บท 15: New Plans

Thinking about it now, he had only eaten breakfast yesterday; the rest were just snacks, and now he had to prepare for another day of school.

"Maybe I should just buy the school," David joked, laughing as he brushed his teeth.

However, his smile faded as he looked at himself in the mirror again. The goal was to spend as much money as possible, and so far, he had only spent about a billion.

Buying the University of Port Harcourt would not only be a very expensive endeavor but also a very rewarding one.

If it went well, he would have an asset worth billions, and he'd be able to help and change the lives of thousands of students.

As he prepared for the morning, David couldn't get the thought out of his mind. Entering his room after bathing, he saw a set of clothes lying at the foot of his bed.

He didn't need to ask many questions to know who put them there, so he quickly put on the clothes.

Looking at himself in the mirror, the clothes didn't seem as expensive as he thought, but the combination made him look like a million bucks.

"Forget it, my mama tried," David said, praising himself as he put on the shoes provided and picked up his bag to leave.

"Master Williams!" a voice called out as soon as he opened the door.

"George, good morning. How are you?" David asked with familiarity.

"I'm doing fine, sir, and how was your night?"

"As you can see, I slept great," David replied, spinning around.

He didn't know this was what being a morning person felt like, but he liked the energy rushing through his body; he felt on top of the world, and everything seemed to be going right.

"That's great to see, sir. Breakfast is ready, and your friends should join you soon," George said, gesturing toward the dining room.

"Thank you," David said as he made his way to the dining room.

Just like yesterday, there was a lot of food on the table, though not as exaggerated as before; it seemed the chefs had taken his preferences into account.

"By the way, tell Mr. Obi to come meet me today. I should be back earlier, and maybe I should get to know my other account managers as well," David said before taking a seat.

At the same time, he pulled out the file containing his new land deed. He had yet to figure out exactly what to do with the land.

However, he believed that if things went well with what he had in mind, the estate might also serve some purpose.

After a while, his friends began marching into the dining room like zombies, rubbing various sore parts of their bodies, not from sleep but from body aches.

David chuckled, unable to hold back his laughter as he watched them try to sit down. It was such a funny sight that David nearly fell off his chair laughing.

"You're enjoying this, abi?" Shedrack asked.

"Yes," David nodded in reply, wiping away the tears forming in his eyes.

"I swear, who needs enemies when you have this guy as a friend," Gabriel complained before sitting down comfortably.

David didn't mind their harsh words; he was getting his revenge just by watching them suffer.

"By the way, have you guys bathed? You know we still have school today," David reminded them.

"Ah, I was wondering why today felt awful… David, can't you try and buy Uniport? You have the money, right?" Uchenna asked absent-mindedly.

Everyone was rendered speechless, but David just kept smiling. It seemed great minds thought alike.

"What?" Uchenna asked.

"The boy said he needs to spend the money; it's a suggestion," Uchenna defended himself as he ate.

"This is why your name on your brother's phone is 'Professional Idiot'; you do it for a living," Gabriel replied, smacking Uchenna on the head.

"Speaking of which, my niece will be coming to stay with me from next week, so you guys can't stay here. I'll arrange accommodation for you later," David said as he remembered.

He trusted his friends, but even he didn't trust them enough not to make moves on her or, worse, teach her their bad behaviors.

"Hmm, look at the family man," Gabriel said as the group laughed.

"Bro, Shedrack, take it easy; the food isn't running away," David shouted, noticing Shedrack stuffing his face like it was his last meal.

"If you choke and die here, I'll just vacate the premises for you. When Mama Shedrack comes, we'll tell her you went to a woman's house," Uchenna said, trying to stop the rushed eating.

"You wouldn't understand; we didn't eat anything yesterday, and you bastards let me go and drink," Shedrack said, bringing all of them to a halt.

"That makes sense," they all agreed as they ate quietly.

"By the way, your suggestion won't work… Uniport is federal property; both of us will be in the grave before the government gives it up. But UST, though…" David said with a smile.

"UST? How does that help us?"

"Bro, we could expel any random UST student from school when they mess with us," Shedrack said, as if he'd had a eureka moment.

It wasn't exactly common knowledge, but due to the proximity between the two schools, students of the University of Port Harcourt and the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (UST) had a silent rivalry.

Mostly online banter and such, but the two universities always tried to one-up each other. David felt it was his duty to continue this legacy.

"If that's the reason you want to buy UST, then you definitely have issues," Gabriel said, shutting down their fantasy.

"Just the land the school occupies would be worth at least a billion Naira, or maybe even in dollars. Did you think of the staff, the facilities, and the students you'd have to take care of?" Gabriel continued.

"Surprisingly, yes, I did," David answered, surprised by his own well-thought-out plan.

"Don't quote me, but UST should sit on around 500 to 1000 hectares of land. If I hire a construction company, I could use all that space to create a world-class university… It would cost me a lot, but not more than 50 billion dollars," David said.

"And guess what? It would generate income on its own. We could take the problems we face here in Uniport and correct them with the new UST we build." he continued

"Lack of materials, non-existent practical classes, good roads, better transport, maybe even elevators in the buildings… Ofrima building will give me arthritis one day," Shedrack said, touching his knees.

The Ofrima building was arguably the tallest on campus, belonging to the Faculty of Science.

It was tall, and the stairs were exhausting, but there was no elevator or other means to ease the climb.

"You had me at 'generate income'; let's go with that," Gabriel said.

"Oh, and don't forget better hostels," Uchenna added, shuddering at memories of his past accommodations.

"Wait, wouldn't that make UST better than Uniport?" David asked, and they all stopped fantasizing.

"Are you stupid? It wouldn't be UST anymore; it would be private property, and you'd have to rename it," Gabriel said.

"That's true," they all agreed and continued eating.