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In short, the core idea behind Li Rongxiu's project was to become "the entrepreneur behind entrepreneurs." The reason he had chosen financial investment as a long-term venture to keep after the film turned a profit was simple: it was all thanks to the more than ten years of memories that had inexplicably appeared in his mind.

As a wastrel who spent his days doing nothing, Li Rongxiu had seemingly accomplished nothing worth mentioning in his nearly thirty years of life before his rebirth. But that didn't mean he had a narrow outlook or limited knowledge.

In fact, as the heir to Wancheng's richest family, whose influence reached into the Empire's economy, Li Rongxiu had been immersed in the business world from a young age. Even though he hadn't been interested in management before his rebirth, he still knew the classic business cases inside and out, whether they were thrilling or full of deceit. He knew the economic trends Wancheng, the Empire, and the rest of the world would follow over the next decade or so. He knew what laws and regulations the Empire and other countries would enact to govern their market economies during those years. More than that, he knew how many era-defining figures would emerge, and how many entrepreneurs who would later become famous were still penniless, tossing and turning with worry over a mere few million or tens of millions in startup capital...

Li Rongxiu had always thought that the person he was before his rebirth and the person he was now were no different. He had never realized what a precious asset those extra years of memories were. Ultimately, his thinking was still confined by the mindset of an idle playboy. It wasn't until Li Jiuying reminded him to wrap up his project properly to improve his competitiveness that he'd stumbled his way into putting together a plan, barely managing to cobble it together. And his only goal had been to win the title of Top Student.

Even Li Rongxiu hadn't realized how "powerful" he was. His wastrel friends, who knew his "true nature," were even less likely to notice. The group sat huddled together, troubled, staring at the dozens of plans in front of them and fretting over their own "lack of creativity."

Rosen, who had just returned from Y Country, impatiently scratched his head. His once-sleek hair sprang up in a disheveled mass, vividly reflecting his irritation and frustration. He leaned against the wall and kicked the proposal in front of him with his right foot. "Oh, come on. We're the Super Wastrel Alliance, not the Super Idea Alliance. Where are we supposed to get all these innovative ideas? Besides, the businesses our families run aren't exactly emerging industries. A plan doesn't have to be new to be useful, does it? Those so-called elites don't come up with anything special in the end, either."

Rosen's words roused the others from their brooding. Li Rongxiu tugged at his tie in irritation and waved a hand. "Forget it. Financial investment is pretty good, at least we're all familiar with it. Next, we can combine the ideas in these plans and flesh them out... Oh, right, first we need to come up with a name for the fund, don't we?"

Before he could finish, everyone started talking at once, chipping in with their already limited "talent for naming things."

After rejecting a string of absurd names like "Pretty Boy Fund," "Pretty Girl Fund," "Pretty Boys and Girls Fund," "Diwan Poverty Relief Fund," and "We'll Succeed Someday Fund," Rosen—whose head was splitting after drinking way too much two nights earlier—couldn't take the arguing anymore. He spoke up again. "...How about the Super Wastrel Alliance Fund? We've always used that name, and everyone at Diwan knows the Spendthrift Alliance belongs to us. It's fresh and easy to remember!"

Hey, what part of this lousy name is fresh? (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

His friends, irritated all over again by Rosen's irresponsibility, hadn't even had time to flip the table when Li Rongxiu, sitting cross-legged on the bed, shouted his approval and clapped dramatically. "Let's go with that. At least it represents all the years of friendship and memories we share. I think it's pretty meaningful."

Could he say that he never wanted to hear another word about "pretty boys," "pretty girls," or anything "pretty" ever again? _(:3)∠)_

Seeing how emphatically Li Rongxiu agreed, the playboys fell silent for a moment. Since none of them could think of a better name, they all voted in favor. And just like that, they happily settled on a name for their financial investment fund. Next came the paperwork for setting up the fund. Li Rongxiu took out a black notebook and jotted down the reminder, then told Zhao Qijun, "You can handle the paperwork. Just get it done before the film comes out. There's no rush."

Zhao Qijun gave Li Rongxiu a helpless look. "But, Young Master Xiu, you asked me to handle filming with the production crew, coordinate their collaboration with the school clubs, and keep an eye on Chi Junhao and the other competitors' project progress... I barely have time for anything else now."

Li Rongxiu was at a loss for words. He'd grown so used to assigning Zhao Qijun tasks in both his past and present lives that he'd forgotten Zhao Qijun wasn't yet the all-purpose assistant who could effortlessly fulfill any request, as he would become later. At this point, Zhao Qijun could still feel overwhelmed and stretched too thin.

Li Rongxiu could only look hopefully at the others. Alan and the rest avoided his gaze, shrugged helplessly, and said, "...Sorry, we can't help. Normally, we could ask our company employees to run around for us, but this is about the Top Student competition. We can't risk bringing in outside help and violating school rules... Maybe we can look around the school. Surely there's a student who knows the ropes?"

But surely all the students familiar with this kind of thing had already been recruited by other competing teams. Even if there were any left, could they be trusted to have the right character and professionalism?

Li Rongxiu shook his head, feeling a little dejected. If there really was no other way, he'd have to recruit someone from the student body. Zhao Qijun saw his expression and mistook it for disappointment in him. He clenched his teeth and was about to force himself to take on the task when Rosen spoke up. "Oh, right. On my flight back from Y Country, I met someone. He's the son of the newly appointed Y Country ambassador to the Empire, and I heard he'll be transferring to Diwan in the next few days. We talked on the plane. He planned a similar project back in Y Country and handled all the procedures himself. The registration process for a fund in Wancheng probably isn't that different from Y Country's, right? Maybe we could ask him?"

The playboys' eyes lit up at once, and they urged Rosen to call his "new friend" and check. Only Li Rongxiu furrowed his brow, a little worried. "If he's from Y Country, can he speak Imperial Chinese? What if he can't get things done because of a communication problem?"

Rosen waved a hand, confident. "That won't be a problem. We spoke Imperial Chinese when we chatted, too. The guy speaks it really well. I think he can handle basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Besides, we're only asking him to run through some procedures. It's not like he's taking a level-four Imperial Chinese exam. It's not that hard. And as a foreign student who's just arrived in the Empire and wants to start a business, he can also ask the embassy for a letter of introduction. With that, William will have an easier time handling the paperwork than an ordinary student."

Diwan High School's rules strictly forbade students from hiring outside help to cheat during the competition, but they didn't take away students' basic rights. The Top Student competition was fierce every year, but foreign students often ran into all kinds of trouble simply because they didn't know their way around. So, to ensure "relative fairness"—and, more importantly, to help those at a disadvantage—Diwan High School had introduced a new rule more than ten years earlier. Foreign students who had transferred to Diwan High School less than a semester ago could apply to their home country's embassy for limited assistance if they wanted to compete for Top Student.

That was why Rosen had recommended William Wood.

Seeing this, Li Rongxiu had no choice but to trust Rosen.

Meanwhile, Rosen's new friend William Wood was thrilled when he got Rosen's greeting call. He'd just completed his enrollment paperwork at Diwan High School with his father, officially becoming a student there. William was outgoing and loved socializing, and he wanted to fit in with his new classmates as quickly as possible. So when he heard Rosen's request, he readily agreed. He was so enthusiastic that as soon as he hung up, he went straight to Li Rongxiu's room in the A-District Dormitory Building to meet the members of the Super Wastrel Alliance for the first time.

After meeting him in person and hearing his fluent Mandarin, though he still had a foreign accent, the playboys finally relaxed. Once William had clearly explained the procedures for setting up a financial investment company and fund, along with the basic documents required, even Li Rongxiu no longer had the slightest worry.

Now that they'd even solved the most troublesome part of setting up the investment company and fund, all Li Rongxiu needed to do was submit an application to the school to establish an education fund. For Diwan, which had always encouraged students to develop in all aspects during their time at school, such an application was little more than a formality.

Everything was going so smoothly that the members of the Spendthrift Alliance all overlooked one thing, whether deliberately or not: being able to understand, speak, and read a language was not the same as being able to write it fluently and accurately.

So, a week later, when William Wood entered the relevant government office with all the necessary documents, and the staff asked him to fill out the forms, he came across some Imperial characters he wasn't sure how to write correctly. Ever conscientious, William called Rosen and humbly asked, "Hey, Rosen, do you know how to write the meng in lianmeng, 'alliance'?"

Rosen was sitting in the school cafeteria, chatting with a female classmate. Impatiently scratching his chin, he said, "Oh, you mean the meng in lianmeng? It's easy. It's a ming on top and a min on the bottom."

"What was that?" William Wood asked again, frowning in confusion. He spoke Mandarin very fluently, but there were still some uncommon characters he didn't know.

"It's the ming in riyue ming—sun and moon—on top, and the min in qimin—vessel—on the bottom." Rosen repeated it quickly. The girl beside him smiled and offered him a bite of celery. Rosen accepted it with his mouth while continuing the call. He even reached out to rub the girl's neck affectionately.

The girl giggled and slapped his hand away with a sharp smack. William Wood struggled to make sense of Rosen's words and tried to jot them down with his fountain pen, but realized he couldn't. He had no choice but to ask again, "Can you say that more slowly? I can't quite follow. How exactly do you write meng?"

"Ugh, it's the meng with the ming for sun and moon. Just tell the clerk and he'll understand." Rosen said, then impatiently hung up.

William Wood stared forlornly at the phone, which had gone silent, and let out a long sigh before ending the call. Then he took his stack of documents to the clerk at the main hall window and said, "Sorry, could you write these two characters in lianmeng for me? Thank you."

The new white-collar rookie, who looked like an Empire native but was a banana at heart, smiled as he took the documents from William Wood. He spoke Imperial Chinese more fluently than the foreigner in front of him, but refused to admit that he wasn't proficient in Imperial script. To show off his own skills, William Wood helpfully added, "It's the meng character with the sun and moon in it."