Chapter 169: A stroll around campus
Tao Zi now understood where the difference lay between his cousin Tao Chuhong, a spoiled playboy raised amid endless affection, and the young man before him. No wonder his cousin had suffered at his hands. It was no injustice at all.
He had seen a good deal of the world, but no university student had ever stood before him and struck his vulnerable points with arguments he could scarcely refute. If language possessed magic, Tao Zi now found it difficult not to be influenced by him and recognize the stakes involved.
This inevitably reminded Tao Zi of his own university days. A graduate of Tsinghua's Class One cohort, he had never encountered anyone among his peers back then who understood all the harsh interests of the adult world like this. Dealing with him was like matching wits with a seasoned fox.
Tao Chuhong remained silent. He was, in essence, a hot-blooded young man, and his family background, far above that of most people, combined with the mutual flattery and elevation within his circle, inevitably made him seem frivolous. Yet in his conduct and foresight, he could not compare with the cousin before him.
Strictly speaking, however, Tao Chuhong was not simply a reckless, frivolous wastrel. His father Tao Qian had not sent him to Rongcheng to "get some experience" because he had grown senile. His conflict with Su Can and Wang Weiwei was merely one of the countless unexpected incidents born of youthful hotheadedness in life, though it was far from a beautiful one.
Beyond the superficial glitter of growing up in an impetuous circle, Tao Chuhong was still an ordinary young man. He could feel wonder. He could feel ashamed of his own shortcomings when compared with others, feel empty amid his debauched