Chapter 20 – Gold Coins, My Life
This afternoon, Lin Qi was doing something he rarely did: carrying a schoolbag and entering a cla.s.sroom.
There were already many students seated inside the huge cla.s.sroom that was shaped like half of an amphitheatre. Gelang Mu and Yu Lian were at Lin Qi’s sides, swaggering to the middle of the cla.s.sroom’s first row and taking their seats. Other students in the first row looked at them and got up one after another to move to the seats several rows behind.
Whenever they went, there would be no other students in the radius of 5 meters. This was the result of Lin Qi and his company’s heinous aggressiveness.
Wei Ke was captured by the Knights of the Round Table, all plans to handle it were being prepared by Enzo. This afternoon cla.s.s was taught by the Fifth University’s finance and accounting major’s most famous ‘gold coin professor’, Kou En. For the past two years, Lin Qi never missed even one of Kou En’s cla.s.ses, no matter what happened. .
In Fifth University, ‘gold coin professor’ Kou En was known as a parasitic leech. He had once held an important position as the chief minister of the logistics unit of the imperial military department. However, because of some suspicions of corruption, he was banished by the military department and stripped off all official positions by Sheng Lewis the Thirteenth. He could only dejectedly come to the Fifth University, making use of his knowledge in financial affairs to work as a finance and accounting major professor to make a living.
What fascinated Lin Qi was the that Professor Kou En didn’t hold back at all when teaching all kinds of ingenious financial affairs tricks in the cla.s.sroom; tricks that could dazzle any audit a.s.sociation and practical skills that could corrupt money without leaving a single trace.
Even to the extent that if one secretly gave a little glittering crowing to Professor Kou En, with just several sentences of advice, he could allow people to reap bountiful profit. So rain or s.h.i.+ne, even if the sky crumbled, Lin Qi would never miss even one of Professor Kou En’s cla.s.ses.
Following the sound of the bell that indicated the start of the first cla.s.s in the afternoon, a thin figure leisurely strode into the room with both of his hands behind his bent over back. Professor Kou En possessed a sharp face that seemed like an awl, and a pair of triangular dull-green eyes that looked like they belonged to a ravenous wolf seeking his prey.
When Professor Kou En entered, hundreds of third year finance and accounting major students inside the cla.s.sroom including Lin Qi, Gelang Mu, and Yu Lian, got up and applauded loudly as a form of respect towards this big shot of the finance and accounting field.
Formerly a government official as respected as the chief minister of the logistics unit of the military department who had controlled the logistics for millions the imperial army personnel, Professor Kou En had come from a poor family. Before sitting in the position of the chief minister of the logistic unit, he had incurred a debt of more than a thousand gold coins. However, after being the chief minister of the logistics unit for three years, by the time he was banished by the military department and stripped of his position by the emperor, Professor Kou En already acc.u.mulated a huge sum of fifty thousand gold coins in a secret account of a certain bank!
If not for that banker who had betrayed Professor Kou En, no one would have known that he actually had such a rich background.
At the same time, what people were unsure of was whether Professor Kou En still had other bankers at the same place with more secret accounts.
Everything was covered in a dense fog. Before Professor Kou En was fired from his post, the emperor had gathered 36 auditors and accountants to conduct a thorough investigation on all accounting entries of the military department’s logistics unit for the past three years. The investigation lasted for three months. Nevertheless, there wasn’t a shred of evidence. All expenses could be accounted for, down to the last copper coin. Merely based on those accounting entries, Professor Kou En was as honest as water.
Yet the fifty thousand gold coins in that secret account truly existed, no one knew where Professor Kou En got the money from!
If that banker had not been a close friend of Professor Kou En’s political opponent and violated a banker’s primary rule to betray Professor Kou En, perhaps he would still have his position now. Before Professor Kou En had been banished, there had been a rumor. It was said that His Majesty the Emperor intentionally let Professor Kou En became the imperial finance minister.
Bearing witness to such a brilliant feat, how could Lin Qi, Gelang Mu, and Yu Lian, who had an intense desire for gold coins, not wors.h.i.+p Professor Kou En?
Professor Kou En steadily stood on the platform. He looked down in arrogance at Lin Qi who sat at the center of the first row and nodded his head in satisfaction. His gaze lingered for two seconds on Gelang Mu with particular appreciation. With regards to Gelang Mu, who had an extreme obsession towards money, Professor Kou En favoured him to the extreme.
Letting out a light cough, Professor Kou En slowly raised his right hand and asked, “What is our goal?”
“Gold coins! Gold coins! Gold coins!” All of the Fifth University finance and accounting major students in the cla.s.sroom roared very loudly, their eyes turning red.
“What is our belief?” Professor Kou En continued asking.
“Gold coins! Gold coins! Gold coins!” All students continued shouting very loudly.
“What is our lifelong target?” Professor Kou En’s voice suddenly became three times louder.
“Countless gold coins! Even more gold coins! As many gold coins as possible!” The atmosphere inside the cla.s.sroom reached the boiling point.
Professor Kou En let his hand down in satisfaction and reservedly nodded his head, “Very good, you are all very good students. Remember what I have taught you: our purpose as finance and accounting people is to use all legal and lawful means in order to get glittering gold coins, sparkling silver coins, and lovely copper coins to smoothly enter our pockets.”
Letting out another light cough, Professor Kou En slowly said, “I once again solemnly warn all of you children present, pick a reliable banker!”
Slightly shaking his shrivelled hand, Professor Kou En started the afternoon lesson. The subject of his lesson this afternoon was: ‘According to one’s t.i.tle and property, how to accurately calculate the safe limit of gold coins that can be corrupted by a n.o.bility family in a year’!
Lin Qi and the others were obsessed in listening to Professor Kou En’s teachings. This sentence, it carried the sweet smell of glittering gold coins!
The two-hour lesson pa.s.sed in a flash. Just like when he came, Professor Kou En strode steadily into the pa.s.sageway dedicated solely for teachers. Lin Qi hastily overtook Professor Kou En, calmly put one gold coin into the latter’s pocket, and gave the parchment from Arcanum Great Master Ke Zha to him.
Written on the parchment were the types and amounts of various kinds of experimental materials that Ke Zha demanded from the Fifth University logistics department. As an arcanum great master, the materials that Ke Zha used were all extremely rare. As such, the prices were also extremely high.
Professor Kou En casually swept a glance over the materials written on the parchment. After slightly narrowing his eyes and muttering to himself for a while, he lightly patted Lin Qi’s shoulder.
“Ten-year ten-leaved Moon Flower Gra.s.s can be replaced with ten-leaved Moonlight Gra.s.s. Whether their appearance, smell, or otherwise, the two are nearly the same. One Moon Flower Gra.s.s is worth three gold coins, but Moonlight Gra.s.s is used to feed horses. Here you need three thousand Moon Flower Gra.s.s, if you grind it into powder, there will be even less of a problem.”
Pinching his fingers and calculating, Professor Kou En nodded his head and said, “Three thousand Moon Flower Gra.s.s, replaced with thirty Moonlight Gra.s.s has absolutely no risk.”
Lin Qi’s eyes shone, then he respectfully and deeply bowed in salutation towards Professor Kou En.
Professor Kou En faintly smiled in satisfaction and lightly patted Lin Qi’s shoulder.
“Such a good sapling, properly work hard!”