Chapter 46: The Art of Gift-Giving

Hearing Sun Nan's request, Yang Tianxing curled the corners of his mouth, thinking to himself that things were now secure, and he immediately agreed.

Sun Nan's willingness to meet with Zhang Liye was already a sign of a favorable inclination; perhaps he wanted to hear Zhang Liye's thoughts on student entrepreneurship activities, or perhaps there was some other meaning.

After He Yulin and Liu Jiaoyue finished cleaning the entire office, Yang Tianxing also stood up to take his leave.

"Yang Tianxing, is this what you meant by entrepreneurship?"

Once they were out of the administration building, He Yulin asked curiously.

"That's right. If it succeeds in the end, I'll still need Secretary He's support."

Yang Tianxing said with a grin. He knew he would definitely have to show his face to drum up business, and might even use his status as class monitor and student union member to expand his influence, so he hadn't thought of hiding it at all.

He Yulin said readily, "No problem! From now on, my four years of university express deliveries are all yours!"

"It won't just be you alone; I'll have to convince the whole dormitory when the time comes."

Yang Tianxing said, pushing his luck, then turned to look at Liu Jiaoyue and said without any reserve, "You'll have to come help out when the time comes."

"Oh."

Liu Jiaoyue nodded, not even asking what specifically she would need to do.

He Yulin looked Yang Tianxing and Liu Jiaoyue over a few times, but didn't say anything.

Yang Tianxing was going off-campus to find Zhang Liye, while He Yulin and Liu Jiaoyue prepared to go to the library for self-study.

As they walked, He Yulin suddenly said, "Jiaoyue, your boyfriend is very capable. Even we have to be extremely careful when we speak in the Youth League Committee office, yet Yang Tianxing can smoke and discuss projects with the teachers."

Liu Jiaoyue was startled by these words and said with a blushing face, "He—he isn't that yet."

"Not yet~ Hmph hmph!"

He Yulin gave a cold laugh: "It seems Yang Tianxing is already on the right path."

Liu Jiaoyue didn't know how to lie. He Yulin saw through her thoughts, and she didn't even know how to cover it up, standing there at a loss: "I—I won't be dating anyone right now; my grandmother has to see him first."

He Yulin sighed: "You're so naive, and Yang Tianxing's personality is so wild; I'm worried he'll trick you and bully you."

Liu Jiaoyue remained silent; Yang Tianxing had already started bullying her long ago.

"It's just... he wouldn't trick me, would he?"

……………

Things went very smoothly on Yang Tianxing's end; in his telling, the Finance Institute's Youth League Committee had become eager to welcome Manager Zhang Liye for an inspection and discussion.

Zhang Liye felt the Finance Institute was very sincere and decided he must go see them.

The next morning, Zhang Liye drove to the entrance of the Finance Institute. Yang Tianxing had already spoken to the security guard, saying his family was helping him move into the dormitory, so after signing in, they were let through quite easily.

Seeing Yang Tianxing holding two cartons of Chunghwa cigarettes, Zhang Liye mocked him: "What, do you students and teachers play this game too?"

Yang Tianxing smiled and said nothing, first taking Zhang Liye to the utility room on the first floor of the teaching building.

"It's a real shame that a place like this is only used for storing desks, chairs, and junk."

After looking it over, Zhang Liye said with a pained expression. As a businessman, his perspective on things was very different from the school's.

These first-floor utility rooms were right next to the parking lot, and the bicycles the students rode were all parked nearby; it was too noisy to serve as a teaching space, so they were simply used as storage rooms.

However, in Zhang Liye's view, these classrooms were right under the teaching building, near the west gate of the Finance Institute, with the first canteen not far away, and the parking lot next door was an embodiment of massive foot traffic.

"Even if you just sold soy milk here, you could make 1,000 yuan a day," Zhang Liye said with certainty.

Yang Tianxing shook his head: "You definitely can't run a breakfast stall here, and a supermarket won't work either. A university has to look like a university."

Just at this moment, the Department of External Relations Minister Zhang Wei was preparing to go to class. Seeing Yang Tianxing, she reminded him: "There's a meeting at the University Student Activity Center at 7 PM. This is your first time attending as a vice minister; don't be late."

Yang Tianxing nodded, indicating he would arrive on time.

"You're a class monitor and a vice minister; will that affect your entrepreneurship?"

Zhang Liye asked with some concern. He was very optimistic about this location, but it seemed Yang Tianxing was the only one who could execute it.

Yang Tianxing smiled: "If there's an impact, it's a positive one. If I weren't a vice minister of the student union and a class monitor, would the school leaders talk to me about this project?"

Zhang Liye thought about it and realized it made sense; it seemed Yang Tianxing's status in the school was indeed very useful.

After the site inspection, Yang Tianxing brought Zhang Liye to the Youth League Committee office.

As soon as he entered, Yang Tianxing changed his expression and said very apologetically, "Secretary Sun, I'm sorry. Manager Zhang is just too polite and insisted on bringing some things. I really couldn't stop him, and in the end, I could only accept two cartons of cigarettes."

Zhang Liye looked at Yang Tianxing in surprise, but he reacted quickly and immediately went along with it: "If it weren't for Little Yang stopping me, I still have two cases of Moutai in my car; I'll bring them over for Secretary Sun in a bit."

Sun Nan stood up quickly: "Cigarettes are enough, cigarettes are enough. I don't like to drink, and this is just this once—don't let it happen again."

He took the bag, opened a gap to peek inside, and upon seeing it was two cartons of Chunghwa, he calmly hid them in the drawer under his feet.

Seeing Sun Nan accept them, Yang Tianxing smiled at Zhang Liye. Zhang Liye's estimation of Yang Tianxing rose another notch in his heart.

"Manager Zhang, Tianxing told me about this project. Our Youth League Committee welcomes it; we're just worried you won't be able to make any money."

Sun Nan had no business acumen; his mind was entirely on administrative affairs, so he couldn't see the importance of the location of those utility rooms, and after accepting the two cartons of Chunghwa, he actually gave a sincere warning.

"It's no problem, Secretary Sun. We have no intention of making money off the students; we just want to make it faster and more convenient for them to send their luggage, and incidentally improve our company's brand awareness."

If Yang Tianxing was a hooligan with an education, then Zhang Liye was a rough-and-tumble street fighter. He didn't need Yang Tianxing to remind him; he could spout nonsense as soon as he opened his mouth.

Sun Nan nodded after hearing this, feeling that Zhang Liye had quite a bit of awareness. He asked a few more questions, and Zhang Liye answered them well under Yang Tianxing's prompting.

In the end, Sun Nan actually offered two empty rooms to support the project.

He had originally only intended to offer one and had planned to act hesitant, but after the two cartons of Chunghwa were dropped, one room became two, and the hesitation turned into readiness.

While filling out the "Student Entrepreneurship Support Project Application Form," Sun Nan reminded him: "This requires a faculty advisor. I cannot serve as one; you need to find someone else."

"Does my counselor Xie Yu'an satisfy the requirements?" Yang Tianxing asked.

"That he does, but will he agree?"

"It's fine, he already expressed his support for me a long time ago."

Yang Tianxing had already laid the groundwork when he brought the local specialties, though of course, he would still need to go and explain it again.

With the submission of the application form and Sun Nan's Youth League Committee seal stamped down, the one-year usage rights for the two abandoned utility rooms in the teaching building were secured.

Zhang Liye still couldn't quite believe it; such a good spot actually belonged to him now. He knew the process couldn't have been simple, and some of the difficulties had certainly been quietly resolved by Yang Tianxing.

It was just like gifting these two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, moistening things silently and unobtrusively.

At noon, Zhang Liye also invited Sun Nan to a restaurant outside the school for a meal; this was only proper, and Sun Nan did not decline.

After the luncheon dispersed, Zhang Liye took out 2,000 yuan and handed it to Yang Tianxing: "This is for the cigarette money."

Zhonghua cigarettes were not worth 2,000 yuan; Zhang Liye also meant to provide a benefit here.

However, thinking that this bit of money could smooth over the efforts Yang Tianxing made in mediating from the middle—how could it be that easy?

Yang Tianxing smiled and refused, saying: "I did it purely for the project, and there was also a bit of it for my own sake."

Seeing that Yang Tianxing declined very firmly, Zhang Liye could only say: "I must support it in some way, otherwise it would seem like I have no presence at all."

"Manager Zhang's words make quite a lot of sense."

Yang Tianxing nodded in agreement: "Then why not support it with a mobile phone?"