The boy who once shone

"Jiang! Over here, over here!"

Jiang Chen had barely arrived at the cafeteria when he heard someone calling him. He glanced over and saw his old dormmates. Although he had moved out in the second semester of his freshman year, they were still fairly close.

The one waving was a flashy guy dressed head to toe in designer brands, his hair in a foil perm. He was waggling his eyebrows at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen pretended not to recognize the idiot, went to get his food, and found a seat by himself. But the flashy guy refused to give up. He dragged over another boy in black, who was rather quiet, and came straight toward him.

The remaining dormmate and the student who had taken Jiang Chen's bed nodded in his direction, giving him apologetic smiles.

Jiang Chen nodded back.

He had stayed away because he didn't want to put them in a difficult position. He wasn't afraid of Zheng Shaoming, but the other students were still very wary of him.

"What's this? You unfilial brat! You see your father and don't even come over?" The flashy guy's name was Li Jie, and he came over making a racket.

"Get lost. Trying to swap roles with your dad again?" Jiang Chen was speechless.

The boy in black was Zhao Erhu. After coming over, he sat down and silently continued shoveling food into his mouth. Beneath his tray, two empty trays were already stacked up.

Jiang Chen knew Zhao Erhu wasn't afraid of being associated with him. That was simply his nature: few words, lots of food, and not much social grace.

When they had first moved into the dorm as freshmen, an older student selling things had forced Zhao Erhu to buy something because he looked so easy to bully. Jiang Chen had been the one to get him out of that predicament.

"Don't you know I've gotten into some trouble lately?" Jiang Chen took another couple of bites, then frowned at Li Jie.

"So what?" Li Jie exclaimed. "Other people might be scared of Zheng Shaoming, but would a young master like me be afraid of him?"

"I just happened to skip roll call that day. Otherwise, would I have let him bully my son?"

"Get lost. Your dad already put that little bastard firmly in his place."

Jiang Chen swore, utterly exasperated.

He knew Li Jie wasn't bluffing. Li Jie was also a rich heir, every bit Zheng Shaoming's equal.

It wasn't just a coincidence. Jiangbei University of Finance and Economics was one of the leading finance universities in the Nine Provinces, and its School of Economics and Management was especially suited to training business managers. Wealthy business owners often sent their children there.

Their economics school could therefore be said to harbor plenty of hidden talent, with no shortage of rich heirs.

But what left Jiang Chen speechless about Li Jie was that Zheng Shaoming drove luxury cars, fooled around with beautiful women, and could even have a classmate or two killed along with their entire families. How imposing was that? Now that was a rich heir.

This moron Li Jie bounced around like a husky every day, seemingly with no greater ambition than to adopt his dormmates as his sons.

"You aren't afraid, sure, but why bring Erhu over?" Jiang Chen asked.

Before Li Jie could answer, Zhao Erhu, who had been focused entirely on his food, suddenly raised his head and grinned, revealing two rows of stark white teeth. "I'm not afraid either."

The moment their eyes met, Jiang Chen's heart lurched, and his breathing grew heavier. It was an instinctive response to danger.

"You..." Jiang Chen's gaze flickered. In the end, he nodded and said nothing more.

Perhaps it was because he had never encountered this world before, but even after living with Zhao Erhu for half a year, he had never noticed how much the honest, simple-looking boy was hiding. The presence he exuded felt a shade stronger than even the top-tier Vicious Ghost from last night to Jiang Chen!

"Jiang, call me Daddy, and I'll settle this for you." Li Jie chuckled beside him.

Jiang Chen gave him a sidelong look, too tired to even argue.

"If there's a fight, I can help," Zhao Erhu said indistinctly as he wolfed down his food. He sounded casual, but anyone who knew him knew that once he said something, he would make sure he followed through.

"Enough, you two. Have you ever seen me come off worse?" Jiang Chen waved them off.

Hearing that, Li Jie nodded in wholehearted agreement.

In the two years they had known each other, he truly had never seen his friend come off worse in anything.

That was only natural. Jiang Chen had spent years struggling to get by in his previous life, then lived another eighteen years after being reborn. Whenever Old Zhang got caught peeping, he would often throw Jiang Chen under the bus, too. Jiang Chen had seen his fair share of storms.

It would have been strange if he were bad at handling trouble.

"Fine, then. If you change your mind, come find your father anytime..." As Li Jie spoke, something suddenly caught his attention. He glanced into the distance several times, then began frantically signaling Jiang Chen with his eyes. "Over there, look... your Goddess Lin!"

Jiang Chen: "..."

Still, he instinctively turned his head. Not far away, Lin Youwei was sitting down with a tray of food. She suddenly looked over, gave him a radiant smile, and nodded in greeting.

Jiang Chen nodded back to acknowledge her, then turned around and went back to eating.

Li Jie first waved enthusiastically in her direction, then turned back to Jiang Chen with a look of utter anguish. "Holy shit! Jiang Chen, you're a disgrace to the flirting world. You get a chance this good, and that's all you fucking do?"

"The goddess herself said hello first! Why didn't you seize the opening, take your food over, ask for her WeChat, and confess? Fuck! When you're out there, don't tell anyone you're friends with me, Young Master Li, this university's master of flirting!"

Jiang Chen: "..."

He couldn't be bothered with the idiot. The guy really did have a ridiculous amount of social confidence.

Meanwhile, Yang Chan frowned at the exchange. "That guy doesn't know what's good for him. Youwei, you went out of your way to greet him, and all he did was nod?"

Lin Youwei paused, then couldn't help laughing. "Haha, didn't you just tell me yesterday that I should stay away from him?"

"Hmph! With your talent, looks, and family background, someone like him obviously isn't worthy of you. But acting so cold when you're being friendly? He's far too full of himself!" Yang Chan snorted.

"All right, all right." Lin Youwei soothed her helplessly. She knew her best friend meant no harm; she simply had a sharp tongue.

"Oh, right, I heard he's gotten on Zheng Shaoming's bad side. That guy is no saint," Yang Chan added cheerfully.

"I've already asked my dad to handle it." Lin Youwei nodded.

"Youwei, helping him this once is fine, but let me warn you. If even Zheng Shaoming can leave him with nowhere to turn, then getting too close to him could get someone killed once those scions of the great families find out!" Yang Chan said earnestly.

Hearing this, Lin Youwei let out a long sigh. "I know. I just don't understand. He shone so brightly back then, as though nothing could ever stump him. But now..."

"Maybe he is outstanding at his own level." For once, Yang Chan didn't argue. "But Youwei, we both know this world is cruel. No matter how outstanding he is, it can't make up for not being born into wealth. And above that, there are the great families and the Unusual Person World—things ordinary people can never hope to reach!"