Chapter 410: Swarming Like Ducks

The project Li Yan spoke of was the "Huo Beibei-Jia" (Posture Corrector) project that Du Guoying was currently tinkering with. Dongling High-Tech had also invested in this project. Clearly, Li Dongling also valued Du Guoying's project highly, so Li Yan could not help but take it seriously.

Li Yan coming to Hanxi this time with Du Guoying was also to report the annual performance of Focus Media to the parent company, Dongling High-Tech. With a big tree to lean on, the breeze is cool; Li Yan had no intention of breaking away from Dongling High-Tech.

Additionally, the Huo Beibei-Jia project was another reason. This was a project Focus Media was preparing to promote on a large scale next; it might even be a major project from the end of this year into next year. Li Yan also wanted to know Li Dongling's intentions.

When asked by Li Yan, Du Guoying patted the tightly packed box he was carrying and said with a sigh, "The product has already been developed. If it weren't for the need to cooperate with professional medical rehabilitation experts to improve the product, and the requirement to pass safety testing by medical institutions, this product would have been launched long ago!"

Previously, when Du Guoying met Li Dongling, Li Dongling's remark about him being a "Confucian Merchant" made him someone trusted and looked up to by everyone who bought his products, directly fooling the 22-year-old Du Guoying into a limp.

Now, Du Guoying certainly still wanted to make money, but the two words "Confucian Merchant" reminded him at every moment that he had to be cautious when "harvesting leeks."

Seeing Du Guoying's solemn vow, Li Yan said no more. Focus Media now had more than just the Huo Beibei-Jia project; Li Yan's mindset now was completely different from before.

The car arrived at the Yuhe Leisure Resort. The entire resort was now beginning to prepare for the festivities, hanging up red lanterns to welcome the arrival of the new year.

The atmosphere of the New Year at this time was much more intense than in later generations. Whether adults or children, everyone looked forward to the arrival of the New Year, and kinship ties were also much closer than in later generations.

When Li Yan and Du Guoying were preparing to enter, they saw the crowd surging in front of the Yuhe Leisure Resort. In front of the resort, a temporary snack city had actually appeared, with all sorts of things for sale inside. Several large rows of snack stalls were filled with the aroma of cooking, and each stall was packed full.

Now, inside the Yuhe Leisure Resort, it wasn't just Dongling High-Tech's supervisors from all over the country who had brought their families over; people on holiday from Pingyang and the surrounding urban areas of Hanxi Province had also brought their whole families to join in the fun, causing the flow of people in the entire Yuhe Leisure Resort to suddenly increase several times over. For the past few days, it had been almost completely packed.

After making a phone call, Li Yan walked toward the gymnasium inside the resort. Just as he reached the basketball court, he heard bursts of shouting.

Fortunately, Li Dongling's assistant, Su Chicheng, came over to pick Li Yan and the others up and take them inside; otherwise, Li Yan, Du Guoying, and the others might not have been able to squeeze in.

After entering, Li Yan saw Li Dongling teaming up with Zhang Ao, Gao Peng, and Chen Tao to play against another team on the court.

As the year-end approached, Dongling High-Tech organized many activities internally, such as basketball, table tennis, and badminton competitions between departments. The prize money for the competitions wasn't much—five thousand yuan for the winners served as a gimmick—but every competition was quite intense.

Today's game was originally supposed to be a basketball match between Dongling High-Tech's Marketing Department and the Logistics Department, but Li Dongling and the others became interested after arriving and temporarily pulled a few people together to play a game.

Originally, the team consisted of Li Dongling, Gao Peng, Zhang Ao, Chen Tao, and Hu Zixian, but given Hu Zixian's age and stamina, even if the opponents went easy and there was no physical contact at all, he was panting after running a few steps, so they had to let him sit out and pull in a substitute.

Facing the team composed of Li Dongling, Zhang Ao, and the others, the few people on the opposite side looked very hardworking. The game was intense, but the social etiquette was fully displayed; they were going so easy on them it was like the Yellow River, fearing they might bump into Li Dongling and the others. Sometimes when Li Dongling missed a shot, the newcomer from the Marketing Department who was marking him was even more nervous than Li Dongling.

Li Dongling played for a quarter, broke a bit of a sweat, and finally, after luckily sinking a three-pointer, he had his fill and stopped. He wasn't like some big boss, Chairman Xu, playing "Chairman Basketball," where one person holds the ball while nine people watch, refusing to stop until he "wildly scores" thirty points.

Chairman Xu playing ball, Chairman Ma practicing martial arts, Lei Busi running, Chairman Wang singing "Nothing to My Name"—which of these wasn't a famous scene of corporate social etiquette? Li Dongling had no interest in contributing another such famous scene.

Once Li Dongling left the court, Zhang Ao, Chen Tao, and the others also walked off. As others took their places, the game instantly became intense.

Watching the game on the court, Zhang Ao rubbed his belly, which had grown day by day over the past few years, and said helplessly, "Back in the day, I was the main player for the Xicheng Wireless Factory basketball team. Now I'm actually panting after running a few steps!"

"Who's to say otherwise!"

Gao Peng was also drenched in sweat. Over the past few years, he had the most social engagements, and the alcohol he drank was almost catching up to water. "Later, after the sauna, I'm going to find the old master at the resort who does massage and bone-setting to give me a good rub!"

"Together, together!"

Hu Zixian, who was holding his old waist on the side, also muttered, "My old waist can't take it anymore!"

Li Dongling wiped away some sweat. Compared to the others, Li Dongling's daily exercise with Yang Zhi Gao had not been in vain. Now, Li Dongling's physique had still not gone out of shape; he had just broken a bit of a sweat earlier.

Su Chicheng handed a bottle of water to Li Dongling and whispered a few words in his ear.

Li Dongling glanced in the direction of Li Yan and Du Guoying, then looked toward a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking refined.

After taking a sip of water, Li Dongling went over, spoke a few words to Li Yan and Du Guoying, and then walked toward the middle-aged man. "Principal Shen, it was a bother for you to come in person; I should have been the one to visit!"

"It is only right!"

Shen Qingyuan, who was now serving as the principal of Pingyang University, shook hands with Li Dongling. He had come this time to "seek alms," so naturally, he had to pay a visit. In fact, over the past few years, Li Dongling and Dongling High-Tech had donated quite a lot of funds and materials to Pingyang University.

For example, Pingyang University's Computer Department was the earliest established among all the universities in Hanxi, and it also had the most computer teaching equipment. The computer equipment used was donated by Dongling High-Tech. Additionally, there was a teaching building, a dormitory for faculty and staff, and more, all donated by Li Dongling and Dongling High-Tech.

But this time, Shen Qingyuan hadn't come for these funds or donations; he wanted to turn the rumors he had previously released to media outlets like the *Pingyang Daily* into reality!

"Everyone will have a meal together here today!"

Li Dongling said to Shen Qingyuan, Li Yan, Du Guoying, and the others.

The Yuhe Leisure Resort's living facilities were basically complete now. Eating, lodging, fishing, fitness, sports, and some entertainment inside could all be accomplished. As long as one wasn't afraid of boredom and had money in their pocket, staying inside for a year or half a year was no problem...

Li Dongling had an exclusive top-floor suite at the Yuhe Leisure Resort. It couldn't be called a presidential suite, but there were only three such suites in the resort's star-rated hotel. They were not for sale to the public and were basically used for important figures who came to cooperate with Dongling High-Tech.

After washing up in the suite, Li Dongling arrived at a private room in the resort's restaurant, where Shen Qingyuan, Li Yan, Du Guoying, and the others were conversing.

After the food was served, Shen Qingyuan performed an act of "carrying thorns to ask for punishment." He raised his glass and said to Li Dongling, "With this glass of wine, I ask for forgiveness from Chairman Li. I used Dongling High-Tech's name without your consent; I hope you will forgive me!"

Previously, the rumors Shen Qingyuan released when facing local media like the *Pingyang Daily*, inviting universities like Peking University and Hanxi Jiaotong University to help Pingyang University establish professional departments, were all released unilaterally by Shen Qingyuan and had not yet been agreed to by Li Dongling.

Building these majors required not only connections and resources but also money. It was hard to say whether Pingyang University's annual budget could even support these majors. If Dongling High-Tech wasn't willing to support him, they definitely couldn't be built.

After speaking, Shen Qingyuan downed a glass of white liquor directly. Seeing Shen Qingyuan's actions, Li Dongling had no choice but to raise his glass and take a sip.

"Principal Shen is dedicated to the public, considering the future students of Pingyang; what fault is there in that!"

Regardless of what Shen Qingyuan's true intentions were or what methods he used, everything he did was indeed for Pingyang University, to improve Pingyang's local educational resources, and to give local Pingyang people more opportunities. After Shen Qingyuan promised that he would not move Pingyang University away in the future, Pingyang University became a local brand.

No matter who it was, as long as they were still hanging around Pingyang, they had to acknowledge everything Shen Qingyuan had done; otherwise, they would likely be drowned by spit.

"Over the past few years, not just Pingyang University, but other universities in the country have been able to get too few resources. But for Pingyang University, this is also an opportunity. If missed, it will never come again!"

Shen Qingyuan looked at Li Dongling with a slightly excited expression. "Now, the gap between universities in the country is not that large. If we can get funding and research resources, Pingyang University has a chance to stand up!

Pingyang University will never leave Pingyang in the future. If the level can be raised, there will be a chance to help Dongling High-Tech!"

Li Dongling looked at Shen Qingyuan with a strange expression. Previously, he was the one painting cakes for others; this time, someone was actually painting a cake for him.

Whether Pingyang University could develop or what level it could reach was hard to say, but Shen Qingyuan wasn't wrong about one thing: Pingyang University was naturally a staunch supporter of Dongling High-Tech.

If, in the future, Pingyang University could really develop and reach the level of Shenzhen University, the representative of "white, rich, and beautiful" among domestic universities in his past life, then for Dongling High-Tech, it would be a completely different scene.

Shenzhen University had only been established for a little over ten years and wasn't yet famous, but as a university supported by Tsinghua and Peking University, coupled with the emergence of giants like the Chrysanthemum Factory and Penguin in his past life, Shenzhen University soared into the sky. Just the chance to enter those few giant companies in Shenzhen after graduation and earn an annual salary of over a million was enough to make countless people swarm like ducks.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 411 =====