Chapter 247: Campus Setup and Exploration

Fang Jun returned, a worker trailing behind him.

Xu Chen glanced at the metal ‘East Morning Star Advertising’ sign the man was holding.

Fang Jun spotted Xu Chen from afar and said to the worker behind him:

“Let him check it out—he’s the boss.”

Xu Chen: “……”

The worker paused, eyeing the college student-like Xu Chen, thinking, is this the ‘boss’?

Still, he handed over the metal sign obediently.

Xu Chen took it with a smile and nodded in satisfaction.

The sign was based on Sun Aimi’s designed logo, made of high-quality metal that looked elegant and refined.

“Thanks, Teacher Fang Jun,” Xu Chen said with a grin.

Fang Jun pointed to the front desk by the entrance and told the worker:

“Mount it on that wall.”

The worker acknowledged and turned to get to work.

Xu Chen looked at Fang Jun: “You’ve worked hard.”

Fang Jun said flatly: “Just doing my job.”

She led Xu Chen around, introducing things with a straight face, though a hint of pride slipped through.

Xu Chen found it amusing but didn’t say anything.

They reached the small private office, and Fang Jun opened the door, saying:

“This is your office, but I didn’t set up any furniture yet.”

“I figured you’d have your own ideas, so I left it empty for now.”

Xu Chen chuckled: “I’m not that picky, really.”

Fang Jun: “Alright then, I’ll handle it—get it ready for you tomorrow.”

Xu Chen thought for a moment: “How about turning the meeting room next door into your office?”

Fang Jun: “No need, I prefer being out front.”

She paused, peeked into Xu Chen’s small office, and pointed to a wall, saying:

“I’ll put a cabinet here—the bottom two shelves for my drinks, and don’t you dare sneak any.”

Xu Chen: “……”

……

They worked until around seven or eight, and dusk settled in.

Zhao Feng and Fang Tao, sweaty and tired, freshened up in the bathroom before heading downstairs with Xu Chen and Fang Jun.

Since there was still packing to do, they found a spot nearby for dinner.

Fang Jun seemed familiar with the area and said:

“There are plenty of restaurants on Miyun Road behind us…”

Under Fang Jun’s guidance, they ended up at a lively street eatery, ordering two plates of crayfish along with some skewers and fried sticks.

In 2006, crayfish were rare in the north, but they’d been popular for ages in cities along the Yangtze River.

It was Zhao Feng and Fang Tao’s first time trying them—the tough shells made them impatient.

Zhao Feng, a typical northerner, got frustrated with the peeling and tossed his gloves aside to munch on skewers instead.

Xu Chen looked around—the place was full of young people, mostly Tonghai University students.

He suddenly froze, spotting a poster on the nearby wall.

The star of the poster was Bai Miao, one of the ‘Shanghai Twin Stars’.

Clearly, Bai Miao had a huge following around Tonghai University.

……

The office wasn’t finished yet, so Zhao Feng and Fang Tao went back up to keep working.

Fang Jun walked with Xu Chen into the Tonghai University campus.

They entered through the west gate, heading toward the ‘Ganxun Building’—the hotel where they’d stay tonight.

Fang Jun had been here for two days and knew the place well, so she acted as Xu Chen’s guide.

“This is the West Garden Cafeteria—your dorm in the southwest building is just behind…”

“Over there’s the southwest girls’ dormitory…”

“The basement of the girls’ dorm has lots of stalls selling CDs and electronics…”

“Daily stuff’s at Music Square—there’s an education store there…”

……

It was probably because classes hadn’t started yet—the campus was pretty empty.

Xu Chen wandered with Fang Jun, covering maybe a fifth of the area, and couldn’t help but marvel at how massive it was.

And this was just one of Tonghai University’s campuses.

He recalled his previous life’s second-tier normal university—circling it took barely fifteen minutes…

Passing a huge boxy building, Xu Chen even felt a touch of awe at its scale.

Fang Jun glanced back and said:

“That one’s the Civil Engineering College…”

Tonghai’s civil engineering program ranked first nationwide in 2006 and was incredibly competitive.

Yet, who could’ve guessed that in about twenty years, civil engineering graduates across the country would struggle to find jobs?

Even from a top school like this, finding good opportunities would be tough…

At that moment, the nation’s construction boom was in full swing, but the benefits would only last about a decade.

In a way, the Xu family’s seedling business was riding this construction wave’s strong momentum.

Luckily, they’d branched into electric vehicles, avoiding future transition headaches.

……

“Ganxun Building” was close to the south gate, originally the school’s guesthouse.

It had just been renovated into a hotel and was open to the public.

Fang Jun was staying there too, but she had to head back to the office, so she said goodbye after dropping Xu Chen at the door.

Xu Chen checked in at the front desk and headed up with his backpack.

The double room wasn’t luxurious, but it was clean and simple.

Xu Chen took a hot shower and changed into comfortable shorts and a t-shirt.

He thought about strolling the campus more, but realized he’d be here for four years, so there was no rush.

Maybe it was the travel fatigue, but sleepiness hit early—he grabbed a pillow and stretched out on the bed.

In his haze, Xu Chen wondered if the wolf dog pillow he’d ordered was on its way; it should arrive in a day or two.

……

……

The next day, Xu Chen woke up early.

He wandered the campus all morning and grabbed a brunch at the Xueyuan Cafeteria around noon.

Since he hadn’t officially enrolled, he didn’t have a campus card, so he paid cash for a paper meal ticket—it was a novel experience.

He picked some random dishes and was surprised at how good they tasted.

That caught Xu Chen off guard.

It was just a school cafeteria with big-pot meals, yet everything turned out decent.

Pork ribs, soybean ribs soup, braised pork…

Each dish had a pleasant surprise.

Xu Chen smiled—looks like university life wouldn’t short him on meals.

While eating, Xu Chen glanced around.

Tonghai University was mainly an engineering school, so there weren’t many girls.

Still, a few sweet and pretty ones chattered and moved about.

After scanning the room, Xu Chen chuckled to himself: none of them hold a candle to my Bing…

In the afternoon, Jiaduobao’s market vice president Nie Fei would visit, so Xu Chen checked the time and headed toward the west gate.

……

Tonghai Creative Design Building, 8th floor.

As soon as Xu Chen stepped out of the elevator, he noticed a few more flower baskets.

Curious, he went over and saw that besides the Jiaduobao ones, the others had greetings but no names.

Just as he puzzled over it, Fang Jun walked out and explained flatly:

“Didn’t you say a client was coming? I added a few more baskets.”

“Makes the place look better.”

Xu Chen laughed:

“You’re always so thoughtful, Teacher Fang.”