Sail across the sea

Chapter 447 You don't need to force yourselves too much.
Ten minutes later, more than ten people appeared in the student union office. They were the student union president, vice president, and ministers and deputy ministers of various departments. The office was packed with people.

Jia Liuming, the student council president with a face full of acne, apologized to Gao Min, saying that because it was summer vacation, some student council officers had gone home, and those who stayed at school were all here.

"Our company is prepared to provide a sponsorship of 1 yuan to the Peking University Student Union."

Gao Min calmed herself down and repeated what she had just said.

Peking University is undoubtedly a very prestigious school, but Gao Min was already intimidated by it. Even though the group of people sitting or standing in front of her were student union cadres, she didn't find anything mysterious about it.

Her younger brother was a student at Peking University. Through her brother, Gao Min realized that Peking University students weren't all that impressive after all. These people in front of her were clearly not as bright as her brother, especially lacking his social experience.

Gao Min recalled that Gao Fan had already partnered with Chen Xingquan to run a business when he was still in middle school. At that time, they had already earned more than 10,000 yuan, and Gao Fan spoke calmly about his 10,000 yuan income. And the facts proved that he did have the confidence to be so nonchalant about 10,000 yuan, because his Canghai Chemical Company was already generating 50 million US dollars in foreign exchange annually.

The group of people in front of her, perhaps for the purpose of meeting her, this "big entrepreneur," had all deliberately changed into white shirts, and some of them were even wearing leather shoes, though the shoes clearly hadn't been polished in a long time and looked wrinkled.

Standing in front of her, these people all tried to appear reserved, but Gao Min could clearly see that they were struggling with their hands, unsure of where to place them to avoid looking awkward.

"I wonder why Mr. Gao is sponsoring us?"

With a smile on his face, Jia Liuming asked Gao Min.

"There's only one reason: I want the student council to help me organize an event," Gao Min said.

"what activity?"

"Paint all the classrooms at Peking University."

"Paint...the classroom?"

The cadres looked at each other, none of them knowing what Gao Min meant.

"It means exactly what it says, repainting the classrooms," Yang Kai explained from the side. "The paint will be provided by Mr. Gao's company, helping Peking University to repaint all the interior walls of all the classrooms."

"But... why did Mr. Gao want to help us paint the classrooms?" Jia Liuming asked.

Gao Min pointed to the student union office and said, "Haven't you noticed? The buildings at Peking University are all too old. Even your office has peeling paint. Yesterday, I asked Dr. Yang to show me some classrooms, and I found that the walls of your classrooms are in even worse condition than this. This is seriously inconsistent with Peking University's academic standing."

"But what does this have to do with your company?" Yuan Xiaoyan, the head of the publicity department of the student union, couldn't help but interject.

Gao Min said, "We are a paint company. Seeing the classrooms of China's top university in such a dilapidated state makes us feel uneasy. We have just developed a new type of environmentally friendly interior wall paint that fills a gap in the domestic market, and we hope to make a contribution to China's education with this paint."

"The classrooms at the Wudaokou Vocational School next door are even worse. Why didn't you think of repainting them?" someone muttered nearby, which was a conditioned reflex of complaining.

"Are you stupid? Why are you pushing such a good thing onto them!" another person whispered, scolding him.

"What's so great about this?" "They're painting our classrooms for free, how can that not be a good thing?"

"who knows……"

The rest of the conversation was cut off, clearly indicating that someone had come up with some conspiracy theories.

Jia Liuming couldn't immediately understand Gao Min's motives, but as the student council president, he still had some composure. He stopped the crowd's discussion and asked Gao Min:

"Mr. Gao, I'd like to ask if you've contacted our school's general affairs office about painting the classrooms?"

"No," Gao Min answered decisively. "I don't know anyone in your General Affairs Office. However, I think the General Affairs Office would be very happy if the student council offered to help paint the classrooms, wouldn't they?"

"I see..." Jia Liuming responded, then asked, "So the 1 yuan sponsorship that General Manager Gao mentioned is for painting the classroom, including the cost of the paint?"

Gao Min shook her head: "As I said, this 1 yuan is a sponsorship. All expenses for painting the classroom will be calculated separately. Our company will provide all the necessary paints, other tools and consumables free of charge. In addition, the student union will organize students to do the painting work, and we will pay the students labor fees according to the standard of your usual work-study program."

Upon hearing this, everyone present's eyes lit up.

What? All the paint and tools were provided by the other party, and the students who did the work could even get a labor fee, while the previously mentioned sponsorship of 10,000 yuan was completely given away for free?

The school only allocates a little over 10,000 yuan to the student union each year, and the destination of this money is already predetermined. The student union has less than 1000 yuan that it can freely dispose of. The student union is so stingy that it has to be careful even when buying paper for posters. When the various departments set up booths on campus to recruit new members, they have to pay for their own bottles of soda. How frustrating is that?

If we had this 10,000 yuan sponsorship, distributed among the various departments, there would surely be several hundred yuan each. Wouldn't that be enough to buy something delicious?

As for organizing some students to paint the classrooms, what's so difficult about that? The other party clearly stated that they would pay the students who did the work according to the work-study program standards. Just based on that alone, believe it or not, those students who stayed at school during the summer vacation and didn't go home would rush to sign up.

In 1985, no college student was without money.

Having figured this out, all the ministers turned their gazes to Jia Liuming, their eyes clearly conveying:

Say yes! Don't miss this opportunity.

Jia Liuming and his subordinates were of one mind, and they immediately understood the meaning behind each other's glances. He smiled at Gao Min and said:
"President Gao, this matter is quite sudden, and we were unprepared. Why don't you sit here for a while, and I'll go out with a few vice chairmen to discuss it further and then give you an answer? What do you think?"

“I understand, Chairman Jia, please go ahead,” Gao Min said.

Jia Liuming thanked him, gave a wink to the vice chairmen, and was about to leave when Gao Min said considerately:

"Chairman Jia, you don't need to force yourself. If you really feel this won't work, that's fine too. A student just mentioned that the classrooms at the Wudaokou Technical School next door are also quite old, so we can contact them."

Upon hearing this, Jia Liuming almost tripped over the threshold.

(End of this chapter)