Mutual Aid Society

On the first day of August, Chen Chuan arrived at Wu Yi University early in the morning and pushed his bicycle through the school gate.

Like last time, he entered through the side gate. Meanwhile, cars would occasionally drive in through the main gate and head straight down the avenue toward the steps before the Great Hall.

As he stepped onto the campus again, there were far more people on the roads than he had seen that day. After all, only one group had come on the day of enrollment, and they had all been locals.

In fact, every year, more than a hundred thousand eligible students from both the local area and elsewhere applied to this institution. Many had enrolled at Wu Yi through application sites set up in various counties and towns, and they accounted for at least half of incoming students. This proportion seemed to be growing every year.

Following the signs posted by the roadside, Chen Chuan arrived with many other students at the old building where enrollment had taken place that day.

This time, at the direction of upperclassmen standing before the building, he went directly into what had once been the training ground. He registered and filled out forms there. After handing them in, he soon received a reddish-brown student ID.

When he opened it, he found the photograph he had submitted last time inside. The ID bore his temporary student number. With this student ID, he could now confidently tell others that he was a student of Wu University.

Even though he had not yet passed the retest, simply holding this proof in his hands put him in a fine mood. Just then, he heard a cheer. Looking back, he saw a student who had received his ID shouting excitedly. Chen Chuan could understand the feeling.

With this student ID, it was like putting one foot on the stairway upward. No one could say how far one might climb, but at least there was now a path beneath one's feet.

According to the booklet the university had given them earlier, once he had received a student ID, he could apply to the school for a dormitory room. However, the dormitories were only temporary accommodations, currently provided for students arriving from elsewhere or those without a place to stay. After the retest, housing would be readjusted according to retest scores.

Originally, since he had made arrangements with Nian Fuli, he had planned to move out directly. But since his family was no longer urging him, and he might still need to train with Yu Gang over the next month, moving in would be inconvenient. The commute was long, and he would also have to abide by the school's management. So, he decided to wait until after this month's retest.

What he needed to figure out now was the specific details of the retest.

After leaving the registration desk, he saw a sign on the wall beside the concrete stairs reading, "Entrance Retest Guidance." The students coming out were all heading upstairs, so he followed them to the second floor.

Upstairs, the former training ground had been divided into sections by partitions. At that moment, a student carrying the materials he had received left one of the seats. Chen Chuan walked over and sat down. Across from him sat a gentle-looking senior student wearing glasses, who said, "Student, please show me your student ID."

Chen Chuan handed over the student ID he had just received. After confirming it, the senior asked, "Student Chen, forgive me for asking, but are you having trouble paying tuition?"

Chen Chuan looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

The senior explained, "It's like this. Every year, quite a few Wu Yi students come from poor families and cannot afford tuition. Either they fall behind on payments for a long time, or they have no choice but to borrow money or fight in underground rings. In light of this, the university's student council has taken the lead in organizing a Mutual Aid Society."

He smiled. "As long as both sides sign an agreement, the Mutual Aid Society will provide assistance. The fees owed by students can be repaid after graduation. This helps students and allows them to study with peace of mind."

Chen Chuan understood. It was essentially a funding organization. This was also a feature of the Great Shun Republic—providing money or other forms of assistance to promising individuals or groups in exchange for certain returns.

Though it sounded good on the surface, in most cases, those receiving aid would only become tools for the sponsors to extract benefits. It was best to avoid such things whenever possible. Besides, as long as he passed the retest, tuition would no longer be a problem.

He replied politely, "Thank you, Senior, but I don't need it for now."

The senior smiled and did not bring it up again. Instead, he lowered his head and flipped through a stack of kraft-paper envelopes, pulled one out, and pushed it before Chen Chuan. "Student, these are files on the upperclassmen you may encounter in this retest. You can take a look."

Chen Chuan thanked him, opened the envelope, and pulled out five mimeographed sheets. Each corresponded to an upperclassman and contained a general overview of that student's specialties and preferred techniques.

But he immediately sensed a problem and looked up. "Five people?"

Only one student would ultimately be assigned to fight him, yet they had given him information on five people. Past applicants could not possibly have studied all five. Even if they had wanted to, they would not have had time for targeted training. Moreover, the information here was far too general, with almost no useful details to be found.

The senior nodded. "There are indeed five. The university will not directly provide applicants with the actual opponent. Applicants need to make that judgment themselves. However..."

He smiled faintly. "If an applicant accepts aid from the Mutual Aid Society, then the Society can help analyze which upperclassman you are most likely to face. We cannot guarantee one hundred percent accuracy, but the Mutual Aid Society is full of experienced seniors, and its accuracy rate has always been quite high."

Seeing that Chen Chuan said nothing, he continued in a very sincere tone, "Student, I understand that you are afraid to accept aid because you fear you will have to give up even more. But after accepting assistance, the agreement's restrictions on you are not that strict. No one will force you to do anything. And the Mutual Aid Society offers more than financial help—it can also provide all kinds of advice and conveniences in your studies. You will understand the benefits once you join."

At this point, he smiled again. "Of course, the retest is meant to select students with genuine ability. If you have the confidence to believe you can pass without relying on the Mutual Aid Society, then you may naturally choose not to accept."

"I need to think about it," Chen Chuan said.

The senior nodded approvingly. "You should. You ought to think it over carefully. If you make up your mind, you can come find me again. Here is my contact information."

As he spoke, he took out a prepared slip of paper and pushed it toward Chen Chuan. Then he added, "Oh, right, and this receipt. Please sign it."

Chen Chuan glanced at the form, picked up a pen, signed it, and pushed it back. He then picked up the slip with the contact information and tucked it into the kraft-paper envelope along with the five mimeographed sheets. After putting everything away, he stood up, nodded to the senior, turned, and left, heading downstairs.

At the same time, on the Great Hall side, Dan Xiong, Liu Cai, and several other second-year students stood in a row, each waiting beside a waist-high black-shell recording machine.

Before long, well-dressed young men and women walked up the steps before the hall, entered through the bright open doors, and headed toward them.

One student approached Liu Cai and handed him an exquisite hard card with a smile. "Sorry to trouble you, Senior."

Unlike the student IDs of those admitted through examinations, students admitted through recommendation received their IDs in the form of name cards, and they had obtained them well before enrollment.

Liu Cai hurriedly said, "You're too polite, Junior. It's no trouble."

After taking it, he placed the name card into a groove on the recording machine. Comparing the intensity of the colored print on the card, he entered a string of numbers, then turned the handle. A sheet of smooth, crisp paper slid out from the opening below.

It listed a particular upperclassman's detailed file, including height, weight, speed, blood type, heart rate, punching and kicking strength, movement habits, limb measurements, body proportions, and other information so detailed it was tedious.

Liu Cai picked up the sheet, placed it into a prepared document envelope printed with the university's name, and handed it along with the metal card to the student opposite him with both hands.

"Thanks, Senior." The young student accepted it with a smile, waved at him, and walked down the aisle into the hall.

Once Liu Cai had finished, Dan Xiong, who was somewhat absentminded that day and slower with his hands, immediately drew dissatisfaction from the student before him. "Why are you so slow? Can you even do this?"

Dan Xiong cursed inwardly. He wanted to flare up but could not. These students admitted through recommendation all had powerful and influential people behind them. Even though they had only just enrolled, they were not people he could afford to provoke.

The muscles in his face twitched as he took out the sheet and card, hurriedly packed them, and handed them over. The student across from him still shot him an unhappy glance, snatched the items away, and quickly headed inside.

Liu Cai looked at Dan Xiong and reminded him in a low voice, "Hold your temper. These powerful students are not easy to offend. There are only a few dozen of them anyway. Just endure it and it will be over."

Dan Xiong snorted. If he had known participating in the entrance examination would get him assigned here, he would never have gone up there even if it killed him. But then again, the brothers outside had said they found that kid. Yesterday, they had said they would give him an explanation and told him to wait. Why had an entire day passed without any news? Had they failed to catch that kid? Or had something else delayed them? Meanwhile, after Chen Chuan left the old building, he walked out of Wu Yi Academy and came to a telephone booth across from the square. A student was making a call there, apparently asking his family for money. Chen Chuan waited quite a while before the student came out, looking dejected, as if he had failed to get any.

After the student left, Chen Chuan went inside, picked up the receiver, took more than a dozen coins from his satchel, fed them in one after another, and dialed a number. A sweet female voice soon came from the other end. "Mi's Litigation Firm. How may I assist you?"

"I'm looking for Assistant Advocate Gao Ming. Yes, I don't have an appointment. I'm his cousin."

"Please wait."

After a while, a lazy voice came through the receiver. "Cousin Chen Chuan? What made you think to call me?"

"Gao Ming, it's me," Chen Chuan said. "I was admitted to Wu Yi University two months ago. The retest is next month."

The person on the other end paused upon hearing the news, but clearly knew he was not calling to show off. His voice became much more serious. "Go ahead, Cousin. I'm listening."

Chen Chuan shifted his position slightly and said, "There is a student Mutual Aid Society at Wu Yi University that provides aid to students. It also seems to be able to advise on and narrow down the content of the retest. I thought you might be able to tell me something about this Mutual Aid Society."

The voice on the other end laughed. "Mi's Law Firm is one of Wu Yi's partners, so I can look up the files here. And I am an assistant advocate. The consultation fee is ten yuan per minute. Cousin, are you sure?"

Chen Chuan answered with absolute certainty, "I'm sure."

A "click" sounded from the other end, then the voice came again. "Billing starts now. According to the firm's case files, the Yangzhi City Wu Yi University Mutual Aid Society originated from the university's internal student council and was formed under the leadership of several powerful students.

"The Mutual Aid Society helps sponsored students with their retests and provides support in their subsequent studies. For talented individuals who perform well, the Mutual Aid Society uses agreements to recruit them, making them serve powerful students, the groups behind them, or even larger forces after graduation.

"As for those who perform poorly, or students unwilling to submit, they transfer the agreements through intermediaries to various companies and high-level law firms, leaving the latter to handle them."

Chen Chuan held the receiver and listened quietly. He did not ask how they would handle them. Individuals could hardly contend with companies and law firms like those. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What is Wu Yi University's attitude toward this?"

The person on the other end answered succinctly, "Unless a student is exceptionally valuable, they are not worth the attention of the university's upper management."

Chen Chuan nodded and asked, "I remember Wu University also has funding available for students?"

The sound of pages turning came from the other end. After a while, the voice said, "There is, but applications must be submitted in advance and filed through the university affairs office. They require approval from at least three university trustees. The review may take a long time, and very few people ever receive it. At least, I can't find any such cases in the records here, so that funding only exists in theory."

"I understand. Those are all my questions," Chen Chuan said.

Another "click" sounded from the other end. Then the voice said, "Consultation complete. The total time was ninety-two seconds, rounded up to two minutes. The firm charges a consultation fee of twenty yuan, but since this is my first consultation case, I can give you a fifty percent discount, Cousin."

"Gao Ming, thank you," Chen Chuan said. He knew information like this could not normally be obtained for so little money.

The voice laughed. "Cousin, you got into Wu University and didn't tell me in advance? Next time I return to Yangzhi City, you have to treat me to a meal."

Chen Chuan smiled. "Definitely next time. Oh, and there's one more thing I'd like you to look into. We can discuss it when we meet next time. I won't keep you from work. I'm hanging up." After saying goodbye to the person on the other end, he hung up the receiver.

Leaving the telephone booth, he stood in the empty square with both hands in his pockets. Across from him stood the gates of Wu Yi Academy.

At that moment, quite a few people were entering and leaving through them.

It was obvious that the Mutual Aid Society's assistance demanded sufficient returns. If he did not want to be controlled by the Mutual Aid Society, then he would have to rely on his own strength to pass the retest.