Qin Siyang and Zhao Longfei were having a very smooth conversation.
This made the people around them realize that something was off.
Qin Siyang seemed to be here precisely for this special privilege.
If Zhao Longfei really managed to tie Qin Siyang down, wouldn't they suffer a huge loss?
Even though Zhao Longfei was quite satisfied with their conversation, Qin Siyang didn't show any approval.
His face remained expressionless.
From time to time, he would glance at the others.
As if he was hesitating about something.
The others noticed Qin Siyang's hesitation and realized that the current offers weren't enough to win him over.
They had to raise their bids.
Chu Zhongxiong said, "Student Qin, Heavenly Research Institute is willing to increase the offer. Your monthly scholarship will be raised to two gold coins. Plus, all your living expenses will be fully covered."
Wang Bozhong also said, "Earthly Research Institute will also modify its offer. We're willing to share all our core research findings with Student Qin Siyang."
At the same time, Yan Mohui increased the supply of God-hunting weapons from West Glory University, Liu Yingrong raised the scholarship amount from East Glory University, and Han Shuo also improved the resource support from Central Glory University.
Qin Siyang looked at Zhao Longfei with slight difficulty, "Principal Zhao, although I really like the special privileges your school offers, a person cannot live on privileges alone. The material conditions your school provides are simply not enough."
Zhao Longfei lit another cigar, touched the scar on his head, and frowned in thought.
He didn't think Qin Siyang was deliberately raising the price.
It was just that his offer truly wasn't competitive enough.
Not to mention the two wealthy Heavenly and Earthly Research Institutes. Even Central Glory University's offer was leagues ahead.
As for how much this customized privilege was actually worth, it was entirely subjective.
If Qin Siyang truly valued it, then it was priceless.
If he saw it as just an extra perk, something dispensable, then it might not be worth much at all.
The key problem was—
He didn't dare to gamble on Qin Siyang's thoughts.
From beginning to end, Qin Siyang maintained a polite smile and an unusual level of calmness.
Zhao Longfei couldn't read a single hint from his eyes.
Internally, he was cursing:
'Is this kid really a seventeen-year-old high school student?'
'Why does he talk and act so steady, like a seasoned veteran?'
'Could it be that Qin Siyang is actually Li Tianming in disguise, and the real Qin Siyang is actually Li Tianming?'
Zhao Longfei stared at the two for a long time before finally confirming. Li Tianming was Li Tianming, and Qin Siyang was indeed Qin Siyang.
Since his "water level" wasn't high enough to read anything, he had no choice but to bleed a little more.
"South Glory University has two guesthouses, each with eighteen floors and eight apartments per floor."
"I'll give you the usage rights to one entire floor. Throughout your university years, you'll have full control over eight apartments on one floor. Whether you live in them yourself or rent them out for money is up to you."
"This way, your living expenses will be covered."
Qin Siyang asked, "Which floor?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm asking, Principal Zhao said I have full control. But which floor of the guesthouse? I've visited the guesthouses before and found that the top and bottom floors have worse living conditions than the middle floors."
Qin Siyang smiled at Zhao Longfei.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Zhao Longfei had never expected Qin Siyang to ask this.
He had planned to just give him the eighteenth floor as a token gesture.
But now, Qin Siyang had asked outright, and with all the other principals and directors present, he couldn't offer something too stingy.
Through gritted teeth, Zhao Longfei said, "The best floor. The tenth floor of the East Guesthouse."
The tenth floor of the East Guesthouse had excellent facilities and conditions, with a rental price of three silver coins per day.
Eight apartments on one floor meant hundreds of silver coins per month.
For the cash-strapped South Glory University, this was already a massive sum.
Seeing Zhao Longfei's twitching mouth, Qin Siyang knew he had already pushed him to his limit. Any further pressure would damage their relationship.
After all, he had chosen South Glory and would be under Zhao Longfei's leadership for the next four years.
Completely offending the principal wouldn't end well.
After hearing the offer, Qin Siyang nodded, neither agreeing nor rejecting, leaving his stance ambiguous.
Then, he gave Li Tianming a look, signaling him to negotiate conditions for his research team.
Since Qin Siyang's attitude was unclear, no one knew which institution he leaned toward.
So when competing for Li Tianming's team, everyone put in extra effort.
But they still weren't at ease.
If only Li Tianming joined in the end, while Zhang Kuang and the other professors backed out, then this whole deal would be a huge loss.
They hoped Li Tianming would guarantee that these people would join him.
To this, Li Tianming smiled slightly, "I already said, they supported me at the conference because of our friendship. I can't morally bind them and force them to keep their word."
"However, I will reach out and see if they're interested in collaborating on Vine Core research. After all, this is a rare and valuable topic with great research potential. If they're interested, they might join me in whichever university I choose."
Hearing this, everyone understood Li Tianming's meaning.
The four portions of Vine Core he had received from Qin Siyang. He was willing to share them rather than keep them for himself.
With this as a bargaining chip, those professors likely wouldn't go back on their word.
At this point, everyone had a realization.
During Li Tianming's speech earlier, he hadn't mentioned the Vine Core he got from Qin Siyang at all.
He only said they had a strong friendship, which was why he was willing to join whatever institution specially recruited Qin Siyang.
He waited until the professors publicly voiced their support for him, someone with nothing, before revealing that he had Vine Core in his hands.
'If you didn't suffer with me, don't expect to share in my rewards.'
Li Tianming—what a ruthless strategist.
Li Tianming meticulously discussed conditions with every institution.
And he was incredibly detailed, even down to who would cover gas money for transportation.
This made everyone feel like he was truly negotiating seriously.
Once the discussions were complete, Li Tianming said, "Please give Qin Siyang and me some time to discuss which offer to accept."
With that, he and Qin Siyang exchanged nods and left the meeting room together.
Under Qian Wenzhao's arrangements, they entered his office to discuss.
As soon as they sat down, they asked each other at the same time:
"Old Li, which one are you actually choosing?"
"Little Qin, who are you actually signing with?"
They stared at each other.
"You didn't get my meaning?"
"You can't tell what I'm thinking?"
They kept staring.
Each thought the other would instinctively understand them.
But their acting was too good, they even fooled each other.
If they couldn't see through each other, then the people in the meeting room had no chance at all.
They had been completely led around in circles.
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