Chapter 25

Chen Jian has a rival now.

A second-generation official surnamed Zuo launched a fierce pursuit of Su Yi. It is said that this second-generation official from the preparatory class had been pursuing a girl from the School of Media since last year's military training, but his relentless efforts were in vain. Not long ago, the girl even poured a bowl of hot soup on his head in the cafeteria.

The blisters on his face had just healed when the second-generation official found another girl who made him go crazy—Su Yi.

Chen Jian was very depressed. Although he often called Su Yi, studied with her, and went shopping, he had hinted twice, but Su Yi never gave a clear response.

From Chen Jian's observation, Su Yi, who usually appeared gentle and mild, was not easy to approach but was not hard to talk to. She was outwardly round but inwardly square, with many things on her mind. Chen Jian always felt that she had a long and detailed life plan, but he didn't know what was in it.

When the second-generation official, holding a bouquet of roses, stood downstairs for the third time waiting for Su Yi, Su Yi called 717 and asked Chen Jian to meet her in the evening.

Chen Jian's handsome lips seemed to hang with the sadness of awaiting a verdict.

At around 7 PM, when the campus beauty Su Yi, holding a scarf, stood alone at the entrance of Building 6A waiting for someone, countless dreams of young men at Dongsen University were shattered.

When Chen Jian arrived at the entrance, Su Yi said nothing. She walked up to Chen Jian, put the scarf around his neck, tried it for length, then took it off and placed it in Chen Jian's hands, saying, "I knitted it." She then turned and left.

Chen Jian, struck by immense happiness, stood there for a full minute. For the first time, he felt as if the gates of heaven had opened for him.

Chen Jian had never hoped for winter to come as much as he did that day.

Seeing the scarf in Chen Jian's hands, Bian Xuedao thought Su Yi's taste in aesthetics was quite heavy. She used two colors to knit the scarf—black and red, each taking up half, clearly divided. Bian Xuedao had already started worrying about how to match Chen Jian's winter clothes.

The second-generation official was a persistent and unyielding one. Despite Su Yi's clear indication that she already had a boyfriend, he believed that as long as they weren't married, he still had a chance. He even had someone pass a message to Chen Jian, asking him to gracefully back off.

Chen Jian, a refined person, ignored the second-generation official.

A week later, Chen Jian went to Yu Jin's rented house, gave him some money, and asked him to find two local freelancers to help sell cheats.

As a result, a few days later, on a rainy night, the Honda car the second-generation official had parked near the school was smashed, and it was smashed badly.

It was precisely because of this sudden visit that Chen Jian was the first to discover that there was a woman in Yu Jin's house.

The girl was from Hunan, had graduated from junior high school, and had come to Songjiang with her fellow townspeople to look for work. She had worked as a cashier in several internet cafes. Somehow, she met Yu Jin online.

Yu Jin, now afraid of knowing too few people, would call anyone and chat with them. When he heard she was a cashier at an internet cafe, he contacted her and the network administrator to help him sell cheats. After a while, the girl earned some money and said she wanted to treat her "big brother" to a meal as a thank you.

Yu Jin was never afraid of being treated to a meal. Both being from the south, they quickly developed a sense of closeness and soon moved in together.

Yu Jin, now earning tens of thousands of yuan a month from selling cheats and other in-game items, believed what Bian Xuedao had told him—that the game would be popular for at least 2-3 years, and the income from cheats would remain good until 2003. Yu Jin trusted Bian Xuedao's words.

From the first moment he saw her, he was smitten with the soft-spoken, fair-skinned Hunan girl, especially after she admitted to having a 36D bust, which Yu Jin had personally measured and verified.

Yu Jin felt that the job as a cashier at an internet cafe was unnecessary; he could now afford to support her.

It was also after the 36D girl moved in that Yu Jin began to think about his partnership with Bian Xuedao.

At first, just getting money was enough for Yu Jin. Bian Xuedao always gave him a bit more when dividing the money, and Yu Jin was satisfied. At first, the thousands of yuan didn't feel like much, but when the income first exceeded 100,000 yuan in April, Yu Jin's heart wavered. He began to think about his hard work and the trouble of failing courses. He began to hope that the next time the money was divided, Bian Xuedao would change the split, but Bian Xuedao never mentioned it.

Sometimes Yu Jin understood clearly that the path was found by Bian Xuedao, and the technology was provided by Bian Xuedao. He was just helping to promote it. No other student at Dongsen University could earn as much as he did each month. This was all because he played games and, by chance, became partners with Bian Xuedao. Looking at the other boys in 717 dorm, who were still calculating their living expenses of a few hundred yuan each month, he should be content.

But was he really content?

Yu Jin felt he couldn't continue to rely on Bian Xuedao. He needed to find his own path. This thought became clearer and stronger after the 36D girl moved in.

Yu Jin wanted to treat the whole 717 dorm to a meal and introduce his girlfriend. He specified that only those with a confirmed relationship could bring a guest.

On the day of the meal, only Chen Jian brought Su Yi, and Ai Feng brought Nan Jiao.

The place Yu Jin found wasn't as good as the one Bian Xuedao had found, but it wasn't bad. At the table, Yu Jin formally introduced 36D, also known as Zhou Ling, to everyone.

Nan Jiao was very unhappy that Yu Jin only invited those with a confirmed relationship and not the boys from 603. She tried to get Yu Jin to drink at the table, but ended up drinking herself under the table. Ai Feng, out of respect, couldn't help.

When Su Yi and Zhou Ling accompanied Nan Jiao to the restroom, Tong Chao asked Yu Jin, "Third Brother, you're too happy, with that figure."

Yang Hao nodded in agreement while eating.

Yu Jin laughed and scolded, "You guys, be a bit more careful. Don't always stare at my son's cafeteria. Even if you want to look, can you at least be a bit more discreet? My wife didn't drink much, and you guys made her blush."

After that, he said to Li Yu, "I'm taken, so Li Xun is yours. You should hurry up."

Li Yu said, "Soon, soon. Once Lao Bian and I finish practicing the song, it will be soon."

Yu Jin stiffened his neck, "Lao Bian can sing?"

"Lao Bian?" Ai Feng asked, "Aren't you older than the four of us?"

"We'll talk about it separately," Yu Jin said without explaining.

Ai Feng was confused, but only Li Yu and Chen Jian had a vague idea of what was going on.

To prepare for the school anniversary, the school and college had mobilized several times. The Youth League Committee, student councils at various levels, and art groups took turns to recruit people, money, and connections, brainstorming, creating, and rehearsing programs, all busy as bees. When someone came to the class to select participants, Bian Xuedao completely ignored it.

Apart from the large choir, group dance, and poetry recitation, everything sounded boring. Moreover, once involved, it would definitely take up a lot of time for rehearsals, and he wouldn't participate in such things.

Song Jia had a boyfriend. It was Yang Hao who told Bian Xuedao when no one was in the dorm. He still remembered that Song Jia and Bian Xuedao were close at the beginning of the semester.

Not long after, at the ceremony for the后勤总公司 (后勤总公司 is a term for the后勤 department, which can be translated as后勤 Administration) to sponsor poor students, Bian Xuedao met Song Jia and her boyfriend.

Song Jia introduced her boyfriend, Tan Jiajie, to Bian Xuedao. Tan Jiajie was from Jiangsu, a student in the Materials Department, and one of the 31 students receiving aid. He received 1,000 yuan in scholarship funds due to his excellent grades.

In a brief conversation, Bian Xuedao, with his adult experience, noticed the obvious characteristics of a "phoenix man" in Tan Jiajie—mixed with inferiority and arrogance, sensitive and guarded, yet trying to appear worldly.

From their posture and expressions, Bian Xuedao could see that in his relationship with Song Jia, Tan Jiajie was in a dominant position. He probably felt that a girl from a well-off family choosing to date him could only mean one thing: Song Jia had good taste.

Looking at the sweet-faced Song Jia, Bian Xuedao couldn't say much more. They were just classmates, and breaking up a couple was something he preferred not to do.