"Wh-What? Ten buildings?" Zhu Ming's voice trembled, then he let out a wry smile, thinking Fang Jueyu was joking with him. "Jueyu, you can't joke about things like this!"
"Principal Zhu, I'm not joking. I'm planning to donate 100 million yuan to the school. In addition to constructing new classroom and laboratory buildings, the rest of the funds can be used to upgrade the school's equipment," Fang Jueyu said, remembering how, during his high school years, the air conditioners in the classrooms were always broken, making it unbearable during summer.
"Wait, Xiao Fang, are you serious?" Zhu Ming still couldn't quite believe it. Even if someone was the head of a large publicly listed company, donating 100 million yuan to a high school all at once? There couldn't be many people willing to do that.
"Of course I'm serious. Principal, you've known me for a long time, have I ever lied to you?" Fang Jueyu said with a smile.
Zhu Ming thought for a moment. Though Fang Jueyu had been a bit mischievous back in the day and wasn't the typical well-behaved, bookish student, his character had always been honest. Given how serious the situation was, Zhu Ming's skepticism was only natural.
"How about this? I'll transfer the money to the school account first, and then we can discuss the details," Fang Jueyu suggested. "Let me make a quick call; give me a moment!"
"Sister Xiaoying, could you please transfer 100 million yuan to my high school's account?" Fang Jueyu didn't know the school's account details, but Little Yi, the AI from a mysterious civilization, could find anything on Earth with ease.
"Sure, just send me the account information, and the funds will be transferred within ten minutes!" For Fang Jueyu, who had billions of dollars in liquid assets, 100 million yuan was hardly a drop in the ocean. Even just letting that money sit in the bank would earn him interest in the billions every year, not to mention the vast family business managing investments on his behalf.
"That little rascal can't possibly be serious, can he?" Zhu Ming put down the phone, sitting in a daze. He was still trying to figure out if Fang Jueyu's promise was real or just a joke.
But less than five minutes later, the school's finance department called.
"Principal… there's big news!" Finance Director Yu sounded frantic on the other end of the line.
"What's wrong? Did the school's cash flow hit a snag again?" Zhu Ming asked anxiously. Recently, the school had scraped together loans to purchase a batch of new teaching equipment, so any issues now would be a disaster.
"No, no, just now a huge sum of money was deposited into the school's account... a full 100 million yuan!"
"Whoa!" Zhu Ming inhaled sharply. "Where did the money come from? Did you check?"
"I confirmed with the bank. It came from a private account, but the bank couldn't disclose the identity of the sender, and I couldn't figure it out either."
"I know who it is!" Zhu Ming's breath quickened. He never imagined that what Fang Jueyu had said was entirely true. A hundred million yuan, just like that!
"Huh? Who is it?"
"It's from a student who graduated from our school," Zhu Ming suddenly felt a surge of confidence. "Director Yu, come to my office this afternoon. We need to plan how to use this money wisely. Who knows? Maybe we can finally surpass First High School!"
"Alright, I'll be there in half an hour!"
...
"Principal Zhu, did the funds come through?" Fang Jueyu called Zhu Ming's office again.
"Yes, yes, we received them!" Zhu Ming's tone was filled with excitement, and he was nearly moved to tears. "With this money, the school's educational capabilities will surely take a qualitative leap forward!"
High schools are different from universities, which have extensive equipment and facilities. A sum like 100 million yuan might not make a dent in a university, but in a high school, it could bring about a complete transformation.
"Let's discuss how to use the funds," Fang Jueyu suggested. "I'd like half of it to go toward building ten new classroom and laboratory buildings, and then..."
"Hold on, Jueyu," Zhu Ming interrupted. "You know how big our school is; we only have four classroom buildings. If we suddenly built ten more, there wouldn't be enough space!"
"Haha!" Fang Jueyu laughed, realizing he hadn't considered that. "I didn't think that through. Principal, you have more experience with this, so I trust you to make the best use of the funds!"
Though Zhu Ming had earned the nickname "Night Study Killer" for his strictness, he had been named an outstanding teacher in the city for many years. His integrity was beyond doubt, and Fang Jueyu knew the money would be put to good use.
"I have a rough plan in mind," Zhu Ming said. "I'll allocate 10 million yuan to build one new classroom building and one laboratory building, then upgrade the school's infrastructure. Remember how you always complained about the air conditioning? This time, I'll replace them all for these little rascals!"
"Finally!" Fang Jueyu clenched his fist. That had been his dream throughout his high school years.
"I'll also use part of the funds to hire some top-tier teachers from the province, and set up a scholarship to support underprivileged but excellent students and reward top-performing ones."
"You really thought this through, Principal! I'll leave it all to you!" Fang Jueyu approved of Zhu Ming's plan wholeheartedly.
"Then we'll name the fund after you, Jueyu. How about we call it the Fang Jueyu Foundation?" Zhu Ming proposed.
"No need for that," Fang Jueyu chuckled. "I'm just the initiator. Other alumni might want to contribute in the future. How about we call it the Sons of the Sea Fund?"
Haihua City was a coastal city, and they had all grown up near the sea, so the name felt appropriate.
"Alright, we'll go with that! Jueyu, on behalf of all the staff and students at Haihua Second High, thank you!" Zhu Ming said sincerely.
"After all, I'm a product of Second High. It's only right for me to give back," Fang Jueyu felt a little embarrassed by the praise.
"Jueyu, don't mind me asking, but you're only a junior in college—how do you have so much money?" Zhu Ming was worried Fang Jueyu might have taken a wrong turn somewhere, so he couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, well, I just found out recently myself. My parents are traveling the world right now, so they left the family business for me to manage."
"Haha! I had no idea your family was so well-off!" Zhu Ming laughed. These days, many wealthy families choose to raise their children modestly, and it seemed Fang Jueyu was one of them. "But shifting around this much money—will it affect your family's business?"
"Don't worry about that. This amount is nothing to my family," Fang Jueyu added, "By the way, Principal Zhu, will 100 million be enough? If not, I can always donate more."
...