“Reason?”
“Mr. Wei, don’t you already know? We have a new member at Institute 14. There are five incubators, but they are all full. There are no spares,” An Xiaoxue explained.
Wei Dajiang swept his gaze past Xu Tui. “My senses just now told me that he is not a first-year student. His mind power mutation should have been completed by now, right? Since he’s completed the task, take out an incubation chamber and let the people in the college and the institute use it. Wouldn’t that be good for everyone?”
“No.” An Xiaoxue rejected him firmly. “Next, we have to nurture a complete clone body immediately to be used as a backup for future medical treatment and experiments. We also have to do that long-term research.”
“The experiment regarding the abnormal load of mind power is still ongoing?”
“Of course, this is what the teachers have put in a great deal of effort into. It is also why the Research Institute Number 14 has such a long history,” An Xiaoxue explained.
“However, there have been no results for so many years.” Seeing how An Xiaoxue was not going to say anything after she smiled, Wei Dajiang let out a bitter laugh. “Forget it. Let’s not talk about this. Was there really no way? Can’t you do it on a regular basis?”
“No. It would take a long time to nurture a complete clone body. We wouldn’t even have enough time for our own.” An Xiaoxue refused firmly.
“What about Old Shang’s incubator? Can’t we remove it? After all…”
An Xiaoxue’s expression turned cold when she heard him. Even though she was wearing a mask.
“Mr. Wei, let’s change the way we address each other if you mention this again in the future.”
“Alright, pretend I didn’t say anything.” Wei Dajiang let out a bitter laugh. “That’s not what I wanted to say. It was also what those people wanted. I guess I’ll settle for the next best thing. Lass, you have to think this through. Be it the Huaxia Genetic Evolution College or the Genetic Research Institute, we have to follow the rules.
“You have not made any progress in the research topic for a long time, nor have you had any results in the short term. Now, you don’t even have this additional contribution. Then your research funding would not just be cut,” Wei Dajiang said slowly.
Xu Tui finally understood what was going on.
It should be the cloning equipment in the Research Institute Number 14. There were a total of five incubation chambers which were given to another group of people previously. But since Xu Tui was here, it belonged to him.
That gave rise to the current problem. This was especially so since it involved the most important research funding.
Xu Tui did not know how much money the Research Institute Number 14 needed to spend. However, he could calculate one cost.
There were a total of 50 sets of clone incubation chambers. An incubation chamber cost 10,000 dollars a month, which was 500,000 dollars a month for all. That was six million dollars a year.
That was not all.
If the Research Institute Number 14 did not have research funding, the difficulty of supporting its operations would be like hell.
That was the question Wei Dajiang was discussing with An Xiaoxue.
“How much do they want to cut?”
There was a moment of silence. An Xiaoxue’s voice revealed a little bitterness.
“Based on the current results, they would have to cut 80% of the research funding. Also, as the Research Institute Number 14 has not produced any results in recent years, we might have to cut the fixed sum of 20,000,000 dollars a year from the long-term project regarding the abnormal load of mind power,” Wei Dajiang said.
“They want to cut that too?”
An Xiaoxue looked up. Her gaze became sharp.
“This… Lass, I’m just here to pass a message.” Wei Dajiang let out a bitter smile.
“Let me talk to him.”
“Vice-Chairman Lu?”
“Of course. Didn’t he always want to use our incubation chamber?”
Wei Dajiang nodded. “It’s not entirely because he wants to use it alone… Alright, I’ll contact him for you. Lass, try to restrain your temper. Even though he is also from the Huaxia Genetic Evolution College, he is one of the members of the Genetic Committee.”
“I understand.”
Hearing this, Wei Dajiang took out his communication device and made a video call. The call was connected not long after.
A stern-looking man appeared in the projection. He looked like a strict person. However, his shiny bald head ruined the strictness.
“Good morning, Vice-Chairman Lu. I heard from Mr. Wei that we are going to cut off the funding for the Research Institute Number 14. Are you going to cut off the long-term funding too?” An Xiaoxue asked a direct question.
“Professor An, it’s not that I want to cut it. I’m just following the regulations. Look, your long-term research project has not made any progress for decades.”
“Who said there’s no progress? There is,” An Xiaoxue defended herself.
“Then you have to take it out.” The bald Vice-Chairman Lu shrugged helplessly. “Everyone will say the same if you don’t take it out. We won’t be able to do the job anymore by then. After all, everyone wants research funding.”
“It’s… not convenient for me to display it now.” An Xiaoxue was a little frustrated.
“That is your problem. Also, your short-term projects have not produced any results for three years in a row. Based on the regulations, the research funding should be cut by 80%. However, you guys had special contributions previously, so we did not discuss this issue…”
“What you mean is that since we didn’t let you use the incubation chamber this year, you want to cut it off, right?” An Xiaoxue said coldly.
The bald Vice-Chairman Lu rubbed his bald head. “Professor An, I can’t do anything if you think that way. However, based on the regulations, that would be the case.”