Chapter 25: At ease
Just as students from every corner of the country were plunging into the full swing of university life.
Su Can finally attracted private inquiries from interested parties thanks to his standout performance at the freshman meet-and-greet, his presentation of flowers at the welcome gala, the support he received during freshman morning exercises from a girl widely regarded by Nanjing University's freshmen as the beauty of her department, and, more recently, his position as class monitor of Class Four, Class of 2001. They dug into his family background, circumstances, personal history, and a whole range of other details.
Certainly, a person's family background and history often did not mean much, but people always had an urge to get to the bottom of things when someone interested them.
Many freshmen reached a common conclusion: Su Can had merely graduated from a key high school in Rongcheng, and his family was of ordinary means. Compared with many upper-middle-class families at this university, or indeed in Shanghai, his family was probably a long way behind.
Supposedly, someone had seen his father accompanying him to register at the start of term and noticed nothing remarkable about him. His family was probably quite unexceptional, because compared with the countless families who drove private cars into Nanjing University, Su Can's father, travel-worn after coming from far away, drew little attention.
Some students who always carried a sense of superiority developed a feeling of comparative advantage over Su Can. Sure, I'm not as flashy as you, turning so many heads at the start of term, but at least my family has more money. And my family has connections in this city, influence and power. Just recently, my parents had dinner with such-and-such university administrator, who promised to look after me here.
*And so what