Chapter 588: Play a Waiting Game!

“At present, there seem to be many problems facing us, but in fact, there are only two kinds – external and internal!”

Bai Xiaofei quickly led everyone to follow his train of thought, and a clear path slowly visualized in their heads.

“Then, as the saying goes, you must settle in before you go out, so let’s put aside all the external problems for the time being and discuss the internal ones first.” After chopping off half the trouble, he proceeded, “Internally, the first thing we have to do is: reward according to merit!”

One second ago, everyone was anticipating with rapt attention, but after the last four words, the room went into an uproar with all kinds of reactions, and most were disdain for Bai Xiaofei.

“Starnet is now in a mess, and the first thing you racked your brains to figure out is to get the benefits?”

The dean of the Shield of Defense was a burly fatty with a ferocious centipede scar on his shiny head, Kuang Zao. Just like his name, the man was a maniac¹. However, no one blamed him this time, because he was not the only one with that thought.

“Director Kuang is right. If rewarded according to merit, then you will earn the highest reward this time, Senior Bai. Should the principal ask what reward you want next?!” said the dean of the Blade of Concealment coldly, his tone full of contempt and sarcasm.

Although the rest didn’t speak, most were biased towards the two deans. A few who had a good impression of Bai Xiaofei chose to stay silent. They thought that Bai Xiaofei might have other intentions, but they didn’t know what those intentions were.

“Are you two finished, Deans?” Bai Xiaofei flatly asked after the words of denunciation gradually ceased. His unconcerned expression stunned everyone.

“If you’re finished, I still have more to say.” Looking at the two deans who had just gone all out against him and making sure that they had no plans to open their mouths again, Bai Xiaofei continued, “I won’t say anything about wanting nothing to prove innocence or whatever, because that’s just brainless. Earning what I work for is absolutely reasonable. But if you think that I am simply proposing this for the reward that I don’t even have any idea what it is, then you are really looking down on me.”

Bai Xiaofei’s voice was icy and without any weakness, making Kuang Zao and those who had the same thoughts as him feel guilty.

“Rewarding according to merit is to show everyone that Starnet hasn’t collapsed and everything will go on as planned, that as long as we have excellent students, everything will be fine!”

Bai Xiaofei paused a little and looked around at everyone.

“What we need most now is self-confidence. Let me be frank, I’m afraid all of you here feel that Starnet is finished. Rewarding according to merit, which you despise, is the fastest and most effective way to spark confidence! If any of you can come up with a better idea, then consider mine a useless fart!”

Bai Xiaofei almost yelled towards the end. A loud voice did not mean someone was reasonable, but when one was reasonable, being a little loud could block many voices.

After Bai Xiaofei finished speaking, all the frowning people kept their mouths tightly shut. Kuang Zao’s group, who had just been overly aggressive, hung their heads.

“Qingtian, immediately come up with a good reward method. Increase the rewards by 50% and hold a conference tomorrow morning. I will personally award the prizes!” Lei Shan clearly stressed every word.

Everyone’s heart trembled.

“Go on. And may I remind some of you that I’m not yet confused enough to be unable to tell right from wrong. It won’t hurt you to talk less and listen more!” His icy voice echoed in the small room, and everyone was dead silent.

“Rewarding only plays an opening role. The establishment of this confidence is short-term, just like a weak flame that will soon be extinguished we don’t add firewood immediately, so our next move must be closely linked. This requires effort from all of us here,” Bai Xiaofei continued.

All of those who had just verbally attacked him immediately perked up their ears to hear their own tasks.

This was the quality of outstanding people. They considered a matter as it stood and could perfectly manage themselves not to drag their anger about one matter to the person. As long as something was right, they accepted it!

“First of all, let the former fourth-year students graduate smoothly.”

Everyone froze. Starnet’s number of personnel was at its lowest, and the fourth-year students could be said to be their mainstay now. Without them, they might not have many left.

However, no one expressed their doubts. They all waited for Bai Xiaofei to finish this time.

“Although their departure will greatly reduce our available manpower, it’s completely negligible compared with the role they can play.”

“You’re graduating us for publicity?” Sima Ye immediately caught on after just a hint.

Like Sima Ye for Bai Xiaofei, since ancient times, heroes appreciated heroes. The reason Zhou Yu lamented such a thing as ‘why Liang exists when Yu already does’ was that he and Zhuge Liang were on opposite sides, otherwise they could certainly be drinking buddies².

“That’s right! We urgently need an influx of new students. Without fresh blood, Starnet won’t be able to recover. And once news about the grand celebration gets out, a terrifying impact on our academy is expected, and it will greatly affect our student recruitment. At that time, the successful graduation of the fourth-year will be a good remedy. Adding appropriate public guidance, it’s not impossible to eliminate this negative impact!”

Hearing Bai Xiaofei’s explanation, all eyes shone brightly. At the same time, everyone looked at him with complicated expressions. Just what’s in this kid’s brains?

“Principal, leave this matter to me,” Sima Ye volunteered after exchanging glances with Bai Xiaofei for final confirmation.

“Very well, you have complete charge over this matter, go discuss with all the fourth-year students. If you run into any trouble at all, seek Vice President Jing Cheng, he will help you clear the way.” With a smile, Lei Shan directly handed Sima Ye arbitrary authority. The latter’s previous performances had left a deep impression on him.

“Next is the last step!”

Drawing attention back to himself, Bai Xiaofei once again made everyone’s heart leap.

1. His name is pronounced almost the same as 狂躁 (kuángzào) which means maniac. ↩
2. Two renowned ancient rivaling strategists. ↩

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