impatiently, “Who told you he’s earning anything from the university? The main point is that he’s been using MCMAU’s reputation, his ident.i.ty as an MCMAU graduate, and his position as a supplier of raw materials to MCMAU, which means he’s also involved in the weapons manufacturing company. The total amount he earns every year is several billion, at least.
“After so many years, how much do you think he’s earned?
“All of this is because of MCMAU!
“Do you really think that I’m randomly giving you resources for you to just turn up and ask for money?
“Did I ask you to go to our seniors from the Military Department and the ones who made a fortune without MCMAU’s help?
“The ones that we’re looking at have connections with us!
“This includes those couple of Grandmasters. How else do you think they became Grandmasters?
“When the old Vice-chancellor was around, he taught them step-by-step like they were his own flesh and blood, and now they give me this!
“Don’t approach them individually anymore. Spread the word about this Zhang fellow and purposely mention his additional 100-million donation. Make a big deal out of it. Let’s see how where the rest are going to hide their faces after they find out!
“If they do give additional donations, then there’s nothing more to it. The ones who didn’t though, note down their names. Do they really think that they can cut all ties with MCMAU after they graduate?
“In recent years, MCMAU instructors haven’t concerned themselves with university matters. The old Vice-chancellor lived mostly in the past, turning a blind eye to what was happening around him. These instructors only made their fortune after riding on MCMAU’s reputation, building up their families’ wealth. As a result, so many instructors and students have died in battle this year in MCMAU, but only a few of them want to repay the university!”
Fang Ping vented his frustrations for a while before finally adding, “One more thing, inform our connections that MCMAU is preparing to reclaim all industries of the university!”
In reality, MCMAU owned a great many industries.
The shares from the pill company and the weapons company were actually a major source of funding.
However, MCMAU was only sharing the company dividends rather than partic.i.p.ating in active management. Yet, certain MCMAU students took advantage of the situation—for instance, serving as the pill company’s intermediaries.
For the pill and weapons manufacturing companies, other than establis.h.i.+ng a few direct-sale stores in some of the major cities, business was conducted almost entirely via intermediaries.
Sino Nation was ma.s.sive; everyone aspired to learn the martial arts. The demand for pills, especially, was growing.
Anyone involved in businesses like this would earn huge amounts of money.
Other than that, certain martial arts dojo that operated under MCMAU’s name actually did not have the authority to intimidate others with the school’s reputation. However, MCMAU had let it slide in the past, excusing them because they were graduates of the university.
“MCMAU is the prestigious face of Sino Nation; how can people use the school’s reputation so lightly? I didn’t even dare to use it when I started up my own company. Not only have these graduates used MCMAU’s good name, but they’ve done so for selfish reasons. Given that, don’t blame me for being rude to them!”
Fang Ping had put his reputation on the line for this round of fundraising; if he did not raise at least 3 billion he would not be able to live it down.
Unfortunately, there was a huge chasm between his expectations and reality, which aggravated him greatly.
There were very few martial artists, especially those from elite universities, who did not make a huge profit after starting up their own companies.
In the past 60 years, MCMAU had always been geared towards the commercial sector. The majority of MCMAU students who graduated would go into business.
These graduates had all more or less taken advantage of MCMAU at some point.
Qin Fengqing and Xie Lei exchanged glances. Qin Fengqing frowned slightly, saying, “Boy…”
“Call me president!”
Qin Fengqing rolled his eyes, rendered speechless for a moment. “Let’s not talk about that now. Are you sure that you want to reclaim the university’s industries? The implications are going to be ma.s.sive. Although these things don’t bother me much, I know that the industries have become a great profit chain.
“If you do this, it’s not just the university graduates, but people in the university who may not support you!”
“What are you afraid of? Is MCMAU that hard up for money? Not at all!”
Fang Ping shook his head, and said, “MCMAU is actually very rich. Although our yearly expenditure is staggering, we’re also making a profit. The government’s allocating funds to us, and the pill and weapons companies are sharing out bonuses. Do you know how much profit the pill and weapons companies make?
“Both these major companies, especially the pill company, source their materials from martial artists.
“The materials obtained by martial artists who enter the Catacombs eventually end up in their hands. The purchase price isn’t even 20% of the retail price.
“Other than the high tax, everything else is profit!
“Why are martial artists so poor?
“Where does all their money go?
“Martial artists are absolutely capable of earning money—a few hundred million easily. Why doesn’t society experience situations like financial crises and inflation?
“Because the money all goes to the pill and weapons companies in the end.
“Other than those who run their own companies, very few martial artists have money to spare.
“Do you have any money, Qin Fengqing?
“Do you, Xie Lei?
“Where’s the money?
“You say you’ve spent it on cultivation, buying pills and weapons. But you’re actually supplying the raw materials for these pills and weapons, not just once but several times over, except that they’ve been exchanged for your cultivation resources.”
Fang Ping coughed lightly, amending, “I’ve gone slightly off-topic. Whatever it is, Rank-1 and 2 martial artists might still need subsidies from the university. Rank-3 and 4 martial artists depend on themselves to earn resources, really. The so-called subsidy is only a university notion. In actuality, we still suffer losses even after the subsidies.
“Furthermore, we have shares in these two major companies, yet we’re still worried about money. Why?
“It’s because we don’t use the money wisely, and we’re also not aware that we can fight for our own rights.
“Of course, MCMAU has so many geniuses—how is it that not a single one of them have thought of doing it?
“Of course they have!
“But these fellows have all taken advantage of university loopholes to put the money into their own pockets. What I want to do now is to take back everything that belongs to MCMAU.
“Grandmasters aside, I dare the middle and lower-ranked martial artists to question us!
“Do they really think no one can stop them?
“MCMAU still has three High Grandmasters!”
Qin Fengqing asked warily, “What if someone joins the three High Grandmasters?”
Fang Ping replied calmly, “So what if they do? They’ll profit even more if everything reverts to the university.
“If they’re recalcitrant, we’ll turn to the ones who are willing to cooperate.
“If anyone doesn’t want to cooperate, I’ll call the old graduates back. With more than ten external Grandmasters taking control of MCMAU—better yet, taking control of an MCMAU that has taken back owners.h.i.+p of its rights—will people cooperate, you think?
“Absolutely!
“It’s not like we don’t have Rank-8 powerhouses with golden bodies.”
Qin Fengqing’s gaze became much more intense. He said softly, “It’s really easy for a Grandmaster to punish a Rank-4.”
“For now you’re just speculating. Let’s not talk about whether there will be consequences or not. Even if there are, I don’t believe all three 3 Grandmasters will get involved.”
Fang Ping quickly changed the topic after that. With a dry cough, he said, “Of course, this isn’t something urgent. Give it some time. Wait until I’m a Peak Rank-6 or a Grandmaster, then I’ll implement it!
“All the university rights must be taken back!
“As for the things I’ve said earlier, I’ll deny everything once I leave this office.
“If you want to inform against me, go right ahead. I’ll let my instructor know in advance that if anything happens to me, both of you are responsible. If I go down, both of you are going down with me too.”
Xie Lei let out a snort. Qin Fengqing was rendered speechless for a moment. “What does this have to do with me? Besides, Instructor Lu herself has vested interests too. Don’t forget, she still has individual dividends from the pill company.
“Idiot, it’s precisely because she owns individual shares that she won’t get involved. I’ve checked. My instructor’s shares came from her father.
“At the time, her father was one of the people who initiated the monopoly of the pill and weapons industries, and other similar businesses and industries in Sino Nation.
“He also supported nationalization. He was one of the most resolute Grandmasters, which was how he came to own these shares and dividends.
“Moreover, he only received dividends. When the old man died…they no longer belonged to him.
“This is different from MCMAU’s shares.”
Fang Ping waved his hand after that. “Alright. It’s too early to talk about these things now. But just you wait and see. Very soon, MCMAU will become one of the richest and strongest of the martial arts universities. Even CCMAU won’t be able to measure up.
“CCMAU’s situation is much more complicated than ours. If no powerful individual takes the initiative to make a change, CCMAU will continue to go downhill.
“I’ve also given some consideration to this—if the situation permits, MCMAU intends to build a reclamation station in Hope City.
“In future, everything that MCMAU instructors and students seize in the Catacombs will belong to MCMAU…”
“You’ve got a death wis.h.!.+”
Qin Fengqing could not help being scornful. “You literally have a death wish. If you do this, the three major corporations—the pill and weapons manufacturing companies as well as the energy company, will make mincemeat of you!”
How did MCMAU get its shares from these companies?
It capitalized on the strong abilities of MCMAU instructors and students, supplying them with a steady flow of raw materials.
By doing this, Fang Ping would be testing their limits.
Did he really think that powerhouses would not kill humans?
Fang Ping chuckled. “Of course it won’t be everything. However, I do want to expand the scale of MCMAU’s pill production line to at least achieve self-sufficiency.
“Right now, MCMAU can’t do this.
“Part of their pills and weapons come from two major companies.
“It might not work.
“We’ll try to negotiate. I won’t be the one appearing anyway. Later, I’ll ask the Vice-chancellor if he can personally see to the negotiations. At least he’s a Rank-8 powerhouse with a golden body. If he can’t even successfully see to something as minor as this, how is he supposed to run MCMAU?
“Make this public later. Force the vice-chancellor to do it.”
“Vice-chancellor Wu will murder you!”
“I’m not scared.” Fang Ping was nonchalant. He turned his head to look at Chen Yunxi, saying, “Yunxi, discuss with your grandfather later; tell him that it’s no longer feasible to stay on in MCMAU. See if he’ll let me go to South Capital and become president of the Martial Arts Society there.
“If I go, SCMAU will catch up with MCMAU within three years and overtake CCMAU in five…”
Chen Yunxi flushed scarlet. How could Fang Ping even say something like that?
Fang Ping sounded as if he were merely kidding. Before he left, he grumbled, “There are plenty of shortcomings in MCMAU. Reforms are a must! Everything’s right in front of us but no one’s taking any actions. I must be the first person to do this!”
If he were no longer at MCMAU, individuals with vested interests would not have access to his abilities!
If one wished to live a good life nowadays, one had to kick out many such individuals with vested interests. Otherwise how else would young people get any opportunities?
Everything he had said today was to get the attention of Qin Fengqing and the rest.
In a few more years, when everyone had become Grandmasters, they would rule the world.
As for the Catacombs crisis, one would only be qualified to discuss solutions after they had become strong. What right did the weak have to worry about these things?
…
Once Fang Ping left, there was a dreadful silence in the office between Qing Fengqing and Xie Lei.
After taking over as president, this brat Fang Ping was Zhang Yu’s polar opposite.
He wanted to be involved in everything. If he went ahead with his plans, he would earn a fortune if he succeeded, but if he failed, he would face severe repercussions.
The eyes of the two young men met. Without a word, they each got up and quietly left.