Chapter 301: A CD as a bribe

At 4pm, a young man sat on the bench in front of the entrance to Unit A of Collard College. At that moment, the warden of Unit A walked out of Collard College and threw a newspaper at the young man, saying, 'Hey, young Chinese, take this newspaper. It's almost time. It will bring you good luck!'

The young man smiled and said to the warden, 'Thank you very much, but I believe that you have earned my good fortune for me, because the goddess of luck is a bitch, isn't she?'

The warden laughed out loud when he heard this, because this was something he had once said himself. He also said, 'Yes, the goddess of luck is a fucking bitch. She will take off her pants for whoever has the biggest balls. I believe in you Chinese people. You will make the goddess of luck take off her pants for you!'

The warden finished speaking and went back to the dormitory. The young man remained sitting there, but he opened a newspaper and let it cover his face and most of his body, leaving only a glimmer of light next to it, as if he were waiting for something.

This young man was none other than Li Yang, who had given the warden a sandwich yesterday.

The teacher was right. Convincing customers is similar to wooing a girlfriend. Although I don't have a girlfriend, the warden was able to help me this time, thanks to the idea of delivering breakfast that the teacher gave me. Li Yang clearly remembers the teacher's analysis that the warden has a low status in the school. Not only is he not valued, but he is even despised by some, just like the ugly bell ringer in Notre Dame de Paris. So as long as there is a little touch, he will remember it.

That's what Li Yang did, and the warden was indeed easily convinced. Li Yang knew that he was just playing along, but compared to other people who were unwilling to even play along, Li Yang considered himself to be much more noble.

Yesterday, after the warden was moved by Li Yang's sandwich, he volunteered to help Li Yang. Originally, he wanted to volunteer to take Li Yang directly to the teacher in charge of Colland College, Moore, but Li Yang decided to find another way in order to play the long game and not make it so easy for the warden, who had finally developed a rapport with him, to get into trouble.

It was because of this that the warden told Li Yang all about Moore's schedule, and Li Yang learned that Moore would go for a walk alone every afternoon, which was also Moore's most leisurely time of the day.

After all, during the day Moore had to go to work and generally did not go out. If there was something urgent, it would be done in a hurry. At this time, if Li Yang went to see him, it would only make him even more angry. Only now, since he was out for a walk, he was basically free. After some careful consideration, Zhou Ming decided to make a special trip to wait for Moore at the door.

After a while, Li Yang saw a middle-aged man in a white shirt walking over. Seeing the pair of signature black-framed glasses on his nose, Li Yang knew that he was Moore, the teacher in charge at Colland College. So Li Yang immediately got up and came to Moore's front and said, 'Hello, Mr. Moore, I'm very happy to meet you!'

Moore was startled. After all, he was walking along the road, and it was indeed a little scary to have someone suddenly rush out, and it wasn't necessarily because he was guilty.

However, after a moment, Moore recognised Li Yang and said, 'So it's you, the Chinese guy. Last time I told you to go away, and today you actually dare to come back. It seems that the thickness of your Chinese skin is really amazing!'

'Teacher Moore,' Li Yang explained very seriously, 'I just want to insist on this. This is a chance for me to become good friends with you, and I also hope to arrange my dormitory convenience store project.'

'I knew it would be like this. You Chinese people are really just a bunch of money-obsessed super cheapskates, even more cheapskate than Scrooge McDuck. I'm telling you, Clarendon College may not rank high at Harvard, but it will always be the most important treasure in my heart. You can't bring any disgusting greed to Clarendon College. As long as I'm here, you'll never succeed!'

Moore shouted at Li Yang, and then finally looked at Unit A and said, 'Where is the warden? Where is the warden of Unit A? Do you have any sense of responsibility at all? I'm going to report your extremely irresponsible behaviour to the school, and I'm going to fire you!'

'Mr Moore, you can't do that. I haven't broken any rules. This Chinese guy, he was found outside. You, I didn't let him into the dormitory building.' Faced with Moore's accusations, the warden couldn't help but pretend not to see and had to come out to explain.

Moore listened to the warden's explanation, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond. At that moment, Li Yang came over and said to him, 'Mr Moore, I don't think you need to blame the warden, and you don't need to blame me either, because although I really want to get the project of the dormitory convenience store into Collard College, that's not the reason I came to see you today.'

'Nothing to do with your evil project? Then what else do you have?' Moore said doubtfully.

'This is a record that Heck released in 1983. I know that you, Mr Moore, have been looking for this record for a long time. Although I don't know why you are looking for it, I know that it must be very important to you. I also know that you, Mr Moore, cannot leave Colland Academy due to your responsibilities. So I got this record for you.'

Li Yang said, and then, as if performing a magic trick, pulled a CD out of his pocket and handed it to Moore. Moore took the CD from Li Yang, stunned, and muttered, 'No way. Why did you find this CD for me?'

'Because I respect you, Mr. Moore,' Li Yang said.

This sentence seemed to have a strange power, pushing Moore backwards. Moore wanted to look up at Li Yang, but he was too dazzled by Li Yang's righteousness and enthusiasm to do so.

Morr was thus torn for a while before he finally came back to his senses and said, 'You Chinese, you must be up to something!'

Morr then took out fifty dollars and gave it to Li Yang, saying, 'I know that this record is a rare collector's item from back then and not easy to find, so I'll give you fifty dollars. Don't even think about bribing me with such a CD. I won't report you to the school, but I won't sell my soul either!'

Li Yang felt a little helpless when he heard these words from Moore: 'Mr Moore, I didn't mean to bribe you. I just want to chat with you, and this CD has nothing to do with it. In my country, it is very common for students to give gifts to their teachers, and it is also a kind of courtesy.'

'I don't need this kind of courtesy!' Moore said, 'Chinese, I bought this CD from you, and you are leaving from here right now. You are still not welcome at my Colland Academy!'

Moore also reminded the warden, 'Remember that you are the warden of Colland College. I hope you understand your duties and do not disobey my orders!'

After saying this, Moore returned to the dormitory building. The warden said unnecessarily to Li Yang, 'Chinese, it seems that Mr. Moore still has a very strong prejudice against you. After all, you are Chinese, and he has always had very traditional ideas. He just wants to maintain Colland College in its original state, and he will regard any change as a monster.'

The warden sighed as he finished speaking: 'Chinese, I really want to help you, and I'm willing to believe that your project for a convenience store in the dormitory will be beneficial to the students. But the way Moore looks at it now, I'm afraid it's not a good sign.'

'Isn't that a bad sign? But I think the opposite, I think it's a good sign!' Zhou Ming said.

After returning from Corrand Academy, Li Yang told Zhou Ming everything that had just happened, including the warden's final judgment, but Zhou Ming gave a completely opposite judgment.

This surprised Li Yang, and Zhou Ming explained to him, 'Not everyone can be a warden. This Maltese person is the teacher in charge of the Colland Academy. From his style, it is not difficult to judge that he is a very powerful person. At the same time, his traditions and conservatism are also well-known. So obviously, such a small favour is not likely to impress him.'

'It's like an emotionally frustrated ordinary girl and a proud relatively well-off girl. It's relatively easy to impress an emotionally frustrated ordinary girl, but a relatively well-off girl will be more reserved, so you have to pay more,' said Zhou Ming.

Li Yang nodded silently and then asked, 'Then I'll go and ask the warden if there's anything else he needs?'

Zhou Ming shook his head, "I don't recommend that. This kind of thing, after all, is just a way of getting around the rules. Maybe in your country, the more gifts you give someone, the more they'll be on your side, but here in the United States, people think that way. They resent bribery. It can be effective the first time, but if you keep doing it, it'll only backfire.'

'So what should I do?" Li Yang asked again.

Zhou Ming did not give a direct answer, but instead asked him in return, 'Do you remember what you told Mr Moore?'

Li Yang thought for a moment and said, "I said that I wanted to chat with him.'

'Then just chat with him, and you won't need anything else," said Zhou Ming. 'You know that Americans are disgusted by bribery, but today Moore accepted your CD. Of course he gave you money, but I believe that in his heart he has already tacitly accepted the gift.

'If he was previously an iron plate, then with the delivery of this CD, a crack has appeared in his iron plate, and this is your opportunity,' said Zhou Ming.

Li Yang suddenly understood: 'I understand, teacher. Next, I just need to keep chatting with him, and I will be able to gradually open his heart and make him accept me step by step.'

'That's the idea,' said Zhou Ming. "You can then talk to the warden to find out what other habits Moore has, so that you can address them accordingly. In particular, you must avoid the other person's taboos, otherwise you risk losing everything. Another thing is that you mustn't rush.'

Li Yang nodded: "I understand, after all, he is a very reserved young lady. If you are too pushy, you will scare him away.'

Zhou Ming laughed: 'That's right. Since you understand, I wish you every success!'