"Then how do you want to split it?"
Qian Wenzhao shrugged and said, "We can't outright say that because you and Little Zhigang don't get along, the education department shouldn't get too much of the share, right?"
"Exactly, that would make me look too petty. It wouldn't be good for my future development either."
"Little Qin, you should look at the bigger picture. Your future achievements won't be small. If people look down on you just because you didn't handle the Little Zhigang matter well, it wouldn't be worth it."
Qin Siyang saw that Li Tianming and Qian Wenzhao were both advising him and knew they were considering his best interests.
However, he still spoke seriously, "No matter what I consider for the future, Little Zhigang's matter is something I absolutely cannot let go of."
"Even if I let him go, would he let me go? Do you think if I choose not to bother with him, he will suddenly remember my kindness?"
Li Tianming and Qian Wenzhao exchanged a glance. They felt that what Qin Siyang said made sense.
Li Tianming continued, "Little Zhigang is a downright petty man. Even if you don't offend him, he will still harm you. Let alone the fact that you openly angered him. He might already have murder in his heart against you."
"Exactly. I can't just let something as precious as the Crimson Crystal fall into his hands, only for him to use it to hire an assassin to kill me, can I?"
"That would be like selling a bullet, only for it to end up being shot into my own body. No one would do something that foolish."
"What's your plan? To exclude the education department?"
Qin Siyang thought for a moment and said, "If the education department wants a share of the Crimson Crystal, they need a proper reason, right?"
"The education department takes Crimson Crystals under the pretense of distributing them to the research institutes, then they keep a portion for themselves. It's precisely because there are so many research institutes, and Little Zhigang has great influence, that they can take nearly a quarter of the United Government's allocation."
Suddenly, Qin Siyang's eyes lit up, and he smiled, "Old Li, what do you think would happen if, during the negotiations for the Crimson Crystals, we directly brought all the research institute directors into the discussion?"
"You mean..."
"Instead of trying to stop the boiling water from the top, why not remove the firewood from the bottom of the pot?"
"The education department is participating in this allocation under the pretense of distributing it to the research institutes, right?"
"Then we cut out the middleman and negotiate directly with the research institutes."
"If all the research institutes get their share of the Crimson Crystals directly, let's see how the education department tries to stick their hands in."
Qian Wenzhao and Li Tianming suddenly understood and looked at Qin Siyang with admiration.
"Little Qin, you're digging out the roots of Little Zhigang completely."
"With a brain like yours, it's a waste if you don't join the United Government."
Qian Wenzhao added, "Are you confident the research institutes will agree?"
"You might not know, but last time at my funeral, when I clashed with Little Zhigang, the directors of the Heavenly Research Institute and Earthly Research Institute, Chu Zhongxiong and Wang Bozhong, stood on my side!"
Li Tianming said, "The director of the Humanity Research Institute, Gu Weihong, is Gu Yunpeng's fourth uncle. You saved Gu Yunpeng's life. If they can also get more shares by kicking Little Zhigang out, they will definitely agree with you."
"With three major research institutes agreeing, the rest will be easy to convince. Your move is going to dismantle Little Zhigang's makeshift operation completely."
Qin Siyang was stunned.
"Gu Weihong is Gu Yunpeng's fourth uncle? So does that mean Secretary Gu is also one of Gu Yunpeng's uncles? That kid has such a strong background?"
"Of course. Do you think someone as shrewd as Zhao Longteng would insist on having Zhao Sifang marry into the Gu family for no reason?"
"I always wondered what kind of family would be qualified to be in a marriage alliance with someone like Zhao Longteng's son."
Speaking of Gu Yunpeng, Li Tianming laughed, "No matter how well-connected he is, he still needed you to save his life."
"Your trip to hunt the gods has earned you a ton of contribution points, but honestly, that doesn't even matter much."
"The key thing is, you personally killed three medium-sized gods and directly saved the Zhao and Gu family's young masters."
"You just went out on a mission, and now you have two powerful families backing you."
Qian Wenzhao also nodded, "Little Qin's luck has always been admirable."
"Right now, both families are waiting for you to wake up so they can properly thank you."
Qin Siyang grinned from ear to ear, "Oh? Is that so? What a pleasant surprise! Hahaha, an unexpected joy!"
"No wonder the Blue Star calendar yesterday said, 'Auspicious for meeting friends and forming alliances'. The wisdom of the ancestors never fails me!"
"You really are superstitious."
Qin Siyang smirked, "Nonsense. Do you think something this smooth is achieved purely by personal effort?"
"Old Li, you're certainly powerful, but didn't you still spend two years as the principal of some backwater place in Region 14121, relying on luck to resolve the crisis in the end?"
"Fate first, luck second, Feng Shui third. If you don't believe in fate, what do you believe in? Yourself?"
Li Tianming surrendered, "Fine, fine, I can't argue with you. Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you. You should give Zhao Sifang a call. He's been worried about you."
"By the way, I have another favor to ask. Old Li, can you help me get some research points?"
"Research points?"
"Yeah, just publish a few papers and put my name as the third or fourth author. I need to boost my research points. Zhao Longfei gave me that special privilege, but it requires my research points and god-hunting points to be in the top three, right? I've been grinding the god-hunting points, but I need you to help with the research points."
Li Tianming sighed, "I haven't had time to work on papers lately, but I'll talk to Zhang Kuang and the others. How many points do you need?"
"Four thousand should do."
"Four thousand?"
"Yeah, the current top three in research points all have over three thousand. And that's assuming Zhao Sifang and Gu Yunpeng don't increase theirs any further."
Li Tianming shook his head, "The Zhao and Gu families really go all out boosting their kids' scores. A high school student, what the hell do they know about research? And yet, they have over three thousand points!"
"They haven't even secured South Glory's special admission first place yet."
"Three thousand points isn't even enough for first place? How many researchers are breaking their backs writing papers just to prop up one kid? The world is truly getting ridiculous! Are all researchers this impatient for success now?"
"Old Li, stop complaining. Are you saying you're any different? Wait until your son applies for college. You'll probably be even more protective, maybe even making him first author on everything."
"..."
"Okay! You two keep busy! I'm going to contact Zhao Sifang. Oh, by the way, Old Li, Old Qian, someone will deliver my sequence magic potion later. Please take it back to the kindergarten for me. Old Qian, when they give me the money, help me collect it and transfer it to me later."
Li Tianming protested, "Why can't I collect the money too?"
"You seriously don't know why? Anyway, I'm off!"
Qian Wenzhao chuckled, "Alright, I'll take the money and send it to you later."
———
Qin Siyang left the office and called Zhao Sifang, "Hey, Little Zhao, it's me."
["Qin Bro! You're awake? Where are you?"]
It was obvious from his voice that Zhao Sifang was overjoyed to hear that Qin Siyang was awake.
Qin Siyang smiled in satisfaction.
'This brother is truly loyal.'
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