Chapter 43: The Sky is About to Fall!

"This is unfair to others," Lu Junzhuo said. "Those who can enter the review stage, which one of them doesn't have exceptional qualities? Why should we exclude them?"

"Some people can't get things done, but they won't cause trouble," Su Shan said. "The young lady of the Qiu family is one such person. Those you mentioned who didn't pass the assessment, they can get things done, but they can cause even more trouble. This is the reason they are rejected. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Lu Junzhuo said. It's not about age when it comes to having ambition, and it's not about seniority when it comes to doing evil. He had to admit that some people, relying on their powerful family backgrounds, could do things that infuriate both heaven and earth. If found, they could indeed get things done. However, their ability to cause destruction was clearly even greater. This was the reason they were rejected by the Red Eagle.

He approved of this decision. He also didn't want a few bad apples to spoil the whole bunch.

For a woman with a penchant for cleanliness and perfectionism, this was even more so.

"Our time is very tight," Su Shan said. "I only have one year left."

"What about after one year?"

"Lu Junzhuo, you're thinking too far ahead," Su Shan said, then sighed softly. "After one year, I will graduate."

"But a broader sky awaits you," the man's eyes sparkled. "I look forward to how high and far the Red Eagle in your hands can fly."

"I won't let you down," Su Shan said confidently. "After I leave, I will hand over the membership development and review affairs of Nan Da to you. You go and get busy. I'm also very busy."

"What are you busy with?" Lu Junzhuo asked.

"I'm fishing," Su Shan said matter-of-factly, with a happy look on her face.

Then, she picked up the green, thumb-thick bamboo rod and cast the red line with the bait at the end into the lake water—it was a small yellow flower.

Lu Junzhuo watched the fish play around the flower for a while, then turned and left.

Tang Zhong had just reached the entrance of the third canteen when he heard Huaming's loud voice shouting, "Second Brother! Second Brother! Over here!"

A group of people looked toward the entrance, searching for 'Second Brother.' Tang Zhong quickly turned his face away, pretending not to know them.

Huaming ran over in a flash, grabbed Tang Zhong's shoulder, and said, "Second Brother, they're calling you. Didn't you hear? Come on, the brothers are waiting for you. The noodles are already stir-fried. The chicken wings are freshly fried and bought, they're best when hot."

Tang Zhong had no choice but to follow Huaming to the table where they were sitting.

"Second Brother, you're here," Liang Tao pushed a bowl of noodles wrapped in a plastic bag toward him and said, "If you hadn't come, they would have cooled."

"Where's Li Yu?" Tang Zhong asked.

"Over there," Liang Tao pointed to the second window. "He went to buy chicken wings for you."

Tang Zhong didn't say anything more, opened the bag, and started eating the noodles.

Although the media repeatedly reported that plastic bags were made from various garbage and contained many toxic substances, using them to hold hot food was unhealthy, the Chinese people didn't care much about it. Even if you bought a golden bowl, it wouldn't help if it was filled with gutter oil.

"Did the old man, the dean, call you?" Huaming chuckled. "Did he scold you?"

"He's my teacher," Tang Zhong corrected him. "He didn't scold me."

"How could he not scold you?" Huaming said disappointedly. "I thought he would scold you to the point of being covered in dog blood."

"Exactly, that's disappointing," Liang Tao chimed in.

Tang Zhong looked up at the two of them and said, "It seems you're unhappy that I didn't get scolded?"

"Of course. We bet twenty chicken legs with Li Yu," Huaming, not noticing Liang Tao's warning glances, said it without thinking.

Tang Zhong wasn't going to sympathize with them and said to Li Yu, who was holding two hot fried chicken wings, "You win, and I get half the chicken legs."

"Okay," Li Yu smiled shyly.

The three of them had already finished eating, they were just waiting for Tang Zhong to come over.

Tang Zhong quickly finished his meal, and the four of them walked back to the dormitory together.

After taking a shower, his hair still damp, Tang Zhong lay on the bed reading a book.

With Tang Zhong's permission, Li Yu sat in front of his Apple computer to play games.

Huaming was cutting cabbage for his rabbit, Xiao Gua, holding a kitchen knife, a few swift cuts, and the leaves were shredded. He looked like someone from the underworld, but his demeanor was that of a chef.

Liang Tao was on the phone on the balcony, his face lecherous, the person on the other end was definitely not a man.

Such a relaxed and interesting college life was what Tang Zhong had always looked forward to.

He thought about the beautiful girl he met at the lakeside pavilion at noon. He didn't ask her name because he knew she wouldn't tell him even if he did.

Moreover, if Tang Zhong wanted to know, there should be many people who could provide him with information.

Thinking about this, Tang Zhong said to Huaming, who was looking lovingly at Xiao Gua eating the vegetables, "Huaming, do you know who the girl on the cover of the admission notice is?"

"Su Shan," Huaming answered without looking up. "The Nan Da campus beauty. No, she should be called the Nan Da campus beauty for three years—she's now a junior. She has been the campus beauty for three consecutive years, with no real competition. I was so focused on her that I didn't even notice the school motto on the admission notice. Otherwise, do you think I couldn't answer such a simple question? Others are probably the same. Otherwise, how could you, a student of Dean Jiao, have been chosen?"

"Su Shan?" Tang Zhong's mind raced. "Which Shan?"

"The Shan from 'mountains and waters meet,'" Huaming said. "What? Do you know her?"

"No," Tang Zhong shook his head. He had seen her mentioned many times in Tang Xin's notebook, a girl named 'Su Shan.' But it seemed this 'Shan' was not that 'Shan.'

"I thought so," Huaming gently fed a piece of cabbage to Xiao Gua and said, "She is very well-known, but very mysterious. Even her classmates rarely see her, let alone us from other departments."

"Then why is her photo on the cover of the admission notice?" Tang Zhong asked with a smile. If she were truly low-key, she wouldn't do such a 'high-profile' thing.

"Hehe, you asked the right person," Huaming ran to Tang Zhong's bed and sat down. "Now, all major universities are competing for students, you should know that. Nan Da is a century-old university in China, but it's not the only one. Moreover, universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan are also recruiting students from the mainland, and more students are choosing to study in Europe and America. How many top scorers in the college entrance exam are willing to stay in China? All the top talents have left, and these prestigious universities feel embarrassed."

"What does this have to do with putting a beautiful girl's photo on the admission notice?" Tang Zhong was even more puzzled.

"It's not related," Huaming said straightforwardly. "It's just to tell the new students that our school has beautiful girls. Come quickly, and you might have a chance to win a beauty."

"..."

"Allegedly, the principal personally negotiated with Su Shan, and she reluctantly agreed. Hehe, this move was quite effective. I originally planned to stay in Yanjing for university. It's familiar there. But I gritted my teeth and came to Nan Da, all because of the beauty on the admission notice."

"Me too," Liang Tao said, hanging up the phone and entering the room. "Heaven! I fell in love with this woman at first sight. She was a goddess. My mother said she would take me to Europe before school started, but I said I wouldn't go anywhere—I just wanted to go to school. My wish was beautiful, but reality is cruel. I thought that when I entered Nan Da, with my good looks, I might have a chance to fall in love at first sight with this woman. But after I came, I realized the school is so big that I don't even have a chance to meet her. As for falling in love, that's just a dream."

Tang Zhong laughed and shouted, "Li Yu, you didn't come for the beauty on the admission notice, did you?"

"I came to study psychology," Li Yu said without turning his head. He was in the middle of a fierce battle with his monster and couldn't be distracted.

"Huaming, how do you know so much?" Tang Zhong asked.

"The school BBS," Huaming said. "Someone posted about it on the forum, and I also asked some seniors."

"You asked about Su Shan?"

"No, I asked about the campus beauty rankings. They just kept talking about Su Shan," Huaming said. "I thought Nan Da would be like those novels, with first, second, third, and tenth beauties, but they chose only Su Shan. It's as if all other beauties are just cabbages."

Tang Zhong laughed, thinking this girl was indeed a legend on campus.

Thinking about her charming appearance when she fished with a small yellow flower, he felt she truly deserved such praise.

He thought he was the only one who fell in love with her at first sight, but it turned out these guys had all fallen in love with her at first sight. In that case, first love was quite fickle.

No wonder she was so cold to him. If it were another woman...

Tang Zhong thought about his black-rimmed glasses and greasy, messy hair and realized that other women would probably be cold to him too.

After chatting with them for a while, Tang Zhong's hair dried, and he was about to close his magazine and go to sleep when his phone on the table rang.

Tang Zhong picked up the phone and saw an unfamiliar number.

"Hello," Tang Zhong pressed the answer button.

"Tang Zhong, come back quickly. Something big has happened at home. It's a million times urgent," Zhang Heben's voice came through the speaker, sounding panicked.

Tang Zhong didn't expect Zhang Heben to call him. He remembered that she and Lin Huiyin never remembered his phone number.

Thinking about how she spoke, Tang Zhong couldn't help but laugh and asked, "Is there a very big rat at home again?"

"Of course not," Zhang Heben, seemingly not picking up on the sarcasm in Tang Zhong's voice, replied seriously, "If it were a big rat, I would have run downstairs in fear. Just come back quickly. If you don't, the sky will fall."

PS: If you don't vote, the sky will fall.