Chapter 181: Fortuitous Encounters

Seeing the message from Renhe Pharmaceuticals, Xu Chen thought it was quite a coincidence.

It was set for late July to early August in Yangcheng, perfectly timing with Xie Bingran’s National Games competition.

At the same time, the city’s Publicity Department project for Xie Bingran could be handled conveniently in Yangcheng.

It would be twice the result with half the effort.

Plus, it would be a nice surprise for Bing Ge.

Additionally, the production company for the Fuyan Jie ad, Black Duke Marketing, was the ad agency where he had worked in his past life.

If nothing unexpected happened, this ad shoot would bring him face-to-face with his former boss, Li Fengfeng.

Li Fengfeng was an utterly despicable leader, perfectly embodying the concept of a ‘workplace villain’ in every way.

He bullied and exploited junior staff, stole subordinates’ ad ideas and awards, and skimmed profits from projects…

And even harassed female employees…

In his past life, when Xu Chen first entered the workforce, he never imagined such vile traits could all converge in one person—it was an eye-opener and a harsh lesson on the dangers of the professional world.

The direct reason Xu Chen left Black Duke Marketing was Li Fengfeng claiming his ad work as his own, entering it for awards under his name and pocketing the project bonus.

…

Heading to Yangcheng and running into Li Fengfeng again made Xu Chen a bit eager.

This time, Xu Chen would represent the client, Renhe Pharmaceuticals, as the overseer; Li Fengfeng, from the production side, would have to serve him properly.

In principle, Xu Chen held the power to supervise and approve the ad; without his sign-off, Black Duke’s footage wouldn’t pass.

Imagining Li Fengfeng buttering him up, Xu Chen couldn’t help but chuckle.

And meanwhile…

He wondered if he could casually dig a pit and bury this plague on the ad industry, Li Fengfeng, once and for all.

Thinking about it that way, he looked forward to the Yangcheng trip even more…

Of course, besides the ad shoot and Tiancheng’s publicity plan, the main reason was to check on Bing Ge.

So, the dates around Xie Bingran’s competition were not to be missed.

“I’ve got a project at the end of July that I can’t leave, can we schedule the shoot for early August?”

“Sure, Teacher Xiao Xu! We’ll check with the spokesperson first, but it should be fine!”

…

…

The day to pick up the admission notice.

As expected, Xu Chen received his admission letter from Tonghai University’s advertising department.

In Tiancheng, all high schools’ admission notices were sent directly to the schools, and students had to collect them there.

This was mainly because in previous years, some students never received their notices, leading to heartbreaking life tragedies.

The reasons varied.

For instance, some students from villages had no home phone, so addresses were left with the village committee.

The committee might pile up letters and bury the notice under a stack of documents…

There was even a case in the city where a girl got into a good university in the provincial capital, but her parents hid the notice.

They couldn’t afford the fees and didn’t know about student loans.

Some lives got derailed by such bizarre twists—it’s endlessly regrettable…

Based on these seemingly random cases, the Education Bureau mandated that notices be mailed to schools.

And students had to sign for them in person with ID.

It might seem inconvenient, but it protected many students.

…

…

Around 10 a.m., Xu Chen arrived at school.

Next to the school gate’s security room, they set up a small post office just for receiving and distributing admission notices.

When Xu Chen got there, a line had already formed.

Many students had their parents with them, sharing the joy of the admission letter.

Soon it was Xu Chen’s turn; after reporting his class, name, and student number, the teacher verified his ID before handing over the envelope with the notice.

The white envelope bore the Tonghai University logo.

Xu Chen stepped out of the post office and found a quiet spot on campus to open the notice right away.

Flipping through his admission details, Xu Chen felt a profound sense of emotion.

In his past life, not getting into a top university was a huge regret; now, reborn, he not only got into one but a 985 elite school…

Xu Chen let out a long sigh, feeling genuinely happy.

He grew even more excited about university life in Shanghai.

In his past life, he attended a mediocre normal university in the neighboring city.

That campus was barely bigger than Tiancheng No. 1 High School.

His classmates there were disinterested in studies, spending almost every day in internet cafés or pool halls…

His experiences there were nothing like the university life he imagined.

But now, he could start over and rewrite it all.

Especially at a prestigious 985 school that was once out of reach…

Xu Chen folded the notice and slipped it back into the envelope, noticing another sheet inside.

Pulling it out, it turned out to be a congratulatory letter.

“Congratulations to student Xu Chen on winning the 2006 Tonghai University ‘Star Admission’ scholarship…”

This was the scholarship Wang Jian had helped him apply for; it would cover his tuition and fees at Tonghai University.

Xu Chen folded the letter and tucked it away, chuckling at himself.

Now that he was reborn, he didn’t need the money, yet it kept pouring in.

And his father, Xu Zhiquan, was doing better in business; his path as a ‘playboy rich second-generation’ was unfolding smoothly.

Xu Chen slung his backpack over his shoulder and wandered around the campus.

Losing his status as a Tiancheng No. 1 High School student meant he wouldn’t get in easily anymore.

His phone suddenly rang—it was Chen Dahai calling.

“Young Master Xu, are you at school?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Hurry to the classroom! Something big’s happening!”

Xu Chen hung up, looking puzzled.

They’d graduated—what could be happening now?

Curious, he headed toward the teaching building.

He climbed the stairs and reached the senior year section.

In the classrooms, students were still buzzing, checking each other’s notices with excitement.

Entering Class 5, he saw at least half the students were there.

A noisy crowd was huddled, deep in discussion.

Chen Dahai spotted Xu Chen and pulled him to the back.

The group was whispering; Xu Chen caught snippets and thought, ‘So that’s it.’

“What exactly did Zhang Liqun do?”

“He’s been fired from his teaching position—that’s no small thing!”

“Did he bully a girl or something?!”

“Doubt it; look at his face and build—he probably couldn’t even if he tried…”

“So what was it? Getting dismissed means he messed up big time!”

…

Xu Chen already knew about Zhang Liqun’s dismissal.

After the school and Education Bureau decided, Vice Principal Zhao Xueqian had called Xu Chen and three other students to update them.

Investigations showed Zhang Liqun had pulled the same stunt with past students’ applications.

But those students lacked evidence like Xu Chen’s recording, so their complaints were suppressed.

Once this incident surfaced, old complaints were dug up; the Education Bureau reached out to those alumni, who unleashed a storm of accusations.

Xu Chen’s recording was ironclad proof.

Firing Zhang Liqun was a straightforward and justified call.

To protect the school’s reputation, the Education Bureau and Tiancheng No. 1 High School didn’t publicize the details; the notice just mentioned ‘severe violation of teacher ethics and school rules’…

Xu Chen understood and didn’t push further.

…

Class 5 students were thrilled about Zhang Liqun’s firing, with no one showing sympathy—everyone looked excited.

It showed just how unpopular he was day-to-day.

He hadn’t done anything too outrageous, but perhaps by nature, he was never liked by students.

Xu Chen stood in the crowd, listening, when he suddenly felt someone watching him.

He turned and saw three classmates by the window.

These three were the ones Zhang Liqun had tricked into changing their applications and who had joined Xu Chen in reporting it.

Xu Chen stepped out of the group and into the hallway.

The three glanced around, making sure no one was listening, then said:

“Xu Chen, we really have to thank you!

The admission scores are out—if we hadn’t switched our applications back, we’d have been rejected!”

“Yeah, the schools our homeroom teacher suggested didn’t match our scores; we’re so lucky we listened to you!”

“Xu Chen, we’re sincerely grateful!

Without you, not only would our university chances be ruined, but our whole futures might have been too.”

Xu Chen felt a pang of emotion—that was his own past life’s regret…

But he played it cool, just smiling and saying:

“It’s nothing; we’re all in the same boat.”

A shy girl spoke up:

“I heard you got into Tonghai University—congrats!”

“Yeah, you’re the top in our class and school!”

“Xu Chen, we don’t have your number; can we exchange contacts? Let’s keep in touch…”

Xu Chen smiled and pulled out his phone to swap numbers with them.

One of the guys looked thoughtful and said:

“Xu Chen, we all owe you a huge favor.

So big we don’t even know how to thank you…”

“Really, no need; I was just protecting my own scores.”

“Now we’ll all go our separate ways, studying in different cities.

Just in case…

I mean, if you ever need help down the line, just say the word—we’ll do what we can without hesitation!”