What did An Yan an by that?
Is she saying I’m stupid? An Shing thought, and this ti, she truly burst into tears. She made no sound, just let large teardrops fall.
An Yaoluo felt a pang in his heart. He took a tissue and handed it to her, then said to An Yan in a stern voice, "The President of Luocheng University is away on an exchange visit, but once he gets back, I’ll talk to him imdiately."
"Once it’s settled, you’ll be a freshman too."
He wanted to remind An Yan, If you can’t achieve sothing yourself, don’t use it to belittle others.
An Yan didn’t catch the hidden aning in An Yaoluo’s words; after all, she’d started publishing papers at the age of sixteen.
What she focused on was another point. "I’ve said it before, I’ll handle my school arrangents myself."
"Yanyan, you..." An Yaoluo’s brow furrowed into a tight knot. After a mont, he softened his tone. "Fine, then tell , how have you arranged it?"
An Yan’s face turned cold as she looked at An Yaoluo. "You don’t trust . That’s why I won’t tell you!"
An Yaoluo was speechless. Is this really about trust? he thought. Even with his title as President of the An Group, he hadn’t managed to speak directly with the President of Luocheng University. Yet here she was, a girl fresh from the countryside, casually saying she had arranged everything. He really didn’t know what to say!
"Alright, let’s say you’ve arranged it all. So, once you enroll, you’ll be a freshman too. Do you have a way to publish a paper right after you arrive at the university?"
Only then did An Yan realize. Ah, so Big Brother suddenly turned hostile because I hit An Shing’s sore spot! she thought. Well then, I’ll just poke it again.
"Yes, I can," she stated.
An Yaoluo was speechless again. How on earth did Grandfather Luo teach Yanyan these past few years to turn her into such a braggart! he fud internally.
An Shing hadn’t expected An Yan to be so brazen! She imdiately declared, "Sister, if you really can publish a paper, I’ll give you all the money I’ve saved over the years!"
I absolutely cannot let An Yan have a chance to retract her statent! An Shing resolved.
An Yan, seeing her go-for-broke expression, asked curiously, "How much money have you saved over these years?"
An Shing replied without hesitation, "Twenty million!"
An Yan gave her a thoughtful look. "If I rember correctly, you’ve been spending money ever since you ca to our house, right? How did you save up this twenty million?"
An Shing froze.
An Yaoluo interjected, "Yanyan, that’s ngng’s New Year’s money and allowance."
"Hmm, she ca to our family when she was five, and she’s nineteen this year. So, in fourteen years, her allowance and New Year’s money add up to twenty million, right?" An Yan’s voice was calm. "But Big Brother, you only started giving red envelopes for New Year’s five years ago, and it was ten thousand each ti!"
An Yaoluo paused, then said, "I also started giving ngng ten thousand a year five years ago!"
An Yaoluo frowned. He gave An Shing ten thousand a year in New Year’s money, and their father did the sa. Even if Bai Xiaoyun gave her more, Bai Xiaoyun was on salary from the An Group. If she gave all her salary to An Shing as New Year’s money and allowance, it would only be three hundred thousand a year at most. So, how did An Shing manage to save twenty million? An Yaoluo wondered.
An Shing panicked. She frantically racked her brain and finally blurted out an excuse, "What do you an, Sister? The money I saved isn’t just from Big Brother’s New Year’s gifts! I have a mother, an uncle, and an aunt. Why couldn’t I save that much money?"
An Yaoluo initially believed her, but he soon realized the problem. Bai Xiaoyun wasn’t on good terms with her own family. Although she took An Shing to visit them every year, An Shing always returned in tears. How much New Year’s money could soone who gets bullied at her maternal grandmother’s house possibly receive?
An Yan took in all of An Yaoluo’s changing expressions. He’s already suspicious, she thought, her mood improving considerably. A faint smile playing on her lips, she said to An Shing, "Alright, let’s just say this money is your savings. Then it’s settled. After I publish my paper, you give the twenty million!"
"And if you don’t publish?" An Shing asked through clenched teeth.
"Then I’ll give you twenty million!"
"And where would your twenty million co from?" An Shing thought she had found a loophole.
An Yan smiled. "Did you watch the video of the Lin Family calling off the engagent? The dicine I gave Lin Shang is worth tens of millions. You don’t think I only have that little bit of dicine, do you?"
An Shing was rendered speechless. While watching the video, she had tried hard to convince herself that those dicines were just herbs An Yan’s grandfather had picked from the mountains. An Yan was shaless, pricing herbs she foraged herself so exorbitantly! In any case, she was convinced An Yan was just a poor country bumpkin! But now, An Yan was flaunting her wealth right in her face! This is infuriating!
"It’s a deal!" An Shing emphasized through clenched teeth. "You must be the first author!"
An Yan asked innocently, "What’s a first author?" The papers she published always had only her na as the author.
An Shing, who had been furious, almost burst out laughing. She doesn’t even know what a ’first author’ is, yet she dares to make such boasts?
An Yaoluo felt both irritated and amused. "A first author is the person who personally conducts the experints, analyzes the results and data, and writes the first draft of the paper. They are the core, key figure of the paper!"
An Shing added, "If you rely looked up so information, refined so data, or corrected a few typos, you can’t be considered the first author."
"Understood." An Yan nodded. No wonder the paper she edited for the President of Luocheng University had such a long list of nas. So, they were all just nominal authors!
"How about this, An Shing? Let’s raise the stakes!" An Yan slowly dangled the bait. "If I publish a paper during my freshman year, you give twenty million. If *you* publish a paper during your freshman year, I’ll give you fifty million! How about that?"
An Shing imdiately started calculating. Would An Yan really be so generous as to offer her fifty million? Don’t tell it’s because she can’t write a paper herself and wants to drag down to share the humiliation? Ha! An Yan is dead wrong this ti. I, An Shing, have a secret weapon! Any single paper from that notebook could stun the academic world. Since it’s a chance for both fa and fortune, why wouldn’t I take it? After weighing her options, An Shing nodded decisively. "Alright! We’ll do it your way. A promise is a promise!"
"Cannot be unmade!" An Yan spurred An Shing on. Once An Shing agreed, An Yan imdiately looked at An Yaoluo. "Big Brother, you be our witness!"
An Shing, also afraid An Yan would renege, quickly chid in, "Big Brother, please!"
An Yaoluo’s thoughts mirrored An Shing’s. He also believed An Yan was deliberately trying to drag An Shing down to cover her own embarrassnt at not being able to write a paper. ngng is so academically gifted. Ever since she was young, she’s always been able to achieve anything she set her mind to. As for Yanyan... how could a child raised in the countryside possibly compare to ngng, who benefited from an elite education?
"Yanyan, let’s just drop this. We’re family; it doesn’t matter who wins or loses." He offered An Yan an out, hoping she would be sensible enough to take it.
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