Flying Insects Club

While Chen Zhu was talking to Song Shiwei, Deng Qian paid no attention at all. Cheng Mengyi, however, was a little curious. She had thought Song Shiwei never chatted with boys.

After finishing their tour of the library, the "master and his three disciples" prepared to take a look at the teaching buildings.

Walking through SYSU's teaching buildings, they could clearly feel the difference from a high school campus.

The professors' pace and tone lacked the pressure and force-feeding of high school teachers, as though whether anyone listened had nothing to do with them.

The students looked much more relaxed, too, and some could even be seen looking down at their phones.

If someone needed the bathroom, they didn't even have to raise their hand. They could simply slip out through the back door...

Chen Zhu suddenly remembered a joke about the difference between high school and university.

High school: "Can't talk. Class is starting."

University: "Can't talk. Class is ending."

Besides the classrooms where lessons were being held, there were also some empty ones.

A few had scattered university students sitting inside, studying either for postgraduate entrance exams or civil service exams. The only thing they had in common was that they had all bought enormous water bottles.

Others had clubs or student unions holding meetings inside. On a large landing around a corner, a group of fashionably dressed young men and women were practicing a dance.

As Chen Zhu and the others passed, joking, teasing voices came from behind them. "Stop staring! Those girls are still wearing high school uniforms. You animals..."

The speakers meant nothing by it, but Chen Zhu took it to heart. Suddenly remembering his urge to kiss Yu Xian the other day, he couldn't help blushing.

The Qingming Festival was only a couple of days away. Yu Xian would probably visit her mother's grave.

Just as they finished looking around that floor and were about to head downstairs, an agitated voice suddenly came from a nearby classroom.

"This is completely pointless. I never want to be club president again..."

"Ye Xiaofeng wants to build the framework for a web portal, Meng Fang wants to copy 4399 and make a little gaming platform, Ding Guanghua wants a recommendation for postgraduate admission, Lian Li wants to go abroad, and Guo Yuan isn't happy. There are only nine of us in this club, and more than half are leaving..."

"All those honors we earned together probably look like nothing but a pile of scrap paper to you..."

"Fine, then. Let's vote by a show of hands. Anyone in favor of disbanding the Flying Insects Club, raise your hand..."

Chen Zhu poked his head in and saw that the speaker was a female university student in her early twenties.

She had short hair and wasn't much of a looker. Her thick eyebrows gave her a rather masculine air, and she wore dark clothes and wide-legged trousers. If she hadn't spoken, Chen Zhu would have mistaken her for a guy.

Several red award certificates and two trophies sat on the lectern in front of her.

They were a little too far away to read clearly, but seemed to say things like "First Prize in Collegiate Programming"...

Seven young men and one young woman sat below. Though the seven men differed in height and appearance, they all wore plaid shirts as if they had coordinated beforehand.

There were red plaid shirts, yellow plaid shirts, and purple plaid shirts, as though no other style existed in the world... If two of the colors hadn't been repeated, they could have completed the whole Calabash Brothers set.

Clearly, these were future programmers, probably from the School of Mathematics and Computer Science.

But from the look of things, differences in their interests or ambitions had brought the Flying Insects Club they had founded to the brink of dissolution.

Clubs were different from student unions. People joined clubs purely out of shared interests, with little discipline and fairly loose rules for joining or leaving. Clubs forming and dissolving were common occurrences at university.

At that moment, all eight people below slowly raised their hands.

Seeing this, the short-haired young woman's face filled with deep sadness and reluctance, but she still declared firmly, "All right. As of this moment, the Flying Insects Club is officially disbanded!"

Then she addressed Chen Zhu, who had been standing at the back of the classroom. "Do you need something?"

The seven Calabash Brothers and the other young woman turned around, glanced at Chen Zhu, and then focused all their attention on Song Shiwei.

Chen Zhu wasn't intimidated. He merely said with genuine regret, "It isn't easy to bring a group together through shared interests. If you let it break up so easily, you'll probably regret it later. Is there really nothing you can sit down and work out...?"

Seeing this boy in a high school uniform actually trying to console them, several of the university students couldn't help smiling.

The short-haired young woman even asked, "You must be here for Appointment with Prestigious Universities, right? Then your grades must be good. Are you thinking of applying to the School of Computer Science and becoming our junior?"

Chen Zhu knew his personality wasn't suited to research. Or rather, he was better suited to bringing researchers together to strive toward a higher goal.

"I might apply."

Chen Zhu gave an ambiguous answer, then offered, "Could we exchange contact details? I could ask you for advice if there's anything I don't understand."

His plans for the future definitely involved entering the internet market and competing there.

Stocks were just a way to ride the Olympic wave, make some quick money, and get out. Something so bubble-driven couldn't serve as his foundation.

But entering the internet market required an opening, capital, and a team. Although Chen Zhu currently had none of those, the Flying Insects Club looked like a promising nucleus for a technical team.

Being from SYSU's School of Computer Science at least meant their intelligence and professional skills were sound.

Their awards showed that they had worked together plenty of times and understood one another fairly well. This was a relatively mature team with a foundation for collaboration.

Most importantly, they were university students. What were university students like? Passionate, easily carried away, and unconcerned about how much they were paid. Put simply, they were easy to manipulate.

The short-haired young woman also seemed quite capable of rallying people. Chen Zhu felt that even if the current Flying Insects Club really disbanded, he could pull another team together as long as he kept hold of her.

The short-haired young woman was easygoing. Hearing that Chen Zhu wanted to exchange contact details, she nodded and took out her phone. "No problem. What's your number?"

Chen Zhu paused. "I don't have a phone right now."

"What about QQ?"

The short-haired young woman asked again.

"I have QQ. It's 793..."

Chen Zhu suddenly remembered that he hadn't registered his QQ account until after starting university. Right now, that number was unregistered.

"Sorry, just a moment."

Chen Zhu first apologized to the short-haired young woman, then glanced at Deng Qian.

Empress Qian shook her head, indicating that she didn't have QQ either.

That figures. It would be stranger if you did.

He didn't know Cheng Mengyi from Class Ten very well.

Finally, Chen Zhu asked Song Shiwei, "Do you have QQ? Let her add you first, then you can send it to me."

Song Shiwei said nothing, blinking as she looked at Chen Zhu.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Zhu was getting quite anxious. From her reaction, Song Shiwei seemed to have QQ, so why not help him add her?

Song Shiwei knew nothing of Chen Zhu's plans. Instead, she remembered a few things Mou Jiawen had said two days earlier.

"I heard Chen Zhu is going to Appointment with Prestigious Universities too. Weiwei, be careful when you're there."

"The Gaokao is coming up. If he's going to make a move, it'll probably be sometime around now."

"Those scheming men always manage to seize every opportunity."

...So this was what he had been waiting for?

An excuse to ask for my QQ number indirectly?

To everyone else, Chen Zhu's behavior did seem rather strange. He had barely exchanged a few words with her before eagerly asking for her contact details.

Should I give it to him or not?

"If you don't have it, never mind. Maybe we'll meet again if you get into SYSU."

The short-haired young woman waved a hand. "The club's disbanded. I don't have anything left to discuss with them. I might as well go back to the dorm and sleep."

She was easygoing but lacked patience. Perhaps she was better suited to managing a project than leading an entire team.

"All right..."

Chen Zhu could only feel a little regret. By the time the Gaokao was over, university started, and military training finished, it would already be October. Who knew how things would look after half a year?

Unfortunately, he had brought nothing to the event besides the entry pass around his neck.

These computer science students hadn't brought paper or pens either. That was normal, of course. University students didn't even bring pens to class, let alone meetings.

If I gave her my home landline number, would she think I was putting on airs?

You're the one asking for my contact details, and you give me a landline number?

"Song Shiwei?"

Chen Zhu wanted to try one last time.

At eleven thirty that morning, when grade director Cao Jingjun returned to the drop-off point, all six students were already waiting there.

"Qi Zheng offered to treat me to lunch, and he invited you all along too."

Cao Jingjun had enjoyed his conversations that morning, recalling plenty of memories from his university days.

So when his old classmate suggested having a simple lunch together in the cafeteria, Cao Jingjun hadn't refused. He did, however, have to gather the students first.

On the way to SYSU's Pinewave Garden cafeteria, Cao Jingjun patted Chen Zhu on the shoulder and asked, "Did everything go well on your tour this morning?"

Chen Zhu thought for a moment. "More or less... I suppose."

(There will be another chapter at 8 p.m.)

(End of chapter)