Chapter 299: If you can't even clean your room, how can you clean the world?

'Why?'

Li Yang exclaimed in surprise. Originally, Li Yang thought that since More had heard him mention his mentor Jie La's name, he would have some kind of friendship with More, and that through this friendship he could more easily obtain authorisation. Li Yang was full of joy, waiting for More to nod, but what he got was More's refusal, which made Li Yang unable to help but be surprised.

'Mr Moore, I want to sell simple food and daily necessities in the dormitory, not hold some kind of messy party. I'm doing this to make students' daily lives easier, because our students often study late into the night and go to bed very late, but by that time the convenience stores outside have already closed. Wouldn't a dormitory convenience store be a good solution to the problem of students going hungry?'

Li Yang continued, 'Mr. Moore, our dormitory convenience store is actually based on the school and is a convenience organisation that serves the students wholeheartedly. It is a very meaningful convenience store...'

Moore interrupted Li Yang again, 'No, I said no means no. I said if you want to set up a wine party, I can barely agree, but you want to do a dormitory convenience store, absolutely not!'

'Mr Moore, but I am doing a great thing for the students of Colland College! And as I just said, I am doing this mainly to facilitate and serve the students,' Li Yang explained persistently.

'I said no!' Moore waved impatiently. "You Chinese people have so many evil and crooked ideas. You want to bring a convenience store into the dormitory? I'm telling you it's impossible. I'm the teacher in charge of Colland College. I've been here for ten years, and I will never allow any nonsense to pollute my territory!'

Finally, Moore pointed at Li Yang and Zhou Ming and said, "You, and all you disgusting Chinese people, get out of here, I don't want to see you!'

After saying this, Moore started to expel them without further ado. Li Yang tried several times to explain, but it was useless. A few minutes later, they were driven out of the main gate of Unit A by Moore, who told the warden of the unit in front of them that they were not allowed to set foot in Colland College again.

'Teacher Moore, we really came to see you sincerely. We are here to make things easier for our students, not to bring business into the dormitory building. I also respect the traditions of Colland College!'

Li Yang said to Moore, and as he spoke, he walked forward, but he was stopped by the warden at the entrance to the unit. The warden said to Li Yang, 'I'm sorry, this student, I don't know what exactly happened between you and Mr. Moore, but please don't challenge my duties.'

Li Yang sighed heavily and turned to leave. Zhou Ming led them away. On the way, Zhou Ming asked Li Yang, 'How do you feel?'

'That Mr Moore is simply an unreasonable old-fashioned man!' Li Yang gave Moore his appraisal right away. He continued, "I already explained to him what the dorm convenience store project is and that it is for the convenience of the students, but he simply wouldn't listen.'

'Indeed, this is something we didn't expect. This Mr Moore is too old-fashioned and simply won't give you the chance to explain. So Li Yang, are you going to give up on this project and do something better?" Zhou Ming said.

Zhou Ming's words made Li Yang's eyes light up. He looked up at Zhou Ming and asked, 'Yes, it's just as you said, teacher. We didn't come here to open a convenience store. We came here to learn about Western financial knowledge. So what we need is to fight in the stock market or futures market. If you set up a fund company, I guarantee that I can perfectly complete all the tasks you have assigned!'

'I see. It seems that I didn't make the arrangements properly in the beginning, which is why you are facing this situation. Do you think we should give up on this project and make other adjustments?' Zhou Ming asked.

Li Yang nodded heavily and said, 'Yes, I think only adjustments can allow our classmates to better exert their abilities!'

Li Yang said very happily, but then he noticed the very bad looks from Chen Shu and Ye Ning next to him, which immediately made him think of something. Li Yang immediately corrected himself and said to Zhou Ming, 'Teacher, I didn't mean to question you. In fact, I know very well that you have your reasons for making this arrangement.'

Zhou Ming smiled and said to Li Yang, 'I don't blame you. It's fine even if you question me. I'm not some kind of tyrant. I'm just an ordinary person. In some ways, I'm not even your teacher.'

Hearing Zhou Ming's words, Chen Shu immediately said, 'Teacher, you mustn't say that. You are our teacher, and we in the finance class only recognise you as our teacher!'

Ye Ning then accused Li Yang, 'Li Yang, what are you talking about? You didn't have the ability to convince that Moore yourself, and here you are questioning the teacher's decision. Your actions are not only irresponsible towards yourself, but also an insult to the teacher. I want you to apologise to the teacher!'

Li Yang immediately bowed his head and said to Zhou Ming, 'Teacher, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to question you in any way. You are our teacher, and you always will be!'

Chen Yushu and Li Yang's attitude moved Zhou Ming a little, because in fact, Zhou Ming's remark could not be considered a teacher of theirs, it was just something he said casually. But these three students took it so seriously and formally, which all showed the position they held for him.

Zhou Ming took them aside and said to them, 'You really don't have to do this, because I'm not going to give up on you. Since you called me a teacher, I definitely want to teach you well. The dormitory convenience store project I chose for you this time is actually what I mean. I'm not afraid to tell you that before we went to the restaurant to eat yesterday, I already asked the owner and discussed it with him. In other words, he deliberately told us this news that day.'

Zhou Ming's words made Chen Shuyu, Li Yang and the other two suddenly open their mouths in surprise, looking at Zhou Ming in disbelief.

Zhou Ming paused deliberately here, waiting for their answers. In the meantime, the three of them came back to their senses. They looked at each other, and finally Chen Shuyu said, 'Teacher, I believe you must have a reason for doing this.'

'Of course there is a reason,' Zhou Ming then continued, "You are all elites selected by the country, and I believe you are definitely the best in every aspect, but you still have some deficiencies.'

'What deficiencies?" Chen Shu and the other two hurriedly asked.

'It is the lack of business acumen, and of course the sense of responsibility you can shoulder,' Zhou Ming said, 'I have told you before that after you return from Harvard in the future, you will definitely be the leaders of major state-owned investment companies or fund companies, and you will be the pillars of China's financial market, not just the country's traders. In that case, you need to know how to do business.'

'The project of the dormitory convenience store is not that important, and the money that can be earned is also very little, and it is even not as good as doing temporary student work. However, it is a complete business,'

Zhou Ming said to Chen Shu and the others, 'First, before he can start the project, he needs to get approval from the relevant department, that is, from Mr Moore. If he doesn't agree, we won't be able to do it. Then we need to face the market. We need to know our customers, that is, the students at Colland College, and what they need. We can't blindly push our products. Finally, we need to promote the business and provide other services.'

'These steps are all necessary for running a successful convenience store. Otherwise, if even one part goes wrong, we won't be able to achieve the expected results.'

At the end of the day, Zhou Ming paused before continuing, 'So do you still think the dormitory convenience store project is simple?'

Chen Shu and the others suddenly realised, 'I really didn't expect that there was so much knowledge hidden within a small dormitory convenience store project. At the beginning, we really underestimated this project. If it wasn't for you, I'm afraid we would never have thought of it.'

Zhou Ming smiled and continued, 'The last thing is what I consider to be the most important, responsibility. Because knowledge and experience can be learned at any time, but without a sense of responsibility to see things through, then nothing else can be achieved.'

Zhou Ming then turned his attention to Li Yang and said to him, 'Li Yang, I'm not targeting you. You just complained to me that Mr Moore is an old fossil who is completely unreasonable, and that he won't listen when you explain things to him, and you want to give up on the project.'

'It's normal for young people to get emotional. I get emotional and want to give up all the time too, but that's not an option for you,' said Zhou Ming. 'Who are you? You are elite students in the finance class, not children who haven't been weaned. Since Mr Moore is unreasonable, won't you try to make him understand? Since they won't listen to your explanations, won't you try to make them listen? If he won't let you in, won't you wait outside?'

'The dormitory convenience store is just a trivial little project. Is that such a trivial little project that it's stopping you?'

Zhou Ming calmed down a little from his excitement before continuing, 'There's an old saying that goes, if you can't clean your own room, how can you clean the world? The same can be applied to you. If you can't even pull off a project worth less than $10,000, how can you prove that you can take care of a fund of millions or tens of millions?'

Li Yang lowered his head, and Zhou Ming's words felt like sharp thorns stabbing into his heart, making him feel unbearable pain. He had never hated himself so much before. He felt that those words he had just spoken were the stupidest joke in the world, and he had completely let down his teacher's expectations of him.

It's just a fucking dormitory convenience store project, isn't it? It's just a stuffy dormitory teacher, isn't it? I'm a student in Mr. Zhou Ming's class, I'm the vice monitor of the finance class, what the hell am I doing? Why did I say I was going to give up? How could I possibly be defeated here? If I just try my best, won't that be enough?

Li Yang shouted in his heart like this, and finally he looked up at Zhou Ming and said, 'Teacher, I understand. I won't say those words again. I promise you that I will definitely make the dormitory convenience store project a success at Collège de la Salle, no matter how difficult it is!'

From Li Yang's determined eyes, Zhou Ming knew that his words were his oath. Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'I believe in you, do a good job.'