The Poor School Heartthrob Was Secretly a Financial Titan - Chapter 40

He knew that the popularity of business management hadn’t just started overnight. Back in the 1980s, people believed that “mastering math, physics, and chemistry would make you invincible.” Factories, research institutes, and schools were the proper career paths. While some did go into business, they were a minority and were called “speculators,” a somewhat derogatory term.

By the 1990s, the tide had completely turned.

The idea of ​​”letting some people get rich first” has been around for ten years, and now it’s truly happening before our eyes. Every motorcyclist, suit-wearing individual, and mobile phone user on the street—weren’t they all successful businessmen? Factory workers aren’t getting paid, research institute funding has been cut in half, and university professors earn only a few hundred yuan a month—less than the tea egg vendor outside the gate.

Once this atmosphere takes hold, young people naturally flock to places where they can make money. The admission scores for majors like business administration, foreign trade, and foreign languages ​​are rising year after year. While traditional engineering disciplines like geology have seen a slight resurgence in the last two years, they still lag behind the more popular fields.

“Hey, that’s our department over there.” Li Jing pointed ahead.

Han Xuetao looked up and saw a sign standing by the roadside, with white background and red lettering that read “Geology Department Welcome Station”. Several tables were lined up in a row, and a few students were sitting behind them, processing the procedures for the parents and new students who were queuing up.

The line was quite long, after all, it was a large department.

Li Jing looked around for a while, then turned to Han Xuetao and asked, “I wonder if we can be in the same dorm room. It would be great if we could.”

Han Xuetao also thought that sharing a room with this kid was pretty good; he was amiable and easy to get along with. But the matter of assigning dorm rooms was probably not up to them.

A skinny boy in front of them heard them talking and turned around: “Dream on. The dorms are all assigned by the school, we can’t choose.”

Li Jing asked, “Then what standard will be used for scoring? The college entrance examination score?”

The skinny boy laughed: “Scores are for getting into college; they’re useless once you’re in this room.” He introduced himself, “My name is Yu Xin, and I came with my mom.”

He pointed behind him, where a middle-aged woman stood not far away, dressed simply, her eyes constantly glancing in their direction, but she didn’t come over to speak. She was clearly an introverted person; her son was chatting with someone, but she just watched.

Yu Xin lowered his voice: “I’ve inquired about it. The dormitories were assigned a long time ago. Whoever has connections and can talk to the school gets a good dormitory. It’s just like how companies allocate housing. Do you think the houses allocated to the factory director and party secretary are the same as those allocated to ordinary fitters?”

Li Jing cursed, “Damn, the school even has this kind of ranking system?”

Yu Xin shrugged: “It’s the same everywhere in society. Not to mention society, it’s the same in prison.”

Li Jing said, “In prison? There’s a hierarchy even in cell division? What standards are used to classify prisons?”

Just as Yu Xin was about to speak, a voice interrupted from the side:

“Of course.”

The two turned around and saw Han Xuetao.

“Prisons are divided into cells, with both explicit and implicit rules. The explicit ones include not mixing serious offenders with minor offenders, putting murderers and arsonists in one cell and petty thieves in another. Even among murderers, there are distinctions; those who kill one person are treated differently from those who kill several. Those who have murdered people are given way when they walk in the cell.”

Li Jing listened intently.

Han Xuetao continued, “The hidden ones are even more detailed. When you get in, what you did, whether you have connections outside, and what resources you can get all affect your status inside. When a newcomer goes in, no matter how powerful they are outside, they’re treated like dirt once they’re in. You won’t get a good bed, you have to fight for the work, and if someone doesn’t like you, they’ll beat you up, and the discipline won’t even ask any questions.”

Yu Xin’s eyes widened in astonishment, and he gave Han Xuetao a thumbs up: “Dude, you’ve got guts!”

Li Jing asked, “How did you know?”

Han Xuetao glanced at him: “I heard it from someone else.”

The line moved forward, and it was their turn.

Yu Xin finished first, and Li Jing followed. The person in charge of registration was a senior student with a form in front of her listing names, ID numbers, and dormitory numbers. She looked at Li Jing’s admission notice, searched around the form, and then looked up and said, “Li Jing, Room 203, Geology Department, Dormitory Building No. 3.”

Li Jing laughed: “Okay, I’ll share a room with Yu Xin!”

Yu Xin leaned closer to take a look, and it really was true.

When it was Han Xuetao’s turn, the senior student took the admission notice and looked down at the form. After searching for a while, she frowned: “Hey? Why isn’t this student’s dormitory number written after his name?”

A man who looked like an instructor glanced at the table and said, “Some students who were assigned to other programs haven’t been given any spots. Just look at which one is empty and give it to them.”

The senior student nodded and looked up at Han Xuetao again.

Then he froze.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the sycamore leaves, falling directly on Han Xuetao’s face. He carried a bag on his back, his stray hairs shimmering with a faint golden hue in the light and shadow, making the contours of his eyebrows and eyes exceptionally clear.

The senior student held a pen in her hand, but didn’t move it for a long time.

My heart felt like it was leaking.

She had been in the geology department for three years and had seen many male geologists—the kind who spent all their time in the field, exposed to the wind and sun, each one as black as charcoal. The one in front of her, however, had fair skin, regular features, and an indescribable quality in his eyes, completely different from the ones she usually saw.

“Senior?” Han Xuetao asked.

The senior student snapped out of her daze, her face slightly flushed, and quickly looked down at her watch. She flipped through a few pages and found a room: “218, also in Building 3.”

Han Xuetao took the order: “Thank you.”

He turned and left.

The senior student stared at his back for a while, and another girl next to her leaned over and whispered, “Hey, what are you looking at? Your eyes are about to pop out.”

The senior student looked away and whispered, “That junior was so handsome.”

Which one?

“The one who just left, the one with the bag.”

The girl peeked out and only saw a back view: “How handsome?”

“Finally, our geology department isn’t all ugly ducklings anymore. This time, we finally have someone who can compete for the title of campus heartthrob.” The senior student rested her chin on her hand, her eyes still a little dazed.

The girl laughed: “You’re already a junior in college, what, you still want to date a younger woman?”

The senior rolled her eyes at her: “It’s not that it’s impossible.” She paused, then sighed, “I’m just afraid there will be too many cows and I won’t be able to get one.”

Han Xuetao didn’t hear a single word of these words.

After he finished the formalities and came out, Li Jing and Yu Xin were still waiting there. Upon seeing him, the two of them came to greet him.

“Why are you only coming out now?” Li Jing asked. “Are you in our dorm?”

Han Xuetao said, “Building 3, Room 218.”

Yu Xin was taken aback: “218? How come it’s 218?”

Han Xuetao looked at him: “What’s wrong?”

Yu Xin counted on his fingers: “We should all have numbers starting with 20 here, like 201, 202, 203, how come you have one starting with 21?”

Han Xuetao showed him the list: “I don’t know either, whatever they give me is what I get.”

Yu Xin glanced at it twice, but couldn’t figure it out, so she handed the form back to him: “Let’s go, let’s go take a look first.”

…

Dormitory Building No. 3 is located in the northwest corner of the campus, a drab five-story old building. The exterior walls are painted with beige paint, but in some places the paint has peeled off, revealing the mottled wall underneath.

Although it’s old, it’s very lively with students coming and going.

The three people entered the building and went up to the second floor. The corridor had two directions, one to the south and one to the north. Sunlight shone in from the south, making it bright and cheerful; the north side was darker, with the end of the corridor pitch black.

Li Jing’s group 203 is in the south, while Han Xuetao’s group 218 is in the north.

Yu Xin looked at both sides, then at Han Xuetao, his expression somewhat complicated: “The south side is obviously better.”

Han Xuetao remained silent.

Yu Xin lowered his voice: “You came to report alone, no one from your family came. I thought you… tsk, it seems not.” He suspected that Han Xuetao had connections at home.

Li Jing didn’t understand: “Not what?”

Yu Xin didn’t explain, but waved to Han Xuetao: “Then we’ll go ahead first, and visit each other later.”

The two of them headed north.

Han Xuetao turned and headed south, walked to the end of the road, and found 218.

The door was open, but no one was inside.

He went in and glanced around.

The six-person room was surprisingly spacious. There were three bunk beds against the wall, six beds in total. Opposite the beds was a row of wooden cabinets, painted light yellow. In the middle was a long table with a few chairs. The window wasn’t large, but the light was quite good, making it look quite spacious.

He took two steps toward the window and then suddenly stopped.

wrong.

He approached a bed and examined it closely. A small sign hung on the metal frame, displaying his number, name, and student ID.

He looked at the next few pictures, and they all had them.

There were six beds, five of which had signs hanging on them. Only the lower bunk closest to the door was empty, completely bare.

Han Xuetao stood there, staring at the signs for a few seconds, his face slowly darkening.

The beds even have numbers on them.

This feeling is so familiar.

In my past life, when I first entered a cell in prison, the warden pointed to a bed closest to the toilet and said, “Yours.” That bed was right next to the squat toilet, and the smell was so strong it could kill you. The older inmates next to me all had beds on the outside, against the wall—good locations, and clean.

It’s exactly the same as what’s happening right now.

New inmates are assigned the worst beds. Veteran prisoners sleep in the best spots, with their names on signs, and nobody is allowed to move.

He looked up at the beds by the window. Sunlight streamed in from the north window, not much, but better than the light from the doorway. The beds weren’t occupied yet, but the signs were already up; they had been reserved long ago.

He was one of the last people to be admitted, so he could only sleep by the door.

Han Xuetao threw his bag onto the empty bed and sat down on the edge of it.

The dissatisfaction in my heart just kept rising.