Financial freedom starts with smiling at life

Before Jiang Beicheng could finish speaking, Academician Zhang, the president of Wuhan University, became sensitive and said to the leaders of Jiangnan University, "President Jiang's words just now could easily be misunderstood."

Academician Jiang Dawang said calmly, "Academician Zhang, don't take it to heart. President Jiang may just be trying to lighten the mood; he doesn't mean anything by it."

He and Mr. Lei have a very good personal relationship.

For such a grand event as the centennial celebration, it's impossible to have every representative give a righteous speech.
That would be too boring.

We need Mr. Jiang's humorous style.

Just consider it a celebration for Jiangda University.

Academician Zhang said, "Academician Wang misunderstood me. We've known each other for so many years, and in your heart I'm a petty person."
What I mean is that when President Jiang mentioned the trend of alumni donating money back to their alma mater, it's easy for people to think he was criticizing this behavior.

I think Academician Wang has already guessed the purpose of the criticism, hasn't he?

Jiang Beicheng had only mentioned Wuhan University and Lei Jun when Academician Zhang started stirring things up from below.

Actually, he was trying to save face for himself and Wuhan University.

After all, there were so many university leaders sitting around him.

They intentionally wanted Academician Wang and other leaders of Jiangnan University to mistakenly believe that President Jiang was criticizing the trend of alumni donating money, so as to find a way to save face for their reluctance to donate money.

Academician Wang certainly understood what Academician Zhang meant, but he didn't believe that Academician Zhang's words were without ulterior motives.

They're all big shots, outwardly amicable, but inwardly they're all competing and comparing themselves to each other.

Only President Tang, who had just been mocked by Jiang Beicheng with sophisticated methods, took Academician Zhang's words seriously and interjected, "President Jiang's words are too harsh. We alumni are just expressing our sentiments."

Moreover, these were all resource donations made within their own capabilities, yet President Jiang called them a bad trend, which is a bit disheartening for our alumni.

Academician Wang.

Academician Wang looked puzzled.

What does it mean for President Tang to step forward and add fuel to the fire at this time?
Are we going to make Jiangnan University a laughing stock among other universities?
President Jiang didn't give you face, but the school did. When it came time to donate, the top two leaders both came up.

I'll take a photo with you to create a buzz.

After you come down, why don't you go to President Jiang to save face?
Why do you have to worry about saving face at this time?
They echoed Academician Zhang's sentiments.

Who knows, the leaders of other sister universities might join in the commotion soon.

Sure enough, leaders from several other universities nearby also started discussing it.

Ultimately, the reason is that they don't want Jiang Beicheng's words today to cause public opinion and affect the alumni's decision to return to the school to donate money to their alma mater.

This is a huge loss for all universities.

When faced with shared interests, these university leaders acted in perfect unison.

Academicians Wang and Liu from Jiangnan University were in a bit of an awkward situation.

I was thinking to myself that even if President Jiang's original intention in saying these things was good, it now seems that he has made a mistake.

This made the leaders of other universities feel that he was trying to save face by not donating money.

This is somewhat embarrassing for the school.

After all, the school had to beg and plead to bring him back, and today all the teachers, students, and school leaders gave him the highest level of treatment.

The result was that President Jiang performed a stand-up comedy routine on stage?

If that's the case, Jiang University will be laughed at by other universities.

Academician Wang and Academician Liu turned their attention back to the podium.

Jiang Beicheng is still performing his stand-up comedy.

“I have an entrepreneur friend who loves to go back to his alma mater to participate in the school’s anniversary celebration. He also has a habit of donating money to his alma mater.”

I donate every time I go back.

And the donations were made in a grand and spectacular manner…

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the stadium who participated in the event knew who Jiang Beicheng was talking about.

This further confirms that Jiang Shen was making fun of Lei Jun.

"Last year, during his alma mater's 130th anniversary celebration, he was incredibly generous, donating 1.3 billion yuan, which dominated the trending topics on major internet platforms for a long time..."

Academician Zhang from Wuhan University's face darkened.

They're almost ready to call roll.

The teachers and students at the scene were also discussing it.

"President Jiang is really bold! Does this mean he's naming Thor by name?"

"So what if he names names? Hasn't Jiang Zemin already made fun of enough entrepreneurs?"

"Haha, now that you mention it, Jiang Shen really has a loose tongue among business people."

"I remember Jiang Shen and Da Dongzi did a cooking live stream, and they made fun of Wang Xing of Meituan and Huang Zheng of Pinduoduo in front of millions of viewers."

"And Jack Ma."

"Yes, yes, yes, later on, when they were guests on Luo Yonghao's show, they even joked about Zhang Yiming and Zhong Shanshan."

“I watched that show too. Jiang Shen said Zhong Shanshan was petty and narrow-minded. It cracked me up.”

"The most crucial thing is that none of the big shots have responded seriously, as if they are all afraid of Jiang Shen."

"From this perspective, President Tang should feel honored today. His net worth is far less than that of the other wealthy people that President Jiang joked about."

...The discussion below was lively, and Jiangbei City continued to produce results.

Academician Wang and Academician Liu both became nervous, feeling that if President Jiang continued to speak like this, it would be inappropriate and would not give any face to Wuhan University, their sister university.

It makes Jiangnan University seem lacking in vision, and its alumni seem impolite.

"I asked this friend how he felt about donating 1.3 billion yuan. He said it was a personal wish and he didn't advocate comparing himself to others. He hoped to promote scientific development and cultivate more outstanding scientists and engineers through the donation."

Jiang Beicheng gave a thumbs up, saying, "Basic science in China is indeed relatively weak, and I admire the entrepreneurs who have made contributions to this cause."

Mr. Ren is also here today, and I salute you once again.

For the sake of the development of basic science, I brought a gift back to Jiangnan University today.

A small gift to my alma mater to celebrate its centennial anniversary.

Everyone was stunned.

The venue, packed with thousands, suddenly fell silent. Everyone's minds were a bit blank for a moment.

It's unclear whether Jiang is criticizing the trend of universities coercing alumni to donate money, or if he's just laying the groundwork for his own personal gain.

The comments I made about Lei Jun and Wuhan University sounded too critical, but then suddenly there was a huge turn of events.

Jiang Shen's thinking and speech are unfathomable.

Academician Zhang from Wuhan University and several other leaders from brother universities who had just echoed him also frowned as they looked at Jiang Beicheng on the stage.

No, so you're not criticizing or satirizing Lei Jun and Wuhan University when you mention them?

There's a feeling that Jiangbei City has led us astray.

Academician Zhang felt that his cleverness had backfired, and even felt that he had humiliated himself.

He would be in a very awkward position if President Jiang actually donated money to Jiangnan University later.

The university leaders breathed a sigh of relief.

In particular, Academician Wang was indeed influenced by the leaders of the brother universities. He has dealt with President Jiang many times and President Jiang is not the kind of person who speaks or acts without tact.

Now I'm curious what gifts Jiang Beicheng brought back this time.
If mentioning Lei Jun was just a token gesture to set the stage, his gift was definitely more substantial than Lei Jun's.

Academician Wang and Academician Liu had the same idea and exchanged a glance.

Jiang Zemin probably didn't donate more than Lei Jun!
That's 1.3 billion!

The highest donation record among alumni of universities nationwide.

If that's really the case, Jiangnan University is about to rewrite history.

Wuhan University's alumni association is definitely inferior to that of Tsinghua and Peking University.

However, when it comes to alumni donations, Wuhan University is second to none.

Wuhan University's anniversary celebrations are always grand and well-known online, thanks to the generous donations from these alumni.

This indirectly increased Wuhan University's reputation and even its ranking.

There are two very important criteria for ranking domestic universities.

One is the Shanghai Ranking Consultancy (SAR) index, which focuses on objective quantitative indicators such as academic performance and scientific research, making it the most reliable reference.

Another criterion is the alumni association ranking, which refers to the ranking of talent cultivation, scientific research, and social reputation.

The ranking based on both indicators is a relatively authoritative one.

Jiangnan University's grand gesture in bringing Jiang Beicheng and President Ren back to solidify their status as alumni is actually aimed at improving the alumni association's ranking.

Undoubtedly, once this anniversary celebration ends, Jiangnan University's alumni association ranking will rise significantly; it is currently ranked outside the top 30.

If the gift that President Jiang brought back to his alma mater today is more substantial than the 13 billion yuan that Lei Jun donated to Wuhan University, then its influence is even greater.

While everyone was guessing how much money Jiang Beicheng would donate, Jiang Beicheng smiled and looked at the two school leaders, "President Tang just made such a grand occasion, so I can't be the only one to stand out in this part."

Let's invite both academicians to come up on stage together.

Thank you both for your hard work.

This is blatant showing off.

In front of thousands of people, clearly inform President Tang that the gift he brought is far more substantial than your 100 million.

Before even seeing the congratulatory gift, President Tang's face had already darkened.

This is the third time Jiang Beicheng has "humiliated" him in front of tens of thousands of people tonight.

The two academicians were quite willing to cooperate with these alumni.

They walked onto the stage together.

They all had smiles on their faces.

It felt like I was going on stage to receive an award.

No, to be precise, it's receiving money.

Jiang Beicheng waved to his secretary, Shen Jun.

Shen Jun also walked onto the stage holding a giant check.

The alumni and city leaders sitting in the front row have already seen that number.

All looked shocked.

The two academicians on the stage were both curious and excited.

The faculty and students of Jiangnan University were once again agitated.

Judging from the reactions of those in the front row, President Jiang's gift was of extremely high value.

It's definitely more substantial than the 100 million that President Tang just mentioned.

Is it really going to surpass Lei Jun's donation record?

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Jiang Beicheng took the check from Shen Jun and handed it to the two school leaders, saying, "Please let our respected Party Secretary and Principal take a group photo together."

Academician Wang and Academician Liu took the check, glanced at the number on it, and their eyes widened instantly.

Ten billion!

This……

Isn't it too bulky?

Even if Jiangbei City didn't mention that the 10 billion yuan was for school-enterprise cooperation or its specific purpose, the figure was already frightening enough.

Moreover, it was to the degree of "terrification".

Even the hosts are afraid to host anymore.

He pursed his lips, cleared his throat, and continued hosting the event: "Thank you, President Jiang, for donating 10 billion yuan to our alma mater for higher education construction."

The two school leaders turned the check over, their faces beaming with joy.

The thousands of people in the audience were stunned.

Is this the "small gift" Jiang Shen mentioned? (End of Chapter)