I Want Money, It's Useless! I Want You to Build a Thousand Schools! (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

Listen to this number.

"Ten billion US dollars? Not expensive, not expensive at all, it's practically a steal!"

Zhang Yuli's lips curled up, unable to contain his hearty laughter.

That's nearly seven billion RMB in compensation. In an era where housing prices in Yanjing were only a little over ten thousand per square meter, this was an astronomical sum.

"However, is ten billion US dollars a bit too low for the compensation?"

Zheng Lixing stroked his white beard, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Should we perhaps ask him to name a higher price?"

"There's no need. Since these are his terms, we'll meet them unconditionally. There's no need to stir up more trouble."

Zhang Yuli waved his hand, not agreeing with the suggestion.

He understood Zheng Lixing's concerns perfectly. Why would they want the mysterious person to ask for more money?

It was precisely because the F-22 fighter jet technology and the Boeing 777 technology were so incredibly valuable that ten billion US dollars seemed insignificant in comparison. It would be better to increase the compensation to appear more generous.

However, he felt that since the mysterious person proposed ten billion US dollars, they should pay exactly that amount.

This wasn't a transaction, nor was it a sale of technology.

If the mysterious person truly wanted to sell at a high price, countless countries around the world would be willing to pay tens of billions of US dollars for even one of these technologies. The oil-rich nations in the Middle East would readily pay even more, and in cash, no less.

Great Xia had always adhered to one principle: give what is asked for. If something could be done, they would go all out to achieve it.

"Let's do it this way. It's the most stable approach for now."

Zheng Lixing seemed to have thought of something and nodded with a smile. "Fortunately, our development is progressing rapidly now. If this were decades ago, we probably wouldn't even have been able to come up with this ten billion US dollars."

This seemingly colossal sum was fortunate to be requested at this particular time. Decades ago, Great Xia would have struggled to produce such an amount, as the entire country's foreign exchange reserves were only a few hundred million, at most a billion or two US dollars.

"Let alone decades ago, even twenty years ago our foreign exchange reserves were only two to three billion US dollars."

"Fortunately, we're much wealthier now, and life is much better. This ten billion US dollars isn't much." Zhang Yuli's eyes seemed to reflect the backdrop of that era.

Back then, they were truly poor. Many military factories were either shut down or converted to civilian production to sustain themselves. Even Institute 611, under financial pressure, abandoned fighter jet manufacturing and took on the side hustle of producing "611" brand washing machines.

But things were different now. Although Great Xia couldn't be considered wealthy, they weren't so poor that they couldn't afford ten billion US dollars.

Zhang Yuli stared intently at the screen, murmuring softly, "I just wonder what payment method this mysterious person will choose?"

"Physical currency? Gold or precious metals? Or should we transfer it directly to him? None of those seem quite right."

Zheng Lixing also chimed in at this moment, reminding him, "We must be extremely cautious with this matter, more cautious than ever. We need to be fully prepared and have contingency plans for every possible scenario."

"I know," Zhang Yuli nodded.

Regardless of the method, safely delivering this enormous compensation to the mysterious person in Eagle Country would not be easy.

It wasn't about fear of it being lost in transit, but rather the risk of leaks if the money was discovered, which would put the mysterious person in a very precarious situation. Thorough preparations were absolutely essential.

However.

As the two of them were deep in thought about how to deliver the vast sum to the mysterious person in Eagle Country without any leaks...

Suddenly, an email notification sound echoed through the room. The mysterious person had replied.

Zhang Yuli quickly clicked on the backend mailbox to check.

[No need for transfers or any of that. I hope you can substitute this ten billion US dollars with another form of payment.]

'What form of payment? We'll arrange it at maximum speed.' Zhang Yuli typed out a line of text rapidly and hit send.

Even if the mysterious person had asked Great Xia to launch a rocket into space and drop the ten billion US dollars via freefall to a designated location, they would have done it.

However.

Upon seeing the content of the mysterious person's next email, both of them felt their minds go blank.

[I hope you will use this compensation to build schools. Spend the entire ten billion US dollars on this.]

Zheng Lixing's face was filled with question marks. "Build schools? Replace compensation with building schools?"

"What is he trying to pull? Is this even a possible way to handle compensation?"

He had lived for sixty or seventy years and had never heard of anyone requesting compensation in this manner.

Zhang Yuli choked and coughed a few times. "Cough, cough... Where does he want to build schools? And spending the entire ten billion US dollars on it, what scale would that be?"

Ten billion US dollars could build several universities directly.

With this question in mind, he quickly replied.

'How do you wish for the schools to be built? What scale? Where? Do you truly intend to use this method for compensation?'

The mysterious person's reply came just as quickly.

[This is our decision. Please spend the entire ten billion US dollars on school construction.]

[Please calculate how many schools can be built in total, with an average distribution of primary, middle, and high schools.]

'Seventy billion RMB can currently build approximately 700 primary schools, 200 middle schools, and 100 high schools, totaling one thousand schools.'

'Where do you wish for them to be built?'

As the director of the Great Xia Academy of Sciences, Zhang Yuli quickly calculated the accurate figures based on current construction costs in Great Xia.

The construction cost of primary schools was the cheapest, ranging from hundreds of thousands, but the demand was the greatest.

Middle and high schools were more expensive, requiring millions to build one. Especially for higher-level high schools, it was not uncommon for the cost to reach tens of millions.

[We have decided to use the ten billion US dollar reward to build these one thousand schools. The locations will be throughout the rural towns and townships of Great Xia's Northwest Province. We hope you will proceed with the construction as soon as possible.]

Eagle Country, LLNL Laboratory employee dormitory.

After Lu Ze sent this message, he directly closed the light screen projection on his eyeball.

"A reward of ten billion US dollars. If I get my hands on this, I'll be in trouble in minutes," he shook his head.

If Great Xia were to rashly transfer ten billion US dollars abroad, he feared he would be targeted by Wall Street capital here in Eagle Country and wouldn't even have scraps left.

Neither precious metals nor other equivalent items could guarantee that no information would leak. Even so-called 'bearer checks' were like a leaky window to Eagle Country; they could be investigated if someone wanted to. Lu Ze was unwilling to take such a risk.

Anyway, he had plenty of ways to make money in the future, so why bother with short-term gains?

"A thousand schools, it should make it much easier for the children back home to study, right?"

"Even if a few more university students come out of the village, it would be worth it," Lu Ze muttered to himself.

That's right, the Northwest Province was where his hometown was located.

He still remembered when he was admitted to university, his family was too poor to afford his tuition fees, and he had even considered giving up on going to university.

After all, even a few thousand yuan in tuition fees per year was an astronomical sum that was difficult for his family, a family of farmers, to afford. Even the travel expenses to Yanjing were a big problem.

Lu Ze's father was even prepared to sell the old ox that had accompanied him since he was a child, gritting his teeth to scrape together the money for him to go to school.

At that critical moment, it was the entire village that chipped in a few yuan here and a few yuan there to gather his tuition and travel expenses. On the way, he ate eggs given to him by his neighbors.

Lu Ze had to repay this kindness no matter what.

(Seeking readership, seeking collection!! Seeking recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!!!)

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