The night before the college entrance exam results were released, I redeemed my Peking University ad

Wang Jianguo!

The only person Ji Bai could think of who could connect him with those above was Principal Wang.

He picked up his phone again, found Wang Jianguo's number, and dialed it.

The phone rang several times before I answered it.

A rustling sound came from the other end of the line, followed by Wang Jianguo's low voice: "Ji Bai? Wait a minute... Hey you, you keep an eye on the rehearsal, I need to take this call."

"Hey, Ji Bai, what's wrong?"

Ji Bai propped his feet up on the sofa armrest and joked, "Old Wang, busy discussing musical theory with the music teacher again?"

Old Wang laughed, a sly laugh: "When it comes to musicality, who can compare to you, the math tycoon? I'm just an old man who's tone-deaf, and my relationship with the music teacher is purely professional; we just discuss work."

He paused, then changed the subject, his tone suddenly becoming gossipy: "Hey, how did your chat with the diva go? I saw on Weibo that she really went to Fucheng."

"You wouldn't just give her the song for free because she's pretty, would you?"

Ji Bai touched his nose, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the underside of the bed.

"What are you saying? It's impossible to give it away for free."

"Alright, good lad, you didn't embarrass our No. 99 Middle School!"

Wang Jianguo's voice was filled with pride, as if Ji Bai's gift of the song had not been in vain, making him even prouder than the school producing a top scorer.

"Speak, what do you want from Old Wang? What difficult problem do you need proof for? I'll have the auditorium prepared right away!"

"The last live broadcast was a great success, so this time we'll make preparations in advance, upgrade the lighting and sound system, and invite a few more media reporters..."

"Stop, stop! Do you think math problems are as easy as cabbages?" Ji Bai twitched his lips and quickly interrupted Lao Wang's daydream.

"Alright, let's get down to business. I called the principal today hoping you could help me make a connection."

Hearing Ji Bai's tone suddenly become serious, even using honorifics like "Principal," Wang Jianguo felt a conditioned reflex of tension in his back.

They're even using honorifics, is it really that big of a deal?

Old Wang instinctively sat up straight, switched the phone to his other hand, and wiped the sweat from his trousers with that hand: "Ji Bai, who do you want me to contact for you?"

Ji Bai's voice was unhurried: "The county magistrate, the prefect, and of course, if we could contact the provincial governor, that would be even better."

boom!

Something snapped in Wang Jianguo's mind on the spot.

County Magistrate? Prefect? ​​Provincial Governor?

His hand holding the phone trembled slightly, and cold sweat poured down his back.

"Do I look like a provincial governor?" Wang Jianguo really wanted to ask that question back, but he swallowed the words back.

"No, Ji Bai, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Wang Jianguo lowered his voice and got up to close the office door as he spoke, afraid that a teacher passing by outside would hear him.

Although he didn't know what Ji Bai was up to, his intuition told him that a high school student looking for the provincial governor was either insane or something outrageous.

"We've come up with something small through research."

Ji Bai's tone remained nonchalant, as if he were simply saying, "I made a little craft."

"I was hoping that the district, city, or even province could approve some funding, not much, just a few tens of millions would be fine."

Wang Jianguo was dumbfounded.

He held the microphone, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, a thousand curses lining up in his mind, but none of them could express even a fraction of his feelings at that moment.

No, you're a recent high school graduate, and you're asking the city and province for funding right off the bat?

"Not much, just tens of millions will do"?

Do you think government funding is like a convenience store at the school gate?

Even if you prove the five world unsolved problems, mathematical proofs are just a few sheets of paper and a pen, aren't they?

What kind of funding do you need?

How much do you spend on scratch paper?

Besides, no one in the world who works in mathematics has ever heard of anyone asking for tens of millions of dollars in funding!

"Ji Bai!"

Wang Jianguo took a deep breath and tried his best to make his voice sound like he wasn't talking to a mental patient.

"I know you're a genius. I understand that geniuses' brains work differently from normal people's."

"But you have to understand, getting funding isn't something you can just get by solving a few math problems!"

"You need a project application, a feasibility report, an affiliated organization, and professional qualifications!"

"You don't even have a professional title, how are you going to name your project? 'High School Students' Summer Science and Technology Practice Project'? You'll be lucky to get 50,000 yuan in approval!"

Ji Bai smiled and said, "That's why I asked you to make the connection. Everyone knows that you, Principal, are a big shot in official circles right now!"

This statement hit Lao Wang's game spot.

He subconsciously straightened his back, and the corners of his mouth uncontrollably turned upwards.

Although he was alone in the office, he still pretended to cough twice and used the back of his hand to cover his expression of "feeling very comfortable being flattered".

Ji Bai, that kid, has a really nice way of speaking.

Wang Jianguo is really riding high right now.

Six months ago, he was still a joke in the city's education system, "the scrap collector principal of No. 99 Middle School." He would sit in the last row at principals' meetings, and people were too lazy to stand up to shake hands with him.

But now?

As he walked down the corridor of the Municipal Education Bureau, the section chiefs who passed by would greet him proactively: "Principal Wang, what have you been busy with lately?"

When he went to a meeting in the district, his seat was moved from the last row to the third row, right next to the principal of a key high school. Occasionally, he would be called out by Director Li and given a few words of criticism.

All of this is thanks to Ji Bai.

When Wang Jianguo went to the provincial capital for a meeting, he sat with the principals of those key provincial high schools without feeling intimidated at all.

How many students from your school have been admitted to Tsinghua and Peking Universities? Our school produced Ji Bai!

How many top scorers are there in the city from your school? Our school has a Ji Bai!

Your school has 300 students scoring above 600? Our school produced a Ji Bai!

Ji Bai alone split the history of No. 99 Middle School in two!

The first half is a history of shame, the second half is a list of honors.

And he, Wang Jianguo, is the principal on the honor roll who "recognized talent with discerning eyes".

Wang Jianguo remained silent for a while, quickly going through these triumphant scenes in his mind, then took a deep breath and brought his thoughts back to reality.

"Are you sure? You're not joking?"

"Absolutely, definitely, and absolutely! Old Wang, just pass on the message for me."

Wang Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "I can only contact Director Li of our district's education bureau. I'm afraid my connections won't be enough to reach anyone higher up."

He was telling the truth. Although he was doing very well recently, rank was a hard barrier to entry.

The highest-ranking person he could directly communicate with was Director Li; he didn't even have a phone number for anyone above that.

"Okay, hurry up and call Lao Wang, it's urgent."

"So how much funding do you specifically want?"

When Wang Jianguo asked that question, he subconsciously held his breath.

"One hundred million is not too much, seventy or eighty million is not too little."

"Take away the young master?"

Wang Jianguo almost threw his phone away.

He suspected there was something wrong with his ears, and subconsciously glanced at the caller ID on the screen again to confirm that it was indeed Ji Bai on the other end, and not some scam call.

Seventy or eighty million isn't enough?

How much is the city's annual education fund?

A little over 500 million yuan, that's the total budget for all primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, and special education institutions in the city combined.

Is Ji Bai going to take one-fifth of the education fund all by himself?

Does this child have no concept of money?

"I won't take it for free. I'll exchange 10% of the results for it." Ji Bai's voice was calm.

Wang Jianguo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

No, what kind of achievement is worth 10 million?