I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property-Chapter 500 - 498 Mainly Because I Don’t Want a Long-Distance Relationship

"Ah?" Principal Gao's mind was already a mess and this perplexing question had left him completely baffled.

"Oh, I mean expanding the existing campus in Jiangdong District," Zhang Menglong added.

Expand the campus? He was certainly interested. Given the current situation, the number of students taking postgraduate entrance examinations was increasing by hundreds of thousands each year, and the number of students recruited was also growing steadily.

If they expanded the campus, they could increase enrollment, which would be an achievement for him as the principal!

But such a laborious and costly endeavor, from applying for a site to approving funds, to breaking ground, couldn't be even considered without three to five years' time.

The most critical step was applying for funding. Just reviewing the expansion project would take an immense amount of effort, after all, government money doesn't fall from the sky. The annual budget is limited, and countless schools are vying for it.

As an arts institution, the Music College of Jiangnan University ranked top nationwide. However, compared to those universities focused on science and engineering, they were left far behind. Scientific research at science and engineering universities was the most expensive, leaving the Music College without even a taste of the funding.

The Lindong District campus project started the bureaucratic process eight years ago, taking two years just to get off the ground and another three years for financial approval. The campus construction itself took another three years, and that was in an out-of-the-way location.

Even though the school's territory had expanded, this brought up management issues. Two campuses would inevitably require an increased teaching staff and administrative costs.

If they could expand the main campus, not only would it enhance the university's influence and reputation but also reduce management difficulty and increase cohesion. Undoubtedly, it would bring significant benefits.

But how to expand? What could they use for the expansion?

Three sides of the campus were surrounded by schools, and the other side was a large company with over two thousand employees in a twenty-plus-story office building. Were they supposed to demolish the company's building to rebuild?

Even if they had land for construction, there were nearly ten universities in Jiangdong District. Which school had enough land? They were all covetously eyeing each piece of available space.

Especially Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, which had mysteriously come into a considerable sum of money this year, recruiting teachers and constructing buildings like crazy. They even bought a plot of land in another university district. The rumor was that the construction payment was in place and they were just short of starting the work.

This made him enviously green with envy!

"Young man, what exactly do you want? I'm quite busy here. If there's nothing else, please do not disturb my work," Principal Gao still maintained his composure. Could this student be a show-off sent by Jiangnan University of Science and Technology?

"Principal Gao, I just want to ask you one question, do you want to expand the campus or not?" Zhang Menglong asked, word by word. "If you do, I'll provide the money, pull strings for the application, and all you need to do is submit a proposal to the higher-ups."

"Young man, don't joke around," Principal Gao was utterly speechless. Had this student lost his mind?

"Bang!" Just at that moment, someone burst into the principal's office.

"Director Wu, what's the matter?" The principal frowned. Director Wu was the head of the finance department at the university, handling almost all of the school's accounts. He was known to be both meticulous and conscientious.

"Prin... Principal, has our school applied for any big projects recently? Why hasn't anyone told me about such a major issue?" Director Wu asked.

"A project? What project?" Principal Gao was completely puzzled. "Are you talking about that academic review project?"

"No!" Director Wu was frantic, "I'm talking about a construction project for the school that requires funding."

Seeing the principal's blank stare, Director Wu realized that the school likely hadn't applied for such a project, or perhaps the principal didn't know if it had, but that made no sense.

"What's going on?"

"Principal, our school's account just received a large sum of money with no name attached, no remarks, and we can only trace a remittance account and the bank."

"How much money?"

"500 million!"

"What?" The principal stood up abruptly. "There's no information about this money?"

This was no small matter. The school needed to do financial reporting every year, and if the accounts didn't add up, that was a very serious issue. An inexplicable extra 500 million just appearing out of the blue—such a massive discrepancy could almost force him into early retirement.

"Principal Gao, this money was transferred by me," at this moment, Zhang Menglong's voice came through the principal's cellphone.

"Director Wu, you step out first," the principal waved his hand, then returned to his seat and took deep breaths to calm himself."

"This student, did you really transfer this money?"

"What else? Do you need me to report the account number and transaction number to you?"

"That won't be necessary," the principal said suddenly remembering something.

Jiangnan University of Science and Technology? He seemed to recall hearing that the reason Jiangnan University of Science and Technology had suddenly become so wealthy was precisely because a student donated a large sum of money. Of course, this was just hearsay and had not been verified.

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Could this be that student?

He just introduced himself as Zhang Menglong.

Wait a minute, isn't the current richest man in the world named Zhang Menglong? He... he's a student at the neighboring Jiangnan University of Science and Technology?

In an instant, all the pieces fell into place.

Prosperous students, whether out of true love for their alma mater or for vanity's sake, almost always make some donations to their schools, but even big entrepreneurs donating one or two million is already remarkable.

By Principal Gao's estimation, the construction projects at Jiangnan University of Science and Technology couldn't come in under 1 billion. Apply for state funding? Their non-Double First Class university, why would they be granted such funding?

As for relying on alumni, how many outstanding alumni would it take to come up with such a large sum of money?

But if there's a world's richest man, that's a different story. A whimsical donation of 10 billion to one's alma mater isn't impossible, right?

The latest Forbes list seems to show the world's richest man now has a total wealth exceeding 5 trillion US dollars! Converted into Huaxia currency, that's over 30 trillion. These 1 billion are just a drop in the bucket!

"Student, are you... are you that Zhang Menglong?"

"Shush, keep it low key!" Zhang Menglong said.

"Little Zhang, is what you're saying true?"

"The money's been transferred to your school's account, what else could be false?" Zhang Menglong said, "I've calculated that if the school needs to expand, it'll require arranging a lot of matters, allocating educational resources is also a big beginning, I think 500 million should be about right."

"But... you're from Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, even if you're donating, shouldn't you donate to Jiangnan? Why donate to us?" The principal was somewhat perplexed. This was beyond his realm of understanding. Could it be that too much money was the problem?

"My girlfriend is at your school," Zhang Menglong explained, "Your school is expanding enrollment and moved the department where the popular music major is located to the new campus in Lindong District. My girlfriend and I were nearly in a long-distance relationship; how could I not be anxious?"

"So I thought about expanding the Jiangdong District's campus a little, so she could stay in Jiangdong District. It's not a big deal about the money, mainly I don't want a long-distance relationship."

"Just for that?" The principal was stunned. This was the most absurd decision he'd ever heard in his life.

Just because you and your girlfriend weren't on the same campus, you were ready to throw in 500 million to help someone else's school expand? What kind of family could do such a thing?

If you have 500 million, why even bother going to school? Other people need to struggle, do you? Just drop out and live together, date however you want without worrying about a long-distance relationship.

Are you out of your mind? Are all rich people this foolish?