I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Chapter 136 Ah Zu, Stop Now

When Qian Ming'en saw Shen Kang arrive, he immediately introduced the middle-aged man next to him, "Shen Kang, this is Liu Yuankai, the executive vice president of Yangke University. President Liu heard about your Room 302 and was quite interested, so he came with me."

Shen Kang thought to himself, "Executive Vice Principal, that's a principal with real power, not just someone with academic titles or a nominal position." But how did he end up recruiting an Executive Vice Principal?

As for Qian Mingen's claims of "heard," "being interested," and "coming along," that's nonsense. It's obvious that Qian Mingen made a special trip today because the executive vice principal was coming.

"Hello, Principal Liu," Shen Kang greeted him.

Qian Mingen also introduced Shen Kang with a smile, "This is Shen Kang, a freshman majoring in e-commerce. He opened this study room 302."

Liu Yuankai also greeted Shen Kang: "Hello, Shen."

Afterwards, he looked around the exterior of the 302 study room with great interest, and his gaze finally fell on the newly opened milk tea window.

Qian Ming'en noticed his gaze, and also the milk tea stall, and said first, "Shen Kang, you've started making milk tea?"

"Let's have a trial run." Before Qian Ming'en could ask any more questions, Shen Kang said directly, "When I applied to the Logistics Service Center for the 302 study room, the scope of business included the sale of snacks and beverages, including milk tea. Our employees also all have health certificates."

After listening, Liu Yuankai smiled and said, "Student Shen is quite organized in handling matters, not bad."

Qian Ming'en said, "Principal Liu, let's go in and take a look."

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"it is good."

The three then went into study room 302.

Since lunchtime, Room 302 has been almost always full with five tables occupied, which was the case when Qian Mingen and Liu Yuankai arrived.

The students were all playing and didn't recognize the two older men. Those who noticed them glanced at them but then looked away and continued playing.

Yang Yunhan didn't come over either. When Shen Kang received Qian Ming'en's call earlier, he had already told her that some school leaders were coming, and he would receive them himself. He told Yang Yunhan and Xu Shiwei to just do what they were supposed to do.

This was Qian Ming'en's first time in the 302 study room, and he was somewhat surprised by the bustling atmosphere: business seemed to be quite good.

Liu Yuankai walked to a table and started looking at it. Qian Ming'en quickly followed, his heart skipping a beat. Shen Kang had told him about the cards before, and because Shen Kang had assured him that it wasn't playing cards, but some kind of puzzle game, and because he hadn't heard any negative feedback, he hadn't come to check it out. Now he was a little worried, afraid that Shen Kang was too bold and it really was some kind of playing card game.

However, after watching for a while, Qian Mingen felt relieved.

This is definitely not a poker game; it's a strategy puzzle game, and it is indeed related to historical figures, just as Shen Kang assured us. As for chips or anything like that, there are absolutely none.

After looking at them for a while, Liu Yuankai looked at the portraits hanging on the walls inside the room.

Qian Ming'en also looked over and found that, just as Shen Kang had said, they were all introductions to various historical figures from the Three Kingdoms period.

Ok?

Qian Mingen paused for a moment.

Liu Yuankai also noticed it, stepped forward, and came to a portrait of Zhuge Liang, looking at the blank space besides the character introduction:

XC, I'm so grateful to you!

HTY, are you to me an entire universe, and I to you a single star?

LC, I've finally learned to let go. I wish you happiness, and I'm going to find my own happiness too. My nickname is Happiness.

Qian Ming'en felt a pang of anxiety as he looked at the graffiti, which had turned a perfectly good portrait of an ancient historical figure into a confession wall.

Liu Yuankai pointed to the graffiti on it, turned to Shen Kang, and asked, "Is this a confession wall?"

Shen Kang remained expressionless and said, "This is not a confession wall. The thing is, we hung these portraits with the intention of helping students understand historical figures and increase their historical knowledge, but the actual effect is very poor. Not many students come to learn this historical knowledge."

"So we added some color to them, just like when we were kids we would doodle on the portraits of historical figures in our textbooks. Although it seemed silly, it actually made the students more interested and helped them remember the poems on that page better, which had a positive effect. The doodles here have the same effect. In fact, it has really increased everyone's interest. They look at these portraits for longer periods of time and even learn the historical knowledge on them."

"This incident has made me realize that teaching cannot be rigid; we must stand among the masses and consider issues from their perspective. Since the people like this approach, we should start from this approach and guide them to achieve our teaching goals. This will play a supporting role in our school's education and development, and we will not let down the school leaders who have supported us."

"————" Qian Ming'en's face twitched, trying his best to keep his expression calm.

"————" Liu Yuankai was speechless.

He had heard Qian Mingen mention it before; the kid was only a freshman this year.

Is this what freshman year is all about?

Liu Yuankai was speechless for a moment, then pointed to the phrase "I'm at your mercy" and asked, "What does that mean?"

Shen Kang explained, "Oh, '受' actually means 'love,' and '靠' actually means 'generation,' so it means 'I love you for a lifetime.' It's not that students at Yangko University of Science and Technology are illiterate and can't even spell these two characters correctly; it's intentional, similar to phonetic loan characters, a kind of deconstructionism. It constitutes a unique culture of university students in our time, precisely demonstrating the creativity and vitality of Yangko University of Science and Technology students—"

Li Yuankai asked a few more questions, which Shen Kang answered one by one. Liu Yuankai found them quite interesting and felt that he had indeed gained some understanding of the inner world of this generation of college students.

The 302 study room was only so big, and after the tour was over, Liu Yuankai suggested that they go outside to chat. So the three of them left the 302 study room and strolled along Xiaodong Street.

As Liu Yuankai walked, he asked several questions about the management philosophy and daily operations of Study Room 302, and Shen Kang answered them all.

After listening, Liu Yuankai said, "I heard from one of my students before that your 302 study room was quite good. Now it seems you didn't succeed haphazardly; there's definitely a method to it. However, I heard from my student that your 302 study room doesn't have a formal price yet, and you're still using trial vouchers as proof of payment for time?"

Well, Shen Kang finally understood why Principal Liu had come today. "Principal Liu, are your students also hoarding trial vouchers?"

After their conversation, Liu Yuankai realized that this freshman was no ordinary student, so he said directly, "I think 'hoarding' is not quite right; 'speculating' might be more accurate."

Liu Yuankai did come today specifically about the trial vouchers.

One of his students mentioned the experience vouchers at Yangko University of Science and Technology to him yesterday, so Liu Yuankai went to look into it himself. After learning about it, he felt there were potential problems and couldn't sit still, so he came to find him today.

"You've created a stock market right here at Yangko University of Science and Technology," Liu Yuankai exclaimed, but not sternly.

In Liu Yuankai's view, this student named Shen Kang might cause trouble, but there is no denying that he is also extremely capable.

He's only a freshman, yet he's already started a business on campus and even created a school stock market. Liu Yuankai has never seen such a troublesome student in his entire teaching career.

This Shen Kang is the only one.

Such students need proper guidance; they may become talented individuals or celebrities in the future, bringing glory to Yangko University of Science and Technology.

After expressing his surprise, Liu Yuankai asked, "I'd like to ask why you haven't set a price for your 302 study room, but instead use trial vouchers?"

They walked and talked, having already left Xiaodong Street and were strolling along the sidewalk of a main campus road.

Shen Kang truthfully explained, "Actually, I initially gave out trial vouchers for free, just hoping to use this discount to attract the first batch of customers to the 302 study room. Also, at the time, I didn't know how to price my 302 study room properly. Unexpectedly, someone discovered the business opportunity in the trial vouchers and started reselling them. Then I thought that maybe I could see from this market transaction the students' acceptable price for the trial vouchers, and that's how things have developed to this point."

Liu Yuankai nodded and said, "But things have started to get risky now. Have you considered what price your trial voucher might eventually fetch?"

"I've thought about it, it might go up to 10 yuan or more," Shen Kang said.

Liu Yuankai was a little surprised, and turned to look at him again. "I thought you would say at most six yuan and fifty cents, after all, the price of your Supreme Latte ticket is six yuan and fifty cents. If it's more than six yuan and fifty cents, people might as well buy your latte ticket."

Shen Kang said, "The price of 28 yuan is calculated by subtracting 15 from the normal latte price of 15 yuan. But the normal latte is 15 yuan."

The price isn't something everyone agrees on. Some people might think they don't want a latte, they just want to hang out in Room 302, so their expected price ceiling is 28 divided by 2, which is 14. But a normal latte, even if some people don't think it's worth 15 yuan, still has a physical value, maybe 8 yuan, maybe 6 yuan. So I think it might break 6.5 yuan, maybe even 10 yuan or more, but the possibility of it reaching 14 yuan is unlikely.

This is why he previously told Guo Pinyan that the maximum potential for appreciation might not be just 6.5 yuan, but it was just his speculation. Whether this is true or not, we'll have to wait and see how the experience vouchers develop.

Liu Yuankai thought to himself, "So he understands too." He nodded and then asked, "You've been trying to find out students' true price range using trial vouchers for a while now, and I'm sure you have certain expectations. If you were to set a price now, what kind of fee would you set for your 302 study room?"

After observing for a period of time, Shen Kang did come up with a preliminary price: "It's about five yuan per hour."

Liu Yuankai's heart sank: If the trial voucher reached 10 yuan and Shen Kang also priced it at 10 yuan, then he wouldn't have much to worry about. What he feared most was that the trial voucher would reach a price far higher than Shen Kang's own expected price.

"If, after another ten days or so, the trial voucher price surges to ten yuan, and you then announce your price of five yuan per hour, it will cause massive financial losses among students."

Liu Yuankai stopped, turned around, and stared at Shen Kang.

His tone became stern, carrying a strong warning: "Whether you earned this money or another group of students did, the school cannot allow it!"

What Liu Yuankai described was precisely the scenario he feared most. If this situation were to occur, a mass incident could erupt, especially if there were several dissidents among the victims; in such cases, the risk would be magnified exponentially.

His job as the executive vice principal is to nip all potential risks in the bud and maintain a harmonious campus environment.

"So let's announce the pricing for your 302 study room today."

After Liu Yuankai finished his warning, his tone softened: "Since your own price is five yuan per hour, which is about the same as the current price of the trial voucher, then just announce it today."

This is precisely the purpose of Liu Yuankai's visit today: to have Shen Kang directly announce the pricing of the 302 study room and eliminate all possible risks.

Therefore, he was willing to make some compensation. After all, according to Liu Yuankai's estimation, Shen Kang originally planned to make a profit from this, and it was only right for him to make him stop early and make some compensation, just like it was only right to recommend a classmate for postgraduate studies if he had been greatly wronged.

Then Liu Yuankai said, "Of course, this might conflict with your plan. You can make some requests."

Shen Kang thought for a moment.

He had already considered ending the business when he saw Qin Zhen and Liu Jing start speculating on experience vouchers, which coincided with Liu Yuankai's idea.

But then he thought of something else and made another suggestion: "Principal Liu, for some reason, I can't announce the price today. How about this? I have a lot of trial vouchers. I'll just put them all online and sell them unlimitedly for five yuan each. That way, with me supplying them unlimitedly for five yuan each, their prices won't go up."

Liu Yuankai was puzzled: "Then what's the difference between this and directly announcing the pricing of your 302 study room today? It's just that you've changed the official ticketing for your 302 study room to a private one. But you own the 302 study room yourself, and there are no other shareholders."

Shen Kang said, "I have some personal reasons that I can't disclose. But Principal Liu, you said there's no difference, so is this acceptable?"

Liu Yuankai looked at him for a long while before speaking, "Since you have your own reasons, then let's do it your way. But you must start today."

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