Busy until evening.
Jiang Ye's phone received messages one after another.
They were all from students asking questions.
Some students asked rather vague questions, such as "How to balance the ratio of military expenditure to total expenditure," "At what point does debt become dangerous," and "How to choose between overall prosperity and individual comfort."
Some students' questions were very specific, even sending Jiang Ye a large amount of data and documents, asking for advice on the next steps, treating Jiang Ye as a think tank.
In addition to asking questions, many students also wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Jiang Ye's planet, form strategic partnerships, and even alliances. In other words, the students all wanted to latch onto Jiang Ye, the only difference being how tightly they held on.
For dinner, Jiang Ye ordered takeout and ate alone.
As soon as he finished eating, someone knocked on the door.
He opened the door to find a thin male student, holding a small leather briefcase, bowing respectfully.
"Hello, Teacher Jiang! Forgive my presumptuous intrusion. I am Hansen Erton Halen from Class Two, the planet leader of Hydro River Star."
"Please come in, please come in!" Jiang Ye welcomed him.
Hansen Erton entered, placed the small briefcase on the table, and opened it with a click. "Please take a look, Teacher. This is a small token of our planet's regard."
Jiang Ye was taken aback and bent down to look.
It was some documents.
There were land ownership certificates, more than a dozen, each for at least a thousand mu, distributed across Hydro River Star.
There were also share agreements, involving shares in what appeared to be planet-owned enterprises, such as 1% of Hydro River Star United Mining Company, 2% of Hydro River Star Import and Export Trade Company, and 1.8% of Hydro River Star Southern Hemisphere Military Industry Group.
"What does this mean?" Jiang Ye was shocked.
"My father asked me to give these to you, saying they represent the sincerity of our Hydro River Star," Hansen Erton said. "These lands and shares have no explicit attached conditions. Our signatures are already on them, and they will take effect immediately once you sign. My father's intention is for our planet to achieve deep cooperation with your planet. As our planet gradually becomes prosperous, these gifts to you will become increasingly valuable. The land parcels are all excellent, and you can arrange for some companies or factories to be built on them. The shares are also linked to our planet's major industries, with annual dividends."
Jiang Ye was utterly stunned.
This small briefcase, though not filled with gold or jewels, but with half a box of paper, contained papers that were simply priceless!
"How can this be? One should not accept unearned rewards, especially when these items are too valuable," Jiang Ye waved his hands repeatedly. "We can discuss planet cooperation; there's no need to send so much."
"It's really not much, Teacher. This is just the first batch of见面礼 (meeting gifts). If you are willing to cooperate deeply with us later, I can bring several more briefcases," Hansen Erton said with a fawning smile.
Just as Jiang Ye was about to say something, the room door was knocked on again.
Hansen Erton was startled and quickly closed the briefcase, holding it in his hand again.
Jiang Ye went to open the door. It was a female student, wearing a lake-blue long dress that accentuated her figure, with a glimpse of fair white leg exposed on the side of the skirt, exuding charm.
Most importantly, she was holding a box with "Organic Sunflower Seeds" printed on it.
"Hello, Teacher! I am Yan Ye Zhiying from Class Two. I've brought some local specialties from my hometown for you to try."
Hansen Erton suddenly walked over, smiled at Yan Ye Zhiying, and glanced at the sunflower seed box in her hand. "Good evening, classmate Yan Ye. I was just discussing the class material with the teacher. I'll be going now. You two chat."
With that, Hansen Erton smiled at Jiang Ye and quickly left.
Jiang Ye remembered something and looked outside, finding Hansen Erton empty-handed. He quickly looked back into the room, but the briefcase was nowhere to be seen.
Damn, Hansen Erton, that sly fox, must have stashed the briefcase somewhere and run off.
"Please come in, please come in. I'll pour you some tea." Jiang Ye had no choice but to entertain the second student.
Yan Ye Zhiying entered, closed the door, and locked it. Then, she hugged the sunflower seed box to her chest and gently opened it.
Jiang Ye's head started to ache.
It was also documents, sealed in bags, filling the box completely. There were no sunflower seeds at all.
"Teacher, I have some questions here that I hope you can help me answer," Yan Ye Zhiying said with a meaningful smile.
"You printed a box full of questions? Are you giving me a test paper to do?" Jiang Ye smiled, took the box, placed it on the table, took out a file bag, and began reading the documents inside.
It was a contract.
Jiang Ye was holding a military arms procurement contract, with a terrifyingly high amount, a form of semi-bribery.
He opened another file box. It was still a contract.
This time it was a tourism contract, with the same terrifyingly high amount.
Jiang Ye looked through several documents in succession. They were all contracts from different industries, with varying degrees of leniency. Some were clearly money-giving contracts, while others appeared to be in fields where genuine long-term cooperation was desired.
"Teacher, please see if there's anything you're satisfied with. I'm very much looking forward to achieving mutual benefit and win-win with you. These were all drafted after sending people to survey the market before the semester started," Yan Ye Zhiying said with a giggle.
Just as Jiang Ye was about to speak, the room door was knocked on again.
Yan Ye Zhiying acted quickly, snapped the lid shut, and threw the sunflower seed box under the sofa with a bang, her movement as swift as bowling.
"Call me later, Teacher. As long as it's not during class time, I'll be waiting for your call," Yan Ye Zhiying said.
Jiang Ye walked to the door with her and opened it.
This time, three male students stood outside, each carrying a seafood box with pictures of fish printed on it.
"Teacher, we've come to bring you some seafood to eat," one of the boys said with a shy smile.
Jiang Ye entered a state of busyness.
His dormitory was practically swarming with visitors.
Knocks on the door kept coming, and students entered in twos and threes, almost never empty-handed.
Some carried strange boxes and cases, some carried plastic bags and paper bags, some carried backpacks and suitcases, some held papers sandwiched between thick books, or brought electronic document readers.
Occasionally, one or two students came empty-handed. Upon seeing other students with gifts, they immediately understood. After a brief chat with Jiang Ye, they would leave, only to return an hour or two later with a box.
Jiang Ye almost suspected that these students had coordinated their actions. Every time a knock sounded, the students inside would quickly throw their gifts under the sofa.
The first boxes thrown in could still disappear into the shadows under the sofa.
Soon, a student threw a box in, but it hit other boxes and bounced out.
Jiang Ye took advantage of a moment when a student was leaving and the room was empty, and quickly crawled on the floor to look. The space under the sofa was so full that it was overflowing.
Those who came with backpacks or suitcases placed them behind the curtains in the corner of the room.
Some even went to the bathroom and put their things in the bathtub.
Jiang Ye's room quickly became filled with things everywhere, too many to even look at what they were. The students who came and went kept him busy until half past one in the morning. Besides visiting, students were constantly sending messages and calling Jiang Ye, leaving him overwhelmed.