The Poor School Heartthrob Was Secretly a Financial Titan - Chapter 42
The man who moved in right next to Zhao Jiang was named Chu Qiang.
He’s actually quite good-looking, with regular features and well-defined eyes and brows. But when he smiles, the muscles in his face seem to be pulled by something, making him noticeably stiff. And when he speaks, his eyes stare straight at you, unmoving, which gives you the creeps.
Yu Xin and Li Jing instinctively shrank back when he looked at them.
Even Zhao Jiang, who was a head taller, quickly looked away after exchanging a few words with Chu Qiang.
Chu Qiang seemed to be used to this kind of reaction. He put down his luggage and nodded to the group: “Please bear with me, everyone. My eyes are like this. The doctor said it might be a rare disease, but he couldn’t say what it is. It’s not contagious. It can’t be treated in China, so I have to go abroad. But it doesn’t affect my daily life, so it doesn’t really matter whether it’s treated or not.”
After hesitating for a long time, Yu Xin finally managed to say, “If you act like this… won’t people want to hit you?”
Chu Qiang forced a smile: “Yes, it happened often in high school. I even got into a serious fight once and almost got expelled.”
Upon hearing this, everyone became interested.
As we talked more, I learned that Chu Qiang used to be a popular figure in their high school. He was handsome, but his face and eyes gave off a particularly arrogant vibe, and people were always picking on him. He knew he had a problem, so he would avoid people whenever possible and give way whenever possible.
Later, because of a girl he had feelings for, he was cornered by several people.
He got angry that time.
Five people cornered him, and he ended up beating four of them so badly they ended up in the hospital. Yet, he managed to come to class the next day despite his injuries, causing a sensation throughout the school. If his mother hadn’t been a close high school classmate of the principal, he probably would have been expelled.
But after that fight, it was as if his meridians had been opened, and his studies began to improve by leaps and bounds, leading him to be admitted to Ninghai University.
This shocked their school a second time.
A ruthless person who can fight, study, and fall in love.
Li Jing’s eyes widened in astonishment, and he couldn’t help but ask, “So what happened to your female classmate afterward?”
Chu Qiang’s face remained unchanged: “It’s meaningless, we broke up.”
“Holy shit.”
Li Jing felt like he’d been outdone by someone showing off again.
He never dated in high school and only started smoking after graduation. Han Xuetao’s “It’s been a long time since I smoked” and Chu Qiang’s “It’s not interesting” really provoked him.
…
The person who came in after Chu Qiang was Zhou Xiaobai.
He was the only one who came in with a box of books.
The box was extremely heavy. Yu Xin almost strained his back while helping to move it, and it took him a long time to recover from the pain.
The box was opened, and inside were collections of poems.
Shelley, Byron, Pushkin, Tagore, and a few Chinese books by Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, and Hai Zi, all neatly stacked.
Yu Xin clutched his back, staring dumbfounded at the box of books: “Xiao Bai, take another look at the acceptance letter, please. Are you sure you weren’t admitted to the literature department, but the geology department?”
Zhou Xiaobai looked aggrieved, her voice trembling: “Do you think I didn’t want to go to the literature department? It was my first choice.”
Yu Xin was stunned: “Then how did you get here?”
Zhou Xiaobai gritted her teeth: “My parents changed my mind. They’re geologists themselves, and they want me to be a geologist too. I’ll break with this feudal family sooner or later.”
These words were spoken with righteous indignation, and the people in the room did not know how to respond.
Han Xuetao looked at him, and was unusually speechless.
Li Jing felt as if he had suffered another blow.
Later, everyone learned that Zhou Xiaobai was indeed an artistic youth. He was pretty, spoke in a refined manner, and his writing was truly remarkableâhe got a perfect score on his college entrance exam essay, the only one in his dorm and the only one among all the freshmen in the geology department. Perfect scores on essays weren’t uncommon in literature departments, but in the geology department, this was a one-of-a-kind achievement.
What’s even more impressive is that he has published articles and poems in newspapers and magazines. For a high school student to publish in formal publications is no joke.
The oldest one moved in after Zhou Xiaobai.
His name was Xie Zhihua. As soon as he entered the room, he took out cigarettes and handed them out to everyone.
“Brothers, I’m older and I repeated a year of high school twice, so I can’t compare to you guys.” He smiled, his face showing a bit of vicissitude. “From now on, when we’re together, please be understanding.”
Li Jing took the cigarette: “You have perseverance. I definitely couldn’t have endured two years of repeating the year.”
Yu Xin said, “We all share a dorm room, bunk beds, there’s nothing superior or inferior about it.”
Xie Zhihua smiled and said nothing more. He did seem more mature than the others, and his words and actions were steady.
…
The last person to move in was from another province; he had come from the southwest to take the exam.
When he announced his name, everyone in the room was shocked.
“Ba Hui?”
Zhou Xiaobai was the first to react, looking at him in shock: “Ba Hui? Is that a name based on ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’?”
Yu Xin chimed in, “Just because of your name, your son will never be able to find a wife.”
Ba Hui’s face turned green, and he begged for mercy repeatedly, saying, “Don’t call me by my full name, everyone, please spare me! I’m so sorry, my dad only has an elementary school education, how could he have read ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’? Who knows who Jiao Da is? From now on, you can just call me Xiao Ba, anyway, I’m the youngest.”
Several people asked him how old he was, and Old Xie became quite agitated after hearing the answer.
This guy is indeed the youngestâhe skipped a grade once in junior high and once in high school. Normally, someone his age would still be in the first year of high school, but he’s already been admitted to Ninghai University.
Genius!
Everyone’s here.
Eight people were crammed into this north-facing dormitory room, their luggage piled up all over the floor.
The counselor arrived. She glanced around as she entered and asked, “Is everyone here?”
Then he took out a form: “Choose a dormitory head. You decide yourselves, and report back to me when you’ve chosen.”
Yu Xin raised his hand: “I choose Han Xuetao!”
“Stop joking.” Han Xuetao glanced at him, shook his head with a smile, “Old Xie is the oldest here, so let’s go with Old Xie.”
Everyone else also suggested that Lao Xie come.
Old Xie laughed and said, “Being a dormitory head isn’t a good job. There’s no money in it, it’s just about serving everyone.” He looked at Han Xuetao and said, “If Xiao Han were to go and choose the school’s most handsome guy, he would definitely be the top choice. No one can take him away from our dormitory’s number one handsome guy. This kind of tough job as dormitory head is better left to me, the older brother.”
After the reporting session, it was time for military training, but before the training even started, Han Xuetao was called to the department.
The notice was delivered by the counselor, saying that the department needed to speak with him. He asked what it was about, but the messenger couldn’t say for sure, only that he would find out when he got there.
He made his way to the administration building and stopped in front of the innermost office on the third floor. A sign hung on the doorframe: Academic Affairs Office.
A knock came at the door, and a middle-aged man’s voice came from inside: “Come in.”
Han Xuetao pushed the door open and went in.
The office was small, with a desk, a few chairs, and a row of metal cabinets against the wall. The desk was piled high with files, blocking half of the person sitting behind from seeing them.
The man looked up; he was in his forties, wearing black-rimmed glasses, slightly balding on top, and had a businesslike expression on his face. He was a section chief in the Academic Affairs Office, and his surname was Hou.
“Han Xuetao, right?” Section Chief Hou glanced down at the materials on the table. “Sit down.”
Han Xuetao sat down in the chair.
Section Chief Hou pulled a piece of paper from the pile of documents, looked at it, then looked at him, and said, “I called you here because of your professional issues.”
Han Xuetao was taken aback.
Section Chief Hou turned the paper around and pointed to the words on it: “Your admission notice says ‘Department of Earth Sciences,’ right?”
Han Xuetao nodded.
âBut the Department of Earth Sciences has specific majors,â Section Chief Hou said. âThe other people in your dorm should have admission notices with names like âGeology,â âGeochemistry,â or âResource Exploration.â Look at yoursâit only says âDepartment of Earth Sciences,â without any specific major.â
Han Xuetao glanced down at the paper; it was indeed the paper.
âYour first choice wasnât the geology department,â Section Chief Hou continued. âYour score wasnât high enough, so you were transferred here. At the time of the transfer, the specific major hadnât been decided yet. Now you have to choose one.â
Han Xuetao asked, “Teacher, what was my first choice?”
Section Chief Hou flipped through the materials: “Foreign Languages ââDepartment.”
Han Xuetao nodded.
Department of Foreign Languages.
In the 1990s, there was a craze for going abroad and learning foreign languages, and scores rose year after year. His score was indeed not high enough.
Section Chief Hou put down the materials, leaned back, and looked at him: “Your score is high among the freshmen in the geology department, so you should be studying geology. But geology is a one-man show, and the spots are already full.”
He paused, observing Han Xuetao’s expression: “Of course, if you have connections at home, you can talk to the department and it’s not impossible to transfer. After all, your score is high enough.”
Han Xuetao remained silent.
Section Chief Hou waited for two seconds, and seeing that he didn’t say anything, he knew what was going on.
It’s okay.
That makes things easier.
Just as he was about to speak, Han Xuetao asked first, “Teacher, what majors can I choose?”
Upon hearing this, Section Chief Hou felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.
This kid isn’t planning on causing trouble, nor is he planning to use connections to escalate the situation. That makes things much easier.
To be honest, he was a little worried just now. Those old professors in geology always make a fuss at every admissions meeting, saying that admissions must be based on merit, not favoritism or forcing in people who can’t be properly trained. But admissions are never that simple. Balancing relationships with all sides, and it’s all the administrative work that involves offending people. The old professors just give a few words, but they run themselves ragged.
If this kid insists on studying geology, he’ll be in real trouble. He has the score, but there aren’t any spots available. If he refuses, he’ll offend people; if he doesn’t, he’ll offend those old professors.
Now it’s all right, they didn’t mean it that way.
Han Xuetao didn’t really care. He felt that it was already good enough that he could go to university instead of ending up in jail! Besides, he really didn’t understand geology; he felt that all majors were pretty much the same.
Section Chief Hou’s expression softened, and he took out a few sheets of paper from the drawer and spread them on the table.
“You can choose for yourself. These are all majors under the geology department, and they are all quite good.”
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