Chapter 837: Targeted at School

He gave a faint smile and spoke unhurriedly: "Lao Yu, if you truly have nowhere to stay, I have no objection to you buying a folding cot to make do in the room. But if you want to occupy my bed directly and leave me with nowhere to sleep, then I certainly won't agree to that."

Yu Zhiwei rubbed his hands together, looking troubled, his smile remaining warm: "I want to buy a folding cot too, it's just that I'm short on cash. Ma Rui, could you lend me some?"

He wore the expression of someone for whom borrowing money was only natural, showing not a hint of awkwardness.

Ma Rui looked at him twice, then reached directly into his pocket, pulled out thirty yuan, and handed it over: "Here is the money, but it's not a gift. For every day you stay in the dormitory, you help me fetch two thermals of hot water, and that will settle the debt."

Yu Zhiwei's eyes lit up; he hurriedly took the money and nodded repeatedly: "No problem, no problem! A small matter!"

After a pause, he tentatively spoke again: "By the way, you undergraduates have military training next Monday. Since the bed will be empty during that time, could I stay in it?"

Ma Rui thought for a moment and simply nodded: "You can."

Yu Zhiwei's face instantly blossomed into a smile.

Zhao Hu, standing to the side, watched this and couldn't help but nod secretly.

This freshman was young and looked refined, yet he was both firm and flexible in his dealings; he was not simple at all.

The people playing mahjong dispersed, each going off to attend to their own business.

Only Yu Zhiwei did not leave.

He chatted aimlessly with Ma Rui, probing into Ma Rui's family background.

Ma Rui basically said nothing useful, but didn't hide the useless things: "Lao Yu, you've already graduated, why haven't you gone back to your hometown?"

"My family is all in Hong Kong. Even if I could go there, I wouldn't be able to break into that circle. I want to find work in Beijing, preferably at a television station, but television stations aren't easy to get into," Lao Yu said.

Ma Rui smiled and said: "Lao Yu, why don't you work for me in the future?"

"What are you studying?"

"I'm studying performance, and if there's an opportunity, I could be a director, right? You help me find scripts, how about that?" Ma Rui asked.

While the two were chatting, Ma Rui checked his watch and realized it was time for the meeting, so he ran off to attend it.

In the conference room, over a dozen teachers were seated.

There was the Department Head, as well as Teacher Liu, who was responsible for receiving him.

The Department Head introduced himself first, gave a welcome speech, and then introduced each teacher to the students one by one.

Through the Department Head's introduction, Ma Rui learned that Teacher Liu was actually the Deputy Director of the Performance Department. This made him feel vaguely worried; he couldn't fathom why the Deputy Director of the department had suddenly switched his dormitory.

At the class meeting, everyone introduced themselves, and Ma Rui brought up the issue of his bed being occupied. He made a request, hoping the department could resolve his dormitory problem.

Teacher Qi, who was in charge of their class, frowned.

Ma Rui caught this detail.

However, Teacher Qi only said she would report it to the Academic Affairs Office and did not promise that she would definitely be able to handle it for him.

Deputy Director Liu was very dismissive of the request Ma Rui made.

He said: "Student Ma Rui, your class has 13 boys, and our dormitories are all four to a room, so there will inevitably be someone sharing with people from outside. We can't just create a five-person dormitory specifically because of you, can we?"

Ma Rui said with a grin: "I wouldn't say anything if I were living with seniors from our own department, but these people in the Photography Advanced Class are all adults—smoking, drinking, and playing cards. How am I supposed to study?"

Deputy Director Liu said: "What they are doing violates school rules and discipline; you can go report it to the Academic Affairs Office."

Ma Rui smiled: "As a freshman, wouldn't it be inappropriate for me to go report it? I think Teacher Liu should resolve it for me; otherwise, if something really happens in the future, don't blame me."

Teacher Qi's eyes rolled around for a long time before she said: "Ma Rui, I know about your problem; we will report it to the Academic Affairs Office for you."

Only then did Ma Rui stop talking.

The students below immediately looked at Ma Rui with new eyes.

This kid had too much nerve; he actually dared to stand up to the Deputy Director.

The next segment was Deputy Director Liu lecturing on school and department discipline.

For almost every rule he mentioned, he would glance at Ma Rui, as if these rules were aimed solely at Ma Rui.

Ma Rui lowered his head and did not meet his gaze.

The Deputy Director was clearly emotional while lecturing on discipline this time.

After hearing the few rules Deputy Director Liu read out, the students looked at one another, feeling a bit fearful in their hearts, terrified that they might be the one to get expelled.

The meeting lasted over an hour, and Ma Rui was so sleepy he almost dozed off.

Teacher Qi announced the end of the meeting.

Ma Rui was the first to run out of the conference room, wanting only to return to the dormitory and get a good sleep.

He hadn't been lying down for long when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Xiao Tian had come looking for him, with Yang Jing following behind.

"How did you find me?" Ma Rui asked.

"Finding you isn't hard. Just ask who the kid who drives a Land Rover to school is, and you can find you," Yang Jing said with a smile.

"Stop joking, you're trying to fool a fool!" Ma Rui said dismissively.

"To tell you the truth, I know your Teacher Qi, and I asked her to find you," Yang Jing finally revealed the truth.

"Sis, since you know Teacher Qi, you have to help me seek justice! Our department's Deputy Director doesn't know what kind of fit he's throwing; as soon as I arrived, he switched my dormitory and made me live with a bunch of people from the advanced class," Ma Rui complained.

The room was truly too stifling, filled with the smell of smoke and mixed with the odor of a pile of unwashed stinky socks.

"Ma Rui, this room of yours is too stifling, why don't you rent a room outside?" Yang Jing asked, puzzled.

Ma Rui shook his head: "If I went out to rent a room, my mother would definitely force me to drop out! She would think I was out messing around."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jing laughed: "It seems your mother understands you quite well."

Ma Rui gave a bitter smile: "My mother always thinks I'm the same sort as my uncle."

Yang Jing chuckled: "Are you saying your uncle is a heartless flirt?"

Ma Rui glanced at Xiao Tian and said: "Yang Jing, you've got a lot of nerve; Xiao Tian is my uncle's eyes and ears. That money was given by my uncle."

Yang Jing was startled and unconsciously stuck out her tongue.

Xiao Tian hurriedly smiled and said: "Miss, please don't listen to the young master's nonsense; I'm just here to be the driver."

Ma Rui stopped joking and asked seriously, "Let's talk business, how is the search for a matching donor for your mother's surgery going?"

Yang Jing sighed and said, "I went to see my eldest aunt and second aunt. They both agreed at first, but once they got to the hospital and heard the doctor talk about the risks, they didn't want to do the matching anymore. What do you think I should do?"

Ma Rui thought for a long time before saying, "Even though they are relatives, anyone would be scared of donating bone marrow. You have to offer some practical benefits."

Yang Jing gave a bitter smile: "The surgery alone costs hundreds of thousands. If I have to give them money on top of that, how could I possibly afford it?"

Ma Rui laughed: "If you don't spend the money first, this surgery won't happen at all. Call them and negotiate; offer them one hundred thousand each as a nutrition fee. If we're short on money later, we'll figure something out."

Yang Jing shook her head: "No, I can't spend any more of your money."

Ma Rui said nonchalantly: "You aren't bad-looking; you'll definitely become a hit if you act in a TV drama in the future. By then, money will be the last thing you're short of."

Yang Jing asked: "Tell me, will I really have a day like that?"

Ma Rui nodded, "I won't hide it from you, as long as we get a good script, even if my mother isn't willing to invest, my uncle is willing to put up the money."

"What does your uncle do?"

"He's just a retired old man, but his judgment is incredibly sharp. He helped others trade stocks and turned a few million into over a billion in two years."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jing was stunned on the spot: "Then do you know what stocks your uncle traded? Why don't we follow suit and trade too?"

Ma Rui shook his head: "My uncle doesn't trade stocks anymore; he went to buy land after making that money. I even helped him raise a paddle to bid on several plots of land. He says houses will definitely be valuable in the future."

Yang Jing immediately perked up: "Ma Rui, then I'll go help you find a script!"

"You should focus on helping your mother resolve the matching issue first," Ma Rui said.