At noon three days later, Chen Chen sat backstage at a makeshift podium, quietly listening as the host onstage described Namibia's future with solemn conviction.
The host, a man named Walton, painted a rosy picture in a highly rousing tone. The audience below cheered again and again, every face alight with expectation.
Waiting backstage, Chen Chen shook his head. If he hadn't had to practically beg me for even a single nuclear power plant, I might actually have believed a third of what he was saying.
He checked the time, then suddenly pulled a box of chewing gum from his pocket. Opening it, he tipped out a pitch-black pill.
Then, as if it were nothing, Chen Chen popped the pill into his mouth, unbothered by its bitter taste, which was enough to make anyone retch.
Glancing at the date on his phone, Chen Chen suddenly realized that a full year had passed since he'd gotten the USB Drive.
Looking back on the past year, Chen Chen was filled with emotion. Who could have imagined that his life would change beyond recognition in a single year?
He'd gone from an ordinary college student to one of the world's top tycoons, all because of a small bag of pills.
And yet, the USB Drive's potential had barely been tapped...
If he hadn't dropped his pen beneath the desk at that exact moment back then, he'd probably be sitting in a classroom at Shangdu Jiao Da right now, carefree and enjoying the best years of college.
Maybe he'd even have a girlfriend by now...
Ahem!
Chen Chen hurriedly stopped that train of thought. How foolish. What did a mere girlfriend matter? As long as he had the USB Drive, he had power; with power came money, and with money, what couldn't he get?