Another year was drawing to its close, and the corporate drones were making their final push, striving for performance goals, bonuses, and the chance to return home for the New Year!
But for Zhang Menglong, his days were pretty much the same, his only tasks were to watch others strive, chase targets, hand out bonuses, and then ponder where to go for fun tomorrow.
Zhang Menglong's senior classmates were about to graduate too, and Han Jinyu offered them excellent terms to keep them in Jiangnan City. However, since they were on the verge of graduation, a sense of ceremony was in order, so they decided to just take a trip to Africa together.
Although Africa was not as developed as Europe, its natural landscapes were truly spectacular, and it was the only place where one could see numerous untouched tribes and rainforests.
They had planned to invite Han Jinyu as well, but now Han Jinyu had become an Academician and even had the title of Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Recently, Zhang Menglong had provided him with a lot of advanced materials in materials science and physics, and Han Jinyu had sequestered himself away for three months.
Having assimilated this knowledge, Han Jinyu had leaped to a new level. To tell the truth, though he already had those titles, they were mostly thanks to Zhang Menglong's influence, but now, he truly possessed the genuine knowledge and skills!
In just one month, he published two papers, both of which were accepted by the top international journals, Nature and Science. Now, if he wasn't on his way to give lectures or conduct seminars at other universities, he was on his way to earn money from enterprises. As for traveling, he didn't have much interest anymore.
"Menglong, you're such a bro, actually thinking of your seniors!" Seeing Zhang Menglong, the eldest senior brother gave him a bear hug.
Senior brother Zhu Mengchao had married and had kids during his PhD studies. Back then, the university only provided a subsidy of 7000 Huaxia currency per month, hardly enough for him to support his family. On top of that, the pressure from his mother-in-law had recently led him to buy a house, further increasing his financial burden.
Zhang Menglong's arrival completely changed his life, dramatically altering his fortunes. Now, his income was more than enough to cover his mortgage and family expenses and even afford better education for his child, earning him newfound respect from his once disdainful mother-in-law.
It was similar for the others; their current treatment within the research group offered salaries that many people of their age at big internet companies could not match.
"Family doesn't speak of two homes," Zhang Menglong said with a smile. His seniors had taken great care of him while he was working on his thesis, "Oh, that reminds me, senior brothers and sisters, you're graduating next year. I don't really have anything special prepared, but please consider these small gifts as a token of my sentiments."
"Junior brother, why be so formal? It's the thought that counts, no need for gifts. We have already benefitted a lot from your help!" said two soon-to-be-graduated senior brothers and a senior sister.
This year, after accounting for living expenses, each of them had managed to save two to three hundred thousand Huaxia currency, which in some ordinary second- or third-tier cities would even suffice for a down payment on a house.
Not only that, although the title of Nobel laureate belonged to Zhang Menglong and Han Jinyu, all the participants' names appeared on the list at that time. In the past few months, they had received countless offers from universities all over, with even the world's top 10 willing to accept them with full scholarships following the interviews.
As for the terms offered by related enterprises, they were even more outrageous – none was under a yearly salary of 500,000, a figure beyond the wildest dreams of graduates in this field.
Of course, in the end they chose to stay at the university.
Do you think their income inside the university couldn't match that of the enterprises? That's naive! Could the students of a Nobel laureate be that simple?
When the president of Jiangnan University of Science and Technology was promoted to Academician, he sold his patents in a bundle to enterprises for 1 billion Huaxia currency, with his right-hand men receiving millions, or even tens of millions, each.
And how could an Academician be compared to a Nobel laureate? They had recently received a call from a foreign party, offering to purchase one of Han Jinyu's patents for 120 million US dollars.
Following Han Jinyu was sure to lead to boundless financial prospects.
"Seniors, please don't be shy," Zhang Menglong said as he pushed a few small boxes towards them, "Graduation ought to be marked with some ceremony, after all."
"Since you put it that way, we won't stand on ceremony!" The seniors took the boxes, "Do you mind if we open them now?"
"Ah! This!" Yin Yuan, the junior sister, let out an exclamation as she opened this so-called "small gift."
Inside was a bulky booklet labeled "Real Estate Certificate," along with a set of keys.
This "small gift" was a property deed!
"Jiangnan Yayuan!" Seeing the name of the residential complex inside, Yin Yuan was even more surprised.
Jiangnan Yayuan was actually quite an ordinary place when Zhang Menglong had just started university, and he clearly remembered banners advertising a price of 6999 per square meter hanging there, but they couldn't sell!
After the conclusion of the Asian summit, real estate prices in Jiangnan City soared, multiplying by three to five times in a flash, and by the time Zhang Menglong graduated from his undergraduate studies, the price at Jiangnan Yayuan had risen to over 40000 per square meter.
By that time, the prices had already surprised many people.
And the most outrageous was this past half-year.
Jiangnan University of Science and Technology outperformed all major national universities, obtaining the title of a pilot scientific research university, plus a large number of top-level journal articles and the Nobel Prize in Physics, their overall ranking jumped from 128th in the country to top 10!
Originally, Jiangnan University was the only prestigious university in Jiangnan City, but now Jiangnan University of Science and Technology was catching up.
How expensive are the houses near Jiangnan University? The cheaper ones are close to an 80,000 unit price, and the more expensive ones have exceeded 120,000!
And this was when the real estate speculators also began to exert their strength, with slogans like "Live next to a Nobel Prize winner" and "Future prestigious university district housing," and so on, pushing up the housing prices in the entire surrounding area of Jiangnan University by more than 50% again.
As the closest neighborhood to Jiangnan University, even just separated from the university's dormitory area by one street, Jiangnan Yayuan's prices had more than doubled!
The current average price in Jiangnan Yayuan is 112,000 yuan per square meter!
But even so, there was still more demand than supply for these houses.
The house that Zhang Menglong was gifting them was not only in Jiangnan Yayuan, but was also a 198-square-meter townhouse!
This "graduation small gift's" value had directly soared past 20 million Huaxia currency!
"I've already paid off all the property fees included in the title deed, and I've also had someone redecorate those houses a bit. They should be ready to move into in two or three months," Zhang Menglong said with a smile, "If you guys stay at the university as senior brothers and sisters, you'll need to settle down eventually. You can't possibly continue living in the university, can you?"
"Menglong, this gift of yours... it's actually... kind of hot to handle!"
Like Yin Yuan, the other two elder brothers' gifts were also a townhouse in Jiangnan Yayuan.
They did acknowledge that they really took good care of Zhang Menglong, and that care had started before they were aware of Zhang Menglong's identity, without mixing in any interests, but they didn't feel their care was worth 20 million either!
Moreover, the funds Zhang Menglong provided for their research group could be considered an indirect way of repaying them, but this time it was just too blunt and straightforward.
"Just take it. Honestly, I've made a huge profit recently!" Zhang Menglong revealed a mysterious smile, "Do you know about the big battle in the currency market last month?"
"You're not the one who..."
"Just humble me," Zhang Menglong said, "I fleeced capitalism of a huge swath of wool, pocketing hundreds of trillions of US Dollars."
"Wow, hundreds of trillions of US Dollars? Now I have absolutely no psychological burden!"
"Then I'll just consider this a graduation gift from the capitalist countries."
"Property deed, hand it over to me!"