Chapter 2571: Pouring Down (20)

The management system of American universities roughly follows this structure: a school has a board of trustees, which, in theory, are the trustees entrusted by the school's founders, but now have essentially evolved into the actual persons in charge.

The rules for electing a board of trustees differ from school to school, but are mostly related to money—whoever donates more money gets a seat. However, some historic universities directly elect their board of trustees through democratic processes.

The rules for Gotham University's board of trustees are straightforward: positions on the board are allocated according to the amount of sponsorship money. There are eight trustees and one chairperson; the current chairperson is Bruce Wayne.

The board of trustees hires a professional manager, akin to how a company's board of directors hires a CEO. This professional manager is the principal. Principal Sheldon was so afraid of Bruce because he knew that Bruce would eventually become the chairperson. If he offended him, he was sure to be fired.

Major affairs of the university are decided by the board of trustees, including the most fundamental charter and school regulations. The daily administrative details are determined and arranged by the principal leading the administration department.

Now, the chairperson and the board have never mentioned hiring a principal, resulting in most of the university's day-to-day management tasks being handled by the administration department.

Not all staff in the administration department come from a management background; many are transferred from other roles or are hires based on connections. Some with professional backgrounds are still not up to the title of professional managers, at most having learned some management skills.

So for a long time, the management of Gotham University has been quite chaotic. Take the recent move, for instance. Logically, someone should have been sent to oversee the new campus before its completion and promptly report any issues.

But at that time, the school was so preoccupied with managing the visitors entering and leaving the campus and students insisting on going out that it could not afford to pay attention to the new campus's renovation progress.

This has led to the discovery of various problems with the move to the new campus, requiring further repairs and not only causing more delays but also additional expenses.

And extremely unfortunately, this coincided with the Great Depression, exacerbating the already not-so-great economic condition.

In today's world, even landlords have no surplus grain. Yet a sufficiently professional and capable manager could indeed rectify the chaotic management situation, helping Gotham University get through the tough times a bit more comfortably.

While eating dinner, Shiller pondered. He speculated that Vincent might have learned about his past grudges with the principal from some of the older staff members and thought that Gotham University's lack of a principal was still his fault. Therefore, he tried to persuade Shiller.

Shiller could not claim this issue was entirely unrelated to him, but he truly detested others using rules and regulations to change his routine. Regardless of whether these rules were reasonable, he did not want to change his routine.

Back then, Shiller almost rejected any change, preferring to live every uneventful day identically, as it provided him with a great sense of security. Perhaps Bruce understood this, which is why he never hired a new principal.

But now, it seemed that hiring a principal was inevitable. Aside from Shiller beginning to initiate change himself, if they did not bring in a professional manager to take control, the economic situation would only worsen, and eventually, everyone's routines would change, with the recent salary cut being a prime example.

Uncertain whether Bruce was in Gotham, Shiller made a call and found out that Bruce was still in Washington, mainly working with politicians on market rescue measures.

After sharing his opinion, Bruce did not say much, only mentioning he would call the board of trustees. However, he could not confirm the candidate; it would depend on the board's decision.

Shiller could tell Bruce was very busy, but it was normal—for when the sky is falling, there is a tall man to bear it. Wayne Enterprises is the tallest of them all. Even if the series of market rescue measures taken by Washington fail, Bruce Wayne must be there; he is the market's confidence.

After telling Vincent the news of the imminent arrival of a new principal, the ace coach finally relaxed. Soon, the news spread throughout the school, and teachers who had been there longer than Shiller or for about the same time marveled at the professor's change.

But indeed, they had no good impression of the previous principal. This professor belonged to the early typical villains of Gotham, weak and addiction-prone, unskilled yet meddlesome. Except others did not have the deterrent power of Shiller and often kept their anger to themselves.

The teachers also worried that they might end up with another Sheldon, adding more burdens to the already meager incomes of the faculty, so they all inquired indirectly, wanting to know who the board might appoint.

Shiller was not particularly worried. There are plenty of professional managers in this world. Although quite a few from Wall Street took the plunge, many are still clinging to life. Now, a walk down the banking street in Metropolis would reveal any homeless man starting with a double master's in finance and economic management. Who could not find a suitable candidate if not even a salary, just a meal, would do?

When Shiller returned to his new house, Raven had already left. He stopped in his tracks the moment he saw Raven.

Raven had taken off her black robe and changed into the simplest outfit of a sweatshirt and jeans. Her red hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head, and she was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Seeing Shiller come back, she stood up somewhat unnaturally, her hands behind her, just about to speak when Shiller said, "Did you go out?"

"Yes, I went... I went to see Zatanna."

"You might as well write 'I'm lying' on your face, miss. I assume you know I'm a psychology professor."

"Yes, I went out, but I didn't cause any trouble, I'm sorry."

"This isn't a prison; you can go out. I'm just a bit curious about what you did this afternoon; you seem very different."

Raven tilted her head slightly and looking down, said, "I went to work."

"This sentence is actually not a lie." Shiller looked at Raven with some astonishment and said, "Does working at the cafe suit you that well? You look like you've just hatched."

"So it's a good change?" Raven asked.

"Of course, you're not as tense anymore, you've relaxed a lot, and in my view, your emotions have also been significantly soothed. If you keep this up, losing control will one day no longer be an issue."

"Really?!" Raven finally showed a hint of excitement, but it quickly faded away.

"Well, actually I went out with that crocodile guy this afternoon, I mean, the moving guy who helped you move. He hired me to use my telekinesis to help him with his work. We moved five houses in one afternoon, and each one gave a generous tip. I made over 100 dollars."

Now it was Shiller's turn to be taken aback as he widened his eyes slightly and said to Raven, "You made over 100 dollars?"

"Yes, including tips. But I spent more than 20 because Waylon said I couldn't keep wearing that robe, looking like a terrorist or some evil magician. He took me to a clothing store he had visited before to buy some clothes. Is that okay?"

Shiller sized her up and nodded, saying, "I think it's not bad, but those are men's clothes, aren't they?"

"Yes, Waylon only knows men's clothing stores. Maybe I can ask Zatanna where she buys her clothes, but I don't think she'd approve of me wandering around." Raven sounded a bit discouraged.

"If your powers don't lose control, and you have money, then you can go shopping," Shiller said. "I'll tell Zatanna that it's good for your control."

"Really?!" Raven let another small smile slip, unable to contain it this time. She said, "We drove past a bustling commercial street on the way here, and I..."

"You can go check it out, but things there are expensive," Shiller said as he set down the umbrella and hung his suit jacket on the coat rack before continuing, "That street is made especially for tourists, 100 dollars will vanish in no time there, but Waylon probably wouldn't take you to such expensive places. Did your 20 dollars only get you one set of clothes?"

"Of course not, I also bought a lot of food." Raven turned and walked to the kitchen. She opened the cabinets and refrigerator where the food was stored and said, "If I'm going to work in the future, I should try making breakfast myself. Waylon taught me a bit today, and maybe tomorrow morning I can give it a try."

Shiller had a bad premonition. He stood still, ignoring Raven's inviting look to come see the ingredients. Instead, he asked, "What vegetables did you buy?"

"Parsley, thyme, dill, kale, beetroot, broccoli..."

"Stop, that's enough. Where is the broccoli?"

"In the fridge, why?"

Shiller opened his mouth, silently repeated the mantras "Ignorance is bliss," "She's still a minor," "Can't destroy the new house decoration" a million times in his head, but eventually, he said, "Take out the broccoli and throw it away, or throw it out along with the fridge, if that works."

"You don't like broccoli?" Raven asked, puzzled. "I actually have never tried it, it looks a bit weird."

Raven then took out the broccoli she had stored in the fridge and turned it over in her hands while Shiller took a deep breath and retreated to the door saying, "I'm allergic to broccoli, get rid of it quick!"

With a swoosh, the broccoli vanished. Raven's mouth fell open as she said, "I'm sorry, I really had no idea! Are you all right?!"

Shiller let out a breath and asked, "Where did you throw it?"

"I used magic to disintegrate it. It really doesn't smell nice, I won't buy it again," Raven shook her head, looking quite unsatisfied, and pouted, "It cost me 30 cents."

Shiller breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Believe me, it's the right decision, it doesn't taste good at all and it's expensive too."

Having said that, he hesitated as he looked at the refrigerator that had stored the broccoli. Raven followed his gaze and said, "You're not really thinking about throwing away the fridge, are you? Today, while moving, I saw the same model of this fridge. I heard it's custom-made from Germany and costs over 3,000 dollars."

Shiller was silent. He actually liked the luxurious double-door fridge very much. Besides the powerful fresh-keeping area on the top, the freezer compartment on the bottom was very spacious, suitable for storing lots of food items, and had received unanimous praise from all members of Shiller's house.

Well, it seems ordinary people don't have so much room to be finicky, and broccoli can't spread through the air. But he definitely needed to give the fridge a thorough cleaning now.

Damn it, Shiller rubbed his temples. He couldn't believe he was still in this house where broccoli had appeared just minutes ago and was even planning to clean the fridge where it had been stored.

"Ah! I should check for any remnants to make sure you don't have an allergic reaction," said Raven as she went off to clean the fridge.

Shiller completely relaxed. Recalling how Merkel once felled a towering broccoli and landed a brutal punch on him, he now found Raven, who had only bought a small broccoli and knew to clean the fridge afterwards, quite endearing.