"No, I was just joking around to comfort Lao Jiang. How could I possibly pursue a girl for three years? Someone like me, a rich second-generation heir, obviously couldn't do that!"
Cao Guangyu regretted it and tried to argue his way out.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Zhou Chao didn't want to hear any more. He picked up some toilet paper and headed for the bathroom.
"I really have dated five girls. Later, the more I dated, the less interesting it became. That's when I realized being single was what made someone noble."
"I get it, Lao Cao, but can you stop following me around and saying it? I'm going to the bathroom! If you want to argue, go find Ren Ziqiang!"
Zhou Chao stopped at the bathroom door with the roll of toilet paper in hand. Unable to stand Cao Guangyu's nagging any longer, he reached out and shut the balcony door.
Cao Guangyu was helpless and could only turn around to find Ren Ziqiang.
At that moment, Ren Ziqiang was lying on the bed chatting with Pan Xiu, grinning so widely that his mouth nearly reached his ears. Cao Guangyu's words went in one ear and out the other.
"Qiang, you should understand, right? Someone like me, a rich second-generation heir, could never be... What was it again? Lao Jiang, what was that word you used just now? I thought it was pretty apt."
Jiang Qin laughed. "Simp."
Cao Guangyu nodded vigorously. "There's no way I could be a simp!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Ren Ziqiang was busy chatting and answered with a thoroughly perfunctory expression.
Cao Guangyu instantly became furious. "Lao Ren, you're being a little disrespectful."
"I'm chatting with Pan Xiu!"
"What did you say?"
"Uh..."
"Fuck, don't tell Pan Xiu I'm a simp! If you say that, how am I supposed to survive in Financial Class 3 from now on?"
Before Ren Ziqiang could turn the phone around, Cao Guangyu spotted the keywords himself and couldn't help launching into a string of curses.
Ren Ziqiang felt wronged too. I was having a perfectly nice chat here, and you kept muttering "simp, simp" in my ear. Of course I'd type it in without thinking.
QQ in 2008 didn't have an unsend function, which made the story all the more tragic.
Cao Guangyu stared fixedly at him without saying a word. In the end, he lay flat on the bed in utter despair, gazing silently at the white ceiling.
That night, he lost love—and his dignity.
Summer nights were hot as fire, but Linhai University's dormitory had only two fans. One hung above the dormitory door, while the other was mounted at the top of the balcony door. Their old blades spun madly under the force of the electricity, producing a buzzing sound that resembled a little old man coughing his lungs out.
Jiang Qin stuck his head out to catch the breeze while using his computer to discuss the finer details of building the website with Su Nai.
However, this third-year senior seemed to be doing something else. She always took ages to reply and sometimes even made typos. That wasn't at all what one would expect from a tech nerd. In fact, it seemed more like she hadn't touched a computer in several years.
"Senior, I found a few websites with requirements similar to yours. You can take a look first. I still have something to deal with."
"?????"
After half a day, Su Nai sent over several pictures along with their URLs. They were all relatively mature websites at the current stage, with clear frameworks and basic structures that matched Jiang Qin's requirements quite well.
Jiang Qin studied them for a long while and felt that they all seemed to share a few common flaws: they had crammed the homepages full in order to show off how much content they offered.
The basic sections went without saying—they had to exist. But things like hot-topic rankings, keyword searches, and various external links were completely unnecessary. Not only did they make the entire page look bloated, they also forced users to waste too much time filtering out things they didn't want to see.
Of course, the product managers of major websites weren't incompetent. They did this mainly to give advertisements enough exposure time, so they had no choice but to sacrifice the user experience.
Jiang Qin typed out a few thoughts on the websites and sent them to Su Nai, along with several suggestions.
But she still seemed to be busy and didn't reply.
I'm the client here, aren't I? Why am I the one waiting for a reply like a simp? What could she possibly be busy with this late at night? She doesn't even reply to the Boss's messages. She clearly hasn't been beaten down by society yet.
Jiang Qin grumbled as he closed the chat window, then opened Hong Yan's QQ and asked if she was all right.
No matter what, everything that had happened today had started because of him. If he didn't even offer a simple greeting, he would seem like a terrible person.
Hong Yan replied quickly. She first sent a smiley, then said that nothing was wrong—it was just that she and Chu Siqi weren't speaking to each other anymore.
The smiley face on 2008 QQ represented a genuine smile and absolutely had no negative meaning, so Jiang Qin relaxed a little.
No one could withstand Chu Siqi's arrogance. She had been spoiled by her parents since childhood and thought the entire world should revolve around her. But as long as you ignored her, no matter how bad her temper was, there was nothing she could do. Hong Yan was a smart girl and should understand that giving her the cold shoulder was the best approach.
I clearly swore I'd never date, not even if a dog did—but why am I acting like a scumbag now? Jiang Qin felt depressed. Is a peach-blossom tribulation something every reborn person has to endure?
Next, Jiang Qin opened Feng Nanshu's QQ and asked whether she was adjusting well to spending the night at school. Feng Nanshu didn't say she missed home. She only said that the night at Linhai University felt so dark, but her words seemed to reveal how much she wanted to go home.
Besides that, Yu Shasha had also sent him a message asking whether he had met Chu Siqi. But Jiang Qin was sharp enough to immediately realize that she had definitely heard about what happened today from Wang Huiru. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked such a strange question for no reason. He therefore pretended to be offline and didn't reply.
Apart from chat messages, there also seemed to be several friend requests in his notifications. Their remarks all followed the format "Financial Class 3, XXX," and most of them were from girls.
One of them was Jiang Tian, whom Cao Guangyu praised to the skies. That caught him somewhat by surprise.
Jiang Qin, I'm Jiang Tian. Let's add each other as friends.
Jiang Qin had just grasped the mouse when he suddenly felt a broad, heavy hand land on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Lu Guangrong standing behind him, watching him with an extremely complicated expression.
"Teacher Lü, good evening. Are you here to check the dormitory?"
Lu Guangrong hummed in response, then spoke earnestly. "Jiang Qin, you're quite good-looking, but as a student, you should still prioritize your studies. Linhai University doesn't object to students dating, but don't get involved with so many."
Jiang Qin: "??????"
Before he could finish, Ren Ziqiang and Zhou Chao burst into laughter. Even halfway through, they still didn't feel satisfied, hunching over as they laughed and pounded the beds.
"All right, all right, stop laughing. I came here first to check the dormitory, and second to inform you that military training officially begins tomorrow morning. Everyone should go to bed early and don't be late. Make a good impression on your instructors."
Lu Guangrong delivered the routine announcement, then turned and left the dormitory. He went to the dorm next door and repeated the exact same speech.
Before you continue