It was an October day, with clear skies and crisp autumn air.
Chen Pingjiang, dressed in a simple white T-shirt and shorts, wearing a baseball cap and large black sunglasses, sat casually in the stands watching the figures sprinting on the sports field.
These days were the sports meet at the University of Finance and Economics, and Chen Pingjiang had specially come to look around.
Zhai Fei, who was then the vice president of the School of Industrial Management's student union, sat somewhat reservedly beside Chen Pingjiang, chatting idly with him.
"Those two freshman cadres from the dormitory management department, I gave them a good scolding last time, they were too unaware."
Chen Pingjiang waved his hand:
"Cut that out. They didn't do anything wrong. Besides, it's quite normal for freshmen to show off a bit under the guise of the student union."
"Hehe, that's what I said, but it would be bad if a great flood washed away the Dragon King's temple."
Among the entire student union, Zhai Fei was the most comfortable.
Logically, he shouldn't have gotten to the position of vice chairman, but he had a good relationship with Chen Pingjiang, and was Chen Pingjiang's nominal former leader.
So no one objected to Zhai Fei becoming vice chairman, unless someone was foolish.
Although nominally a vice chairman, he was practically like the chairman, as Chen Pingjiang never bothered with any student union matters, merely lending his name.
The student union thrived internally, and it was the same externally.
If all the college student union presidents sat together, Zhai Fei's seat could rank among the top three.
However, Zhai Fei also knew his place; he was very aware that people were giving face to Chen Pingjiang, and it had nothing to do with him.
This year's sports meet, Chen Pingjiang was the sole sponsor.
Across the campus, banners and pull-up stands signed with "Renrenwang," "Renren Farm," "Renren Delivery," "Xiao Chen BBQ," and "Miao Tea" were displayed everywhere.
With a wave of his hand, Chen Pingjiang directly provided nearly 100,000 yuan in sponsorship funds for the university's sports meet.
From major prizes to minor things like athletes' drinking water, everything was sponsored by him.
This truly made other student unions envious of the School of Industrial Management's student union.
Who told them they didn't have such a "big daddy" above them?
Normally, they had to solicit donations everywhere to organize an event, but look at the School of Industrial Management's student union, their external relations department was almost being dismantled.
"Zhai Fei, you're actually doing quite well now. It doesn't matter whether I hold this title or not. I suggest you take over the chairman position, so your resume will look better when you graduate,"
Chen Pingjiang said casually.
This startled Zhai Fei, who quickly waved his hands:
"No, no, who am I to do that? I'm satisfied being a vice chairman, and as for my resume, it really doesn't matter."
Chen Pingjiang smiled:
"I'm not kidding you. Even if I step down as chairman, it doesn't mean I'll ignore the affairs of the School of Industrial Management. If you have any funding needs, just go to Entrepreneurship Park 202 and submit an application."
Chen Pingjiang felt that he barely stayed at school these days, and it was unreasonable to still occupy the position of student union chairman.
Those who knew would understand, but those who didn't might think he, Chen Pingjiang, cared.
"This matter is settled then. Later, I'll inform the Youth League Committee of the school, and you can proceed with the election yourself."
Though he had ten thousand reluctances in his heart, seeing that Chen Pingjiang had made up his mind, Zhai Fei could only purse his lips.
It must be said that the School of Industrial Management's student union was an anomaly at the University of Finance and Economics.
In other school student unions, people fought tooth and nail for the chairman position.
The same scene would not only not appear in the School of Industrial Management, but everyone would avoid it if possible.
Hao Shaoping was like this, and so was Chen Pingjiang.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhai Fei said,
"By the way, when I intern next year, can I use your connections to get an internal recommendation for Renrenwang, any department is fine."
This wasn't a sudden thought for Zhai Fei; it had germinated ever since he saw Hao Shaoping give up the student union chairman position just to get into Renrenwang.
Now hearing that getting into Renrenwang was becoming increasingly difficult, Zhai Fei was quite nervous.
Chen Pingjiang chuckled:
"That's right, my internal recommendation counts as an internal recommendation. No problem, just come and report when the time comes."
With Renrenwang's multiple businesses advancing simultaneously, what was most lacking was people.
At least Zhai Fei was a known quantity.
Chen Pingjiang didn't mind giving "his own people" a platform, but whether they succeeded or not would be another matter.
"Spring breeze blows, war drums beat, Humanities Class Three fears no one!"
"Congratulations to Ruan Lingling from Accounting Class One for winning the championship in the women's 800-meter final just now. Our entire class is proud of her."
"..."
Various motivational slogans and encouraging speeches occasionally drifted from the loudspeakers, truly setting the atmosphere.
Chen Pingjiang, looking around, suddenly saw a familiar figure at 45 degrees to his right.
Unexpectedly, it was Zhang Xinyue, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
This woman had been out of his life for over half a year; the last time they met was when Chen Pingjiang brought her something back during Chinese New Year.
In fact, this was quite normal.
They weren't in the same major, and even if they were, Chen Pingjiang rarely attended classes.
Coupled with Zhang Xinyue's tsundere personality, she wouldn't actively seek out Chen Pingjiang.
Chen Pingjiang himself was very busy, so it wasn't surprising they hadn't met in over half a year.
Zhang Xinyue still wore her signature bun, and her skin was as fair as snow under the not-too-intense sunlight.
To her right was her best friend, and an old acquaintance of Chen Pingjiang, Ma Lingli.
However, to her left, with his back to Chen Pingjiang, was a boy.
Chen Pingjiang couldn't clearly see what the boy looked like, but he appeared tall and thin, with dyed yellow hair and an earring on his left earlobe.
The boy was very attentive, holding three cups of Miao Tea; he handed one to Ma Lingli, kept one for himself, and offered one to Zhang Xinyue, but Zhang Xinyue shook her head and didn't take it.
Zhai Fei, who was watching the competition, inadvertently looked back and saw where Chen Pingjiang's gaze landed, then asked curiously,
"Do you know Ma Xiaoen?"
Chen Pingjiang turned his head back in surprise and asked,
"Who is Ma Xiaoen?"
Zhai Fei pointed to the yellow-haired guy not far away:
"The one you're looking at, I thought you knew him."
Chen Pingjiang shook his head and asked with a smile,
"Which year is he? I haven't seen this guy before."
"He's a freshman, don't let his short time in school fool you, he's very famous."
Zhai Fei's eyes held some disdain:
"Right after military training, he poached a sophomore's girlfriend. Later, the sophomore, unable to swallow his anger, gathered some classmates to beat him up.
But this kid, relying on his family's money, called a bunch of people and beat the sophomore severely instead. Afterwards, the school punished both sides, but only gave the sophomore a probation, while others received demerits or warnings."
"It's a pity that sophomore was said to be excellent in both character and academics, quite good."
Probation itself is a relatively serious disciplinary action, which will affect future civil service exams, public institution exams, and political background checks for job applications.
Other disciplinary actions are relatively much lighter; although they also go into the file, many schools, for the sake of their employment rates, will organize student files before graduation and remove previous minor disciplinary records from the file, and such records can even be applied for cancellation before graduation.
Chen Pingjiang clicked his tongue in wonder:
"He's only a freshman and already so arrogant, poaching girlfriends and engaging in group fights."
Zhai Fei nodded:
"He's basically a hoodlum, you could say. The funniest part is, after the fight, he dumped the girl he'd spent a lot of money on, claiming it was just for fun. In reality, he looked down on such ill-behaved women, saying if she could run with him today, she could run with other men tomorrow.
Now, that girl's reputation is ruined, and it's said she's applied for a leave of absence. Some time ago, I heard he extended his 'evil claws' towards Zhang Xinyue."
Zhang Xinyue's reputation at school was also growing; although she usually kept a low profile, curious boys couldn't stop spreading stories about her.
However, Zhai Fei didn't know that Chen Pingjiang knew Zhang Xinyue.
From Chen Pingjiang's angle, he could just see the impatience and disgust on Zhang Xinyue's face, but she seemed unable to shake off Ma Xiaoen, this 'scabby dog'.
Ma Xiaoen, rejected by Zhang Xinyue, wasn't annoyed.
Instead, he sat confidently with his legs crossed, his right foot constantly swinging.
As Ma Xiaoen swayed his head and looked around, his gaze happened to meet that of Zhai Fei and Chen Pingjiang, who were looking at him.
What Chen Pingjiang and Zhai Fei didn't expect was that the yellow-haired guy actually sneered at them, and then raised his left hand to give them the middle finger.
Holy crap!
How the hell can this be tolerated?
Chen Pingjiang felt like laughing.
Wasn't this Ma Xiaoen a moron?
Someone looks at him, and he responds with a middle finger?
This showed how accustomed he was to being arrogant.
People who dared to give him the middle finger were rare these days.
Before Chen Pingjiang could speak, Zhai Fei cursed out loud.
He was a third-year senior after all, and the vice chairman of the student union, usually one of those who strutted around.
He didn't expect to be disrespected by a freshman today.
The crucial point was that Chen Pingjiang was also disrespected, which made the problem much bigger.
On one hand, he was angry himself, and on the other, he wanted to uphold Chen Pingjiang's dignity.
The astute Zhai Fei knew it was his time to act; even if he got into a fight, the school probably wouldn't do anything to him!
Of course, if he were disciplined, Zhai Fei probably wouldn't cry, but would grin instead.
Zhai Fei, instantly enraged, picked up the mineral water bottle in front of him and hurled it at Ma Xiaoen, hitting him squarely on his yellow hair.
Ma Xiaoen, clutching his head, also got angry, springing up and charging towards Zhai Fei.
The suddenly changing situation attracted the attention of everyone around, but Ma Lingli's gaze drifted to Chen Pingjiang, who was sitting to the side.
Although Chen Pingjiang was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, which made it a little harder for Ma Lingli to recognize him, he was still quickly identified.
Ma Lingli tilted her head and whispered a couple of words into Zhang Xinyue's ear, and Zhang Xinyue also looked over with a face full of surprise.
Their gazes met, Chen Pingjiang pulled down his sunglasses, revealing his dark eyes, then waved at Zhang Xinyue in greeting.
On this side, Zhai Fei and Ma Xiaoen had already engaged in close combat, wrestling with each other.
At that very moment, Ma Xiaoen happened to see Chen Pingjiang waving at Zhang Xinyue, mistaking it for him trying to steal his girl.
He immediately flew into a rage and shouted loudly towards a distance:
"Tan Jun, call people, damn it, I'm being messed with."
Chen Pingjiang pulled his sunglasses back up, his eyes full of disgust as he looked at Ma Xiaoen.
He had lived for most of his life and truly hadn't seen many brainless idiots like this.
Idiots just need a beating!
Chen Pingjiang called Dai Fei, who was the manager of a Miao Tea store off campus.
Dai Fei was off today, conveniently hiding in his rented room playing 'Fight the Landlord' with Zhao Shaoyang and two other young men who hung out off campus.
Ever since they got acquainted in 1912 last time, these two guys often hung out together.
Upon hearing this, Dai Fei immediately exploded, along with Zhao Shaoyang.
The few of them shouted as they pulled out steel pipes from under the bed, mounted their 'ghost fire' motorcycles, and sped towards the University of Finance and Economics.
The reason Chen Pingjiang didn't call his classmates directly was because he didn't want them to get disciplined.
If Ma Xiaoen hadn't already been calling for backup, he would have gladly watched the show.
But this show couldn't be watched anymore.
He shook his head helplessly, truly, he hadn't checked the almanac before going out, to encounter such an idiot.
If this were exposed by the media and became news, he might be laughed to death.
But some things couldn't be avoided.
Chen Pingjiang couldn't leave now, and calling school leaders would make people think he chickened out.
What else could he do?
Tan Jun, who hung out with Ma Xiaoen, also had streaked yellow hair.
A few minutes later, he gathered three or four people and aggressively walked towards the stands.
Zhang Xinyue's gaze towards Chen Pingjiang was quite complex.
Having not seen Chen Pingjiang for a long time, she had thought this man had disappeared from her life, but unexpectedly they met again under such circumstances.
There was some joy in meeting again, some annoyance that Chen Pingjiang never sought her out, and other emotions as well.
She, on the other hand, was even more reluctant to actively seek out Chen Pingjiang due to the growing distance between them and her inner pride.
Because she was afraid Chen Pingjiang would misunderstand that she was only being proactive because he had become rich.
But after seeing Tan Jun and the others rushing over, Zhang Xinyue snapped back to reality and quickly waved at Chen Pingjiang:
"Hurry and go!"
Then she turned her head and shouted at Ma Xiaoen, who was wrestling with Zhai Fei:
"Ma Xiaoen, don't be crazy!"
It would have been fine if she hadn't shouted, but once she did, Ma Xiaoen completely exploded with anger.
Some time ago, upon seeing Zhang Xinyue, he was smitten, and immediately dumped the girl he had previously poached, wholeheartedly pursuing Zhang Xinyue.
But Zhang Xinyue wouldn't even give him a direct look!
Yet today she was scolding him for another boy she didn't even know!
For Ma Xiaoen, who was accustomed to being arrogant, how could he not go mad?
He glared at Chen Pingjiang and cursed:
"Damn your mother!"
At this moment, Tan Jun and his yellow-haired companions also arrived and immediately attacked Zhai Fei and Chen Pingjiang.
Zhai Fei was also loyal; even while taking a beating himself, he protected Chen Pingjiang.
Ma Lingli quickly ran to call the teachers and security team.
Zhang Xinyue, somewhat desperately, shouted:
"Run first!"
Chen Pingjiang sneered,
"She's just a woman after all, long hair but short on wisdom."
Someone's taking a beating for me, what kind of thing would it be if I ran away?
Just as Chen Pingjiang was about to take off his sunglasses and step in, two 'ghost fire' motorcycles roared directly over.
Dai Sheng and Zhao Shaoyang had sharp eyes and spotted Chen Pingjiang at a glance.
The four of them immediately pulled out steel pipes from behind their trousers and charged in, swinging the pipes at Ma Xiaoen and his three companions.
Fighting also required skill.
Dai Sheng and the others didn't go for lethal blows, nor did they aim for critical areas like the head or neck.
They hit only the legs, buttocks, and back.
Ma Xiaoen and his group were accustomed to bullying within the school, but they only had back-and-forths with other students.
Now, facing Dai Sheng and a few youths from outside the campus, they were instantly intimidated by the ferocity emanating from them.
What did Dai Sheng do?
He had been hanging out with Chen Pingjiang since high school, getting into fights at the drop of a hat.
After graduating high school, he spent another year hanging out in bars.
Chen Pingjiang had originally brought him from Tongcheng to handle some thorny issues, and unexpectedly, he finally came in handy today.
Dai Sheng, swinging the steel pipe in his hand, shouted:
"You motherf*cker want to die, huh? Mess with my boss, I'll show you!"
On the other side, Zhao Shaoyang was very shrewd; he didn't dare to use a steel pipe, but instead found opportunities to kick a couple of times.
However, just then, a dark figure flickered, and Erzi Zhou Guanghan arrived.
(End of chapter)