America's Greatest Villain: I Defeat Magic with Magic

As the mahogany gate behind them slowly closed, the deafening electronic music vanished instantly, replaced by the melodious sound of a cello and a clear, melodious female voice.

The meeting appeared to have begun, and the speaker was Vivian Sinclair, the vice president of the student council.

Today, she was dressed in a well-tailored formal suit, exuding a unique sense of authority and pressure characteristic of the old money family.

In addition to the title of Vice President of the Student Council, the plaque in front of her also reads "Executive Director of the Sinclair Family Sponsorship Fund".

Only those who control the allocation of sponsorship funds are qualified to chair this meeting.

On the left side of the long table, near the front, Chen Yuan also spotted a familiar figure.

Just hours earlier, Charles Vanderbilt had been at the entrance of Blessing House, where he was simultaneously conducting a charity meal distribution event with Rongdingge.

Looking at the plaque in front of him, he is the head of the Life Sciences Academy Charity Foundation.

Although their charity bus was impressive, it only delivered about a hundred meals and "free gift packs" at most, and they were all gone in less than an hour.

Rather than saying they are doing charity work, it's more accurate to say they are putting on a show.

They also took the opportunity to promote Vanderbilt's "Free Community Clinical Medical Assistance Program" and tricked some immigrants who couldn't even recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet into signing organ donation agreements.

Chen Yuan roughly guessed why Vivian wanted to promote Rongding Pavilion as a pilot project for cooperation with USC.

The main reason is likely to be to bring in competitors so that Vanderbilt's charitable foundation will take its philanthropic work seriously.

However, he quietly found an empty seat in the corner and sat down, showing no intention of showing off.

The meeting inside the room was even more tedious and boring than I had imagined.

The first half mainly consisted of policy announcements regarding campus safety and academic discipline for the new semester.

Although Vivian's voice was very pleasant, Chen Yuan still felt drowsy under the hypnotic bureaucratic atmosphere.

After an unknown amount of time, when Chen Yuan vaguely heard "The allocation of funds for the Special Development Fund of the School of Life Sciences for this semester will now begin," the once quiet conference room was immediately filled with whispers.

Clearly, all the leaders of the clubs and organizations present were here tonight for this funding.

According to Vivian, the project was spearheaded by the Sinclair family, with additional sponsorship from some Los Angeles businesses.

The College of Life Sciences has a total of US$24 in "Special Development Funds" available for allocation this semester.

This money does not go through the school's regular financial account; its purpose is specifically to support student organizations with high social impact and academic value.

For these wealthy second-generation kids, what they lack is certainly not a few thousand or tens of thousands of dollars in pocket money.

However, the amount of funding allocated directly reflects a student organization's political status and importance within the college.

Organizations that receive the bulk of the funding can not only host high-profile events and connect with elite alumni from all walks of life, but their leaders' resumes will also become more impressive.

Therefore, every leader of the student organization stared intently at the thin A4 paper in Vivian's hand, hoping that they could get more funding.

Without any unnecessary pleasantries, Vivian quickly began announcing the funding amounts allocated to various organizations within the academy:

"The highest rating this semester went to the Life Sciences Institute Charitable Foundation, led by Charles Vanderbilt, which received a special grant of $60000."

When this number was announced, although a hint of envy flashed in the eyes of everyone present, no one raised any objections.

After all, as a long-established and deeply rooted student charity organization, the Life Sciences College Charity Foundation has the largest number of members among all student organizations.

Given the Vanderbilt family's background and the numerous events they regularly hold, it's no surprise that they received the largest allocation of funds for these events.

Upon hearing this, Vanderbilt raised his glass triumphantly in a distant salute to Vivian, displaying the complete self-righteousness of a victor.

Vivian remained unmoved and continued reading the list:

"The second place went to BPX Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Honor Society, which received $4 in funding."

"The Pre-Medical Public Health Association received $35000 in funding."

The Marine and Environmental Biology Conservation Society received $25000 in funding.

As names were announced one by one at the beginning of the year, most club and organization leaders secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, the various organizations must have already communicated privately before the meeting. Announcing it again at tonight's meeting is just a formality, and then they'll sign the official document to confirm it.

However, when the list was being read to the very end, Chen Yuan unexpectedly heard his own name called.

"Mr. Chen Yuan's Rongdingge Restaurant, as a pilot project for student social practice cooperation at our school, has also put forward the valuable 'South District Homeless Hot Food Care Project'."

As she spoke, Vivian looked up at Chen Yuan and continued:

"After review, the activity budget for this semester is determined to be... US$3."

As soon as he finished speaking, the previously quiet conference room erupted into a chorus of whispers.

After all, $3 is by no means a small amount compared to the funding most organizations receive.

For example, another organization called the "USC Native Species Conservation Program" only received a mere $15000.

Therefore, the moment the amount was read out, gazes filled with surprise, doubt, and even obvious hostility immediately focused on Chen Yuan in the corner.

Why is it that a Chinese restaurant located in a low-income community, which has just been designated as a pilot project for cooperation with a school, is able to take such a big slice of the pie?

Feeling the needle-like gazes converging from all around, Chen Yuan felt a headache coming on.

After all, he originally only intended to sit in on the proceedings, but he never expected that trouble would fall from the sky while he was sitting at home.

He glanced at Vivian not far ahead and, sure enough, caught a fleeting glimpse of a wicked smile in her azure eyes.

Clearly, this woman's sudden allocation of such a large sum of money to Rongding Pavilion was not simply out of kindness.

Chen Yuan frowned, his brain starting to work at a rapid pace.

Since becoming a pilot partner of USC, Rongding Pavilion has been embroiled in controversy.

The total amount of the so-called "Special Development Fund" for the School of Life Sciences should not change much each semester.

The funds were originally divided among more than a dozen clubs and organizations, which was already insufficient.

Now that Rongding Pavilion has joined the fray, it's bound to be a piece of the pie that's been forcibly taken from the bowls of a few unfortunate gangs!

Why would Vivian make Rongding Pavilion the target of public criticism in such a setting?

Does she have some other purpose?

However, at this moment, Vivian's head remained completely empty, with no information panel popping up.

Therefore, it can be concluded that she had no malicious intent at this time.

However, being used as a pawn for no reason still made Chen Yuan, who was used to being in control of the overall situation, feel a bit uncomfortable.

You absolutely cannot blindly follow this woman's script, otherwise even if you manage to pocket the $30,000 in the end, you will pay a heavy price!

However, just as Chen Yuan was about to refuse the funding, someone suddenly shouted:

"I strongly oppose Rongding Pavilion receiving this event funding!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was none other than Charles Vanderbilt, the head of the Life Sciences Institute Charitable Foundation!