The time was right around September and the Jin City was filled with returning students. These young and energetic faces breathed a new life into this city that was renowned for its education tradition.
Chen Beixuan politely refused Xu Ao’s company and walked out of the bus station all by himself. By then, he had changed his appearance to his former-self. The Connate Body can reshape one’s face and body at will. The godly handsome features belonged to Chen Beixuan the North Mystic Celestial Lord, but since he was back on earth, he would rather live as an ordinary man.
The plaza outside of the bus station was packed with returning students and freshmen. Many schools and colleges had dispatched their buses to the terminal to pick up their students.
Chen Fan looked around him and found the sign for Jin City University, and so he walked over to the person holding the sign.
“Hi mate, are you going to Jin City University?” A tall senior student came up to Chen Fan and asked.
“Yes, the Business School.” Chen Fan answered lightly.
“Ah-Business School, I see.” The smile on senior’s face suddenly disappeared. He pointed to a luxury bus next to him and said: “You go to that one.”
Unlike the regular bus dispatched by the Jin City University, the bus for the Business School students was newer and fancier. The students on the bus were all wearing gaudy brand-name clothing, suggesting their families were all Nouveau riche.
“Thank you.” Chen Fan nodded and then walked toward the bus.
He could hear the senior student murmur to himself: “Another one who buys his way into the Jin City University! Our school’s reputation is going to be ruined by these students from the Business School.”
Chen Fan didn’t protest and kept his silence.
The Jin City University was the best university in the Jin City if not in the entire Jiang Nan Province. It was one of the top ten universities in China. Those who could make it to the Jin City University were cream of the crop among their high school peers. Most of them entered the university due to their outstanding scores on the National University Entrance Exam and only a very few could enter the university by knowing the right person.
However, the Business School of the Jin City University was a very different story. Although the Business School was affiliated with the Jin City University, it was a private university that anyone could attend as long as they paid enough. Many families sent their kids to the Business School just so that they would have a degree from a university with a gold-plated reputation. Many of these students were from private high schools.
In Chen Fan’s past life, his mother had spent a lot of money to send him to the Business School due to his embarrassing grades.
Chen Fan entered the bus and noticed that all the students were dressed in fashionable clothing. Most of them spared Chen Fan a glance and then continued to prattle with their friends.
Chen Fan was not in the mood to make friends. The only reason for him to attend university was to meet his old friends, and most importantly, to see Xiao Qiong.
The engine sputtered and the bus started rolling toward the Jin City University. Chen Fan looked through the window at the familiar sights.
“I had met Xiao Qiong in this very city during my last life.”
“I was young and foolish and thought that as long as we loved each other, everything would be alright. Little did I know the unpredictability of reality and the darkness in human’s nature. When the strong feed on the weak and the weak could never raise a voice. If I have learned anything, I learned that only strength can save me and change my life.”
Chen Fan had possessed the ability to change his fate this time around. He was the number one on the Heaven Roll, the most powerful Grandmaster, a general in the military, and the Head Sergeant of the Cang Dragon unit.
“However, those achievements are still not enough. One day, I will look down on this planet as a little sandbox. I will reshape the entire world and offer it to you as a gift.” Chen Fan thought poignantly.
When Chen Fan finally saw the entrance to the Jin City University, the bus suddenly rounded a corner and drove towards a newly built compound.
Compared to the old and boring looking Jin City University campus, the Business School looked more modern and luxurious. Manny expensive cars parked by the entrance, inside those cars were parents and their kids. Only the families of subpar—relative—wealth would take a bus with Chen Fan.
A few senior students greeted each student and lead them toward the registration office.
Chen Fan didn’t need their help and he walked into the campus that he had spent four years. Everything looked very familiar to him.
Based on his memory, he found the dorm he stayed at during his last life. He pushed the door open and found out that his roommate was already there.
“Hi there, my name is Qi Wangsun.”
The newly renovated dorm had four-beds. A thin and scrawny young man was sitting on the bed and he immediately rose to his feet and greeted Chen Fan.
The young man was quiet and shy and looked like Harry Potter.
He was holding a large book. Chen Fan glanced at the title and realized that it was an English book. Not everyone during their teen years were able to read an entire book in English.
“My name is Chen Fan, your roommate.” Chen Fan nodded.
He had recognized this four-eyed young man. They had been living together for four years and he was one of Chen Fan’s good friends. There were a few black sheep among the run of the mill heirs of the run of the mill rich families.
Qi Wangsun was one of those black sheep.
He could finish an entire English book on extraordinarily boring subjects such as economics. He was extremely sensitive to numbers and eventually, his natural talent earned him a job in one of the biggest investment banks on Wall Street. However, not a lot was known about Qi Wangsun’s family. Chen Fan only knew that he was from a rich family from Northern China, but that was all he knew. After they graduated, they went their own ways and rarely contacted each other.
“I have already cleaned up the dorm, please… grab a seat… anywhere.” Qi Wangsun cracked an awkward smile. “I am a… clean freak… can’t stand messiness. Please understand… ”
“That’s fine.” Chen Fan answered.
He sat down and started chatting with Qi Wangsun.
Soon, the other two classmates also arrived. The third roommate was a big fat young man called Zhang Mu. He was from the Rong City of South Western China. Due to his size and appetite, his classmates called him Piggy.
The arrival of the last roommate stirred up the entire building.
A large group of men and women filed into the dorm. There were aunties and uncles, grandma, and grandpa; the entire family had accompanied the new student. The dorm Chen Fan lived in was not small by any stretch of the imagination, it has four bedrooms, and each had their separate washroom, a spacious living room, with a sofa, air conditioning, and a fridge.
However, it was jam-packed with the last roommate’s family members.
“Ah! This suit is too old! It’s not nearly as comfortable as the one used by our concierge. Xiao Lun, let grandma rent you a suite outside of school, how about the Hilton Hotel? Grandma is going to feel bad every day thinking you are living in such a dingy little place.” An old woman decked out from head to toe with expensive Jewelry had been complaining about the dorm ever since she arrived.
“Grandma, I will be fine!” A tall and handsome looking young man said annoyed.
“Hi everyone, I am so sorry to disturb you guys. My name is Qiu Zhenqin and this is my son Qiu Yilun, your future roommate. I thank you in advance for looking after my son in the future.” A stately looking middle age man emerged from the crowd and said. “Come on, let’s get out of here to have lunch, It’s on me.”
The middle-aged man’s persistence finally persuaded Qi Wangsun and the others.
They ate lunch at the most expensive restaurant in Jin City. Dishes piled up onto the table, each more expensive than the one that came before. In the end, Zhang Mu whispered to Chen Fan: “holy shit! This one meal is worth our entire year of tuition.”
Chen Fan cracked a smile and kept his silence.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man had been examining his son’s roommates, evaluating them in his mind.
Zhang Mu was big and tall. He seemed down to earth but a little bit nervous. He must be from a normal middle-class family.
Meanwhile, despite Qi Wangsun’s ordinary appearance, Qiu Zhenqin knew that this young man was from a powerful family. Ever since he entered this high-end restaurant, he seemed pretty comfortable with everything and neither was he surprised by any of the expensive dishes.
“He must be from a powerful family and was already used to luxuries. He is someone worth my son’s time.” Qiu Zhenqin thought to himself.
However, Qiu Zhenqin conceded that Chen Fan remained an enigma to him. The boy had been sitting calmly all the while and didn’t eat anything except for a few sips of water. He didn’t seem to care about any of these dishes made out of precious ingredients. Even during the toast, his lips never touched wine. If this was a grown-up’s social event, only the boss had the right to not drink at all.
“He is either from an extremely powerful family, or he is outright ignorant.”
The evaluation went on for a while, and he was still unable to get a handle on Chen Fan. In the end, he shook his head and gave up. “I am thinking too much. It’s impossible that my son’s roommate happened to be from a rich family.”
With that thought in mind, he made a mental note to remind Qiu Yilun not to waste his time on this boy.
Qiu Zhenqin was a businessman and valued ties and connections as one of his most important assets. He had been teaching that importance to his son, guiding him to differentiate between the people that were useful to him and the people who would only waste his time. This, in Qiu Zhenqin’s mind, was the most basic skill of building a useful web of connections.
Qiu Zhenqin always preached his son. “The so called business was a business of connections. With connections, money would come to you by itself.”
After lunch, the Qiu family members finally left school.
Qiu Yilun collapsed into his bed and yawned. “Finally, they are gone! I am FREE!”
He rose to his feet again and smiled at his roommates apologetically.
“Hey bro, do you know any pretty hot chics in our school?”
“Uh?” Zhang Mu was confused.
Qi Wangsun gave the young man a sidelong glance and kept his silence.
“Ah-ha! Then let me fill you in! I have noticed that the girls in our school are much more attractive than those from other schools. I say we have all the prettiest school girls in Jiang Nan Province. Did you see that senior student who greeted me? She was so friendly and…” Qiu Yilun’s face lit up with joy as he started to talk about girls.
“You guys carry on, I need to finish something.”
Chen Fan walked out of the room.
As soon as he was out of the dorm, he walked toward the main campus of the Jin City University, where his real goal of the trip was.