Sunday noon.
Old Yang was still at No. 7 High School grading papers today. Looking at the call that had been hung up on almost instantly, he shook his head helplessly.
He put down his phone, went to the restroom, then came back and unscrewed his thermos, preparing to take a sip of hot water.
"Teacher Yang! Where's the money?!"
A slightly breathless voice rang out from the office doorway.
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
Old Yang nearly sprayed out his mouthful of water. He stared wide-eyed at Li Dong in the doorway.
"I just hung up and you're already here? Doesn't No. 6 High School have classes on weekends?"
"We get half the afternoon off," Li Dong said with a chuckle.
"Um... Teacher Yang, where's the money?"
Old Yang rolled his eyes irritably.
"The money's with Director Zheng."
"But this payment is coming from the Special Fund for Top Innovative Talent, and the amount is fairly large. Since you're still a minor, financial regulations require a guardian to be present before the transfer can be made."
Li Dong froze.
"It's that much trouble? My mom's still doing inventory at the supermarket this weekend. She probably can't get away."
"Then call and ask her," Old Yang prompted.
Li Dong immediately pulled out his phone and called Li Qin.
The phone rang for quite a while before she answered.
"Hello? Xiaodong, Mom's busy right now! The system's acting up again. What is it? Hurry up and tell me."
Hearing his mother's complaint, Li Dong secretly sighed to himself.
Outdated inventory management again.
It reminded him of his uncle Li Yang's hardware factory, where everything was tracked entirely by memory.
It seemed his plan to write a lightweight inventory management system in Python had to be moved up the schedule immediately.
"Mom, it's like