hotmtlnovel Chapter 2519: Xiao Xiao Down (3)
Chapter 2519: Xiao Xiao Down (3)
Chapter 2519: Xiao Xiao Down (Part )
Schiller was holding a pile of files in his hands and was looking down to see which ones he needed. At his feet were many boxes, a number of bundled files and a pile of books.
Looking around, the whole office was in chaos. Victor was busy pulling out the wires under the desk, while Anna was selecting sculptures that had been placed in the cabinet.
"Have you packed your own office?" Victor looked up and said, "There will be at most two more buses this afternoon, and they won't come tomorrow. If you haven't packed it, you need to hurry up."
"I finished moving yesterday," Schiller said. "That shredder can't be placed together with these documents. Yesterday I asked a truck driver friend to come and help me move. It's a good thing he came. I might not be able to beat that shredder by myself."
Victor laughed, and continued his work, saying, "So you finally got Bruce's doctoral application. What good thing did he give you?"
Schiller cleared his throat and said, "What he gave me is secondary. The key point is that he finally found a Batman who is worse than him."
"Oh, there really is one?" Victor deliberately made an exaggerated expression and said, "I thought he would never find it."
"He's pretty lucky." Schiller threw the unused files aside and said, "I also happened to watch how the only Batman worse than him directed a piece of shit and was smug about it. This seriously lowered the average level of Batman, and in turn lowered the threshold for doctoral applications based on the average level."
"I knew it would be like this." Victor wrapped the thread around his arm and said, "I've been waiting for Pamela's PhD application, but my mailbox is empty. Do you think I should ask her?"
"I think it's better not to." Anna said, "It's not that you have to act like a professor, but it might make her feel more pressured."
"Pressure? What's wrong with her lately?" Victor asked curiously.
"Remember when she was doing internships and made money by helping rich people improve their gardens?" Schiller said. "That's all gone now. She's in financial trouble and is trying to adjust. So don't ask her about her studies right now."
Victor thought for a moment and sighed, "My financial situation isn't that good, but I could help her. You know, we just bought a house and we haven't paid off our car loan yet. After I finish my teaching, I have to work in a laboratory in the new district."
"Where is your patented technology?" Schiller stopped what he was doing, looked at Victor and said, "The patented technology of dense ice should bring you a lot of royalties, right?"
"If there is no economic crisis, I am afraid so. But think about it, dense ice technology is now generally used to improve low-temperature transportation capabilities or to manufacture low-temperature superconductors. But now the problem faced by companies that need these technologies is not a technological breakthrough, they have to save themselves from bankruptcy first."
"Most of the companies' high-tech projects have stopped operating." Anna sighed and said, "The nuclear power computing module laboratory where I used to work has also been laying off people recently. I'm ready to take a pay cut."
After that, they both looked at Schiller. Schiller shook his head and said, "I'm not a technician. I don't even have the opportunity to work in a laboratory. How much money do you expect me to make?"
"But you're a psychiatrist, and a very famous one. Don't you charge by the hour?" Victor seemed a little unconvinced. "You must be very rich."
"Don't try to fool us. Let me guess. You have enough custom suits in your closet to buy a house."
Schiller sighed, picked up the box on the ground and said, "That's why I have no money. You know I only provide very limited psychological counseling, and most of it is voluntary."
"But for my teaching job and my other strange personality traits, I have to spend a lot of money on expensive custom-made suits. I have put my estate up for sale, but I don't think there is much hope. I don't know if I can move into the South District this year."
"Oh my God, are you really planning to buy a house in the South District? It's terribly expensive there, and the property taxes are very high. More importantly, you'll have to spend at least four hours a day taking care of that damn lawn!" Anna said exaggeratedly.
"I'll remember to call Pamela, and I'll even pay her $10 an hour," Schiller said with a smile.
"To be honest, your professional ability is the best way to make money." Victor squatted on the ground, thinking and saying, "The current economic situation is so bad, everyone has psychological problems to a certain extent. Even if ordinary people can't afford it, those rich people should not be stingy to pay a little more for their mental health."
"Are you saying I should become a real psychiatrist?"
"At least it's better than a professor's salary." Victor sighed and said, "Nora and I can't even pay our mortgage with our combined salary. Originally, we only went to the lab to provide technical guidance in our spare time, but now, we have to consider working three jobs."
"Have you ever considered applying for the Wayne Group?" Schiller thought for a moment and said, "They are always short of technical personnel."
"Again, the technical personnel that society lacks right now are electricians, wiring workers, and even painters. In their eyes, scientists like us are monsters that never get satisfied and swallow up funds. Even if Bruce agrees, the board of directors will have a lot of objections."
Victor looked a little depressed, so Schiller said, "Look at it, at least you're in my phone directory. If you feel depressed, I can give you free consultation."
"Thank you so much!" Victor rolled his eyes.
"How much savings do you have?" Anna looked at Schiller curiously and asked, "Is it enough for you to buy a house in the South District?"
"It's definitely enough to pay the down payment, and I have good credit, so it's not difficult to get a loan. The money after that will be enough to pay the mortgage for a while, but this is not sustainable." Schiller shook his head, obviously a little embarrassed. He said, "Victor is right. The fixed salary of a professor is not enough to support my life. The journal's manuscript fee has been reduced again and again, and even I don't want to write anymore."
“They’re having a hard time, too.” Anna turned around and said, holding a box of sculptures. “It’s good that we’re still receiving submissions.”
"What a devastating blow." Victor simply sat on the ground and began to sort out the wires and said, "By the way, how is Evans?"
"He went back to help the old godfather. You should know that they are preparing for the European Union, right?" Schiller said.
At this, Victor and Anna both laughed out loud, but it was a bitter laugh. Victor said, "The Soviet Union is almost gone, and the European Union is back. Now the gentlemen in Congress are really going to have a heart attack."
"You should take care of yourself first." Anna was about to say something when her phone rang. She answered a few times and then put down the phone and said, "Mrs. Derian, the head of the Political Affairs Office, will be here in a while. We may have to wait for her here."
"What's wrong? Why does the Administrative Office need to..."
"I think this call may just be a polite notification." Schiller turned his head to look at the door. As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of high heels came from the end of the corridor.
Mrs. Derian soon appeared at the door. She rubbed her hands, took a deep breath, and then sighed and said, "Sorry, professors, I have bad news. In order to maintain the normal operation of the school, all faculty and staff will reduce their salaries by 30%."
"God!!!" Victor screamed, "Our wages are already very low, and they haven't increased in 50 years. Now they are going to be reduced?!"
Anna also leaned on the windowsill, not knowing what to say. Mrs. Derian was more apologetic. She said, "No one could have expected this economic crisis to come so suddenly, but the new campus has been built and we have to move."
"But the new campus still has many imperfections that need to be repaired. The school's finances have long been in crisis. In addition to raising tuition fees for the next ten years, the professors' salaries were finally raised."
Schiller looked at Mrs. Derian and said, "How about you? How much did you reduce your salary?"
Mrs. Derian made a sad face and said, "I'm sorry, professors. This is the main reason why I'm here. I've had a great time working with you during my time here, but I'm going to move to Blüdhaven soon."
Victor looked up and said in surprise, "What's wrong? Madam, are you going back home?"
Mrs. Derian shook her head and said, "My husband and I are not locals. Although we have worked here for so many years, we have not bought a house, and now we can't afford it."
"Fortunately, we didn't buy a house, but carefully maintained our property in our hometown. Now we are almost at retirement age and have some savings. It is not cost-effective to continue paying rent and receiving ridiculously low wages. It is better to return to our hometown to retire directly."
Everyone was silent for a moment, and Schiller had to speak again: "You and your husband have survived two great depressions tenaciously, which is already very remarkable."
Mrs. Derian smiled and shook her head. “I wasn’t even born the first time, and my husband was still a child. But he did mention it when his father was still alive. He was also one of the unemployed at that time.”
"Fortunately, if we leave now, we can get a small compensation, at least it won't be a problem for my husband to repair his boat. I know that the professors working here are rare talents, and I am happy to work with you, but I still have to eat, don't I?"
The three of them said nothing. After sending Mrs. Derian away, Anna covered her head and said, "This is really too bad. Mrs. Derian's husband has a very reliable relative here. The rent of the house they rent is already very low. If he can't pay, what will happen to others?"
"Students' tuition fees have also increased." Schiller tapped the box in his hand and said, "No wonder Pamela was so anxious to borrow money from me before. The house she rented was too expensive. I guess she couldn't afford the tuition fees after losing so many projects."
"She borrowed money from you. How much did she borrow?"
"It's not much, just 500 US dollars. But it can be regarded as an advance overdraft of her salary for renovating the garden. After all, if I want to sell my estate, the garden still needs to be renovated." Schiller said.
"When will this dark day end?" Anna complained, "Does anyone have any solution now?"
Schiller and Victor both shook their heads. Obviously, this large-scale social and even global economic problem could not be alleviated by one or two people, not even Bruce Wayne.
This is the law of operation of this economic system. It is not an accident but a necessity. The power of an individual is too small under the changes in social rules.
Schiller actually knew that Bruce had a plan, but even if it worked, ordinary people would still have to survive the dark days before dawn on their own.
As an ordinary person, after thinking about the balance in his account, Schiller finally put the box on the table, looked at the two and said, "Do you think psychological counseling... I mean, if I open a psychological clinic, will it help alleviate my financial situation?"
"Of course!" they said in unison.
(End of this chapter)