Chapter 1272: Chapter 846: Maxed-Out Charisma (Part 2)
All human beings.
The four of them were totally unfamiliar with the place and couldn’t find anywhere decent to go, so they simply picked a cafeteria and bought some drinks to make it count.
As the drinks kicked in, the three of them started talking more and more.
Jiang Nian spoke little and listened a lot. He’d long lost any desire to show off; none of his own stuff was really something he wanted to talk about.
Yeah... none of it was exactly glorious.
As for the Taobao shop, that wasn’t something he had to hide. But there was no need to bring it up either, so he just quietly listened.
Da Chao said his family did business; Li Junfeng smiled, while Yang Jingfan kept a calm expression and just nodded.
Li Junfeng’s parents were both in the system, a dual-income family. A real "hide-your-strength" type—turned out he was Grandpa Bao Song.
Yang Jingfan’s family conditions were average, and he spoke very cautiously. Jiang Nian, a mutt from a small county, just grinned the whole time.
Back at the dorm, there wasn’t much to do.
"Cards?"
"Sure."
The Haidian Casino went online; after all, it was the first day. Everyone was getting along well, they even gambled a bit.
One yuan a hand.
As soon as Yang Jingfan saw there was money involved, he shook his head and sat out. So only the other three played.
They played for two hours, wins and losses going back and forth.
"Can I skip military training?" Da Chao suddenly said. "If I apply to the school, say I’m sick and can’t participate?"
"Just ask," Jiang Nian egged him on.
Though this military training didn’t seem that tiring anyway, nothing worth dodging. It was basically playing around, plus a few classes.
Before long, Da Chao got a reply.
"I can’t give you a clear answer for now. I’ll pass your request along; you’ll have to judge for yourself."
Amusing.
....
Several days went by in a row: physical exams, the first opening run of the semester, club recruitment, all the way up to the first day of military training.
Busy yet boring, nothing much happened.
Worth mentioning: on Brother Bao Song’s second day at Beijing University, he woke up in the morning and his face was covered in blood.
Beijing’s so dry he got a nosebleed.
Da Chao treated the guys in the dorm to a few meals, and successfully became the "boss,"兼dorm monitor.
On one hand, times had changed. Nobody fought over that old-school nonsense like "boss," "no.2," "the youngest" anymore.
On the other hand, the dorm monitor occasionally had to attend meetings. The other three found it troublesome and none of them wanted to take the job.
Brother Bao Song wanted to game, Yang Jingfan wanted to read. Jiang Nian was busy finding girls to eat with, so busy his feet barely touched the ground.
It was Xu Qianqian and the others’ first time living in a dorm; they weren’t used to collective life and were also a bit homesick.
They could only frequently huddle together and drag Jiang Nian out to eat and chat.
Xiao Song didn’t adapt well to the climate and caught a cold that very night. Jiang Nian ordered medicine by delivery and brought it to her a few times.
In the meantime, it even drizzled for a few days.
Xu Shuang was fine, just not used to the food. She kept complaining the dishes here were either too oily or too salty.
Li Qingrong was relatively busy, and the people she was dealing with were completely beyond Jiang Nian’s imagination; she was practically swept away.
The physics prodigy was starting to show her edge.
Talent, in this kind of place, was almost impossible to hide; beyond every genius, there was another genius.
Li Qingrong had everything going for her; she basically started the game on a massive winning streak.
In the dorm, Yang Jingfan and Brother Bao Song hit it off, because when picking courses, Brother Bao Song just followed his whims.
He didn’t care at all about those "please choose carefully" prompts.
With a brain that strong, he was simply unbeatable.
Da Chao had originally wanted to hang with Brother Bao Song, since their family backgrounds were similar, but Brother Bao Song was into games.
And he felt Yang Jingfan was boring, a pure bookworm.
As for Jiang Nian....
Being seen with him was honestly frustrating. Girls kept glancing over, and he could only serve as a foil.
Plus, this guy’s whereabouts were unpredictable. Come mealtime he’d vanish, and he came back late every night.
Finally, on the second day of military training—
During a break, Da Chao grabbed the chance and couldn’t help turning his head to ask, "Third, where do you usually go?"
Jiang Nian wasn’t into the old-school ranking thing, but Da Chao liked it, and since he wasn’t "second," he let it slide.
"Oh, just wandering around."
"That’s so boring." Da Chao didn’t doubt him; after all, school had just started. "Come hang out with me instead."
"To do what?" Jiang Nian asked.
"Meet people, make new friends," Da Chao answered carefully, not mentioning girls. "That’s way more fun."
"Yeah, true." Jiang Nian nodded. "But I’ve already got plans. A fellow townsman asked me out to eat."
Turn the girl into a "fellow townsman," who’d overthink that.
"Your Zhen Nan folks, huh." Da Chao was speechless; in his eyes they were all villagers from the boondocks.
That was indeed someone you should see more of, for the sake of hometown bonds.
Jiang Nian just smiled and didn’t say more. Whether someone was easy to get along with, you figured that out slowly.
No need to slap labels on people at the start; give it time and you’ll see.
Da Chao sighed and went to bother Brother Bao Song again. Brother Bao Song was exasperated and pushed him aside.
"You’re too clingy. I’m about ready to stick you in the dorm corner to catch mice."
Damn, that’s sus!~
It wasn’t.
At noon, Jiang Nian met up with Xu Qianqian and the others in the cafeteria. In the evening, he arranged to eat with Li Qingrong.
In the mornings, he went running with Xu Shuang.
All in all, four fellow townspeople at the same school. With that kind of hometown density, calling this a "foreign city" wasn’t much different from Zhen Nan.
On a related note, Renmin University had also started.
Zhizhi’s parents had accompanied her, and they brought Huang Beibei along too. The two girls went through all the procedures smoothly.
......
At the table, Xu Qianqian sighed.
"It rained the other day and soaked my shoes. They call this place Yan Garden; might as well call it Flooded Garden."
"At least the military training isn’t tiring," Song Xiyun pursed her lips, and casually picked up some food to put in Xu Qianqian’s bowl.
"True, and they don’t do room checks," Jiang Nian said offhand. "I’ve already moved your stuff over."
Hearing that, the two girls froze for a moment.
"Oh."
"Okay."
Once this topic came up, they immediately felt uncomfortable, like they didn’t quite fit in with everyone around them.
After all, their classmates were all students.
But they themselves...
In reality, it was all psychological, but Jiang Nian didn’t press it. He just said he wouldn’t be staying over there for now.
"You two should adapt a bit. I’ll probably be pretty busy in the near future—once military training ends, if I have time I’ll be flying to Yuhang."
He obviously couldn’t just leave the shop there. Now that it was expanding in an orderly way, it was basically like owning a personal money printer.
The rent over there, he didn’t even bother to count.
"You’re that busy?" Xu Qianqian was surprised. "Won’t you fall behind on your courses? I heard they’re really hard."
Jiang Nian: "???"
"My major has less than half a week’s worth of classes."
This time it was Xu Qianqian’s turn: "???"
"You’re not gonna study?"
"That’s not it. I’ve got the shop to run, right?" he said. "Learning by doing is more meaningful."
Song Xiyun felt that made sense and nodded.
"Indeed."
Xu Qianqian: "...Xiyun, don’t buy his bullshit. He’s just lazy and doesn’t want to move."
Except for that time, she added silently in her heart.
Jiang Nian didn’t care; he switched topics. "How’s it going with your roommates?"
Hearing that, Xu Qianqian pouted.
"It’s okay, I guess."
Song Xiyun thought for a moment. "I haven’t been that involved, but it feels okay. I haven’t revealed anything."
Three people, one shared brain cell—that was basically it.
After speaking, the two girls looked at Jiang Nian.
"What about you? x2"
Jiang Nian thought about it and didn’t feel like badmouthing his roommates. "So-so. The dorm’s a bit stifling."
"They want to act all high-class, but are too shy to do it openly."
Hearing that, the two girls were like, "...."
Before they knew it, evening came.
After training, Jiang Nian finally met up with Li Qingrong. If there hadn’t been so many people around, he would’ve just hugged her.
"Qingqing, it’s really not easy to see you."
Li Qingrong just glanced at him and couldn’t be bothered with him. She picked through the dishes on her plate and passed him some meat.
"Been busy lately."
Then she paused for a beat.
"You wanted it?"
"No, of course not," Jiang Nian couldn’t hold it in. "Qingqing, am I that shallow in your eyes?"
At that, Li Qingrong nodded.
"Mm."
Jiang Nian: "....."
Fuck!
"Fine, whatever you say." Jiang Nian grabbed something he could talk about. "How are your roommates?"
"They’re fine. Normal people," Li Qingrong said coolly.
Hearing that, Jiang Nian instantly understood. The class monitor might not be slick, but her personal charisma was maxed out.
Cold, but still popular, huh.
