This Student Was So Sincere

Fang Bai hailed a rickshaw and told the driver to take him to Shencheng University of Finance and Economics.

In another year or two, rickshaw operations would be banned. Even if he wanted to ride one then, he would not be able to.

"Which campus are you going to?"

The driver spoke Mandarin with a strong Shen City accent, but Fang Bai could still understand him.

Starting this year, Shen City had begun encouraging residents to speak Mandarin. Drivers like him, who regularly carried passengers, had no problem speaking it.

As for some older people who could not speak Mandarin and spoke in authentic Shen City dialect, Fang Bai could barely understand bits and pieces.

"The northwest gate on Guding Road," Fang Bai replied.

In his previous life, Fang Bai had never visited the University of Finance and Economics while Qin Shuyu was attending college.

Before coming, he had looked into the university. It currently had two campuses, both in HK District.

The old campus was on Zhongshan North First Road.

The new campus was on Guding Road, Wudong Road, and Wuchuan Road. It had been built in 1983 and covered more than a thousand mu. At present, all undergraduates had moved to this new campus. To the east was the top-tier 985 university, Fudan University.

If he did not understand these areas, finding Qin Shuyu would have been difficult for Fang Bai.

"Oh, that route works. It wouldn't if we had to go through the city center."

Fang Bai asked about the fare. It was a little expensive, but still acceptable.

Taking a taxi would have cost more, but for Fang Bai now, it was still within reach.

Once he got onto the rattling rickshaw, the driver rang the bell with a jingle whenever someone appeared ahead.

Fang Bai was a little hungry, so he took out the food he had brought yesterday and ate a little casually.

On the long-distance bus, the smell of stinky shoes had killed his appetite even though he was hungry.

The cold food did not taste good, but it gave him a bit more energy.

Only then did Fang Bai have the energy to observe Shen City's streetscape.

Morning sunlight spilled across the streets and alleys, laying a golden glow over the entire city.

Vehicles crowded the roads. Drivers honked their horns, and rickshaws rang their bells, all sending out hurried sounds.

Pedestrians flowed endlessly along the streets, while cyclists hurried along with the tide of bicycles.

The shops on commercial streets gradually opened for business. Shop owners busied themselves arranging merchandise, preparing for the day ahead.

Although Shen City in the 1990s did not yet have skyscrapers everywhere, the city's bustle and vitality had already begun to show.

The vibrations and bumps of the rickshaw ride were somewhat uncomfortable, but the breeze against his face and the unfamiliar morning view of Shen City made the experience interesting and special for Fang Bai.

Shen City's landmark, the Oriental Pearl Tower, would not begin construction until next year. Jin Mao Tower would not break ground for another four years. Shen City was still full of everyday life, completely unlike the capital-rich international metropolis it would become more than a decade later!

There was another kind of flavor to it as well.

Capital.

That was how Fang Bai felt. As long as he had enough capital, he could sit in a private office in a high-rise building and savor that flavor himself.

"Young man, are you from Wen City?" the driver asked curiously, glancing back at Fang Bai.

"Driver, you're amazing. You could actually tell?"

Seeing that the driver wanted to chat, Fang Bai answered cheerfully, shedding the caution he had felt when first getting in. After all, Shen City people's reputation for being arrogant was widely known.

"There are lots of Wen City people who come to Shen City to do business. I pick up several Wen City passengers every day. You Wen City folks are really good at business, and most of you are hardworking too," the driver praised sincerely.

"There are lots of mountains where we come from. It's hard to make a living from a few meager fields, so most people go into business. Poverty forces people to change." Fang Bai had heard in his previous life that Shen City people thought highly of Wen City people. It seemed to be true.

By the time they reached their destination, nearly an hour had passed. It was not even rush hour yet, but Shen City's traffic was already extremely congested. Things would improve somewhat five years later, but real improvement would only come after 2000, when the subway lines spread across the city over the next decade.

After getting out,

Standing at the entrance of the University of Finance and Economics, Fang Bai felt his breathing quicken. He was too excited.

It happened to be Sunday. Fang Bai checked his watch. It was already past eight in the morning.

Fang Bai was exhausted, sweaty, and greasy all over. He could not possibly meet Qin Shuyu like this.

He quickly found a nearby hotel, took a shower, changed into fresh clothes, tidied himself up a little, and left with his backpack.

His backpack was not large. Inside were only a change of clothes, two pagers, ten thousand yuan in cash, and a bottle of water.

Entering the campus, he did not look much different from the students around him, except that he was a little more handsome and dressed more exquisitely. Shen City universities did not lack fashionably dressed students.

Fang Bai asked a freshman girl where the accounting dormitories were, confirmed it with two more students, then followed their directions and soon arrived near Building Three, the women's dormitory.

A boy standing near the women's dormitory, with girls coming and going all around him, naturally attracted quite a bit of attention.

"Wow, that guy is pretty handsome. I wonder which girl has already snatched him up."

"Our school has few guys and lots of girls. Any handsome guy gets pounced on by those hungry she-wolves right away. They have no shame."

"He's handsome, well-dressed, and has such a sunny smile. I wonder what his girlfriend looks like. If she's not that great, I'm going to steal him." A girl standing on the balcony teased him, while her roommates gave her disdainful looks and said she was not good enough for him and should let someone else have a chance.

Fang Bai had thick skin. Whenever he noticed curious looks from the girls, he gave them a sunny smile. The girls returned his smile graciously, and some even boldly greeted him. "Hi, handsome."

Shen City truly deserved to be called a big city. People were more open-minded and tolerant. The girls were not as reserved and shy as the ones back home.

In fact, there was another important reason for their outgoing personalities: this school had far more women than men.

After confirming the dormitory, Fang Bai had a rather unique way of finding someone. Asking an unfamiliar girl directly to help him find Qin Shuyu would definitely make her unwilling.

If he gave a gift, she might misunderstand, and so might others.

So he pulled several 5-yuan notes from his backpack. When he saw a fashionable long-haired girl walking out of Building Three, he approached her. "Excuse me, could you pass along a message for me? Five yuan for your trouble."

The girl quickly moved away. Without even looking at him, she coldly waved him off, saying she was in a hurry to get to the library and had no time to help. In truth, she was a little frightened.

Who looked for someone like that? And he was offering money too. Did he take her for a fool? It was definitely some kind of scheme. She might even get dragged into it herself.

Watching her leave, Fang Bai thought, Damn, that didn't work!

Was the money not enough?

I refuse to believe it.

After waiting for a while, another Chubby Girl came out. Fang Bai tried the same tactic. "Excuse me, could you pass along a message for me? Five yuan for your trouble. You could buy lots of snacks with it."

"Snacks?"

Chubby Girl froze for a moment, then carefully looked Fang Bai over from head to toe before asking cautiously, "Who are you looking for?"

She was actually a little excited inside. Five yuan was indeed generous, especially since she was not the child of some wealthy Shen City family.

Fang Bai first slipped a 5-yuan note into her hand. Only after seeing that Chubby Girl was embarrassed to accept it did he say, "Qin Shuyu, first-year accounting. Tell her her high school classmate Fang Bai is here to see her. She's my girlfriend. She'll come down once she hears it."

After saying that, he handed her one of his new business cards. The front bore his Chinese and English name along with his BP Pager Number, while the back had a single line: "Whenever you need me, I'll be there!"

Chubby Girl took the exquisite business card in surprise. This student actually had business cards!

After taking a look and seeing the BP Pager Number, she was even more astonished. The line on the back of the card was so poetic. If someone used it to court a girl, it would be hard not to be moved!

"Whenever you need me, I'll be there!" It felt so warm. She was somewhat envious of the girl he had come looking for.

"Huh, you're looking for Qin Shuyu?"

"Do you know her?"

"She's in our major. She's pretty famous, and lots of guys pursue her. Are you really her boyfriend?"

"Absolutely. She'll know as soon as she hears my name."

"Alright, for the sake of five... for the sake of how sincere you are, I'll go ask around. I don't know exactly which dorm room she's in, so I can only try asking. She might not even be in the dorm." This was the first time Chubby Girl had seen such a generous, handsome guy. He was really loaded.

Compared to the ways those other boys pursued girls, this felt far more meaningful. They never gave anyone anything and expected people to run errands for them with just a "thank you."

Whether this guy was really someone's boyfriend or not, he was worth running an errand for.

"Then thank you."

"You're welcome. I can only try. If I can't find her, I'll return the five yuan to you."

"No, that five yuan is your payment for the trouble. If you find her, I'll reward you with another five."

Chubby Girl's little mouth fell open. She hurried into the dormitory. Since this guy was being so sincere, she had to find her.