Chapter 2545: Whistling Down (Part 3)

Chapter 2519: Down the Storm (Part 3)

Schiller was holding a pile of files in his hands, looking down to see which ones he needed. There were many boxes, bundled files and a pile of books at his feet.

Looking around, the whole office was in chaos. Victor was busy pulling out the wires under the desk, and Anna was selecting the 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 have to hurry up."

"I moved it yesterday." Schiller said, "The shredder can't be placed together with these documents. Yesterday I asked a truck driver friend to come and help me move it. Fortunately, he came. I might not be able to beat the shredder alone."

Victor laughed, continued his work and said, "In the end, you finally passed 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 is that he finally found a Batman who is worse than him."

"Oh, it really happened?" Victor deliberately made an exaggerated expression and said, "I I thought he would never find it. "

"He's pretty lucky." Schiller threw the unused files aside and said, "I just happened to watch how the only Batman who is worse than him directed a bunch of shitty plays and was complacent, which seriously lowered the average level of Batman, and then lowered the threshold for doctoral applications based on the average level. "

"I knew it would be like this." Victor wrapped the line around his arm and said, "I've been waiting for Pamela's doctoral 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 may make her feel more pressured."

"Pressure? What's wrong with her recently?" Victor asked a little curiously.

"Remember when she was an intern, she helped those rich people to repair their gardens to make money?" Schiller said, "Now it's all over. Her financial situation is in trouble and she is adjusting, so don't ask her about her studies recently."

Victor thought for a while and sighed, "In fact, my financial situation is not good, otherwise I can help her. You know, we just bought a house and the car loan has not been paid off. After I finish my teaching tasks, I have to go to the laboratory in the new district to work."

"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 patent fees, right?"

"If there is no economic crisis, I'm afraid so, but think about it, dense ice technology is now generally used to improve low-temperature transportation capacity or manufacture low-temperature superconductors, but now the companies that need these technologies are facing problems not technological breakthroughs, they have to keep themselves from bankruptcy first."

"Most of the company's high-tech projects have stopped operating." Anna sighed and said, "The nuclear power computing module laboratory where I worked before has also been laying off people recently. I have done everything. "I'm ready to take a pay cut."

After that, both of them 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 are a psychologist, and a very famous one. Don't you charge by the hour?" Victor acted a little unconvinced, "You must be rich."

"Don't try to fool us. Let me guess. The custom suits in your closet are enough to buy a house."

Schiller sighed, picked up the box on the ground and said, "That's why I No money. You know I only do very limited psychological counseling, and most of it is voluntary. "

"But for my teaching work and my other strange personality habits, I have to spend a lot of money to buy those expensive custom-made suits. I have put my estate up for sale, but I don't think there is any hope. I don't know if I can move into the South District this year."

"My God, are you really going to buy a house in the South District? It's so expensive there, and the property tax is also very high. More importantly, you have to spend at least four hours a day taking care of that damn lawn!" Anna said exaggeratedly.

"I will remember to call Pamela, and I can even give her a salary of $10 an hour." Schiller smiled and said.

"To be honest, your professional ability is the best way to make money." Victor squatted on the ground, thinking and saying: "Now the economic situation is so bad, everyone has more or less psychological problems. Even if ordinary people can't afford the price, those rich people should not be stingy to pay more for their mental health."

"Are you saying that I should become a real psychologist?"

"At least it's better than taking a professor's salary." Victor sighed and said: "Nora and I can't even pay the mortgage with our salaries. Originally, we only went to the laboratory to provide technical guidance in our spare time. Now, we have to consider working three jobs."

"Have you considered applying for the Wayne Group?" Schiller thought for a while and said: "They are always short of technical personnel."

"Again, the technicians that are lacking in society now are electricians, wiring workers, and even painters. In their eyes, we scientists are monsters who never get satisfied and eat up money. Even if Bruce agrees, the board of directors will have a lot of objections."

Victor looked a little depressed, so Schiller had to say: "Look at it more positively. At least you are in my phone book. If you feel depressed, I can give you free consultation."

"Thank you so much!" Victor rolled his eyes and said.

"How much savings do you have?" Anna looked at Schiller with some curiosity and asked, "Is it enough for you to buy a house in the South District?"

"It's definitely enough for the down payment, and I have a 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 professor's salary 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 are also having a hard time." Anna turned around with a box of sculptures and said, "It's good to be able to receive manuscripts."

"It's a devastating blow." Victor simply sat on the ground and started to sort out the lines 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 moment, Victor and Anna both laughed out loud, but it was just a bitter laugh. Victor said, "The Soviet Union is leaving soon, and the European Union is coming again. Now the gentlemen in Congress are really going to have a heart attack."

"Take care of yourself first." Anna was about to say something when her phone rang. After she answered a few times, she 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 Political Affairs Office have to come now..."

"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, bad news. In order to maintain the normal operation of the school, all faculty and staff will have their salaries reduced by 30%."

"God!!!" Victor screamed, "Our salaries are already very low, and they haven't increased for 50 years. Now they have to be reduced?!"

Anna also leaned on the windowsill, not knowing what to say. Mrs. Derian was obviously more sorry. 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 there are still many imperfections in the new campus that need to be repaired. The school's finances have actually been in crisis for a long time. In addition to paying the tuition fees of the next ten years, The salary of professors will be raised first, and then the salary of professors will be affected. "

Schiller looked at Mrs. Derian and said, "How about you? How much did you reduce your salary?"

Mrs. Derian showed a sad expression and said, "I'm sorry, professors, this is also the main reason for my visit this time. During my time here, I have worked with you happily, but I will move to Brudhaven soon."

Victor looked up and said in surprise, "What's wrong? Madam, are you going back to your hometown?"

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 did not buy a house, but carefully maintained the property in our hometown. Now we are about to retire. At the age of 18, I still have some savings. It is not worthwhile to continue paying rent and receiving a ridiculously low salary. It is better to go back to my hometown to retire. "

Everyone was silent for a while, 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 and said: "I was not born yet when the first time came, and my husband was still a child, but his father mentioned it when he was still alive. At that time, he was also a member of the unemployed army."

"Fortunately, if we leave now, we can still get a small compensation, at least it will be no problem to repair my husband's boat. I know that the professors working here are rare talents, and I am also happy to work with you, but I always have to It's for dinner, isn't it? "

The three of them said nothing. After sending Mrs. Derian away, Anna covered her head and said, "This is really terrible. 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 it, what will happen to others?"

"Students' tuition has 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 after losing so many projects."

"She borrowed money from you. How much did she borrow?"

"Not much, only $500, but it can be regarded as an advance overdraft of her salary for repairing the garden. After all, if I want to sell my estate, the garden still needs to be repaired." Schiller said.

"When will this dark day pass?" Anna complained, "Does anyone have any solution now?"

Both Schiller and Victor shook their heads. Obviously, this large-scale social and even global economic problem cannot 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 change of social rules.

Schiller actually knew that Bruce had a plan, but even if it worked, ordinary people still had to survive this dark period before dawn.

As an ordinary person, 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!" The two said in unison.